April 11, 2009 at 1:45 pm (being a witch, good things, life)
Tags: celebrate, life, nature, pagan, rites, spring
It’s true, just like Christmas, Easter is a Pagan holiday taken straight from the pages of all those people that were supposed to be heathens.
The two things that symbolize Easter for most people, the baby bunny and the baby chicken are Pagan signs of life following death each spring. Does that story sound familar? 
Not that we shouldn’t have a holiday each spring. Spring is a glorious time. The earth is coming back to life after it’s long winter sleep. Flowers, trees and bushes all begin to bloom and bear their fruit. Grasses and other plants push through the damp soil. And new baby animals are everywhere.
Yes, we should celebrate. We should just be truthfull about what we are celebrating.
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April 8, 2009 at 4:26 pm (being a witch, life)
Tags: faith, life, moon, nature, pagan, sun
The simple definition of a pagan is a country person. That’s also one of the oldest definitions. In centuries past the country people were less educated. The new Christan faith regarded pagans (or country people) as heathens because they would not give up their old ideas and rites.
As uneducated as they were thought to be, they understood the cycles of the moon. Using these cycles, they knew when to plant and when to harvest. If they lived by large bodies of water they understood how the moon effected the tides and when the best times to fish were.
They understood the power of fire. Not only to heat and cook and light the night sky, but how it could be used to place someone your self in a trance. They read the future in the flames and the ashes.
They knew that the sun, like water was a life giving force. They needed the summer sun for crops to grow. They mourned it’s shortened days of winter and praised the longer days of summer.
The idea, that pagan’s were uneducated is far from true. They may have been country people, but they knew and understood a lot about nature.
And all has not been lost. Many are returning to the pagan ways of nature. We are watching nature and looking for the clues that are left for us. We still use the moon to plant and harvest by. We are relearning the ways of using plants for medicine and cures. We will carry on the old ways.
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April 4, 2009 at 2:52 pm (good things, life)
Tags: life, Mother Nature, nature, spring, weather, winter
The calender may say April 4, but the winds are howling and the snow is blowing.
I waited all winter for the snow and it never came. I gave up and hoped for rains for my poor parched gardens. The sun shone brightly all through March.
I worried more about my gardens this spring. I knew they weren’t getting the live giving moisture. In my mind I began to scale back the gardens in order to conserve water.
And then it came, the snow. Heavy wet snow. Twelve inches or more the last week week of March. And now more. Rain first, it was too warm to snow. But snow during the night. It’s as cold and windy as February this morning.
The seedlings are tucked away in their little greenhouses trying to stay warm, trying to find some sun shine. The ground is thirsty for the rain and the snow. You can almost see it turn green as the snow retreats. The day lilies and tulips are shivering close to the ground. But they both give hope with their bright green leaves.
Just when I had about given up hope Mother Nature sent the life giving snow and rain. She had not forgotten us. She was only reminding us that she works on her own schedule, not on ours. The calender may say April, but Mother Nature has turned back time to the middle of winter. If even for a single day.
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