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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March 29, 2009 at 2:39 pm (being a witch, good things)
Tags: family, health, life, Mother Nature, nature, witch
What do the three names, green, garden and hedge all have in common? Give up? They are three names for the same kind of witch. The kind of witch that I am. I prefer garden witch myself.
So what is a garden witch? One that gets most of their magic from their gardens and the rest of nature. Some say we use our magic to help or gardens grow.
But is it magic, or just forgotten wisdom? Some of both I think. Garden witches use the wisdom passed down to them from past generations. We know the power of plants, roots and herbs to heal the mind, body and soul.
Most of the magic is being able to stay true to our knowledge. We know when to shut out the modern world and rely on what mother nature has provided all with, peace and beauty beyond imagination.
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March 6, 2009 at 11:03 am (better health)
Tags: exercise, family, garden, nature, workout
Don’t think gardening is exercise? Check out the picture. I’d rather be doing my leg squats outside in the sunshine instead of in some smelly old gym any day of the week.
My own garden prep work is well under way and it is a workout. Raking, shoveling, bending and lifting not to mention the cardio. But I get a lot more than just an in shape body out of it.
I get a nice looking yard. I get some very good vegetables. I get flowers to brighten up my desk at work and my home.
I get much needed time alone but also time to talk with the neighbors.
I get a daughter that will finally eat a tomato, not straight out of the garden, she still hates those, but she loves them when I dry them for winter storage.
I get to see the wonder of something growing.
Yea, I get a lot more out of exercising in the garden than just some nice looking legs.
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February 17, 2009 at 8:00 am (being a witch)
Tags: creatures, family, life, nature, people
Good advice that would serve many well. It seems simple. It is very hard. Following the advice is essential to being a witch.
Nature, creatures or people, it doesn’t matter. The key to knowing and understanding is listening. With nature and creatures and even people you have to be still before you can listen. The noise you make will drown them out or frighten them away.
Not interested in being a witch? You don’t have to be a witch to learn how to really listen to others in your life. Practice long enough and get good enough and other might think you are a witch though.
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February 15, 2009 at 4:10 pm (being a witch)
Tags: food, gardener, herbs, Mother Nature, nature, vegetarian, witch
After a passing remark about my Witches Calendar last week I was asked why I had one. My response was because I’m a witch. Most people that have known me for a while realize this about me without having to be told. To the casual observer it’s something that might never be noticed.
My nose is not long with warts on the end. I don’t have a pointy black hat and a herd of cats following me. I usually keep most of my beliefs to myself and don’t share my rather unique knowledge openly.
Over time there are a few things that people begin to notice. I am passionate about protecting and preserving Mother Earth. I am an organic gardener, growing a lot of our food along with herbs and flowers. I am not a true vegetarian, but I prefer fresh and raw over preserved and cooked.
I don’t have a lot of trust in western medicine. For common alignments I relay on remedies passed down from my grandmothers. Herbs are the base of these remedies.
Do these thing alone make me a witch? Certainly not, it goes much deeper. But like I said, I don’t share to openly all at once. But I am not all that unique. There are probably other witches that have crossed your path.
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January 28, 2009 at 8:51 pm (money savings)
Tags: entertainment, family, friends, games, nature
One upside of the current economy is that more people are staying at home with family and friends. Now is a prefect time to pull out the old board games and cards, blow the dust off and enjoy a game or two. Gather a few friends, make some snacks and you can play, talk and have fun for hours for almost free.
If you have kids there is another upside to games, education. Even if it’s not a traditional educational game. My mom taught me how to add quickly in my head by playing black jack with me. I learned the same thing playing dominoes.
If you luck into a warm day, chase everybody outside. There are countless things you can do in your own backyard. Have a nature scavanger hunt or play games like red rover or freeze tag.
Entertainment doesn’t have to be expensive. If you put some thought into it you can probably think of 20 things to do that are free. And the bonus is it’s more fun if you include lots of family and friends.
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January 22, 2009 at 12:40 am (Mother Nature)
Tags: food, global warming, nature, rain, snow, weather
Most if not all of Colorado should look like this picture in January. That is not the case right now, it is way to warm on the plains of Colorado. Today Denver was 71 degrees.
Don’t panic, yet, if your a skier, there is plenty of snow in the mountains for now. But if it stays this warm that too could change.
You might worry if you eat though. There is no snow on the plains where all types of food is grown and raised. Winter wheat needs moisture and we relay on the moisture now to ensure grass for cattle this spring and water for irrigation later in the year.
Is it global warming? Could be. It doesn’t matter what it is, if it doesn’t rain or snow soon it will just be to late and to dry and the name of the problem won’t matter.
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December 9, 2008 at 12:05 am (Mother Nature, journey)
Tags: food, healthy, medicine, minerals, nature, protein, vitamins
I hate to admit it, but my mom was right. Yours probably was too. You need to eat your vegetables. You also need fruits, grains.dairy and protein.
Food is some of the most powerful medicine there is. If we eat the way we should, most of us could throw out our multivitamins. With a few exceptions food contains all the mineral and vitamins we need.
However, in the United States food is literally killing people. People are eating way to much food in general, to many sugars and not enough food in its natural state.
Mother Nature provides most food they way it was meant for us to eat it. Apples for example are perfect the way they are. We do not need to bake them with sugar and eat them with ice cream.
We also need to be concerned about how our food is grown and raised. Mother Nature did not intend for cows and chickens to be forced feed and kept in pens in which they can not even turn around. Nor did she mean for them to be pumped full of water, antibiotics and steroids.
There have been studies done that show that the eggs from a chicken that spends it’s day outside pecking around the barn yard contain more protein than chickens that are caged.
We now have corn and grains that are disease free and grow to a uniform size. They also have less vitamins and minerals.
We need to be less concerned with convenience and more concerned with healthy food. We need to be less concerned with price and more concerned about the living and growing conditions of the food we eat.
Think of it this way. No parent would allow a child to reach their hand into a jar of antibiotics and eat them. But we don’t think twice about feeding them food everyday that has been pumped full of antibiotics.
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