Charge of the Goddess

I'll assume most of you who may be reading this blog have at some point read this charge.. but It bear repeating.. I find if very moving.

Charge of the Goddess
Traditional by Doreen Valiente, as adapted by Starhawk:

Listen to the words of the Great Mother, Who of old was called Artemis, Astarte, Dione, Melusine, Aphrodite, Cerridwen, Diana, Arionrhod, Brigid, and by many other names:

Whenever you have need of anything, once a month, and better it be when the moon is full, you shall assemble in some secret place and adore the spirit of Me Who is Queen of all the Wise.

You shall be free from slavery, and as a sign that you be free you shall be naked in your rites.

Sing, feast, dance, make music and love, all in My Presence, for Mine is the ecstasy of the spirit and Mine also is joy on earth.

For My law is love is unto all beings. Mine is the secret that opens the door of youth, and Mine is the cup of wine of life that is the cauldron of Cerridwen, that is the holy grail of immortality.

I give the knowledge of the spirit eternal, and beyond death I give peace and freedom and reunion with those that have gone before.

Nor do I demand aught of sacrifice, for behold, I am the Mother of all things and My love is poured out upon the earth.

Hear the words of the Star Goddess, the dust of Whose feet are the hosts of Heaven, whose body encircles the universe:

I Who am the beauty of the green earth and the white moon among the stars and the mysteries of the waters,

I call upon your soul to arise and come unto me.

For I am the soul of nature that gives life to the universe.

From Me all things proceed and unto Me they must return.

Let My worship be in the heart that rejoices, for behold, all acts of love and pleasure are My rituals.

Let there be beauty and strength, power and compassion, honor and humility, mirth and reverence within you.

And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without.

For behold, I have been with you from the beginning, and I am That which is attained at the end of desire.

Yard cleanup

Well the winter prep/yard work continues. Fall has arrived in short order and we've actually got some fall colors here. I've lived in MO since 98 and have never seen fall color here. It's usually green to brown then bare. Then again, it's usually still in the 90's here this time of year.

Enough babble from me. I'll post some pictures ..

Heres the first bed we renovated

Next we did some tree trimming the to these beds behind the house

planted a replacement redbud for one that died a few years ago in an ice storm

We started on this one today. Honestly we were feeling pretty lazy today.. 2-3 days manual labor is hard on us old folk. Ok maybe not so old, nor do I mind doing hard labor, but the ol body doesn't always agree. :)

And heres what we've yet to do

Here are a few shots of the water feature. There is a pool above and a larger one below
with a water way between. This will likely be our largest project. We have to replace the pool liners which entails removing most rocks you see. there are steps to the right. Oh and a nest of yellow jackets to get rid of before starting

then theres the herb garden

and the rock garden

Imagine how surprised we were to see this Bittersweet!! This is pretty rare stuff in this area.

I just hope the Elders appreciate all this :)

Reconnection

After a long wet week last week, this week has been absolutely yummy. highs in the 50's and sunshine. Helen and I have been renovating "The Elders" yard. There is quite a bit of work to do. From relining a pond to cleaning out flower beds, rock gardens, etc.

It's been a good while since either of us has done much in the way of manual labor and we're feeling it :) That's why I'm on here today instead of outside.

It does feel good to get out into nature and do something though. Nothing better than a hard days work with the earth to ground you. It makes me feel richer than any amount of money ever could. Reconnection to mama earth renews our connection and place in nature. Humility shows us we are just another creature of her not master of the domain.


New Hobby!!



OK So podcasting is anything but new.. but it is new to me. I fired up Itunes the other day to see what was available and came across "The dark side of Fey" and "A Pagan heart in Maine". I've listened to a few episodes of each and am hooked on both. I'm downloading the remainder of darkside as we speak.

If you've the time and interest you can find the links under "podcasts" in the links section of the left sidebar.

About Our New Computer

Here is a picture of our latest technology acquisition. It's our first Mac.. It's a MacBook Pro. I'm quite impressed with how it looks. It has a lot more functionality and features than I'm use to, the programs are easy for a newbie but a bit difficult for a seasoned PC guru to get the hang of. It's been about 3 weeks now and I'm starting to get comfortable with it. I can get around pretty well and find most things.

For those that don't know, OS X is basically a frontend for Unix/Linux. So while I can get around fine in the GUI, the command line is a bit daunting.. and that's where I really want to play. If you remember DOS days then imagine trying to go from windows to the command line with no previous knowledge. I do know a bit about linux.. but just enough to be dangerous.

Most of our existing hardware works with the Mac.. The scannner does, the Ipod of course. but my zen doesn't :(

Hmm how does this tie in with Paganism? I'll be praying to the technology goddess for enlightnment.. or something

meanwhile check out this video for a good laugh.

Must Read for Gaia Lovers

Earth Prayers is a must read for anyone who loves this planet. There are too many good poems in this book to list but I'll post one that I feel fits the upcoming Samhain


Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep

I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush
I am the swift, uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave
and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.

Joyce Fossen

Great Book!!

Without a doubt this is the best book I've read in a long time. Mr. Obama really ties it all together here and makes politics (a tough topic for the commoner at the best of times) clear and concise. He not only voices his views but explains the reasoning behind them. I must say that I share a lot of these views and think that, if congress gives him some room some real change will be possible.

Check you're local library.. they should have this book.