Heron Dreaming

Last night I dreamed that a heron flew above me, scattering blue-grey feathers like magical gifts in my path.

This morning, as I travelled through the rain-blurred river valley, a pair of herons wheeled gracefully overhead, before disappearing into the trees...

Sometimes the line between dreaming and waking seems fine as spidersilk...

Taking Eggs to Mair

The early evening sun is slanting golden rays across the fields as I walk down the lane to take my neighbour Mair her weekly box of eggs. Lambs bleat at me through the hedge as I pass by. They have grown quickly, already they are half the size of their mothers.

Each week I walk down with a box of eggs for Mair; each week the changing seasons have something new to show me. Today there is a sharp chill in the wind, but there is bright sunshine and blue sky. Shy violets purple the bank of the stream. The daffodils are all but finished, now there are celandines and windflowers and soon there will be bluebells. In the hedge, the exuberant froth of blackthorn blossoms contrasts with stark black thorny twigs. the new hawthorn leaves are such a vivid green, the very essence of spring rebirth. The smooth grey limbs of the ash tree glow in the light of the setting sun.

I listen to the bird song, hoping to hear the happy chatter of swallows, but not yet. Soon, soon, those joyously swooping spirits of summer will return. But not yet.

Savouring the sights, scents and sounds, I walk slowly down the hill - and even more slowly back up again. It is steep, and even after living here 11 years I am still rendered breathless by the time I return to my own gate.

Now I wander down to the geese. Buffy and her new beau Spike have been wandering all day by the greenhouse, feasting on the tender spring grass there. Now I shut them safely back in their pen before twilight - and any peckish foxes in the vicinity - descend. Then I make my way back up to the house through the vegetable patch, noting with satisfaction the profusion of golden cowslips in the flower bed by the compost heap. The apple tree is just starting to come into leaf, and soon the flowering cherry will be putting on her show stopping display of fairytale pink blossom.

In the dark days of winter I longed for spring. And now it is here and passing all too quickly. It is good to take a little time out to fully appreciate the onrush of spring. It is lucky Mair expects her box of eggs each week. It's the perfect opportunity to stroll down the lane, sniffing violets and listening for swallows and keeping an eye open for the first bluebells...

Wonderful Giveaway

Pic: copyright Jackie Morris

If you go to this page, you will find details of a couple of wonderful giveaways from the extremely talented Jackie Morris that you could win....

Of course, my reasons for posting this are not wholly altruistic, as you will see. I want it, I want it! *crosses fingers and wishes*

Good luck!

Contentment

Lazy lie-in, snuggled with IB and a bed full of purring cats.

Warm brioche rolls and a steaming mug of coffee.

A long, luxurious soak in the bath.

Out into a mild spring day full of birdsong and gentle breezes.

A day of simple pleasures.

A Small Treat

It is a beautiful spring morning. The wind is cold but when it drops, the sun is warm on my back.

Gingerly, I move over to the chicken run to let the girls out of their house and give them food and water. I have recently undergone surgery and have been too sore to attend to these chores of late. Mum, Dad and IB have been helping me, but this morning I am feeling better. In the sunshine, with daffodils blowing in the breeze, the sound of water rushing in the stream and lambs bleating in the fields, a routine chore now almost seems like a treat.

The chickens crowd round my feet as I deposit their feeder, empty the drinker and refill with fresh water. Outside the cats play-chase each other and then roll lazily on their backs, luxuriating in the sun. I shut the door of the chicken run behind me and slowly return to the house, pausing on the way to admire the pulmonaria in full bloom. The sun shines, the birds sing, spring is here - and I am very happy to have the time to stop and breathe it all in.

An Invitation...

Join us for a 5-day spiritual intensive at

Avalon Spring

5 June – 9 June 2012!

Come and connect with like minded souls; laugh, learn, sing, celebrate, dance, talk, discuss, dream, chant, work magic and do ritual under the stars, in a beautiful peaceful setting near Glastonbury, the magical Isle of Avalon...

This year the story we will be working with is Diana, Queen of Witches and Lucifer, Lightbringer

Diana was the first created before all creation; in her were all things; out of herself, the first darkness, she divided herself; into darkness and light she was divided. Lucifer, her brother and son, herself and her other half, was the light.

*****

And so our journey begins. Diana, Queen of the witches and Lucifer, Lightbringer, her brother and lover. What do they have to teach us? What parts of ourselves are touched by the moon and sun, all of it. For five days we will work the mythic story from Italian witchcraft first published in a book by Charles Leland in 1899. We’ll do this through path working and ritual.



The teaching team for Avalon Spring 2012 is Anne-Marie (Bríghde Éire), Cassandra, Georgia Midnight Crow and Rook.



Earth Spirit has been the home for Avalon and later, Avalon Spring intensives in the Reclaiming Tradition for many years. For the last few years we have tried different formats for our witchcamp; very low cost at Epping Forest, to long weekend formats, and the addition of Feri Tradition work in acknowledgement of who we are (the organisers) both Reclaiming and Feri, and the roots of much of Reclaiming core working.



We will be focusing more on the strengths of Reclaiming style in public ritual and witchcamps. All the teachers are Reclaiming witchcamp trained, and have always been so, and have been teaching for many years.



Costs this year are on a sliding scale £300-£350 for camping, £350-£400 for dorm accommodation. Concessionary places are available if you are low waged/unwaged. Payment by instalments is possible, please contact us for details.



Please see the website for further details: http://avalonspring.me/

Join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Avalon-Spring-WitchCamp/244559932242936

email avaloncamp@gmail.com

Or contact Suzanne 0208 667 1525



Hope to see you there!

Brigid Poetry Festival 2012

Remember the annual online Poetry for Brigid Festival (you can find my last year's offering here, and dig further back in the archives for earlier contributions)?  Well, it's already that time of year again! Here is my offering:




Kingdom of Mist



I ride through a kingdom of mist

where farms drown in a phantom sea

and may piles up in the hedges like snow

waiting to melt in tomorrow's sun.



Young wheat lies down where May-winds blew,

and larks are earthbound by the stars.

A heron glides between the trees

that hold the river to its course.



Here pebbles slowly turn to snails

and spiders webs are spun with glass.

Small shells fly off as frightened moths

and cows become as druid stones.



Only the mist moves as a ghost

loving the land with limbs of fur

and whispered words grow grey as breath

rising into the frosted air.



And night comes down where day once grew,

lights ripple through this thin white sea,

while in the village, children sleep

never to know they slept in sky.


- Edward Storey