A fond farewell!

Sorry on my absentee status... the family and I were taking a well deserved vacation in the Southern Caribbean. =)

Tonight marked the transition of me stepping down from my position with the circle and moving my "replacement" into that spot. I think the ritual went well... Essentially, everyone showed up and was brought in half way through a ritual already in progress. My replacement and I began our work at 6:30, which consisted of setting up, talking over everything, casting the circle, and spending some quality time in meditation with the elements and the Divine. The meditation was much needed and provided some great insight and triumph, as well as strength and guidance to both of us... not to mention one hell of an endorsement by Gaia and Cernunnos for Bill! Once everyone was brought in, I took about 10 minutes to thank everyone for coming even though they had no idea what was going on, and then to explain that my time with the circle had come to an end and that it was now Bill's turn to take on the leadership role and help the circle and its members continue to thrive and grow. After I finished speaking, Bill said his few words and then he made his oath to me, as well as the circle that he would do right by them, etc. When all was said and done, I had him cut me out of the circle, and after I crossed the threshold, I bowed to everyone, told them I loved them, then I turned around and left without looking back. Oddly, it was easy to not look back. I came home and sent out a quick email to everyone, since not all of our members were able to be there tonight, and now I'm sitting here typing this.

I suppose I will go make some nice pumpkin spice tea and go treat myself to some nice book time.

Love and blessings to you all!

With the End of August comes...

The first real feel of fall.

The weather in Idaho is fickle at the best of times, and this summer has boasted well above the normal high for several weeks... staying in the high 90's to low 100's consistently. Today though... Today was beautiful. I awoke to a crisp breeze in the air- the North-Western Winds are making their presence known, and with them comes the feel of fall and the inner knowing that before too much longer it will be time to take to wearing jeans and long shirts and hoodies when setting out, while watching the beauty of the leaves as they turn and gentle way in which Gaia begins to to settle into the quiet hush of early darkness and preparation for the winter ahead. While packing away my summer things makes me sad, as I know with it comes the bitter cold of this area, I must confess that I look forward to the subtle change of fall and starting the morning out cool with a gradual warming to a comfortable level instead of a searing heat.

How is it where everyone else is at?

Don't worry, by Yule I'll be bitching about the cold and bitter wind storms we get and praying for the searing heat again. =)

The Simple Magics

While I have many things to write about, I would like to tell you a story of some simple magic that happened this past weekend....

My house is currently under going a face lift.. the entire fence is being replaced. With having four dogs, that ensures a lot of walks. Over the weekend, my hubby and I would each take a dog and walk them, and Jaelynn, to the grassy ball park just down the road. Three sides of it are fenced in, so we can take them down to the far end and let them off the leash to run. On our way, Jae likes to pick a small flower to play with. On this particular trip, she decided to leave the flower for Gaia as we left the park to go home. She very deliberately put the flower in the grass and left it there. Later that afternoon, when we took the first round of dogs back to the park, we stepped into the park to discover that there were wild patches of flowers everywhere! As we had been using the park routinely for sometime, I can say with certainty that there had never been flowers there before. EVER. I can't even begin to tell you how thrilled Jaelynn was that all her flowers were there. I told her that Gaia must have loved her gift and decided that the park needed more flowers. Every time we've gone back since, there have been flowers there for Jae to play with. And every time we go, she picks two... one for her altar and one to leave at the base of the tree she likes at the park.

Let us never forget the beauty of simple magic...

Jaelynn's Goddess Candle

Last night, as I was tucking my daughter in and turning out the lights, she started talking about the goddess keeping her safe and warm. This is a normal conversation we have every night at bed time, and typically she rambles on in half "adult" language and half mutterings that I don't understand. Last night though, as she was talking, she looking at me and plainly said, "I want a goddess candle". I figured, ok, that's understandable, as we have several goddess candles throughout he house. So, I told her we could make one after school and nap time tomorrow (which is today). However, he next statement totally and completely caught me off guard. She said, "Candle for Gaia". Please insert my jaw dropping silence here. While we honor every goddess in our home, typically when we say our night time prayers or talk about the goddess we either call her "goddess", "mother", or we use the names of Isis, Kuan Yin, and Ostara. Gaia is not one that, in conscious memory, I can recall telling her. So, I told her that yes, Gaia would keep her safe and warm while she slept, then I dropped it and it went downstairs so she could go to sleep. This afternoon comes and I ask Jae what color she wants her candle. Without hesitation she says, "WHITE!" Totally doable. Then I ask if she wants any other colors... next, "PURPLE!" Fantastic! Before we get started, the kiddo says she has to go pee-pee, so we go and sit on the potty... While she's sitting there, she suddenly looks at me and says, "Goddess candle white, purple AND green!" Well, alrighty then. When she was done, she got to pick her own jar for the candle, as well as the order of the colors. Here is our photo documentation.. =)

Getting ready....

First Layer, White, is in!

Helping mommy stir the wax...

Pouring the Purple layer!

Smelling her candle...

Pouring the Green layer!

And the Finished (almost- minus the wick) Gaia candle!!