Excerpt from Women’s Rites, Women’s Mysteries by Ruth Barrett 2004
Summer Solstice marks the peak of the solar cycle. In the midst of the longest day of the year, we simultaneously begin our return to the dark half of the year. Summer Solstice is active: it’s about doing and expanding, living the dream envisioned in the dreamtime of Winter. The Earth is fertile, and the womb of the Earth Mother grows ripe with Life. In the mythic cycle of the Goddess, the Maiden Goddess experiences the joy of union with Her creative, sexual, sensual Self and begins to manifest Her creations. Thus, this holiday begins the Maiden Goddess’s transition to the cycle of the Mother Goddess as Maker/Creatrix. Honor and celebrate the many ways you manifest the creativity in your life. Regardless of whether a woman physically gives birth, she becomes “Mother” when she nurtures, sustains and protects life, human or other species, through her life’s work and activism. Where is your passionate energy focused in your life? How do you feed your creative fire? How are you a “Mother/ Maker/ Creatrix”? How do you nurture, sustain and protect your creations?
An Invocation for Summer
Fireflies and Summer Sun, In circles round we become as one. Singing songs at magic’s hour We bring the winds and timeless power. Turning inward, hand to hand We dance the hearth to heal the land. Standing sacred beneath the Sky We catch the fire from out it’s eye Swaying breathless beside the sea We call the Goddess,
so Mote it be!
Garden Creation By Teralyn
Last weekend we finished up with planting the gardens. Harvesting began as well of produce from the first seeds planted over a month ago. Our family’s combined efforts have produced an amazing creation.
Almost all of our plants we started from heirloom seeds in our makeshift greenroom.
The greenroom is a partitioned off area of the workshop. We use a huge tarp that is hung from ceiling to floor. It Works! We kept the greenroom warm enough for seed germination by heating with a wood stove.
Beginning with the cutting and gathering of enough wood to burn in the wood stove to the harvesting and canning of the produce...with passionate and focused energy we create our gardens phase by phase. We envisioned the gardens while choosing and purchasing the seeds. We nurtured our dream garden with diligence in the care and maintenance of the seedling plants. While we watched them grow, they transformed our greenroom into a green and healthy jungle. It helped us to stay focused on our vision.
With the harvesting of spinach and an Italian Lettuce Blend last weekend, our vision manifested with a wilted lettuce side dish. What better way to honor and celebrate our Earth Mother this Summer Solstice.
Quick & Easy Wilted Lettuce
Chop up 1/2# Bacon. Cook till Crispy.
Pour off most of the grease.
Add 1 bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing and bring to a simmer.
Slowly pour bacon/dressing mixture over a large bowl of clean leaf lettuce.
Toss lettuce as you pour and add the dressing. Serve immediately.
W E A R E T H E W E A V E R S W E A R E T H E W E B
SUGGESTED MANTRA: RENEWAL Goddess of the dark moon, brave and unwavering, Inanna ventures into the underworld. She teaches us to stand firm, eyes focuses on the end true goal, ultimately leading us to a state of wisdom.
SUGGESTED AFFIRMATIONS:
~ Negative influences have made me stronger ~ My new life path reveals itself to me ~ I say goodbye to destructive influences ~ I release my insecurity ~ I release myself from harmful judgments
Related gemstones: Carnelian, coral, agate, brown jaspar (orange stones)
Inanna is the Sumerian goddess, honoured at the dark moon, as it is she who fixes destinies at each new moon. Inanna's journey into the underworld and subsequent revitalization represents the soul's evolution through hardship into glorious renewal.
In her quest for clarity and knowledge, Inanna Queen of Heaven and Earth descended to Earth to rule her people, where (so that her people would not know hunger) she made a sacred marriage to ensure the fertility of the lands. She thirsted to understand first-hand though, the true sufferings of her followers, so she descended again, this time to the realm of the underworld, the domain of her sister Ereshkigal.
Ereshkigal only allowed Inanna entry on the condition that she shed her earthly attachments at each of seven gates to the underworld. So, at each gate, Inanna surrendered some part of what she thought made up herself: wealth, power, tributes. By the time she relinquished her final garment, she was no longer the commanding Queen, and, exposed and vulnerable, she was ready to die.
However, it was only when she was near death and at her most vulnerable did she discover new life and increased powers. She finally learned first-hand to accept her vulnerability, as well as the understanding of the necessity of sacrifice and death for the cycles of life to continue. These revelations increased her power, beauty and wisdom.
HER MODERN ENERGY: If you are repeating old habits, ask Inanna to help you shed your layers that keep you trapped. Open yourself to a journey to the underworld where you can let go of old conditioning, release inhibitions, let alter-egos die, shed the burdens you carry... all to create anew - it is only by becoming aware of our vulnerabilities that we can rise up with strength gained from knowledge and understanding.
DO THIS: Undress slowly in front of a mirror and with every bit of clothing you shed, call it by the name of a negative element in your life. Say good-bye to that negative element as you drop (or throw!) the clothing to the floor until you are standing naked.
Do it to music that will help keep you in the "now" - do not let yourself get distracted as you focus on what the elements are that you are shedding. Can you see your next steps, where you need to go, what you need to do? Give yourself a hug, and get ready for the journey back to strength and renewal - Inanna is with you to help you stay focused and unwavering on your goal. (Tip, do not get dressed again in the clothes you just shed - put them in the washing machine on "super wash"! And, try not to wear them again in the same combination).
Love and light,
~ Anita ~
www.goddess.com.au
Herbal Musings
Medicine Wheels
Excerpts forwarded by Wyldrose
We need to live on our Earth Mother in balance and with reverence towards all life. We need to tap into her creative abilities and power by aligning with her, loving her, and revering her. We must ensure that she can give us life, strength, and energy to grow and change as well as sustain future life. Mother can grant us serenity, balance and nurturance through creative and dynamic rituals that touch our personal visions and subconscious minds. We can use circle rituals, chants, visualizations, meditations, and speaking to her where she resides, in our own hearts.
Nature Spirituality holds some sacred concepts regarding the Circle, Time, Space and Medicine Power. The Sacred Circle or Medicine Wheel is common to all earth religions where ancient symbols are combined with ceremonial elements to create a circle.
The sacred circle is; * An entrance place to the spiritual world;
* Power is raised to heal and transform for the good of all life;
* A way to get in touch with the forces of nature and our own higher selves; * Life affirming, positive prayers are said; * A symbol of perfection, wholeness, endlessness, unity, completion, the flow of life, healing, wholeness; * A symbol for the cycles of the sun, moon, seasons, time, timelessness, of life-death-rebirth;
* A symbol from it's roundness, fullness, and abundance, our planet, the Mother Earth or Divine Mother; * A means to contain, intensify, and direct the energy raised within it.
Medicine Wheel GODDESS MEDITATION
Entering, say: "I am entering the stillness before creation. I am entering the ground of the Goddess. May my body be still. May my mind be peaceful. May my heart be ready. May all that I realize today benefit all creation."
Exiting, say: "I return from the stillness before creation, I return from ground of the Goddess, May my body be wakeful, May my mind be alert. May my heart be open. May all I have realized benefit all creation."
Astrology 101
www.astrology.com
Now Enters The Month Of Cancer According to most Sun-sign guides, Cancers are famous for one thing: their love of home and family. In fact, they're often portrayed as being fond of nothing else. That, however, is an extremely nearsighted description. While it's true that Cancers have an innate loyalty toward their roots, especially toward the people and places who shape their memories, there's a lot more to them than just where they've come from. They're also concerned with where they're going, and with finding the safest way to get there. So when dear ones are involved, a Cancer will spare nothing to ensure that they're not exposed to any danger on any level. They can even be a bit too protective at times, so much so that they need to be careful of a tendency to be an 'enabler.'
The one trait that's not usually mentioned under Cancer's list of qualities, however, is the one that's the most important to them: privacy. Their symbol is the crab, after all, which is so fond of privacy that she carries a shell on her back to retreat into at any time.
When it comes to relationships, there's absolutely nothing Cancers won't do for a loved one -- absolutely nothing. They're capable of very deep feelings and, in romantic relationships, that can often mean they're easy prey, so they need to be careful in matters of the heart.
As parents, they offer an endless supply of nurturing -- even if it's aimed toward animals, plants or other people's kids. They have a knack for taking good care of anyone or anything that needs them. Cancers make the world a better, kinder place!
Mercury In Retrograde
June 15-July 9 2007
Mercury retrograde begins at 12 degrees of Cancer
Cancer is ruled by the Moon, your 4th house and represents home/hearth issues. When Mercury goes retrograde in the sign Cancer, it may bring up issues of security- feeling secure. Cancer represents the water energy of the Oceans, a mother’s love. Do I feel safe expressing my truth to you? Is my home environment safe? Mercury retrograding in Cancer may bring up old issues regarding your mother.
Shamanic journey for Mercury retrograde in Cancer
Put on your drumming CD and headset, ask to be taken to your shamanic teacher or power animal. Ask to be shown your relationship to water at this time in your life. Merge with the element of water- what message does water have to share with you? Is there a pressing problem you need help or support with? Give that lovingly to the water. Journeys unfold like conscious dreams…there is a message. Watch for signs and omens the next 10 days.
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Lemon Balm
Lemon balm is an attractive herb with yellow or variegated leaves smelling strongly of lemons. It is a great addition to any garden since it is very attractive to bees. A tea made from the leaves is said to relieve tiredness, sooth headaches, and calm nerves.
Culinary Uses
Use fresh leaves in salads and as a garnish for fish and other dishes. When candied, the leaves make attractive cake decorations. Chopped leaves can be added to fish and chicken dishes and sprinkled over fresh vegetables. Add the leaves to cooked dishes in the last few minutes. They can also be added to summer drinks and fruit salads, and make a good substitute for lemon peel in recipes. Make refreshing pesto made the leaves, Olive Oil, parmesan cheese and pumpkins seeds. Serve on crackers or add to cold pasta for a summer salad.
Medicinal Use
Lemon balm is traditionally used to restore nerves. It helps relieve anxiety attacks, palpitations with nausea, mild insomnia and phobias. It combines well with peppermint to stimulate circulation, and can also be used for colds and flu.
Other Uses An infusion of leaves makes a refreshing skin toner and can be used in rinse water for clothes. A stronger infusion makes a good rinse for oily hair. Use as a facial steam for dry skin. Dried leaves add a lemony scent to Potpourris.
Places of Power
by Wyldkat
www.wicca.com
Have you noticed that certain places just "feel" better than others and that others make you "feel" uncomfortable? This is because the energy in certain areas has a more harmonious, or positive, reaction with people and the energy in other places can have a negative reaction with people. These effects come from the rocks and earth of the area.
People can effect the energy levels of the area around them (this is easily noticed during spell work or rituals). If people feel enough negativity in one place the area itself starts to feel bad and the same holds true if people feel enough positive emotion in one area, it will slowly become positively charged. Churches and places of worship are good examples of this. I had the opportunity to visit a concentration camp in what used to be East Germany a few years ago. I could feel the negative energy of the place even as we were driving up to it and that was without even trying. Cleansing an area with sage can often clear negativity, especially if the negativity centers in a room in your home. It isn't quite that easy to cleanse a place such as a large metropolitan area, for example.
Certain areas can have tremendous energy to them. You can often tell when you have found one by a tingling feeling in your hands, feet or face. A few famous examples are Stonehenge and the pyramids, but there are many more places, both large and small, that hold tremendous power. There are many small areas of energy all around, even in your own home. Certain places can be beneficial to all, some just to certain people. Animals and plants are very aware of these power places and will either flock to them or avoid them depending on the types of energies there. These places can magnify your emotions, so be aware of how you are feeling before you visit one. They are also known to balance, energize and heal. However, there are also many places that have the opposite effects, so be careful. What is a good place for one person may not be so for another.
To find a place of power relax, close your eyes, ask your guide to help you and feel for one. Try to sense it either as a sensation on one side of your body or as a glow that you see as you look around with your eyes closed. Open your eyes and move towards the area you sensed the energy from. Repeat this until you find one, i.e. the sensation or glow is all around you. Ask your guide if this is a good place for you or if you should keep searching. If you should keep searching repeat the original steps, but look for a different spot than the one you already found. If it is the right spot for you ask the Earth to let you use the spot and thank her when you are done. Always greet her when you visit it. It is best to do this exercise outside in natural surroundings. If you can do it blindfolded and just feel your way to the spot that would be best. If you do try it blindfolded, have someone you trust with you to keep you from breaking something or falling off a cliff.
Try journeying form the spot you have found and from where you normally work from and feel the difference. You can also try journeying form different areas in you home. Some may have better energy for you than others.
Even if you cannot physically go to your power place, once you have found it you can still benefit from its energies by visiting there in the spirit world or by visualizing it in your mind. Make it a practice to do this until you become comfortable with it. Then when you need a boost your place of power will be a thought away.
You can also create your own place of power that can be used for rituals and journeys. Sites such as these are sometimes called Medicine Wheels. Pick a place that is outdoors if possible, basically flat, and feels right. It can even be at a place of power you have searched for if you can find one that will work. Outline a circle of about eight or nine feet in diameter, or whatever size feels best to you (you might want a larger area if it will be for groups) with natural objects such as stones and pine cones. If you use objects that came from plants, use found objects. Refrain from pulling apart a pine tree just to line a ritual circle. It goes against the entire idea. Smudge the area with sage and mark the center with a fire pit or a large stone, or something else that feels right to you. Call upon Earth and Sky as you do this. Place markers such as rocks at the four directions, calling each one as you do. You may also wish to place crystals (two in the center one pointing up, one down, and one at each direction) to amplify the energies. You may also want to place markers at northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest as well. Add whatever other markers or objects you feel necessary.
Of the many issues facing Americans today, few are more important than the quality and safety of our food. Every day, many eat more and more processed, high-calorie foods with little nutritive value, trucked to us from thousands of miles away.
Why? Because those foods are more affordable. And why are they more affordable, considering all the processing, packaging and transportation? Because the companies that produce them receive financial assistance from us in the form of subsidies authorized by the U.S. farm bill. Over the past decade, U.S. citizens paid more than $165 billion in tax dollars to the largest 20 percent of farms, according to the Environmental (http://www.ewg.org/) Working Group. These farms operate on such a massive scale that limited attention can be focused on maximizing the health benefits of their product, and contamination is often unavoidable. (Learn more about subsidies and the unhealthy effects of current U.S. farm policy in Mother Earth News article “How Farm Policy Affects Us All”. At (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock-and-Farming/2007-06-01/How-Farm-Policy-Affects-Us-All.aspx).
The results are clear-those on low and middle income budgets have little choice but to stock up on foods that are typically full of preservatives, high-fructose corn syrup and sodium.
(http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natural-Health/2007-06-01/Avoid-Salt-Reduce-Blood-Pressure.aspx). An obesity epidemic is well underway, and food-borne illness outbreaks make frequent headlines. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome) is funding the foods they advise us to use sparingly (oils and sweets), while leaving fruits and vegetables out even though they recommend five to nine daily servings of those two items combined.
Support for local organic family farms is the key to reversing these unhealthy trends. You'll benefit from fresh, preservative- and chemical-free products, and by shopping close to home, you'll do your part to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide generated by transporting food across the country. (More on the advantages of local food can be found in “Growing Trust” and “How to Find the Best Food”, (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Livestock-and-Farming/2007-06-01/Growing-Trust.aspx), (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Whole-Foods-and-Cooking/2006-08-01/How-to-Find-the-Best-Food.aspx)
As you read this, the House of Representatives, (http://www.house.gov/) is crafting the 2007 farm bill, which will replace the 2002 bill that is set to expire September 30. They are allocating funds and determining how your taxes will be spent, and they need to know that although less than 2 percent of the U.S. population now farms, we all eat and we want healthy food. You can keep an eye on the latest farm bill developments at (www.farmpolicy.com).
Already, funding has been slashed for valuable programs such as the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service. (http://attra.ncat.org/)
Better known as ATTRA, this is an excellent resource that provides sustainable agriculture and organic farming news; events and funding opportunities; and publications on production practices, innovative marketing and organic certification. On June 4, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), chairman of the House, (http://agriculture.house.gov/inside/2007FarmBill.html) Committee on Agriculture, gave his opinion of the 255,000 farmers with 10 acres or less: "They're not real farmers. They're city people."
Want to help? Talk to your representatives. You can find their contact info at (www.house.gov/). Let us know how they respond by posting a comment at; (http://www.motherearthliving.com/issues/motherearthliving/livestock/support-sustainable-farming_459-1.html?show_comments=1#read).
More browsing;
Natural Health (http://www.motherearthliving.com/issues/motherearthliving/natural_health/)
For more information on CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs and Farmer’s Markets in your area call your local Agriculture Extension Service.
