Once again

Once again it’s been ages since my last post. Seems this is the way this year will be I’m afraid. In this case its darn ear infections keeping me distracted, so bad I am now referred to the ENT so maybe they can come up with an answer!

I didn’t get around to posting any photos from our Beltane celebrations. A lovely weekend as ever filled with fun and friends, plus the Fella came over for it and we had a lovely few days for His first Beltane.

Am also sorting out a summer fayre for Littleuns School, the first it’s had for years. A few of the staff and other mums are helping too which is great, lots of ideas and fun but trying to get it all pulled together is taking time. Still think my favourite idea at the moment is the scarecrow corner: each class is to make a scarecrow and the best wins. We have also been up at the school showing the reception year how to grow and care for runner beans and sunflowers. Was lovely to see the enthusiasm for it from them, lots of questions and they look after them every day too. Fingers crossed that the flowers develop into beans for them.

So as you can tell its busy here, not having much chance to sit at desk and write blog posts, but as my old school teachers used to say, will try harder…

Blessed Beltane Everyone

Littleun helped put together the altar this year

Well we lit the candles at Sunset and rose before Dawn to welcome in the Sunrise and what a beautiful one it was too. Last year was soaking wet, really really horrible so it was lovely this year to feel the warmth as we stepped out to join the others.

Met with friends old and new as the Morris sides danced in the dawn. Sadly not sure where the drummers were, maybe a pint too many at Sunset?! However we are off for some drumming this afternoon so no doubt will find out then.

Blessed Beltane to you all and hope you have as fantastic day as we are having.

7 weeks to go

Ok I know we have Ostara/Eostre first yet to come but for this house there are two main events in our nearby community in the year which are very important to us.

The first is Beltane/ Jack in the Green. In 7 weeks we will have the busiest weekend of fun, music and laughter. It’s a great time for friends to catch up, for new friends to join in and for the community as a whole.

The gowns and robes from last years have come back out and alterations are on the way. Littleun is prone to this irritating habit of growing out of things! I am on the hunt for new shoes (well perfect reason to buy some) but seem to be having no luck so far. They need to be green and suitable for dancing as well as long term wear. Fingers crossed something will pop up soon.

This year is promising to have a fantastic lineup with the programme to be found here. Looking forward to the Ceilidh and hoping to get the Fella along to it (He foolishly said He could dance!).

The ivy for our decorations has started is re-growth with vigour recently, so that is looking like a good crop can be had without damaging the main plant. We also planted some wild flowers in a section at the allotment so that I can use them in the head-dresses and there are shoots sprouting through the earth already.

But first there is as said above Ostara/Eostre to come and as that is only around the corner I had better get going with those plans, egg blowing and chocolate making at the ready.

Jack is Slain! (and we're exhausted)

The Spirit of Summer has been released for another year. And the Gods and Goddesses must have been hearing our hopes as the weather although not a scorcher was an awful lot dryer than the previous two days.

(hello from littleun and me!)

An early start to the day as we got ready in our outfits watching the Sun shining, music playing and last year’s film showing on you-tube, before heading down to the meeting area for 9ish. You can feel the atmosphere as you get closer. The excitement as the people walking with you turn from ordinary folk out for an early morning wander to those wearing bright wonderful colours, rags and tatters fluttering in the sea breeze. You get the smiles from those who don’t quite know why you are dressed like this in the beginning but by the time you get nearer and nearer you get the hollers of “bogie” and bright welcomes from those who understand. It’s like a cheerful secret about to be shared, for a day, with the rest of our town.

Whilst waiting for our friends to join us, some from London some from nearer, we wandered around the crowd looking, congratulating and oohing over the wonderful outfits, giants and escorts that are gathering. Ourselves managing to hide at times from long time friends who didn’t recognise us under our masks, making them guess, till Littleun jumped out in playful moods announcing in his way who we were.

Before long we heard the cry, Jack was coming. The procession had started. Friends take their places and on the sides we take our photos, recording for another year the fun. The procession takes several hours to reach the last point. Not because its miles away but to give everyone chance to watch, join in, sup a pint or two. To have impromptu dancing and music, gather and swell the group. Eventually though He gets there. More dancing more music and suddenly He is slain. The crowd rushes to get a bit, to have the luck for the following year. The rest of us, in peaceful contemplation give thought to the Summer now coming, before heading off through the thousands of bikers who hold their May Day rally on the same day, for the round of crazy golf that the kids have been asking to play for several days! (to see more photos click here)

Still Raining, Still Pouring...

But the Old Man? He gave up snoring. Had too with this lot around!

Today was again blooming wet. So much so that the May Queen ceremony and May Pole dancing had to be moved indoors. Still a great time had and a lovely set of children entertaining with their routines.

For the afternoon the brave (mad?) drummers came out for their drum-off and the three sides gave a great, toe tapping, body jiggling set of rhythms for us to enjoy.

PS Would highly recommend not redying hair red when later heading out in the rain, doesn't matter how hard I tried, still got it streaking down my face!

Beltane and Hills and Rain

We should have been sitting on the Hill with friends watching the Dawn's rise, dancing with lovely music and in general having fun. Instead it is raining and I don't have the heart to make Littleun who is so very tired after last nights ceilidh go. He's in bed and I'm sat here having had time for reflection and some meditation with last nights candles lit around me. Hope your celebrations were dryer.

Some of our Beltane Decoration

Last nights Ceilidh

Blessed Beltane.

Not forgotten and YAY!!!!

Hello, I've not forgotten the blog just been absolutely mental getting the last bits and bobs (cloak finally finished last night) sorted out for the weekend. Which finally starts today, yippee!!!! Well it'll start after one last bit of client visits. But the main thing is the weather, despite rotten forecasts the Sun is shining, so fingers crossed it stays that way for the whole weekend.

I'll be poping back every now and then this weekend to share the photos but not promising much written content until I recover (which has got to be Wednesday at the earliest, hehe)!

Blessed Beltane for everyone tomorrow, we will be on the hill welcoming in the new days Sun, hope you all have a great weekend, toodlepips for now...............

A simple Beltane explanation

I bought a lovely jacket from SuSu MaMa last year and ever since have subscribed to her newsletter. Today's one turned up with this lovely simple explanation of what Beltane is. I was going to write a post on it in more detail after a friend asked me about it but thought I'd post this instead as it works much better!

"Spring has now properly sprung and on the 1st of May we celebrate Beltane, one of the great Celtic fire festivals. The word ‘Beltane’ comes from the Gaelic for the month of May. In Irish mythology, the beginning of the summer season started at Beltane when the herds were driven into the open pastures. Great bonfires would mark a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season in the hope of a good harvest later in the year, and were accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from any harm by Otherworldly spirits. Like its seasonal opposite, the festival of Samhain, Beltane was also a time when the Otherworld was seen as particularly close at hand. Sources from around the 10th century state that the Druids of the community would create need-fires on top of a hill and drive the village's cattle through the fires to purify them and bring luck. Boughs of juniper were sometimes thrown on the fires to add an additional element of purification and blessing to the smoke. People would also pass between the two fires to purify themselves. If a man was planning a long journey or dangerous undertaking, he would leap backwards and forwards trice through the fire for luck. As the fire sunk low, girls would jump across it to procure good husbands; pregnant women would step through it to ensure an easy birth, and children were also carried across the smoldering ashes. When the fire died down, the embers were thrown among the sprouting crops to protect them. Each household would carry some embers back to kindle a new fire in their hearth. Beltane was a time of fertility and unbridled merrymaking, when young and old would spend the night making love in the Greenwood. In the morning, they would return to the village bearing huge budding boughs of hawthorn (the may-tree) and other spring flowers with which to bedeck themselves, their families, and their houses. They would process back home, stopping at each house to leave flowers, and enjoy the best of food and drink that the home had to offer. In every village, the maypole—usually a birch or ash pole—was raised, and dancing and feasting began. Festivities were led by the May Queen and her consort, the King who was sometimes Jack-in-the-Green, or the Green Man, the old god of the wildwood. They were borne in state through the village in a cart covered with flowers and enthroned in a leafy arbour as the divine couple whose unity symbolized the sacred marriage of earth and sun."

Stained glass Greenman

I love the way light plays on glass but am incapable of making stained glass as its such a tricky thing for a beginner like me. So baring that in mind and knowing Littleuns joy of all things Greenman I set of to come up with an alternative. This is it: A tissue paper “glass” which has a similar affect but is so much safer to do and Littleun can join in.

If you want to do one then you will need:

A2 size white card
Craft knife
Green tissues or cellophanes
Glue
Marker pen

Cut the card into 2 equal halves. Draw your Greenman design on one. Attach with clips the second bit of card behind the first.

Using the craft knife cut out areas inside the marked lines so that you can still see the lines clearly (will look a bit like the lead in a window after).

Remove second card when all cut out, turn the marked one over and start to glue the different bits of tissue/cellophane in place. When finished glue the backing card on.

Turn it over and trace the lines so that when you look at the Greenman from either side you will see the pattern. Hang where you will catch the light.

Making your own Greenman

Littleun loves images of the Greenman and as Beltane isn’t far off we thought we give a go at making our own. All we used was some air drying clay, strong florist wire, leaf-shape cutter and different paints.

Roll out a circle of clay, press down to form base, leaving it to look like a mini hill. Pinch middle into a nose shape and eyebrows. With pencil make two small holes for the eyes, a mouth and nostrils.

Push the small bit of wire into the back to form a hoop which, when dry, you can hang the Greenman with.

Take leaf cutter and cut out leaves. Place leaves around the face in a pattern you like, attach using water and pressure.

When happy leave to dry for at least 48 hours.

Mix paints to form the shades of green you like and paint. Again leave to dry. When finished hang where-ever you like.

Littleun Beltane Outfit

Ok so I've finally finished Littleuns outfit and with just 3 weeks to go I'm desperately getting on with my own. I have had a lot of friends say thay will be coming to this years Jack in The Green and that it is their first time ever, so fingers crossed the Sun will be shining and everyone has a great time, although where I am going to put them all up I'm not sure!

Maypoles, Weaving & Beltane

What connection is there with maypoles in the UK and Beltane? Well that depends on your point of view. The idea of a maypole is to have ribbons attached to the top and children holding them at the bottom dance in a pattern that weaves the ribbons around the pole. So is this pagan? The symbolism is certainly phallic and as we all know Beltane is the celebration of fertility.

Over the years they have been banned as "a Heathenish vanity, generally abused to superstition and wickedness." by those lovely puritans (they really didn’t know how to have fun!). In the countryside, may dances and maypoles appeared sporadically even during the Interregnum, but the practice was revived substantially and joyously after the Restoration. By the 19th century, the maypole had been subsumed into the symbols of "Merry England". The addition of intertwining ribbons seems to have been influenced by a combination of 19th century theatrical fashion and visionary individuals such as John Ruskin in the 19th century. Pairs of boys and girls stand alternately around the base of the pole, each holding the end of a ribbon. They weave in and around each other, boys going one way and girls going the other and the ribbons are woven together around the pole until the merry-makers meet at the base.

The weaving is also something some pagans do in order to bind male and female as fertility ideals or as meditation process, it’s very calming! So are the ribbons just pretty Italianise symbols the Victorians added or is there another meaning?

Regardless of whether it is Pagan the maypole is an important part of the celebrations for many villages and towns. Ours will be on the Sunday together with the crowning of the May Queen and Garland competition. And if like me you haven’t got a garden that’ll take your own maypole you could always make a small version for your altar:

For this simple craft project, you'll need the following:
· A 1" thick dowel rod, about a foot long
· A wooden circle, about 4" in diameter
· Pieces of ribbon in various colours, about 2 feet long each
· A hot glue gun
Use the hot glue gun to attach the dowel rod to the centre of the wooden circle. Once the glue has dried, you can stain or paint the wood if you choose. Attach the centre of each ribbon to the top of the dowel rod, as shown in Figure 1. Weave as desired. (about.com)

Use the Maypole as a centrepiece on your altar. You can braid the ribbons as a meditation tool, or include it in ritual. Optional: add a small floral crown around the bottom to represent the feminine fertility of the Sabbat.

The Countdown has begun

I promise I'll not mention it too often but I am getting a little bit excited as its not long now till the best weekend of the year for this little household. The Jack in the Green weekend was revived in its current format 27 years ago and is a weekend of Morris Dance, music and fun before on the Monday the main event of Jack being released.

There are various characters in the parade:

The Jack; the centrepiece of the celebrations Jack-in-the-green is a traditional May Day figure. He may be a garland that has expanded in size dating from the 17th century but to others He is also a representation of The Green Man in his various forms.

The Bogies and Black Sal; The bogies are Jacks protectors, staying with him till the end ensuring his safety and "greening" anyone on the way. Sal is Jacks consort and also stays with Him till the end.

The Sweeps; Possibly the reason that the Jack started as he currently looks, the sweeps made the garland that eventually grew in size to cover a whole man.

The Giants; They have become part of the festival over the years celebrating a history of gianting through out Europe and representing various characters such as Herne and Andred.

Morris sides; Mad Jacks (responsible for this revival), Hannah's Cat and visiting sides show off their talents throughout the weekend before joining in the parade.

Rhythm Sections: And lastly the Drummers. Different groups, Section5, Pentacle Drummers, Rumpledrumskin and Sambalanco add the toe taping, body moving beats that will rumble throughout the town for the weekend. Various drummers have in past years helped welcome in the Dawn on Beltane plus a Drum Off on the Sunday.

Throughout the weekend there is a lot of music and dance. If anyone is interested in seeing the programme then visit the Jack-in-the-Green site for the list.

30 days to go! yippee, now best get on with finishing the costumes...

The Ceremony of May

The day has arrived and rather like a small child I was skipping through the older part of our town on the way to pick up a treasure that I’ve been eagerly waiting the last month for. And having just played it beginning to end it was worth the wait. What was the treasure? Well it’s the latest CD from the Blakeley family.

A family of musicians and poets they have combined their efforts in order to put the lovely poems and verse written by Rose Blakeley to music arranged and written by Garry Blakeley. Their son not to be left out has added his part with additional instruments. As the album title states it’s all about May and the ceremony surrounding that great day Beltane and the folk customs that have arisen from May Day in particular those in our town.

A mixture of dancing tunes, songs and spoken word & decorated with artwork by Rose the whole album awakens the memories I have of the fun we have for that weekend. Pictures of us welcoming in the Sun, the drum-off’s and music everywhere you turn, the Bogies chasing people to “green” them and the Jack dancing through the streets on His way to the castle. Oh how I do enjoy our Jack celebrations, and this album just is the cherry on the top. A job well done, hats off to you all.

Now for the winner of my giveaway you’ll be able to hear this for yourself as I’ve brought an extra copy to add into the Greenman gifts, but for the rest of you please do go visit the website, have a listen and hopefully you’ll like it (and the book) as much as I do and will get yourselves a copy!

50 Lovely folk and my first giveaway!

So to celebrate the fact that there are at least 50 of you lovely folk who have decided to read my Ramblings, I am having my first ever giveaway.

Based on the Greenman and with Beltane not far off now, I have some little things that you might like. Firstly, one of our handmade Greenman masks, nice and comfortable to wear or to just glance at every now and then.

Then we have a Coffee Mug and matching fridge magnet and finally a Greenman Himself.

To Enter the Giveaway:

• Anyone who is a follower of this blog can enter by commenting below. You must be a follower to enter (see sidebar).

• Receive 1 extra entry if you have my button on your blog. Please include a link to your blog in your comment entry below

• Receive another extra entry if you post about this giveaway in your blog and link it back to here. Please include a link to your post in your comment entry below.

You can leave all the links in one comment, no need for individual comments. If your blogger profile is set to private, I will be unable to find your blog or email via your profile. If you don't leave an email address in your comments, and your profile is private, the entries do not count.

International followers, please do enter, happy to post/send this anywhere!

Winner will be drawn randomly from the hat, by Littleun, on the 31st March 2010. Good luck...

My Beltane Dress

Can't wait till May....

Beltane Jacket finished!

Yes yes I know, still ages off but I just wanted to show you the finished article. Beltane is the biggest festival here for us as the nearest town goes bonkers and takes over the May bank holiday weekend. We have joined in over the last few years but on the edge kind of watching more. This year we are meeting up with friends and hoping to be part of the parade so I have been making suitable clothing for Littleun.

Please ignore the wine in the background (hick!)

Last years Jack in The Green

Our Imbolc Fun days

I’ve had fun these last few days where I have been able to pay complete attention for once to Littleun. We’ve done so much. Gone to the park to feed the birds, turned out the squirrels were hungry too, made our Imbolc crown for Littleun to wear and the one for our altar, made Imbolc snowflake biscuits so we could test that they worked (my excuse anyhow) and Littleun came up with an idea that was all his own work. Whilst moving the biscuits I asked him why he was breaking them in half, his reply and I kid you not was “to let winter go mummy” the thought apparently was that if he broke the biscuits then winter would be free for spring to come. Think he might be taking in what I tell him more than I give him credit for! We’ve even got a little ahead of ourselves and made his Beltane mask, just couldn’t resist trying out the ideas on The Cauldrons site.

I’ve now started on preparing the food for our Imbolc feast. We are having simple but homely fare, Roast leg of Mutton with winter vegetables, Crepe suzette with homemade ice cream, cheese and Littleuns biscuits for later plus non-alcoholic mead.

Non-alcoholic Mead

4 cups spring water

1 cup honey
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 lemon, sliced
1 orange, sliced

Bring the water, honey, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon to a boil in a non-metallic pan. Stir until honey is dissolved; heaviness should disappear from bottom of the pan. Use wooden spoon to skim off skin that forms at top of brew. Add lemon and orange slices, squeezing as they are placed in the pan. Cool completely; strain. Store in bottle in refrigerator.

Beltane Clothing

Yes I know we’ve only just passed Yule and here I am posting about Beltane. There is a reason though. Beltane has got to be the Sabbat I feel connected to the most. We have a big festival in a nearby town and we spend the whole weekend celebrating.

With this in mind I have already started on Littleuns clothing and have a gown forming for myself. The materials have been salvaged from old garments, curtains in fact any material I have found. For the parade I am making Littleun a waistcoat which has the Green man on the back and for the opening Ceilidh I’ve found a lovely pixie green jacket from a company based further along the coast. Now I just have to suss out how to make the trousers. Each attempt so far has meant he either will have to walk like he has one leg much shorter than the other or in one case just hop, sack-race style!

Anyway here’s my unfinished attempt, what do you think?

What Path am I on?

For a long while now I have been reading and researching anything I could get my hands on. My ancestry is Irish so I was naturally drawn to the Celtic Path but thought it best to read about as many as I possibly could. One thing I have come to the conclusion of is that I am a solidarity pagan. It’s not that I don’t like others or want to hide away but more that in the area I live in most are solidarity and there isn’t a group or Coven nearby. Friends get together and we will at certain times take turns at our feasts/celebrations to lead any rituals but in general I go it alone. Plus at certain times of the wheel the locals go for it with massive celebrations, particularly at Beltane and Lammas/Lughnasadh and Littleun and I definitely join in with these.

I have read over the years about most faiths and beliefs, often drawn to the Egyptian pantheon and on occasion the Greek, but still can’t settle on one path. I know that this is the life I want and that like most things if it is worth doing then you will no doubt get tested but I feel a little frustrated that I still can’t seem to see clearly. I often feel lost, but then something will make me smile and seem to nudge me the right way forwards and more often than not it’s something involving Cernunnos / Green Man. Will I ever know the answers or is the nature of my Path to always be questioning?...