EarthLove

Sharing Songs of Earth and Sky

Halfway to Spring

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shhh, listen
seeds are stirring
in the belly
of the mother.

the sacred wheel 
turns toward spring
life is awakening 
in the body of her.

~Nancy Lankston

🌱

Can you hear it?? Magic is afoot, running just beneath the surface. The seeds are stirring!

For months, Mama Earth has held the seeds of spring safe within her soil body. Then, as the wheel of the year slowly turns towards spring in early February, the seeds begin to stir and reawaken. Imbolc* has quietly arrived.

Celtic tales speak of the Cailleach — the divine hag Goddess who rules over winter and death. The Cailleach is the anncient Earth Mother Goddess in her bare winter crone form. She is is also known as the Bone Mother who is said to collect the bones of the animals that die in the winter. Bone Mother sings and prays over the bones of the animals all winter long. She does this out of love, so that the animals will cross over and return as new life in the spring.

On Imbolc, the Cailleach gathers firewood for the rest of the winter. If the Cailleach wishes to make winter last a lot longer, she will make sure that the weather on Imbolc is bright and sunny, so she can gather plenty of firewood. But, if Imbolc is a day of foul weather, it means that the Cailleach is asleep and winter is almost over.

Spring is on its way.
Offer up a prayer of gratitude
in honor of
the dance of Earth and Sun.

🌱🌱🌱

*Imbolc is an old Irish word that means “in the belly”. It honors the pregnant ewes carrying new life in their wombs at this time of year. Imbolc is traditionally celebrated at the halfway point between winter solstice and spring equinox.

Image by Nancy Lankston

The In-Between – Samhain

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Originally published in November2016.

There are special in-between times in life that are filled with power.  Twilight is such a time, as is dawn. Those magical moments in each day when it is neither day nor night…  Birth is also an in-between time, as is death. Each of these in-between times marks a border, a space of transition. They are special times when the ancients believed magic is likely to occur.

Here in the northern hemisphere, we find ourselves on the boundary between autumn and winter. This is yet another potent in-between time. As the sunlight fades away and our nights begin to lengthen, the ancient Celtic people celebrated Samhain (Sow-in).  Some tribes celebrated Samhain at the 1st new moon after late harvest (October 25th this year). Other tribes chose to celebrate at the 1st full moon after harvest (November 8th this year).

The Celtic celebration of Samhain was a way to acknowledge and honor the transition out of the light half of the year and into the dark half.  The Celtic people believed that the veils between this world and the next are very thin at Samhain. Those that have departed this Earth are close at Samhain. This made it the perfect time to celebrate the gifts of the ancestors, and to celebrate the endless cycles of birth – growth – death – rebirth that are an integral part of Nature.

In this sacred and magical in-between time, spend a few moments acknowledging and honoring all that has happened in the past year.

Honor everything you have “harvested” this year.

Consider what you hope to “birth” and “grow” in the year ahead.

Bow to your ancestors and thank them for giving you this life.

Offer love and prayers to loved ones who have transitioned.

Thank the light of summer and embrace the dark of winter.

Celebrate the Magic of Samhain.

Divine Feminine, Creator and Mother

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“It’s been said that the Mother 
Earth was the first Indigenous 
Woman. 

After all, she is the original life 
giver. Her blood our fresh water, 
flows like so many veins and 
capillaries, forming rivers and 
tributaries that sustain us. 

We evolved to exist in unison, 
forever linked and connected as 
relations. We are a part of her, 
star-dust children of the Sky and 
Earth. 

She is the Divine Feminine, 
Creator, and Mother. 
There is no humanity without 
her.”

~Ruth H Hopkin

A World Without Butterflies

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Wikimedia image

‘I do not want to live in a world without butterflies.
Without the intricate eyes and velvety wings,
graceful splashes of color dancing on the breeze.
Airy, delicate keepers of hope.
Metamorphic symbols of change, growth, maturation.

… I do not want this world without the butterflies.
I could not bear the wailing of flowers.’

~Christina M. Ward,
‘A World Without Butterflies’

Lost

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Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
are not lost. Where you are is called Here,
and you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No two trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
you are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
where you are. You must let it find you.

–David Wagoner,
Collected Poems, 1976

🌎♥️

image: Wheelhouse
by NancyL