As Lughnassad approaches, I am excited to harvest my favorite fruit for mead making: wild plums. The fruit heavily loads down the branches of a tree behind my house as I wait in anticipation until they have ripened to sweet perfection. Which is perfect timing for giving thanks at the first harvest festival feast, and …
The Wiccan holiday of Lammas is upon us, so let’s decide what to sing! Lammas is the first of the three harvest festivals celebrated by modern pagans and Goddess worshipers. Lammas is also called Lughnassad, for the Celtic god Lugh. It’s the festival of the first harvest, as Mabon (fall equinox) is the second harvest …
“It’s Summertime, Summertime, Sum-Sum-Summertime…” We have traveled halfway around the Wheel from Yule , and the Sun stands still once again. We experience the longest day, the shortest night, the brightness and the fullness of the start of our season of summer. We celebrate the life-giving, life-affirming, life-abundant time of growth, both within and without. …
The days are growing longer and hotter as we arrive at the longest day of the year. The natural world is busy and bright with bees collecting the succulent nectar of flowers. The Crow Women have a number of songs to honor the Summer Solstice including Suncycle on Crow Magic, which I love to listen …
I’ve always been leery about religious or spiritual types who are unwilling to occasionally poke fun at their own beliefs and practices. As Witches/Wiccans, we have a lot of stereotypes to satirize, thanks to Halloween, such as the old hag with green skin and a big wart on her long hooked nose. Like you, I …
And the wheel turns to springand the wheel turns to spring… I got to hear that Crow song (Dance of Spring) frequently over the past year. It took a lot of rehearsal. Of course my human Mom would prance around the house singing “And the bunny turns to spring!” because she is ridiculous and likes to insert …
This post is dedicated to my crowsister Donna Pauline. Remembering you, the magic and the love. -“The Other Dona” Sister Dearest, I was thinking of you and our walks along the river path. Walking, talking, sharing secrets. And singing, of course. Singing the tunes we sang with our CrowSisters. The Crow Women had developed a …
I wrote the first couple of verses of Beltane Spirits Come to Us several years ago. Actually, they were what are now the last two verses. Sometimes I’ll start on a song and get a couple verses, then it sits for months until I get motivated to write more verses. That’s what happened here. …
Beltane is one of my favorite holidays. By May 1st springtime has really arrived, the flowers are bursting forth and joyful sexy energy is upon us. The symbolism of the Maypole being placed in the earth and sheathed by ribbons, while being a fun and joyful ritual in its own right, is also a symbolic …
There’s nothing like the full moon to make a witch feel inspired! I was tasked with writing these song notes a whole moon ago. This song, At Lammas, is a Great Work. Quite a bit of magic went into getting this one onto our latest album, Seasons: A Pagan Journey Around the Wheel. Back in …
