My work is loving the world.
Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird —
equal seekers of sweetness.
Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums.
Here the clam deep in the speckled sand.

Are my boots old? Is my coat torn?
Am I no longer young, and still not half-perfect?
Let me
keep my mind on what matters,
which is my work,

Which is mostly standing still and learning
to be
astonished.
The phoebe, the delphinium.

The sheep in the pasture, and the pasture.
Which is mostly rejoicing, since all ingredients are here,

Which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart
and these body-clothes,
a mouth with which to give shouts of joy
to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,
telling them all, over and over, how it is
that we live forever.

~~ Mary Oliver ~~
(Thirst)

Based on astrological attributions alone, I would associate the SEREN DERWYDD qualities this way.

Sun: Delfrydwr (Idealism)
Moon: Eluseugan (Compassion)
Mars: Ymnellltuaeth (Noncomformity)
Mercury: Dysg (Learning)
Jupiter: Wmbredd (Abundance)
Venus: Rhyddfrydwr (Liberalness)
Saturn: Doethiweb (Wisdom)

Sun: Sunday [literally: Sun day] (French: Dimanche)
Moon: Monday (French: Lundi [literally: Moon day])
Mars: Tuesday (French: Mardi [literally: Mars day])
Mercury: Wednesday (French: Mercredi [literally: Mercury day])
Jupiter: Thursday (French: Jeudi [literally: Jove/Jupiter day])
Venus: Friday (French: Venerdi [literally: Venus day])
Saturn: Saturday [literally: Saturn day] (French: samedi)

Why the Sun for Idealism? People who are idealistic look forward
to a bright future. Why the Moon for Compassion? I hate to
go with social programming here, but compassion is considered
a feminine quality in this society, and mothers tend to be
more compassionate than fathers. Why Mars for Noncomformity?
It takes guts to go against the status quo, and being a war
god, Mars has a lot of guts. Why Mercury for Learning? Mercury
is the planet of the mind. Why Jupiter for Abundance? Jupiter
is the planet of expansion, thus of abundance. Why Venus for
Liberalness? Venus rules Libra, which is the sign of the diplomat.
Venus also rules Taurus, the sign of sensuality. Why Saturn
for Wisdom? The Greek equivalent god is Kronos [literally:
time]. In Greek mythology, Kronos is the father of the Olympian
gods, or at least Zeus who’s the head honcho of them. With
time comes wisdom.

Rethinking of how I would draw the septagram in the air, I
think of how ceremonial magicians and some Wiccans draw the
pentagram in the air. When they’re invoking, they go TOWARDS
the element they want to invoke. The way I would do it with
the septagram, I’d invoke it in the order of days in the week,
starting from Saturn (which I attribute to Wisdom) and end
at Saturn. Here’s the order.

1) Saturn to Sun
2) Sun to Moon
3) Moon to Mars
4) Mars to Mercury
5) Mercury to Jupiter
6) Jupiter to Venus
7) Venus to Saturn (ending back up to the Sun)

I’m thinking the Seren Derwydd would be drawn from the top
point (Sun), down to the bottom right corner point (Moon),
up to the top left corner point (Mars), over and down to the
right side point (Mercury), across to the left side point (Jupiter),
up to the top right corner point (Venus), down to the bottom
left corner point (Saturn), and back up to the top point (Sun).
That would follow the order of the days of the week.

To devoke, I’d start with the Sun and go to Saturn (which is
also the planet of limitations) and so on ending back at
the Sun.

Someone explained once how the pieces of what we are
fall downwards at the same rate
as the Universe.
The atoms of us, falling towards the centre

of whatever everything is. And we don’t see it.
We only sense their slight drag in the lifting hand.
That’s what weight is, that communal process of falling.
Furthermore, these atoms carry hooks, like burrs,

hooks catching like hooks, like clinging to like,
that’s what keeps us from becoming something else,
and why in early love, we sometimes
feel the tug of the heart snagging on another’s heart.

Only the atoms of the soul are perfect spheres
with no means of holding on to the world
or perhaps no need for holding on,
and so they fall through our lives catching

against nothing, like perfect rain,
and in the end, he wrote, mix in that common well of light
at the centre of whatever the suspected
centre is, or might have been.

~~ John Glenday ~~
(Found in an exceptional anthology,
Soul Food: Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds,
ed. by Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson-Pearce)

Grandfather went on to say, “Miguel, all of the drama you suffer in your personal life is the result of believing in lies, mainly about yourself. And the first lie you believe is you are not: You are not the way you should be, you are not good enough, you are not perfect. We are born perfect,
we grow up perfect, and we will die perfect, because only perfection
exists. But the big lie is that you are not perfect, that nobody is perfect. So you start to search for an image of perfection that you can never become…”

You can transform you entire story just by practicing the Four Agreements…

The first agreement, be impeccable with your word, means you never use the power of the word against yourself in the creation of your story…When you believe in lies, you are using the power of the word against yourself. When you believe that nobody likes you, that nobody understands you, that you will never make it, you are using the word against yourself.

Many philosophies around the world have known that lies are a distortion of the word, and some traditions call this distortion evil. I prefer to say that we are using the word against ourselves because we do not call it evil when we judge ourselves and find ourselves guilty. We do not call it evil when we reject ourselves and treat ourselves much worse than the way we treat our pets. When you are impeccable, you never speak against yourself, you have no beliefs that go against yourself, and you never help anybody else to go against you…

Remember, the word is your power because you use the word for the creation of your virtual world. You use the word to create the main character of your story. Every self-opinion, every belief, is made by words: ‘I am smart, I am stupid, I am beautiful, I am ugly.’ This is powerful. But your word is even more powerful because it also represents you when you interact with other dreamers. Every time you speak, your thought becomes sound, your thought becomes the words, and now it can go into other people’s minds. If their minds are fertile for that kind of seed, they eat it, and now that thought lives inside of them, too…

How do you know when you are using the word impeccably? Well, you are happy. You feel good about yourself. You feel love. How do you know when you are using the word against yourself? Well, when you are suffering with envy, with anger, with sadness…”

The Great Rite, though it may seem more Wiccan than Druidic, is nonetheless a beautiful tradition and a wonderful source of reflection for Spring and Beltane.

For me this ancient tradition goes far beyond sex, although a private tryst outside the Circle often occurs in Wiccan Tradition. My life’s path has been paralleled at times by people who have transitioned the genders, whether by dress and demeanor or by surgery. These friends and in some cases loved ones have a special ability to walk between worlds, which some Native American Traditions call Berdache or “Two-Spirit.” In their Tradition these individuals are honored, not reviled. There could be no better personifiers of the Shamanic gifts.

To me, though, the Great Rite is even richer. It goes beyond male and female, which each of us embodies in different proportions. It is the chiaroscuro, the melding of light and dark, shadow and sunlight. We cannot know joy without pain, answers and illumination without doubt and questioning. Only this melding brings wholeness within us and with one another.

The Great rite has helped me stop labeling my qualities and my life’s events as good or bad. It has taught me to seek balance and be vigilant for excess—and to find gratitude and joy simply in living, growing and learning!

This brief symbolic Great Rite, performed by our Grove’s Co-founders Aigeann and Seven Tines at this year’s Beltane Rite, could be adapted to your private altar as well. You will need only a blade and a chalice or small cauldron. Simply reflect upon the Male and Female aspects of the Sacred within you.

Symbolic Great Rite

Female takes the Chalice, Male takes the blade:

Female: I am the Goddess, the Sacred Feminine, the womb of
Mother Earth. I await the life to be created within me.

Male: I am the God, the Holy Masculine, the Life force that
eternally awaits a receptacle.

Female and Male together raise the blade and chalice:

Together: This is the moment of union, the spark of life;
the seed of our passion is planted to manifest our intent!

(Male plunges the blade into the chalice): The seed is planted!

(Female receives the blade in the chalice) I receive you with
joy and openness!

Together: Conjoined, we form the holy spark, the drops of blessedness
from which new life will spring!

Love should feel good. Relationships that leave you feeling
depleted, sad and making excuses are not based in love…

Often in our lives, we fall prey to the idea of a thing rather
than actually experiencing the thing itself. We see this
at play in our love lives and in the love lives of our friends,
our family, and even fictional characters. The conceptualizing,
depiction, and pursuit of true love are multimillion-dollar
industries in the modern world. However, very little of what
is offered actually leads us to an authentic experience of
love. Moreover, as we grasp for what we think we want and
fail to find it, we may suffer and bring suffering to others.
When this is the case, when we suffer more than we feel healed,
we can be fairly certain that what we have found is not love
but something else.

When we feel anxious, excited, nervous, and thrilled, we are
probably experiencing romance, not love. Romance can be a lot
of fun as long as we do not try to make too much of it. If
we try to make more of it than it is, the romance then becomes
painful. Romance may lead to love, but it may also fade without
blossoming into anything more than a flirtation. If we cling
to it and try to make it more, we might find ourselves pining
for a fantasy, or worse, stuck in a relationship that was never
meant to last.

Real love is identifiable by the way it makes us feel. Love
should feel good. There is a peaceful quality to an authentic
experience of love that penetrates to our core, touching a
part of ourselves that has always been there. True love activates
this inner being, filling us with warmth and light. An authentic
experience of love does not ask us to look a certain way, drive
a certain car, or have a certain job. It takes us as we are,
no changes required. When people truly love us, their love
for us awakens our love for ourselves. They remind us that
what we seek outside of ourselves is a mirror image of the
lover within. In this way, true love never makes us feel needy
or lacking or anxious. Instead, true love empowers us with
its implicit message that we are, always have been, and always
will be, made of love.

From DailyOM

1.

Will the hungry ox stand in the field and not eat
of the sweet grass?
Will the owl bite off its own wings?
Will the lark forget to lift its body in the air or
forget to sing?
Will the rivers run upstream?

Behold, I say – behold
the reliability and the finery and the teachings
of this gritty earth gift.

2.

Eat bread and understand comfort.
Drink water, and understand delight.

Visit the garden where the scarlet trumpets
are opening their bodies for the hummingbirds
who are drinking the sweetness, who are
thrillingly gluttonous.

For one thing leads to another.
Soon you will notice how stones shine underfoot.
Eventually tides will be the only calendar you believe in.

And someone’s face, whom you love, will be as a
star
both intimate and ultimate,
and you will be both heart-shaken and respectful.
And you will hear the air itself, like a beloved,
whisper:
oh, let me, for a while longer, enter the two
beautiful bodies of your lungs.

7.

What I loved in the beginning, I think, was mostly
myself.
Never mind that I had to, since somebody had to.
That was many years ago.
Since then I have gone out from my confinements,
though with difficulty.
I mean the ones that thought to rule my heart.
I cast them out, I put them on the mush pile.
They will be nourishment somehow
(everything is nourishment
somehow or another).
And I have become the child of the clouds, and
of hope.
I have become the friend of the enemy, whoever
that is.
I have become older and, cherishing what I have
learned,
I have become younger.

And what do I risk to tell you this, which is all
I know?
Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

~~ Mary Oliver ~~
(Evidence)

Our ancestors were much given to undertaking visits and pilgrimages to various wells, springs and other bodies of water which were reputed locally (and in some cases much further afield) to possess the power to heal, if not cure, illnesses of various kinds.

Janet and Colin Bord, who have undertaken much research into
the folklore, traditional beliefs and practices connected to
holy and healing wells (1), suggest that until the end of the
last century the average British county had some 40 or more
recognised such bodies of water. In some parts of the country,
however, the concentration of holy wells and springs was much
denser than in others.

Along the areas commonly called the Celtic Fringe, ie Cornwall,
Wales (especially Pembrokeshire in the south west) and up through Scotland there were far more than elsewhere. The counties of Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire also had rather more than their fair share compared to other parts of the country. Around 1895, for example, at least 90 wells were either still in existence in Cornwall or were still well remembered by local people (2), and Jones (3) records no fewer than 236 in Pembrokeshire, 180 in Glamorgan and 128 in Carmarthenshire, all in south or south west Wales, while Sant (4) records some 70 extant or still remembered wells and springs in Herefordshire. On the eastern side of England, however, wells appear to have been
less common – or at least they seem to have fallen out of use
and therefore disappeared more completely.

Some of the wells and springs were used for divinatory purposes,
or for seeking blessings upon oneself and one’s family, or
for cursing one’s enemies.

A large number, having been hijacked and “sainted” by
the early Church, became places of pilgrimage connected with
the cult of a local saint, such as the famous well of St Winifred
at Holywell in North Wales which in the Middle Ages was one
of the important pilgrimage centres in England and Wales. Many
wells and springs had suitably Christian legends attached to
them during the 7th – 9th centuries, during the main centuries
of the struggle between the Christianity (especially of the
Celtic variety) and paganism, usually to “account” for
their discovery or origins. The well of St Kenelm in the Clent
Hills a few miles south west of the West Midlands conurbation,
for example, was claimed to have sprung from the ground at
the spot where the martyred young king Kenelm was treacherously murdered and where his body fell. At St Ludgvan’s well in Cornwall, local legend has it that the waters appeared in response to the hermit saint’s prayers for something wondrous which would draw the heathen locals to his ministry (2). Both Gwynllyw’s Well in Glamorgan and Illtud’s well on the Gower peninsula (both in south Wales) originated when their respective saints stuck their staffs in the ground and fresh water sprang forth
(3). St Milborough’s well in central Shropshire originated when St Milburga, fleeing from persecutors, fell from her horse and cut her head; she commanded her horse to strike the ground with his hoof whereupon a spring gushed forth and she was able
to bathe her head (1).

A particularly clumsy example of this Church hijacking is shown
in their account of Madron Well in Cornwall by the Misses
Quiller-Couch where there was clearly an interesting confusion
over the ‘saint’ concerned:

“No clue can be found as to whom St Madron was, or whence he
came; beyond the fact that he lived in the hermitage which
bears his name, nothing is known of him; there is even a diversity
of opinion as to the sex of the saint, some writers speaking
of him as a woman.”

The majority of wells and springs, however, had a well(!)-attested
role in early healthcare, and the commonest attributions of
their powers were to the curing of eye problems, infertility
and children’s diseases such as rickets, paralysis (presumably
polio) and whooping cough. Other, less common, “specialties” included lameness, insanity, skin diseases, leprosy and assorted palsies and agues.

Sometimes the connection with healing was indirect, as was
the case of the story of the Lady of Llyn Y Fan Fach in the
mountains of south Wales. The lady, who was a faery, was courted and won from the lake by the shepherd of Myddfai and agreed to marry him on condition that would not strike her needlessly three times. She brought with her faery cattle and bore three sons but in time the shepherd broke the geas and she and her faery cattle returned to her realms beneath the lake. She returned only once, many years later, to teach faery healing to her
sons; they indeed became the famous Physicians of Myddfai whose medieval medical treatise has survived and is still in print
(5).

Obtaining a Cure

Virtually all of the healing wells had their rituals that had to be
performed in order to “activate” the power of the water. This usually involved visiting the place only on certain acknowledged days. The Christianised or “sainted” wells almost always had to be visited on the appropriate saint’s day or on such dates as Easter Sunday or Whit Sunday. The commonest dates for the more pagan wells included all four of the traditional festivals, though Imbolc and Samhain were rather less popular on account of the poorer weather. Beltane and Lughnasa (Lammas) were both very popular, which should not surprise us when we consider how many wells seem to have been connected to the getting and keeping of children. The Summer Solstice and Midsummer’s
Eve (St John’s Night, i.e. 24th June) were also extremely popular
and so, to a lesser extent, was Twelfth Night.

Further, for many wells the appropriate or most efficacious
time of day for the visit was specified, with dawn or just
before sunrise being the most usual, as was the direction of
approach to the well and the direction and number of times
of circumambulation. One of the commonest stipulations was
the need for silence, if not for the entire duration of the
ritual or visit to the well then at least for a substantial
part of it. Thus to obtain the healing of a particular well
the patient may have to visit at dawn on Beltane morning, approach from the east and walk three times deosil around the well in silence before speaking the required words of prayer, drinking the water from the specified vessel and finally making the
specified offerings. At wells where the patient had to arrive
before or at dawn, it was almost universal that he had to have
finished his business and be out of sight of the well before
actual sunrise. Sometimes the patient had to wipe the afflicted
part of the body with a rag dipped in the water, or arrive
at the site with a rag bound round the relevant part of the
body and the rag was subsequently hung on a nearby tree to
rot.

At St Euny’s well in the parish of Sancreed in Penwith, the
Misses Quiller-Couch (2) recorded at the end of the last century
that in order to benefit from the healing powers of the well,
one had to visit and wash in the well on the first three Wednesdays in May. Baglan Well in Glamorgan cured children with rickets – but only on the first three Thursdays in May. Presumably the patient had to wash or bathe in the water, but beyond that we have no details.

At Aconbury in Herefordshire lie both St Ann’s Well and Lady
Well; the former is reputed to cure eye troubles, the most
effective cures being effected by the first water drawn from
the well after midnight on Twelfth Night. This water, which
is said to bubble out of the ground, is called the “Cream
of the Well” and supposedly gives off a blue smoke. So
highly regarded was it that until a generation or so ago local
women competed for that first bucketful after midnight4. In
Wales, meanwhile, there was a belief that water drawn from
a well between 11pm and midnight on New Year’s Eve would turn
to wine! (3)

McNeill has left us a number of eyewitness accounts of rituals
used in the early part of this century at various wells in
Scotland that provide a record of practices now lost (6).
At the Holy Pool of St Fillan in Perthshire, which was used
for curing insanity, the patient

“was led thrice sunwise around the pool, first in the name of
the Father, then in the name of the Son and lastly
in the name of the Holy Spirit. He was then immersed in the
pool in the name of the Holy Trinity…”

McNeill gives a particularly full account of a fertility ritual
recorded of an unnamed well at Willie’s Muir which was visited
by childless women, led by an older woman, during midsummer’s
week. The women had to take off their boots and kneel by the
water and “rolled up their skirts and petticoats till their wames were bare. The auld wife gave them the sign to step around
her and away they went, one after the other, wi’ the sun, round
the spring, each one holding up her coats like she was holding
herself to the sun. As each one came anent her, the auld wife
took up the water in her hands and threw it on their wames.
Never a one cried out at the cold o’ the water and never a
word was spoken. Three times round they went. The auld wife
made a sign to them. They dropped their coats to their feet
again, synt (then) they opened their dress frae the neck and
skipped it off their shoulders so that their paps sprang out.
The auld wife gave them another sign. They doun on their knees
afore her, across the spring; and she took up the water in
her hands, skirpit (splashed it) on their paps, three times
three. Then the auld wife rose and the three barren women rose.
The put on their claes again and drew their shawls about their
faces and left the hollow without a word spoken and scattered
across the muir for hame.”

Writing of the famous Madron Well in Penwith, West Cornwall,
the Misses Quiller-Couch record that local people made pilgrimages to the well on the first three Sunday mornings in May for a cure for their children’s rickets:

“Three times they were plunged into the water, after having been
stripped naked; the parent, or person dipping them, standing facing the sun; after the dipping they were passed nine times round the well from east to west; then they were dressed and laid on St Madern’s bed (a stone slab in the nearby ruined chapel – Ed); should they sleep, and the water in the well bubble, it was considered a good omen. Strict silence had to be kept during the entire performance, or the spell was broken.”

River pools also were considered to have curative powers,
especially if the water were taken from a spot over which the
dead and living pass, i.e. from under a bridge over which the
dead were carried for burial. McNeill records one instance
in which water was taken from such a spot for curing the Evil
Eye:

“It had to be carried home in complete silence, and particular
care was taken that the vessel should not touch the ground
– ie, there must be no contact between earth and water. A wooden
ladle containing a piece of silver was dipped in and the victim
given three sips of the “silvered water”.

The remainder was then sprinkled over and around him.

The Giving of Offerings

Nowt is got for nowt, as we say in Yorkshire, and it went without
saying that one paid for one’s renewed health by leaving
an offering for the spirit of the well or spring. Today there
is a tendency again to throw a few coins into the water (a
practice which had been very common in Roman times), though
traditionally one left either a piece of clothing tied to a
nearby tree or some other evidence of the cure anticipated.
The tying of rags is the most common of these practices and
is still in widespread use today, such wells being generally
known as “rag” or “cloutie” wells, the idea being that as the rag rotted so the disease or illness withered until it had gone – so no instant cures were presumably expected. This presupposes that the rag left as a gift was of an organic, i.e. biodegradable, substance, typically wool, linen or cotton.

A visit to many sites today will reveal that modern understanding
of this ancient practice leaves much to be desired as you can find scraps of nylon lace or string, polythene, even magnetic recording tape and other such synthetic (and therefore non-degradable) substances, tied to branches. According to the old lore, the diseases represented by these offerings would take a long time, if not a lifetime(!) to cure. On a visit to Madron Well in Penwith several years ago, I found a Berlei bra draped across several branches – presumably some sort of fertility spell. On a later visit last summer it had gone. Perhaps if “Madron” does indeed commemorate the “Mother” (as has been suggested by more than one writer) the donor had had sextuplets and come back to remove it!

While the leaving of rags seems to have been common practice
in Scotland, Cornwall and Ireland, it was much less so in Wales,
where the usual offering was a pin, bent or otherwise. Indeed,
most of the handful of Welsh rag wells are to be found in Glamorgan.
At Ffynnon Enddwyn in Merioneth, pilgrims threw pins into the
water to ward off evil spirits. On St Agnes in the Scilly Isles,
wreckers would resort to St Warna’s Well and throw in bent
pins on a daily basis with a prayer for a rich wreck.

At some wells it was the practice to leave some specific evidence
of the hoped-for cure. At St Columba’s Well in Donegal, whose
waters were used to treat the lame and crippled, it was customary
to leave behind a crutch, no doubt on the assumption that it
would no longer be needed. The same was done at Ffynnon Trisant near Devil’s Bridge in Cardiganshire and at Ffynnon Enddwyn in Merioneth. At some wells also it was the practice to prick one’s finger with a pin to draw blood and then to throw the
pin into the water as an offering, or to leave a button or
bead. Alternatively, in some places, the practice was to hammer
a coin or nail into a nearby tree, though at least one sacred
tree has been killed by this dubious kindness and devotion.
Modern practice tends to favour the burning of a bit of incense,
the lighting of a candle or the laying onto the water of (subject
to the season) a small posy of wildflowers tied with grass.

The practice of making offerings at (or to) bodies of water
appears to be a very ancient one. There is considerable evidence
dating from the early Bronze Age that items such as swords,
helmets, shields and other pieces of metalwork (along with
human beings) were consigned to rivers and bogs in considerable
quantities. A number of very fine specimens of Bronze Age and
Celtic weaponry and armour have been found at river sites throughout Britain and Europe, as well as considerable metal and human deposits in bogs in Denmark and north Germany. Two particular items whose photographs have long graced books on matters Celtic were found in mud in the River Thames during low water – a bronze horned helmet and a bronze shield decorated with inlays and spirals, while within Mercia itself various votive offerings have been found deposited at several points in the River Severn.
Most recently, evidence has emerged from the River Trent in
Nottinghamshire of deposits of human bones, particularly skulls,
in the river during the late Neolithic or early Bronze Age,
though there is no real evidence of deliberate human sacrifice.

Guardians

Wells and springs were reputed in folklore to be the entrances
to the Other Worlds and, like thresholds the world over, many
of them had guardians – usually in the form of one or more
fish. In the waters of Ffynnon Gybi (Gwyneth, North Wales)
there dwelt an eel whose coiling (or not, as the case may be)
around the legs of the patient indicated the success or otherwise
of the healing petition, while in the Golden Well at Peterchurch
(Golden Valley, Herefordshire) lived a trout with a chain around
its neck (1,4). The trout’s portrait, complete with chain,
can still be seen high up on the wall inside mediaeval St Peter’s
Church in the valley.

Another magickal or sacred fish inhabits Bromere Pool in Shropshire; this fish wears not a chain but a baldric and sword which were handed to him for safekeeping by local Anglo-Saxon hero Wild Edric who, it is said, leads the Wild Hunt across the Marches seeking Edric’s lost faery bride, Lady Godda (7). The fish will only hand over the sword either to Edric himself or to
his true and lawful heir. (No known healing associations here,
but it’s a good yarn!).

At Acton Burnell in Shropshire the Frog Well was inhabited by
(surprise!) frogs while serpents were said to have guarded
Ffynnon Sarff near Caerrnarvon and Grinston Well in Pembrokeshire (a winged serpent in this case). Giraldus Cambrensis tells of a certain well in Pembrokeshire (without unfortunately identifying it) that there lived within its depths a viper that guarded a golden torc – and bit the hand of any would-be treasure hunters. Even more bizarrely, a fly (believed to be immortal) guarded St Michael’s Well in Banffshire and Ffynnon Ddigwg in Caernarvonshire was believed by local people to be inhabited by “strange creatures resembling hedgehogs without their spikes”.
(3)

Some wells even appear to have had reluctant human guardians,
for Jones records a tale about a Ffynnon Dewi (St David’s
Well) near to Henfynyw church in Cardiganshire: “An old man
visited this well one Christmas Eve. He heard cries for help
issuing form the well; a hand then rose and a voice asked the
man to hold on tightly. He did so, but relaxed his hold. The
hand then vanished into the well and the voice cried, “I
am bound for another fifty years.” One gets the impression
that the binding of this spirit to the well is not too far
in essence from the traditional Border ballad of the magickal
binding of Tam Lin to the wild rose bush in Carterhaugh by
the Faery Queen.

These various guardians, and others too numerous to discuss in
an article of this length, seem to represent, or to “be”,
the divinity or spirit of the spring and where they occur it
is usually to them that the relevant offerings are made.

Pilgrimages

In many cases the exact details of the rituals to be carried
out appear to have been lost before information about the wells
and their associated practices was recorded. What remains,
therefore, is often simply a record of a folk gathering, often
of a social sort or of the nature of a pilgrimage. In many
cases, though, there remained a tradition of visiting wells
and springs on certain dates, even if it was unclear what one
had to do when there! Hence Ffynnon y Foel in Montgomeryshire
had to be visited on the 4th Sunday in Lent, Ffynnon Rhigos
(also in Montgomeryshire) on Ash Wednesday and Ffynnon Stockwell in Carmathenshire on Palm Sunday.

Meanwhile, at the Priest’s Well near Narbeth in south Wales
(the Arbeth of the Mabinogion) the tradition remained of dressing
the well with rowan, for instance, while at Fynnon Llyffant
dancing took place on the banks of the well and and at St John’s
Well in Glamorgan bonfires were lit – all at Beltane, while
at Ffynnon Dduw in Caernarvonshire crowds gathered on the first
three Sundays in July to play games and dancing also took place
at at Ffynnon Erfyl (near Llanerfyl church) in Montgomeryshire
on Whit Sunday, Trinity Sunday and Easter Monday (3).

The Irish seem to have had the most fun, however, for the
Misses Quiller-Couch tell us that Irish pilgrimages to favoured
holy wells

“were the occasion of such heathenish orgies that pipers, fiddlers,
free libations of whisky, wild dances, fighting, quarrelling, and all manner of debaucheries, wound up a ceremony begun with penance, and ending like the festivals once held in honour of Aphrodite.”

For myself, I confess to being a devotee of holy wells and springs
and will usually go out of my way to visit them, and
since I generally spend my holidays in either Cornwall or Pembrokeshire, well visiting can be said to be a personal preoccupation. Several years ago I spent Midsummer’s Night curled up in the long grass and wildflowers next to my favourite Cornish well (which shall remain nameless). The well itself is set back down and across a meadow in the corner of a field and occupies a dark little stone recess, about 18″ high, set back into the bank under a hawthorn canopy.

Whenever I visit the site, I bring away some of the water which I
use sparingly for rituals until I can replenish it on my next visit. I always light some incense, add another rag to an overhanging hawthorn and float a candle on the still waters deep in the dark recess of the well housing. A single candle lights up the entire interior of the well housing and at dusk and after dark the effect is magickal indeed. Despite Midsummer’s Night being one of the traditional nights forthe Faery Rade to ride abroad, I saw no faeries and am still here. Perhaps next summer…

The Future of Holy Wells

In many cases the future of our ancient holy wells and springs
is not bright. During the 19th century the traditional beliefs
and practices connected with sacred waters were constantly
being eroded by the onslaught of non-conformist Christianity
– the chapel mentality. Wales, Cornwall and vast swathes of
Scotland came under the sway, indeed control, of various intolerant and highly patriarchal Christian sects that appear to havedone a thorough job of suppressing knowledge of the sites and even of the existence of wells in some areas.

By the end of the century, the Misses Quiller-Couch, for example,
are unable to record anything more than the name of a number
of Cornish wells, such as Lady Well at Padstow, which they
comment had disappeared completely; in other cases, such as
St Martin’s Well at Looe, the well was secularised and harnessed
to provide drinking water for the town; in the Malvern Hills,
Jonathan Sant reports that the once-famous Prime’s Well, which
had been the spot at which Langland’s hero in the 14th century
visionary poem The Vision of Piers the Plowman had the vision
with which the work starts, is now piped and bottled as Malvern
Spring Water (4) and emerges onto supermarket shelves rather
than onto an English hillside; elsewhere the sites of the wells
were still known but all traditional belief about the special
qualities of the waters had appeared to have died out, as had
happened at Nanceglos Well and Holy Well at Sancreed, both
near Penzance, and St Eunius Well near Redruth.

Unfortunately, during the course of this century things have
become even worse. The Ordnance Survey has cut down on the
number of holy wells and springs which it includes on its most
commonly used series of maps (the 1:50,000 Landranger series)
especially in areas where holy wells are thick on the ground.
Unless you buy the more expensive 1:25,000 Pathfinder series,
whose larger scale provides the space to include many more,
you can pass within a few hundred yards of a neglected holy
well and not know it. In the long run, therefore, visitors
will be funneled into visiting the most obvious sites while
the less well-known wells are simply going to disappear – overgrown and choked by silt and weeds.

During my holiday in Cornwall last summer I spoke at some
length with the local dowser, who was working on a farm at
the behest of the farmer to locate the best spot to sink a
new borehole. He told me that a particular problem which has
emerged in Devon and Cornwall in recent years is that South
West Water has now developed a policy of charging farmers for
water from their own private wells unless the water can be
shown to be for domestic use. Farmers with springs and wells
on their land are understandably becoming somewhat reluctant
to publicise their existence, so that in the coming years more
wells are likely to disappear due to deliberate neglect or
destruction. Even those that survive quietly on the farmer’s
land are unlikely to be drawn to the attention of outsiders
and would-be visitors and pilgrims.

So what now?

Firstly, and most importantly, become aware of the tremendous
heritage of traditional beliefs, practices and customs associated
with these sites. The books from which I have quoted example
and evidence in this article are for the most part easily available
and there are others besides – in the past year or so Llanerch
have reprinted an antiquarian study of folklore and practices
associated with holy wells in Scotland which no doubt contains
much more information than I have quoted here. Look out for
reprints of Victorian and other antiquarian guides to the folklore
and so on of your own area. Many have been reprinted in recent
years surprisingly cheaply (because they are out of copyright)
and contain information that has otherwise been lost. Become
familiar with those traditional practices and think about how
you might adopt them or, if necessary, bring them back to life
in your own practices.

Visit your library and spend an hour or so looking over the 1:25,000 maps of your area for wells which are not marked on
the more common 1:50,000 ones. If you find any, these are probably the quieter, more secret and more neglected sites that are most desperately in need of your attention. If there are a
few such sites in your area it may be worth buying the relevant
map for about £3.50. And then – don your boots and visit
them!

Visit them in the way that you do standing stones and stone
circles. Pagans generally fall over themselves to visit stones
but rarely accord the same veneration to wells and springs,
though its strongly odds on that veneration of sacred waters
by our ancestors considerably predates their raising of any
stone circles or similar monuments.

If you have a holy well near to where you live – adopt it. Visit
it not just once and then forget it again, only to go on to the next as if collecting badges. Visit it over and over again at different seasons, make a habit of taking offerings, and try to make contact with the genius loci. Once some sort of contact has been established, try to work out if the well has a “season”. For example, does it seem most powerful at Imbolc or at Midsummer? Is there any evidence to show what the traditional or existing practices connected with it might have been – the remains of a very faded and weathered ribbon on a tree, perhaps, or a piece of candle tucked between stones? Try to speak to local, especially older, people and find out what they know or remember about the place. Assuming that you are able to establish some idea of what was done at this place and when, (and if the site itself is willing – it may of course be more than happy being left alone!) include a suitable ritual there in your yearly calendar.

Start small and unobtrusive – a few people doing a meditation,
a not-too-visible ribbon tied on the tree, a bit of incense
burned and some offerings of food for the local wildlife. Next
year, providing the site is still welcoming, take a few more
people and incorporate a bit of drumming, chanting or dancing,
an overnight vigil or whatever else seems appropriate. Let
the site be your guide – if you go too far or act insensitively
it will surely tell you!

An excellent example of what can be done in this way is the
work undertaken by Coventry Earth Spirit, and by Karl Stamper
of the Fellowship of Isis in particular, in recognising and
reclaiming the area of Canley Ford as a shrine to Segona, the
Goddess of the River Avon. As well as being the target of regular
clean-ups and litter-picks, and the site of regular quiet rituals,
Canley Ford has become the focus for the annual People’s Picnic
on the Sunday before the Summer Solstice, providing a place
for pagans and other interested people to meet and share food
and honour the presence of Segona.

More work needs to be done for the holy wells and sacred springs
throughout Britain. They must be sought, protected, venerated
and cherished before it is too late and they are lost to us
and our descendants. The work starts with each one of us.

References:
1. Sacred Waters: Holy Wells and Water Lore in Britain and
Ireland – Janet & Colin Bord (ISBN:0-246-12036-3)
2. Ancient and Holy Wells of Cornwall – M & L Quiller-Couch
(Tamara Publications, Liskeard, Cornwall: ISBN 9-780951-282250)
3. The Holy Wells of Wales – Francis Jones (University of Wales
Press, Cardiff: ISBN: 0-7083-11450-8)
4. The Healing Wells of Herefordshire – Jonathan Sant (Moondial
Books. ISBN: 9-780952-499008)
5. The Herbal Remedies of the Physicians of Myddfai (Llanerch)
6. The Silver Bough – F Marian McNeill (Canongate Classics,
Edinburgh. ISBN: 0-86241-23105)
7. Tales of Wild Edric by Richard “Mogsy” Walker
(published in White Dragon at Beltane 1995)

I am the old dreamer who never sleeps
I am timekeeper of the timeless dance
I preserve the long rhythms of the earth
and fertilize the rounds of desire

In my evergreen arboretum
I raise flowering hopes for the world
I plant seeds of perennial affection
and wait for their passionate bloom

Would you welcome that sight if you saw it?
Revalue the view you have lost?
Could you wake to the innocent morning
and follow the risks of your heart?

Every day I grow a dream in my garden
where the beds are laid out for love
When will you come to embrace it
and join in the joy of the dance?

~~ James Broughton ~~
(Packing Up for Paradise)

Someone explained once how the pieces of what we are
fall downwards at the same rate as the Universe.
The atoms of us, falling towards the centre

of whatever everything is. And we don’t see it.
We only sense their slight drag in the lifting hand.
That’s what weight is, that communal process of falling.
Furthermore, these atoms carry hooks, like burrs,

hooks catching like hooks, like clinging to like,
that’s what keeps us from becoming something else,
and why in early love, we sometimes
feel the tug of the heart snagging on another’s heart.

Only the atoms of the soul are perfect spheres
with no means of holding on to the world
or perhaps no need for holding on,
and so they fall through our lives catching

against nothing, like perfect rain,
and in the end, he wrote, mix in that common well of light
at the centre of whatever the suspected
centre is, or might have been.

~~ John Glenday ~~
(Found in an exceptional anthology,
Soul Food: Nourishing Poems for Starved Minds,
ed. by Neil Astley and Pamela Robertson-Pearce)

Grandfather went on to say, “Miguel, all of the drama you suffer in your personal life is the result of believing in
lies, mainly about yourself. And the first lie you believe
is you are not: You are not the way you should be, you are
not good enough, you are not perfect. We are born perfect,
we grow up perfect, and we will die perfect, because only perfection exists. But the big lie is that you are not perfect, that nobody is perfect. So you start to search for an image of perfection that you can never become…”

You can transform you entire story just by practicing the Four
Agreements…

The first agreement, be impeccable with your word, means you never use the power of the word against yourself in the creation of your story…When you believe in lies, you are using the power of the word against yourself. When you believe that nobody likes you, that nobody understands you, that you will never make it, you are using the word against yourself.

Many philosophies around the world have known that lies are a distortion of the word, and some traditions call this distortion evil. I prefer to say that we are using the word against ourselves because we do not call it evil when we judge ourselves and find ourselves guilty. We do not call it evil when we reject ourselves and treat ourselves much worse than the way we treat our pets. When you are impeccable, you never speak against yourself, you have
no beliefs that go against yourself, and you never help anybody else to go against you…

Remember, the word is your power because you use the word for the creation of your virtual world. You use the word to create the main character of your story. Every self-opinion,
every belief, is made by words: ‘I am smart, I am stupid, I
am beautiful, I am ugly.’ This is powerful. But your word is
even more powerful because it also represents you when you
interact with other dreamers. Every time you speak, your thought becomes sound, your thought becomes the words, and now it can go into other people’s minds. If their minds are fertile for that kind of seed, they eat it, and now that thought lives inside of them, too…

How do you know when you are using the word impeccably? Well, you are happy. You feel good about yourself. You feel love. How do you know when you are using the word against yourself? Well, when you are suffering with envy, with anger, with sadness…”

The Sun reaches the peak of its powers at Midsummer, The Summer Solstice, on approximately June 21. This is the longest day of the year and the shortest night. Midsummer marks the turning point of the year, the end of the Bright, the beginning of the Dark. The Waning Year begins. Pliny the Elder, a Roman naturalist who lived from 23-79 CE said of the Sun: “He furnishes the world with light and removes darkness; he obscures and he illuminates the rest of the stars; he regulates in accord with nature’s precedent the changes of the seasons and the continuous rebirth of the year; he dissipates the gloom of heaven and even calms the storm clouds of the mind of man
.”The movement of the Sun in it’s Cycle is all-important
to Pagans, as we practice the religion of Nature.

This Festival, known as Litha in many Traditions of the Craft, is called ‘Feill-Sheathain’ in Wales and the name ‘Alban Hefin’, also used by some Craft Traditions, may be Pictish in origin (connected to the 9th century kingdom of Alban, which combined Scots and Picts). This was also the time of the Roman Festival, Vestalia. The word solstice comes from the Latin term ‘solstitium’, which translates into English as ‘sun standing still’.

Now, astrologically, the Sun enters Cancer, a Water sign. Primitives believed that as the Sun set ‘into the sea’, its flames were extinguished. In Ancient Egypt, the Midsummer
holiday marked the flooding of the Nile, and was celebrated
as the New Year. The festival was held in honor of Isis, the
Star of the Sea, the Lady of the Moon, Who Controls the Tides.

As with the other festivals, with the coming of Christianity,
the Priests of the Church were unable to convince the people to give up the old traditions, so they incorporated them into their own practices. Midsummer is now known as St. John’s Day or Johnsmas, the birthday of St. John, the Baptist. It has been suggested that the reason this holiday was chosen for St. John can be found in a biblical quote attributed to him: “He must Increase, but I must Decrease,” thus associating John the Baptist with Decrease, i.e., the Waning Sun.

In our own group, the color of Summer Solstice is gold, and
a golden time it is. The Sun’s rays at their peak radiate
and the world is bathed in a golden glow.

School is out, and the streets and parks are filled with children.
The highways abound with vacationers on their way to the beaches
and mountains. They are out to ‘beat the heat.’ Winter’s
icy chill is long forgotten and all are aware of the power
of the Sun, nearer now than at any other time.

The customs and traditions associated with Midsummer are many and varied. This is partly because, according to the climate of the area, many of Beltane’s rites were performed at about the time of the Solstice. For example, in Sweden, Germany and even in some parts of Wales, the Maypole dance is performed on June 23, and is called the Midsummer Tree or Midsummer Birch. In Wales, the branches of the tree are cut and used to decorate the pole. The dancing, beginning at noon on Midsummer Eve,
is said to have continued for nine days in ancient times.

The popular book (and motion picture), ‘The Wicker Man’,
made many people familiar with the wicker giant burnt as a
Sacrifice. This was a fictional account of a Beltane rite,
however, according to Frazer (‘The Golden Bough’),
these giants were part and parcel of the Summer Solstice rites of the Druids, Scots, English, French, Germans and Bohemians. A member of our group, Joanna B., who has thoroughly researched Celtic folklore, tells us that giants, in general, were associated with Midsummer, as were dragons. In some places, whole families of giant effigies were carried through the streets, and in Norwich, England, the Tuesday before Midsummer is called Snap-Dragon
Day, and features a procession led by a giant dragon.

The Midsummer Sacrifice (the Sacred King who dies as the Sun begins to wane)is a custom that was common to many cultures. It is our theory that, in England and other places, the season of the Sacrifice began on May 29, the holiday now known as Whitsun. There is much evidence to be found amongst the graffiti in English churches that the Whitsun King became the Sacrifice at Midsummer.

Bonfires can be expected at this festival, since this is the day of the Sun’s highest energy, and from now on His
Power will wane. Fires were lit both as a tribute to the Sun
and as a contribution by the people of the energy from their
own fires, to keep the Sun’s fire burning longer. Wheels,
representing the Sun, were traditionally sent flaming downhill at Summer Solstice, showing the decline of the Sun’s rays in the months to come. It was said that if the Wheel kept burning all the way down, there would be an abundant harvest, but if the fire went out, the crops would fail. This is still done on St. John’s Day in many parts of the world and, at least from one part of Yorkshire, we have first hand testimony that it is an accepted part of today’s Midsummer celebration!

The all-night vigil was common to many cultures at Midsummer. Some were observing the stars, as in the Egyptian temples, but there were many other, more personal, reasons. In the British Isles, it was believed that the spirits of those who would die within the year could be seen walking abroad on Midsummer Eve. Many people would stay awake all night to prevent their souls from wandering. It was also a night for unmarried women to keep vigil, hoping to be visited by the spirits of their future husbands.

As at the Winter Solstice, the ‘Golden Bough’, mistletoe, is sacred at Summer Solstice, when it is in bloom. The Druids gathered the Golden Bough on Midsummer Eve, cutting
it with a golden scythe, and catching it in a cloth, never
allowing it to touch the ground. They believed that mistletoe
could open all locks, cure all ills, and was a lightning conductor. In Sweden, mistletoe is believed to be possessed of mystical qualities and, in Wales, a sprig of mistletoe gathered on Midsummer Eve and placed under the pillow is said to bring prophetic dreams. This is seen as the second of the three ‘Spirit Nights’ and is a good time for all forms of divination. Mugwort is sacred at this time and vervain (and as a later addition, St. John’s Wort). It is traditional to burn nine different herbs in the midsummer fires. The herbs burned are mugwort, plantain, watercress, cock-spur grass, mayweed, stinging nettle, apple, thyme and fennel. Nine are burned because nine represents a cycle of completion.

A lovely and unusual custom, practiced in South America and in Austria on the Danube River, is the ‘burning boat’ or ‘candle boat’. These paper boats are filled with flowers, set
afire and sailed off on the ocean or river, to carry prayers
to the Goddess. The strangest thing about the ‘candle
boat’ is that the custom should appear in two places
so far separate, with no explanation or connection. If you
are near a body of water, this would be a wonderful addition
to your own Midsummer festivities.

We were given the following information when we called the
Public Library research department, regarding Summer Solstice. The interpretations that accompany the chant were given us along with it:

‘The Witches in West Cornwall, England, were said (by
the Christians, we will assume) to ‘renew their pact
with the Devil’ on Midsummer Eve, at Midnight. They would
circle seven times around the fire, holding hands and chanting:

Green is gold — (nature’s first green is now gold)
Fire is wet — (candle boats sailed)
Fortunes told — (fortunes cast)
Dragon’s met! — (St. George)

They would then separate at one point (the rest still holding
hands), and begin a Sunwise spiral dance.’

We found this particularly interesting because the ‘candle
boats sailed’ indicates yet another area where this tradition
was observed, but ‘green is gold’ probably refers
to the mistletoe, which is gold at Midsummer, and it is doubtful that St. George had anything to do with ‘dragons met’, considering the giant dragons we mentioned earlier. The chant and dance are fun, though, and well worth trying. Speaking of Midsummer dancing, it was also believed that skeletons rose up from the roots of oak trees and danced around them at the moment of the Summer Solstice!

By the way, Summer Solstice is still observed publicly by modern English Druids, both at Boadicca’s Tomb, Parliament Hills, London, and at Stonehenge. All night vigils take place on both sites, and at Stonehenge, there is a second celebration at Noon.

Midsummer is not forgotten in today’s world, although
it may be called by a different name. The bonfires are lit,
vigils kept, cartwheels sent blazing down hills. Candle boats
are sailed in Brazil and in Florida, as well as on the Danube.
When you light your fire and stay up throughout the night,
you are celebrating in the way our ancestors did. Have a wonderful Midsummer and Blessed Be, followers of The Old Ways!

Above
the mountains
the geese turn into
the light again

Painting
their
black silhouettes
on an open sky.

Sometimes
everything
has to be
inscribed across
the heavens

so you
can find
the one line
already written
inside you.

Sometimes
it takes
a great sky
to find that

small,
bright
and indescribable
wedge of freedom
in your own heart.

Sometimes
with
the bones of the black
sticks left when the fire
has gone out

someone
has written
something new
in the ashes of your life.

You are
not leaving
you are arriving.

~~ David Whyte ~~
(House of Belonging)

Litha is also known as the summer solstice, Midsummer, All Couples Day, and Saint John’s Day. Litha is one of the fire festivals and occurs on the longest day of the year. This is the time of year when the sun reaches its highest apex, at the Tropic of Cancer. It is the day when light overcomes darkness, a day of power. Litha also is one of the “quarter days” or the Lesser Sabbats.

Litha, as a Pagan holiday, has the Sun/God reaching full power, and the Goddess pregnant with child. She holds promise of the bounty of the harvest yet to come. Litha’s name, depending which author you read, has its roots in Greco-Roman, (McCoy, page 149) or according to Our Lady of the Prairie Coven, Litha means opposite of Yule. This may possibly have Saxon roots, though that is pure speculation. No others authors that were researched for this article offered any explanation as to the origins of Litha other than it is name for Midsummer.

Midsummer traditionally marks the beginning of summer (i.e. schools out). Actually midsummer marks the actual middle of the Celtic summer, falling between Beltane and Lugnasadh.

Midsummer is known also as a night of magic, made famous by William Shakespeare with his play Midsummer’s Nights Dream. As a Quote from Puck
can attest to:

Captain of our fairy band,
Helena is here at hand;
And the youth, mistook by me,
Pleading for a lover’s fee.
Shall we their fond pageant see?
Lord, what fools these mortals be!
(Shakespeare, Act 3, Scene 2)

June in Europe and America is historically the busiest month for weddings, hence All Couples Day. This tradition begins because this time of the year was a time of rest for the Ancient Celts, the time between planting and harvesting. June allowed time for the wedding festivals and rest. This is best described in an English child’s nursery rhyme.

“…marry
in the month of May
most surely you will rue the day.
Marry in June when roses grow
And happiness you’ll always know…”
Author Unknown (McCoy, 167)

Saint John’s Day celebrates the birth of St. John exactly
six months before the birth of Christ as he foretold of Christ’s coming. The Celts, as was their way, easily adopted this day and incorporated into their summer solstice festivities just as they did with Beltane/May Day. A poem demonstrates how the Celts and other cultures were able to incorporate the various pagan meanings of Litha with a Christian one.

In praise of St. John–
May he give health to my heart.
St. John comes and St. John goes,
Mother, marry me off soon!
Author Unknown (Henes, page 61)

Litha’s celebrations are as varied as the authors who write them are. The times that the ritual should take place are also varied. McCoy suggests that the ritual take place on the eve before June 21. (Pages 163-66) McCoy further states that during the ritual one should jump over or walk in between two purifying fires. (Pages 153-54) Author of Celestially Auspicious Occasions:
Seasons, Cycles and Celebrations, Donna Henes, says that Midsummer is a sun festival and is best done during the daylight hours between sunrise and high noon. (Page 56)

Litha rituals as all ritual should be personal. Several of the authors give basic outlines some for covens, some for the solitary. Most of the authors used for this essay are Wiccan.

This particular point of view uses a very pregnant Lady and a Lord at the height of his powers. This ritual, no matter what the tradition or the Gods/Goddesses involved should include either the sun or a fire, or both.

FOODS

Litha’s foods vary, depending upon the author and tradition you adhere to. Cunningham suggests fruits, Buckland, cakes and ale, and Starhawk, bread and drink. However, given that this is a day to celebrate the sun, foods should be of yellow (gold), orange or reds.

Baked Tomatoes

Serves 6-8

3 whole fresh tomatoes
1, 12-oz bag of shredded cheddar cheese
Fresh parsley

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F.
Slice the tomato 1/2-inch thick, place on tin foil.
Liberal spread cheddar cheese on the tomatoes.
Baked for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and sprinkle parsley over tomatoes.

Summer Squash

Serves 6-8

1 summer squash
1/4 cup of butter
Black pepper

Need one medium size sauce pan, set flame to medium.
Place butter in pan.
Slice squash approximately 1/8-inch thick, layer into pan,
sprinkling pepper to taste on each layer.
Stirring occasionally, cook to taste.
Takes 20-30 minutes.

Mom McCoy’s Lemon Pie

(Makes one nine inch pie)

1 unbaked pie shell
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon corn meal
4 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup real lemon juice
1/4 cup grated lemon peal

Preheat oven to 375 F.
Place unbaked pie shell in a deep-dish pie pan.
Mix the sugar, flour, cornstarch and cornmeal, then add eggs, milk, butter, lemon juice, and lemon peel.
Beat until smooth.
Pour mixture into the pie shell and bake for about 40 minutes or until top is golden brown.

Zucchini Casserole

(Serves 6-8)

5 zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon ground oregano
3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground rosemary
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup fresh mushrooms
1 small chopped tomato
1/2-cup bacon bits
2 cups prepared croutons
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
Place the mixture in a lightly greased 9 X 13 baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.

THE RITUAL

The following is a mixture from the following authors, Shakespeare, Buckland, RavenWolf, Starhawk, Cunningham and McCoy.

Altar should reflect the colors the colors of midsummer and face the east. Bonfire should either be in the middle of circle or to the west.

Time: Sunrise

All enter from the west to face the rising sun. Those playing the parts of the God and Goddess take their position on the east most side of the circle. The Leader takes his/her place in the middle the rest form a half circle, from west to south to north, facing towards the east.

Leader should cast the circle. After Circle is cast leader
begins.

LEADER: God of the Sun, we have gathered here to day to honor you, for now is the day of your greatest strength.

ALL SAY: We honor you.

LEADER: Goddess, mother, we gathered here today to honor you, for today is the day you are full of bloom.

ALL SAY: We honor you.

LEADER: Today is the day we mark the end of the Oak King’s reign, and the beginning of the Holly King’s.

GOD:
(Facing the Goddess) Farewell to thee, my love. For my
power grows less with passing of the year.

GODDESS:
(Facing the God) Farewell to thee, my love. For your
son grows strong within my womb.

ALL SAY: We honor you.

LEADER: Lord and lady, come into our hearts, and purify us. Smite the darkness from our souls with your light.

GOD and GODDESS: (To jump hand and hand over the fire) Come join us children in the light. Let our fire purify your souls and make your spirit bright.

LEADER: (Jumps over fire in the waiting arms of the God and Goddess) We thank thee for your love and light.

ALL SAY: We honor you (Jumps over fire)

LEADER: (Closes Circle) We dedicate ourselves to the God and Goddess, Lord and Lady, whose union formed another life. We give ourselves with these ancient vows. Standing firm upon this earth you have blessed.

ALL SAY: We honor you.

All leave towards the west.

References:
Bord, Janet & Colin, Earth Rites, Fertility Practices in
Pre-Industrial Britain, Granada, London, 1982.
Carr-Gomm, Philip The Elements of the Druid Tradition,
Element Books, Rockport, MA 1998
Danaher, Kevin, The Year in Ireland, The Mercier Press, Cork,
1972.
Henes, Donna, Celestially Auspicious Occasions: Seasons,
Cycles & Celebrations,
A Pedigree Book. NY, NY 1996
Hole, Christina, Witchcraft in England, Rowman & Littlefield,
Totowa NJ, 1977.
Holleston, T.W., Celtic Mythology: History, Legends and Deities,
NewCastle Publishing, Van Nuys, CA 1997<?P>
MacCana, Proinsias, Celtic Mythology, The Hamlyn Publishing
Group, Ltd., London, 1970.
MacCulloch, J.A. Religion of the Ancient Celts, Folcroft Library
Editions, London, 1977.
Matthews, John, The Druid Source Book: Complied and Edited
by John Matthews, A Blanford Book, London, England, 1997
Matthews, John and Caitlin Matthews, The Encyclopedia of
Celtic Wisdom, Element Books Rockport, MA 1994
McCoy, Edain, The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the
Old Ways, Llewellyn Publications, St. Paul, MN 1998
Nichols, Ross, The Book of Druidry, Harper-Collins, London,
England 1992
Powell, T.G.E. The Celts, Thames & Hudson, New York, 1980.
Sharkey, John, Celtic Mysteries, the Ancient Religion, Thames & Hudson, New York, 1979.
Squire, Charles, Celtic Myth, Legend, Poetry, and Romance,
Newcastle Publishing Co., Van Nuys, CA, 1975.
Stewart, R.J. Celtic Myths, Celtic Legends, Blanford Books,
London, England, 1997
Williamson, John, The Oak King, The Holly King, and the
Unicorn, Harper & Row, New York, 1986.
Wood-Martin, W.G., Traces of the Elder Faiths of Ireland, Kennikat
Press, Port Washington, NY, 1902.

I thought the earth remembered me,
she took me back so tenderly,
arranging her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,
nothing between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths
among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms
breathing around me, the insects,
and the birds who do their work in the darkness.

All night I rose and fell, as if in water,
grappling with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.

~~ Mary Oliver ~~

Cinquefoil, campion, lupine and foxglove nod on your doorstep; Nutka rose, salal bells, starflower and bleeding-heart hide in the woods, fully green now. Litha has come, longest day of the year, height of the sun. Of old, in Europe, Litha was the height too of pagan celebrations, the most important and widely honored of annual festivals.

Fire, love and magick wreathe ’round this time. As on Beltaine in Ireland, across Europe people of old leaped fires for fertility and luck on Midsummer Day, or on the night before, Midsummer Eve, according to Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology and Legend. Farmers drove their cattle through the flames or smoke or ran with burning coals across the cattle pens. In the Scottish Highlands, herders circumambulated their sheep with torches lit at the Midsummer fire.

People took burning brands around their fields also to ensure fertility, and in Ireland threw them into gardens and potato fields. Ashes from the fire were mixed with seeds yet to plant.

In parts of England country folk thought the apple crop would fail if they didn’t light the Midsummer fires. People relit their house fires from the Midsummer bonfire, in celebration hurled flaming disks heavenward and rolled flaming wheels downhill, burning circles that hailed the sun at zenith.

Midsummer, too, was a lovers’ festival. Lovers clasped hands over the bonfire, tossed flowers across to each other, leaped the flames together. Those who wanted lovers performed love divination. In Scandinavia, girls laid bunches of flowers under their pillows on Midsummer Eve to induce dreams of love and ensure their coming true. In England, it was said if an unmarried
girl fasted on Midsummer Eve and at midnight set her table with a clean cloth, bread, cheese and ale, then left her yard door open and waited, the boy she would marry, or his spirit, would come in and feast with her.

Magick crowns Midsummer. Divining rods cut on this night are more infallible, dreams more likely to come true. Dew gathered Midsummer Eve restores sight. Fern, which confers invisibility, was said to bloom at midnight on Midsummer Eve and is best picked then. Indeed, any magickal plants plucked on Midsummer
Eve at midnight are doubly efficacious and keep better. You’d pick certain magickal herbs, namely St. John’s Wort, hawkweed, vervain, orpine, mullein, wormwood and mistletoe, at midnight on Midsummer Eve or noon Midsummer Day, to use as a charm to protect your house from fire and lightning, your family from disease, negative witchcraft and disaster.

A pagan gardener might consider cultivating some or all of these; it’s not too late to buy at herb-oriented nurseries.

Whichever of these herbs you find, a gentle snip into a cloth, a spell whispered over, and you have a charm you can consecrate in the height of the sun.

In northern Europe, the Wild Hunt was often seen on Midsummer Eve, hallooing in the sky, in some districts led by Cernunnos. Midsummer’s Night by European tradition is a fairies’ night, and a witches’ night too. Rhiannon Ryall writes in West Country Wicca that her coven, employing rites said to be handed down for centuries in England’s West Country, would on Midsummer Eve decorate their symbols of the God and Goddess with flowers, yellow for the God, white for the Goddess. The coven that night would draw down the moon into their high priestess, and at sunrise draw down the sun into their high priest. The priest and priestess then celebrated the Great Rite, known to the
coven as the Rite of Joining or the Crossing Rite.

Some of Ryall’s elders called this ritual the Ridencrux Rite. They told how formerly in times of bad harvest or unseasonable weather, the High Priestess on the nights between the new and full moon would go to the nearest crossroads and wait for the first stranger traveling in the district. About this stranger the coven had done ritual beforehand, to ensure he embodied the God. The high priestess performed the Great Rite with him to make the next season’s sowing successful.

In the Middle Ages in Europe, traces of witchcraft and pagan remembrances were often linked with Midsummer. In Southern Estonia, Lutheran Church workers found a cottar’s wife accepting sacrifices on Midsummer Day, Juhan Kahk writes in Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries, edited by Bengt Ankarloo and Gustave Henningsen. Likewise, on Midsummer Night in 1667, in Estonia’s Maarja-Magdaleena parish, peasants met at the country manor of Colonel Griefenspeer to perform a ritual to cure illnesses.

In Denmark, writes Jens Christian V. Johansen in another Early Modern European Witchcraft chapter, medieval witches were said to gather on Midsummer Day, and in Ribe on Midsummer Night. Inquisitors in the Middle Ages often said witches met on Corpus
Christi, which some years fell close to Midsummer Eve, according to Witchcraft in the Middle Ages, by Jeffrey Burton Russell. The inquisitors explained witches chose the date to mock a central Christian festival, but Corpus Christi is no more important than a number of other Christian holidays, and it falls near
a day traditionally associated with pagan worship. Coincidence? Probably not.

Anciently, pagans and witches hallowed Midsummer. Some burned for their right to observe their rites; we need not. But we can remember the past. In solidarity with those burned, we can collect our herbs at midnight; we can burn our bonfires and hail the sun.

Sources:
Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of Folklore, Mythology
and Legend
Rhiannon Ryall’sWest Country Wicca
Juhan Kahk’s Early Modern European Witchcraft: Centres and Peripheries, edited by Bengt Ankarloo and
Gustave Henningsen
Jens Christian V. Johansen’s Early Modern European Witchcraft
Jeffrey Burton Russell’s Witchcraft in the Middle Ages

Only when you are still inside do you have access
to the realm of the stillness that rocks, plants, and animals inhabit.
Only when your noisy mind subsides can you connect with nature at a deep level
and go beyond the sense of separation created by excessive thinking.

Nature can bring you to stillness.
That is its gift to you.

When you perceive and join with nature
in the field of stillness, that field becomes
permeated with your awareness.
This is your gift to nature.

Through you nature becomes aware of itself.
Nature has been waiting for you, as it were,
for millions of years.

~~ Eckhart Tolle ~~

As stillness in stone to silence is wed
May your heart be somewhere a God might dwell.

As a river flows in ideal sequence
May your soul discover time in presence.

As the moon absolves the dark of resistance
May thought-light console your mind with brightness.

As the breath of light awakens colour
May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder.

As spring rain softens the earth with surprise
May your winter places be kissed by light.

As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance
May the grace of change bring you elegance.

As clay anchors a tree in light and wind
May your outer life grow from peace within.

As twilight fills night with bright horizons
May beauty await you at home beyond.

~~ John O’Donohue ~~
(from Divine Beauty)

Medford, OR:
Our Grove often has public events, including High Day rituals,
at this LABYRINTH.

We ensured each person could go through it at their own pace
in peace and privacy with ample time to reflect while in
the center. All were encouraged to bring a candle to light at the
center for prayer/meditation purposes as well as to leave a
small biodegradable offering for their Guardian Spirit and/or
the Spirit of the Labyrinth itself.

Once everyone was finished, we adjourned to a nearby inexpensive
restaurant for a bite to eat and a chance to relax.

The Labyrinth is a great learning experience for children.
It’s located in the Healing Garden area which is well lit,
with plenty of parking, restrooms, water fountains and ADA
accessible.

Our website: http://triplehorses.weebly.com

Our contact info:
medford.grove@reformed-druids.org

Seasonal blessings,
Clan of the Triplehorses Grove

Redding,CA:
Grove of the Manzanita is still on summer hiatus; with activities being jointly held with Starlight Interfaith Church. Lughnasadh was spent camping near Mount Lassen, in Old Station. We held ritual near a creek, spent an afternoon exploring the Subway caves and the evening feasting and toasting  marshmallows. Mabon plans include a potluck feast in the park, with dancing
and games for the children.Membership is inactive right now, with grove mates doing their own family activities over summer and now preparing for the
fall college semester.
Our fledging web presence is at: http://www.myspace.com/manzanita_druids

Blessings of Summer,
Tiffiny /|\
ArchDruid, Grove of the Manzanita, RDG
Contact: anderson.grove@reformed-druids.org

Although it’s not a “Grove”, the NoDaL still qualifies as an “autonomous collective” of the Reformed Druids of Gaia, and consists of all the 3rd Degree Druids therein. The purpose of the NoDaL is to provide a space for Archdruids of the RDG Groves and Proto-Groves to discuss the many aspects of running a group of Druids, and provide advice and support for each other. They also act as the “legislative” branch of the RDG – creating policy as needed.The
Nemeton has finished it’s process of reviewing and revising “The Druid Path” cd rom self-study course and has made it’s recommendations to the MG, which has begun implementing them, Nemeton members request that anyone interested in having input in RDG policy, please share their concerns or suggestions. You may write the NoDaL at senior.clerk@reformed-druids.org

Philadelphia, PA:
Currently meeting in the lush emerald woods of Fairmount Park in the city of Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection (commonly know as Philadelphia), Aelvenstar Grove honors Mother Earth. The grove was formally founded Beltaine, 2004 and is a proto grove of the Reformed Druids of Gaia/Orderof the Mithril Star and the Reformed Druids Of North America.In addition, we are associated with other pagan organizations such as Per NTR Sesen and Temple Harakhte.

Looking to our ancestors and the ancients, Aelvenstar Druids respect all life and receive inspiration from Nature and the heavens. We believe it is the natural state of Mankind to live in harmony with Nature. and that it is our responsibility to respect and protect the Earth. As activists, it is our responsibility to do our part collectively and individually to heal the environment.

Emphasizing  development through the practice of Druidcraft, focus is placed
upon personal growth through the development of body, mind, and spirit. Through study, discussions, rituals, retreats, fellowship, and meditation, a spiritual framework is provided through which Druids may further develop themselves.

Aelvenstar Grove holds eight celebrations a year, on the solstices, equinoxes,
and cross quarter festivals. We sometimes meet on other occasions for outings and initiations. Online meetings and initiations are held too, as some members live a distance away.

We welcome new members of all backgrounds who love nature and seek
spirituality permeated in the divine beauty and wonder that surrounds us. Nature is groovy!

Courses available: Reformed Druidism 101

Website: http://www.aelvenstargrove.org

Email: philadelphia.grove@reformed-druids.org

For more information about Reformed Druidism, visit
http://reformed-druids.org

Live Oak , FL:
Greetings!
White Horse ProtoGrove is sorta in idle mode at the moment………….I
am back at college working on my LPN & doing pre-requisites
for my RN at the moment & have been very busy……..

Blessings,
Ann Feather

Contact:
sebring.grove@reformed-druids.org

Roots Rocks and Stars
RDG “Proto-Grove”

Albany, OR:
Roots Rocks and Stars currently consists of three humans and two canine companions. We people are all college students, one in natural resources, one in Literature, and one in history. We live together in a small apartment in
Corvallis Oregon’s north end. We are all ethnically descended from British Isle and French folks (some Native Canadian/American ancestry as well) and this colors our rituals. We are primarily dedicated to Cernunnos, Epona, Brigid, and Cerridwen but actually tend toward an abiding devotion to nature and spirit without too much investment in names and images. Our rituals tend to
involve home-cooking and plenty of beer.

Contact: albany.grove@reformed-druids.org

No news this season from:

Thorn & Rose
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
RDG “Proto-Grove”

calgary.grove@reformed-druids.org

The State of the Reform
1 Fogharnhar YGR 04

As of today 605 Druids have registered with the RDG:

33 members are initiated Second Order Druids
6 members are eligible for ordination into the Third Order
25 members are ordained Third Order Druids (Clergy)
13% of our members belong to a Grove
67% of our members belong to an Order
30% of Grove members also belong to an Order
4000+ non-registered, “defacto” members (not factored into any percentages)

During Samradh 04, we experienced a net registration gain of 15

Total Groves chartered: 11
Total Orders Established: 1
Total North American Druids: 560
Total Druids in CELTIC Lands: 7
Total International Druids: 45
Total Countries represented: 17

Our oldest Druid is 77 years old.
Our youngest Druid is 20 years old.
4% were born prior to 1945.
44% were born between 1946-1964.
41% were born between 1965-1981.
11% were born since 1982.