Winter Solstice

Well if ever there was any doubt that winter was here, that is certainly dispelled with the arrival of snow and sub-zero temperatures-the 'Kiss of the Cailleach'.

Like many things a double-edged sword. On the one hand, the landscapes around us are beautiful, but they are also treacherous, for anyone, let alone the vulnerable.

Good Christian folk do not have a monopoly on being a good neighbour-good pagan folk can also pay attention to those in the community that might need our help, popping to the shops for some supplies for someone who can't get out takes nothing more than our time.

Be watchful! Not only does the human world have difficulty during the winter but the animal kingdom struggles too. The Robins find it tough to feed this weather, being ground feeders, so a few fat balls placed in strategic places will help them on their way and you'll make an ally in the process.

This Winter Solstice lifts my spirits, the light will return-the Yuletide celebrations begin and I am caught up with memories, as usual, of the Spring and Summer to come.

I spend much of my spare time this time of year reading and researching things i need to know and many things i just find interesting. I have a wish list on Amazon that may take me years to sort through!

I'm having to narrow it down as i could spend so much time delving that i never actually get anything done!

Hence, this Solstice I am dedicating a year of study and practice of three things-a science, a practical craft, and the development of my relationship with a piece of land local to where i live.

I have decided on a few things, not quite sure about the practical craft yet as there are so many i would like to do (it has to be something useful) and i have already been walking and watching a piece of land for a good while now. It will be interesting next Solstice to see where this leads.

In the meantime, Wishing All a Very Merry Yuletide!xx

Changing Tides...

The tides are changing once again, subtle in their beginning until you can't deny another season is upon you, along with their underlying energies. The swifts have left for warmer places, i miss their joyful aerodynamics. The blackberries are ripening well and ready for picking, the Rowan berries are ripe, and the Hawthorn are very nearly there in most of my local places. Spirits willing i'll be starting my gatherings in the next week or so.

Blessings to my local farmers preparing to cut the fields, it's been unsettled and wet the past week or so-hopefully the past few dry days will give them their opportunity for harvest without worrying too much.

I'm sad to see my local Elder has been a casualty in a fire on the fields, one filled with broken booze bottles and rubbish that has also damaged a large Sycamore. Both are strong spirits and will survive but it's difficult to see their scars caused by the thoughtlessness of a few.

I'm feeling the thankfulness that comes with this time of year and making the most of every opportunity to get amongst it, but there is a shift in consciousness approaching with the coming of the darker days-as always. One of learning, experience and introspection.

The beginning of the year brought with it a new way of practical living in a material sense, and since then i've had opportunities to learn much about leadership in a professional sense which has been the start of another journey.

I feel however another path emerging on a spiritual level, where it will lead i have no idea, but it feels like a natural process, like an old memory returning in bits and pieces, or a dream remembered in fragments. Anyways, what will be will be. Onwards and upwards-or is that downwards? We shall see...

Looking under the stone....

Have you ever lifted a stone and had a peep underneath to see that there is a whole world of activity going on totally oblivious to our own and quite often independent of it?

Fascinating stuff, especially if, like my niece you have a particular penchant for creepy crawlies!

Brings many thoughts to my mind, magical and practical. I'll leave the magical for another day though and focus on the practical.

More often than not when we're wrapped up in our own microcosm of daily living we forget that there are countless 'worlds' existing around us and it's up to us whether we lift the stone to find them. It does sometimes require a little effort but it can be well worthwhile.

One stone i lifted a few years ago was to look around at the world of Art that exists around me-and i found that it was incredibly creative and there is much going on that i had no awareness of.

Apart from the incredibly creative people i'm fortunate to know, there are loads of interesting exhibitions locally that you can have a nice amble down to one example being The International Festival of Glass 2010.

I'll be revisiting it again this year to see what's new and hopefully meet some great folk in the process.

Lift a stone where you are, and see what's going on beneath. You really might be surprised to see what you find.

The Wheel Turns....

Indeed it does! There have been a fair few changes since my last brief blog. I'm now separated, have moved house, and am making tentative steps in a new relationship. I have custody of the terrorist of course-my life just would'nt be the same without him.

I'd like to say it's all good but, there is always a price to pay, mine is the verbal from my disaffected spout, ever the victim and never to blame (how very dare I).

So, my life is now free from control, and alcoholism and many other complex psychological issues that i naively thought may be solved with love.

Enough said about that-the wheel continues regardless.

Spring is doing it's thing, the washing is drying on the line, the tumble dryer is redundant once more, (ok maybe that's a little optimistic). The sun is getting strong again, the birds are singing at 3am, and the bulbs and buds are appearing all around.

I spotted my first Greater Spotted Woodpecker pecking away at a tree on the field two weeks ago, the fledgling crows of last year are looking all sleek and handsome-the only thing i need now is the hoots of the owls and i will be truly chuffed!

I love this time of year-more so as i get older-with it's promise of summer to come. Maybe especially this year with the new found freedom to enjoy it all.

Hope it's all good with you all too and the Spring energies put back the bounce in your step after the winter months.

Many Blessings,

Pye.x

Is it really The Black Country?

It never ceases to amaze me, The Black Country that is. It's title still conjours images of foundaries spewing out smoke and pollution and yet it's one of the most beautiful places i know and i feel very fortunate living here.

Just this morning walking the terrorist over the local fields we stood and watched a pair of Buzzards looking for breakfast, not long followed by two huge Herons flying low above us. Mistle Thrushes, and Green Woodpeckers, Dragonflies and naughty Magpies catching up on their gossip!

A few days ago while walking part of the canal nearby, we were fortunate enough to see a Kingfisher flash by, Wagtails, and Mandarin Ducks.

It does'nt matter where you live does it really?

There is a whole host of wildlife there if you want to see it.