Imbolc Has Arrived

Here in the northern hemisphere, we are halfway to spring.

“…beneath the surface of winter, the miracle of spring is already in preparation; the cold is relenting; seeds are wakening up. Colors are beginning to imagine how they will return. Then, imperceptibly, somewhere one bud opens and the symphony of renewal is no longer reversible. From the black heart of winter a miraculous, breathing plenitude of color emerges.”

John O’Donohue

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#Imbolc
#wheeloftheyear
#cyclesandseasons
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Art: The Maiden Awakens
by Annie Louvaine

Potent Full Moon in Aries

I went out into the dark,
the night was soft and full of its usual wonders,
but tonight, I wanted the Moon.

I raised my hand,
thinking I could hold its silver light,
thinking I could keep it close.

But it slipped away, as all wild things do,
leaving only its quiet glow on my palm—
a reminder that some gifts
are not for taking.

Still, I stood in its light,
content to listen,
to feel the world turning,
and to understand
that some beauty is meant only
to guide us home.

~Rivers in the Ocean on FB
Catching the Moon

🌙

Photo by NancyL

Earthy New Moon

New moon in earthy Virgo, sign of the earth priestess.

Virgo is all about honoring the rhythms and cycles and seasons of this beautiful planet.

As Summer is drawing to a close in the northern hemisphere, this is the perfect time to perform a simple ritual in honor of the seasons.

Light a candle, say a prayer or make an offering to Mama Earth. Express your gratitude for our beautiful, sacred planet and its seasons.

🌙♥️🌎

On A Clear Day

The way the field
holds the shadow of the cottonwood,
this is how life holds me.

Holds me, no matter my shape.
Holds me with no effort.
Holds my darkness and knows it

as weightless, as transient,
as something that will shift,
disappear, return, and shift again.

It never says no to me.
I am still learning to trust life, to trust
no matter how I show up, I will be held.

Trust that my life is not a problem.
Trust that as much as I am the shadow,
I am also the field.

~Rosemary Wahtola Trommer

Photo by NancyL

Owl Prayers

” I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day—the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.”

~Terry Tempest Williams,
When Women Were Birds

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Owls are one of my personal messengers. A great horned owl has shown up outside my window 3 times in the last 2 weeks. They show up everywhere I live, calling to me before dawn. 

Owl is the wise watcher of the forest – a true visionary.. nothing gets by Owl. 

But Owl’s message can sometimes elude me. They are mysterious creatures that hold deep magic which can be hard for a mere human like me to discern.  At times it takes me days to realize why Owl showed up. But there is always a beautiful message in Owl’s presence, if I take the time to listen.  

🦉

“When the owl sings, the night is silent.”
~Charles de Leusse

Photo of great gray owl
by Mel Clements

Wild Cravings

“A woman may crave to be near water, or be belly down, her face in the earth, smelling the wild smell. She might have to drive into the wind. She may have to plant something, pull things out of the ground or put them into the ground. She may have to knead and bake, rapt in dough up to her elbows. She may have to trek into the hills, leaping from rock to rock trying out her voice against the mountain. She may need hours of starry nights where the stars are like face powder spilt on a black marble floor. She may feel she will die if she doesn’t dance naked in a thunderstorm, sit in perfect silence, return home ink-stained, paint-stained, tear-stained, moon-stained.”

~Clarissa Pinkola Estes,
Women Who Run With the Wolves

🦊

Photo: Bear Creek Calls to Me
by NancyL