(S) Sabbat: Fall Equinox

While I don’t have a whole lot that I do on a regular basis, the Sabbats are something that I do make a point of acknowledging, even if it’s only briefly. Being Eclectic I do tend to sort of do my own thing – and while I do honor my God and Goddess, there are other aspects of the Sabbats that I honor as well.

I’m clearly a child of Fall, I relish in the crisp weather, the bright oranges and yellows as the leaves start to turn – that smoky smell in the air, of wood stoves or fireplaces that have been lit… and everything else that comes along with it. Spring runs a close second, but my true love is Fall. For quite a while I never quite knew what to do with myself on Mabon, and in truth I rarely call it that – preferring simply the Fall Equinox. At first glance it’s a sort of in between day – you’ve already celebrated one harvest, and if you really need to, there’s another one coming up… but that is the sort of beauty of it, when one takes a closer look (or at least there is for me).

Both Lughnasadh and Samhain have other components to them, that often overshadow their “harvest festival” aspect. So much so that I’ve really come to appreciate this particular day, as my actual day to celebrate the “harvests” of the year, and leave the other days to their other aspects. I rarely cook – it’s not something that I enjoy all that much and hubby is so much better at it than I am. He has that special gift of being able to throw things in a pot and no matter what it is, it almost always comes out amazing. A gift that I sorely lack. However on the Equinox, I usually will put forth the effort, and make it a true “thanksgiving” feast for the family.

This year, celebrations will be slightly tempered though – while I am thankful for a lot (and some things are a lot better than they were the last couple of years, so I am thankful), it’s been a pretty bad month so far. Even though it’s been almost 15 years, events earlier in the month brought the reality of my mother’s death crashing back down on me. Then – while I was still dealing with that, got a call from my dad that he likely has skin cancer, and (in his words) “hope for the best, but prepare for the worst”. He’s not the type to be overly melodramatic, so needless to say, I’m a bit worried. All of which is bad enough, but then came the worst part (yes… something worse than cancer), confirmation that one of my son’s teacher assistants was more than likely physically and verbally abusing him off and on last year. He’s autistic and completely non-verbal, so had no way to tell us what was going on, and we had absolutely no idea. This was someone we thought of as a friend, and needless to say we are devastated.

So… clearly not really in a festive, or thankful mood at the moment, but it’s still important for me to mark the turning of the Wheel. So I’m looking forward to cooking a bit of something good later on, and hopefully regaining some of the inner-balance that this day is good for.

Hope you and yours have a wonderful Sabbat!!

P.S… if anyone is in need of a good balancing ritual this is one I wrote several years back, feel free to use/modify as needed (please credit me though if you are posting it elsewhere). 🙂

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Pagan Pride 2012

Action, Action:  Despite my usual issues with PPD, I almost always go, as I do feel that it is important to support my local Pagan community. Thought we were going to get rained out, but it dried up just long enough for us to take a run out to the Fair Grounds for the Central NC Pagan Pride festival.

There wasn’t really any workshops that I was interested in this year, but hubby and the kids tagged along and we picked up some nice Elderberry Syrup from Swanfire Farms, and got some info on Starrlight Mead. Which while they weren’t allowed to sell at PPD, are just a bit down the way in Pittsboro. So definitely going to have to take a little road trip and pick some up! There was a nice bit of drumming going on when we got there though, so thought I’d share a pic and music to keep the mood going.

Post a Pic:

One Tribe

Musical Musings: Not from this year, or even a PPD, but this is the group that was leading the drumming. Well worth a listen!!

Blue Moon…

In Your Own Words:

So… lazy Pagan that I am, I really didn’t have any plans for last night.  Not only did I not get off work until about 10p, but I knew that I was going to have to get back up at about 3:45a to start my next shift, so really sleep was all I was really thinking of doing. However it seems that the universe had other plans for me.

I’ve been feeling “called” to make a specific necklace for the last couple months, and I was finally able to order the materials that I needed the other day, and it was just my luck that they came in yesterday afternoon. As most people know I’m not a very crafty sort of person, I mean I’m good with ideas, but generally suck on the execution – but this has been bugging at me for a while, so I felt that it was something that I needed to really get done.

Action, Action:

When I got off work, I sat down on my bed and was just going to look at the materials, sort them out, do a bit of organizing. Which is why I was still there 3 hours later, fingers and various other body parts cramping in pain from non-stop working. Did get it done though, and it turned out pretty good (if I do say so myself).

While I normally associate ravens with Odinn, for whatever reason I was specifically nudged in the direction of his wolves in the making of this, and it is for Him that it was made. I’m not entirely sure what that means, especially considering that I didn’t really get much of an indication that he was particularly interested in me, when we had our little chat earlier in the year. It’s true though, that he is often on my mind, though that’s probably because we have a lot of crows in our area – which while obviously not the same as a raven, yet still seem to always remind me of him none the less. Guess we’ll just have to see where it all leads…

Post a Pic:

Not the best picture in the world, since I am still more or less camera-less, but as I was despairing of even being able to post a pic, I remembered that I do have a webcam (crappy quality… but beggars can’t be choosers).  It was made with black obsidian, two different shades of labradorite, brass beads and a pewter and brass wolf pendent. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some better pics up one day.