Happy Beltaine & Blessed feast of Exaultation

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Dear Reader,

Yesterday was a very strange and busy day for me. I put my plants out because I am sure the danger of frost is passed. I did some writing out in the sunshine because it was near 72 deg. F. in the afternoon. I did a bunch of housework.

I tried to find it in me to do something celebratory for Beltaine and the feast of the Exaultation of the Lady. I simply could not do it because it was, sadly, the anniversary of my uncle's murder. It was among the topics that troubled me during the day.

Most years, I am relatively alright with my grief because I have mostly processed it. But, as the evening set in and I realized that I had been feeling a sense of guilt for trying to be happy and celebratory through the day, I realized that I truly wasn't finished grieving.

I sincerely wish you all happiness and joy during this season of growth and delight. I will join you in merriment after I have had a bit of time to reestablish a sense of balance again.

I truly believe that my uncle is at a place of peace and happiness now. Perhaps he has moved onto his next life or perhaps he resides in the paradise of his faith. I still grieve him in my way despite the fact that I didn't know him as well as I wished to have. And I am still deeply angered with the men who killed him. Some people have said that I should be one of the people who approves of capital punishment because of this case.

I don't, however, because it is state sanctioned murder. I can not condone revenge killing when we can not be sure that every case is truly an exact case of justice being served. There are countless people who are on death row and among them is an unknown number of innocent souls. I'd prefer my taxes pay to house and care for all of them than for one innocent soul to be murdered by the state for the sake of justice. Because that isn't justice. That is petty revenge carried out by proxy.

High Holidays: Filianic

Eastre

Florimaia

Exaultation

Rosa Mundi

• Blessed Solstice & Rosa Mundi 2016

Chelayna

• Autumn:Harvest and Creation 2018

Cuviyana

• Autumn: Harvest and Creation 2018

Tamala

• Tamala/Samhain 2018
• A Shrine for the Beloved Dead 2014

Nativity

• Yuletide 2015
• Advent Begins 2015

Lucaid

Amity Day

• Love is Love is Love 2017

Moura Day

• The Season of Moura 2018
• Moura Day 2016
• Moura Eve 2016

Kala

• Eve of Kala Thoughts 2018

Hiatus

• Hiatus and Equinox 2017

This page will be updated as the relevant posts are collated and put here.

Blessed Exaultation & Beltaine.

The first of May marks two holy days. In the general pagan community here in the US, Beltaine is observed. It is said that Beltaine marked the beginning of summer in the ancient Celtic calendar. It is one of the high holy days of Wicca, considered to be the day that the Goddess is wed to the God. (Consummation of that holy union is celebrated at Litha, also known as mid-summer.)

This is also a very holy day within the Filianic and Déanic communities where the Daughter aspect of Dea is crowned as Queen of Heaven. Many of the observances of this holy day are directly related to the Catholic Christian celebration of Mary as Queen of Heaven. Flowers play a very large part of this celebration. Floral crowns are placed upon icons of the Daughter as homage to her role as Queen of Heaven.

My day was quite summer-like weather wise, though it was rather odd to not have the trees in full leaf. I prayed the rosary this morning and then spent my morning making prayer bead sets. Pictures of them will be coming tomorrow and they will be available for purchase through private arrangement.

I have two prayer bead sets that I am keeping for myself. One is a three decade chaplet with a knock off Marian medal on it. The other is a five decade rosary with a pentacle as the terminal. This replaces the smaller one that I made using stones. It will match the fifteen decade rosary that I plan on restringing tomorrow. (I put the cord for that one in a safe place and I haven't found it yet. That rosary is in fragile condition right now.)

My focus when I'm praying the rosary right now is for the healing of the world's ills. I try to pray it at least once a week (usually on Mondays). I invite you to join me for the time between today and the next holy day of the Filianic calendar (Florimaia, May 25th, the feast of flowers) to pray the rosary, if you are so inclined.

Greening of Things.

We're a bit past Beltaine and Exaultation. We have reached the point in the season where the trees are getting leaves and flowers are budding out in greater number. My front yard looks to be green with yellow polkadots with all of the dandelions popping up. This year, we have far more songbirds flitting about (we now have 3 bird feeders up which results in somewhere between 10-15 birds at the feeders at a given time). They are quite busy making their nests and courting. The squirrels are just as much of a bother as they were last year, so I think their population is doing just fine right now too.

As I see the world take on greater shades of green, my heart is lifted. We are not yet ready to plant the lovely offerings from the local greenhouses (though my children truly and deeply wish to have an enormous tomato plant right now). Still, I have sown some seeds. I have taken cuttings from houseplants and begun the process of rooting them so that I might have more. I have begun the process of clearing weeds out of my little flowerbed on the right side of the front steps and trying to decide what I will be putting in the big pot on the left side.

I putter about plants when I feel up to it. As I do so, I feel Freyr with me. I feel his love and his guidance. When I engage the natural world, especially the vegetal aspects of it, I feel so close to him. I make a point of expressing my affection for him and my appreciation for the wights about me in those moments. While Freyr is present very often and we share much over a given day, I just feel it is an even more potent moment when I am engaging him in his element.

In Wiccan theology (which for many people in the pagan community, it is the template for much of their worship practices) Beltaine is when the Oak King weds the Earth Mother. It is a celebration of fertility and life. It is my personal feeling that this is when Freyr celebrates his marriage to Gerda. I usually make a point at this time of year to give an offering to both of them as a divine couple as well as one for them individually. Because of my Wiccan training, my offering is usually wine and some type of bread.

I do my best to express my joy in the fecundity of the Earth that comes with their union. I also do my best to express my gratitude for the blessings of prosperity that comes as well. Sometimes, the words will fail me. Sometimes, my feelings of joy are fleeting in the face of the suffering of my illness. Still, I strive to express my adoration for them that give to all the world the blessings that unfurl with the young leaves of the trees and blossoming flowers.