Mabh Savage
Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
Moving Hekate
As we prepare for imminent baby arrival, I’ve had to clear some of my more esoteric items out of what will soon be the nursery. It was my ‘me’ space; for meditation, solo ritual and worship. However, that won’t be practical now, and the hardest thing about this has been finding a suitable place to move my Goddesses to.
Hekate posed a particular problem, as I wanted to be able to keep my devotional items and candles handy, without them moving to a spot where they will set the house on fire, get knocked about or sat on by cats (too much!). Also, I wanted a suitable spot which was apt for this liminal goddess.
I decided on the downstairs hallway, as there is space here that doesn’t get cluttered, it’s easy to keep clean and Nathan and I had already started on making it a more ‘spiritual’ portal to the home by creating a season tree; more on that in another blog.
Jim had built a three tier corner unit which he kindly donated to the cause; ideal for this three faced goddess of the triple crossroads.
I cleansed and consecrated the space, and cleaned the items I wanted to move, anointing some in olive oil; as well as being a great offering for Hekate, the oil helps protect the surfaces of some of my altar items. I have used the three teirs to roughly represent the three levels of the world and Her dominion; earth, sea and sky.
I have replaced her twin torches, which were larger wax candles, with LED candles for safety. The red candle from her last sacred fire is present and when I perform a ritual to sanctify this space, the old candle will be used to light a new red candle, to symbolise the transition we have undergone, and the cyclical nature of the universe.
Finally, she is now in a truly luminal spot in the house. The front hallway is neither truly in or out of the house. There are no main rooms downstairs; we either climb up to warmth and food or down to fresh air and adventure. She is close to the door, the portal to our daily different ways of being, and as keeper of keys this feels like a safe and suitable place for her to be.
I think the final step may be painting the unit, as it just feels a touch drab at the moment!
New Poem: Ink Cap
Fungi, the changing season, and some gorgeous artwork from Nimue Brown.
http://moon-books.net/blogs/moonbooks/pagan-poetry-ink-cap/
September Pagan Pages Now Up!
Hello all, I 
hope you are enjoying the first touches of autumn and the first tentative fingers of the fall. Our lawn is already dotted with yellow birch leaves, and the odd ink cap that appears magically overnight. The blackberries are dragging the brambles low to the ground with their lucious, loaded weight, and doves and wood pigeons fight over their delicious bounty.
While it gets a bit cooler outside, you might want to stay in the warm and catch up on some reading. With that in mind, here is this month’s Pagan Pages, packed full of entertaining and informative tid-bits for your enjoyment.
There’s a magical tale from Ian Elliott, the new feminist column from Susan Morgaine, and Imelda Almqvist writes about painting, as well as regular columns Crystal Connections, Good God! and my own Notes from the Apothecary, which this month takes a more dangerous turn as I look at the deadly Aconite.
I was also lucky enough to be introduced to some new Pagan music over the summer, so please check out my review of Trismegistia, and my interview with Daniel Faria, the brain child of this mystical music project.
May your autumn be warm and fruitful!
House Martins
These little beauties all came to pick at the crumbs left by fellow bank holiday revellers. I was on the seafront at Hornsea, resting my weary bones after a meander on the wet and glorious beach. As I sat quietly, the martins waited until the noisy passers by had cleared off, then came in force to clean up behind them.
I was lucky enough to see one of their nesting spots, inside an old, brick bus shelter on the Esplanade. The little mud pod is so tiny you can hardly believe a family is raised in there, but we regularly saw mum and dad flying in and out with delectables for the babies.
House martins are a type of swallow, and unlike their cousins, the swifts, aren’t constantly on the wing, but can be seen resting, in particular on man made structures such as telephone wires and rooftops. Folklore has it that Noah granted the martins permission to use human housing as their own, for being such a ‘useful’ bird, however prior to modern housing, martins built their nests on cliffs and crags.
There are many superstitions involving luck and martins or other swallows. A hunter may wear the tail of the first Martin of the year on his cap to ensure a successful hunt; an unnecessarily cruel tradition, methinks! Three martins landing on your roof is a sign of good fortune. A German superstition holds that if you wash your face immediately after seeing the first martin or swallow of the year, you won’t get sunburnt that year. Still, best keep the factor 30 handy just in case…
As we approach autumn, we will have to say goodbye to our migratory visitors soon, but look out for them again next spring. Swifts are the ones who are always in flight, ever moving. Swallows have the red breast, in English folklore a symbol of devil’s blood which becomes apparent in the birds’ nature if you try to disturb their nests! But martins are the ones who share our houses, sit companionably on telegraph poles and pub signs, and remind us we are lucky to have these visitors from foreign climes.
Autumn is coming…
Yes, it’s a blatant take on GoT’s signature slogan, but the drama of winter is a way off (we hope) and I’m loving browsing Pinterest and Tumblr and seeing how excited folks are getting about fall, Halloween and Samhain.
The primary colour is orange, a good thing for one of our boys as it’s his favourite colour! Orange leaves, orange sweets (American candy-corn in particular), pumpkins, clothes and soft, wooly blankets. Sunrise glinting off dew-gems in spider webs. Sunset shimmering bright across purple twilight skies. Marigolds giving way to mushrooms giving way to leafmold and cold, clean nights.
We start to talk about wholesome, hearty meals, such as beef stew with dumplings, or served in a giant Yorkshire pudding. Slow cookers are dusted off, and put to good use.
I’m due to have our baby in November, and as mentioned in previous blogs, am pretty sore and sad with SPD, but I still feel excited in these last days of summer, already brimming over with the promise of autumnal bounty. It’s not quite here yet though. There’s brambling to do first; the bushes outside my house are starting to look as heavy as I , with their black and juicy jewels.
Limited though my mobility may be, I look forward to the joys of late summer and early autumn with optimism, with two small boys and a large one to help out, there’s no reason why we still can’t have some fun.
SPD/PGP
Things that hurt today:
- Pulling a chair in closer to the table so I don’t spill lunch on myself.
- Standing.
- Sitting.
- Putting socks on.
- Seriously, socks are the enemy.
- Putting on support bandage.
- The irony of the last bullet point.
Bread and Boats
My mum is an artisan baker and her bread is proving very popular today. The red pepper, sage and olive rolls are particularly delicious… and vegan!
Apperley Bridge Marina Charity Day, raising money for Martin House.
Apperley Bridge Marina Charity Day
Today! For all Leeds and Bradford folk and visitors.
I’m very chuffed to have a stall at Saturday’s charity event at Apperley Bridge Marina! I’ll be taking my books, jewellery and other items, and I’ll be sharing my space with an artisan baker and the artist who did the cover art for my most recent book, Celtic Witchcraft.
Last year the event raised hundreds of pounds for Martin House Children’s Hospice. If you’re in Leeds or Bradford this weekend, please pop in and check out the wonderful stalls, barbecue and boat rides!
Mabh Savage 