The Sacred Glen
Volume #2 Issue #4
April 2008
The Sacred Glen is a publication of Daughters of the Greening online school. All articles within this ezine are written by students of the school and are their own personal property, unless otherwise credited. Daughters of the Greening is dedicated to teaching about the sacredness of all life and offers classes in Sacred Ecology, Holistic Healing, Discovering Past Lives, Faery Magic and Women's Spirituality. The school is open to anyone who is 18 years of age or older.
The Sacred Glen Council
Morgana Ravenwings
Dryw
Belou
Susan Allen
In this issue:
Sacred Days of the Ancestors
The Goddess Speaks
Animal Medicine
Sacred Holidays Beltaine
Gaia’s Resources for Health
Garden of Eatin'
Spider Woman's Web
Sacred Days of the Ancestors
Holy Days, April 2008
4/1: Veneralia– Old Roman festival celebrating Venus (Goddess of Peace) vanquishing Mars (God of War) with love.
4/1: Old Slavic feast of Lada and Lado, protectors of lovers and youth.
4/5 (11:55 p.m. EDT): New Moon.
4/5: Mindfulness Day– Zen Buddhist day for being mindful that the joys
and suffering of others are your joys and suffering.
4/5 to 4/8: Iroquois Thunder Ceremony– in thanksgiving for the rains.
4/6 to 4/14: Navaratri/Gangaur– Hindu festival honoring Great Goddess
Maha Devi as Gauri--life, growth, and fruition. Tantric Hindus recognize gender equality and reject caste.
4/7: World Health Day– Day to pray for healing of all those chronically and seriously ill; day to advocate for adequate health care for all.
4/8: Hana Matsuri– Zen Buddhist celebration of the Buddha's birth (563
BCE).
4/9: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Jalal--Glory.
4/11 eve to 4/12 eve: Feast of Old Greek Goddess Artemis (Roman Diana/Slavic Diwitsa), who represents the feminine in Nature and protects women throughout their lives. Women recognized the transitions in their lives and honored female fertility.
4/13: Day for meditation on Tantric Bodhisattva Deities Avalokitesvara
and Green Tara, consciousness and empowerment of Compassion. Buddhists
recognize the equality of all sentient beings.
4/13 to 4/14: Ramanavami– Birthday of Hindu God Rama (avatar of Vishnu), protector of beloved wife, Goddess Sita (avatar of Lakshmi).
4/13 eve to 4/14 eve: Feast of God Poseidon, Goddess Amphritrite, and
all Old Greek Gods and Goddesses of the seas.
4/14: Vaisakhi/Indian Solar New Year– Hindus ritually bathe in the
Ganges River to purify themselves.
4/14: Cetacean Day– Day to honor all creatures of the sea and to meditate on Deity manifesting as sea creatures--Goddess as Delphine/Dolphin (Old Greek) & Sgana/Orca Whale (Haida); and God as Qolqalg Odai/Salmon (Haida).
4/14: Day the Sikh Khalsa was created (1699). Men and women initiated into the Khalsa seek harmony with the divine through introspection and service to the dispossessed.
4/14 to 4/25 (I 4/24): Old Norse Summer Days Feast– Offerings were made to the Deities (particularly Odin, Thor, and Freyr) for success, peace, and plenty.
4/19 eve to 4/27 eve: Passover/Pesach– Jewish festival recalling their deliverance from slavery in Egypt and celebrating freedom from oppression.
4/20 (6:25 a.m. EDT): Full Moon (Corn-Planting Moon).
4/20: Beginning of Taurus (the Bull/Cow/Calf).
4/20 eve to 4/23 eve (4/21 peak): Lyrid Meteor Showers.
4/22: Earth Day– Day to honor the Earth and to meditate on Deity manifesting as Mother Earth.
4/23: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Ogun, Orisha of Self-reliance and Industrious Labor. Yorubas/Santeros celebrate with drumming, ecstatic
dancing, and possession trance.
4/25: Arbor Day– Day to honor trees, to plant trees, and to meditate on Deity manifesting as trees--Goddess as Helice/Willow (Old Greek), Yggdrasill/Ash (Old Norse) & Asherah/Palm (Old Canaanite-Hebrew).
4/26 to 5/3: Mayan Rain Festival– honoring Rain God Chac and His attendant Chacmool, and welcoming the fructifying rains.
4/28: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Jamal--Beauty.
4/28 to 4/30: Rogation Days– Christian days of prayer for bountiful crops, sustainable development, and healing of environmental abuses.
4/28 eve to 5/3 eve: Floralia– Old Roman festival devoted to Flora, Goddess of Flowers.
4/30 eve to 5/2 eve: Beltaine– Old Celtic/Welsh feast of Blodeuwedd (Goddess of Flowers) and Llew (the Oak King--God of the waxing Sun).
4/30 eve to 5/2 eve: Feast of the Sacred Marriage.
4/30 to 5/4: Zoroastrian celebration.
4/30 eve to 5/4 eve: Mid-Spring/May Day/Walpurgis.
Parts Excerpted from:
THE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2007
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2006 Page Two, Inc.
info@WheeloftheYear.com
www.WheeloftheYear.com
The Goddess Speaks
Sulis
By Morgana
Sulis is a great Goddess who is honored at the Roman Baths in Avon. It is believed that at one time she was a triple Goddess, the Sulevi, and that she figured among the mother Goddesses, or Matres. When the Romans took over Britain and appropriated the Druid shrine as a Roman temple Sulis became known as Sulis Minerva. They erected a bronze statue of her at the baths, however it was destroyed in early Christian times, and now only the head survives.
Sulis was strongly associated with healing waters. Some inscriptions at the baths also link her with a local school of midwives and say that she was revered as a Goddess of childbirth. Among her other associations are handicrafts, agriculture, protectress of city and state, wisdom, the witnessing of oaths, catching of thieves, finder of lost objects and purity. Of all of these however, her strongest links seem to lie with healing and water.
Some scholars believe that her name derives from the Celtic "Siul", meaning 'eye'. If so, this makes her more ancient than one would expect, possibly dating her back to the ancient eye goddesses of pre-history. She was known as the Goddess who watches over, and people traveled for many miles to her shrines to drink her waters and seek a cure for what ailed them. Votive offerings of bronze and ivory breasts have been found at many of her shrines. Some believe that these offerings were amulets worn by breast-feeding women and then offered to the Goddess when the child was weaned. Also found are things known as Curse Tablets, where people entreat the Goddess to find someone who has stolen something from them and punish them.
Sulis is associated with cats, owls and eagles. Her scents are patchouli, cinnamon and cedar wood. Gems are onyx, ruby and star sapphire. She has festivals on February 2nd and December 22nd. As Minerva, her festival lasted from March 19th to the 23rd; it was an artisan’s holiday and a time of purification. Also called the Goddess of a Thousand Works, she was honored by school masters and her festival became the first spring vacation for students. Call on Sulis for any healing that is needed in your life, and for any problems with pregnancy or childbirth. To see pictures of her baths in Avon, go here:
http://www.dailyventure.com/journal.php?day=RomanBaths
Animal Medicine
Owl
By Morgana
Owls have been venerated in cultures all over the world, and for many thousands of years as birds of magic and darkness. They speak of prophecy and wisdom, of seeing things that are hidden, of the ways of the moon. Many different Goddesses had Owls as totems, including Sulis and Athena. Owl medicine is strongly associated with magic, clairvoyance, clairaudience and astral projection. Because Owl flies through the darkness, it is associated with going into our own darkness, our subconscious, and bringing out our hidden secrets. Owl teaches us to release that which we no longer need, which no longer serves us. She flies through our dark places, and grabs hold of the little buggers that keep scrambling out of the way, bringing them up,
up, up into the light of consciousness where they can then be eaten and their hold loosened. Owl also teaches us to let go of other things: in the sense of possessions, empty friendships/relationships, and/or too much of anything that does not promote our spiritual growth. Owl helps us to clear out that which is no longer needed.
Owl people have the ability to see into the hearts and souls of others. Oftentimes they dismiss these intuitions about other people as imagination. However, they should learn to trust this gift, for it is true.
Owl soars silently through the night. The prey doesn’t hear anything until it is scooped up in huge talons and carried off as dinner. Owl medicine teaches us the art of silent wisdom. Sometimes it is best to just keep your mouth shut! Many of people who are attracted to Owls are attracted for the wisdom she carries. But Owl wisdom does not speak out and try to force their wisdom on others. It allows others to be just as they are, and it instead concerns itself with wisdom for living its own life, for feeding itself and for keeping itself safe. Owl sees and knows the truth, but does not try to force that truth on anyone else.
If Owl is speaking to you today, perhaps it is time to sit alone in the darkness and find out what she is trying to say. Do you need to do some clearing out in your life? Are you not using wisdom in a situation? Are you not seeing someone as they really are....or are you and not trusting your intuition? Owl is a companion worthy of Goddesses, and if she is calling to you today, there is truth and magic coming your way.
Sacred Holidays: Beltaine
Beltaine
By Morgana
The first of May, otherwise known as May Day, has been celebrated since time immemorial with songs, feasting and ritual. This is the time of year when the Goddess and God are united in the sacred marriage, which insures the fertility of the crops and animals for the coming year. It is a time when new life is bursting forth all around....a time of joy and renewal and of refreshment after the cold, long months of winter. Birds awaken each morning with song, blessed to greet each new day. Daffodils and crocuses are blooming, trees are budding and frogs are beginning their chirping each night. Squirrel families have already begun. As I sit typing I see four new little ones scurrying about on the tree limbs outside my window, while moth r
sits patiently watching them. Birds are getting busy building nests, and playing . . . so happy to have made it through the winter. And we humans also know that something is happening in the very air around us....we emerge from our closed in homes and begin to sit on our porches, feeling the excitement that nature seems to exude this time of year.
Yes, Beltaine is a time of joy and renewal for everyone! The best known custom of this Holy Day is the May Pole....a tree that is stood in the town square around which is wrapped ribbons of red and white, symbolizing the Goddess and the God entwined in each other's arms. The ribbons were wrapped by people weaving in and out in a dance. Another custom that I remember celebrating as a child was that of May Baskets. We would go out and gather may flowers in a basket early in the morning and then take the arrangement to elderly people who were not able to get out and enjoy all the new life in nature. This custom actually comes from the custom of young couples going into the woods and making love on Beltaine, ensuring the fertility of the earth, and on their way back they would leave flowers at each house they came to while stopping and feasting with the people who lived there.
Another custom of Beltaine was the lighting of fires on the hilltops, symbolizing the triumph of the sun over the darkness. In Scotland, every fire in the house was extinguished and the hilltop fires were lit from need fires, which were begun by the lighting of wood from nine sacred trees. As the fires went low, women jumped over them asking for good husbands, and finally the ashes were spread on the fields to ensure good crops.
Other things to do on Beltaine include:
Rise at dawn and wash your face in the morning dew to ensure lasting beauty through-out the year.
Beltaine is one of the three Holy Days during which the Fae can be seen. Sit outside at dusk or dawn and anoint your eyelids with lavender oil (a very small amount and be careful not to get it in your eyes!). Or, peer through a holed stone.
Make up a May Basket and deliver it to someone who is suffering.
Toss flowers into a body of living water and bless the water spirits that abide there.
A time of fertility, beauty, merrymaking, renewal, joy and feasting, this is one of my favorite holidays. I hope all of our readers enjoy a very, very merry Beltaine!!
Beltaine Marigold Custard
Submitted by Morgana
2 cups milk
1 cup unsprayed marigold petals
1/4 t salt
3 T sugar
1 to 2 inch piece vanilla bean
3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1/8 t allspice
1/8 t nutmeg
1/8 t rose water
whipped cream
Using a clean mortar and pestle reserved for cooking purposes, pound marigold petals. Or, crush with a spoon. Mix the salt, sugar and spices together. Scald milk with the marigolds and the vanilla bean. Remove the vanilla bean and add the slightly beaten egg yolks and dry ingredients. Cook on low heat. When the mixture coats a spoon, add rose water and cool. Top with whipped cream, garnish with fresh marigold petals.
(From "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" by Scott Cunningham)
Beltane Correspondences
By Belou
Herbs/Flowers: Almond, Angelica, Bluebells, Daisy, Marigold, Frankincense, Lilac, Rose, Yellow cowslips, Ash tree, Cinquefoil, Hawthorn, Ivy, Marigold, Meadowsweet, Primrose, Woodruff, Damiana, Hibiscus, Saffron, Satyrion Root, Yarrow.
Incense/Oils: Frankincense, Lilac, Musk, Civet, Ambergris, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Myrtle, Rose. Passion Flower, Tuberose, Vanilla.
Colors: Green.
Stones: Emerald, Orange Carnelian, Sapphire, Rose Quartz., Lapis Lazuli, Yellow Agate, Bloodstone.
Foods: Dairy, honey, oats, red fruits, herbal salads, red/pink wine punch, large round oatmeal/barley cakes, sweets.
Tools/Symbols/Decorations: Maypole & ribbons, flower crowns, fires, bowers, fields, May baskets, white flowers and ribbons, daisy chain, flower chaplet, white wine in clear crystal glass, chalice, butterchurn, blackthorn & hawthorn branches, seasonal fruit.
Gods/Goddesses: Flora (Roman flower-goddess), the lunar goddess Diana and Artemis, Pan (the Greek horned goat god of the woodlands, fields, shepherds, and fertility), Faunus (the Roman equivalent to Pan), and all fertility deities.
Essence: Compassion, youthful play, exuberance, sensuality, pleasure, action.
Dynamics/Meaning: Sacred marriage of the Lord and the Lady.
Purpose: Fertility festival, celebrate 1st day of Celtic summer, 1st day of the light half of the year.
Rituals/Spells: The Great Rite, love, romance & fertility magicks, elf & faery power, offerings to elementals, crop blessings, relighting sacred fires, divination, building shrines, fire-calling, honoring house guardians, snake dancing, bathing faces in the morning dew of May to retain their youthful beauty.
Customs: Maypole erection, dancing around the maypole, bonfires, jumping fire, mating, picking flowers, making flower baskets, frolicking throughout the countryside, archery tournaments, sword dances, feasting, drinking and music, moving the herds to high pasture.
Element/Gender: Air/Male.
Threshold: Morning/Dawn.
Gaia’s Resources for Health
Affirmations
By Belou
Practice one or all of the following affirmations 30x a day for 30 days. These affirmations help to build up the energy around you & within the Universe to manifest these desired changes in your life.
I accept only the best for myself in life.
It is a joy to release someone to create their own magical path.
I treat others with compassion always.
I love unconditionally.
I am a person of honor.
By Belou
Malachite activates all seven chakras. Brings clarity, insight, understanding, fidelity in love. The stone offers healing and transformation. Often called a magic stone, favorable for travelers, missionaries, and other adventurers. Used as a child's talisman to sleep soundly and protect from bad dreams. Stimulates clear vision and insight, represents hope and inner peace, believed to protect from danger. Increases abundance in all areas of life. This stone supposedly has equal amounts of negative and positive forces, thereby adding to the balance of physical and spiritual life. The stone comes
in brilliant shades of green.
Ginger Melon Smoothie
Source: www.Stoneyfield.com
Cantaloupe is a good source of vitamin C. Adding lemon and ginger makes this a tasty treat that will help beat that cold.
Ingredients
1 cup Stonyfield Farm fat free plain yogurt
1 cup Stonyfield Farm skim milk
2 tsp. ginger root, grated
Zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 cup cantaloupe, cubed
1 tsp. honey
2 cups ice cubes
Directions
Add all ingredients to your blender. Blend until smooth. Garnish with a cube of cantaloupe and lemon wedge.
Yields
4 Servings
Nutrition Facts
Calories 70; Calories from Fat 0; Total Fat 0g; Sat Fat 0g; Trans Fat 0g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 75mg; Total Carbohydrates 13g; Fiber 1g; Sugars 12; Protein 5g
Submitted by Dryw
Mushroom Barley Soup
Source: Kathi Keville
1/4 c. barley
3/4 c. soup stock
2 1/2 c. water
2 t. tamari (or 1/4 t. salt)
1/2 c. chopped onion
1 or 2 cloves garlic, minced
2 t. olive oil
1/2 lb. fresh medicinal mushrooms (such as shiitake)
Black pepper to taste.
Cook barley in soup stock until tender. Add water and tamari. In a seperate pan, saute' onions and garlic in olive oil. When onions are transparent, add mushrooms. When mushrooms and onions are tender, add them to the barley- tamari mixture. Sprinkle in black pepper, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes. For variety, add cooked vegetables of your choice, either chopped or grated.
Submitted by Dryw
Spider Woman's Web
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http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/
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Being a conscious consumer....
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