Newsletter - Aug 2010 - August is a funny old month, it starts full of promise and energy, with a wonderful sense of freedom for school goers and will finish with a flurry of activity, kitting the children out ready for the new school year, filling the albums with photos of summer adventures and then, finally sighing with relief as the children return to school, mostly unscathed, life returns to a more familiar, stable rhythm......
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Newsletter - Sep 2010 - Autumn seems to be well underway now, the nights are drawing in and the trees are shedding their leaves - but not without first giving us a magnificent fiery display all over the countryside. Nature is putting itself to bed, readying itself for a well earned rest......
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Newsletter - Oct 2010 - SAMHAIN is believed to be a Celtic word which loosely translates to 'Summers End' It marks the beginning of both the Celtic and Wiccan New Year. It is the night the Sun God passes into the underworld, leaving only a tiny seed of light buried deep within the womb of the Goddess, to be fanned back into life at Yule......
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Newsletter - Nov 2010 - We're in the final countdown to another Yule and although the wheel hasn't quite turned another notch yet, the increasing pace of the leaf fall, the ever lengthening nights, shortening days and chill north wind, confirms to us that the winter train is pulling into our station at full tilt, with no brakes......
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Newsletter Yule 2010 - The Goddess turns the wheel another notch and the Winter Solstice is nearly upon us again. Yule is the shortest day of the year, with the longest night hours. It brings us the re-birth of the Sun God, the darkest point of the year passes, and slowly, the Sun God regains his strength, to warm and ripen the land, eventually to ride high in the summer skies......
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Newsletter - Yule Message - I don't know what happened to the year, it seems to have come full circle in the blink of an eye and suddenly Yule is upon us again! My hearty congratulations to those of you who are organised and ready for the festivities, my commiserations to those of you, who like me, feel it is approaching like a steam train and you are not fully prepared yet :) .....
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Newsletter - Jan 2011 - Yule is behind us now, already it feels like a life time ago! I for one, really appreciated the rest and discovered that it's quite nice to be at home, I even managed to do some baking - which I haven't done for ages, and took the dogs for a frolic through the winter wonderland :). The only down side was a bad dose of the 'back to work blues'......
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Newsletter - Feb 2011 - Spring is so close I can taste it, evidence is all around us now, with the trees starting to bud, crocuses in bloom and the daffodils poking above the
earth. Hurrah! Our next Sabbat is Ostara on 20th March this year. OSTARA is one of the Lesser Sabbats, it is the Spring or Vernal equinox when days and nights are once again equal in length......
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Newsletter - Mar 2011 - What a difference a month makes! Last month the first buds were just starting to shoot, this month the Hawthorne is in full bloom, the daffodils are painting the landscape a sunny yellow and the birds are getting very vocal. It's been nice enough to throw open the doors of the warehouse and sit outside for our tea-break. The change in nature's energy levels is almost palpable, I'm sure I can see the grass growing before my very eyes! .....
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Newsletter - Apr 2011 - Another Sabbat is nearly upon us, I can't believe how quickly the wheel turns - it must be my age. The Beltane celebrations traditionally begin on 30th April and carry on through the following day. For those of you who have outdoor festivities planned, I hope the weather is kind to you :)
Beltane, and its counterpart Samhain, divide the year into its two primary seasons, winter (Dark Part) and summer (Light Part)......
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Newsletter May 2011 - As May draws to a close, my thoughts are starting to turn towards our annual 'doggie' holiday. We are heading to Northumberland (as we do at least once each year). For hubby, it's 'going home'. Born and bred in Alnwick, he would still be there now if his Father's work hadn't taken them south when he was 17. So a big 'hello' to all you Northumbrians.......
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Newsletter - Jun 2011 - Well, that's the Solstice been and gone. For all of you that managed to get away to celebrate - I hope you had a wonderful time and that the weather was kind to you. For those of you that didn't get away, but joined in with the link-up meditation, well - WE didn't get wet lol! .....
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Newsletter - July 2011 - Apologies for this newsletter being a bit late this month, but we have just got back from our short break to Northumbria, a little bit damp and a little bit windswept, but still feeling very refreshed! The dogs amazed me, it's been over a year since we last stayed at the cottage, and they've only ever been there once before that, but, as soon as we pulled up in the car park, they knew exactly where they were......
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Newsletter - Aug 2011 - I had a pleasant telephone conversation with a nice gentleman a couple of weeks ago. He was ordering an Athame, it turns out it was to replace his sacred one that had been confiscated by the police. He had been to a hand-fasting, hadn't gone straight home but instead had gone to the pub for a quiet drink. When he left the pub and returned to his car........
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Newsletter - Sep 2011 - Autumn seems to have arrived somewhat abruptly, with Mother Nature changing her palette for reds and golds. The country lanes take my breath away with their beauty. So much so, that I was stopped at some traffic lights the other day, and I was so absorbed with studying the trees that I never noticed the lights change - they sort of blended in with their backdrop......
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Newsletter - Oct 2011 - It's hard to believe that Samhain is upon us again already, but the wheel waits for no man! Don't you just love Samhain? It's a wonderful time for closure, putting one year behind us, with all it's heartache and mistakes, and starting again with a fresh new canvas......
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Newsletter - Nov 2011 - Christmas may be over-commercialised, with piles of gifts, barrow loads of food and a reducing bank balance, but Yule, well Yule is special. For me, Yule isn't a contest to see who can give the biggest gifts, Yule is all about the return of the infant sun God. It marks mid-winter, and from there on in, things start to improve. The days slowly start to lengthen and I feel a wonderful sense of anticipation for the year to come. .....
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Newsletter - Jan 2012 - Well 2012 has arrived - but will we see the end? With so many doom and gloom theories about the end of the world occurring on December 21st this year, I'm just not sure whether to go and max out my credit cards on 20th December or play it safe. Lol......
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Newsletter - Feb 2012 - Looking out of the window today, the sun is shining, the first crocuses have opened up, the birds are finding their own dinner and the humans seem to be in a lot better fettle - has spring arrived? It is hard to think that only a couple of weeks ago snow covered the ground and the temperature struggled to hit zero. Talk about changeable, it seems that the saying about the British weather is true after all - If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes!.....
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Newsletter - March 2012 - It's hard to believe that Ostara has been and gone already! The year is marching on and I'm having to run to keep up:) It only seems like yesterday the very first shoots were appearing on the trees, now the Hawthorne is in full flower and banks of daffodils are bobbing in the hedgerows. .....
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Newsletter - April 2012 - Beltane (30th April) marks the beginning of Summer and what a nice time of year it is. Our ancestors would have been shaking off the chills of winter and having started their ground preparation and planting around Ostara, they would be looking forward to the long warm days of summer ahead and praying for a good growing season. They celebrated their hope and dreams in a major festival midway between the Vernal Equinox and the Summer Solstice - this is Beltane. .....
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