3:53 pm
I feel like I have been either cleaning or in the kitchen all day, and you know what? It feels really good (I think I need a foot rub though…) I feel like I haven’t had time to keep my house in order for weeks. I got a chance to try out the baking soda and vinegar cleaners some of you recommended to me awhile back and wow, they work really well.
Tomorrow Michael and I are going to a Beltane gathering in Medical Lake. It is a potluck so I made my potato salad and a whole wheat applesauce cake. The cake started life as a slightly more elaborate recipe which I have been simplifying over time, today I made the final jump from changing the brown sugar to honey. Now it only contains whole wheat flour, applesauce, honey, baking soda and cinnamon. Except for the cinnamon and probably the baking soda, it is a completely local cake. I canned the applesauce last Autumn (this was my last jar too!). I grind the wheat myself and it comes from this area. The honey I used is from a local apiary (I picked it up in Yokes though.)
I don’t know how many of you modify recipes but if you do, you know that moment of apprehension you have before trying a heavily modified recipe? I just experienced that before typing this entry with that cake. I was pleasantly surprised, the local honey has a really wonderful flavor. I love it, though I must admit I have an urge to cover it in cream cheese frosting. I’d post a picture for you but I seem to have misplaced my upload cable. (They should make wireless cameras for people like me…)
I love the challenge of cooking as locally as possible. I like supporting the local growers and in general I find the local crops to be much more flavorful. We have two farmers’ markets within a 20 minute bus ride of our home and I am really looking forward to them opening (one opens May 10th and the other June 5th.)
Anyhow, now to go chop the potatoes for the salad. Getting local potatoes in never a problem here as Idaho is virtually next door…
10:17 pm
(These are some of the people who came to our gathering. Including children, we had about 25 people attend, which was a really fantastic turnout, especially with all the snow we had yesterday!)
Temple Free Spirit hosted its first every gathering last night. We celebrate the Winter Solstice! The gathering was held at Shannon and Robb’s home on Spokane’s South Hill and a total success! We held a small ritual, had a potluck and had lots of fun! As with all Temple events, we also had a food drive and received several large bags of food for Second Harvest.
(You can go to the the Temple gallery to see a few more photos.)
The Winter Solstice Gathering was a wonderful chance to get together, build community spirit and celebrate the Earth. Thank you to everyone who helped with preparations and attended.
2:58 pm
Michael and I have Chiefs tickets for tonight, against Tri Cities! Let the mayhem begin.
“Free Spirits - Open Minds” so far as gotten great reviews. I was a little nervous about it at first but Michael did a really professional job laying it out and Temple Free Spirit members submitted wonderful articles! I am already looking forward to our Imbolc issue.
My current nervousness lies in next Saturday when we will be having the first Temple Free Spirit event, a Winter Solstice gathering. It will be in one of our member’s home. Shannon has a large empty full basement with a kitchen and bathroom which will work perfectly. Right now almost everything is planned down to the T, except some last minute work on the ritual. My friend Dee gathered lots of information on various Solstice traditions, and we met up this week to review them. Today I am working on knitting our favorite ideas together.
Community is so important, I can never seem to stress this enough. I could not having planned the gathering to this extent on my own. All the brainstorming and planning and little details have come together wonderfully thanks to all of us working together. The people in my community are all blessings.
Anyhow, I better get back to work. I can hardly call it work though since it is so enjoyable!
8:15 pm
Within a glen, around a simple stone altar we gathered, inviting the powers that be into the sacred space through song, Winds Four Quarters. The matron of the property and circle, Linda, guided some in gathering feast food and offering it to those who have passed this year. We felt the ancestors strongly, truly the veil did part.
Leaving the glen’s east gate we gathered around a roaring bonfire and shared a spectacular feast. (I want a certain baked bean recipe now…) Some bread was accidentally set on fire, not sure how that happened, but it hardly colored the night, except with laughter. A horn toast was passed around at one point, I recognized my new friends, Michael welcomed our upcoming child, Dottie sent love to her recently departed mother, and there were many upon many other toasts, from the serious to the amusing were shared. I would not trade such life affirming experiences for anything.
It was a beautiful night, spent in the company of wonderful new friends, what more can you ask for?
11:16 am
I know it is awhile off to think about Samhain, we have to get through Mabon first! But I have heard the theme of this year may be a Masquerade Ball. I really hope it is, any excuse to get down and crafty.
I had a dream the night before last that I was at a masquerade ball with all the witches, shamans and Pagans I have ever known (big party, very Victorian-esque…) I woke up with the feeling of poetry in my soul and wrote something for it. I would like to share but the problem is that it is meant to be a spoken poem. I do not think all the punctuation in the world could make is right - do any other poets have that problem?
When Michael gets home I am going to see if he can help me record my voice on the computer so I can post the poem. Fingers crossed!
Have you ever wanted to own a big empty warehouse to use for everything from indoor ritual to parties? I could use one of those right now…
Now off to the post office for me, got some candle orders to send off!
8:35 pm
The Lughnasadh open circle went wonderfully today. I met a few new people and reconnected with old friends. The potluck was delicious; a couple people brought the bounties of their home gardens to share too. I have lots of fresh organic produce in my kitchen now! Spaghetti squash, zucchini, radishes, onions and beets. Yum! It is definitely going to make zucchini relish this week.
The ritual went well but it was also a learning experience for me too. This is one of the larger groups I have worked with and organized (it really is like herding cats!) Group chanting works well with smaller groups but it seems to get disorganized too quickly in larger ones, I felt they broke the ritual up too much. I think the guided meditation I did went very well though. I could have slowed it down a bit though, I rushed a little because I was a bit nervous. I feel I will be more at ease doing it next time. Fleur sang a wonderful song which brought me a lot of peace before the meditation otherwise I might have really ran through it. We blessed the food that was brought and raised some healing energy for some too.
I realized how much I deeply care about one person who I asked for some healing energy for in the circle. She has late stage ovarian cancer. Not only is she the mother of one of my best friends, but she is also my friend. I didn’t realize how much her pain affected me until I was on the verge of breaking down into tears talking about her. Cancer is so devastating and she is such a strong woman, I really admire her.
It was really nice seeing the community coming together and celebrating. I am definitely going to be organizing something for Autumn Equinox now too!
Click here for more photos. I forgot to get any of the altar, I shall have to remember that next time. I also forgot sunscreen since I rarely burn - Murphy’s Law though, my face is toasty!
