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First Light - February 2, 2010 - Welcome the Groundhog King - Protect those who Hibernate
My favorite website is Mything Links
Here is her First Light page which she calls by the old names
MYTH*ING LINKS
An Annotated & Illustrated Collection of Worldwide Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & Sacred Traditions
by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Imbolc (celtic),
Candlemas (Catholic)
Also:
Lupercus (Strega),
Thryphon Zarezan(Bulgarian),
Disting (Teutonic, Feb 14th)
Valentine's Day (feb 14th)
Author's Note:
Imbolc arrives in early February in what feels like the dead of winter in much of the Northern Hemisphere -- cold and white during the days, and with long bluish shadows falling over the snow as twilight nears. Nevertheless, this day marks the first seed of springtide (whose midpoint will be celebrated later in March).
by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Greenconsciousness Notes: This is not true for me, but go to the Jenks site, Mything Links, and read it because she has all the beautiful practices and ancient lore of this day from all over the globe. Jenks' site in general is breath taking. Find the home page and look at the Index.
I personally believe this day marks either the near end or the middle of winter in my climate, depending where the Sun is on the horizon (hence the Groundhog's shadow watching). The Sun is born at Yule and light is halfway to equality with the dark at First Light. One thing is constant - this is the time of the quickening. Time of The Change. The old ways say the seeds stir in the ground.
I celebrate First Light/Groundhog Day as the time we can see the light's return. Actually notice it is lighter when we get up and still light on the drive home from work. I want to learn more about the orbit position of the earth in relation to the Sun at this time of year.
Samanthasmom where are you?
It is good to know how this cross quarter day was celebrated by people in other countries in older climates. But blind following of old dogma is better left to religions. That is not for those who seek to live in harmony with the earth cycles and the sky processions in their own environment.
I find it hard to accept February as the beginning of spring in southern Wisconsin, much less further north. March tips winter into spring as far as my experience in this climate can determine. Therefore, I celebrate the last day of winter and first day of spring at the Spring Equinox.
Here at First Light, I celebrate the coming end of winter and the return of the light. If I move south, that might change.
Celebrate the cross quarter day by closely observing what it signals in your climate. To mark our observance of the earth cycles and their meaning in our lives is why we celebrate the earth holidays. So do it and find out what this day means on your part of the earth. One thing is certain. First Light is a day of transition, as are all cross quarter days. Something is shifting into another form. These times are too interesting to let go by unnoticed and unmarked. Pay attention.
Meditate on the tarot card, The Hermit. The light you seek is the one you carry, the one that is always with you.
Spiritually, it is a time to consecrate the wish we made at Yule to be accomplished in this earth cycle. At First Light, purify your wish - connect it with your Source. Surround the wish with conscious intent that it harm none, including yourself; call on those who work for your good to work with you for your wish; the wish grows in purity and power.
From Mything Links
Let the cloth of life be mended.
Let the thread be linked again,
restored, cleansed - the forests growing,
native plants in field and fen.
Let the cloth of life, in beauty,
be restored by will to be.
People with the plants and creatures,
tending earth and sky and sea."
by Rae Beth
http://www.knibbworld.com/rae/spell-start.htm
Greenconsciousness Notes: Traditionally this day is celebrated with dairy products because in rural times, this was the time the sheep, goats and cows were preparing to give birth in the Spring. At this time their udders and teats would begin to swell in preparation for the birth of their babies. Seeds to be used at the spring planting are blessed and organized at this time. Soon they will be planted indoor so as to be ready for planting outdoor in May.
Is milk, in this age of factory farming, really a suitable offering?
The babies taken from the mother - put in veal crates - all the milk sold by profiteers - the mothers calling in their confinement for their babies - the calves in crates across the road crying in return.
Be careful what you offer on this day when we think about dairy product and the mother preparing for birth.
"Silk" is a good soy non-dairy milk product in most all food markets although manufactured by a bad company.
Still better to use Silk than products from abused animals if you must have milk. Try the Silk Nog which tastes like vanilla. Use Silk in bread.
At Imbolc, which I call First Light, for purity in your rites, your celebrations can, in the traditional way, offer to feed guests and earth spirits seeds to eat. Pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds etc., in seed muffins, cakes and scones, braided seed breads and soy milks.
This change, moving away from use of products from degraded animal pregnancies toward products made without cruelty, in honor of the sanctity of the birth process and the production of mother's milk to feed new life, in itself would be a purification at Imbolc
I am looking for poppy seed scones maybe with some fruit and honey in them?
Also when thinking about seeds remember to plant for the pollinators. I have to do this in the front yard because the cats are in the cat -fenced in back yard. But these are attractive gardens so it is fine to have them in front of the house.
Here is her First Light page which she calls by the old names
MYTH*ING LINKS
An Annotated & Illustrated Collection of Worldwide Links to Mythologies, Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & Sacred Traditions
by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Imbolc (celtic),
Candlemas (Catholic)
Also:
Lupercus (Strega),
Thryphon Zarezan(Bulgarian),
Disting (Teutonic, Feb 14th)
Valentine's Day (feb 14th)
Author's Note:
Imbolc arrives in early February in what feels like the dead of winter in much of the Northern Hemisphere -- cold and white during the days, and with long bluish shadows falling over the snow as twilight nears. Nevertheless, this day marks the first seed of springtide (whose midpoint will be celebrated later in March).
by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Greenconsciousness Notes: This is not true for me, but go to the Jenks site, Mything Links, and read it because she has all the beautiful practices and ancient lore of this day from all over the globe. Jenks' site in general is breath taking. Find the home page and look at the Index.
I personally believe this day marks either the near end or the middle of winter in my climate, depending where the Sun is on the horizon (hence the Groundhog's shadow watching). The Sun is born at Yule and light is halfway to equality with the dark at First Light. One thing is constant - this is the time of the quickening. Time of The Change. The old ways say the seeds stir in the ground.
I celebrate First Light/Groundhog Day as the time we can see the light's return. Actually notice it is lighter when we get up and still light on the drive home from work. I want to learn more about the orbit position of the earth in relation to the Sun at this time of year.
Samanthasmom where are you?
It is good to know how this cross quarter day was celebrated by people in other countries in older climates. But blind following of old dogma is better left to religions. That is not for those who seek to live in harmony with the earth cycles and the sky processions in their own environment.
I find it hard to accept February as the beginning of spring in southern Wisconsin, much less further north. March tips winter into spring as far as my experience in this climate can determine. Therefore, I celebrate the last day of winter and first day of spring at the Spring Equinox.
Here at First Light, I celebrate the coming end of winter and the return of the light. If I move south, that might change.
Celebrate the cross quarter day by closely observing what it signals in your climate. To mark our observance of the earth cycles and their meaning in our lives is why we celebrate the earth holidays. So do it and find out what this day means on your part of the earth. One thing is certain. First Light is a day of transition, as are all cross quarter days. Something is shifting into another form. These times are too interesting to let go by unnoticed and unmarked. Pay attention.
Meditate on the tarot card, The Hermit. The light you seek is the one you carry, the one that is always with you.
Spiritually, it is a time to consecrate the wish we made at Yule to be accomplished in this earth cycle. At First Light, purify your wish - connect it with your Source. Surround the wish with conscious intent that it harm none, including yourself; call on those who work for your good to work with you for your wish; the wish grows in purity and power.
From Mything Links
Let the cloth of life be mended.
Let the thread be linked again,
restored, cleansed - the forests growing,
native plants in field and fen.
Let the cloth of life, in beauty,
be restored by will to be.
People with the plants and creatures,
tending earth and sky and sea."
by Rae Beth
http://www.knibbworld.com/rae/spell-start.htm
Greenconsciousness Notes: Traditionally this day is celebrated with dairy products because in rural times, this was the time the sheep, goats and cows were preparing to give birth in the Spring. At this time their udders and teats would begin to swell in preparation for the birth of their babies. Seeds to be used at the spring planting are blessed and organized at this time. Soon they will be planted indoor so as to be ready for planting outdoor in May.
Is milk, in this age of factory farming, really a suitable offering?
The babies taken from the mother - put in veal crates - all the milk sold by profiteers - the mothers calling in their confinement for their babies - the calves in crates across the road crying in return.
Be careful what you offer on this day when we think about dairy product and the mother preparing for birth.
"Silk" is a good soy non-dairy milk product in most all food markets although manufactured by a bad company.
Still better to use Silk than products from abused animals if you must have milk. Try the Silk Nog which tastes like vanilla. Use Silk in bread.
At Imbolc, which I call First Light, for purity in your rites, your celebrations can, in the traditional way, offer to feed guests and earth spirits seeds to eat. Pumpkin seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds etc., in seed muffins, cakes and scones, braided seed breads and soy milks.
This change, moving away from use of products from degraded animal pregnancies toward products made without cruelty, in honor of the sanctity of the birth process and the production of mother's milk to feed new life, in itself would be a purification at Imbolc
I am looking for poppy seed scones maybe with some fruit and honey in them?
Also when thinking about seeds remember to plant for the pollinators. I have to do this in the front yard because the cats are in the cat -fenced in back yard. But these are attractive gardens so it is fine to have them in front of the house.
posted by Greenconsciousness
at 7:28 PM - Link
6 Comments:
this is a wonderful post, and informative. I don't know about these practices, but i used to have a friend at work who would come and see me, and tell me about them, while I was wrestling with data issues..
but I do try everyday to say my thanks to the earth, for all she gives, and at night I always look at the stars when I go outside, and when I am outside I always focus, best I can on life, and not the man-made world.
but i regret to say, i am often preoccupied with the patriarchy, determined to unravel it's viral affect on this earth.
So, I never had time Green, to be a good pagan..
thank you for this post. mything links is very overwhelming, but i will give it a try, after I finish my book
the mything-links? wonderful site.
Song
If you go to my home page:
http://www.greenconsciousness.org/
there is a graphic of all the earth holidays. If you click on them you go deeper but you do not have to do that. The start of my book is deeper in, hard to find, in the explanation of the holidays. I do not want to say more because I do not want to talk about it until the book is done. You will certainly understand.
the quarter days and cross quarter days are times when we stop to reflect on our use of time and if we are progressing toward the goals we set for this cycle --- but most importantly to watch our own transitions - some people do this monthly with the moon as well -- we think about the meaning of the time because "as it is above, so it is below"
the micro reflects the macro -- the atom holds the cosmos -- the DNA is universal so for instance Yule - the darkest time is the day the light is born -- from this comes our spirituality - our beliefs
Mything Link's new page on Money & Treasure is poignant and yet so funny -- the saga of the single woman alone in the world to make her own way economically --
http://www.mythinglinks.org/ct~money.html
FROM THE WILD HUNT:
Jason on Jan 23rd 2010 Paganism, Religion
Our Dark Green Religious Future?
Religion Dispatches interviews Bron Taylor, a specialist in environmental and social ethics, core faculty member in the Graduate Program in Religion and Nature at the University of Florida, and author of the new book “Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future”. According to Taylor, the future of religion is nature religion.
“…traditional religions with their beliefs in non-material divine beings are in decline. The desire for a spiritually meaningful understanding of the cosmos, however, did not wither away, and new forms of spirituality have been filling the cultural niches previously occupied by conventional religions. I argue that the forms I document in Dark Green Religion are much more likely to survive than longstanding religions, which involved beliefs in invisible, non-material beings. This is because most contemporary nature spiritualities are sensory (based on what we perceive with our senses, sometimes enhanced by clever gadgets), and thus sensible. They also tend to promote ecologically adaptive behaviors, which enhances the survival prospects of their carriers, and thus their own long-term survival prospects.”
On his web site, Taylor even envisions the possible emergence of a global “earth religion”.
“Dark green religion—religion that considers nature to be sacred, imbued with intrinsic value, and worthy of reverent care—has been spreading rapidly around the world … such religion is becoming increasingly important in global environmental politics. It motivates a wide array of individuals and movements that are engaged in some of the most trenchant environment- related struggles of our time. It increasingly shapes the worldviews and practices of grassroots social activists and the world’s intelligentsia. It is already important in global environmental politics. It may even inspire the emergence of a global, civic, earth religion.“
Taylor’s book seems to primarily focus on radical environmentalists, “surfer-spirituality”, and mainstream political and cultural “green” discourse in framing his “Dark Green Religion”, though modern Paganism does get mentioned in his chapter on Globalization in Arts, Sciences, and Letters.
I read all that you referred to me, to read, including the myth-link about money and found myself reading on about a malachite box. ?
Your site is quite extensive, and so is your reference site, mythinglinks.
It must be lovely to be attuned to the earth with ceremony and rituals that correspond with the changing energies/seasons. I really have never thought of life that way, but of course recognize the power and the meanings behind, and within, the "pagan" world and the great love and respect you have.
As you know, I believe so little, and somehow, Just left it all, everything...in terms of belief, but this your tradition does make sense in an organic way. what you have shared here, and I am very dedicated to knowledge that is organic, rather than gnostic. Finally coming to what I call orgagnosis,
pretty basic stuff, I know.
it is nearly 3 am here and I must try to sleep..my ears have been ringing all night, and I must see who is calling.
lol
I will return.
thank you Green for teaching me. I appreciate you time.
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