Category: Wheel of the Year

Happy Beltane!

Posted C. LaVielle4 CommentsPosted in Uncategorized, Wheel of the Year

There are actually two times in the year when the veil thins and the other worlds come within touching distance. Samhain, or Halloween is the one most folks recognize, but Beltane, its partner on the opposite side of the Wheel of the Year is the other. Ancestors and spooks visit on Samhain and Fairies, or, as Lewis Spence speculates, gods who have diminished in power through lack of attention, visit on Beltane. “At Bealltainn, or May Day, every effort was made to scare away the fairies, who were particularly dreaded at this season. In the West Highlands charms were used to avert their influence. In the Isle of Man the gorse was set alight to keep them at a distance. In some parts of Ireland the house was sprinkled with holy water to ward off fairy influence. These are only a mere handful out of the large number of references available, but they seem to me to reveal an effort to avoid the attentions of… Read More »

Happy Spring: A Boquet for you!

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Wheel of the Year

Back in the Midwest where I grew up Spring actually sprang. The earth jumped into green as if some cosmic alarm clock had slammed it awake. March was still winter. Although a bit warmer than February, it was blustery cold. Even April was iffy. Snow wasn’t all that uncommon, but it was usually just chilly and nasty. However, things were definitely waking up and there were teaser days of warm sunshine, but we knew better than to put away our winter woolies. By mid April, if I remember correctly, the crocuses had come and gone and the daffodils were trumpeting out the good news of Spring’s arrival and everything was suddenly green.  As the weather turned warmer all the tulips, hyacinths, and other spring bulbs leaped out of the ground and bloomed along with the cherry and apple trees in a frenzied froth of color. As April blossomed into May occasional hot days fried the bulb and tree blossoms, and suddenly it was early summer.… Read More »

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Wheel of the Year

As we gather together and give thanks for all the joys of our lives—friends, family, a fabulous feast, a home full of warmth, love, and laughter—it is also important to remember that our wonderful world is only a tiny stitch in the tapestry of the Multiverse. Its vastness surrounds us and supports us and blurs the edges of our safe reality, inviting us to come out and play with the divine. And it is this thrilling yet scarcely perceived sense of infinite possibility that  makes life truly worth living. By reducing our worlds to the material, our thoughts to chemical reactions, our stories to illusions, and our experiences of the Other to delusions, Materialism rips from us the very tools by which we world the Other into the earth. While denying the Other and turning our desire and experience of it into mere psychological states and disorders, we find ourselves disarmed, alienated: we become disinhabited things. – Rhyd Wildermuth Thank you Gwyllm Llwydd

A Blessed Samhain to All

Posted C. LaVielleLeave a commentPosted in Wheel of the Year

Once again The Ways are much easier to navigate. Ghosts and spirits of all sorts swarm into our world, making this a very, shall we say, exciting time of year for those who have eyes to see. And so Samhain is a time to honor our ancestors, because they are close at hand. This is also a customary time for divination of all sorts. But we tend to forget that spellcasting, blessings, and prayers are also extra potent now, because the crack in the gates charges our world with powerful magical energy that’s just begging to be used. So cast your circles extra tight and be careful what you invoke!

A Bright and Blessed Summer Solstice to All!

Posted C. LaVielle2 CommentsPosted in Uncategorized, Wheel of the Year

This weekend my husband and I are headed out to the Coast Range for a Journey to the Sun, a neoshamanic pathworking by Lupa, a shaman who works with the animal powers. I am looking forward to spending time with friends; welcoming The Sun in his greatest glory and becoming even more in touch with my animal guides. These spirits are a great help and blessing to me in my everyday work as a massage therapist, offering suggestions and their own marvelous healing energy.

Happy Belated Beltane!

Posted C. LaVielle1 CommentPosted in Wheel of the Year

Sorry this is so late. I think the sun has addled my poor northwestern brain. This year Craig and I ventured into the Columbia Gorge with a few friends to celebrate The May. We toasted summer in with libations of wine and a lovely lunch, but we were also there to stalk the wild and wonderful Lewisia rediviva. And we did indeed find it. More abundant than we’d ever seen it before. I love this flower because it is so exquisitely beautiful and so ephemeral and so impossible. It blooms out of the basalt bones of the gorge, opens its pink petals to the sun for a few short days, and disappears. Amazing.    

Imbolc, 2013

Posted C. LaVielle6 CommentsPosted in Wheel of the Year

We had a very simple Imbolc this year. I’ve decided I really like simple.  We looked outside around 5PM and watched our holiday lights come on while the sun was still shining. We’ll take them down tomorrow.  We lit a fire in the fireplace.  We took down the evergreen wreathes above the hearth and by the door and burned them.  We played “Here Comes the Sun.”  We put up our early spring wreath of purple, white, and yellow pansies.  We watched the fire.  

Wishing You a Warm and Peaceful Winter Solstice

Posted C. LaVielle3 CommentsPosted in Wheel of the Year

We are solar powered creatures. The further north we live, the less daylight we see at Winter Solstice and the lower the charge in our biological batteries. The cold and dark take their toll at all levels. They dull our spirits, sap our energy, and make us susceptible to every nasty virus that comes along. So what do we do? We deck the halls and party till we drop. We stress over what gifts to buy everyone and how to get it all done in time. We battle virus-laden crowds in soulless shopping malls. And we wonder why we get sick. This is a time for rest, contemplation, and meditation. A time to put another log on the fire or light some candles and watch the flames. A time to snuggle down with a hot drink and a stack of good books and inspiring movies. Winter Solstice is a beginning and an ending. The old sun dies and a new one is born. It’s a… Read More »