Imbolc

Today is Imbolc, or Brighid's day. I haven't done much, other than experimenting with new ways to cook bacon and cuddling my boyfriend. No, not at the same time. Not sure how well cuddling and cooking would work if you tried them both at once...

I do want to share a song, though. It's the same one I shared last Imbolc, but it's worth repeating.



And now that Imbolc is here, it looks like the local weather is going to get colder. So much for the winter weather being past, as I'd thought it was. I'm just going to say that if it snows, I want an actual snowfall, not just the little bit that normally happens when people panic over snow in Portland.

Samhain Eve

I had a wonderful idea for a blog post this morning...but I forgot it. Lousy memory. I know it was a good idea too. Dangit.

So instead, this Samhain eve I will be sharing the song Samhain Eve by Damh the Bard. Good timing, don't you think?



Funny thing, this is the song that introduced me to Damh the Bard, and I found it while looking for songs about winter solstice. Not sure how that happened.

I find that I don't understand everything in the Bard's songs, for example here I'm still trying to figure out who the Raven Witch is. (If anyone does know, feel free to tell me!) But I do enjoy his music. A lot. :)

Imbolc

Goddess of fire, Goddess of healing,
Goddess of Spring, welcome again. 

I thought that I wasn't going to write about Imbolc this year. First I was writing about something else on the 1st, then I was sort of busy on the 2nd, and then I was sick on the 3rd...was recovering on the 4th...and after that I sort of gave up.

But the latest Pagan Blog Prompt has convinced me that it's not too late to write about celebrations, and what Imbolc means to me. :)




This year, my celebrating took the form of me just cleaning my room. I guess that's sort of trivial, and it's not like I had a huge job to do.

But as cleaned things up and wiped down surfaces, I thought about how just the act of cleaning can itself be a cleansing of sorts, even if you don't actually do any specific ritual or smudge. Even if the fanciest part of cleaning is wiping things down with a disinfecting wipe. Besides...ever heard of spring cleaning?

Which brings me to the next bit of what Imbolc is. It's a time to notice the earliest signs of spring. Things like the red-tailed hawks returning to my neighborhood, as they do each year to nest.

And of course, it is also an excellent day to honor Brighid. She's the goddess I'm most likely to turn to, so her day is pretty special to me. I wound up putting the following song on repeat, and the verse I started this post with are from it.

Down in the Garden

I've been thinking about the song Down in the Garden, since realizing that we might be about to lose Socks. Exactly what my own views on death are is another matter, but I think it is a very beautiful song. Unfortunately I couldn't find a decent video of it on YouTube with the song and just the song, so instead I'm sharing the song where it is interrupted with an explanation of why the songwriter wrote it.



I also wanted to share some photos of Socks. Most are mine, but mom took one or two of them.

I don't even remember when this was taken. He had found a sleeping bag that hadn't been put away yet.

More than five years ago. Dear Socks was helping us unpack for Christmas.

Socks was quite fond of one of my dolls.

Never fear, there is a glass door between Socks and the squirrel.

Close up mug shot. He pretty much always looked grumpy.

Yes, I'm so sorry that the food bag was empty. But it's not like the food bowl was empty, and we got more food before it was in any danger of getting empty. No need to go shoving the empty one around on the floor.

...actually, Kokopelle was in on this one, but I wasn't able to get photographic evidence of that.

As I said, Socks really loved this doll.

I recently mentioned that Socks started sleeping on my bed. Well, after a few days he switched to sleeping under my bed. I figured that it was just because it's warmer under my bed since that's where the vent in my bedroom is.

We got a bed for him that we placed under my bed, so that it would be easier to drag him out for his pills. (He even used it, more than half the time!) He was so frail I worried about hurting him, and it was easier to drag the bed out than to worry about how to hold him.

Kokopell is keeping Socks company in this photo. Socks is on the left, Kokopelle's on the right. Yes, I really can tell them apart.

The Cauldron Born

Here's a song that is either dedicated to Ceridwen, or to her followers. I'm not sure which. Perhaps both? The musician is Damh the Bard.



Yeah, I like Ceridwen. I wanted to share the song "Ceridwen and Taliesin" which is also by Damh the Bard, but can't seem to find it on YouTube. Dangit.

Yule!

Happy Yule!

Sunrise 6-24-12 J by Ronald Carlson

It is the time when the sun is reborn, and a time of new beginnings.

At the time that this post goes up I will be celebrating by keeping a fire going all night with my family. And if things go as planned, my boyfriend will have also come over for a little while.

I hope you enjoy the solstice, whether you celebrate it or not, and whether or not it holds any spiritual meaning to you.

New fav musician?

In my quest for a Pagan CD of winter holiday songs I found...not quite what I was looking for. But I'm not complaining about my find.

I have discovered the music of Damh the Bard. He's a Pagan musician, and when I happened across his most awesomest song, Samhain Eve, it was love at first hearing.

Since it's not exactly the right season for Samhain songs, I'm sharing another of his here instead. Though I do encourage you to follow the link I can't help but provide above.



I love the photos of the land and the drawings of fey. And I LOVE the black kitty at 3:40 sitting in front of a pentacle, with another pent around his neck.

I'm not exactly in love with all of the Bard's songs. But those that I love, I seem to be nuts about. Ok, I confess, I have the above song on repeat. And I was humming the Samhain song yesterday while fixing dinner, just hours after finding it.