Simple Magick: Meet the Ancestors

I met my husband seven years ago today. As we head into the darker months I felt compelled to reach out to my ancestors:

Dorothy Kate

Beatrice Winifred

Ethel May

Clarence Alfred

Derek Lyle

Kenneth Stanley

I asked for their love, support, and guidance, and to watch over and protect the union that is my marriage. You can see my hand-fasting cords in front of the picture of my maternal grandparents.

They feel very close to me right now. My thoughts this evening have strayed from them, to the fact that even though I have a wonderful family I always felt like the odd one out. It reminded me of a beautiful passage about ancestors by Bert Hellinger:

“The So-called ‘Black Sheep’ of the family are, in fact, seekers of liberation roads for the family tree. Those members of the tree who do not adapt to the rules or traditions of the family system, those who were constantly seeking to revolutionize beliefs, going in contrast to roads marked by family traditions, those criticized, tried and even rejected, those, by General, they are called to release the tree of repetitive stories that frustrate entire generations.

The ‘Black Sheep’, those who do not adapt, those who scream rebel, repair, detoxify and create a new and blooming branch… countless unfulfilled desires, unfulfilled dreams, frustrated talents of our ancestors manifest themselves in their rebellion looking to take place .

The family tree, by inertia, will want to continue to maintain the castrating and toxic course of its trunk, which makes its task difficult and conflicting… that no one makes you doubt, take care of your ‘rarity’ as the most precious flower of Your Tree.

You are the dream of all your ancestors”

Our ancestors are close, the veil is thinning. Rejoice.

NEXT - Simple Magick: 9 Pink Correspondences For Relationship Magick
NEXT - Samhain: 4 Types of Ancestor

Pagan Holidays: Beltane

Happy Beltane everyone! And a very Happy Anniversary to my husband. Four years ago today we were handfasted at Avebury Stone Circle by Druid, beside rock, under a huge sky.

Beltane, opposite Samhain on the Wheel of the Year, honours life.

It is the peak of Spring and Summer is close by, or has just started if your local Hawthorn has flowered!

Just as you might expect to connect with spirits at Samhain, the Faeries are close by at Beltane. The veil is thin once more, and earth energies are at their strongest. It is a time of joy, abundance, fertility, and celebration. Of growth, creativity, and expansion.

Today I raise my cup to you - all of you - and wish you a very merry, beautiful, and abundant Beltane. And to those in the Southern Hemisphere, have a wonderful Samhain also. Blessed be. 

NEXT - Personal Magick: My Beltane Handfasting 
NEXT - Personal Magick: Our Handfasting Besom 
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Midland Hawthorn

Personal Magick: My Beltane Handfasting

This photograph of my handfasting at Beltane 2016 is one of my favourite pictures. It’s a good depiction of who we are, both individually and as a couple. We are both witches - the other person is who we have chosen to be with, this is how we live our lives, this is how we worship, this is how we observe and celebrate the milestones in our life.

It made perfect sense to be handfasted at Beltane; as we celebrated the union of the Goddess and Green Man, the coming together of male and female energies, we also came together as Man and Wife. We were lucky to be handfasted at our beloved Avebury Stone Circle by the Archdruid and Keeper of the Stones, Terry Dobney, who also happens to be our dear friend. Here he is offering us the apple in our ceremony.

Beltane is a special time when the veil is thin again. It is a time of celebration, of merriment, of festivity, of joy, of abundance, of fertility, of making love in the fields, enjoying your sexuality and sensuality openly, and of embracing your masculinity or femininity. It’s a time to recognise and remember that our connection to nature is absolutely vital.

Samhain is the beginning of Winter; and opposite on the Wheel, Beltane is the beginning of Summer - the days are longer, the Sun is warm, the land is blooming. And so are we.

What is your favourite festival and why? Have you ever been to a handfasting? What are you doing for Beltane? 

NEXT - Beltane Preparations: Preparing for Summer
NEXT - Personal Magick: Our Handfasting Besom
NEXT - Dear Terry: Until We Meet Again
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: The Ring Stone at Avebury