I'd like to welcome Renee "Sosanna" Olson as our Sparkle and Shine Chef. You're going to love what she cooks up for you each week. You'll be happy to know that both Karen Szabo and Kestril Trueseeker are still with us as well. We are looking forward to having a great year with you here. As always, if you have any suggestions for ingredients, we'll be happy to take that feedback anytime!
2012 was a strange and crazy year for many of us. Now that it's firmly behind us, we can look to 2013 and own it. Next month is the Chinese New Year, and it'll be the Year of the Snake. Being a snake lover and caretaker, I know it's going to be great. For us witchy types, 13 is a lucky number, so let's take this thing on and make it ours! Without further adieu, let's get right to the Stew:
In the News
Odisha: Man kills two, injures another over suspicion of witchcraft
Witches of the Winter Woods
You Listened to Your Witchdoctor and Now the Tiny Rhinos are (almost) Gone
Congratulations to Samantha Curtin and Grant Dambach on their engagement! Grant proposed to Sammi as the clock was ticking down to midnight on New Year's Eve. We wish you both all the very best for your future!
Pagan Lore with Karen Szabo
Sunday, January 6
Day of the Triple Goddess. Also on this date in the year 1988, Circle Sanctuary of Mount Horeb, Wisconsin, became legally recognized as a Wiccan Church by its local Township and County levels of government. Circle Sanctuary's attainment of church zoning was a significant victory for Wiccans around the world, for it was the first time a Witchcraft group had been publicly sanctioned as a church by local government officials.
Monday, January 7
In the seventeenth century, it was customary on this day for a special Epiphany Cake to be baked with a coin in it. Whoever was lucky enough to receive the portion containing the coin was saluted by the family as a "king" or "queen" for the day. As part of the tradition, the "king" or "queen" would draw cross symbols on the ceiling with white chalk to drive out evil spirits and ward off misfortune.
Tuesday, January 8th
Old Druid's New Year. Also on this date in ancient Greece, Midwife's Day (dedicated to the Goddess Babo) was celebrated annually on this date, while an annual festival called Justica's Day was celebrated by the early Romans. In ancient times, this day was dedicated to the Norse Goddess Ferya (or Freyja), who presided over both love and fertility.
Wednesday, January 9th
On this date in the year 1989, Jamie Dodge (a Wiccan who had been fired from her job at the Salvation Army because of her Wiccan beliefs) won a lawsuit against her former employer for violating her First Amendment right to freedom of religion and unnecessary entanglement of government with religion. On this date in the year 1880, "Old Dorothy" Clutterbuck was born in Bengal. She belonged to a hereditary Witch coven in the New Forest of England, and was the High Priestess who initiated Gerald B. Gardner into the Craft in 1939. She passed away in the year 1951
Thursday, January 10th
The Feast of Dreams, a centuries-old ritual, is performed annually by the Native American Indian tribe of the Iroquois to celebrate their New Year, which occurs on this date. In rural England and Scotland, Plough Monday (the first Monday after Epiphany) occurs on or around this date. A plough is traditionally paraded through the streets and a ritual sweeping with brooms is performed to drive away evil spirits from the village.
Friday, January 11th
In years gone by, an old ritual to ward off Witches was performed annually on this date in many fishing villages along the coast of Scotland. At sunset, a barrel of tar would be placed on top of a pole, set on fire, and allowed to burn throughout the night. Afterwards, charred pieces of it would then be used by the villagers and fisherman as protective charms. In ancient Rome, a festival called the Carmentalia was celebrated annually, beginning on this date and lasting until the fifteenth of January. The festival honored the Roman Goddess Carmenta, a deity presiding over childbirth, whose priestesses cast the fortunes of children at the moment of their birth.
Juturna, the ancient Italian Goddess of pools and still waters, is honored each year on this day.
Saturday, January 12
Each year on this date, a sacred solstice ritual called the Makara-Sankranti is celebrated by Hindus in India with saffron, songs of joy, and ritual baths in sacred rivers.
Hope everyone's year is off to a wonderful start! See you next week with more Pagan Lore,
Karen
New Feature! Sparkle and Shine with Renee "Sosanna" Olson
I love and adore animals. I assist in rescuing cats and dogs as well as raising Yorkshire Terriers. I am a foodie and want and love REAL food. So I’m big on the Non-GMO campaign. I’m a strong ally for LGBT rights and spend a great deal of time writing about it. I’m also a small business owner, so I spend a lot of time working on my webpage, and marketing my business. I have Bipolar disorder. Getting information out and helping others understand what people with this experience is a major goal of mine. At times when my ‘sparkle’ is on, meaning I’m in a mania, I’ll write for hours and hours. On top of all this I’ve learned a new love for working with clay. I like to sculpt as it takes that busy busy brain and slows it down so that I can breathe.
In this area of the Sunday Stew I hope to become that whacky old aunt that shows up to your house with purple hair and sometimes lip piercings. She’ll always have tattoos and sometimes even dreadlocks. She loves all things colorful, and will remind you of a hippy of years ago. She’d be happier outside an old VW Bus handing out flowers on the beach than working in the corporate world. She comes in while a whirlwind and leaves with a breath of fresh air. I want to bring this creative whimsical energy to the Stew and help make it a meal to remember.
Namaste
This Week in Astrology
January 11, New Moon in Capricorn, 8:44 AM EST
Articles: Darkstar Astrology
Elsa Elsa
Libra Seeking Balance
MoonCircles
January VoC Moon Calendar
Song of the Week with Kestril Trueseeker
This Week's Tarot: 7 of Cups
This Week's Totem: Butterfly
"It’s connection with the soul is rather fitting. We are all on a long journey of the soul. On this journey we encounter endless turns, shifts, and conditions that cause us to morph into ever-finer beings. At our soul-journey’s end we are inevitably changed – not at all the same as when we started on the path.
To take this analogy a step further, we can look again to the grace and eloquence of the butterfly and realize that our journey is our only guarantee. Our responsibility to make our way in faith, accept the change that comes, and emerge from our transitions as brilliantly as the butterfly." ~Avia Venefica
In many Native American nations, the butterfly is the symbol of transforming, planning a project and making changes.
Butterfly goes through four stages, which can be seen as the four stages of life or a project.
1. Is this the egg stage: Is it just a thought or idea?
2. Is this the larva stage: Do I need to make a decision?
3. Is this the cocoon/chrysalis stage: Am I developing and doing something to make my idea a reality?
4. Is this the birth/adult stage: Am I sharing my completed idea?
Butterfly can help you understand what you need to do next to continue the cycle of self-transformation. For example: Butterfly is an air symbol, so it is through the use of your mind that you will be moving through these cycles. If you have been feeling exhausted and need to know how to heal your fatigue, take notice of the colors you've been drawn to lately. Does your body feel better in green? Could this mean you need to eat more green vegetables? Maybe you need to connect with the green grass or forests again. This is the type of thinking that Butterfly brings you.
Butterfly can give you clarity to your mental processes, help you organize the project your undertaking, and assist you in finding the next step for your personal life or career.
Try using "The Butterfly Spread" in your divinations. I use Tarot, but you could use this with any divination tool, really. It just takes a bit more creativity. This comes from "Animal Medicine Cards" by Jamie Sams and David Carson.
1. The East card: This is known as the Egg Card or Egg Position. View this card as the nucleus or seed of your idea, project or activity. Allow its message to interact with the concept of your enterprise. It will suggest the value of the inner core of your plan. Is this the 'medicine' that is needed at this time or place?
2. The South card: This card is known as the Larva Card or Larva Position. This card is about early doing. What needs to be done, and how will it be done in the pragmatic world? Who will take responsibility for this work? Just as a butterfly egg first turns into a growing, struggling caterpillar, this is the medicine of the Larva Card. Will the energies be great enough to overcome obstacles? The caterpillar sheds its skin many times during its growth. Will the many egos involved in your project or activity acquiesce (shed skin) in order to facilitate achievement?
3. The West card: This card is known as the Cocoon Card or Cocoon Position. It speaks of higher purpose. It is where the highest transformation takes place, much as when transformation happens inside the cocoon and a beautiful butterfly soon emerges. In viewing this card, it is good to ask yourself why you have joined the activity or project you are considering. Be clear about your intents and purposes.
4. The North card: This card is known as the Butterfly Card or Butterfly position. It is likely to tell you if the Great Spirit walked hand-in-hand with you and your group or project. Look to this card to tell you what sorts of rewards are to be gained. Will financial rewards be yours? The North is the place of Spirit. Matter follows vision and spirit. This is the place of manifestation.
"The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself" ~ Benjamin Franklin
Shameless Plug
This week, I'm plugging some really cool clothing at Sosanna's Closet.
The first is a really beautiful cape made by Elijah Olson. These can be made to order:
The next is a beautiful Ren Dress, also by Elijah Olson:
You can order these from Sosanna's Closet. It's a good time to start prepping for all those Spring and Summer Ren faires you just know you want to attend!
Cool Documentary: Garbage Warrior
I found this one, and for all my fellow "Save the Planet" folks, you'll love this.Description: Imagine a home that heats itself, that provides its own water, hat grows its own food. Imagine that it needs no expensive technology, that it recycles its own waste, that it has its own power source.
And now imagine that it can be built anywhere, by anyone, out of the things society throws away. Thirty years ago, architect Michael Reynolds imagined just such a home – then set out to build it.
A visionary in the classic American mode, Reynolds has been fighting ever since to bring his concept to the public. He believes that in an age of ecological instability and impending natural disaster, his buildings can – and will – change the way we live.
Shot over three years in the USA, India and Mexico, Garbage Warrior is a feature-length documentary film telling the epic story of maverick architect Michael Reynolds, his crew of renegade house builders from New Mexico, and their fight to introduce radically different ways of living.
A snapshot of contemporary geo-politics and an inspirational tale of triumph over bureaucracy, Garbage Warrior is above all an intimate portrait of an extraordinary individual and his dream of changing the world.~ Top Documentary Films
That's it for this week's stew! Mull. Digest. Enjoy!