Freda DavisThe fire that leaps and dancesMutters in its glowing cavesThe silent shadows flutterRound the walls in ghostly wavesWe will sit and dream of summerDream of days that once have beenThe sun was bright and goldenThe grass was rich and green. The sky was blue eternalThe night was far awayWe never thought of darknessLiving only for … Read more
Tasks: Stacking Firewood, warming and smithying Following Samhain, the cull of cattle makes this a moon of sacrifice, of roast and salted meat. The Celtic Tree is the Ivy, which is supported by the Elm. Ivy is for Resurrection, Remembrance. Hound and hunter. Broom sticks, Bonfires and Beacons. Fire is a natural consuming and cleansing … Read more
The silent centrepiece of sky and spaceSuspended just below my window frameWould give a poet pause, to fitly nameThe paralysing power of her face. This face that through my window ladles lightAnd burns away the borders of my dreams, She blazes sheet and pillow with her beamsAnd makes a mocking morning of the night. Now slowly … Read more
This year’s cover shows Persephone. She was the daughter of the Greek goddess Demeter (the Roman Ceres), the goddess of fertility and grain growing. The story is that Hades, the god of the underworld, saw her and wanted her but her mother protected her. Persephone disappears But one day Persephone was wandering in the countryside … Read more
The Celtic Tree for the Gatherer’s moon is the Hazel tree. The nine hazels of the Poetic Art dropped nuts into the pool and they were eaten by the Salmon of Knowledge. This is the fruit and nut harvest time, and corn, barley and beans. The goddesses are Sif, Ceres, Demeter. This is a time … Read more
This is the Sky’s Moon, lasting from July 28th to August 27th.I always think of this as the holiday Moon. It brings Lammas, a Christian festival which is derived from Lughnasad, a pagan commemoration of the death of the King Ludd or Lugh and the first harvest. In the pagan tradition, where the two consorts … Read more
The new moon was at 2:53 Greenwich Mean time, or UTC as they now call it. This is the second midsummer moon, the Moon of Bees. Where the Moon of Blossoms was the time for haymaking from the lush grasses that grow so fast as the sun warms the earth, in this moon we move … Read more