Watching The Slow Changes

In the cold, grey winter days of January within me grows a deep longing for more light. Radiant golden sunlight kissing the land.

I enjoy watching the small slow changes ~ from winter to spring ~ the time when I first notice the slow lingering sunlight of the early year, the new grass and seasonal flowers and the first sweet laughter of spring in the air.

Imbolc

Pale winter sun lingers, lengthening each day
On twig and branch new buds begin to swell
Songbirds give voice, each striving to excel
Seed senses change in its deep bed of cold clay
Earth goddess weaves her magic to propel
Reborn cycle of her womb along its way.

Life returns in every tree’s slow thought
In pond and stream the dance begins again
Spring flowers show their purpose to proclaim
A new season comes; winters reign is short
And darkness no longer exercises any claim
Green growth dispels grey moods it brought.
~ by Ian R. Thorpe

Here is a very inspiring and beautiful video to bring a smile to your heart.

Blueberry Girl by Neil Gaiman

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi

In Between Times

On these cold wintry evenings as shadows grow long and bare tree limbs glimmer softly in the moonlight I often find myself curling up with books and a mug of hot chocolate.

Lately I’ve been re-visiting books on fairy tales. A couple of my favorites are the Norwegian folk tale ” East of the Sun and West of the Moon“, and the Celtic folk tale  “Connla and the Fairy Maiden“. The story of “Frank Martin and the Fairies” by William Carleton inspired the collage above.

I have always loved this time of the year ~ the twinkling of starlight on freshly fallen snow ~ the north wind rattling our wind chimes and the deep quiet silence of the season.

For me, winter is that in-between season of the year when mother nature pauses, the natural pattern of rest between the inhalation and exhalation. She is resting between the last exhalation of autumn and the next inhalation of spring ~ waiting for life to awaken beneath the frozen earth.

The four seasonal stages of earth;

Spring ~ inhalation ~ birth

Summer ~ pause ~ youth

Autumn ~ exhalation ~ middle age

Winter ~ pause ~old age

Here are a few of my favorite things;

• Taking a walk and being mesmerized by the details of the everyday world at my feet.
• Stepping out on the balcony at sunset to bathe in the last lingering rays of honey, golden light.
• Spending hours tucked away in the sweet messiness of the studio working, creating and playing.
• Writing, sketching and painting in my art journal.

What are some of your favorite things? What do you love most about winter? How and where do you find inspiration in the winter?

“Our senses are indeed our doors and windows on this world, in a very real sense the key to the unlocking of meaning and the wellspring of creativity.” ~ Jean Houston

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi

Happy New Year ~ 2011

As one year comes to a close and another year begins ~  the doorway swings open for new opportunities, new adventures and growth.

The New Year is the time of the year when we clean and bless our homes ~ sweeping out the old or unwanted energy by smudging or burning incense and lighting a candle to bless our home, our family and friends.

It’s also a time to turn inward, to deepen, to slow down, to nurture the seeds of hope and tend the garden of peace within our hearts and the world.

~ Ask yourself what you would most like to create this year?

~ What deepest part of yourself would you like to forgive and heal or nurture?

~ What can you do to create change in your life and your community?

You are like a candle.
Imagine you are sending light out all around you.
All your words, thoughts and actions
are going in many directions.
If you say something kind,
your kind words go in many directions,
and you yourself go with them.
We are …transforming and continuing
in a different form at every moment.
~ Thich Nhat Hanh

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice ~ What seeds will you be planting on the shortest day of the year?

The long nights of winter ~ when all life sleeps beneath a wintry night blanket ~ precious seeds cradled within the earth… sleeping …. waiting for the sun to return.

Sipping a cup of  earl grey, watching geese fly overhead and thinking about the ebb and flow we call life. I’ve been enjoying this holiday season on a deeper level …  letting gratitude and hope flow over and through me like a river.

I find myself giving more attention and focus to things that are really important and making deeper connections with mother earth. The best gifts of this season are family and community. A season to forgive and mostly to love each other and turn the wheel once more.

Mosaic mandala of reflected light ~ pulling me deeper into to the circle of life.

I live my life
in widening circles
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it.

-Rainer Maria Rilke, poet and novelist (1875-1926)

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi

Sweet Memories

During the holiday season I enjoy pulling out Christmas decorations and puttering around deciding which ornaments to put on the tree. Stacks of boxes filled with all kinds of treasures tucked safely away waiting ~  angels, fairies, story dolls, tinsel, golden bells, red apples and homemade felt doves. Over the years I have received ornaments from family and friends and I cherish the sweet memories and joy they awaken in my heart as I unwrap each precious one and hang it on the tree.

Yesterday evening we decorated our home and balcony for the holidays. I made fudge brownies and steaming hot chocolate to keep us warm as we hung lights outside in the rain. It was really chilly outside and we were bundled up like Eskimos trying to wrap lights around the railing.  Laughing ~ talking ~ drinking chocolate and enjoying the peacefulness of home.

“Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!” ~ Charles Dickens

Here is one of my favorite songs by Loreena McKennitt ~ hauntingly beautiful.

Loreena McKennitt – Ancient Pines

“Everyday Goddessing  is about sharing magical techniques and sacred wisdom with other beautiful Goddess women. I believe that within every woman there is a goddess, a wise woman, beautiful, creative, powerful, with a deep soul, and that everything we need and are looking for is already inside  each of us.” – Rose Arizmendi