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Altar Maypole Merry Meet. For some, it wouldn’t be Beltane without dancing around the Maypole. While not everyone gets to have a 20-foot pole sunk into a 3-foot hole in the middle of a field, everyone can have a mini version on their altar. You just need a dowel or stick about a foot long, a base and ribbon. Let a stick find you, or buy a dowel about a foot long. You will also need a base: a piece of wood from the craft store, a slice of a thick branch or a mound of air-hardening clay. Use a screw, nail or glue to anchor one end of the…

Let’s review the Court Cards of the Tarot this month by examining another Tarot “royal,” the King of Cups. First, let’s review the information we went over the last time we discussed the royal family of the Tarot. A Tarot deck has 78 cards. There are 22 Major Arcana cards, with numbers from 0 to 21; the Majors usually deal with broader and more far-reaching life experience issues, archetypes that are easy for us to identify with and connect with at some point in our lives. There are 56 Minor Arcana cards that are customarily grouped into four categories or suits that represent the four elements (sometimes called “Pips” or…

SHAKTI GODDESSES Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Adi Shakti, Namo Namo Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Sarab Shakti, Namo Namo Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Pritham Bhagvati, Namo Namo Kundalini Mata Shakti, Mata Shakti, Namo Namo Translation: I bow to the primal power. I bow to the all encompassing power and energy. I bow to that through which Goddess creates. I bow to the creative power of the Kundalini, the Divine Mother Power. You Tube Link for above Mantra: Shakti is, at it’s root, power; divine feminine creative power. This power is infinite and is always present; it manifests itself in awareness, in peace, in ecstacy, in our willfullness, in our intuition. There…

Saturn still Retro in Sagittarius – 3 degrees Friday, May 1, 2015 – 12:01 am EDT Goes Direct on Sunday, August 2, 2015 – 4:55 am EDT The Planet of caution takes a break from its conservative ways. When it goes retrograde, the Planet actually lightens up on the reins a bit. It allows people to explore further than they normally would. Sagittarius allows it to open its mouth and to say things out of control. It’s time to make sure the brain is engaged before the mouth blurts away. Saturn goes Direct again in August. Pluto goes Retrograde in Capricorn – 15 degrees Friday, May 1, 2015 – 12:01…

Also known as: May Day, Bealtaine, Beltane, Bhealtainn, Bealtinne, Festival of Tana (Strega), Giamonios, Rudemass, and Walburga (Teutonic), Cetsamhain (opposite Samhain),Fairy Day ,Sacred Thorn Day, Rood Day, Roodmas (the Christian term for Rood Day, Old Beltane, Beltain, Baltane, Walpurgis Night, Floriala (Roman feast of flowers from April 29 to May 1), Walpurgisnacht (Germanic-feast of St. Walpurga), Thrimilce (Anglo-saxon), Bloumaand (Old Dutch) Date: May 1 Animals: Swallow, dove, swan, Cats, lynx, leopard Deities: Flower Goddesses, Divine Couples, Deities of the Hunt, Aphrodite, artemis, Bast, Diana, Faunus, Flora, Maia, Pan, the Horned God, Venus, and all Gods and Goddesses who preside over fertility. Tools: broom, May Pole, cauldron Stones/Gems: emerald, malachite, amber,…

Memories of Beltaine 2000 For Beltaine 2000, I invited my students and their significant others to participate in ritual on my family’s land. Everyone was asked to bring a potluck dish and 5 yards of 1 inch ribbon in a color that represented a wish. In making preparations I also had everyone sign a ‘hold harmless’ document, required by my family. The morning of ritual we met at my home. The ladies were dressed up, some with floral wreaths, flowers or ribbons in their hair and the men dressed casually in jeans or shorts. We busied ourselves with packing the large cast-iron cauldron, kindling, flowers, food; the ribbons for the…

Bardic Song of the Month – May 2015 This month’s Bardic Song is called “Peace Be With You“. It is a simple tune that has a nice poetic feeling to it for easier repetition and the melody line is rather easy. I intended for this song to end a Ritual on peaceful terms, allowing the Participants to go off humming it in their heads feeling serene and at peace. It has a positive message that there is harmony in life and love is with you and kind. It also offers Gratitude to Deity at the end. As much as possible, all songs are created as a single page in pdf…

Sneaky Parenting and a Wedding Day! Hi my lovelies….and Beltane blessings to all of you guys out there! Now, as you can imagine, the process of me writing this column doesn’t happen on the 1st of each month, the day of Pagan Pages publication. It’s just as well too as I am, especially the moment, swamped with 100 things on my list to do and very few crossed off. So it is lovely this month to be able to take a few moments out to have a natter with you amidst the chaos that is permeating every corner of my home and life. Today’s date is the 17th April as…

Celebrating the Old Ways in New Times Midsummer 2015   Ladies and Gentlemen, I have done something completely out of character as Midsummer approaches. I have come to the conclusion it is not important to be right. Not always. Like many of you, I have opinions. Strong ones. Opinions I always said you were all entitled to. Before you tell me opinions are like toes, we all have them, and mine don’t make me special, let me assure you that I have always worked very hard to ensure my opinions are the best possible ones! You see, I am an educated person. I back up my opinions with facts and…

When the Moon is full, go outside and kiss your power hand (right hand if you are right-handed, etc.) to Her three times, then view Her through the mano en cornuta, which is made by pressing the tips of the middle and ring fingers with the tip of the thumb, while extending the index and little fingers upward toward the Moon like antennae. Gaze at Her between the erect fingers. You should have a sense of looking at Her as at a human face, which of course looks back at you. Then you can say the Greek poetess Sappho’s Paean (hymn) to the Full Moon in either English or Aeolic…