Wishing a Blessed Spring Equinox to All from the Coven of the Catta and Lady Ember Willow Hawk 3rd*

The Wheel has turned and Winter is now behind us as we stand in balance at the Spring Equinox, also called the Vernal Equinox, Ostara and Alban Eilir,where the hours of day and night are equal but tipping towards the light with days growing longer and warmer. Life all around us has begun to manifest and emerge from its winters sleep. Here the Azaleas and grapefruit trees are flowering and the smell on the breeze is sweet and fresh. This is a time of renewal and growth both in nature and in our inner and magical lives as well, now that the Dark half of the year is behind us this rising tide of greater Light is an excellent time to renew ourselves as we move forward into this new year and season. The themes of life returning to the land and the Suns power waxing moving towards its zenith at Midsummer are ancient ones, but just as important now as they were to our ancestors. By attuning ourselves to the tides of the seasons and the land we create that oneness which is the nexus of true magic and connection with life and nature.

  On our altars we have flowers and greens to celebrate this time of waxing light, warmth, and natures blossoming as we honor the Great Goddess and God each in our own way and with our own rites both formal and informal. This season has a plethora of folk practices and beliefs interwoven into it, one tradition that has been a fascination of mine for years is that of the Ukrainian Pysanky eggs and their own unique folklore and magic. The lore and history of the Pysanky eggs is a rich and varied one, on the surface they remind us of brightly colored Easter eggs but there is a deeper and older magic the eggs signify and this is an excellent time to research that and perhaps add this old practice to our celebration of this bright time whether as charms to bring good fortune and luck to our households, or those of friends, as well as charms of warding and protection for the coming year. This is also a good time to search for herbs and plants which are coming into potency and renewed life, and enjoy this special time of year outdoors as much as possible. Wishing a Blessed Spring to all. BB Aren

In Remembrance

via In Remembrance

“You Are Doing Pagan Wrong!” and “Does Our Religion Work?” Blogging

A very thought provoking and moving post on what we as Pagans not only believe , but also how we enact those beliefs and live them in our daily lives and in our relationship with nature and the earth.

hecatedemeter

Ukrainian young women dressed in traditional clothing jump over a fire at a traditional Midsummer Night celebration near the capital Kiev late Monday July 6, 2009. The age-old pagan festival is still celebrated in Ukraine and many people believe that jumping over the fire will cleanse them of evil spirits. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

I’m inclined to agree with Anne Niven about this:

I do not believe that the [Goddesses and] Gods rekindled the fires of their worship at this fraught moment in history just so we could carp endlessly at one another. What’s more, all of this fractious in-fighting is going to look a lot like a “fiddling-while-Rome-burns” farce very soon. I’m no climate scientist, so I’ll put away the crystal ball, but when — in five years, or fifteen, or fifty — climate change sweeps away our baroque cultural crenelations, no one is going to give a good…

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In the news…

Normally I don’t remark much on social commentary or the news but when a friend sent me an early press release concerning the tragedy that took place in Florida in which three people were brutally and senselessly slain I was appalled on several levels . First off my heart goes out to the family and friends of those that were so tragically killed. That kind of horrendous act is almost impossible to grasp and my prayers are with those whose lives were taken and with their family and friends now grieving. Secondly I am appalled at the way the initial news reports were worded, per a spokesman for the investigating Sheriff’s office , seeming to link this tragedy with a ritual killing tied to Wicca. In this day and age there is simply no excuse for that kind of misinformation , at best the words were poorly chosen and that is being kind. I can see something like this being said back in the 1970’s or 1980’s when reliable information regarding Wicca and Witchcraft was just coming to light and reaching the public at large, but this is 2015 and for anyone to be so misinformed as to draw a correlation between a brutal killing and Wiccan ritual practices is frankly incomprehensible and inexcusable. We have come such a long way in regards to acceptance and understanding but apparently that old adage about the “Price of freedom being eternal vigilance” still holds true. Having said that I want to applaud the efforts of so many who have come forward both individuals and organizations , like the excellent coverage done on the Patheos blog article linked below, to address this issue and correct the misinformation that clouded the early news report. As I said at the beginning of this I rarely remark much on what’s in the news but if Lord Shawnus were still with us he would have posted on this the moment it reached his attention and so wanted to do the same. Yes , we have come a long way and made tremendous strides in public awareness but there is clearly still much farther to go. BB, Aren

Breaking News: “Wiccan Ritual Killing” in Pensacola

In Memorium

Thank you Cassie and Sophie , This was a beautiful and heartfelt tribute. He was an incredible man and a dear friend and I can see him so clearly in your words. He will be missed. BB, Aren

In Memory of Lord Shawnus Merlin Belarion Elder 3rd* High Priest of The Coven Of The Catta

It is with great sadness that I write this post in memory of my dear friend and teacher Lord Shawnus Merlin Belarion Elder 3rd* High Priest of the Coven of the Catta. I received a call from Lady Ember Willow Hawk 3rd* High Priestess of the COC letting me know that he had passed into the Summerland on the 1st of July 2015 on the eve of the Thunder Full Moon. To those of us who knew him we were Blessed to have in him a loyal and true friend who was steadfast and always there when you needed him. His sense of humor and wit , though sometimes risqué , was always in good spirit and he truly believed in the tenets of compassion and kindness. He lived an incredible life , receiving not only his three degrees into the Coven Of the Catta and serving as it’s Elder High Priest for the past three decades but also receiving Tibetan Buddhist empowerments and initiations into Vajrakilaya , Avalokitesvara , White Tara and Phowa . He told me once he had been a Priest in three religions , Buddhism , Wicca and also having received initiation many years ago as a Priest of Anubis. Despite all of that , or perhaps because of it , he was a kind and gentle man who after working his whole life in the medical field upon retirement due to a persistent illness that he constantly battled was devoted to caring for the land and for the creatures great and small that lived upon it. He was fiercely intelligent and could talk for hours on any given subject that you could imagine and shared his knowledge freely and generously with so many of us. He worked tirelessly to preserve the Coven of the Catta and it’s teachings ensuring they were passed on to others and are alive and well and thriving. Due to him the founders of the Coven of the Catta , Dr Frederick Lamotte Santee and Lady Phoebe will never be forgotten , through his books and blog posts people all around the world have read about them and their story. Now it is up to us , we who knew him and called him friend and all those who have followed his blogs and writings to preserve and carry on the memory of a true Priest of the Goddess ,with whom he now rests. He is and will be greatly missed.

BB, Aren

When I’m Gone, Just Carry On…….

Jesus Mary Buddha and Moonfower

Snapped these yesterday so i am trying hard to update this blog with the pics i take instead of falling 6 weeks behind as before. Blessings and Enjoy.

The light was so ambiently perfect for this shot of various Christian crucifixes and such on this altar on the top floor of the former Hex Haus which is now the White House of Prayer. The top center one hanging is solid brass with gold plating, the bottom left is a rare old crucifix that has round wood and is probably Dominican, the brass paten is the lamen of Bernard who was a Benedictine and probably came from an old Catholic or Orthodox church at some time, i having found it at a flea market. Bottom center is an emergency last rites cross one hung in one’s house in case someone was dying and a Priest could not get there and it slides open with the cross standing in the base and in that base is hidden two blessed white candles and some holy water and oil. To the right is a bronze statue of Jesus of the Sacred Heart and on the left a nice glass bell and to the right a vial from Dr Santee’s library which i found a Templar cross glass stopper for at once again a flea market and i think the people just gave it to me. I keep holy water from various churches in it. In front of them is an Austrian crystal ball that Lady Phoebe gave me. The old box i found in my late Dad’s attic to his garage and restored it. I have tones of old boxes like that from him and my Grampa.

The stumps of wood my bro gave me after building his mountain cabin on stilts. The blue Buddha is from a broken wind chime. And the candle is of course Our Lady of Guadalupe formerly Coatlelupia an Aztec serpent Goddess. They painted over the snakes at her feet with angels.

About a week or so ago i was weeding out my mum’s flower pots I found this small moonflower aka datura aka jimson weed aka a powerful ethnogen. It only blooms at night with wonderful stinky white flowers, like rough soil, and likes being planted in the west, which is what i did and here is the first bloom starting out. It may totally bloom tonight or tomorrow night and i will post that.

So Many Demons So Little Time Left

Zachary Quinto vs. Leonard Nimoy: “The Challenge”