Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Beltane Lore and More

Green Man: The Magnificent God of the Forest

Of all the many forms in which our Lord God takes, I must say that I love His Green Man aspect the most! He is both lover and consort to our Lady Goddess, the Earth Mother, and our Father always -The Oak King and Holly King respectively.

Historically speaking, the Green Man goes all the way back to pre-Christian Europe, Ireland, Scotland and Russia. He represents our kinship with the trees and the woods and the cycle of renewal and rebirth. He is known by many different names as He is recognized in almost every tradition. For example, he is heavily associated with Cernunnos (Celtic god of the forest), Dionysus (Greek god of Wine) and Bacchus (Roman god of wine), to name a few.
My Green Man Yule tree ornament

Our Wiccan group, Old Path Enlightener’s Circle, always honors The Green Man or “The Oak King” at our Beltane celebrations. This is the time when our Lord God and Lady Goddess unite in the “sacred rite of holy marriage.” We re-enact this sacred marriage ceremony during the symbolic Great Rite. This is one of the many reasons why I love Beltane so much and why it is amongst my favorite of our Wiccan celebrations. Lady Sabrina Rhiannon’s group, The Coven of the Silver Moon Circle, chooses a May King and Queen during their Beltane ritual. Everyone inside the circle walks in between two balefire cauldrons for a total of 9 times while making one wish each. 

Typically, the Celtic Fire god Bel or Belinus is honored at this particular sabbat, as the word Beltane literally means, “Bel-Fire,” but we much prefer to honor The Green Man.
Draco & Rhiannon lighting the Spirit candle during the symbolic Great Rite - Beltane 2008.

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As I walked out one May morning,
‘Twas on the blooming heather
I saw a Maiden dancing there
In fair and sunny weather,
The Beltane fires were burning high
The dancers round did spin
They sang, “Blessed Be and Blessed Be
And Blessed Be again!”
~ Joe Bethancourt



This story is told by the Berks County, Pennsyvlania renowned author of several historic and ghost legend books, Mr.  Charles J. Adams, III in his own words:

"Far less legendary for its witchy ways than the Bay State city, the Berks County township of Windsor has nonetheless earned the right to the necromantic namesake via not 17th century hysteria, but ancient legends and lore.

Berks County’s Witchcraft Road courses over the crest of a hill for three miles, roughly between the crossroad hamlets of Windsor Castle and Virginville. That hill is named Witches Hill, or, as the Pennsylvania Germans call it, “Hexe Baerrick” (Witches Hill) or “Hexe Dans” (Witches’ Dance Hall).

An otherwise unremarkable farm field on the highest point of the hill is the epicenter, and one of the last vestiges, of the earliest observance of an ancient observance called Walpurgisnacht–when superstitious settlers believed the veil between the living and the dead was the thinnest, and the “evil ones” were free to roam, ramble, and wreak havoc on the farms and in the villages.

It is where the earliest settlers gathered on that night, April 30, to scare away the witches and demons they believed dwelled, danced, and conjured up their hexes there.

It was said that no crops grew on this spot because the sorceresses would tramp the fields in their ranting revelries. It was also said that horses led onto the road would refuse to trot over this ridge because of the ominous spirits that suddenly reared up before them and terrify the steeds–not just on Walpurgisnacht.

Some folks have added another level of mystery by professing that when not trysting on the hill, the witches were cavorting and conjuring in a deep and dark nearby ravine known as Witches Hollow.

But to most locals, it is the hill, not the hollow, that holds what they believed was the most convincing evidence that something nefarious was afoot.

Hexe Baerrick also rises beneath the flight path of a legendary creature whose existence was handed down to early European settlers by the indigenous people of northern Berks County.
Not far from Witches Hill is Dragon Cave, which is said to be the lair of a fiery serpent that would appear on auspicious nights.
Tales were told of two young native lovers who came from feuding families who forbade their love affair.

The star-crossed couple decided that if they could not live together on this mortal coil, they would dwell together eternally in the great beyond. They chose to end each other’s lives inside the cave.
As they took their last breaths, the dragon was stirred. It roared out of the cave, soared north to the Pinnacle, and blazed over Witches Hill on its way. After touching down on the mountain, it reversed course and returned to its dark den.

To this very day, it is said that on some and certain dark and stormy nights, the flaming firedrake can still be seen fluttering from a cave named Dragon over a road named Witchcraft."



Sunday, April 21, 2024

This and That

Greetings, friends. It has been extremely difficult since my mother's passing, but I am doing my best to get through it - probate BS and all. However, this weekend I spent some much needed time away from it all with my seester Aurora Skye.  We stopped off at "The Mint Leaf" before having lunch where I found this very nice four-leafed clover pendent ...

And, as usual, we went to our local "Barnes & Noble" bookstore and I bought these chocolate bunnies filled with jelly beans for 75% off ...


We had a wonderful lunch at "Ganly's Pub" ...


Also, my hubby and I received a very generous invitation to my co-workers birthday party near where I live - Miss Sonia (pictured on the left)  ... 


Thursday, April 11, 2024

This and That

It's been over a week already since my mom's passing and it still feels so surreal to me. However, the stress is FAR FROM OVER. In fact, thanks to probate court (and a few other problems/issues with my mom's estate), it has only just begun! I have an appointment next Wednesday with the lawyer to have a ZOOM with the Register of Wills Office (apparently EVERYTHING is online anymore!!). I am nervous as hell - it is hard enough to deal with the loss of a parent without the added BS of the law! Why does dealing with the government always have to be so damned complicated and involved? No matter how I look at it I have NO choice. 

I still have A LOT of my mom's things stored in my small house everywhere in large bins. Today, I took this pic of Sir Leo (the cat she liked a lot) sleeping on her coat. I thought it quite fitting because not only did she like Leo, but her astrological sign was a LEO! Maybe I am just being sentimental, but it made me think ...  


I was working inside when the Solar Eclipse arrived on Monday afternoon in Reading, PA. I remember the Solar Eclipse from 2017 and that is the only time I ever had a chance to view it. My husband did his best to get pics with his areal camera ... 



Sunday, April 07, 2024

A Season

"It's a season, and it will pass". That is what Chaplin Lugo from hospice told me on the telephone just two days before my mom passed away. She was right. She then asked me if I minded if she said a prayer with me and so we prayed to the Lord that He place her in his hands and help her to be where she needed to be now. 

She had been living at Mifflin Court Assisted Living since last June after her last detrimental fall at home which kept her in a wheelchair ever since. Despite the fact that the facility took excellent care of her, she still managed to fall several times while sitting in her wheelchair - mainly due to the fact that she refused to use her med alert pendant to ring for help. She would try to pick things up off of the floor and hit her head three times resulting in her being admitted into The Reading Hospital two of the three occasions. I had noticed her beginning to speak nonsense while at the hospital and demanded to know what medications they were giving her thinking that that was causing her to say things out of nowhere as if she were paranoid or having delusions. However, she would made sense the next day after speaking to her. 

The last time she was admitted into The Reading Hospital was in February where they sent her back to Mifflin Center -a rehab/nursing home (located directly aside of Mifflin Court). She spent time there last May after her first fall and then was supposed to finish her rehab at Mifflin Court where she ended up staying at their Assisted Living long-term there after. She received extensive rehab but she was far worst this time than the last. The prognosis was not good and the only option was to bring in hospice. She was in so much pain I remember her calling me on a Sunday night crying and begging for Oxycodone. They gave her the only pain meds they were allowed to but her knee locked up and refused to move! Her muscles were contracting and she was declining very quickly both physically and mentally.

I fought hard to get her back to Mifflin Court where she would be surrounded by pictures of my dad, her beloved dog, and other pictures she treasured so much. Mifflin Court agreed to let her come back with hospice and four days later she was gone. The last time I saw her was on Easter Sunday and I knew she was not going to make it much longer. I spoke to her hoping that somehow she could still hear me, but who knows? At 4am Monday morning (April Fool's Day) I received the phone call at home from hospice informing me that she had passed away. 

To be honest, this is just the beginning. Her money from her estate (the money from the sale of her home, etc.) is now being tied up in probate thanks to our esteemed government and State of Pennsylvania so I can no longer pay any of her bills after April 1st nor can I deposit anything into her account for her. Due to lack of money (she had no life insurance) and the fact that we have no family left, we decided to have her cremated. If her money ever gets released after the government is done with it, I would like to have her ashes buried with my dad. Her official cause of death was Adult Failure to Thrive.





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Mom and Dad sharing a dance at a wedding reception circa 1984.
Jitterbugging with my mom who was so good she made me look like I knew how to dance!
Easter dinner - 2019- Mother's Day dinner at "The Hitching Post" - 2018.





Her urn. I also ordered a silver locket with her finger print on it which will be sent to my house from the funeral home ...

In lieu of flowers, we asked that donations be made in my mom's name to The Animal Rescue League. These are the beautiful flowers we received for my mom at our house ...

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