My Autumn Equinox: Part Two

Last night, I celebrated the Autumn Equinox with my grove.  I had a lovely time and, as always, am grateful to the grove organizer and his wife for their hospitality.  Every time I go I feel closer to my grovies.    It feels more and more like family.

We started off harvesting some grape vines for wreathes.  This was the first time I ever made a wreath so it was a fun learning experience.  My mum used to make them with vines from our forest; she made it look so easy and, while I suppose it really is, I think I was a bit too anal about it.  The plan is for the wreathes to dry until Imbolc, when we'll make "wheel of the year" wreathes for our homes.  We must find representations for each high day to attach to our wreath.  As the wheel turns, so will our wreathes so that the top of it will correspond to the high day we celebrate.  I think it's a lovely idea and can't wait to finish mine!

I also collected some vine for magical purposes.  Skip and I talked a bit about ogham.  He suggested that I make mine out of disks or else I could subconsciously choose the omen I want based on the feel of individual tree staves.  He gave me a thick piece of vine that I can saw into disks.  Doing this may mean that the energy of the individual trees represented in the ogham wouldn't be as strong in my set, but using a vine/muin to make them would strengthen my connection to my spiritual family of Muin Mound Grove.  I think it's fitting.  I can still use the rowan and oak ogham staves I made for charms.  Rowan, or luis, is especially good for protection magic whereas oak, or dair, helps with strength and wisdom.

The business meeting was productive.  I took over the secretarial duties and once more volunteered to help with the website.  This basically means I need to get a web editing tool such as Dreamweaver.  My occupation allows me to get a pretty hefty discount on the software so I wouldn't really mind.  I think of it as a good investment towards my own websites and as a sacrifice to the grove.  I'm excited to help out and hope I can meet everyone's expectations.

This ritual was the first since Imbolc that started after the sun set.  The year is growing older and the days have become shorter.  It was chilly and it felt nice to stand around the fire.  The mosquitos were noticeably absent.  The moon smiled down on our rite.

I'm already excited for Samhain!

( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )

My Autumn Equinox: Part One

Yesterday I talked about what the Autumn Equinox means to me.  Now I'm going to share with you some of what I've been doing to celebrate it!

I've started to collect twigs from specific trees to create small ogham staves.  So far I've started luis/rowan and dair/oak.  I'm proud of them so far!  Here they are with some festive mini pumpkin gourds.

Some of the last summer flowers cut, bound, and ready to offer at a gathering I attended last night.  They turned into the table centerpiece!  

My personal altar with an autumn-colored altar cloth and harvest offerings.

Here's a closeup of the cornhusk doll I made.  She's probably the third one I've ever finished so...  she's not as impressive as some others out there!  I'm proud of her all the same.  I actually grew the corn that she's made out of!  Granted, because only two spouted and were grown in containers, they didn't produce large ears.  Still, I was able to grow my own offering and autumn decor (the stalks have been cut and tied to an iron post outside).  This dolly is going to be part of the main offering at Muin Mound Grove tomorrow.  Everyone was encouraged to make a corn dolly to place in the fire.

More harvest offerings!  Everything except the gourds were from my own garden.  I included the tiny ears of corn.  Behind all the flowers, fruit, and vegetables is a harvest Earth Mother doll I crocheted.  She's my planned personal offering for the big ritual tomorrow.

I'm looking forward to seeing my grovies tomorrow and celebrating the harvest.  On the actual Equinox I  went to Better Farm for a potluck dinner, casual "ritual," and bonfire!  What an amazing place!  I met so many wonderful people.  Everyone was so hospitable.  Sharing a meal with local gardeners, artisans, and free-thinkers; listening to a fiddler and guitarist tweak out an acoustic "Knocking on Heaven's Door;" standing in a candlelit barn; and sitting around a smokey fire while crying "I hate rabbits!" every time the smoke hit my eyes - now that was a great way to spend the Equinox!  

( For My LJ Friends: http://adfcatprints.blogspot.com/ )