Review of the year 2012

For me this year has been one I will always remember, not just for experiences for which there have been many but the new friends I have made along the way.
The most important moment of 2012 for me was the Celtic Moon Pagan Pilgrimage back in May. For one the weather was truly glorious and the visits to the sacred sites were breath taking. Even now I can remember the buzz that ran through my body as I stood underneath one of the great arches of Stonehenge.

This year has been very much a pagan year for me. After the pilgrimage I became a full member within the Celtic Moon circle and have partaken in some beautiful rituals that has helped cement my path that I am on.

Making my drum in September has now opened up a doorway into Shamanism which I am very keen to follow, recently I have been visiting Caer Corhrain where I birthed my drum for drum circles and feel a real connectedness which took me quite by surprise.

Of course this is the year that I started this blog and decided to show my Rockabilly side some more and I am glad I did! I only have a few followers at present but the feedback I receive from my readers makes me want to continue blogging.

Of course this year we got Keijo the Finnish Lapphund puppy. I absolutely love having a dog in the house and I am amazed how big he is now from the tiny pup we got back in July! He truly is a handsome boy and very clever but still has a naughty streak!

So what does 2013 have in store? Well I need a new job. I am fed up of not having weekends and I need to earn more money. I have already begun sending out my CV so I hope something comes of it.

For Christmas I got a pyrography burning tool from Leon so I hope to be able to master it and make some beautiful artwork.

I have many events in my diary that I will be going to as well as trading at, I will be writing about these in due course.

Wishing you all a very blessed 2013!

Yule blessings

Today marks the Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night but from this point on the light will start to return. In the Celtic calendar this sabbat is known as Yule.

Many celebrate Yule by visiting sacred sites such as Stonehenge to view the sunrise.

This is also the time when the Holly King passes his crown to the Oak King who rules from now till the Summer Solstice.

While writing this blog I was listening to Damh the Bards Druidcast podcast where he played a beautiful colloquy based on the battle of the two tree kings. If you download the podcast you can hear for yourself but here is the colloquy for you to read.


Colloquy of the Oak and Holly King
By Damh the Bard & Cerri Lee

Cold and bright the solstice dawn breaks through the heol-stone gate,
Time out of mind the stones have stood marking the zenith and the nadir of the sun’s journey across the sky.
Cut by our ancient hands, with stone on stone they were shaped and pulled from the earth’s embrace,
Mile on mile moved and with magic raised upon this sacred land.
And at this time of the Solstice,
The Holly King waits within the Stones.
He waits in darkness, and stillness,
For the coming of the dawn,
The rising of the Sun,
And the footsteps of his Oaken-leafed brother.
Whilst the Awen……is sung.

Brother, what is your name?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I am Hafgan, Lord of the Waxing Year,
I am the King of Oak,
I bring bud to leaf,
Bring life to the Earth,
I banish the cold of Winter,
And welcome the warmth of Spring,
And you my brother, what is your name?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I am Arawn, Lord of the Waning Year,
I am the King of Holly,
I strip bare your leaf-ridden trees,
I bring darkness to this land,
……and peace,
I banish the warmth of Summer
And welcome the iciness of Winter.
Brother, where do you come from?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I come from Annwn, the Otherworld.
And at the time of your greatest power I am born into this world of Abred,
Called by the singing of the Birds of Rhiannon,
The warmth of my breath, and my seed, awakens the life within my Queen,
And the land is bathed in the beauty of our love,
Whilst Annwn is ruled by Winter and Ice,
So Abred blossoms, caressed by the heat of my gazing eye.
And you my brother, where do you come from?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I come from Annwn, the Otherworld,
And at the time of your greatest power I am born into this world of Abred,
I ride on Rhiannon’s horse to claim my throne,
Laughing with the Wild Hunt I ride through the night sky,
My cold breath will make way for the coming of the Cailleach,
And the land will be bathed in the beauty of ice and darkness,
Whilst Annwn blossoms, in your heat,
So Abred will have peace, reflection, and renewal,
Guarded by Orion of the Silver Belt.
Brother, what art do you perform?

To which the Oak King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I lift the saddened heart,
Bring life to death,
Shape the hidden green,
Give flight to birds and insects,
My Bards sing upon their wing,
My orchestra plays music within the wind,
Life returns, and in that space where thought becomes dream,
Lovers walk upon the warm earth,
And lay under the stars, and the Sun, together.
And you my Brother, what art do you perform?

To which the Holly King replies,
Not hard to answer!
I give space to thought,
Bring renewal from death,
Bring rest to life, transformation to your crown of green,
I light the inner fire, and the hearth,
And quicken the heart of the beast,
My Bards are the stillness of the winter sky,
The reflection on the water,
The tears of the ice,
Life returns to that place where dreams are forgathered,
Lovers lie before the flickering fires in their homes,
And new life is nourished as my Lady strips bare the branches,
And lays her cloak across the land.
And I am here my Brother, to take my crown.

Then take this crown, but know this –
Even though you begin your rule,
My heat will grow,
My fire will ripen the fruit,
Turn the fields from green to gold,
And warm the oceans.
For although you take the power of light.
I retain the power of heat,
Until your Lady joins you,
At Samhain.


You can hear this by downloading the podcast from iTunes or http://www.druidcast.libsyn.com/
It is episode 69.

So to all my readers and my friends blessings to you this Yule.

Another year older...

Last Friday (7th Dec) was my birthday. Soon the 20s will be behind me but I do not lament! I am going to enjoy being this side of 30 as much as possible in the next year. 

I thought I would show you what lovely gifts I received this year.

This lovely original ACEO of Elen of the Ways by the talented Esther Remmington. The leather frame was made by Martin Winkles of EBG Leather. (oh and some red polka dot slipper socks)

Esther also took a photo which shows the colours more true to life.

I also got these amazing studded Creepers. I have wanted a pair for ages.

And these lovely red boots too. I do love my footwear!

I also got some Hotel Chocolat Chocolate; yum! And a chunky knit cardigan with reindeer's on as well as other goodies.

Steampunk on a budget

Recently I have been to two events where I dress Steampunk. The first event was the Faery ball at Avalon and the second was at a friends rather awesome Halloween party.

For both events I dressed with the same key items but mixed it up a bit.

In this photo you can see my costume in full. The only thing that I really spent money on was the corset I am wearing.

This can be purchased from http://www.corsets-uk.com/ who do a lovely selection of steampunk attire. I managed to get mine off ebay for a fraction of the rrp! It pays to shop around.

The skirt was from a charity shop, I paid £3 for it and to give it a steampunk look I attached skirt lifters which in essence are just suspender clips. you can find a variety of them on sites like etsy but I got mine from Sock dreams: http://www.sockdreams.com/products/double-grip-clips:5992

The socks were cheap from ebay as were by boots.

My tweed jacket was another charity shop steal. I brought it back in August at Broadstairs Folkweek for £6. It was missing a couple of buttons but I had some military buttons to replace them and I added some patches I had to make it unique. The jacket label says it was originally from River island.

In this photo you can see the patches and badges I added to the jacket.

The Steampunk staple: goggles! These were provided by my dear friend Martin of EBG Leather, as was Leon's top hat: https://www.facebook.com/EBGLeather

My dread falls were made by a friend.

At the Halloween party I was surprised to discover that a competition was held for the best dress male and female costume and I got first place!  Still very surprised.

Receiving my prize!

As part of my costume I also made a pair of wings but I made them a bit to big to wear but Esther Remmington did manage to take a photo of me wearing them.

Next time I will make them not so wide!

When buying things for a Steampunk outfit it is always best to search what you have already and visit your local Charity/ thrift shops and plan in advance!

Blessed Samhain

31st of October is very important in the pagan calendar. The sabbat Samhain is a fire festival, marks the start of a new year and is when the veil between this world and the otherworld is at it's most thinnest. 

Over the last few years I have seen Halloween become very commercialised like Christmas, with the high street supermarkets bringing out the same skull head goblets and zombie costumes but for me it is more than that.

Samhain is a time of reflection, of honouring our ancestors and remembering those who we have lost.

This is the perfect time for divination also and to plan what is to come in the year ahead.

However you chose to celebrate Halloween or Samhain may it be a time to reflect on what you have achieved so far.

To find out more about the sabbat of Samhain visit: http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/samhainoctober31/p/Samhain_History.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/samhain.shtml

Avalon faery ball and fayre.

On 26th October I went to the faery ball and fayre in Glastonbury. I have wanted to go to this event for several years and this time I booked the travelodge, brought the tickets and set off.
We left Kent at 6:30 in the morning and arrived in Glastonbury just after 10 o'clock and spent the day mooching about, meeting up with all my faerie friends and fellow artists.
Now from my previous blog post regular readers (and I know you exist because I have met a few of you over the weekend!) will know my heart lives in Stonewylde and I was lucky enough to meet the author who was doing a book signing in the lovely shop Cat and the Cauldron. I was so excited to meet Kit and to show my appreciation for her creation I gave her a mounted print of one of my paintings 'Monarch of the Stones' which Kit seemed very pleased to receive. A lovely lady!

Me and Kit taken by Mr. B

After perusing the wares on display (and buying a few) in the shops and at the fayre we had to get back on the road.
We were staying in a Travelodge in Wincanton which was a 40 minute drive from Glastonbury so we had a short nap before getting ready for the ball!
I decided to go steampunk for this event and over the previous month I had been raiding charity shops and eBay for anything I could use for my costume. I also made some wings to wear (it was a faerie event after all!) but decided against wearing them because a) they were only made from Cardboard and would get broken, b) they were too big and would have been a nightmare to navigate through the throngs of people in the hall.

Me and Leon, Steampunks!

Everyone looked amazing! It was a shame it was so busy as I didn't get to see everyone's amazing outfits. There was a lovely mixture of fantastic creations. Faeries brush wings with pirates, mermaids, Ents, goblins, Celtic maidens and other Steampunks.

Celtic moon look positively lovely!

With Esther Remmington in her gorgeous costume made by Martin of EBG Leather and Sarah Aiston, my faerie arty friends. (Only of the bottles of drink was mine, promise!)

We danced the night away to the Dolmen and with sore feet I hobbled back to the car with a huge grin on my face. What a night!

Sunday morning was a dull and wet and my plan to walk up the Tor and visit the Chalice well gardens was put on hold. Instead we went back to the hall and talk to more of my artist friends, including the lovely Linda Ravenscroft, Tamara Newman and Sue Clyne. I also brought a silver bracelet from the very talented Terry English and the new book by Emily Carding called Faery craft which features many of my friends.
All too soon the day come to an end and we had to get back on the long journey home, tired but very happy.

I didn't take any photos so I would like to thank Esther Remmington and Sarah Aiston for letting me use their photos!

Follow me to Stonewylde

I first became aware of the Stonewylde series in 2010 after listening to the Damh the bard's Druidcast podcast interview with the author Kit Berry. Breaca from Celtic Moon told me she had started reading them and on that same day, in a spiritual shop in Rochester that was having a closing down sale I found 2 books from the series 'Moondance' and 'Solstice' at half price so I brought them. 

I saw it as a sign.

I ordered the first book and I devoured them very quickly and I have just finished book 5 and the last book in the series.

Stonewylde's target audience is young adult but don't let that put you off, I know many of the readers are adults.

The story centres around a 14 year old girl living in London called Sylvie who is very sick, as if her body is allergic to the modern world. One of the doctors suggests she visits Stonewylde, an unspoilt estate in the depths of Dorset, run by the charismatic leader know as Magus. 

Sylvie and her Mums life is turned upside down when they move in to the idyllic community, walled off from the outside world before Christianity took over as the main religion of the UK, Stonewylde is a pagan paradise. However not all is as it seems.

There are two types of people who live on the estate. The villagers, who live a life from a bygone era. Their cottages are rustic with no electricity and they work the land as labourers growing the food, chopping the wood, working the dairy and other work intensive jobs in tune with the natural rhythm of the landscape and the turn of the wheel.

The second type of people are the hall folk. These people can be identified by their blonde hair. They live in a magnificent Tudor building on the grounds and have access to class rate education and electricity and mod cons. 

Yul is a village boy who is also one of the protagonist of the story. Through his eyes we see the beauty of Stonewylde, with it's cliff top views of the sea and ancient standing stones and stone circles and untouched woodland. But we also see a very dark and cruel side. These books are not for the faint hearted. It is shockingly violent in some chapters with Yul suffering from abuse at the hands of his father and the Magus. It might put some people off but for me it only served in making the story more real.

As Sylvie gets better from the Green magic given to her by Magus she discovers for herself the true beauty of the Goddess in the landscape and witness the magical rituals performed by the community. What I wouldn't give to take part in taking part in a Beltane ceremony in Stonewylde!

I'm not going to go any further then that about what the books are about, that should be enough to pique your interest. 

These books take hold of you. The characters are believable, and rich. You care about them which is what made reading the last and final book so very difficult for me.

If you are interested in pagan fiction then I would recommend reading Stonewylde and when you do come join me and other fan over on the Stonewylde community at www.stonewylde.net

Stonewylde is waiting, are you ready?