Daddies

It is a sad commentary on our society that there are advertisements that are designed to tell men they need be fathers.  Donating sperm does not a father make. We do not teach boys to be men; men to be fathers. There are no more rituals for when a boy becomes a man. The coming to age rituals that take place in my neighborhood have been taken over by the gangs. We are going these children such a great disservice when they are so desperate for the acceptance that rape, stealing and even killings have become their coming of age rituals disguised as gang entrance. 

Native American coming to Age ritual

My father became a single father when we were young, but even he had never changed a diaper. He did not know how to communicate with me because that was my Mother's job. It was his job to discipline me. My father did not want my love just my respect and sadly he has neither.
The pagan community, with its focus on rituals, tends to be the exception to this rule. While this is true, there is still a great lack.

I have a dear friend whose partner talked about starting a men's group. (Its funny I remember thinking that I wanted to marry a man like him... and I did!) He talked about the lack of male influences and groups. Also how the recent Wiccan community was very female biased. I realized at that moment also that I must keep my practice balanced.
I have a 16 year old son who has a wonderful father and a good role model. His father does not however share my religious views.  My son's father was raised my a man who taught him "men don't cry" and other such nonsense. I was very Blessed that he let me take the lead in raising our son and learned very quickly that such dogma was nonsense.
I tried doing a coming of age ritual with my then very rebellious 13 year old and he refused. Lucky for me he did not see the other "rituals" that he has learned and he has grown to be a wonderful young man. Now I have a 4 month old daughter who has a wonderful, loving, pagan father. She has participated in many rituals. Some she sleeps/nurses through. When we light the candles on our family altar she gets explanations of all the colors. One day she will confuse some Muggle when they point to Blue and ask her what it is and she 

Wolf Moon 2012

says "East". My wonderful husband is already sharing lore with her as he tells her stories when they cuddle. This project has increased our awareness and increased his story collection! We gave our daughter a name filled with Magick. We started traditions to make sure she grows learning the craft and honoring ways. For example we have a live Yule tree waiting to be planted at Oestara. As she gets older she will be able to pick the planting space. I am very lucky to have found such a wonderful Pagan man but agree with my friend. There needs to be more men groups and more resources. I have found a wonderful resource in Patrick McCleary Have you found any more? What are your thoughts?

Community

I long for community, I dream about community. When I win the lottery I plan to build a community. I don't mean one of those planned communities where all the houses are cookie cutters and no one leaves their house because they are fantically working to buy stuff they are too exhausted to enjoy.
Community to me means a group of like minded individuals. You don't have to be a poly pagan to be in my "group" but acceptance is key. Knowing that being part of our community means chipping in to help everything flow better. Someone needs to watch the kids while others plant, or cook, or hunt, or clean or work (leave me at home with the kids lol).  A place where kids are treasured and nurtured and loved. Where kids work side by side with the adults (to their capacity) learning what work means and what it takes to make our world run.
How different would our world be if we knew what it took to make everything run correctly and you don't eat if you don't plant, weed and harvest?
In my "village" there is enough space between houses that you are comfortable but close enough to call everyone home. A huge fire pit with seating and ritual space should be at the center of our space so gathering is the focus and ritual is a core of our being.
A huge hall so dinners can be shared together as well as celebrations.
I know it sounds like the middle ages. Except I want running water!
More than my physical surroundings the people are the most important. Loving people who understand there is a flow to the universe. To receive you must give.

What does community mean to you?

Chaos

Its amazing how chaos can creep into our lives. I think if you have children it can happen quite easily but it does not take children to make chaos! This week my husbands paycheck bounced. Yes, you read that right. Silly me, thinking we had money, paid bills. Imagine that! I went to do some thrift store shopping (I'm ALLLLL about recycling on many levels) :) and imagine my shock when my card was declined... and then to find out our bank account was SEVERELY negative.
Unfortunatly, we let it affect our mood. Its hard not to. Honestly, I think we are still reeling from it. But it affected us more than we realized I think. Neither one of us got our blogs done. (We found out last Wednesday) We have been stressed out, my neck (where I hold my stress) is a mess, we have been processing the shock.


We were fine though. We actually took my paychecks and surrounded ourselves with friends this weekend and laughed until we cried. It was needed. And then? We did ritual. We regrouped. We centered. We cleared chaos from our lives. We honored. We asked for prosperity.
We can not always control the chaos, but we can control how we let it affect us. We are in control of our reactions and behaviors. We needed extra help so we turned to our practice. I am so glad that I am a Witch and I have tools to get ME back on track. Smudging cleared the negative energy, ritual raised it! Our whole attitude is better and every little thing is gonna be all right!
-Blessed Be

Best

Today I will be the Best...

Since there is not a picture to combine all those
<--------- things I will chose the one
I feel I am most these days.

Mother
Wife
Lover
Friend
Witch
Employee
Sister
Person
Housekeeper
Driver
Cook
... that I can be.
Because I can.







Sometimes being the best Mother means leaving the dishes.


Sometimes I pass on my friends so I can be with my best friend and lover, my husband.


Sometimes I pass on everything to meditate.


Sometimes I Smile at people just to see them Smile.



Sometimes I buy the person in front of me's coffee.


Sometimes I shower a room with rose petals.


Sometimes I sleep late.


Sometimes I eat a cupcake.

.

Sometimes I make extra food and send it to friends.


Sometimes I actually talk on the phone. ;)


Sometimes I grab kids off a bus.


Sometimes I buy flowers for "no reason".


Sometimes I watch a movie over and over and over and over and over....


Sometimes I turn the music up and just dance!
I'm not perfect but I want to give the best Me I have
everyday. SMIB.






I do everything I do to strive to find Balance. Find the balance in your life... be the best you can be <3

I don't need to be Super Woman I just need to be Me.

-Blessed Be

Mommy

I recently was asked for my mother's name for security purposes.
I thought for a minute and still gave her the WRONG NAME!!!
In my defense she will have been gone 30 years this year... wow... 30 years...
I began to think that I need to tell stories about my mother to my kids.
I should show them pictures... wait... I don't think I have a single picture of my Mother.
Then I started thinking about how I have gone years without taking pictures with my son.
I had bought into the idea that I am not the perfect woman and therefore should not be seen... especially for posterity. :(

I thought about that when my son turned 13. I started taking pictures of me with my son.
This year after the birth of my daughter I gave my son a collage of some of my favorite pictures of me with my son. I LOVED it... and while he liked it... his comment was wow these pictures are old!
I need to fix that! We need to take pictures more often! I think I have 4 pictures of me with my daughter... FOUR. She IS only 3 months old but I need to make sure we have pictures together!
I am sooo glad that we took a Family picture together this year for Yule but I need to make a habit of taking more pictures with my kids. You never know what will happen in life. Make sure that you reminders for your future generations <3

-Blessed Be.

Behavior

I think that as Pagans we should held to higher standards. We are nature lovers, and as humans are a part of nature, we should love one another. I am not saying we must blindly love everyone. But we should treat all people with respect and honor. Our behavior speaks volumes.
Everyone has heard the joke about the old lady that screams in traffic, swearing and giving a middle finger as she passes, only to find Christian bumper stickers, or the "Jesus fish" on her car. But can the same be true for us? We are people who embrace different Gods and Goddesses, some Celtic, some Egyptian, some nature... the list could literally fill this blog. Can we embrace everyone? Are we seen as the people who are screaming in traffic only to have our bumper stickers say "Coexist"; "The Goddess is Alive and Magick is Afoot"; "My other car is a Broom"; "Ankh if you love Isis"... again the list can go on forever.

We need to set an example. We need to as, my friend says, "be the better witch." We already have enough grief from outside our group, (being called devil worshipers and the like) we don't need to add to it!
After signing up to do this project I had a series of nightmares involving a group of Pagans. I expected problems. Sadly that is what my unconscious associated "group of Pagans" with: drama. Although this seems counter intuitive as we pride ourselves on our diversity! My experience shows a group quick to spread and believe gossip, and a lack of tolerance.  (I am exited to see how wonderful this project has been and am really glad I pushed through my fears.)


I am a healer. I have taken the Hippocratic oath. I have pledged to "Do no harm."  Later in life I took another oath which says:  "And it Harm None, Do What Ye Will."
I am out of the closet. Recently I had a friend tell me that a person that I met through her and friended on Facebook asked about me being Pagan. He was excited that I am Pagan and Poly and open about both. He was excited to have such diversity in his friends. I want to make all the people that fall under those labels proud. I work everyday on making the best ME I can be.  I am often misunderstood, and have often been the center of gossip. I have at times fallen into the habit of talking about others. I am then angry with myself about it later.  I am the ONLY person responsible for MY behavior. ME.

Please remember that our actions are as loud as our words. Be the Best that you can be.


-Blessed Be

Altars

My Greenman and I have many of our PBP planned out. I decided to do Altars. Then I saw how many people posted on altars and instead of being dissuaded I was inspired! Our recent pregnancy exhausted me. We currently do not have an altar set up. We have been saying for months that it has to happen and now? It WILL! Because I will have a picture of it for this blog! Thank you again Rowan Pendragon for inspiring us to be better pagans! <3


I want to start with why altars are important to me. For me they show respect and honor. They show that the Lord and Lady have a place in my home and my life. They keep me on top of my spiritual practice. They remind me to be on a daily basis to practice my faith.


Altars are very personal and can have a variety of components. I also change the components to fit the season, ritual, God or Goddess I am honoring... the list of reasons is endless. For example: sometimes I use a chalice to represent Goddess, sometimes a silver candle, sometimes a statue, sometimes something that represents the Goddess I am working with.


I have pictures of previous altars I will add at the end too but the altar I am setting up now is a shared altar with my Greenman in our Magickal sanctuary. The goal is to have at least one family altar set up again very soon.
The Altar that I set up was for the Wolf Moon.


It is a simple altar with candles for the 4 directions, one for God and Goddess; wood for earth, smudge stick for air, shells for water; small statue of Gaia; water in the upper left corner to receive the Full Moon's blessing' a celtic pentagram; a wolf's skull; and several crystals including one for each of the 4 directions with a wolf in the middle








The BEST part about our altar was lighting it with our daughter! <(:-)

This is currently my favoritist picture EVER

 So YES! We now have an altar set up in our house again!!! This year is already starting off amazing! :)


These are some altars from the past... 
enjoy :)

This was a working altar that I was using for self love. 

This was an altar I had set up in my room.

This was a simple altar we used for an Imbloc ritual.

This was a crystal grid altar.

Ostara Altar. 

Avalon

This is a story of my Magickal, Spiritual Journey with my Avalon.

Someone I have come to admire over the last year, Rowan Pendragon (http://onewitchsway.com/),
announced a new project that she is working on. The Pagan Blog Project. http://onewitchsway.com/pbp2012/ 
(taken from her website)


What is The Pagan Blog Project?   (The Short Answer)
This project is a way to spend a full year dedicating time each week very specifically to studying, reflecting, and sharing your spiritual and magickal path.    The project consists of a single blog post each week posted on your blog each Friday for the year of 2012 that will involve a topic that relates to Paganism, Witchcraft, magick, spirituality, and so on.   You can use your posts to share your views on a topic, to talk about your own personal experiences, or to act as a catalyst to research a subject that you may not know much about and then share what you learn and how you feel about that.  


When I saw Rowan tweet about the project I was intrigued and filed the info away to look at later (having a 10 week old can do that). When I finally did get a chance to read about it I was very excited! I immediately texted my Greenman and asked if we could do this together. He was just as excited as me! So... now on Fridays my blog will be dedicated to the Pagan Blog Project!!!! :) 
This will 1.) get me back to blogging more often and 2.) help me and my Greenman explore our spiritual side together and with others like us!!!!
  
And the journey starts... 
This week begins with A. Avalon is my A. 
One of the most spiritual thing that has EVER happened to me is meeting my daughter AVALON. 
What most people do not know is that even though she was born only 10 short weeks ago, I met my daughter almost 10 years ago! 
I was sick... working too much, too stressed out, in an abusive relationship, feeling trapped... 
I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis, an autoimmune disease that was taking the Calcium from the bones and depositing it into my lungs. It was the second autoimmune disease that had tried to ravish my body. 
I was so frustrated! I am a HEALER! Why was I sick?? I began to work on ME again. I started meditating again, taking time out for me, eating healthy, asking my body why it did not recognize itself? As part of taking care of myself I was making time for ME: reading, getting massages, meditating, ect.

I remember reading a book and saw the name Avalon. I remember thinking that is an AMAZING name! Why was it not used as a girl's name?? The next day I got a massage. I was working with an incredible massage therapist that was also working with connecting my mind, body and spirit again. She was working with energy techniques. I went into a meditative state and journeyed during the massage. I went sooo many places. The place that changed my life is what can best be described as a purple planet. It was there where I first met my daughter. She introduced herself and said she was waiting for me. I was blown away. I went to many other places. Just before my session ended. She popped in to say "the name that you picked for me is perfect." 
I knew then that I was going to have a daughter. I just had no idea when.  I talked to my then fiancee  and he was not enthused.  We broke up shortly after that. In the back of my mind Avalon was always there. I dated a few other guys but never saw Avalon's father. I was briefly engaged to a man that I thought was going to be her father, but it did not last. I even dated a guy who wanted to be Avalon's father so badly he tattoo'd her name over his heart! But none of them were right for me. 


Avalon came often into my meditations, into my spiritual practices, she even signed a Spirit Card I had done! I kept wondering how I was supposed to have a child without a partner. She would ask me how long she had to wait in meditations. I was baffled. 
Fast forward almost 5 years. I was living my life for others... well everyone else, truth be told. I was working 5 jobs, living with/for a teenager who hated me and was pushing EVERY button I had. Then I got sick... again. 
I had a hemipeligic migraine. I was sitting in my son's classroom and I thought I was having a stroke. I lost the use of the right side of my body, I could not see, I could not talk. It was SCARY! 


Through my recovery, I decided I was DONE! I was going to heal, I was going to live for me...  I was going to co-create my life with the Lord and Lady!  
I started working less and living more. I finally really started working on ME! I worked on my spiritual practice, on my health, on my life. 
I decided I had waited long enough to make my shaman's drum and the opportunity presented itself almost immediately. This lead to the opportunity to make drums and travel to Bonnaro to help make drums. I decided taking 2 weeks and several weekends off for me was what I needed and I went for it.  It was a spiritual experience that ended at a Solstice Celebration where I met my Greenman. He is  my match. That Samhain he came to visit, Thanksgiving he moved in, we were pregnant by Valentine's Day! My beautiful Avalon was born on October 16, 2011. We have known from the day we found out we were pregnant our beautiful Avalon was coming into the world. We never doubted for a second. 
I was ready. I was co-creating my life with my partner (my Greenman) and the Lord and Lady. 
We are truly Blessed and none of it would have happened if I had not let go of everything and lived for ME. 

Life is Magickal when you actively co-create your life with the Lord and Lady. I am now starting my Magickal Journey with my Greenman and my Avalon. <3


-Blessed Be

Birth of Avalon

It has been a LONG time since I have been able to blog... I have a LIST of blogs in my head and will attempt over the next few weeks to get them all down :) This will be a fairly detailed blog so I will remember it all.

Grumpy

I want to start with the birth of my daughter... chronologically it is not the first blog but I want to make sure I get all the details down before I forget some!


This is the picture taken the day before she was born...


I was READY lol


I woke up on October 16th at 10:30 am. I wanted to cry. I was sooo sore! My back hurt and I was having so much trouble getting out of bed! I just wanted to cry, thinking I could not take one more day! I got up and went to the bathroom and tried to curl back up and sleep.  I then realized I was too hungry to sleep. I looked over at my Greenman and debated on whether I should let him sleep or ask him to make me breakfast... ;)
I decided baby and I needed food more than he needed sleep when I thought "damn it I have to pee AGAIN".
I sat up and my water broke... EVERYWHERE. Well Michael was getting up anyway! My water broke at 11:05
I jumped in the shower while we started to get ready to go to the hospital.   
***There is a side note that needs to be added here. Avalon shares her birthday with her Aunt Lynnie. Lynnie tweeted at midnight that her hubby had given her a gift and that her birthday had officially begun. She had been telling me for weeks that I needed to wait until the 16th to go into labor. I then asked her if I could finally have her now. After showering I looked at my timeline. At 11:00 Lynnie tweeted "@Drfeather Tell her I said it's go time. :-)"***
I called my doctor (Dr. Pierce) and she said we could either go to the hospital or wait until contractions were regular.  I decided food and time to get totally ready was really important (we had to get Drea ready too as she had broken her leg... a blog I can not wait to write). Around noon contractions had started for real starting at 3 minutes apart. They remained 3 minutes apart for an hour when we called the doctor to let her know we were heading to the hospital.
We arrived at the hospital at 1:30pm. We checked in and were told yes we were indeed in labor and 3 cm dilated. We arrived at the hospital knowing that because I had tested positive for Strep B (a common infection but dangerous to newborns and new Moms) that I would need iv antibiotics  for 4 hours.
IV was started and we headed to the delivery room. I was ready. Contractions on the way to the delivery room became INTENSE! When we arrived I had to transfer to the new bed... I crawled onto the bed on all fours. My body started rocking back and forth naturally and I let nature take its course. It helped relieve the pain too. As they were transferring everything and getting the room ready they asked if I wanted a Yoga ball or to get in the tub to labor. It was then that I knew it was time to push.
The nurses and resident did not believe me. They kept saying that I had just been checked and I was only 2 cm. I told them I was ready and was going to give birth NOW. They found a doctor who asked me to lay back so she could accurately check me. I have to admit I was disappointed. Had my doctor been there she would have let me labor and deliver on my knees. After I maneuvered onto my back I remember telling Michael that if I was only 3 or 4 cm dilated I was not sure I would be able to deliver naturally because the pain was sooo intense! He said the perfect words. He reminded me that if the pain was that intense that meant we were almost done ;) I love that man!
When the doctor checked me she said... wow she is 9cm... oh she is crowning... here comes the baby!
she asked if I could move down... I said "fuck no!" and then I left this world. I was done screaming (not gonna lie it was INTENSE) and then I breathed through three pushes and my beautiful daughter was born!!! Avalon Sidhe Fox was born on October 16, 2011 at 3:14pm 8 lb 6 oz and 21.5 inches. And now for the photo bomb. 

Just Born

Already holding Daddy's hand!

I loved her from before she was born.

Look Michael, we did it!

First Family Portrait 

Getting checked out.

weigh in

First Picture with Daddy.

Aunt Drea 

Aunt Aliza

Finally in our room and alert.

Being Born is HARD WORK!

HeatherWorld

There are many people in my life who, while visiting my home, claim they are in "HeatherWorld."
My home, my world is a sanctuary.  It is also a place of healing. Greenman and I are both healers. We are conscious of the energy we create in our home. I have been told often by people they needed to stop by to get some "good energy." Recently a friend said she was "free to be" who she is/wants to be when she is here. It made me think. Yes my home is a place to be free and yourself because that is who WE are.
But many people do not live their lives freely. They do what people "expect of them," they live by "other people's rules." 


My Greenman and I are co creating our lives. We are playing by OUR rules. We were at a local poly meeting and decided to order dessert, then realized that we were not satisfied and ordered an appetizer. Others at our table had ordered food before us. We had finished our dessert and our appetizers arrived as their food did. A woman commented that we were smart and why not order dessert first?  I explained to her that she was used to following other peoples rules. I, on the other hand, live by my own rules. I do what is best for ME, and now that includes my family. 


I mentioned we were at a Poly gathering. This is another place in my life where I do not "follow the rules."  My Greenman and I are Polyamorous. I like the way that Wikipedia defines it. "Polyamory, often abbreviated as poly, often described as consensual, ethical, or responsible non-monogamy." This does NOT mean we sleep around, we are NOT swingers.  If we were to have a relationship outside of our relationship it would be thoroughly discussed, with all parties. We have a healthy sex life and communicate our needs. A third would not be about sex but a relationship.
I like what Greenman recently posted about our relationship: we are busy preparing for the birth of our daughter, we are happy and not looking for a third, we are open to the possibility. I think that perfectly describes our relationship! We are ridiculously happy. But while I love him and can not imagine my life without him, I know that I have room for love and sharing love. Also as a soon to be divorcee (woo hoo) I know that love is flexible. My son was conceived and born with love. I loved his father dearly, but we have grown apart.


I am glad that Greenman and I have so much in common and that we have similar goals. We are co creating our world together. Which is why I know that one day we will have a third in our life, with two powerful people co creating our world with such powerful energies combining nothing stands in our way :)  We need to come up with a new name for our Sanctuary... its not just "HeatherWorld" anymore. 

Meet My Family

Me and Avalon

"Family," that is such an interesting word. It usually denotes parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and the like including your "family."
I do not speak to the man who helped bring me into this world. He did the best he could but that was not enough  for the person I have become. I am better in my world without him. Its funny because I have a large "family" but my Aunt Marianne is more like a second mother and best friend to me. Her family, Uncle Ray, and my cousins, Amber and Ian are the only ones I consider when I think of family. My Aunt has been with me through every crisis I have had in my life. She has been there to support me in all ways. She has been the "wind beneath my wings" since the death of my Mother, her Sister. The rest of my "family" I have little or no contact with, the absence of their drama and judgment is comforting. With the birth of my daughter coming many have started to reenter my life. I am nervous about this but welcome their love and support. 


I have dear friends that are more like sisters to me than the sister who shares blood with me. My dearest friend Amy just lost her baby Karma. I wanted nothing but to be there with her. We do not see each other enough or talk to each other enough but our friendship is strong. With the upcoming birth of my daughter I want her there. Distance separates us but I miss her daily.


There are others in my Life that I treasure. I have GREAT friends! They are the kind of friends that you drop everything for, which is why they are still in my life. I have one friend who said "I saw your post 'I have 70 pounds of peaches'  that is a friend emergency and I am here." We blanched, cut and jammed peaches for HOURS.  I have friends here in Rochester, and 2 friends in NJ and others over the country! Some of them are closer than any family I have had. I know that when this little girl comes her Auntie Kelly will rock her and hold her and love her! I know that when she starts toddling around Chloe will help her find fairies. I know that I will be able to work semi part time because someone will always be willing to hold my baby for an hour or two and love her as we do. I live in a home because I have a wonderful friend who was able to help provide me with such. Have I ever mentioned that I am Blessed??
But my immediate family consists of my Greenman, our furbabies and our Unborn Daughter, oh yeah and that teenager who, lives with his father and is VERY much a teenager! My lovely son and I do not always see things the same way. His father always tells him... "well you know... your Mom is 'different.'" We look forward to his visits... mostly. His latest visit has been fun as he helped prepare for the birth of his sister.

My Greenman

My Greenman, Michael, is very much like me. He has disowned most of his family and we share the comfort in the lack of communication with our families. It is wonderful to have a partner who has the same feelings as I do. We have similar beliefs and values. We look forward to our future together and have a gazillion goals that we strive for daily. We can do anything as long as we do it together.

My Beautiful Son, Tyler

Tyler: My soon to be 16 year old son is growing up. He is very much like his father in his everyday actions, but then he lives with his father too. I love my son more than he will ever know and am comforted in the fact that he may even recognize that... in about 5 years lol. He is a strong headed, smart boy, who hates mornings... all just like his Mom :) I am proud of my son. I love him and wish only for more time with him.

Our furbabies are:

Mimzy

Mimzy: our 6 year old Black lab. She also responds to the name "Mommy's Girl", because she is just that. My sweet puppy has gotten fairly grey since I brought home our newest addition, Montana, and I am sure when our daughter arrives more grey will appear. She is wonderfully protective and such a loving dog. I rescued her too, as she rescued me.

Montana

Montana: our 1 year old tiger, small horse, or Great Dane Puppy (call her what you will). We adopted her from our local shelter and she has become Michael's dog. She worships him in only the way a dog can. What is even neater is Montana is Michael's first dog... you know what they say... "Go big or go home!" ;)

Sparrow

Sparrow: My garden protector whom has already made a few guest appearances in this blog. He is an amazing mouser also. He is the hunter in our group.

Ji Ji 

JiJi: who is Sparrows brother. My beloved JiJi disappeared for a year and came back to use beaten up, with a broken but healed leg (now deformed) and is sweeter than ever and just wants to be loved. We indulge him CONSTANTLY :)

Chulac

Chulac: who I have nicknamed Choochlac. He was Michael's cat (who am I kidding... he still only likes Michael lol) He is our beautiful long haired boy. He is learning to tolerate me and my affection because I feed him too. Right now he is loving the freedom to roam outside and comes in briefly to eat.


Romeo: is our roommates new cat but he is loving and sweet and a new addition to our "family"




Be Blessed <3

the way life should be...

Dragon Ritual Drummers

Recently my boys and I attended a Pagan Festival. There should have been  a gazillion people there... the Dragon Ritual Drummers were performing!
( http://www.dragonritualdrummers.com/ )
The tickets were only $5 in advance! It was a beautiful day in a beautiful place. The day started out rough (teenagers that were not excited about waking up before noon can sometimes have an attitude) but with such good energy at the festival even their moods could not remain negative :) There were not as many people there as we expected but all the people there were awesome.


The Pagan community can be cliquish and full of rumors unfortunately and I braced myself and wrapped myself in protective layers... and did not need to! We had such a wonderful time! We played the drums that I made myself, hung out with some of my favoritest little people in the world,  (who I had not seen in TOOO long), had various body parts painted, saw lots of wonderful people, saw performances by belly-dancers, had hula hoop lessons, and then the Dragon Ritual Drummers perform!  We also learned of a local drumming circle that we could almost WALK TO! Our drums will get much more use now!

This is RJ, my 2nd son

I love that my big boys inspired the little one :)

The BOYS are Hula Hooping! :)

Who doesn't like to be Painted?? She was sooo good!
Mom asked for her to take her time. Caitlyn sat for a good 30
minutes just enjoying being painted!!!

While the Dragon Ritual Drummers were performing my dearest friend Lynnie said "Bare that belly, I'm getting my paints!" She was inspired! Far be it from me to stop an artist when she is inspired! ;)
Lynnie is a true artist whose preferred canvas is the human body. She has spoiled me by painting my Baby Bump before. I would sit for her EVERYDAY if I could! She has a wonderful business: http://www.artful-body.com/  or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Artful-Body/333397519584?sk=wall&filter=2 She can be found at all kinds of local festivals. She is also available for all kinds of events ;) Here are some pictures of the next THREE hours of painting :)

This is my favorite picture from the day,
wish Michael's head was not
chopped off! 

Inspired by the music! :)

What are you painting??? lol She was asked that
a 100 times!!!!

 While we were sitting there unfortunately the Drumming ended, but we were visited by many of the folk that had attended the festival. She was asked at least a hundred times... "What are you painting??" She kept saying "I'm not sure yet. I was just inspired!"  It was such a wonderful day! Wonderful environment, good friends, drumming, singing, and PAINTING!

Adding the dark Celtic swirls

Finished!

Beautiful Celtic Mandala Close up!

       Having my "Baby Bump" painted is such a beautiful way to honor both Mom and baby! It was truly a sacred process and I was Blessed in so many ways that day! I am loving Co-Creating my Life with the Lord, Lady, My Greenman, My Daughter and I. The surprises that come or way are beautiful and sacred. We are Blessed!

I love this picture. The smile is for Daddy Greenman,
who is taking the picture.

Be Blessed Dear Ones <3