Bringing olden ways to modern days for Wiccans,
Witches,
Pagans,
And all who honor a nature-based path.
This is Desert Magic with Crow Moon.
Merry meet and welcome back to another episode of Desert Magic coming to you from the beautiful and magical desert of Southern Arizona.
I'm your host,
Crow Moon.
This episode is a celebration of the Sabbath of Ostara and the spring orvernal equinox,
A celebration which will include some of my music,
Thoughts,
And words of mindfulness to accompany the beginning of spring.
The spring equinox is a time of renewal and regeneration.
This is a time of balance.
We celebrate the fertility of the earth as the land awakens to greet the warmth of the coming summer.
On this turn of the wheel of the year,
Day and night are of equal length.
The sun now warms the land and brightens our path once again.
Equinoxes and solstices are sacred times for us,
Celebrating the balance of nature and the cycles of life.
We welcome the greening of the earth.
We sow seeds.
We embrace the promise of new beginnings.
All hail the goddess,
Appearing before us now as the maiden of spring.
All hail.
That was The Grackle,
A song I wrote about a bird that appears each year at the beginning of spring,
At least where I live.
I do all of my writing in nature,
And in this particular area,
Which I refer to as my office,
Each year,
When the winter weather begins to subside and warmth starts returning to the air,
I see grackles.
And when I do,
I know that spring is just around the corner.
The Grackle is yet another example of nature living at a divine pace.
With rebirth being the central theme of this season,
We are wise to do a bit of positive forward thinking at this time and to consider what new beginnings we would like to create.
It's time to tap into the energy of reawakening all around us and consider how we,
Too,
Would like to grow in the coming year.
In Wicca and Paganism,
Ostara and the spring equinox are viewed as times of rebirth.
We witness leaves changing colors.
We see plants bursting forth from the earth,
And flowers abound.
In nature,
New life is all around us,
But life never truly vanished to begin with.
We celebrate life being reborn at this time,
But I invite you to consider that life is instead being recaptured by our mindfulness.
We call upon the power of nature's reawakening now,
As we recognize this magic within ourselves.
Reflect upon the personal seeds you have planted,
Ideas,
Goals,
Dreams,
Visions,
Those very things you have nurtured as you would a plant or garden.
The personal seeds you have planted throughout your lifetime,
Although they might no longer be flowering now,
Continue to live on.
Their spirit is still present,
And it is blessing the seeds you are currently sowing,
As well as those that are yet to come.
Their spirit never dies.
Likewise,
Your spirit will never die.
That was honoring gnomes.
A track I wrote to do just that,
Honor gnomes.
Gnomes are caretakers of the earth.
As Wiccans,
Our thoughts are earth-centered year-round,
But our awareness of nature seems to be heightened even more each year as spring begins.
We see nature thriving after another long winter,
In which many of us experience so much coldness that we begin to wonder if warmth will ever return.
And for it to continue doing so,
All of us must do our part in taking good care of the earth.
Gnomes do exactly that,
But they are not the only spirits of nature that do so,
Nor are they the only spirits we honor at this time.
One such spirit is known by many as the Green Man.
The Green Man is the deity of plant life,
Forests,
And all things earth and green.
He represents growth and rebirth.
The Green Man is said to roam the woods and is present wherever crops are thriving.
To meet him,
All we must do is spend time in nature while practicing awareness.
In your mind's eye,
See yourself in a forest.
Perhaps you hear birds singing,
A few leaves rustling in the breeze,
The gentle sounds of a stream.
Allow those sounds to simply be there as nature welcomes you into this sacred space.
You bring your awareness now to several trees before you.
In the trunk of one of those trees,
The face of a man begins to take form.
The face is that of the Green Man.
He represents growth and rebirth,
And he is the spirit of nature.
Surrounding his face is beautiful foliage.
He smiles warmly as his loving eyes look upon you.
You are not startled or troubled by him,
For he seeks to welcome you here.
Through his presence,
You hear the heartbeat of nature as his loving and caring eyes welcome you.
You notice an effortless flow in nature that matches that of your breathing.
Everything in the forest before you is unfolding naturally without resistance,
Effort,
Or worry.
Attune to that same harmonious energy now,
Inviting it into yourself as the Green Man speaks to you.
He whispers,
Thrive like the trees.
Be as steady as the breeze.
Walk with steady steps and ease.
At Ostara and always,
I wish you many bright blessings.
May the ever-turning wheel of the year bring you peace and inspire you to leave your footprints upon this earth at a divine pace.
Until next time,
The crow flies from me to thee to send the message,
Blessed Be.
