Sacred Seeds

Bessed Ostara

Spring has very definitely arrived here in the SF/Bay Area. You can feel it in the air, in the earth, in your very blood – its just bursting out everywhere! Of course after the rains of winter its also in the weeds that have taken over my garden, but I am slowly hacking my way through those jungles. Soon there will be room to plant new vegetables and fresh flowers, watch my cats try and catch the birds and pick lemons from the never ending lemon tree.

Tomorrow our coven celebrates Ostara and Spring Equinox. This year I offered to revise a ritual I wrote that was all about jelly beans and chocolate bunnies. Well now its even more insane, or wonderfully perfect for the season. There are Peeps for the directions, jelly beans for the blessings, Chocolate bunnies for the god/dess statues and carrots of power! Oh, yeah and inside all the silly we will be planting seeds for the new year – both metaphorically and physically. It should be lots of fun!

I’m thrilled with how this ritual turned out, so I thought I would share it with folks. Feel free to share it with your coven, friends and community. Enjoy!

Blessings,

Kate

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Ostara Ritual of the Chocolate Bunnies
Created for Ratatosk Coven
By C. Pennington
March 21, 2010

Altar Set up:
altar cloth
Candles for the Goddess & God
Center candle
Carrot for athame
Bubble wand
Glitter candle
Fur of the fallen
Flowers of the season
Chalice and plate for cakes and champagne
Additional tradition tools
Peeps of the four directions/quarter colors
Four bowls of jelly beans: red, yellow, blue and green
Cakes and wine: Carrots, fruit, jelly beans, milk and juice

To begin the HPS will:
tap the altar 3 times with the wand
ring a bell three times

The Blessing Prayer

Light the center candle, then the altar candles as the Blessing Prayer is read.

High Priestess:
In the beginning was the burrow and it was dark and warm and safe.
From out of winter’s sleep the Lady awoke, ears and whiskers twitching.
She breathed a sigh of delight and brought light into the darkness.

HPs then lights side candles from the center candle

High Priestess:
But the light of the Lady could never be happy alone,
and so she sought out Her other Selves
Seed-Bearer and Nesting-Minder, Free-Spirit, Wandering-One, and Old-soul,
All different shapes and forms to carry Her light into the world.
They traveled from burrow to burrow, carrying joy and light in their paws.

She hands the candle to the HP

Priest:
Their light spread to the four hillocks and soaked deep into the winter-dark soil.

HP takes the flame to each point.

Summoning the Powers of the Elements

P:    In the East, the light arrived on the winds bringing knowledge and carrots.

P:    In the South, the light danced in as flames bringing will and carrots

P:    In the West, the light swept across the waves bringing daring and carrots

P:    In the North, the light became meadows bringing silence and carrots

P then returns to the main altar and says to the HPS:

P:     My lady, the powers of the Elements have been summoned.

HPS:    And the Circle binds them together with Carrots.

HPS lights the Goddess and God candles saying:

Bunnies to enfold me.
Bunnies to surround me.

Consecrating the Elements

Salt:
We honor the blessing of earth that lives within the salt distilled from Mother Rabbit, and the green jelly bean!
Raise up the bowl of salt and green jelly beans

Water:
We celebrate the blessing of water that nourishes all life with each freely given drop, and the blue jelly bean!
Raise up the bowl of water and blue jelly beans

Incense:

We honor the blessings of air that flow around and within us at each moment, and the yellow jelly bean!
Raise up the incense and bowl of yellow jelly beans

Fire:
We celebrate the blessings of fire that fuels the passions of our lives, and the red jelly bean!
Raise up the candle and bowl of red jelly beans

Casting the Circle

The Priestess/Priest casting the Circle says:

Here in our Burrow of Safety and Community,
We call upon the Bunnies of the Elements
Using the Wand of Bubbles and the Carrot of Power
Using the Candle of Glitter and the Fur of the Fallen
To cast and consecrate this circle of power
So that we may have a nest of joy and warmth
To celebrate our rites and our tribe.

Priestess/Priest Consecrations
Each celebrant is consecrated with salt water and incense deosil around the circle.

By Carrot, By Candle, By Bubble, By Fur,
By the Breath and Blessing and Being of Mother Rabbit

Calling the Quarters
East:
Hail, Scampering Bunnies of the east
I call upon your yellow peeps to guard our Circle and witness our rites!
Hail and Nibbles!

All respond:     Hail and Nibbles!

South:
Hail, Scampering Bunnies of the South
I call upon your pink peeps to guard our Circle and witness our rites!
Hail and Nibbles!

All respond:    Hail and Nibbles!

West:
Hail, Scampering Bunnies of the West
I call upon your blue peeps to guard our Circle and witness our rites!
Hail and Nibbles!
All respond:    Hail and Nibbles!

North:
Hail, Scampering Bunnies of the North
I call upon your green peeps to guard our Circle and witness our rites!
Hail and Nibbles!

All respond: Hail and Nibbles!

Invocation of Ostara

Hail to you Ostara,
You, who are the very essence of spring
The burst of energy that sings of life renewed,
The fresh buds that green the trees and color the landscape of our hopes

Hail to you Ostara,
You, who are the potent magic of youth,
The joyful eyes that see the world with wonder
The voice of the children dancing out of the womb and into the sunlight

Hail to you Ostara,
You, who are the glorious pressure to transform,
The sweet urge to dance with the winds
The passionate desire become more than we were in the darkness of winter

Hail to you Ostara,
Bringer of Spring
Bringer of Youth
Bringer of Transformation
Bringer of Carrots!

Hail and Nibbles!

ALL:     Hail and Nibbles!

The Working

Today we stand on the boundary between winter and summer, between day and night. Today we of the coven and the wicca celebrate Spring Equinox and Ostara – the razors edge between light and dark! Huzzah! Or not… you know, depending on your opinion of razors.

From here the days get warmer; life gets brighter and more exuberant. As the wheel turns with ever flowing surety towards the fullness of summer and the richness of Beltane, we begin to churn with our own need to grow and stretch towards the sun. In honor of this itch to move, we will be planting seeds

Pull out the bag of seeds and show them all off

We have several seedling trays into which many seeds can go – so they have a good place to begin their journey, and several pots into which we can plant a collection of the wildflowers and see what they do.

As you plant your seeds remember that this is sympathetic magic. The physical seeds we plant today will grow into many wonderful plants, flowers, vegetables and herbs. The energetic seeds we plant are up to you. What do you wish to plant for this season of your life? What do you want to harvest in six weeks to six months? What will you need in the fall? What do you wish to bring into your life this year, this month? This season? Take a moment to really think about what you need and what you want for this year.

Pause to let them think.

Now, keep these thoughts in mind with each seed you plant, and plant your dreams along with the physical seeds.

Get folks started picking seeds and planting stuff.

While we are going to plant many seeds, not all will grow to fullness, some will be pushed out of the race by other seedlings with more strength and gumption, but in the end the ones that we need the most and the ones with the strongest will to live will win out and feed us in the harvests to come.

Finish planting seeds.

Time to sing and dance and empower the seeds.

The Lady’s Bransle (pron. Brawl)

For She will bring the buds in Spring
and laugh amid the flowers
In Summer’s heat, Her kisses are  sweet,
She sings in leafy bowers
She cuts the cane and gathers the grain
when fruits of Fall surround Her,
Her bones grow old in Wintery cold,
She wraps her cloak around Her

© Glenn Turner and Hope Athearn

Cakes and Wine (aka Kate’s LBR of the CB)

Touch your forehead, intone *Ostara*
Point down, covering the groin, intone *Eostar*
Touch right shoulder, intone  *Kore*
Touch left shoulder, intone *Blessed Mary*
Fold hands at chest, intone  *Easter Bunny, Blessed Be*

Turn to east, draw pentagram, point to center, intone: *Sugar*
Carry line to south, draw pentagram, point to center, intone  *Coco butter*
Carry line to west, draw pentagram, point to center, intone *Cacao*
Carry line to north, draw pentagram, point to center, intone *Cream*
Carry line to east, completing circle, return to center.

All Say:
Before me, Cadbury;
Behind me, Hershey’s;
On my right hand Scharffen Berger;
and on my left hand Godiva.
For about me flames the Divine Chocolate Bunny,
and within me shines the Goddess of Spring.

HPS breaks off a bit of bunny for the libation and says:

HPS:    To the bunnies (and the gods)!
All:    To the bunnies (and the gods)!

P/Ps pass out the cakes & wine

HPs:  Now we EAT!

Circle closing
HPS and/or HP:
Our ritual is now ended, and it is time to say good bye.
Let us take the light and laughter we have shared
And spread it among our nestlings and burrow-mates
Bright blessings and joy be with you!
And abundant Carrots for All!

Dismissing the Quarters:

East:
Scampering Bunnies of the east
We thank you and your yellow peeps for guarding our

Circle and witnessing our rites! Hail and good nibbles!

All respond:    Hail and good nibbles!

South:
Scampering Bunnies of the South
We thank you and your pink peeps for guarding our

Circle and witnessing our rites! Hail and good nibbles!

All respond:    Hail and good nibbles!

West:
Scampering Bunnies of the West
We thank you and your blue peeps for guarding our

Circle and witnessing our rites! Hail and good nibbles!

All respond:    Hail and good nibbles!

North:
Scampering Bunnies of the North
We thank you and your green peeps for guarding our

Circle and witnessing our rites! Hail and good nibbles!

All respond:    Hail and good nibbles!

Opening the circle:

The Priestess/Priest casting the Circle says:

No more are we set apart from the world of bunnies or men,
Sharing jelly beans on the edge between burrow and farm land.
Let the spirit world know that the garden gate is closed,
The carrots of power and mighty peeps put away,
Until next we meet to greet them and the Great Mother Rabbit.
So mote it be!

HP & HPS:
The circle is open, but unbroken.
The God and Goddess bless their children.
Merry meet, merry part and merry meet again!

Blog and site changes

Hello all, Happy 2010!

Winston on the WishFather Altar, “And your problem with this would be what?”

As you might have noticed, this blog has migrated to a new domain. My talented buisness partner Jamie was kind enough to connect the dots and sync up my blog to my website so now all my goodies are in one place!

The new set up is making it possible for me to get craking on showing off my artwork, so over the next few weeks (ok, really more likely to be months knowing my life) the Gallery will be filling up with pages of images and description of the Altar/Altered dolls I have created. Where the dolls are still availble for purchase, you will find a link to our Artfire shop (of Doom) which along with my dolls and other sacred art has Jamie’s Jewlery and photography for your shopping pleasure.

I do have a new doll just about ready to post – so stay tuned for that!

I’ve also been doing a ton of writing in the last six months, so I may post some snippets to share with eveyone. I have a couple of larger writing projects planned for this year – I might even join the world in doing nanowrimo this November, we shall see how my spoons hold up.

Blessings,

Kate

A Demeter Priestess in name and function

After more years than I can count of avoiding the topic, On Saturday September 10, 2009 I stood before Demeter’s altar and members of my community and declared myself Demetroi – a confirmed priestess of Demeter.

There really should be a whole lot more to say following a statement like that, but frankly I have a sinus infection trying to take hold in my head and yesterday was really LONG and wonderful and amazing and exhausting.

Until then, my thanks to everyone who has held my hand, read my mumbling questions, and been support of this long and crazy process.

Having my friends and family as part of my community and my life is one of the gifts I am grateful for.

Demeter’s Blessings upon you and your’s.

Kate
I Xrisi Örasis, Demetroi

A red letter day for this mask wearing ritual lady!

Maybe it’s the holidays and people just being festive and cheerful, but today was a red letter day for me and my mask.

Me and My Mask – Setting up dolls for the Eleusinian Mysteries Altar 2007

Because of my Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) I have to wear a carbon filter mask (I buy mine from I can breathe and then decorate them ) when I leave the house. This keeps my level of exposure to toxins like perfume, car exhaust, plastics, fabrics and the like, to a mostly tolerable level if I am careful about where I go. No department stores, new car showrooms, or all you can buy malls for me!

Now normally when I am out and about in my mask I get one or two smiles or nods or nothing at all. Mind you, I live in Liberal-ville , right on the borderline between Berkeley and Oakland, really, of all the towns to live and be seen as normal, this is the place! Every now and then someone will stop me, usually on the Berkeley side of the line, and ask where I got the mask or if it came with the beaded fringe (nope, I added that myself – has to be shiny!) and I pass on cards for the company.

Today it was like everyone SAW me and my mask. The security guard at the pharmacy, the guys in the art supply store, people in line, people in the parking lot, a guy even watched me walk past him and smiled saying “Beautiful”! What the heck?!

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind any of this, its just… odd. It felt… inclusive. Not that people steer away from me, well except once a guy did while asking me if I had Tuberculosis, oy. But normally I live in a little bubble of isolation created by my mask and my need to not breath in the chemicals that most people don’t even notice.

Sometimes I let the whole thing get to me. I choose not to leave the house, almost don’t get out of bed, and think that people forget that I even exist. It’s hard to be the hermit crab when I am used to being the show girl. The hermit crab almost won today. After my allergy shots I was worn out and fell into an hour and a half nap. I almost let that be the rest of my day, but I push through and made it out of the house. If I hadn’t left home, I would never have been blessed with an afternoon of cheerful people connecting with me and my mask.

Sadly the mask only keeps some of the toxins away from me, so I still came home drained and aching, but with a smile on my face from all the sweet comments people sent my way. That aught to keep me getting out of bed for a few more days at least.

Blessed Holidays everyone!

A Demeter Priestess and her garden

So remember how I said I wasn’t going to plant anything this year? (No, well I did somewhere, so bear with me). Apparently I spoke to soon. I walked into my local WholeFoods about three weeks ago and did the sapy eyed thing over a bunch of plants. Me! over plants! What the heck? Agricultural Goddesses, I tell yay!

So I yeah, I bought some plants and some potting soil. Then I rant out of soil. And pots. So I *just* had to the local plant nursery to get more supplies. And of course, since I was there, I just happened to see a few plants I liked… er… yeah… and so I filled up the back of my van with stuff.

Mind you all this was After my husband got his garden on by working on our front yard! *sigh* The House Kaleidicopia (yep, that’s what we call our home) yard project of 2009 is well and truly under way and I and up to my neck in dirt and plants and loving every minute of it all! Who’da thunk?

To begin at the beginning…

We have been needing to redo our front yard forever. About a month or so ago my hubby asks me if I would like a labyrinth in the front yard. Would I like??? He knows me far too well! Thus began the plotting of the front yard. We don’t really don’t have enough space to do a full size labyrinth, but we should be able to squeeze in a mini five circuit beastie similar to this kind:

The “Classical” Pattern. Original graphic © Shane Odom.

To do that we first have to move all the roses that are (were) where we want the labyrinth to go. That, and offering to buy my hubby a few more roses got him rolling. Over two weekends he, our youngest son and two friends moved first our ailing pear tree from what we now call the Rose side of the front yard to the back yard, where it will get much more sun and be waaaaay happier, transplant all but one of the Labyrinth side roses to the Rose side of the yard, and plant not one but nine more roses all told in the front yard! When they all the grow in we will have two hedges of yummy lavender and white simplicity roses (one on either side of the front yard). The Rose side is now a mini Rose Garden with only one rose still in shock from the transplant process.

The Labyrinth side still needs to denuded of its top layer of weed infested soil, but once that is done, I have a friend who is a wiz at building labyrinths and she has agreed to help me experiment with layouts till we find the right design for our yard. Then we can start laying down the ground cover (probably Irish moss) and pebbles to make up the pattern!

Ugh… lots of work, but it is amazing to see it all coming together!

In the back yard, my adventures in container gardening feel like they are going better this year. I have been reading up on the plants I potted, so I might actually be able to have produce by the end of the season this time!

I now have cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, tomatoes, sunflowers, digitalis, mint (two kinds), sage, rosemary, Echinacea, hollyhock, California poppies, aloe, and Aeonium canariensis growing in my garden. Oh, and I have seeds sprouting for the Lupines and poppies that I am going to add to the front yard, and the cilantro that I will be growing in the back. And just today I planted my summer crop of barley. I’m keeping it in back with the rest of my produce, and hoping that without the massive rains from the winter, I might actually produce some barley plants this time. We shall see.

And last, but never least I have achieved Pomegranate! Yup. I am the proud owner of a pomegranate shrub. It now lives in an enormous faux terracotta pot a former housemate left us, and sits beside my external Demeter altar.

So somehow, in all of odd Chemically Sensitive, exhausting life, I have managed to garden. I don’t feel like I can be called a Gardener yet, maybe if I pull off an actually harvest this year, but I do feel like I am making a better connection to the earth and myself. And behind all of this has been Demeter, puttering around behind, inside and with me all the while I have doing working on myself and my plants. It’s a new sense of spirit and spirituality for me, to just be in the moment with no expectations and no requirements. I’m finding I rather like it.

Sacred Seed and Mirth & Reverence at Baycon 2009

My stuff is on display at Baycon come see!!

For those of you who dont know, I have joinned forces with Jamie Morgan of the Silver Kitsune Jewelery, to create a company called Mirth & Reverence.  We have slowly be blending our work and our wares to the point where we are selling our stuff on line together at Artfire in our combined shop here: MirthReverence This weekend we are doing our first big convention as dealers!! woohoo!!

Jamie, the Wonder Partner , has taken all of our stock and a whole lot of new stuff away to Baycon 2009 in San Jose CA. (Because of my Chemical Intolerances / MCS I cant do public stuff – so she gets the brunt of that work).  If you are in the area stop by the dealer’s/vendor’s room.  The Mirth & Reverence booth is near the back door in the corner and VERY hard to miss – here I can show you… Jamie kindly sent me a photo right after set up!

On site we have a host of new Jewelery from Jamie – lovely necklaces with Venetian Glass, Steampunk stuff with gears and bits, more of her famous twisted rope necklaces, and new cell phone charms and earrings!

From me you get a new batch of horses all lower cost and yet amazingly still filled with attitude (funny that) Some even have wings! And I finally got around to making some of the nifty staves I have been promising!

New from both of us and ONLY for the convention, these are not going to be in our shop – Hair falls in a range of colors and sizes: Earth, Fire, Air, Water, Night, Day, – come on its’s us, of course they were going to be pagan related!

And for those of you looking for my high end dolls, those are at the convention as well – in the Art show on their own table. I sent down ten dolls in total including the two new steampunk dolls Lady Elizabeth and Steampunk Gaia. With them are JB the Technicolor Dream Horse, Don Colorado, Sir EJ, Wiccan Star Goddess, Wiccan Horn God, Warrior Oy, Witch Queen Oya and on loan from her new home: Hekate.

So there is lots to see and buy so come take a look.

Blessings,

Kate

Horned Lord in Blockhead Radio Challenge!

Come see! Come vote! I decided it was time to let the Horned Lord spread his wings a little on his own, and placed him in the Blockhead Radio weekly challenge in the 3D art section! There are several wonderful sections of handmade art to look (and drool) over so come look and vote at all of them!

Blessings,

Kate

Wiccan God and Goddess Altar Dolls

For the ritual my buisness partner Jamie and I wrote for PantheaCon 2009 I set myself the challenge of crafting the main god figures for the center altar. It took a while, but i managed to get them done just in time for the convention and the ritual!

Now that ritual is over they are for sale in our Artfire shop and I can show them off here! The awesome photos are by Jamie (of course) who now has a whole bunch of her photography up in the shop by the way!

I’ve also been doing a little bit of writing for Artfire.com’s Art Daily. So far they have posted two of my pieces. One is a short article about how to create your own beaded doll head. The other is about how to be friends with people with allergies and chemical sensitivities (like me!) I hope you’ll swing by Artfire and take a look!

Blessings,

Kate

An Article on Artfire

Hi Everyone!

I want to share a very exciting thing that has just happend for my business partner Jamie and I.

As some of you know we have a shop on Artfire.com which we love.  Artfire does these Artisan spotlights every couple of days and Jamie and I are the currently spotlighted artists! We will be up until the 18th I think. Come see!!!

ArtFire Artisan Spotlight: Catherine Pennington and Jamie Morgan, Mirthreverence

I opted to keep my answers MCS free for this article since its really a publicity peice about our buisness. I figure I can ease Artfire into the “wonders” of MCS over time.

Happy Lupercalia and Valentine’s Day to all!

Kate

Ritual at PantheaCon 2009

Greetings one and all!

Now that the PantheaCon 2009 schedule is live and public, its time for the official announcement of the ritual that Jamie and Kate have been working on with a few friends. Jamie and Kate co-wrote the ritual based on an idea Kate had to celebrate the polarity aspects of the Wiccan God and Goddess. Jamie is also the Stage Manager for the ritual and will be the on site contact, as Kate cannot be at the convention yet due to her health.

PantheaCon is a great opportunity for people interested in alternative religions and spiritual ideas to gather and network with each other. The convention has been held in the Bay Area every year since 1995. Mirth and Reverence is thrilled to be a part of the convention and looks forward to sharing our work with everyone.

“A Walk in the Garden of Polarity”

Written by Catherine Pennington and Jamie Morgan

Come take a walk with us through the Garden of the Wiccan Lady and the Lord to explore and celebrate Divine Polarity from a decidedly eclectic Wiccan perspective. Covens and solitaries from the Gardnerian, NROOGD, Coven of the Sacred Feminine, CAYA, Dark Moon Circle, NineSisters Ritual Group, and Eclectic Wiccan and God. This ritual will contain an extensive guided meditation and is not suited for young children. Participants are encouraged to wear celebratory garb, their cords, and any coven insignia they may have. Everyone, Wiccan, or not are most welcome and share in this celebration!

Program Bio

Mirth & Reverence is Catherine Pennington (by Remote) and Jamie Morgan (on Site). Together they create beautiful art work including Altar dolls and Beaded Jewelry as well as teach classes on ritual and magic, and produce innovative rituals. For this ritual they have the fun of being joined by many talented ritualists including members of their coven – Ratatosk, along with members of DarkForest Coven, Coven of the Sacred Feminine, CAYA, and a collection of amazing individual solitary practitioners, techies and warders. For more information visit their website: www.mirthreverence.com

The ritual will be Sunday February 15th at 7pm in the Cedar ballroom.

If you are at the convention that weekend, look for Jamie to be out and about, when she is not prepping the ritual, and Kate’s husband Scott Pennington at his massage booth Improoovements. Stop by and say hi! Also keep your eyes open for the roving stuffed cat gathering photos of friends to take back to Kate!