My thoughts often wondered to the concept of ‘putting it out there in the Universe’, in order to take advantage of the 3fold law of return.  You know, the one that states that whatever energy you put out into the world, will come back three fold. Prayers, chants, wishes, spells, and that sort are all methods used to put it to the Universe.

Sounds perfect. It even sounds fair, doesn’t it?

But Life is not fair. The Universe doesn’t care what you want. This idea might be cynical and depressing, but from my own experiences, the Universe chooses to ignore my prayers, energies, and even efforts to reach my goals.

Arguably, people tend to offer excuses as to why a spell might not work, but that doesn’t explain plain-hard-work doesn’t seem to work for me either.

This doesn’t mean I feel it happens to everyone. Others may find it works for them, but sometimes I feel my bad luck stems from a certain level of Chaos that rules my life where one methods that works for everyone else is likely to blow up in my face. Its like being left handed in a right-handed world.

So I’m curious of my readers out there on their thoughts of this idea of ‘putting it out there’. Does it work for you? Do you agree/disagree? Post in comments.

I’m loving this beautiful spring weather. Taking my dog on regular walks along the river offers ample opportunity to be around nature and enjoy the scent, sights, and sounds of Life.

The meetup group gathers at my house tomorrow (or rather tonight being its so late with typing this up), and we’re celebrating Beltane. Technically, the date is May 1st, but some members couldn’t join at that time. I’m pretty flexible, and I think its more important to accommodate a group than to recognize a specific date.

Beltane, which means Brilliant Fire, celebrates when the herds are moved to their summer pastures. It also marks the season of fertility where sex is prominent, when the god and goddess form a union to bring Life into the world.

Some prominent activities include dancing a May Pole (which represents the phallus), and jumping over or between fires to make wishes and be purified/protected.

I like this idea from cyberwitch.com;

Cakes played a major role in many Beltane customs. A popular one was called the ‘knobby cake’. A cake was baked with nine lumps or ‘knobs’ on it, each one dedicated to a Deity, or Supernatural Being, or to an animal which threatened livestock. Each participant broke off a knob and threw it over the left shoulder, into the fire, saying, for example: "This is for you, gnomes, don’t steal my milk," or "This is for you, fox, spare thou my lambs."

This is fun to do even now. Since we (most of us) don’t live in an agrarian society, we might say something like: "This is for you, (name of employer), spare me my job!" Just remember, when you re-create an old custom, it should have valid meaning today.

Other activities to consider;

Feasting- I love potlucks with friends. Its fun to be surprised with meal choices, and eating food with others provokes its own kind of magick. Mead, sparkling cider or juices, fruit, dairy foods and Irish dishes (being Beltane is an Irish holiday), and anything that makes the day special.

Crafts- Popular crafts for Beltane include May baskets, floral head wreaths, masks, build fairy houses, ribbon wands, dance ribbons, make an altar sized maypole (video), and other May activities (video.

Frolicking- This is a whimsical, magical holiday. Dance in the woods, be playful, join in games, a hike, a picnic, but most important- have fun.

What fun traditions do you enjoy at Beltane? Post in comments

For the Wednesday witch, I wanted to cover Phyllis Curott, an attorney and Wiccan priestess, as well as author.

I’ve read Witch Crafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic , and found she touches upon the heart of magic, the spirituality of the Wiccan belief system. She covers more in the way of true spirituality rather than practice.

Her site, unfortunately, doesn’t offer much other than a list of her works and some back history, but I still felt she was well worth mentioning.

Here is a video on some of her thoughts-

Her views on forgiving someone who hurts us…

I also learned yesterday that the word ‘esbat’ comes from an Old French word, s’esbattre or ébat, meaning ‘frolic’.

Moon Cookies by Patti Wigington of About.com pagan page. I cut the recipe in half and still had cookie batter left over. They are very rich, great for adding icing, but just wonderful all by itself. We also found that adding Nutella was also very good.

Two Ingredient Vegan Banana Oat cookies- I didn’t have quick oats on hand, but I did have a few packages of Raisin and Spice oatmeal, so I used that. It was a hit.

Bringing Up Salamanders is a delightful blog from a pagan parent’s point of view. The author, Nydia from Brazil,  shares her hopes and fears raising her son, using very honest language in her posts on pagan-related topics.

She writes topics from how she celebrates the holidays, to the more personal posts on her son. Those type of posts, I think, are the best. They offer wonderful insight in how we, as parents, care and nurture our children.

Some posts I enjoyed;

Ostara and a new phase- where she’s ‘busted’ by her son, being the one who puts out the eggs on his altar.

Belated Yule 2012 post- Lovely post sharing her Yule with her son.

Samhain on our corner- I think the posts where she shares how she celebrates, and adds the pictures of the altar, and her family, are my favorite posts.

There’s many posts up. She’s been writing for some time, and I hope she continues.

• Book of shadows are personal and should reflect your spiritual path.
• They are a journal, resource, spells, and recipe book all mixed into a single book.
• Three ring binders make the best Book of Shadows.
• Cut off the end of a envelope and use a pockets in your book. You can use index cards to include prayers, recipe cards, etc.

If folks want more videos that are more in depth about this type of thing, just leave a comment.

Today’s Wednesday witch is LokiB101010, a vlogger on Youtube that has a number of interesting videos on the topic of witchcraft.

She’s from New Zealand with a lovely accent, and she shares ‘how to’ type videos as well as sharing/talking videos.

Clearing incense- This video includes a basic recipe for clearing/cleansing.

Portable Altar- This video covers her portable altar

Pagan tag- This video is an ‘about her’ type video, where she shares her beliefs and practices.

She speaks plainly and to the point, and I enjoyed her series of video where she gives up chocolate. (I feel her pain…being I’m quitting sugar this month).

Post in comments, and remember to ‘like’ her videos, and subscribe. I feel it’s a worthwhile share.

I found this video, The Saga of Bjorn, that illustrates in a funny way the tradition of dying in battle to go to Valhalla.

Death and Afterlife in Viking tradition is a complicated matter. Funeral rituals could be lengthy affairs, including human sacrifice, and lots of drinking.

Last week’s episode of The Vikings on the History Channel included much of what was described in saga and outsider accounts.  Ahmad ibn Fadlan wrote about his experience among the Vikings, adding the event of a funeral.

What’s your thoughts on the afterlife? For some pagans, they believe in Summerland, reincarnation, or other ‘heavens’. Personally, I feel whatever energy that makes us alive simply dissipates into everything else to be recycled. Add your opinion in comments.

Here in Maryland, temperatures reached up in the 80’s, and I couldn’t be more happy. This winter left me so chilled all the time. I nestled beneath an electric blanket, bought more sweaters, regularly wore fingerless gloves to help keep warm. Now its t-shirts and sunglasses!

Flowers are blooming, the songbirds are singing, and you can smell the earth and growing things all around the place.

I’ve been taking my dog regularly along the river. We’re just up the hill from Potomac River, and in the evenings, I can hear the Spring Peepers in the canal. My dog is ecstatic to all the critters around, things to smell, and even a run in a field from time to time.

My husband is off every morning to help in the communal vegetable garden, and I’m toying with the idea of planting some things in pots. I’m not sure, though; I have a ‘black thumb’.  We also expect to have the porch replaces and other work around the house, and I’m not sure if I want to take on gardening in addition to everything else.

But spring is here- and with it, STINK BUGS have returned. I’ve come to loathe them, and I generally like insects. Stink bugs, however, are one of the most unpleasant of Earth’s creation. They are clumsy, annoying, and I swear they enjoy buzzing around me just to piss me off. They land on me, and on occasion, land near me where I can’t see them until I roll them over with the office chair, or realize the hot water of a shower annoyed them, and they stink me.

Ugh @ them!

We’ll also be expecting the 17-year-locust, which is actually a Cicada, this summer I’m not real fond of these things either. They are LOUD. They also sound as if they’re calling me by name “sharonsharonsharon”. The 17 year Cicada looks somewhat evil; red eyes with a black body.

I suppose we should also prepare for the summer storms. Here in Maryland, we’ll get the occasional tornado, a blackout, sometimes flooding- although where I live the river never reaches us.

But I’m just blithering today. What signs of spring do you enjoy? Post in comments.