Dressing The Bride - Geraldine Charles

Sure, ‘twas as though the granite bones
And flesh of earthen Mother,
Rose up, said, “Well, I’ve a will to be wed
To my white and golden lover
My white, my gold-haired lover.

“He’s a son of the sun and a son of my own
So the sun and the sky I will wed,
For they say I’m owed a warrior bold
To protect the fields in my stead
To preserve the land in my stead.”

Will Sheelah-na-Gig then jig for joy?
Will fairies then dance in a ring?
Or will Morgan le Fay angrily say,
“We’ve started a terrible thing
Oh, begun a terrible thing.”

“Oh, Mother”, we said, “don’t marry that man,
We need no warriors bold and brave -
His kind will call you whore and hag,
Rip minerals from your caves,
Yes, rape iron and oil from your caves.

“No, Mother, don’t marry the son of the sun,
His sons will bring you sorrow -
They’ll shit in the ocean and piss in your wells,
For you there’ll be no tomorrow,
For all of us no tomorrow.”

And Sheelah-na-Gig won’t jig for joy,
The fairies won’t dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will sadly say,
“We’ve started a terrible thing
Oh, begun a terrible thing.”

We’ll give you a day like you never had
A day of praises, joy and mirth -
Far better than tying yourself to that lad
A day for Mother Earth
Just to celebrate Mother Earth.

We’ll dress you in green; we’ll dress you in brown,
We’ll polish your lakes, from swords make ploughs,
And braid wildflowers into your crown -
And berries for your brow,
Gather berries for your brow.

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will gravely say,
“We’ve avoided a terrible thing
Oh, escaped a terrible thing.”

But oh, my darlings, sad to say,
She wed the warrior bold and brave.
His sons forced all our maids away,
Ripping minerals from the caves,
Raping iron and oil from our caves.

So we went down to Troytown,
One cold and bitter winter’s day -
And danced into the Maizey Wheel,
And never came out again,
Not for five thousand years and a day.

And Sheelah-na-Gig is forced to church,
The fairies are no longer near.
And Morgan le Fay’s called bitch and whore,
There’s no place for the Lady here,
No, no place for the Lady here.

***

Now the dragon paths are trod again,
The veils are lifting from our eyes -
As earthen mother breaks her chains,
Flicks the warriors off like flies,
Flicks the warriors off like flies.

We’ll dress her in green; we’ll dress her in brown,
And polish her lakes, from swords make ploughs,
And braid wildflowers into her crown -
With berries for her brow,
Yes, to bind around her brow.

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will gladly say,
“Our mother is everything
Mother Earth is everything.”

And Sheelah-na-Gig will jig for joy,
The fairies will dance in a ring -
And Morgan le Fay will sing all day,
“Our mother is everything
Mother Earth is everything.”

©2004, Geraldine Charles

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days

Am starting to think about doing this. There are lots of things I would love to do, and lots of things I need to do and I usually procrastinate my way out of them. Which is defeatist and silly. 1001 days is about 2 and 3/4 years. There isn't really much that can't be accomplished in that amount of time.

So I am going to start my 101 list and see where it leads me.

EDIT: This took me ages, and isn't really in any order of importance. Basically they were written as they popped into my head. I tried sorting them out, but it was too complicated.

101 Things To Do In 1001 Days.

1) Get down to between ten and a half/eleven stone.
2) Do an elimination diet and work out exactly what I am allergic to. DONE (dairy)
3) Establish an exercise routine that I enjoy and want to do.
4) Investigate laser eye treatment. DONE - CAN'T HAVE IT, EYES TOO WONKY
5) Save up for breast reduction.
6) Have at least one decent complementary therapy a month.
7) Buy myself a decent pair of trainers. DONE - Bought MBTs
8) Learn Yoga from a private tutor.
9) Go swimming every week. (DOING)
10) Learn how to do a handstand.
11) Join a Life Drawing class
12) Make space for a creative area in my home. (DONE)
13) Draw/Paint every week. (DOING)
14) Re-learn to use the sewing machine.
15) Learn to adapt/make clothes.
16) Make myself an outfit that is fit to be seen in.
17) Make a dress for Josie.
18) Learn to crochet.
19) Learn to knit
20) Make all my presents for the year.
21) De-clutter the flat (DONE)
22) Redecorate the flat (DONE)
23) Sell the flat (DOING)
24) Move into our lovely new big house (DONE) but not our forever house.
25) Create a garden following Permaculture ideologies
26) Do another Permaculture course
27) Grow most of our fruit and veg
28) Buy Organic Box Scheme fruit and veg to make up
29) Teach Owen and Josie how to garden
30) Create an outdoor temple space.
31) Start/join a Goddess group - DOING
32) Start/join a Pagan moot
33) Create a dedicated space in my home (DOING)
34) Celebrate the Esbats and Sabbats more formally. (DOING)
35) Visit Avebury
36) Go to the Goddess Conference again
37) Make myself a silk ritual robe
38) Memorise The Charge of The Goddess
39) Go on holiday to Malta and visit the Goddess sites
40) Go on a Bush craft course
41) Read a fiction book every month
42) Read a non-fiction book every month
43) Subscribe to a magazine for a year (Spirit and Destiny?)
44) Rejoin a library (DONE)
45) Join an Real Life book club
46) Charityshop all the books I will never read again
47) Write a children's storybook and illustrate it myself.
48) Write a novel, even if it's crap and I am the only one that reads it.
49) Write a proper Diary/Journal as well as Blogging
50) Do a formal course in Herbalism
51) Become less reliant on the telly for company (DONE)
52) Paint a fantasy world in Josie's bedroom (when she has her own room)
53) Let Owen decorate his own room.
54) Take singing lessons
55) Learn to ride a horse
56) Learn to belly dance
57) Get the tattoo I have always wanted
58) Get my nose pierced again
59) Go to a Farmer's Market DONE - new one to go every other month at least
60) Take more photos of Life and the Kids
61) Learn Welsh
62) Get over my fear of Maths (DONE)
63) Get my Maths GCSE DONE - passed Aug 2011
64) Look into options of becoming an English teacher
65) Find a job that I actually want and like to do
66) Set up a joint account for bills and such (DONE)
67) Set up a single account for odds and sods
68) Save money.
69) Go to the park once a week with the children
70) Go for summer picnics
71) Get hair cut really short and dye it a wacky colour DONE>
72) Stop being such a frump and let that inner BoHo out.
73) Learn to drive
74) Ride a motorbike
75) Wear sexy shoes at least once a month
76) Have only attractive underwear
77) Stay out alone all night in the "wilderness"
78) Start making own cosmetics.
79) Write my Will
80) Buy some expensive jewellery
81) Buy an original piece of art
82) Buy flowers once a month
83) Have a painting exhibited.
84) Teach Owen how to make a Journal
85) Make a "Date-Night" with husband
86) See friends at least one every other month.
87) Go to the cinema every other month (if haven't gone on Date-Night)
88) PERSONAL
89) Print off photos on PC and put in proper albums
90) Get an article published
91) Create a rockabilly outfit for going out
92) Sponsor a child
93) Go vegetarian for a month DONE, AND STILL DOING
94) Go vegan for a week DONE
95) Go to a concert of someone familiar SONISPHERE
96) Go to a concert of someone completely random SONISPHERE
97) Bake a cake once a week.
98) Start making own herbal remedies
99) Get a Northern Inuit dog
100) Create a monthly budget and stick to it
101) One takeaway every other month. (DONE) Less than that infact.

To The Royal British Legion

Hear, bloody hear!!!!!!

Ethical Thinking

There is a theme going round the pagan blogsphere to post up about pagan ethics. Lots of them have made interesting reading. I can't promise that mine will be that interesting though. Sorry.Although a lot of people think I am everso liberal, I do have ethics. They might not be what other people agree with, but they aren mine. They have little to do with Paganism. I personally feel that I would have the same ethics if I wasn't pagan. (However, if I was a Fundie Christian, I imagine some of them would be a bit different! :P )

My ethics are as follows:

Thou shalt use your brain and clear up thy own shit.

And that's it.I suppose I should explain this a bit. It encompasses a lot.

1. Don't mess up the environment, as you aren't the only one using it. And why should my children and my childrens' children have to clear up your shit?
2. Take responsibilty for your actions. You did it, you deal with it. Whether that be good or bad. If you have wronged someone, then so be it. Sort it out and make it better.
3. If sometimes your intentions aren't the purest, deal with it. Don't make excuses. Know what you are doing and why you are doing it, and if it all goes horribly wrong, make sure you can deal with the consequences.
4. Listen to what others tell you, but just because someone says it's true, doesn't make it so.

It's all about taking responsibility for yourself. Since you are the only person you can truly be responsible for. We are responsible TO others, but not for. We have a responsibilty to our children to bring them up safe, healthy and sane.

Paganism to me, isn't about rules and restrictions. No thou shalt not, and if you do, you are eternally screwed. There is no Higher Power looking at you, wagging a finger. The PTBs give us the choice to choose. Sometimes I don't think it is the choice that is the important thing, it is the choosing.

A Bad Thing

*Spits*

The BNP now have two MEPs!!!!!!

I am disgusted. I am disgusted at the stupidity and ignorance of the people that voted for them. I am sure that they would not have looked into the BNP's policies or past the shallow rhetoric saying what they think people want to hear.

The irony of it being the anniversary of the D-Day landings this weekend, and our country elects fascists to represent our country in Europe is just sad and horrifying beyond words.

Sometimes I have very little faith in humanity.

*sighs*

When you vote for a political party, do you expect to agree with every single policy that they have, or do you choose the party that is closest to your views?

I have heard from several people that they didn't vote Green because they disagreed with one or two of their policies. Huh? So you agree with every single policy of the party that you voted for? Really? Considering the alternatives that were available?

Realistically, if the Green party ever got in, it would probably drop some of their more contentious views. (Embryonic Stem Cell research, etc.) However, what it might mean is that there would be more discussion about the pros and cons of such research, rather than the current "well, you will do what we think is right!" attitudes which current and previous Governments have had.

Would you consider actually joining the party that shares most of your views, and actively try and work with them at changing policies? Or would that mean actually making an effort?

Why can't we stop being so apathetic about these things and actually do something?

Starting a Group

I am seriously considering trying to set up a group. I know there are groups I could go to the further I go into London, but actually travelling in can be time-consuming and expensive. I also am feeling that there MUST be more likeminded people out there, that aren't either arseholes or flakes.

So what do I have to do? Firstly work out what type of group I want to do? Do I want to set up a Pagan Moot? (A monthly meeting in a pub for socialising/drinking.) A Circle at my home? I honestly don't know. I want to develop friendships with the possibility for working together. Am I looking at a women only group, or a mixed one? A Circle works better with just women, if I am honest, but a Moot works better with men. (Strange how having it in a pub changes the dynamic of a group.)

Then on the other hand, there is a distinct possibility that we will be moving from the area with the next 6 months, so is it worth even trying?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm, just dunno.

VOTE GREEN

I am begging you, from the depths of my soul, VOTE GREEN!!!!!!!!!!

Why? Because they are the only ones with any idea of what problems we will be facing in the future. And they are the only ones with any sensible and practical ideas to solve them. We NEED them in positions of power in Europe. Not the Tories, New Labour, Lib Dems (I am sorry to say), the UKIP, or gods forbid the BNP.


THE GREEN MANIFESTO

READ IT! Even if you have no intention of voting Green, read it so at least you know what you don't like!