Gate of the Castles

The Lords of Outer Space, the Silent Masters, the Hidden Orders! They are the Silent Guardians at the Moat between time and space. These spirits are the Keepers of the gates to the provinces and rulers of the winds there upon. Every Tradition born grows about it an attraction, an attraction to spirits of the like. As the collective mind grows it finds in the outer reaching spaces its allies in work. Thus Guardians are tied, familiar spirits born, and Watchers are given names and shape a face.

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Samhain

Take a moment and rest, it has been a long year. The time has come and
the veil has grown thin. The mist between the worlds permeates the air.

Perhaps you will find yourself sitting beneath a fairy tree drifting
into sleep with dreams of times past, slipping through to the twilight
realms. With the moon shrouded and cloaked in clouds above will you
notice the stag of white? More importantly, will you give chase? Hunt
the deep woods and crooked trail across this land, your inner
spiritual landscape.

When you have found yourself led to a door before a hollowed hill will
you knock? Or continue not realizing the hunt has been won? With the
creek of rusty hinges enter the company of the pale folk, the inner
halls, and the hill of the Sidhe. Here is the isle of the fated past,
the underworld road.

Ride upon the waves of an inner sea as you voyage to lands unseen.
What encounters does your adventure bring? Through storm and turmoil
journey and remember the eye of the storm is the calmest, at least
until the trial has passed for now.

Perchance you may awake from the storm with a maiden beckoning from
ashore. With an approach she may back away into the tangled thicket
showing the way, one way that is. In a clearing you find a cauldron
stewing and bubbling with a brew. All your hopes, dreams, faults, and
actions past simmer here. It is time to stop and knee before the altar
of truth, gaze therein and see what elixir you have made. Thus you may
sip of the knowledge of truth.

Blessed Samhain!

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Mabon II

Deep into the underworld we go, there are seven jewel stars that await us as gateways further into the tomb. Cloaked and ignorant with shadow we begin. With each door we are stripped of more of our mantle until we arrive baring all before the Rose Queen. Thus is how you kneel at the altar of truth in preparation of sacrifice, sacrifice of the shadowed one.

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Twinkle

Crown Jewel
By: ME

Briar- Rose Queen
Dark mistress
Cauldron of Birth
Tomb of death
Sign at the gate
Grind the mill
With a thorn and oath
Brand the Witch Blood
All go round

Mabon

Mabon is fast approaching and with it comes to mind the time of the harvest. It should be noted though that it is the time of the Second Harvest, with first being at Lughnasadh and third at Samhain. The harvest begins at one, through the next, and ending at the last. If you sit and contemplate the food harvested at each point and compare it to the Witches’ Wheel and the Sabbats much will be revealed about the nature of the spiritual self.

Lughnasadh marks the point of harvesting grain for which to make bread (hence the name Loafmas, Loaf-mass, in some traditions), from there we move to things like grapes at Mabon, and finally to the apples harvest at Samhain (and the pig slaughter).

Lets focus on Mabon though. Think about grapes and the point on the Wheel. We have on one hand a food associated with the dead, elder hood, and the underworld along with it’s derivative of wine, and we have on the other hand the giving of thanks as well as the Sun Lords descent into the underworld. I’m not going to delve into what this could mean spiritually to us on our path around the circle but instead leave off here.

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Sign Post

Wake from the Crossroads of the mind and still facing the Dreaming Road with one foot in the Twilyte Realms, a place that is not a place and a time that is not a time, and the other upon the sovereign soil of here.

If you look up and read the sign post there, what will you learn? What do you see written? Perhaps the whispering winds from a hidden province will speak of silent truths.

Why is it when offered a taste of the knowledge, from the tree of life, do we only desire the fruit? What if life offers the secrets from a bite of bark? Do we recognize it for what it is and sample a nibble or are we too focused upon the sweet and juicy prizes in the boughs above?

These are the questions I face for when I woke from my night time travels I found stuck there in my mind a lapwing calling from the maze, "I will show you the way."

Old lessons tell me not to the heed call but to turn and see the truth the other way.

So I continue to muse and reflect upon what I saw on that post when I woke, "No one wants to take a bite of the tree behind you."

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."

Initiation

(The following is an excerpt from my Path of the Garter materials... its not oath bound and I thought I would share.-SM)

Initiation is several things; it is the beginning upon the path into the beyond, it is the act of formally becoming apart of a group, and it is the inner process of understanding the mysteries.

As you read this you have started yourself upon a journey, one that will take you from the point where you are at now into the unknowable. This is a turning point, an initiation of sorts. Sometimes we make the choice for change and sometimes we find ourselves at the doorstep of a new beginning without ever seeking it. Initiation in this manner takes many forms, moving to a new place shifts our lives in a new direction, starting a new school or career, becoming a mother or father, all of these are examples of initiatory beginnings. You have taken the first step along the path.

“The longest journey begins with the first step.” - Traditional proverb

Formally becoming a member of a group or organization in some form is another form of initiation. Some groups or traditions mark this point with a formal ceremony or ritual. This is an integral part of Witchcraft and the Western Mystery tradition as a whole. Initiation traditionally is made after and only with the completion of a year and a day’s time and when the seeker (non-initiate seeking full membership) has a full foundational understanding of the tradition as a whole (requirements for initiation vary from group to group and tradition to tradition). It must be said that initiation is not for everyone and choosing not to undergo this rite does not make your craft any less.

The third form of initiation is that of inner initiation. This is the process of understanding, of personal enlightenment of the mysteries. This is not an initiation that can be given; it can not be planned or timed. This is the “ah ha” moments of life. Sometimes they can be small or life shaking and altering, there can be many or just a few. Initiation into the mysteries is what is said to take place when we understand them on an inner instinctual level, it just happens.

Boidh se!
-Spanish Moss

"Lost in a thicket bare-footed upon a thorned path."