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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BEST WITCHES THIS SAMHAIN!!!!

FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS HAVE A FUN AND BLESSED SAMHAIN/HALLOWEEN/ALL HALLOWS EVE & AN AWESOME FULL MOON!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE AND LIGHT.........


Sunday, October 21, 2012

Costume Shopping

So Friday night was hours filled with costume shopping and a bunch of shenanigans between the four of us. LOL....the fun happenings of a deranged family, gotta love it.

Wishing everyone a Happy Pre Halloween!!!!!

My hubby and our youngest daughter Lyric.

Myself and my oldest daughter Harmony.

Me and my girls running amok in the store, lol. Good times....

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Halloween Fever

Yup this household including the pets are getting anxious for Halloween/Samhain holiday!

Blessed Be my friends!!!!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Persephone

So Octobers Goddess to study is Persephone. When I first pulled this card for this months Goddess I looked at it and thought to myself "Oh I know all about her" but still I carried on my studies of the different stories and beliefs of Persephone. All are basically the same but different names and locations for her and the story etc........

But what got me was the day I pulled her I sat in front of my laptop thinking I wanted to blog about certain Samhain/Halloween traditions I do. So I wanted to blog about what I do with the pomegranate. Then after I posted the blog I realized that pomegranate was a part of Persephone's story on why she has to stay in the underworld. So I just thought, "huh cool".

Next my hubby walks in the house from getting groceries and he turns to me and says " I got you some pomegranates. " And now I think whoa weird! Then I log into my Facebook and one of the pages I follow has the story on pomegranates posted along with three recipes for and how to use pomegranates in daily meals. So what are the odds? What does it mean?

So any who back to the Goddess of October study is Persephone. Card pulled from Goddess Inspiration Oracle Guide by Kris Waldherr.

PERSEPHONE-The Maiden/The Seasons, Sexuality, Innocence
Find ways to use your innocence as a strength.

Persephone, the treasured daughter of the harvest goddess Demeter, was honored by the ancient Greeks as the queen of the underworld. She is also acknowledged as the kore or maiden aspect of the triple goddess.

Persephone's transitional journey from maiden to queen of the underworld was instigated when Pluto, god of death, kidnapped her. The girl's heart was unmoved by the god's declarations of devotion. Instead, she wept for her mother and refused to eat. Finally, after some time had passed, Persephone tasted six seeds of the pomegranate  This act defined her sexuality and of Pluto as her husband. It also ensured her separation from her mother, Demeter, for a month for each seed. This myth was used by the ancient Greeks to explain the creation of spring and winter.

Well that is the story from the oracle deck. If you know of anything different or the symbolism of pomegranates popping up in my daily life please let me know. Hope all of you enjoyed this. Love and Light....





Thursday, October 4, 2012

Pomegranate


I found this article online and had no idea of the different folklore that accompanied the fruit. My grandmother just always told me that on Halloween to slice one in fours and put them in the 4 corners outside your home. That way the spirits who walked the earth that night who are no invited into your home can eat and keep going without stopping to haunt you. She was a very superstitious grandma but I still do as she did to this day. Here's the link but the article is below. Enjoy!!!


Pomegranate

Ancient red fruit, with many seeds that symbolize fertility.

The Pomegranate was often used as a herbal remedy to lengthen life and restore vigor, these qualities often made it a symbolic link between the living and the dead.

To the Romans, the pomegranate signified marriage
, and brides decked themselves in pomegranate wreaths.

Pomegranate seeds appear in the famous Greek myth of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter, Persephone...

"One day, Persephone was picking flowers in a field, when Hades, the King of the Underworld, seized her and carried her to his dark underworld to be his wife. Grief-stricken, her mother, Demeter, killed every living plant on earth and refused to let new crops grow. To prevent man-kind from starving, Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone. However, before she was released, Hades tricked her into eating seven pomegranate seeds, "The Fruit of the Underworld", this condemned her to life in the underworld for four months out of every year. For those months (winter), the world is plunged into a dark cold emptiness, but when Persephone returns to her mother each year, the earth again begets flowers, fruit, and grains."

"A single fruit grew on that tree, a bright pomegranate fruit. Persephone stood up in the chariot and plucked the fruit from the tree. Then did "he" prevail upon her to divide the fruit, and, having divided it, Persephone ate seven of the pomegranate seeds." - The Golden Fleece by Padraic Colum (1881-1972)





In Greek myth, Orion's wife was very beautiful, even rivaling the beauty of Zeus's wife, Hera. For her daring to compete with Hera, her children were killed and she was persuaded to believe herself the culprit. In agony, she threw herself from a cliff. The location of her blood was where the first pomegranate tree grew.

In the modern-day traditions of many Greeks, it is customary to adorn the holiday table with pomegranates. The Greeks consider the pomegranate to be a symbol of abundance; a fruit that spills over in plenitude and good luck. They are set out in honor of the fertile land and its bounty. Pomegranates also make an appearance during weddings, funerals, and New Year celebrations.

Pomegranates in China are associated with fertility. One of these fruits, shown half-opened, is often a wedding gift, it means a hundred seeds, or more completely, a hundred sons. The word for seed and sons in Chinese is "zi", it is also the word for "sons."

Religious Symbolism
To the early Jews, pomegranate seeds were an affirmation of their faith. Each pomegranate was believed to contain exactly 613 seeds, a number that corresponds with the number of commandments in the Torah. This belief was once so strong that the Old Testament calls for the pomegranate's image to be woven into priestly robes.

The pomegranate may also be the original fruit from the Garden of Eden, making it the representation of all that is forbidden. One taste of its ripe seeds and all knowledge of death, sex, and sin are suddenly clear. However, this didn't stop early Christians from idolizing the fruit.

Christian art, often depicts the Virgin Mary with a pomegranate, either in her hand, or nearby. This was to symbolized the Virgin Mary's power over life and death, as well as the seed that bore the Son of God.

Ancient Arab women used pomegranate seeds to predict their own fertility. The pomegranate was dropped on the ground, in the center of a circle. When it broke open, the number of seeds that landed outside the circle, was the number of children she would have.

Pomegranates are a Chinese Sign for Fertility

Makes a Great Wedding Gift!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Albuquerque Pagan Pride Day!!

September 30th was our annual Pagan Pride Day. I went late and left early cause I had a sick kiddo at home and didn't want to leave her alone that long with grandma, especially since she was starting to feel under the weather as well. But we had a great time and it has gotten so huge. I remember the very first one. It took up one corner of the park. No stage, kids corner, altar set up in the middle and maybe like 6-7 vendors. Now there were two stages one at each end of the park, took up the entire space of the park, nurses station, bathrooms, kids corner like always, petting zoo, and like 20 vendors. And food too!!!!! It's so neat to see how it's grown in the last 5 years. Love and Light to all my tree loving friends out there.......................

Me and my girls at PPD!

One of the many belly dancers with her partner. The big snake, lol!!!!

This guy was just chilling with his owl in the middle of everything.