Fairy Tales Do Come True

I woke this morning at 4:00 a.m. to watch the wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, now Princess Catherine. I was completely enchanted and awed by the ceremony. It was as if all the story books I read as a little girl, became real and I too was present at the ceremony.

My husband questioned how I could be so enthralled in what is clearly a Christian ceremony, steeped in a thousand year lineage. It was easy for me to put aside religious differences and simply bask in the happiness and joy of a royal wedding. As a  romantic medieval enthusiast there were many things that  made my heart cheer:

First as an African American Witch, I was proud to see Black children in the choir and Black people in the crowd, and Black men in the calvary. We are often left out in European history and it was awesome to see us in included in the ceremony and cheering on the celebration.

Then there were the green trees in the Abbey, the pictures of the Virgin Mary, the handfasting during the ceremony, and the old english being spoken.   I knew the Goddess was there even though Her name was never mentioned.  And as was quoted by Selena Fox on Facebook, they are definitely the May Queen and King of Beltane.  The timing couldn't be any more appropriate.  Did they secretly know this?  I wondered how many people were actually saying Pagan prayers as was I during the ceremony.

To add to the magick of the morning, when I did turn and look out my front window, there was the crescent Moon shining brightly in the eastern dawn.  Words fail me to describe the beauty of the moment.

I wish Prince William and Princess Catherine much happiness, love, peace and blessings.  I was a big fan of Princess Diana, and I know she would have been very proud of her sons today.

Blessed Be.

Beltane Cometh!!

Happy Day, Happy May Day, Blessed Beltane! The Green Man cometh and the Goddess prepares to receive his seed!



Ok, so what I am babbling on about? May is coming! In my tradition we celebrate Beltane, May 1st, the day the Green Man gives his seed to the Mother and she in turn births her children. We dance the Maypole and celebrate!

In non-Pagan terms this means the seeds of summer, the forthcoming harvest, have been planted and the Earth has received them. Flowers and fruits will burst forth from the Earth, and we the Earth's children will delight in the abundance and the harvest.
The other day I was speaking with a dear friend, who has been busy fixing up her home and garden. I shared with her that she was nesting, like a pregnant woman, readying for birth. Have you noticed how everyone is cleaning up their yards and getting excited for warmer days and green growing things?! Even without knowing it, folks are following the cycle of Nature. Preparing their homes and yards for the season that is approaching. We're all celebrating Nature!

Blessed Be and Happy Beltane!

Holy Mother of God

I had a tough time yesterday.  I've been having tough times with Christian Holidays as of late, and yesterday was an all time whopper.

I generally consider myself to be an easy going person, respecting others rights to worship and paths to the Divine as I wish them to respect mine.  But Easter really gets me going.  As a devotee of the Goddess, its the one day that brutally reminds me of the misogynist nature of the patriarchal religion of this country and the western world.  It chaps my hide and makes me grit my teeth.  And then I feel guilty and feel as if I'm no better than them for having such feelings.  So I prayed the Serenity prayer.  I thought I need to find a better way to deal with these feelings.  Let me be peaceful and open and try to let go and let live.  No sooner did I pray those words, the tv program "60 Minutes" airs the below episode:

"Mt. Athos A Visit to the Holy Mountain"

I was intrigued.  For the first time ever, the monks at Mt. Athos allowed tv cameras to film their monastery.  I was falling into the serenity of Mt. Athos and the monks commitment to their faith.  I appreciated the rituals, the dedication, the beauty, and how people can still petition the monastery for admittance, and live the life of a devoted monk.  And then a monk uttered these words (paraphrasing) - he was being asked about women...they (the monks) revere the Mother of God, but women are not allowed on the premises, never have been, never will be..they'll bring their kids and families and then it will become a tourist attraction and the silence will be broken.

My mouth literally hung open,  I was appalled.  No wonder they never wanted cameras there!  Seems to me Mt. Athos=misogyny, which I was interested to learn originates from the Greek (!) word misogunia which means to hate women.  Apparently women are good enough to be the Mother of the God but not good enough to set foot on Mt. Athos!

So there was my answer.  I was saddened but clear.  And now I have clear seeing as to why I walk the path of the Goddess, the Holy Mother of God and Her ways, which open my heart, connect me to Nature and lift me to the Divine.

Blessed Be.

Blessed Earth Day

"Blessed Mother, Divine Mother,  
On this day we thank you for the Sun which shines upon us,
The Rain that pours down upon us,
The Night that cloaks us,
The Moon that lights us,
And your body which sustains us.  

I thank you for the sunny days which make me smile and the cloudy days that make me frown.
I thank you for teaching me balance, That day follows night, calm follows storm.
I thank you for your beautiful oceans and all the glorious creatures that live and swim in your waters.
I thank you for all beings, human, winged, four-legged, hoppers, runners, jumpers, and the ones that creep me out!
And most of all, thank you for beautiful butterflies.
Thank you for taking the bodies of those whom I have loved, resting them and returning them to your body, from whence we all come.
Blessed Mother, Divine Mother, Happy Earth Day to You." 

Najah Lightfoot Bagley, Sister, Woman, Priestess

Sunday Attitude

I've got a Sunday attitude and it ain't good right now.  That's cause I'm working on a Sunday and it really annoys me.  I've never liked working on Sundays.  I grew up with Sundays meaning taking it slow, cooking pancakes, reading comics, watching tv.  Now as a grown up I still want to do those things and throw hangin' with my hubby in the mix.  As I write this a guilty voice speaks in my head, reminding me to be grateful that I have a job, especially when so many people are out of work and living in desperate economic times.  Ok, I hear that and I still don't like working on Sundays!

Last night I celebrated the Full Moon with my sisters.  We had a wonderful time.  I love celebrating the Full Moon.  I get all charged up when I'm prepping for Circle.  I love driving to our meeting place seeing the Full Moon in the sky, knowing that in just a little while, I'll be entering into sacred communion with Her.

I recently finished a great book - "High Priestess" by Patricia Crowther.  It's one of the best books I've read on the Craft and the history of the Craft Renaissance.  I really liked how Ms. Crowther was so forthcoming in her book.  I find a lot of books of the Craft to be simplistic and lacking in meaningful detail.  I highly recommend this book for your library.

This morning the Goddess Sarasvati appeared in my cards.  She told me I needed to surround myself with beautiful music and be creative.  Spurned on by a really nice comment on my blog (thank you!!) I put in the headphones and decided to write.  Now I'm glad I did.

I hope wherever you are today, you are having a good Sunday.

Peace and Blessings to you,
Najah

Taking Control of My Blog

I've been dickin' around with my blog for a while.  For a while I was stymied because I felt that if I didn't include pictures with my blog, no one would read it.  Then my friend David gave me permission to write without adding pictures to every entry.  I thought to myself, do I choose books based on the pictures?  I left choosing books for pictures a long time ago.  I hope my blog will still be well recieved with or without pictures.

My next stumbling block has been trying to update my Blogger settings.  UGH!  For months I've been trying to remove blogs I no longer follow from my Reading List.  I don't know about you but when I open Blogger to write, if I see something I don't like, it distracts me from writing.  But today, success!  I was finally able to remove the unwanted blogs.  YAY!

So, I'm back to blogging.  For me, blogging is an extension of journaling, which I have done consistently since I was 8 years old.  Only difference is my journals are private and my blogs are public.  Fortunately for my reading public I hope to have worked out my "stuff" in my journals before I clog up my blog with stuff. 

I want to thank the 8 people who have hung with me on my blog.  I know if you turn the number 8 on it's side, its the sign for infinity.  So here's to infinity and beyond!

Najah