Mealtime Blessings

A Simple Thanks

Lord and Lady, watch over us,
and bless us as we eat.
Bless this food, this bounty of earth,
we thank you, so mote it be

A Prayer to the Earth - Mealtime Blessing

Corn and grain, meat and milk,
upon my table before me.
Gifts of life, bringing sustenance and strength,
I am grateful for all I have.

Celebrating Meat

Hail! Hail! The hunt has ended,
and meat is on the table!
We honor the deer* who feeds us tonight,
may his spirit live within us!
*Note - feel free to substitute other appropriate animals here as necessary.

Invitation to the Gods

I set a place at my table for the gods,
and ask them to join me here tonight.
My home is always open to you,
and my heart is open as well.

Offerings

In ancient Rome, it was common to leave a bit of your food on the altar for your household deities. If you would like to do this at your meal, you could use the following prayer:

This meal is the work of many hands,
and I offer you a share.
Holy ones, accept my gift,
and upon my hearth, leave your blessings.

Dance, Lady, Dance

Dance, Lady, dance on the Oak King's tomb,
Where he lies half a year in thy quiet womb

Dance, Lady, dance at the Holly King's birth,
Who has slain his twin for the love of the Earth.

Dance, Lady, dance to the Sun God's power
And his touch of gold on field & flower.

Dance, Lady, dance with thy blade in hand,
That shall summon the Sun to bless thy land

Dance, Lady, dance in the Silver Wheel,
Where the Oak King rests, his wounds to heal

Dance, Lady, dance for the Holly Kings reign,
Till his brother the Oak shall rise again

Dance, Lady, dance in the moonlit sky
To the Threefold Name men know thee by

Dance, Lady, dance on the turning Earth
For the Birth that is Death & the Death that is Birth

Dance, Lady, dance to the Sun on high
For his burning splendour, too, must die

Dance, Lady, dance to the year's long tide,
For through all change must then abide

-Author unknown

Butt Prints In The Sand

Butt Prints In The Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of the Goddess they were,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked Her, "What have we here?
These prints are large and round and neat,
But much too big to be from feet"

"My child," She said in somber tones,
"For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait."

"You would not learn, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know,
So I got tired, I got fed up,
And there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life, there comes a time,
When one must fight, and one must climb,
When one must rise and take a stand,
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

Author -Unknown

Some Days

Some days I wish things cold be different. Today is one of those days. Jason has gone to take a quick nap and my sons are making me crazy. I am now in so much pain from yelling at them and picking them up. I could scream. My side hurts so bad and so do my lady bits. Thankfully, it is nearly time for my hell to be over. Going to wake my husband up in a bit. He has pain meds now, so he can't really complain. I, however, have not been able to convince a doctor that I hurt. Funny, how they all agree that I need surgery, but not that I need pain meds. Yup. Just getting the surgery so the doctors can have practice, I guess. Not because they would be life saving, life changing, and finally rid me of this pain I have had for months now.
Now I am off to wake up my husband so I can lay down for a bit.

Some Of My Favorites!

Nature Creeping In

This is what my husband found in a box of glasses out in one of the sheds. They are just little brown bark scorpions. So no really big deal. They have about the same stinging power of a wasp or a bee. So that means they are a danger to me and my husband. Michael has been wasp stung before and showed no ill effects, but we don't know about little Jonathan yet. He has only ever been bitten by mosquitoes so far.

You can see it better in the top picture, but one of them has little tiny babies all over its back. I guess most animals in the wild kingdom are cute as babies. Because even the babies scorpions are cute. How is that even right? Anyway, I am just about about a creeped out as I get sitting here typing and they are crawling around in a container next to me. I think I am going to get my husband to go down the road to release them. I don't want them in my house sans the container!