June - Celebrate Our Absent Friends.
June as a rule marks my most
favourite Wiccan festival of them all, Litha, or Summer Solstice to the
layman. I love the fact that in the past,
when I lived down south, it would often be pretty hot on this day, the late
afternoon and evening bringing a balminess which would somehow lend a magical
air to the evening. I wanted to dash
down to Stonehenge and join in the celebrations with complete strangers,
drinking wine around make shift fires and catching the eye of a handsome pagan through
the shudder and shimmer of the
flames. I never did. I sat in my little garden and toasted the sun
and the moon and enjoyed the fact that the day would stretch on and on,
ignoring of course that after this the days would actually get shorter. It also marked the time when the sun moves
into Cancer, which is my star sign, so in many ways this festival has always
felt like mine. My own private party, a
time for making wishes and dreaming big, and hopefully manifesting those dreams
instead of fantasising about adventures, which is what I used to do when I
lived alone.
I started writing this months'
column in April during an incredibly sad period. Our beloved Bob, our ginger and white cat
disappeared during the night and I felt absolutely devastated. This is what I started to write:
'nothing feels like it will ever be the same again. He was always a special cat, when we first
rescued him and his sister from the Cats Protection League we were told that he
had had a seizure when he first came into the home. Of course they put this down to stress and a 'one
off incident' and they could find no
medical evidence of any ongoing problems.
He was such a loving soft cat, you could cradle him in your arms like a
baby, kiss him and he would reach out to touch you with his paw gently. He would 'tread' my hair when I was laying in
bed, and snuggle down into it, using it like a comfort blanket. He was our special needs boy, we used to joke
about it, but I really do believe he was
slightly brain damaged. He had the
gentle innocence of child, no common
sense whatsoever and the only time he would ever show any sort of aggression
was after a seizure when he would sometimes growl and cry if you tried to pick
him up. He just needed to eat and sleep
it off, sometimes taking a day or two to get back to normal. So we realised we had adopted a very special
boy, who needed lots of extra care. The
tears are streaming down my face as I write this as I cannot comprehend that I
will probably not see him again. I feel like
we have let him down terribly. Perhaps I
should have kept him indoors, but this is so difficult when he loved being
outside, he never wandered far, and his sister needed to be outside too. I couldn't have kept him indoors like a caged
bird just for my own selfish needs to know he was safe. During the 18 months that he has lived with
us he's had the best of everything; the best love, toys, food, warmth. We couldn't have loved him or cherished him
more. And the weird thing is I was
reading about Litha and how the Oak and the Holly gods sacrifice themselves to
ensure the safe harvest and that the wheel of life continues and I thought how
ironic that in a way we have had to sacrifice our Bob, I don't know why or what
for, maybe I will never know, but maybe it's also a comfort too'
Thank God our darling boy
returned after 9 days all by himself, a little thin, but otherwise fine. During the time he was missing we had done
absolutely everything to find him, we scoured the streets, we did all kinds of
crazy things to 'scent' the surrounding area so he could find his way home. I had almost given up hope when he returned. I did feel like we had lost our boy forever,
that we had had to sacrifice him. I was
at the point of letting him go when he returned. What is the lesson in this if any? I guess I feel there are several pointers;
never underestimate somebody! We had categorised
him as 'daft' and unable to find his own way home and yet he did! I guess not giving up on something or someone
is important in there too. We were
focussed on finding him, even though hope was dwindling. Yet what stands out to me is the fact that he
was out there somewhere, we didn't know where, we didn't know what road, what
house, what area he was in, but we hoped and prayed he was out there, and he
was. We couldn't see him, or touch him
but he was there. Just because you can't
see someone/something doesn't mean they aren't there. People lose loved ones every day, my belief
is that they aren't gone. Yes they are visually
absent, physically we cannot touch them, but I feel they are somewhere else, their
energy is around us and we should celebrate their mark on the world in a positive way. I was lucky that our Bob returned, but I know
he isn't mine to keep. I cannot hold him
prisoner, I have to give him his freedom and love him enough to let him live
the life he wants to lead. I have to give him 'wings'. Several
friends have lost loved ones recently, ultimately there are no words of comfort
to offer. One tries to write
compassionate words of comfort, offer hugs, extend religious assurances, but all these seem futile
and banal in the wake of their obvious grief.
How does one carry on when your husband or wife or loved one has passed
on, how can life ever have any meaning again?
I really can't answer that,
except to say how I feel which is just because they have 'gone' visually and
physically doesn't mean they aren't there.
You don't have to believe in heaven or hell or god to believe that our
energy remains; our soul is on a journey which, although may be at its end in
this life, cannot be destroyed. The love that those people created, is very
much apparent, in their children and in the footprint of life they left behind. The people they touched throughout their
lives, the memories they were part of will all live on. Let's celebrate our absent friends this
solstice, with the energy of the sun at its highest and the mysterious hidden
world of the moon closest to earth at this time, until we meet again, and you
will, you will.
Practical Magic
This is a very simple instruction
this month. Litha is such a charged
powerful time, raise a glass to the sun and the moon, raise a glass to your
absent friends, what would they say to you now about your life? What should you,/could you be doing
differently? Make some promises to
yourself, do it, just do it. This poem by Philip Larkin sums up to me the love that is left behind after the seemingly finality of death.
An Arundel Tomb by Philip Larkin
Side by side, their faces
blurred,
The earl and countess lie in
stone,
Their proper habits vaguely
shown
As jointed armour, stiffened
pleat,
And that faint hint of the
absurd—
The little dogs under their feet.
Such plainness of the pre-baroque
Hardly involves the eye, until
It meets his left-hand gauntlet,
still
Clasped empty in the other;
and
One sees, with a sharp tender
shock,
His hand withdrawn, holding her hand.
They would not think to lie so
long.
Such faithfulness in effigy
Was just a detail friends would see:
A sculptor’s sweet commissioned
grace
Thrown off in helping to
prolong
The Latin names around the base.
They would not guess how early in
Their supine stationary voyage
The air would change to soundless
damage,
Turn the old tenantry away;
How soon succeeding eyes begin
To look, not read. Rigidly they
Persisted, linked, through lengths and
breadths
Of time. Snow fell, undated. Light
Each summer thronged the glass. A
bright
Litter of birdcalls strewed the same
Bone-riddled ground. And up the
paths
The endless altered people came,
Washing at their identity.
Now, helpless in the hollow of
An unarmorial age, a trough
Of smoke in slow suspended
skeins
Above their scrap of history,
Only an attitude remains:
Time has transfigured them
into
Untruth. The stone fidelity
They hardly meant has come to
be
Their final blazon, and to
prove
Our almost-instinct almost
true:
What will survive of us is love.
Crystal of the Month - Green
Aventurine
Green aventurine is a type of
quartz, it is a stone of abundance and career luck. It encourages prosperity and thus is a good
crystal to take with you on a job interview, or if you are hoping to change
career or move on up in your chosen profession.
It has a gentle energy and is also associated with the heart chakra. I
use this stone in my chakra stone balancing kit, you can use either green or
pink colours for the heart chakra, but I prefer the calming influence of the
green. It Is also supposed to help
relieve migraines and is the birth stone of the sign of Libra.
Angel Card of the Month - Your
Inner Guidance Is Real and Trustworthy
I let my cat Bob choose this card
which made me laugh really as I wondered if it was his little message to me
too! This card is about trusting your instinct and taking action when you are
feeling uncertain or confused with a situation, you may feel like doing
something but be hesitating. Don't
hesitate, just go for it! The card
confirms that is it safe to go forward and make those changes. Trust that you will be guided in making the
right decision, there's no such thing as a wrong decision!
Moody Moon
This month the full moon falls on
June 9th at 14.09 in the sign of Sagittarius.
It's a day for adventures and taking a few risks. Today is a great day to travel or start a
new job or 'adventure'. Fortune favours
the brave, let that be your motto on this month's full moon! The new moon is on 24th June at 03.30 in the
sign of Cancer. Today a house move will be advantageous, or having a baby or
starting a new relationship, all things linked to maternal home loving
Cancer. It's an emotional day but a positive
one for new things starting. Don't think
about those things ending, concentrate on the new beginnings.....
If you look carefully in the
evenings you will see Jupiter in the south, Venus in the east in the morning
and from mid June Saturn can be seen all night long..........
Eat: Broad beans, chicory, crab, French beans, peas,
nectarine, raspberries, watercress
Play: You know the photos you
always keep meaning to put in an album?
Stop procrastinating and get on with it! Enjoy those memories.
Love: the moment. The past has gone, the future is yet to come,
all we have is the present. Grab it, do it find it NOW
