by: Rick Johnson 
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
RikJohnson@juno.com
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Spring is Here.
We, as Witches tend to accept this as a part of nature but do we really think about it? Today as I write this, Shea reports 9” of snow in Minnesota. Here in Tucson I was in the yard with a weed-eater wearing shorts as I lowered the level of the weeds in my yard. Most of these were mustard with some sage, dandelion and a few others. As I was doing this, I was wondering if there were enough dandelions to brew wine or if I could get some mustard honey for mead. Such were the thoughts that meandered hither and yon.
Just six weeks ago was Imbolc, a Celtic word that means In the Belly and refers to nature as being ‘in the belly of the Earth’. I recall that driving home from work that day planning that evening’s lecture to the proto-coven that I didn’t bother to turn on my headlights. There was enough light to see for the Sun was still above the horizon… barely… but He was there. And that morning I didn’t use headlights either!
Only a few days before I was leaving for work and returning from work in the dark yet, here was light! Oh yes, it was still dreadfully cold as shown by the comments of my students when I tried to get them to go outside and see the plum tree buds, “Are you crazy, it’s freezing and dark out there.” For my plum tree had buds on the branches. Branches that I had feared had been killed by the frost. Yet, here they were, green and tiny and full of the promise of life.
So too was my world. Cold, freezing and generating a $185 gas bill for heating yet, the simple act of light on the way home gave me hope that Winter was almost over and that Spring was around the bend.
And now those tiny buds had burst open, revealing leaves and flowers that spoke more than all the books I could read. Nature was no longer ‘in the belly’ of the Earth, She had burst out clothed in greens and pinks and whites and reds and blues and….
So too had I burst out. Instead of hiding within the ‘belly’ of my living room reading or watching movies, I had burst out, weeded my yard, planned a group camp-out up north for the annual Verde River Kayak Race. Even Shea had made travel plans to leave the icy snows of Minnesota for the warmth of Arizona. She too, was bursting out of her buds.
And isn’t that how we should celebrate Spring? Not with empty rituals that we read verbatum from the Book of Shadows in fear that we may forget a single word as we recite the litany from the warmth of your living rooms but by living the Craft! Yes, the Sabbats are important! But if we don’t apply them to life, recognize that we, as Witches, LIVE in nature, even in the cities, then we have failed in our duty to the Gods.
So, dress in your finery! Leave the comfort of your own buds, fuck yourselves silly and dance, play, sing, smell the flowers, kayak, hike, dowhatever it is that makes you burst from your own bud and become as the flowers on my plum tree.
And perform the Sabbat, not as a rote task but in joyous love and lust for Nature, Life and the Gods Themselves for we are here to enjoy life and this time is when we can do so best!
To contact me or to request topics to be covered, send to RikJohnson@juno.com
by: Rick Johnson
PO Box 40451
Tucson, Az.
85717
Return to the Home Page.
Return to the Theology page.
