A Wiccan Circle of Friends Contemplations From The Woods October 2001

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Contemplations From The Woods

October 3rd

The most amazing thing happened today. As I sat typing at the computer in our groundfloor home office around mid-day, I suddenly heard a loud noise at the window next to me. There, on the outside of the window, wings extended and flapping against the glass was a speckled,mottled, hawk. She was grasping the window ledge tightly in her huge sharp talons. I rushed to the window and our faces were no more than a mere 7 inches apart. I spoke softly to her through the open window asking her if she was OK and asking her what was up. She hung there, flapping her wings, which stretched out across the whole window, for about 5 minutes. Then she dropped down onto the grass a couple of yards from the window and sat, resting. A squirrel on the base of a nearby tree flicked its tail teasingly and scampered right across the grass in front of her,, and up another tree. I grabbed the phone next to me and called Spell_Weever at work excitedly describing my visitor as I watched her sitting on the grass beneath the window. i turned around for less than 10 seconds to get the digital camera and when I looked back she was gone......like a silent, soft and velvety phantom.

November 2001

September 2001

October 24th

Here in North East Pennsylvania there is a blanket of russet and brown leaves plushly covering the ground throughout the woods. It is as if the forest is preparing for its long winter's nap. I have no urge to remove the leaves from anything other than the pathways and deck, and I rake the soft fluffy multicolred bounty around the base of the shrubs and rose bushes along the garden path to keep them warm. Today was the last of the glorious days of the Indian Summer we have been enjoying here. Tomorrow a cold front will begin moving in and by Friday we are expected to drop a full 30 degrees. There is talk of some flurries this weekend, particularly in the mountains which I can see from the house now that the leaves are dropping. After reveling in 80 degree weather today it is hard to comprehend that we will need gloves and hats and perhaps a cozy fire in the fireplace in just a few days. But the squirrels and chipmunks know the warm days are dwindling and they have picked up their fervent pace of nut gathering. This of course pleases Tabitha no end who watches them from the windows from sun-up till sundown and then crashes, exhausted and sleeps through the night like a tired child.                       While a war rages on in the world and our minds, and the news are filled with terrors and fears, the seasonal changes seem most comforting. It is the same. Life continues. The wheel of the year keeps on turning. I went with this feeling and decided that for me, the antidote to the terrorisim in the skies and in the mail and on our television screens every night was not so much what people are frantically running to the pharmacy for as much as it is in the continuing cycle of life. It is in the change of seasons. It is in hearing all about our Sister Morgan's newborn son who is growing by leaps and bounds. It is in preparing for the coming sabbat of Samhain and celebrating the lives of those who have passed over, and remembering them with honor and love. It is in gathering around the table and talking and laughing and sharing the events of the day. It is in taking a walk with my husband and holding our hands and our breath as 3 bunnies and a young deer break out of the nearby brush and dash across the path before us with white tails, like flags, dissapearing in the woods.                         So here is Dreemy's prescription for the current ailment which threatens our serenity and sense of "all will be well"........each day tell the people whom you love that you love them, (and get in those hugs), find a moment to be aware of the earth and her rythmn and commune with nature, smile at a baby whenever you get the chance. Take note of the good smells, tatses and sounds that come your way. (If none happen along, then create some!) Honor the Esbats and Sabbats, even if it is in the simplest and smallest of ways. Take care of and love yourself by giving yourself what you would give to a child in your care, healthy food, enough sleep, exercise, and of course play time. Connect with the positive people that you know. Show them that you value them, and enjoy their company fully and well. And as always.......                          Blessed Be!