be quick!!! it is the end of June ......

being quiet

It may seem that I have been silent the past few days... I have my yearly cancer checkup looming.. this Friday and the usual is happening... I withdraw... oh, I know it is now 7 years on but the silly emotions still rear their ugly head each time a checkup looms.......i have tried to visit blogs but I cannot settle, I try to make up some witty comment, but my mind wanders...... so I am snuggling, creating a little art, doing my daily housework. I had a pedicure today and my toenails painted bright coral........ after my checkup, we are off to the Gypsy caravan for the weekend, so if I don't get by your blog... don't think I have forgotten you cause I haven't ... I will be by next week sometime.

this time last year: 2007

midsummer...no, not here silly... in FaeryLand...

the northern hemisphere is celebrating Midsummer... a time of faeries.. I read somewhere that Summer Solstice is usually June 21/22 and Midsummer is always, always June 24... I don't know how accurate that is but in FaeryLand.. Summer solstice has come and gone and now celebrations are in place for Midsummer..... and how time flies! already June 24th, which means that only 6 more days til the portal to Faeryland closes until December 1st.. when it re-opens to celebrate Midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere... be quick!!
Midsummer in FaeryLand

and of course, as we all know, June 24 is Faery Day...

What can you do to support Fairy Day? First and foremost, take a moment that day to remember the magic you knew as a child. In the midst of your busy schedule, take a good look around you, and see the beauty that lies in even the simple things. Go for a walk outside, smell a flower, hum a tune to yourself or dance under the stars. If you have a special friend who loves fairies, send them a fairy card, or a fairy gift. Have a fairy circle and talk about the history of fairies in ancient cultures. Tell a child a magical fairy tale and watch their eyes light up with pure innocence. Those of us here in charge of the official Fairy Day web site want you to simply remember that even in this mundane world, there is magic all around you.
celebrate Faery day

winter solstice ~ Australian style

today, we celebrated Winter Solstice, at exactly 9.59 am....

last night, I had a traditional Yule dinner with my children and their partners and my grandchildren.. even Harry took part..gurgling happily away in his bouncer as we all ate around the table...

I had the room in darkness with only candles lit.. I had ordered three luminaries from Sr.K..winter solstice - I placed them in front of where I would be sitting and put a tea light into each one... as we all sat around the table, gazing at candles, reflecting on our hopes and wishes for the coming year.. I gave a luminary to each woman... my two daughters and my daughter in law.. and told them to take this light into their home.. to keep the light of Mother Earth alive on their hearths and in their families, for the coming year. the girls were all quite touched and gasped in delight as they realized that the luminaries were theirs to keep..

today, Joe and I went to the Winter Magick Festival that is held every year... this year falling exactly on the Solstice date.. what fun! stalls, buskers, parades..

belly dancers and drummers...

women dressed as trees,

... crisp cold weather.. hot soup...a wonderful day to welcome the return of the sun...(not that I am ready for it, just yet)


I was lucky enough to be able to buy a wall plaque faery called 'Daisy'.. perfect for a remembrance of the last year gone...

and I will leave you with some of the last words that Daisy sent to me:

It is rebirth of the Oak King and the bonfires are lit in fields and trees are sang [wassailed to] and blessed with a wassailing cup. People would make lots of clove spiked oranges and apples and put in them in a basket lined with evergreen boughs and wheat stalks dusted with flour. The fruit represents the sun and the boughs of evergreen symbolic of immortality, and wheat stalks, fertility and harvest and flour triumphing light and life.
Holly, mistletoe and ivy decorated both the insides and outsides of the home and were an invitation to Nature Sprites to join the celebration. One of these sprigs of holly was kept for a full year beside the door to invite good fortune for the home owners.

Unfortunately, for us, the Yule log must be given as a gift or dragged from a forest, wood or field, but never bought. Before setting it alight in the fireplace it should be shaken with flour and doused in cider. A piece of last year's yule log should have been kept to light this year's and a piece of this year's must be kept for next year's. The log is supposed to burn throughout the night then smoulder for 12 days after and then it is ceremonially put out.

FULL MOON dreamboard & dream boat....beautiful, beautiful, beautiful boy....

June full moon in Woodford.... 3am this morning to be precise.... a perfect day to spend some time in a favourite nature spot.... flowering in my garden at the moment is the daphne, the smell of Heaven... I have about 7 plants so my whole yard is perfumed with this most exquiste perfume, then also I have early jonquils - way too early.. I have calendula flowering merrily and small self seeded johnny jump ups coming up in my path.. I have lemons and oranges.... lots of parsley....according to my 'witch school' notes (remember that?)... it is Earth wombat Moon...a quiet time as nature watches and waits as the days lengthen towards Winter Solstice.... I don't have wombats here.. well, not that I know of... but I do have the daphne.. and I think I will call this Full Moon in Woodford 'the Daphne Moon'....
I have been creating a DreamBoard to help manifest the means to purchase the block of land next door....

AND SO IT IS...

I lit a candle in front of my journal and sent my dreams and wishes out to the Goddess of the Full Moon... AND SO IT IS.....

now to my dream boat....

isn't he gorgeous!! 3 months old on Sunday!!

this Sunday he is being baptised... the token baptism to keep the great grandparents happy...

tomorrow, we are celebrating winter solstice... and I hope to take him down under the pine tree, to my sacred space and sit with him.. to introduce him to the faeries.. to Mother earth and ask Her to protect him during his time here, in this life.

Harry is just the most delightful little boy... he is happy, he laughs and he makes us all smile... a true gift from Heaven!

co-incidence?? or syncronicity?

When you're down and troubled
And you need some loving care
And nothing, nothing is going right
Close your eyes and think of me
And soon I will be there
To brighten up even your darkest night

If the sky above you
Grows dark and full of clouds
And that old north wind begins to blow
Keep your head together
And call my name out loud
Soon you'll hear me knocking at your door

Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend
When people can be so cold
They'll hurt you, and desert you
And take your soul if you let them
Oh, but don't you let them

You just call out my name
And you know wherever I am
I'll come running to see you again
Winter, spring, summer or fall
All you have to do is call
And I'll be there
You've got a friend

as I was driving to my Wild Women group yesterday, I had an urge to put a CD on to listen to as I drive.... I usually drive along listening to my own thoughts.. but for some reason I wanted music.. so I chose Carole King - Tapestry... flicking through the songs..and on came 'You've got a friend' ....as I listened to the words, I thought of Daisy and how it could be her singing to me... ..'close your eyes and think of me... and soon, I will be there........' ...
and off I went to art class... came home, did some painting, some washing up and did some 'research' for the Midsummer post on the Faery blog.... I searched Daisy's blog for her words on Midsummer... and as I read, I saw the words (or rather, they jumped out at me : 'As we went in, Carole King was singing I've got a friend, which I had to admit nearly broke me up as it is one of my favourite songs'.......

I must admit... I just about choked when I read that...was it just a co-incidence or synchronicity or was it Daisy telling me she is really there for me... I know what I would like to believe!

you've come a long way baby.... my thoughts on Daisy

one year ago today...... (even though the date was actually June 16th.. today I mark the anniversary as I will never forget THAT Sunday morning......)

a year ago today, I woke to an inbox full of emails and I didn't know why... each one said 'I am so sorry Robyn, my thoughts are with you'... one said 'Robyn,go to Daisy's blog!' and as I read, I felt stunned, had no idea.. until I came to one from Sweet-pea.. telling me that her mum had died during the night.... I just gulped and felt sick, sick to my soul, so I 'raced' over to "cats in the kitchen, flora in the garden' hoping it was not true, but there it was, my dearest friend had left this life. I was stricken with grief, truly. I ran and told Joe and he hugged me while I sobbed. .....

I blogged, then I stopped, then I blogged some more: still Wednesdays child

(from my journal):the day she passed over, a blackbird visited my garden. an english blackbird, not a crow. It sat and looked at me for quite awhile, just looking and turning its head every now and then. It was a standing joke between Daisy and I - these blackbirds are not a native to our country and a family have taken my garden on as their home.. they throw mulch off, left right and centre and I would often complain about them.. Daisy advised to leave them be as they eat snails. I hadn't seen one in my garden for over two months.. they usually disappear at this time of year, but there she was, sitting on a branch near my back door.

a whole year... where has that time gone? Not a day goes by without me thinking of my twin soul and I still feel pangs of missing her, so, so much. Of what would have been when I met her on my trip to Cornwall next year, going to see her much loved Dene Cottage and walking around her village and through the magickal places that she talked about on her blog.... I know she is with me, leading me, guiding me but not being in the flesh... well, it is kind of second best, know what I mean?
I miss organising a time to meditate together, I miss her wisdom and her teachings, I miss her advice and support. I miss our connection with Cornwall, I miss her Daisy ramblings on her blog (I still read it often), I miss her telling of her twinkling lights in her bedroom, of her faery adventures, of her burning incense and snuggling with hot chocolate, of her cooking delights for her children..... I dreadfully miss HER.

And I know this is going to sound quite sad.. but I miss the Sabbat gifts... each Sabbat we would each send to the other a small gift to celebrate... nothing much, just bits n pieces... Daisy always sent me some incense that she ordered specially from the Goddess and the Green Man and other bits of magick appropriate to the sabbat.. I miss that.. I miss gathering bits to send to her, waiting in anticipation for her to open her gift and finding out how she loved it all.. I miss it all dreadfully. Not a day goes by without me thinking of her in some way.
Last year just before she passed, she emailed me and told me that she had sent my Yule gift..

"I am posting your yule bundle to you today, unfortunately, it is not as symbolic of the Winter Solstice as I would have liked, but a nice package anyways. You know what it is like looking for Yule stuff in June. Hope it gets to you in time, and nasty customs don't keep it for a month this time."

and I received it a few days after she died and mine to her arrived after she had passed.

In my package was a string of blue butterflies that I hung above my bed and each morning as i wake up, I see them... and remember Daisy. She also sent me a bundle of fabrics from her collection and I just never knew what to do with them.. so I have decided to make two podlings... one for me and one to give away to someone who knew her through blogging...(see below)

I look back on my emails from the days just after Daisy's death, from all my blogging friends - Ninnie who shared her OK story with me, talking to Gemma on the phone, Denise calling me from the UK and talking to me on yahoo, Colette for her wise words of support, Tinker for her love, Swampy who I didn't know at all, for his kind words, Sheila for her constant emails to make sure I was ok... Kim..Rowan for her emails, Julie....Annie, Krissie & Annie*!*...to Amelia, who doesn't have a blog but took the time to email me ....I can't begin to put everyone down and for everyone mentioned, there are two or three more... all supporting and caring me through what I think of as one of THE worst times of my life and I still feel a well of thanks.... and I say THANKYOU for that. It helped get me through one of the saddest times of my life.

I think of Sweet-Pea and how she is going...of how Dene Cottage is... how the garden is and how her 'other half' is coping.... how her son is going and how her mother is faring..... and I hope that oneday, soon, I will be able to see all of that in person.

I have come a long way, I have grown, stumbled. questioned, complained. Cried and cried some more..... But I have grown. I have come to a good place and I have met many new friends, some of whom I feel a real connection to.. ... but yes, still missing Daisy dreadfully...

so to those who have stuck by me in the past year: a huge thankyou! You are all angels in my life xoxo

** a podling is a Daisy creation... she sent me the first one she ever made. watch my blog for details over the next week... open to those people who knew Daisy... for those of you who didn't I have a little gift-away in her memory !

*Did you know Celts considered daisies to be the spirits of children who died at birth.
*In Christian legend daisies represent the tears of Mary Magdalene; each tear she shed in repentance became a daisy upon touching the earth.



and I still cannot bring myself to delete her from my Yahoo chat list... it will be just all too final

wedding memories.... @ Tinks

I am taking part in Tinks June Honey moon - oh I was going to create all manner of wonderful delights... chiffon wedding dress... a cake to die for and a gorgeous bouquet from my garden... but it didn't happen, I went shopping instead and bought a pair of boots... so it is a vintage wedding memory from me...

my very first wedding... I was two years old and a flower girl for my godmother Auntie Elaine... I have heard that I stole the day. I was the first grandchild of my mums parents (Percival & Jean) and the apple of their eye... and my godmother spoiled me dreadfully. Apparently all I did on the day was sit down and play with my bouquet basket......

I still have the dress...

a little blue number.. it hangs in my hallway.. and you know, when I took a photo of it just then... that perfume I mentioned a few posts ago.. wafter around me again!!
for more wedding delights, visit Tinker - Tinker is a very good friend of mine... I love her lots!! a gorgeous soul who cares for many, many others ~

off to Tinks ----> weddings at Tinks

the Gypsy caravan & Oak

over the weekend, while I was at the Gypsy Caravan.. childhood memories came floating back while I read Women who run with the Wolves.... back to school yard times and a mighty Oak that was my magickal friend...I wrote in my journal: "I remember collecting acorns.. lots of them, gathering them for reasons unknown to my little girl self.... was this a past life memory piece? when I may have collected them for magickal spells and charms? I loved that tree, I can still see it. I know exactly where it stood" . As I sat and wrote in my journal, I travelled back to that time in the playground.. it was like I was there once again.

We had a wonderful time over the weekend, it rained so I didn't get to walk along the beach, but I snuggled under a blanket and read. I listened to the Jabiru's and I found a seat that I can sit on in the early mornings, when the weather is kinder.

above is a photo looking into our bedroom.. still alot to do. I want to paint the walls purple, with dark red trims..It is all coming together nicely, I made some velvet curtains to hang in the bedroom door and I adorned some other curtains with tuille and beads.. I bought myself a gorgeous crystal macrame hanger.. with a huge rose quartz terminal hanging down.. it now hangs in our bedroom.. we went to a scarecrow festival and wandered through market stalls... a wonderfully relaxing weekend. I really love the Gypsy caravan and I just wish i could let you feel what it is like to be there.

I haven't posted Celtic tree Lore in ages.... while reading Daisy's blog the other day, I came across the Oak, which is the tree for the 7th Moon of the Celtic year. Next week, I am making a wand in my Wild Woman Group and am still deciding whether to use Apple or Oak... can a witch have more than one wand?
in Daisy's words:
from the 10th of June we have the 7th Moon of the Celtic Year, the month of the Oak - Duir, (Duir meaning door.)
The Oak has always protected England from time immemorial, it was the sacred tree of the Druids, they had their Oak Groves.
The Oak is one of the three most sacred trees, Oak, Ash and Thorn and is thereby known as King of the Grove. English legend believes that King Arthur's Round Table was made from a massive slab of Oak tree. The oak is allied to the element of Fire and is ruled by the Sun. It has associations with the Oak or Green man who is a potent symbol in English folklore.

The bird connected to this Oak Month is the wren and the stone is moonstone.
The parts of the Oak used are the bark, wood, leaves, and acorns, which I will leave until last, as they are another interesting part of Oaklore. Oak bark tea is very astringent and is thought to be good for sinus infections. Oak can be used in spells of healing and fertilitiy, protection, strength and success. One belief is if you listen to the Oak at the Summer Solstice you can hear what the future holds by listening to the wind rustling through its leaves. Oakwood is a very powerful protection herb and are used as land boundary markers because of this. Also an Oakleaf worn next to your heart is said to protect the wearer from decption and falsehood. Try a handful of Oak leaves in your bath to cleanse you in body and spirit
Acorns, themselves are very useful and powerful small items. Acorns are said to be able to increase fertility, not just of the body but your creative fertility too. Play with a couple in your hand to ease pain or put some in your window or on your windowsill to deflect lightning and protect you from night creatures of evil intent. You can also carry them in your pocket for basically the same reasons, to protect from storms, from getting lost and from those spirits or people intent on ill wishes towards you. Three acorns threaded together can be made into a charm to preserve youthfulness and to help you achieve in life. You must thread a piece of your hair with the three acorns, and bless them every new moon and full moon, for twelve months. Acorns can also be planted in the dark moon days to bring financial rewards. You must harvest the Oak tree by the waning moon. The acorns in daylight and the wood and leaves at night. Don't forget that part of your Summer Solistice fire should be of Oak wood.

and by Glennie Kindred:
It is a very magick think to find a pool of water hidden within the boughs of the tree, and to know that this pure rainwater has been soaking up all the herbal and spiritual properties of the Oak. It is worth returning to the tree with a jar to collect the water in.
For generations upon generations, people have gone to sit beneath the mighty Oak to gain strength and spiritual renewal. The outside world can be forgotten and the inner world can slip back into perspective. The Oak can help you to find new understanding and vision, gained from your experiences. This in turn will bring strength and courage to fact whatever life has to offer you. The Oak tree's mighty presence will help restore faith in ourselves and withi this lies the ability to go ahead and aim for what we most want in life. It is well worth finding the time to go and sit with an Oak tree and to receive the qualities it has to offer us. Remember to thank the tree after each communications, not because the tree needs your thanks but to keep open your channels of love and respect for the tree kingdom and all of nature. This will enhance your ability to receive their qualities on the deepest level. (Originally published at Beltane 1998)
ooh and don't forget to visit the Enchanted Forest.. the Oak has made a visit!

save the faeries home!

next door to my home is a vacant block of land... not very big, just over 1/4 of an acre... it is a wild jumble of plants - grasses, blackberry, wattle trees and old fruit trees from a long ago orchard..... and among the tumble of plants live faeries, gnomes and dryads, I am sure......

I think I see an orb in the middle of the photo, but I am not sure

yesterday, I heard a tap, tap and looking out my window I saw a real estate agent hammering in a sign - FOR SALE.. I am devastated... we can't afford the asking price of $200,000 so all day yesterday I was manifesting a means of buying it... I rubbed my wishing bowl (the one Sr.K sent me) with spikenard oil and put a note in saying that we wish to buy it, I placed a garnet (a stone of Mary Magdalene), a citrine for abundance and a moss agate for the land... and I blew my hardest into that bowl... I called in my ancestors, Mary Magdalene and the faeries... and I am calling in the gnomes.... they are the guardians of the land, so I am sure they will help me somehow..... and I am asking each of you, my friends to be on my team to save this small block of land here in Woodford, for the faeries - just a wish sent out to the moon and stars or sign my petition to the Goddess(let me know if you want to sign it and I will write your name on a piece of paper and drop it into my dreaming bowl) .... I want to own it and keep it just as it is... wild and carefree... not with some monstrosity of a new home built of bricks and aluminium....but a gorgeous wild parcel of land, where faeries and elves can be. Where birds and butterflies can fly and dragonflies can hover....

the past month or so, I have been doing a intuitive art class, where you wack the paint on the canvas and let it speak to you... this is what I did yesterday:.. started off with a blue background, having no idea what I wanted to paint and when the background dried, there was an outline of a mermaid.. (more to do on her of course.. but I just let it come when it is ready!)

we are off to the Gypsy Caravan this weekend, being the Queen's birthday weekend, we get a long weekend with Monday a public holiday... it is raining but I don't mind.. I love walking on the beach in the rain and this time I hope to find something to make my runes from... and maybe a small piece of driftwood to make a sea-side wand from.....

don't forget to visit the Enchanted Forest... time will fly and it will be closed before you blink!

the beginning of winter, the wandering of a mind and Angelica...

John Everett Millais - autumn leaves.

Let's start with Saturday: the gorgeous last day of autumn... crips air, blue, blue sky... a final fling by Mother Earth... I cooked and gardened... in preparation for the morning tea on Sunday... pasta for dinner and an early night.... I woke bright and early to set up, looked out the window and the first thing that escaped my mouth was an expletive... yes, I am sad to say... you see it was raining...misty and raining - Mother Earth welcoming the first day of our winter....... not much I could do, so I grinned and bore it and the day went off well..... after lunch we went for a ride along Cliff drive in Katoomba.. not much of the view could be seen but as I sat on the back of the bike, I inhaled the fresh smell of the wet eucalypts and let the mist soak into my soul, the trees in the mist, hung over the roads which to me looked like forest paths, leading of to who knows where... the mist kept the final destination hidden.... it was eerily familiar.... not the same but similar to something I am sure I have experienced in a past life.... misty, damp and cold..... but glorious..... I actually began to wonder about the rain and how or rather why it happened to rain on the day that I had prayed that it be sunny. Did God not hear me? Or was my prayer not important in the scheme of things? but then I got to thinking that maybe I didn't really believe that anyone 'up there' was listening to my prayers, so in not believing, I kind of negated the prayer anyhow. Or was it me manifesting rain cause in the back of my mind all I could hear was my mother saying 'you mark my words, it will rain... every time our family organises something, it rains, never fails'.... so was it a childhood conditioned thought that manifested this rain? Lord, who knows... it rained.. full stop. But the day was brilliant in other ways!

ANGELICA: (sun, fire) The root carried in a blue cloth bag is a protective talisman. Was considered to be under the guard of angels and a preventive against plague. The whole root in a blue or white cloth bag protects against evil. When desiring nighttime communication with angels, keep angelica, the herb of the angels, on your bed table. Grow in gardens as a protection.
According to one legend, (European-angelica) Angelica was revealed in a dream by an angel to cure the plague (hence the name Angelica or Archangel). All parts of the plant were believed effective against evil spirits and witchcraft. It was held in such esteem that it was called 'The Root of the Holy Ghost.' In America it was used by the Iroquois and other tribes as Witchcraft Medicine, an infusion of smashed roots was used as wash to remove ghosts from the house.

Faeries love Angelica ~ see what is going on in the Enchanted Forest!! --> come visit Faery Land xo

the EncHanTed ForEsT..

I hereby declare that FaeryLand is now opened for the month of June.... in honour of Daisy

and Midsummer in the Northern Hemisphere!

---------> to the portal!!