Summer Garden

I love this time of year when the garden is full and lush and it's always a surprise when something begins to bloom that wasn't blooming the day before. A gardener must keep a constant vigil so as not to miss anything!

I hope you enjoy some pictures of my garden . . .

Moon Garden

After planning, laying out, lifting sod, building an arbor, laying stones, and turning dirt last summer, my moon garden sat dormant for the winter. We giggled all throughout winter because it looked like we had a grave in our backyard. I'm sure the neighbors were beginning to wonder about us!

I've been working hard this week to get the garden ready for it's final staging. I pulled out all the weeds (no small undertaking), turned the soil and leveled it out (no more grave!) and was all set to paint the arbor today, but alas, it's raining. Hopefully the weather will cooperate either later on today or tomorrow so that the painting can commence.

I did spend part of the afternoon yesterday planting some of the new plants for the garden. I bought two different white roses, artemesia, 'Alba' bleeding heart, variegated snake grass, hosta, astilbe, sedum, Goat's Beard, a new variety of tiger lily that is gorgeous (it has a deep burgandy face with white outer petals I couldn't resist), and a climbing hydrangea for the arbor. It's a good start to what I hope will be a lush white and silver 'Moon Garden'.

This week we'll be laying in the pea gravel and I've got my eye on a gorgeous statue of the goddess 'Flora', the patroness of gardener's. The final touch will be a white bench to lay upon and daydream the day away . . .

May ~ Mary's Month

May is traditionally the month set aside to honor the Blessed Mother 'Mary' as May is considered to be within the season of the beginning of new life. In Greek culture May was dedicated to Artemis, the goddess of fecundity. In Roman culture, May was dedicated to Flora, the goddess of bloom and of blossoms. The Romans celebrated ludi florales (floral games) at the end of April, asking the intercession of Flora for all that blooms.

At one time, the custom of having a Mary-month was independent from the month of May as such:

A very old tradition known as Tricesimum (Thirty-Day Devotion to Mary; also called Lady Month) was originally held from August 15th to September 14th. The exact dates or origin of this devotion are unknown, but the custom is still practiced here and there.

Mary Month, as yet unrelated to a specific period, has been known since baroque times (Sources: Johannes Nadasi; Theophilus Marianus, 1664; J. X. Jacolet, Mensis Marianus, 1724). This devotion was comprised of about thirty spiritual exercises in honor of Mary.

Since medieval times, we have had the combination between Mary and the month of May. Among the earliest witnesses are: Alphonsus X, "el sabio," King of Castille, Spain (1221-1284) with his "Cantigas de Santa Maria" ("Ben venna Mayo"). Here and elsewhere, both Mary and the month of May are greeted, welcomed and celebrated on specific days in May. Later, the whole month of May became the month of Mary. On each day of this month, special devotions to Mary were organized. This custom originated in Italy (Ferrara, 1784). It was spread widely during the nineteenth century, a century well-known for its monthly devotions (Heart of Jesus in June; Rosary in October).

Since Mary introduced herself to me several months ago and has since become my Patron Goddess, I have decided to honor her throughout the month of May. I have dedicated an altar to her and will periodically place and change out fresh flowers such as roses, Lily of the Valley and other spring flowering flowers. I have also written a ritual to honor Mary (my first ever and inspired by Mary herself) which I have posted on my 'Sabbats & Esbats Ritual Pages'. Feel free to change the ritual in any way that honors your path. I've also written a 'Rosary' that you can pray when the spirit moves you throughout the month and thought it would be a nice ending to the ritual I've written.

My hope is that you will use these as guides to honor the Goddess as you see her and your relationship with her. Blessings for a Happy May!

Plant in pretty blue pot is 'Lily of the Valley'.

Maple Leaf Roses

The maple tree in front of our house finally decided to drop enough leaves for me to collect up and make maple leaf roses out of. So I gathered up a bunch and brought them in and got to it!

It was a bit frustrating in the beginning, but once I got my technique down I churned out roses like butter.

This one is bound for my Mabon altar.

These are on my altar in the kitchen. They turned out so pretty and I'm happily enjoying the results as I prepare to make dinner!

Here's the link for the directions . . . if you're lucky enough to have maple leaves in your neck of the woods, give them a try, they're well worth the effort . . .