Samhain

above is my Samhain altar in my dining room - photos of my grandmas, a ring that belonged to my nan, my dad's kookaburra rattle, some knuckle bones that were my grandmas and a piece of jet - I will light a black candle at dusk which will burn until dawn ( well, that is the theory!)

I am quite new to this and learning as I go along - with the help of a wonderful friend.... kind like 'witches school' - does that mean I will become a member of the black hat brigade?

Samhain ~ the day when the veil is thinnest between the worlds. I wonder if this is why I have been seeing flits of light lately? a few nights ago, I woke around 2am in the morning and there was a bright light next to my bed, that flashed away when I opened my eyes.... I have also been seeing sparkles on and off for the past few weeks.....

I was sitting here looking at Laura's photo and imagining what it would have been like for her parents living in Cornwall in the 1800's and I went into a kind of meditative state and even heard my great-great grandfather..... strange things happen or else I am losing my mind....

so Samhain down here - not alot happens as we don't have the commercialism of Halloween to deal with.... I gathered some apple leaves that had fallen on the ground and placed them into a terracotta pot - and thought I would have a lovely little bonfire - to keep those wandering spirits away - not a real good idea as it smoked and smoked - with Joe racing out thinking what the hell I had done.... so I will just stick to lighting lots of candles... dinner tonight is whatever I can find really - sausages and the remainder of my zucchinis just picked from my garden.

to all of my friends up in the Northern Hemisphere - I wish a blessed Beltane! xo

come, for a wander, to my sacred space and see what we can find...

I have a sacred space under my ancient pine tree - a place where I believe faeries live, a place where I have an altar to leave little gifts to the fay, a place where I meditate and sometimes talk to the faeries - there is a gate and a seat......
gorgeous sunlight twinkles through the leaves of my persimmon tree -

and then I saw it . . .

and another ~ just before Samhain - I wonder......

So, caution my friend, as you walk and sing
Do not step into a Faerie ring;
Beware Fae food or a Faerie kiss,
O, lest your life as mortal,
..missed.
Written By
Bexboomer

look closely and tell me what you see. . .

and I don't want to hear theories of why the mushrooms grow under pine trees nor do I want explanations of anything you may see in my photos - 'cause ~

I BELIEVE !!!

not much to report from down-under

I really don't have alot to say - can you believe that?

I started a 6 week on-line course this week with Starhawk - called "Earth as Healer" and have been grounding myself outside quite a bit - amazing what you notice when there is a set task....

we have been asked to observe our 'special place' and to wonder - not worry about answers just to wonder....

I wonder why some leaves on my apple tree turn yellow before others.......I wonder what the birds are saying when they burst into 'song'.....I wonder where all the christmas beetles have gone....I wonder why my persimmon tree produces fruit, year after year and the tree next door produces nothing..... I wonder why snail shells turn white after the snail dies.....

the avenue of flowering plum trees that grow down the side of my home are nearly completely bare - it is raining today and you can hear the plants sighing in relief - they know that mother nature won't let them down - she will send rain when her children are thirsty..... I wonder why rain makes a plant perk up so much - we can water all we like but a drop of rain is like magick!

below is a photo of my front garden - taken this morning - the persimmon seems to have decided on a gorgeous gown for this years autumn ball - she has produced alot of fruit - the birds are having a ball with their share - they sing and carry on all day in her branches...

ANZAC Day

above is a pot of Rosemary - for remembrance - this plant was taken from a cutting of a rosemary plant that is growing in Gallipoli - funny how our Anzac day falls just before Samhain, where we remember our deceased loved ones and rosemary is one of the herbs of this sabbat.

They shall grow not old....as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

"LEST WE FORGET"


today our nation pauses to remember this day - April 25th, 1915 - a day when Australian and New Zealand soldiers landed on the beach at Gallipoli.

"On a dark Sunday morning, 25 April, 1915, the soldiers landed in the dark and under heavy fire, climbed steep cliffs covered in prickly scrub and won a foothold on the plateau and ridges. The next eight months saw many feats of courage and bravery on both sides. Apart from the heavy casualties from attack and counter attack, the lines were so close that there was no respite from the heavy bombing, shells and mines. "

" 7 600 Australians and nearly 2 500 New Zealanders were mortally wounded at Gallipoli and 24 000 more were wounded. Fewer than 100 were taken prisoner. However, it was not so much that Gallipoli with all its hardships, heroics and suffering was any worse than the other wars that Australians have since taken part in, it was that this was the first real test of our country as a nation. And we did not fail!!! "

"So every year on April 25, we have a day of remembrance where we can express our gratitude to all those men and women then and since, who helped keep our country free from invasion; to acknowledge our debt to these men and women, their wives and husbands, mothers and children and our obligation to those who gave their lives to protect our way of life. "

this morning we attended our local ANZAC march and bought packets of ANZAC bicuits of the ladies in the war fund.... yummy. My heart swells with pride as I wave and clap at the old men who fought for our country. Whether you believe in war or not, these men are heroes. God bless each and every one of them.

if only

this was sent by one of the many yahoo groups that I am in *

Obligations of the True Path Walkers

To bring back the natural harmony that humans once enjoyed.
To save the planet from present practices of destruction.
To find and re-employ real truth.
To promote true balance between both genders.
To share and be less materialistic.
To become rid of prejudice.
To learn to be related.

To be kind to animals and take no more than we need.
To play with one's children and love each equally and fairly.
To be brave and courageous, enough so,
to take a stand and make a commitment.
To understand what Generations Unborn really means.
To accept the Great Mystery
in order to end foolish argument over religion.

~Author unknown to me~

live Earth - cooling our planet or boosting their egos?

I am a little confused lately about the state of our planet - or more specifically the motives of these 'famous people' who are jumping on the bandwagon so that they can help us all to do our best to cool our planet. People like Madonna, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Sting and many Australian 'famous people' - plus other big ego people ( I bet Bono jumps on this wagon too!) are all staging a world wide concert to encourage us all to plant a tree or build a compost heap or ride a pushbike to work. The brain child of Al Gore. I believe a very good idea in theory. But really who are they doing it for ? My household, according to studies generates approx. 9 tonnes of carbon per year. Research has also shown that the Wembley concert alone will produce approx 3000 tonnes of carbon. HUH ???? - would it not be better for each 'famous person' to plant trees, acres of them?
then there are the statistics of various concerts and their carbon production... we can talk about the carbon gases produced by these 'famous people' when they fly their jets to buy a milkshake in some exotic location. or how Al Gore's home consumed 20 times more energy than the average US home... does Al Gore or Madonna have a compost heap? Do they turn their lights of every Wednesday night for an hour? I think not.

a wonderful idea in theory but you really have to 'walk the walk' not just 'talk the talk'

the nasturtium faery

of course there is a nasturtium faery, silly billy me! there is a faery for every single plant on our gorgeous earth.

The Song of
The Nasturtium Fairy

Nasturtium the jolly,
O ho, O ho!
He holds up his brolly
Just so, just so!
(A shelter from showers,
A shade from the sun;)
'Mid flame-coloured flowers
He grins at the fun.
Up fences he scrambles,
Sing hey, sing hey!
All summer he rambles
So gay, so gay -
Till the night-frost strikes chilly,
And Autumn leaves fall,
And he's gone, willy-nilly,
Umbrella and all.

are there faeries in my garden?

I took a wander around my back garden this morning - picking citrus bugs off my orange & lime trees, looking at the basil which has just about finished for the year and noticing how the garden is truly getting ready for winter - I love this time of year!

the morning is a crisp autumn one - the grass heavy with dew, the choughs having a fine old time in my magnolia, the magpies warbling and little finches in their hundreds twittering away in the ancient apple tree......

*yes, the same apple tree that I 'saved' - 'cept I didn't do a real good job as the borer is still munching away at the heart wood. But the apple tree is holding its own - it still looks healthy and hey! it is over 75 years old so it deserves to have a few barnacles and bumps.

do you think faeries live here?

Joe made me this birdhouse for my 40th birthday - behind is a lemon, just outside my kitchen door - I use old lemonade bottles for fly traps - along with a mixture of vegimite, sugar and water it is supposed to trap fruit fly before it can sting the fruit..

and nasturiums - I love them! the way they self seed everywhere. My grandfather grew these in his garden and would eat the leaves on bread and butter - an acquired taste. I wonder if there are nasturtium faeries?

the autumn ball

the faeries are busy in my garden getting the trees ready for their autumn ball. They have started to dress the trees in the autumn finery - leaves of gold, russet, burgundy and copper. over the weekend, they told me to get off my behind and get on with my job as 'official faery photographer' - they have been doing their work and were a little peeved that I had not being doing mine - they didn't take my search for my cornish roots seriously....

so I went for a wander in Leura and snapped away. . .

above is an avenue of trees - the faeries are having a hard time getting this family to decid just what colour to go with this year. . some are being difficult, they just don't want to shed their comfortable summer clothes..
as you see below, at least these twins have decided to go to the ball in matching burgundy gowns - making my faery friends job alot easier. . .

this gorgeous golden colour seems to be quite popular with many trees this year. . .

and another view of the trees in the autumn ball gowns - the faeries certainly have their job cut out for them this year with the array of colours available!

I have opened a can of worms

yes ! - this family tree search has me like a woman possessed - or is that obsessed?

I think both!

I started with the Tregilgas that lead me to the Curnow family - not happy with knowing that I have real cornish blood flowing through my veins - oh no! I then decided to find out what happened to my ancestors - some seemed to disappear between census years. Of course there is no way of knowing what happened, I guess...

then I decided to start on my Nan's side of the family - big mistake! it takes me right back to Tennessee, Kentucky both in the US and also into Surrey in England.

if you don't hear from me, I am lost somewhere in Cornwall, in the 17th century.........

like a duck to water

sorry if I haven't been to visit over the past few days - I have a life. Yes! I have been riding on the back of the Harley twice this weekend and I tell you, I love, love, love it! like a duckling taking to water. up hills and down dales, hanging on for dear life, sometimes gritting my teeth, but what fun. I tell ya, I am a regular dare devil. Of course, I was well protected.. in my pockets I had rosary beads, crystals, my lucky talisman. I blessed myself before I got on the bike and said a few hail marys when I got scared. I called out to any dead relative I could think of to come and help me be safe. I tell you, that bike was pretty crowded at some stages of our rides. But I lived to tell the tale and I am going again! Plus, each time I go, I get a reward for being brave.

Between bike rides, I have been ancestor hunting again and with the help of super sleuth Daisy Lupin, I have found some more relatives - in Cornwall of course - surname - Curnow....

if I go far enough back, maybe I will find myself in a previous incarnation.....

could this be me?. . .

cornish blood running through my veins

yes! Laura has been found!

thanks to super sleuth DAISY LUPIN... she didn't settle til she found Laura for me - forgoing her housework, sleep & cooking I am sure.

I have been like some demented fool, searching the internet for my cornish roots like they were going to grow out of the computer screen, not sleeping, Joe telling me he is nearly out of socks, Sophie wanting to be fed And shock and horror, not even worrying about blogging. . .hello?. . . I am on a mission here, to find my cornish roots. . .

The name was spelled incorrectly that is why Laura was so hard to track down... but Daisy and her History major did not stop til the job was done... even though Laura was born in East Stonehouse, Devon ( and yes, I was so disappointed when I found this out) - her parents were born in Cornwall - father Francis in St Columb and mother Elizabeth in Perran. Funny thing too, is that Laura had a sister called Louisa, I never knew this til yesterday. & that is my eldest daughters name.

So I am from strong Cornish stock and have real cornish blood flowing through my veins. OMG! I cannot believe it - at last. (I know I sound over top, but I am really excited !)

I will never ever be able to thank Daisy enough! You just don't know how much this means to me. My mum was saying just the other day that she has noticed the older I get the more I am looking like Laura and I am even starting to do things in her ways - so I have the Tregilgas ways for sure... even my garden is looking like hers......I feel like that part of me that was missing is finally coming home. Now all I need is that promised trip to Cornwall and I will be complete.

the picture above was taken in Devon in 1914, just before Laura and her children left to come to Australia. The man with them is her brother Charles.... Laura's husband William had come to Australia with the Royal Navy and loved it so much he wanted his family to grow up here... sadly he died while on active duty ..she was left a widow in a strange land with all these children ..

and yet another belief of mine ~ totem animals

sometimes people think I am weird, yes truly they do! They come to my home and begin to wonder about my sanity. You see, I cover all bases with my spiritual beliefs. I have statues of Mary, Joseph and St Therese scattered about my home. I have crucifixes and rosary beads - bells & tassles. I have altars to various gods scattered about my home.

My main altar is my heart belief - wiccan/pagan.

I have the Goddess Kwan Yin in my bathroom, buddhist prayer flags hanging around my home, I burn incense and on my front door I have oak twigs tied with red ribbon. I grid my home with crystals and I cast spells when I feel the urge. I talk to dead people and sometimes they answer. I believe I am surrounded by fairies, sometimes I can feel their sparkly larkles around me. Sometimes, I even question my own sanity.
until something happens to make me realize that it is not my imagination at all.....

I went to a meditation a few nights ago for a healing of a friend and I 'saw' a wolf and called him in... the next day - the friend who had the healing - pulled the wolf card from her card pack...
when I attended the Doreen Virtue seminar last year - I bought a book by her husband about power animals and it resonated with my soul.....
just last week a friend sent me this link to find your power animal - it is a wonderful tool... for those times when you need a little help & guidance from our animal friends (turn your sound on)
the enchanted forest

staring out at me. . .

next to my computer I have a photo - a tin photo of my great grandma from Cornwall. Laura CURNOW Tregilgas. That is all I know of her... oh I know her children's names and her husband's name but I don't know exactly where in Cornwall that she actually lived - at the moment it is looking like either St. Austell, St.Erth or Redruth - all guesses.... She looks so sad - her husband was chief petty officer in the Royal Navy and they moved to Australia sometime in the early 1900's. He died while on active duty, leaving her in this strange land to bring up her children. She believed in the Fay, I am told. Does she look so sad because she is missing her Cornwall?
The other day, I 'saw' her while meditating - she was walking along a steep path along the edge of the ocean - I am sure she is helping me find her.... after all, her son, my Pa would say to me that I had the 'Tregilgas ways' whatever they are. . .

may you be blessed ~ a challenge

I followed this link from a blog (can't remember where) and found this absolutely divine blessing
MAY YOU BE BLESSED

please watch it right through to the end - it is a kind of a challenge to send light & love to our world. *sigh* IF ONLY

also, please feel free to share the blessing link on your blog...

below is an invitation from the author:
"I also invite you to join me in spirit every day at 12 noon Greenwich Standard Time in a worldwide Circle of Blessing where we can come together, joining hearts, minds and spirits to bless our world while meditating on and envisioning a whole and healed planet where love and peace abide."

of course when the word God is mentioned in the movie, I can feel my hackles rise - that is a throw back from my hell, fire & brimstone upbringing. I am trying so hard to get past that...

Ann - without an 'E'

On the easter weekend, a tradition of mine is to sit and watch Anne of Green Gables, sipping hot chocolate, snuggled under a blanket, enjoying the first really cold day of autumn. This year I wasn't disappointed.

"Marilla, isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"Don't you ever imagine things differently than what they are? Oh, Marilla, how much you miss."

~Anne~


yes, my middle name is Ann - 'without an E' just like Ann from Green Gables. I grew up with the Ann stories - my mum would read me the books when I was a girl and I progressed to reading them myself & I still do....

I relate to Ann in many ways - she is a true kindred spirit...... she craves things just like I do & she is passionate in her ways, just like I am. She wants a bosom buddy, just like I want.

Which goes to show me, that I am fairly normal. If you think of me as Ann*E*, it kind of explains things...


"I've always dreamed of having a "bosom" friend...a true kindred spirit"

"Go away, Marilla, I'm in the depths of despair"

~Anne~

and this:

"It's not what the world holds for you.....but what you bring to it."

a blissful & bright easter

wishing you the brightest of easter days - may the birds sing, may the butterflies burst from their cocoons and may the flowers bloom with joy.

Well, that is if you are in the Northern hemisphere.

If not and you live somewhere down under - I hope your easter day is everything it should be - cool, crisp & snuggly.... may your fires be warm, your leaves be golden, burgundy & bronze and may the laughter of loved ones be around your table -

blessings & bliss to each of you xoxo

I think I must be the only person in the whole wide world who got to sit on the easter bunny's knee. Yes, that is me - about 15mths old, dressed as a boy. Why on earth did my mother do that to me....

today, I hope to be going to the Sacred Lotus then out for coffee. family dinner tonight - lamb roast, vegetables & the chocolate pecan cake....

Easter ? saturday - confused thoughts from my journal

lord, I am confused or at least my soul is.....

just having celebrated Mabon - we are now celebrating easter. to me, it feels ridiculous to be celebrating oestra/easter in autumn

- with baby chickens, eggs, and bunnies that are really springtime things. But that is the way it is and I find if I can blend all of this, without fighting it, I become more settled. Easter is a christian celebration and I guess being bought up a christian, I can still embrace it with my pagan touch. . .same as I have to for Christmas in summer.

If it were just me - I would just go on normally but I have grandchildren and I must have easter eggs for them

. . . so down here in Australia this little witch's wheel of the year is slightly different - Mabon, easter, Samhain......

I struggle with who I am and where I belong.... lately I have been feeling very strong connections to earth, as if I am part of it. Part of this wonderful, vast land, we call Australia.

On my maternal nana's side I am a 4th generation australian but on my Pa's side, I am only 2nd generation - and that is where I feel my soul connection to Cornwall... it is still a part of me, still in my genes...I guess handed down from my great Nan - Laura Tregilgas...so I plod along, this easter Saturday, dazed and confused..going about my daily life.....today we are going to the organic supermarket. I am gradually switching over to totally organic - a hard thing to do but well worth the effort. I need to buy some organic pecans & chocolate - I am making a chocolate pecan crumble cake for tomorrow. Then when we come home, I hope to spend some time in my garden...

(you should be able to print the colouring pages out, so that you can play & colour over easter)

please someone tell me I am going to be ok !

the other day, I believe I had a severe blood rush to the head. either that or I lost so much blood in THE MISHAP that I wasn't thinking straight.

you see, I went in a town parade on the back of Joe's Harley. THEN, I was so excited - I decided that I loved it and we went out yesterday and bought: one helmet, a Harley leather jacket, protective jeans, leather gloves AND a pair of Dr Martins so that I can go on the back of the bike with Joe.

Am I insane? I am scared of motor bikes, scared that I am going to be maimed or injured or worse, left paralysed in some way. if you want to know why I am so scared - you can go here:

my child hood memories of bikes

I am obviously going through some kind of mid-life crisis because, believe me - this IS NOT NORMAL - it is not a normal thing for me to do.
I am 'worried' about changing - I still want to be a peaceful hedgewitch, not some leather wearing biker chick. Joe assures me that being a pillion will not change my personality in any way.

the kids are shaking their heads, wondering about the sanity of their mother - my mum will never know, cause I am not going to tell her, my friends think it is hilarious. Yes, I am the laughing stock of Woodford right now.

if there are any biker chicks out there, please, PLEASE - tell me I am going to be ok. That I am going to be safe....... tomorrow I am off to buy myself a few protective medals, charms, runes, I will ask the angels to sit with my on the back

- anything, anything that will keep me safe.

my last walk before 'scissor day'

before THE MISHAP, I had taken a walk in Leura and snapped some more of the local homes... the air was crisp and I felt so alive. I am sure times like this must do wonderful things to our souls....

the house above was surrounded by wild gardens - I am sure there must be faeries in there! alot of people say that Australia doesn't have faeries - but I am sure, no, make that postive there are faeries here - I am one! I have seen my faery friend lately too.. isn't that just wonderful. They don't look like you imagine ..

the next house below, was just so sweet, most of these homes were built in the early 1900's. we have wide verandahs around many of our homes, to keep the hot Australian sun out of our homes.

I love this house below, sometimes on my way to shopping, I drive past and sigh. the colours, the garden......it is worth around a million dollars....

and isn't the house below so sweet. In the 1900's alot of homes had very ornate fretwork to decorate the outside of the home.... alot of these homes were holiday or weekend 'cottages'. Owned by people in the city of Sydney who would travel to the mountains on the weekends...people still travel here for the weekends, staying in guest houses or bed & breakfasts..... I am LUCKY to live here (no, no - not in the house below - however mine is just as gorgeous... I will take some photos over the weekend)

our spirits

this is what I wrote in my journal yesterday - I am working a collage around it. I am not sure where I found this - it could have been sent in an email to me or I found it on one of the million or so yahoo groups I am in..... it is just perfect, me thinks

There is a free spirit and a true spirit within each of us

Our free spirit wants to kiss the wind whenever it gently touches our lives....

It wants to sail away to some enchanted paradise........

Our true spirit wants to embrace the moon and stars and cherish their magick....

It is the combination of both our free spirit and our true spirit that enables us to discover the mysteries of our soul.....

AUTHOR UNKNOWN

just call me - Edward

yes, I am now known affectionately by my family as Edward Scissorhands... last week I had a slight 'mishap' with a pair of scissors. a very sharp pair of scissors. I received a parcel from Tara in France that had the word 'chocolate' written on the customs form so of course I had to open it. then and there. the parcel had been opened by customs and for some strange reason, they had decided to use tape to seal it back up. no idea why, 'cause they usually send it on not resealed very well. this time they had used a year's supply of tape. and I had to tackle it with one hand as I was on the phone to my sister as I opened the package. multi-tasking I think it is called. so I was cutting away and whoosh, those scissors found their mind of their own and went off on a wild tangent into my arm. I thought - 'gawd that was lucky' - thinking I had missed and then the blood started spurting or gurgling is a better word... so I yelled to my sister on the phone, 'I will call you back, I have slashed my wrist' & jumped up, trying to prevent it from going all over my very expensive axminster carpet and grabbed the white sheet that was covering my lounge, called to my daughter Sophie - who applied pressure on the cut and I collapsed on the floor.

We got me into the car and Sophie drove me to the hospital emergency - with me going into slight shock and muttering stuff like "I am going to die" and told her I was so sorry I was such a strict and terrible mother (shock does strange things to one). She was great, she talked to me while she drove. When we arrived at the hospital - they yelled 'emergency triage' and I was taken immediately in. I looked a little like a mummy wrapped up in the sheet and oh, how glamorous I was. I had the oldest tracksuit pants on as well as one of Joe's thermal singlets and my hair was every witch way... when they took the bandage off, the nurse kind of sniggered as the cut was only about 1/4" long and had clotted so it looked innocent. However they put a pressure bandage on it and sent me to wait for a Dr ~ with all the other sick people - coughing and spluttering THEIR germs all over ME. . . . . . . 4 hours later I was taken into see the Dr whose first question was did I try to commit suicide... puhlease... although one cretin in blogworld did ask me that, via email. IDIOT. The Dr then proceeded to clean the wound, which promptly started spurting. He said 'my, that is deep' - I think you will need a stitch. (scissors went in about 1/2" or so). Injections into wound. OUCH. that is when I started to go cold & clammy & hot and ditzy and told him I was going to faint.. had to lie down and have the stitches inserted - 2 of them.. not many. It was at this moment that Sophie decided that it was all too much and had to sit down as well as she was just about passing out too. what a pair of funnies we were. "oh and when was your last tetnus shot?" I was asked "100 years ago I said" . jab in the arm..... don't get it wet until you get the stitches out in a week. left arm ... easy peasy..... not so.... hard to wash hair. no sewing or gardening. impossible to type on computer. severe withdrawals. typing with one finger...well you get what I am trying to say....

to make matters worse - I developed a chest cold and have been feeling pretty damn sick...let us hope that it is all over now and life in Woodford becomes quiet like it should be....

anyhow - I am back..lots to catch up on and alot of parcels still sitting here to be sent. SORRY to those of you who are expecting something - it will be on its way this week.

and thankyou, THANKYOU, thankyou for all the emails and well wishes...

and thankyou to daisy for keeping you informed xo