Change is the Prelude to Growth

You can't change the world, but you can change the way you look at it.......

After watching and listening, just sit back and feel the message of this beautiful and insightful clip........ 

Grain Moon ~ Sturgeon Moon

The Full Moon in August is called the Grain Moon, because this would be the month for harvesting the barley and wheat. 

The fishing tribes of North America are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month.

Picture from Photobucket

Other names for this Moon are, the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises it can appear reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon, Lightning Moon, Dog Moon.

Hay Moon ~ Buck Moon

The Full Moon in July is called the Hay Moon or Buck Moon as this is the time for harvesting the hay that will be used for feeding the horses and cattle throught the winter months. It is also when the new antlers of buck deer appear with their fuzzy coating of velvety fur.

July's Moon was also called the Full Thunder Moon, due to the thunderstorms that are frequent during this time.

 

Summer Solstice Cloud Angel

The 21st of June was the Summer Solstice, which marks the longest day of the year and which has been celebrated for millenia. Whilst sitting in our garden and enjoying the long hours of daylight on that day, we happened to look up and noticed this beautiful cloud Angel overhead
Blessed Be.....

Rose Moon ~ Strawberry Moon

The Full Moon in June is called the Rose Moon or Flower Moon in Ancient England, but the name Strawberry Moon was universal to every Algonquin tribe, because of the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries that comes during the month of June.

Blue Medicine Buddha

The Buddha Akshobhya, known as the Medicine Buddha is a very important part of Tibetan Medicine.

Tibetans believe the Medicine Buddha is so powerful, that the mention of his name or seeing an image of him has profound beneficial effects.

Tibetan doctors will start their day by chanting the medicine Buddha prayer or mantra over their medicines or patients.

The Medicine Buddha is acknowledged as an Enlightened being, with unbiased compassion for all living things. He protects against injury and illness and has the power to help eradicate Dis-ease.

He also is seen to represent the healing energy within ourselves and the universe as merging together in unity.

Simply ask the Medicine Buddha to assistance you with healing whenever you need that extra energy.

Namaste.   

Milk Moon ~ Flower Moon

The Full Moon in May is called the Milk Moon, so called because of the abundance of milk after the livestock have given birth to their young. Also called the Full Flower Moon as plants begin to bloom in most areas of the Northern Hemisphere at this time. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon.

Gnomes

May I introduce you to the Gnomes in my new blog entitled: Where Gnomes Go...

I have always had a deep fondness for Gnomes ever since I was a child, when I first encountered them in my Grandmothers garden.

Then quite a few years ago when I first watched 'Amelie' ~ which is now one of my favourite films ~ I thought the idea of a Globe~trotting Gnome, who sent photos of his travels to Amelie's Father ~ was an inspirational idea.

I wanted to adopt the notion and have some Gnomes comes and travel with me ~ or is it, that I am really travelling with them. Sadly, I never got round to doing it ~ and to whom would I share and send our pictures to in any case.
Has it really taken me all this time to realise that a blog of their very own would be the ideal solution.

So here they are, I realise they look similar, so I shall describe who is who by their coloured jackets: Ernest is in blue, Bernard is in Grey and Alan is in orange.

They have all been named after my Father~in~laws, who are sadly no longer with us.

 

I do hope you will follow our new blog and enjoy it as much as we will in writing it. 

Easter Egg Hunting

At the weekend we took our grandaughter who is five, on her first Easter Egg Hunt. You begin by getting your facepainted, a disguise is essential for creeping up on unsuspecting Easter eggs....

Wearing your brand new clothes, you scramble under bushes and shin up some trees,

Find a stinging nettle patch to step into and kick up as much dust as you can. Roll down a few steep inclines and dip the toes of those white canvas shoes into the lake, then kick up some more dust for good measure.

Please do NOT pick the flowers

~ but these are for you Nanny....

No wonder those terrified Eggs are hiding ?

This was so much fun,

can we do it again next year please?

Egg Moon ~ Pink Moon

The Full Moon in April is known as the Egg Moon, so called because it is now that the days grow longer, that the hens begin to lay more eggs. Other birds are also nest building and getting ready for the 'Stork to Arrive'.

The Full Pink Moon in April gets it's name from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring.

Other names for this month’s celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

Super Moon and The Moon Gazing Hare

A 'Super moon' tonight will reach it's closest point to the Earth for almost 20 years.

Clear skies will reveal a 'Super Moon' phenomenon tonight as the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth for almost two decades. The moon will appear bigger and brighter than normal as it reaches the closest point to the Earth since 1992. It is the first time since 19 January 1992 that the moon has come into such close proximity to the Earth. This type of full moon tends to bring a range of higher and lower tides than usual.

My Moon Grazing Hare is getting ready for the Big Close~Up

The myth of the Moon gazing hare reflects ancient beliefs. Pagans believed that seeing a moon gazing hare would bring growth, re-birth, abundance, new beginnings and good fortune. The hare is known to be sacred to the goddess Eostre and eventually became known as the Easter bunny. In some countries, it is customary to eat hot cross buns around the time of Easter and Christmas; the cross on the bun is said to represent the four quarters of the moon. These buns were originally pagan offerings and were often hung from rafters to scare off evil that lurked in houses.

Lenten Moon ~ Worm Moon ~ Crow Moon

The Full Moon in March sees the earth re~awakening, the ground softens and warms and earthworms begin to leave their castings as they process the soil. Other creatures begin their own Spring rites: the cawing of Crows herald ~ the Crow Moon. The Icy crust of snow that has formed from the repeated thawings and freezings ~ the Crust Moon. And the time of tapping the maple trees for their sweet sap ~ the Sap Moon.

The Old English name, was the Lenten Moon and was considered as the last moon of winter.
The name for this moon is taken from this period of time known as Lent.
There are traditionally forty days in Lent, which marks a time of fasting from foods and abstinance from festivities along with other acts of penance. The three traditional practices to be acted upon with zeal during the period of Lent, are Prayer: representing justice towards God ~ Fasting: representing justice towards the self. Almsgiving: representing justice towards those less fortunate.
In modern times, the quitting of a vice, is seen as something that will bring them closer to God, and the time or money that it would have consumed, would be donated to a charitable purpose instead.

The House in the Clouds

The sun was shining and snowdrops were poking their heads through the soil, Spring is surely on it's way. 

We travelled from Aldeburgh to Southwold on the Suffolk coast and passed by The House in the Clouds along the way in Thorpeness.
Now here is a Room with a View........

How do they clean all those windows ?

 

Snow Moon ~ Wolf Moon

The Full Moon in February was know as the Snow Moon to the Algonquins and other First Nation tribes of the North and East of America, since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month. Other tribes also referred to this Moon as the Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.To the Old English it was known as the Wolf Moon. This is likely to be for the very same reasons that the Algonquin Indians had given the moon the same name in January instead. 
Perhaps the large herds of deer that roamed the length of the British Isles sustained the wolves for longer than their North American cousins.

The Old Moon - Wolf Moon

The traditional Old English title for the Full moon in January is The Old Moon. To the Algonquin Indians, this moon is known as The Wolf Moon.

For now would be a dangerous time of year when hunger would drive the wolves out of the forests and into the villages to scavenge for food.

Happy New Year

On the ancient Roman calendar, New Year fell on March 1st where there had been just ten months and March was the first month of the year. The calendar originated from the cycles of the moon, beginning in spring and ending with autumn planting.
The Roman Emperor Julius Caesar officially declared January 1st to be a New Year in 46 B.C. and January was established as the first month of the year on the Roman Julian Calender.
 

 
It was named after the god Janus ( which meant 'Door' in Latin ) he was therefore the guardian of doors and gateways ( the space that leads from one place to another ) and his two faces allowed him to look forward to the future and backward to the past.
The Anglo Saxons had called this 'Wolf Monath' as this was the time of year that wolves would be driven by hunger to enter the villages in search of food.

Pope Gregory XIII abolished the old Julian calendar and introduced the Gregorian calendar which comprised of a leap year every four years to maintain balance between seasons and calendar. Finally, in 1582, the Gregorian calendar was set to celebrate New Year on the first day of January.

On New Years Eve - December 31st - also called Hogmanay in Scotland, celebrations to welcome in the new year begin, with singing and dancing and on the stroke of midnight, people join hands and sing a traditional Scots poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 called  'Auld Lang Syne' which translates as meaning 'Old Long Since', or more generally 'For ( the sake of ) Old Times'.

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and never brought to mind ?

Should old acquaintance be forgot,

and old lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !

and surely I’ll buy mine !

And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have run about the slopes,

and picked the daisies fine ;

But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,

since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We two have paddled in the stream,

from morning sun till dine† ;

But seas between us broad have roared

since auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand my trusty friend !

And give us a hand o’ thine !

And we’ll take a right good-will draught,

for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

The New Year starts with a Pagan tradition called 'First Footing', where a tall dark haired man - preferably a stranger would knock at the door and be the first one to step over the threshold of the house, bringing with him a gift of coal and bread, ensuring that the Luck of the household would continue and that it remained warm and with enough food until the summer arrived. People wished one another 'Lang May Your Lum Reek' ( hope your chimney will smoke for a long time ).

When the visitor left, he took a pan of ashes from the hearth with him, signifying the departure of the Old Year.