Blog Changes and To-Do Lists

A coupla blogs I follow have changed web addresses

Just thought I’d make note so even if you haven’t been following blogs, it’s little chance to signal boost them.

Nature is Sacred can now be found at NaturalPantheist.com– Matt is a naturalistic pantheist member of ADF who follows an Anglo-Saxon hearth culture. If you’re wondering “what’s that mean, and how does that work?” well then, go check out his blog!

Maple Tree Druidry also has moved to its own domain (or should I say her domain?) Carol Whitehead is a professional tarot & tea leaf reader in the London, Ontario, Canada area so if you’re in her neck of the woods, look her up.

As for my own blog-and Real Life… I keep trying to steer myself away from just being the obsessive information collector & hoarder and actually do spiritual practice…even the ADF dedicant path (imagine, me finishing a project!) Well tomorrow I am going up to Onamia, MN to attend ritual with others from my As Yet Unnamed Druid grove, to our friends at Dancing Waters Protogrove, ADF. So there ya go, actual ADF High Day ritual.

Aside from that, I have a bunch of book reviews I need to do for Moon Books, as well as ones I’ve simply read on my own.

Personal care spirituality in practice for Way of the Sacred Fool

I also have promised bloggy goodness to the Bisexual Organizing Project folks and this would be a good time, as this next week..hell I’ll just say month is Bisexual Awareness/Celebrate Bisexuality Day/Week/Month etc.

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Scottish Harvest Customs

While in Ireland the harvest is celebrated at Lunasa, harvest customs come later in Scotland.

Historical Info from Chronicle of Celtic Folk Customs by Brian Day

On the 14th or the 21st- the Autumnal Equinox- Nutting Day is observed- the day “the Devil goes a-nutting” Young people gather nuts, some avoid doing so lest the Devil abduct them! Nuts are associated with fertility so some girls avoid gathering them so as not to get pregnant.  It is also the end of the blackberry picking season- it’s believed that when the archangel Michael kicked the Devil out of heaven, he landed in bramble bush. Mold found on blackberries is his spit.

The main September harvest celebration is on the 28th- Michaelmas Eve- bonfires are lit, roast lamb is eaten. In Scotland Michael is the patron of fishermen and horsemen. Struan Micheil is traditionally made and eaten- a cake made of sheep’s milk, eggs, butter and grain, decorated with a cross. A piece is thrown on the fire to placate the Devil.

the 29th- Michaelmas Day

Irish customs for Michaelmas come from the English- giving geese as gifts, even to the poor, plucking their down for pillows, apple picking, cider-making and hunting season begins and fishing ends.

In Scotland, wild carrots are dug up and given as gifts. Another tradition is to visit the graves of relatives on horseback- this is called circuiting. Horse-racing and other athletic events take place.
Articles

La Fheill Michaeil by Tairis

Celebrating La Fheill Michaeil by Tairis

Associated Deities & Myths

Lugh (equated with St Michael)

Macha- horse-racing association

Rituals

Mid-Autumn Rite by Ozark Pagan Mamma