Blessings at Beltane

 Beltane blessings to all out there in blogland.  I've been so totally busy this morning that this is my first chance to sit.  It's my cooking weekend.  For those that don't know, I cook every two weeks, freeze, then serve.  I work full-time at a demanding, burnout job, and it makes it so much easier for me not to have to come home and cook every night.  It is so unbelievably hot out there today.  That's the reason why I am still cooking.  When it's cool, I use my oven...and that means cooking 8 meals at once...but it gets too, too warm out there in the summer so everything is basically stove top.  

It's okay, though.  I won't be going out in the backyard until later this evening anyway.  Too many children on each side of me... no privacy for they run to the fence to watch every move you make you step outdoors...and when I am with spending time with nature, I just want to be alone. And then they start with the 'hellos'.  They say 'hello', I say 'hello', they say 'hello' again, and just as the first child finishes, another one starts,  and this can go on for an hour or more, but I tend to get frustrated after the first ten minutes and go back into the house.  

Oh, how I miss my other place...the one with my magic garden.  For some reason, the fences there were about ten feet tall and covered in vines of morning glories...and even though the night has always been my time, there was nothing more beautiful than the early morn in that garden...surrounded by the purple flowers..the greens covered with dew.    Oh, gosh, now I am getting very wistful.  My new backyard...aside from my friend, the tree...seems so stark and bare during the daylight hours, but at night when the shadows take over,  it becomes another world...quiet, peaceful...a haven away from the insanity and busyness of the city.  Last night I closed my eyes and allowed myself to drift...allowed myself to become one with nature to pay homage to Our Great Mother...and before I knew it, it was 2 am.  Where had the time gone?

One of the first things our ancestors did upon rising was to acknowledge Our Mother, expressing their gratitude for the warmth and light, and Her plentiful food and water.  So on this May Day, as we honor the coming of the light, the birth of the Sun, let us make a pledge to begin each day with a grateful acknowledgement to Our Great Mother. 

 OUR MOTHER, THE EARTH

Earth, Holy mother, source of nature,

You feed us while we live, you hold us when we die.

Everything comes from you, everything returns to you.

What else could we call you, but Our Mother?

Even the gods call you that.  Without you, 

There is nothing.  Nothing can thrive, nothing can live.

Without your power, Queen and Goddess, I invoke you:

You are all-powerful and my needs are so small.

Give me what I ask and in exchange, I will give you

My thanks, sincere and from my deepest heart.

--Roman Prayer to the Earth