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The Sisterhood of Avalon

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:50:27 GMT

Sisterhood of Avalon 2009 Calendar: Journey to the Motherland
An incredible photographic journey through the mythological landscape of Wales. A publication of the Sisterhood of Avalon, featuring the breathtaking photographs of Robin Wallace. This 12 month calendar features Avalonian Holy Days, Celtic Festivals, Welsh month names, and detailed Moon Phase information. This deluxe edition is larger than the standard calendar we also offer, and is printed with a high quality linen finish. A stunning visual companion for your journey!

Purchase Standard Edition

Purchase Deluxe Edition

A Message From the Council of Nine
With the New Year comes resolutions. We decide to reinvent ourselves by adding something meaningful to our lives, getting rid of something detrimental, or just making sure we appreciate what we have. It is similar to the process of re-birthing ourselves; as the saying goes, "'a new year, a new you." In the Avalonian Cycle, we plant the seeds of change within ourselves and re-birth ourselves as whole, healed, sovereign beings.

When we make our New Year's resolutions, it is at the darkest part of the year - the hour before midnight. Again, there is a parallel with the Avalonian Cycle. At Gwyl Mair, we come to the darkest, deepest part of the yearly cycle. We have confronted our shadow issues, and we take this energy and use it to emerge out into the light.

As you consider your New Year's resolutions, look at them through the lens of Avalonian energy. Do your resolutions help to birth your sovereign self?

The True Gift of Yule
By Lisa R. Papez

While growing up in my parents’ home, I could count on our annual traditions. It would begin with Dad extending long strings of lights all over the living room floor and down the hallways as he tried to find the pesky bulb darkening each strand with not so patient diligence. Mom would break out the giant box of decorations and my sisters and I would spend hours hanging them on the tree until it was just right. We’d look at our creation of multi-colored, twinkling lights and hodge-podge ornaments collected over generations and feel the first magic of the holiday season. But almost as abruptly as it started, the magic would stop and it would become something else. The energy in our home would turn stressful as my Mom, Dad, Sisters, and I would focus on pleasing everyone during a season full of expectation as the whole family scrambled to buy last minute, thoughtless gifts and attend as many gatherings as possible so nobody would feel let down.

As an adult, I found myself blindly followed my parents’ example of obligatory shopping and just as obligatory attendance at holiday gatherings. Just like my parents, I put everything on hold and hustled and bustled and spent my way through the holidays - all in the struggle to prove to those around me how much I cared about them. And even when I first began really delving into my spirituality, discovering the Goddess and celebrating Yule, I just couldn’t break away from a lifetime of consumerist holiday habits disguised as ‘tradition’.

But this year, something changed. To be fair, I didn’t exactly volunteer to step outside my personal Christmas/Yule paradigm. This year found my family with a distinct lack of resources. For the first time in my adult life, I have no means by which to continue my lifelong tradition of consumerist holiday celebrations. I can’t afford to buy gifts for friends or extended family members. I can’t afford to travel to all of those social engagements. I don’t have the resources to plan and cook potluck contributions. My family of four has a very meager budget with which to buy food and gifts for each other, let alone anyone else.

At first I was really uncomfortable, feeling the stress and perceived pressure closing in on me. But then, a couple of weeks ago, my office was having a drive to collect donations from a local food bank that had been recently robbed. I was stressed because my coworkers were contributing around $20 each. I didn’t have $20 in my budget to give, and I was feeling guilty, wondering how to rework my budget to make room. And then I remembered the change purse in my wallet. I counted out all of the change and found $12.52 and donated every last penny. Donating that $12.52 felt better than donating a hundred dollars because instead of handing over money carefully budgeted for, I was giving something up. In the grand scheme of the world, it could hardly be called a sacrifice, and yet the lessons learned were the same.

After that, I opened my eyes and really looked around. The disillusionment shattering all around me was simultaneously unnerving and uplifting. Without the strain of conformism and social obligation, I am suddenly in a position to see the season, to experience it, and to share the joy of the holidays with those I love.

With eyes opened wide, I’m having an amazing time coming up with creative ways to show my loved ones I care. I am still hopeful to have some interesting things under the tree, but with a strict budget, I’ve found myself looking where I might not have before. Instead of trying to save every cent of my budget to get one shiny brand new present for my wife and stepsons, they may find used, but serviceable, gifts of items they will truly enjoy and put to good use. I’m creating handmade gifts with more energy and love contained in them than the most expensive bought gift could ever hold. I’m focusing on spending my energy on the things that matter: my family, and not on the things that don’t: things.

I’ve learned to experience the trust that the people in my life love me and know I love them – not because of gifts we can give each other but because we give each other our friendship and love all year long.

And the most amazing part of this experience is that suddenly everything is a gift. Watching the snow fall outside my office window and an unexpected call from a family member I was unable to visit elicited a greater, more sincere sense of gratitude than a new purse or kitchen appliance ever could.

But my biggest lesson this winter is that the true gift of Yule isn’t a gift at all. The true gift of Yule is gratitude.

Sister Exchange
Toys From Nature
SOA Sister Rebecca offers toys and decor in her shop, Toys From Nature. Inspired by the Waldorf educational philosophy, Rebecca creates using only natural materials (wool, cotton, silk, soy, and other natural fibers). From dolls for children (and those of us who never grew up) to altar and spiritual items, Rebecca's shop captures the whimsy of childhood with a healthy grounding in spirit. Barge readers, enter the code BARGE at checkout to receive a 10% discount. SOA Sisters, enter BARGE plus your SEP number to also enjoy free shipping.

SOA Hearths and Learning Circles
The Sisterhood of Avalon fosters a growing number of Hearths, Novice Hearths and Learning Circles. These groups of sisters gather to celebrate the Divine, to support each other in their growth and transformation, to learn the ways of the Avalonian Tradition, and to serve their greater communities in many ways. If you would like to find out more about joining or starting an SOA Hearth, Novice Hearth or Learning Circle, please contact our Hearth Matron for more information. Most groups sponsor Informational Teas locally to connect with women interested in making the journey to Avalon in safe sister space. Watch this list for periodic announcements for the dates and locations of these Open Teas.

Northern California's Novice Hearth, Aelwyd yr Arfordir Gorllewin (Western Shore Hearth) welcomes Sisters and other interested women to join us at a labyrinth walk on Sunday, January 18. We will meet and walk an indoor labyrinth then head out to a nearby restaurant or coffee shop for food and chatting. For details and to join us, please contact Karen at oceanpine9@yahoo.com.

Cainc Arian would like to welcome its newest learning circle member, Jen, to the group! Cainc Arian Novice Hearth is located in Cincinnati, OH. We meet once a week for hearth meetings and once a month for full moon ritual. Cainc Arian is a hearth committed to the Sacred Center of Avalon. Our meetings are focused on working with the tools of our path. We gather for community and pathwork. If you live in the Cincinnati area and are interested in joining our learning circle, please do not hesitate to email our Hearth Mother, Kim at avalonwomon@hotmail.com.

better late than never......

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 23:43:09 GMT

Got an email from Bridget last week and thought you'd enjoy her story of
the Holly King and the Winter Solstice... **

Snowflakes large enough for fairies to ride float leisurely through the
air to rest on bare alder branches, fir boughs, and of course my head.
Snow is unusual enough here on the Oregon Coast that in my excitement I
rushed out the door without regard to hat or gloves, only hurriedly
donning a jacket under which to shelter the camera. The deer have
already come down the path. There are three sets of tracks so it must
have been the doe and her two young ones, who will come to the door
looking for their daily apple treats soon.**

The deer will have to wait; I'm on a quest to catch the Holly King, God
of the Waning Year, in a regal white robe. The end of his reign nears;
at Yule, the Winter Solstice, his brother the Oak King, the Sun King,
God of the waxing year, will be born and the Holly King's rule
overthrown. Rebirth, growth, hope, new beginnings are poised to arrive
with the Turning of the Year, but I've barely settled into the rest,
inner reflection, and learning the Holly King's rule brings. I'm not
sure I'm ready to let him go; at least I want to capture his image.**

/The holly and the ivy
When they are both full grown
Of all the trees that are in the wood
The holly bears the crown./**

A song we're familiar with, but this adaptation of the chorus perhaps not:**

/Oh, the rising of the sun
And the running of the deer
The shining of the winter stars
As the longer days draw near./**

The Holly King has been leading us to this point since the Summer
Solstice, when he began stealing a little more light from each day. Now
the days have shriveled to a bare flicker. The sun sets in the middle of
the afternoon and frozen nights are endless. Yes, this is an opportunity
for quiet, inner reflection but it feels more as though we've been left
huddling in the dark with the outlines of skeleton trees, no flowers,
and only the heartiest of birds darting thankfully to the feeders. Has
the sun abandoned us to the night?**

Welcome to the Winter Solstice, where the dark triumphs -- but only for
a moment. This is a turning point; the Holly King's reign will end, the
days will grow longer again, as the Oak King, who brings the light, is
quietly born from the womb of the dark night. He's only a small spark,
but we have known in our bones since always that light, no matter how
tiny, means life.**

And so we have magical tales of shining stars, of bright angels, of the
birth of hope and new beginnings to sustain us through the fierce storms
of January, yet to come. The fires we light on the hilltops, the Yule
logs set ablaze in our homes are more than a ritual of ignorant people
to appease the gods and bring back the sun. We string lights on our
homes, our mantles, and the tree in our living room as a recognition of
fire inside, the light in our hearts and as a statement of survival and
the ultimate hope -- that I have inside of me the fire and the light to
continue life. That my own internal light may call forth the light of
the universe to bless my life, my family, my people.**

In lighting the fires, in stringing the lights, we do more than stave
off the darkness, even more than honor the sun. We also stand with
fierce courage to say to the darkness, "You may come this far but no
further!" We have given the darkness its due, we've watched it leach the
light from our lives for as long as we had to; now the long night is
over, we can tentatively bring our own lights back from hiding, and let
the new days begin.**

This Turning of the Year, the returning of the light, this most hopeful
of all days, has been celebrated across cultures and millennia so,
however you choose to participate, you will be part of an ancient
tapestry. Whether you float old ideas and sorrows out to sea on /paper
mache/ boats with candles, make a yule wreath to honor the sacred circle
of life, death and rebirth, find a Yule log and burn it in your
fireplace, or join the Fairies in ringing bells on Solstice morning to
welcome back the sun, remember that this is a festival of inner rebirth.
No matter how dark it seems, how completely dead the world appears,
nature -- including the holly and the ivy and the oak -- teaches us that
there is always rebirth.**

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*
*Authors Website: www.mikemalloy.com

Authors Bio: Mike Malloy is a former writer and producer for CNN
(1984-87) and CNN-International (2000). His professional experience
includes newspaper columnist and editor, writer, rock concert producer
and actor. He is the only radio talk show host in America to have
received the A.I.R (Achievement in Radio) Award in both Chicago and New
York City, the number three and number one radio markets in the country.
His radio experience includes the 50,000 watt blow-torches in both the
South and the Midwest, respectively WSB-AM in Atlanta and WLS-AM in
Chicago, and as one of the original hosts on Air America - a
two-year-long association that ended in a massive train wreck. Mike's
nationally-syndicated program can now be heard weeknights on affiliates
of the Nova M Network and on XM Satellite and Sirius Satellite Radio as
well as on live Internet streaming.

Blessed Beltaine, Happy May Day, Joyous Spring!

Thu, 01 May 2008 22:16:49 GMT

Have you ever stood in the April wood and called the new year in?
While the phantoms of three thousand years fly as the dead leaves spin?
There's a snap in the grass behind your feet and a tap upon your shoulder.
And the thin wind crawls along your neck it's just the old gods getting older.
And the kestral drops like a fall of shot and the red cloud hanging high
come a Beltane.
Have you ever loved a lover of the old elastic truth?
And doted on the daughter in the ministry of youth?
Thrust your head between the breasts of the fertile innocent.
And taken up the cause of love, for the sake of argument.
Or while the kisses drop like a fall of shot from soft lips in the rain
come a Beltane.
Happy old new year to you and yours.
The sun's up for one more day, to be sure.
Play it out gladly, for your card's marked again.

Have you walked around your parks and towns so knife-edged orderly?
While the fires are burned on the hills upturned in far-off wild country.
And felt the chill on your window-sill as the green man comes around.
With his walking cane of sweet hazel brings it crashing down.
Sends your knuckles white as the thin stick bites. Well, it's just your groaning pains.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.
Come a Beltane. Come a Beltane.

Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:22:15 GMT

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