Orangeblossom Old Ways

07/12/2025

“I always forget how important the empty days are, how important it may be sometimes not to expect to produce anything, even a few lines in a journal.
A day when one has not pushed oneself to the limit seems a damaged day . . .
Not so!
The most valuable thing one can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of a room.”

~ May Sarton

Art: Rachel Grant, “December Window”
Rachel Grant Art

07/12/2025

Birds rule all the cities!

07/12/2025

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We are living through wearisome times friends. Be kind to yourselves...and to others. Put love and joy back into the wintry halls as you deck them this weekend - whether with a small bouquet, or greens and lights. 🍄Sip tea or a cordial, bring out some family recipes and heirlooms, revel in memory and the solstice ahead. Build back some joy to warm us against the season of cold.
May you find a book friend in your lap, your head in the clouds and stardust at your feet. ✨✨ jf✨

✨🌟Artist -Marco Irie

07/12/2025

So grateful to dear Nicky for sending me this beautiful Advent Calender through the post ♡

I love opening the little windows each morning, it reminds me of being a child. We would have an advent calender at home some times with glitter and my brother & I would take turns to open the window. Then we had one at school and each child would in turn open a window. There is something so magical about the way our relationship with time & days seems to change in December, the measuring is different...a glittering count down as the days are darkening and the nights lengthening...the dreaming deepening...

Thankyou my friend

07/12/2025

Me and Virginia Woolf on the train to King's Cross!

Tonight I will have A Room of My Own by the sea in Brighton!

07/12/2025

An early audience with my Grandad before I embark upon a long jouney ♡

07/12/2025

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⛰️🐍 Meretseger: She Who Loves Silence 🐍⛰️

Today I’m honouring Meretseger, the Cobra Goddess who watched over the Theban Necropolis and the Valley of the Kings. Her name means “She Who Loves Silence,” a powerful reminder of the stillness found in sacred places and in our own inner depths.

Meretseger was both protector and purifier, a Goddess who could punish wrongdoing with venom, and offer forgiveness and healing to those who sincerely repented and changed their ways. She wasn’t a distant deity but a living presence in the cliffs and deserts of Western Thebes, shaping the spiritual lives of the workers who carved the royal tombs.

Meretseger was depicted as a coiled snake, a rearing cobra, and sometimes as a woman with the head of a snake. In Ancient Egypt, the visitors to the Valley of the Kings except during funerary rituals were primarily workmen. It was therefore predominantly the men working on the tombs that worshipped Meretseger. The environment in the valley whilst not a good habitat for most life, was perfect for snakes and scorpions. They thrived here but were a threat to the people working on the tombs, and prayers and spells were offered to Meretseger for her protection. Tomb robbers were evident in early years and a powerful Goddess ready to wreak punishment on those who desecrated the most sacred of places, was one to be feared. As a Goddess, she could be ruthless by blinding or poisoning those who committed crimes. During excavations of the area, numerous inscribed stelae / stone columns or slabs were found, dedicated to Meretseger, or asking for her forgiveness for deeds and for successful recovery. Her role therefore became associated with Divine Justice and Retribution, she would be merciful to those who sinned but repented and punish those who did not. She helped to maintain the Cosmic Order of life and death and was a protector to the spiritual not just the living

She was compassionate, she brings the knowledge that silence itself can be a teacher, a mirror, and sometimes, and bring a sense of peace.

Taken from The Serpent’s Whisper: Myths of Power & Transformation ©️Wyn Abbot (link in the comments)

06/12/2025

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GODDESS of the MONTH ~ AN CAILLEACH

For a season, we dwell in the country of the Cailleach. She is “the Hag of Winter,” and the “Beira” or “Queen of Winter.”

With the bitter cold and howling winds she brings, comes the death of many things we have loved.
But do not despair.
Her lesson is worth learning.

The mythology of the Irish, Scottish, and Manx people tell of this creator/destroyer/weather diety: the Divine Hag. The Cailleach is inextricably linked to Brigid, the keeper of the flame of new life, as they dance opposite one another in the eternal circle of ebb and flow. The one has need of the other, just as we need our times of retreat, before rejuvenation occurs.

Cailleach Bheara teaches us to respect the elemental forces. She teaches us to prepare for a time of surrender and endurance.
From her we learn that there can be freedom and peace in surrender, and that death is a temporary thing.

Out of the dark and cold, frozen bones provide the framework to house new life. Transformation and renewal are as inevitable as death.

~ Rebekah Myers
copyright © January 16, 2018 by Rebekah Myers
Sacred Sisters Full Moon Circle

Art: Hester Aspland, “The Cailleach”
Hester Aspland Illustration
www.hesterasplandillustration.co.uk

05/12/2025

“Our Owl is a symbol of the Lunar Feminine, of Wisdom, of intuition and our ability to see in the dark. Her circular vision means we can see completely – in all directions and perspectives – and then tune into our internal gnosis and truth to weigh it all up and decide what is right for us. She is a totem of midwifery and will support us in birthing that which we conceive with the grace and ease of her winged flight. In addition, the Owl helps us to connect to Awen, inspiration, and internal guidance – helping us see beyond illusion, masks, and deceit – and explore magic, change, and transitions with grace and ease. She is the faithful ally of the Queen and supports our self-sovereignty and the opening of SIGHT.”

- Kay Louise Aldred, ‘Mentorship with Goddess: Growing Sacred Womanhood’ - Girl God Books

Art by Tijana Lukovic

04/12/2025

13 years ago on the 4th of December~ Sebastian in what ww used to call his 'Prince' outfit [£1 from Meanwood Community shop] Tonight, yesterday and tomorrow he is playing Macbeth on the stage at York Steiner School!!