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"holda, die gütige beschüzerin (holda, the good protectress)" by friedrich wilhelm heine, 1882.

happy hexennacht/walpurgisnacht! today is the traditional "witches' sabbath," and as a devotee of frau perchta, the witch-mother of the alps, it's a particularly special holiday to me.

frau perchta is a triple goddess. as perchta, the bright lady, she is the leader of the wild hunt and the mistress of the beasts, known at once by her swan's foot. as holda/holle, she is the good "fairy godmother" of the brothers grimm, who brings snow to the mountains when she shakes out her feather bed, and rewards industrious young ladies with gold (and douses their wicked stepsisters in tar). and as the spillalutsche, she punishes those who failed to do their share for the community and the household during the year by slitting open their bellies and stuffing them with straw.

like her norse relatives, the norns, frau perchta has been associated with the transmutative arts of spinning and weaving from her very earliest attestations. i turn to her when i feel that my wyrd - my web of fate - has become hopelessly tangled. she has helped me grow more and more confident in my own power as a witch, secure in the knowledge that i am not a mere victim of wyrd, but an active participant in weaving something beautiful from it.

i wish all who celebrate today a very joyful witches' night! whoever our deities or witch-parents may be, may we honor and remember our own power always, as much as we do theirs.

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enchantedliving

Thoughts on Connecting

BY WENDY FROUD

In my rather long acquaintance with the world of Faerie, there are a few things that have helped me stay connected to that world. I believe that in these strange times of feeling and indeed being disconnected from our normal lives – isolated from our friends and family and wondering where the next toilet roll may come from, it’s important to remember that we can still connect with Faerie – and by doing so, can stay connected to our own world as well.

The most important thing the faeries have taught me is to pay attention.

When Brian, Toby and I teach workshops, the one thing we always do is start with a guided meditation; a journey into the otherworld and a journey into our own interior creative space.

These journeys are constructed to use all of the senses – sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. They pose these questions: what can you see? what does it look like? How does it feel to touch it? What can you hear? What can you taste? What can you smell? And probably most importantly, how do you feel while you are experiencing these things? Using all of your senses this way is “paying attention,” and that is what the faeries ask of us.

This technique works equally well in our outer, every day world. Paying attention – REALLY paying attention is something most of us fail to do most of the time. And that’s because we very often don’t stop to truly experience the ordinary things we do automatically.

But – if we slow down – and now is the perfect time to try doing that – we can begin to see the magic in everything. Because it IS there.

Read the full article here!