The Mystery of the Garden by Barbara Carvallo

The gardener proposes and the Goddess disposes, the Witches say. Only understanding this can unlock the spiritual mysteries of the garden.

Wildflowers by Barbara Carvallo

The Goddess gives us many blessings.  The wildflowers and the bumble bee are two of the sweetest.  Enjoy.

The Wild Rose by Barbara Carvallo

People often ask me about the use and care of the wild or rambling rose.  I have photographed them in their natural habitat to illustrate their attributes.  They are small of thorn, bloom and leaf, running from pink to pale pink to white and often tangled bramble-like.  They are not climbers and don’t grow very tall, preferring instead to spread.

In the high country of the Rocky Mountains they swell into the shade of great trees or in the sunlight along trails and walkways.  They bloom once a season, leaving behind luscious hips to turn red or red-brown in the fall and winter.  Their scent is subtle but carries well on mountain breezes. As Shakespeare said, “The rose looks fair, but fairer we it deem for that sweet odour which doth in it live.” 

In my estimation the wild rambling rose is not a garden rose.  Popping up where ever it pleases along its extensive root, this rose is very difficult to contain. It is best left to the wild places its blossom grace so beautifully in spring. 

Colorado Shakespeare Gardens, Tea 2018 by Barbara Carvallo

Colorado Shakespeare Gardens

RESURRECTION IN THE RABBIT WHOLE BY PENO HARDESTY

i shared a dinner
i was a stranger at the table
we dined on bread and water
not one word was spoken
life stories were told by scars and baldness---missing limbs and tears
music played

songs from the beating heart of truth

i was a stranger at the table
resurrected from the tomb of life

come
there is a song for you
there is a place for you also

in the beating heart of truth

we are

blessings

Spring

As the tiny crocus opens to the sun, so the womb of Goddess opens to send new life into the world.  This is spring the time of rebirth, of new beginnings and the surprisingly novel impression – no matter how old one is – of resonance with that part of our heart that is always in love and the renewal of nature. Soon the parade of flowers from spring to summer to fall will begin, set to the music of bird song and billowing breeze. Three seasons will flow one into the other in a stream of changing colors and sweet perfume.  Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds will come to pollinate in their gentle and gracious way, sharing from plant to plant the pollen that guarantees a bountiful and beautiful presentation of Earth’s gifts.

Right now as winter has ended and spring begun the world is so cold, unforgiving, brutal and dangerous. It is all so ugly that I sometimes wonder if there is any point to living in this beastly nightmare.  However, such thoughts are a betrayal of Goddess, of Earth, of me. Outside in the afternoon, washed clean by a spring snow, I seem to hear the Fae saying that it is all a matter of balance, and balance can be altered. That is the spring crop we must sow for harvest in fall – a new balance.  Blessed be.

Praise the Lord ... When it is Convenient

The Religious Right's Pro-life-Brigade is on the streets teaching us all moral principles. Of course, the serial adulterer, sexual assaulter,  lair, bigot, white supremacists supporter they helped put in the White House doesn't bother them at all. It's about moral authority - forfeited in 2016. Piety begins at home.

I have no objection to people who hold Pro-life views conscientiously. One of my dearest and most beloved friends is Pro-life. What I object to is hypocrisy. What I object to is the idea that the theory of life that is held by one faith is incumbent upon those who don't follow that faith. To wit: as a Pagan woman, I do not believe that life begins at conception.  According to my religious world view the soul or spirit chooses its incarnation before birth, selecting and entering the vehicle of that incarnation at the time of birth. However, my religious views do not hold parity with the views of the people on the streets. Pagans are not to enjoy the same religious liberty as the "Christians" roaming the byways of our nation's capitol today.

I make no apology for the anger I feel this morning. It was just a few centuries ago that the ancestors of these Pro-lifers ran my grandmothers to ground; drowning, hanging and putting them to the stake. For faith, maybe; for power more like. The power to control other people's lives and destiny - not to mention property and wealth. The same drive for power sent these mighty-righteous hypocrites to the polls to vote for one of the most profane men to ever sit in the Oval Office.

Pardon my cynicism, but perhaps this joint circle jerk between the paunchy and the pious is really nothing more then a mutual power grab. After all, one can't help but wonder how many abortions "their" president paid for in his womanizing days when he was hiding between the sheets of super models from the War in Viet Nam? When exactly did this greedy, avaricious, son of Mammon find God?

To all those Lifers roaming the streets of D.C. today I say, get you ass home and see to your own moral values. You are not invited to shove your God down my throat while wallowing in the Devil's bed.