The original “David’s Hymn,” attributed to Jim Reeves, has been covered countless times.  One of my favorite versions is a very humble acoustic guitar solo by Jeff Buckley, which can be found here.)

(By the way, for the Bible Geeks, the original version references the story of King David’s downfall by having an affair with, and eventually impregnating, Bathsheba. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, which was made all the more inconvenent by Uriah being not only a good friend, but also off at war. Since Uriah would not leave the front lines to return home so they could conceal the illegitimacy of the pregnancy, King David made sure Uriah would be killed in war, and took his wife to be the latest in his string of many wives.  While all too human, this displeased the Lord, and eventually lead to David’s downfall. )
(2 Samuel 11)

Original Author unknown, passed on from Kyriellus

Gaia : You know all about gardens and nature; what in the world is going on down there in the U.S.? What in the world happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles and the stuff I started eons ago? I had a perfect no-maintenance garden plan. Those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with abandon. The nectar from the long lasting blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a vast garden of color by now. All I see are patches of green.

Daphne: It’s the tribes that settled there, Great Goddess. They are called the Suburbanites. They started calling your flowers “weeds” and went to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass.

Gaia: Grass? But it is so boring, it’s not colorful. It doesn’t attract butterflies, bees or birds, only grubs and sod worms. It’s temperamental with temperatures. Do these Suburbanites really want grass growing there?

Daphne: Apparently so,Great Goddess. They go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin each spring by fertilizing it and poisoning any other plant that crops up in the lawn.

Gaia: The spring rains and the warm weather probably makes the grass grow really fast. That must make the Suburbanites very happy.

Daphne: Apparently not, Great Goddess, As soon as it has grown a little, they cut it; sometimes two times a week.

Gaia: They cut it? Do they bale it like hay?

Daphne: Not exactly Great Goddess. Most of them rake it up and put it in bags.

Gaia: They bag it? Why? Is it a cash crop? Do they sell it?

Daphne; No momma, just the opposite. They pay to throw it away.

Gaia: Now let me get this straight: They fertilize it to make it grow and when it does grow, they cut it off and pay to throw it away?

Daphne: Yes, Momma.

Gaia: These Suburbanites must be relieved in the summer when we cut back on the rain and turn up the heat. That surely slows the growth and saves them a lot of work.

Daphne: You aren’t going to believe this Great Goddess. When the grass stops growing so fast, they drag out hoses and pay more money to water it so they can continue to mow it and pay to get rid of it.

Gaia: What nonsense! At least they kept some of the trees. That was a sheer stroke of genius, if I do say so myself. The trees grow leaves in the spring to provide beauty and shade in summer. In the autumn they fall to the ground and form a natural blanket to keep the moisture in the soil and protect the trees and bushes. Plus, as they rot, the leaves become compost to enhance the soil. It’s a natural circle of life.

Daphne: You’d better sit down, Great Goddess. As soon as the leaves fall, The Suburbanites rake them into great piles and pay to have them hauled away.

Gaia: No way!! What do they do to protect the shrubs and tree roots in the winter to keep the soil moist and loose?

Daphne: After throwing the leaves away they go out and buy something called mulch. They haul it home and spread it around in place of the leaves.

Gaia: And where to they get this mulch?

Daphne: They cut down the trees and grind them up to make mulch.

Gaia: Enough!! I don’t want to think about this anymore. Cerridewin, you’re in charge of the arts. What movie have you scheduled for us tonight?

Cerridewin : “Dumb and Dumber,” great goddess. It’s a real stupid movie about…

Gaia: Never mind — I think I just heard the whole story from Daphne.

By Keith Goetzman

From the UTNE READER, 9/21/2009
by Bennett Gordon
Reprinted for non-profit, educational purposes only.
(Please click here for the original article)

By age 32, nearly 3 out of every 5 people will have suffered from depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol dependence, or marijuana dependence, according to a new study highlighted by the Science News. That’s almost double what previous studies estimated. And the numbers could get higher, the older people get.

Does the data show that more people are getting sick? Not necessarily. This study followed people over time, while most previous studies relied on self-reports. According to the article, some have suggested “many adults forget periods of depression, and even hospitalizations for depression, from earlier in their lives.”

The study also calls into question what people define as a “disorder,” according to the article. Some have suggested that the evidence is a call-to-action for more urgent care. Others, including New York University social work professor Jerome Wakefield, believes that defining “depression” too broadly risks “pathologizing the entire population and opening the way for increases in medicating our society.”

Depression sufferers could also try taking Progenitorivox (video below), but just be careful for the side effects.

(Thanks, MindHacks.)

Source: Science News, Prescription for Change

We are conducting an international survey of contemporary Pagans. If you are a Pagan we would appreciate your taking the time to complete this survey.

This survey builds on an earlier one completed over twenty years ago, primarily in the United States, which was conducted by Helen A. Berger and Andras Arthen (of the EarthSpirit Community) entitled the Pagan Census. At the time it was hoped that we could do a census of the entire Pagan population. Although that was not possible the data that was collected was the largest of it type and served as the basis of a book, Voices from the Pagan Census by Helen A. Berger (with Evan Leach and Leigh S. Shaffer). The survey data is now available on line at Murray Research Archive at Harvard University.

A number of scholars have noted that it would be helpful to have a follow-up of that survey to see if and how the community has changed or remained the same. The survey that follows uses many, although not all of the same questions that were in the original survey to provide that comparison. There are also new questions, for instance about the Internet, something that was of little interest 20 years ago but is now, and some from other studies, that again permit a comparison. This has resulted in the survey being somewhat long–we appreciate your taking the time to complete it.

We realize that the categories found in questionnaires like this one frequently do not do justice to the complexities of real life. For this reason, a number of open-ended items have been included that allow for more nuanced responses. You are also welcome to contact Helen A. Berger directly at HBerger@wcupa.edu

Please inform other Pagans about this research project and feel free to pass it along via e-mail or to post a link on appropriate blogs or websites.

Thanks for your help.

Helen A. Berger
James R. Lewis
Henrik Bogdan

(To get to the Survey, please click here.)

This was passed to me along with a great deal of church folklore and wisdom from Kyrellus several years ago. It still rings as powerful and true as it did when it was written, although the original author has long since been lost.

I ask you, the next time you see the classically mass-marketed “green hag” witch, pause and remember when that may have been real… and why.

Halloween Witch

Each year they parade her about,
the traditional Halloween Witch.
Misshapen green face, stringy scraps of hair,
a toothless mouth beneath her deformed nose.
Gnarled knobby fingers twisted into a claw’
protracting from a bent and twisted torso
that lurches about on wobbly legs.

Most think this abject image
to be the creation of a prejudiced mind
or merely a Halloween caricature.
I disagree,
I believe this to be how Witches were really seen.

Consider that most Witches:
were women,
were abducted in the night,
and smuggled into dungeons or prisons under the
secrecy of darkness
to be presented by light of day
as a confessed Witch.

Few if any saw a frightened normal looking woman
being dragged into a secret room filled with
instruments of torture,
to be questioned until she confessed to anything suggested to her
and to give names or what ever would stop the questions.
Crowds saw the aberration denounced to the world
as a self-proclaimed Witch.

As the Witch was paraded through town
en route to be burned, hanged, drowned, stoned
or disposed of in various other forms of Christian love
all created to free and save her soul from her depraved body
the jeering crowds viewed the results of hours of torture.
The face bruised and broken by countless blows
bore a hue of sickly green.
The once warm and loving smile gone
replaced by a grimace of broken teeth and torn gums
that leers beneath a battered disfigured nose.
The disheveled hair conceals
bleeding gaps of torn scalp from whence
cruel hands had torn away the lovely tresses.
Broken twisted hands clutched the wagon for support,

fractured fingers with nails torn away
locked like groping claws to steady her broken body.
All semblance of humanity gone
this was truly a demon,
a bride of Satan,
a Witch.

I revere this Halloween Crone
and hold her sacred above all.
I honor her courage and listen to her warnings of
the dark side of  man.
Each year I shed tears of respect
when the mundane exhibit their symbol of Christian love.

Author: CatDancing
Posted: September 13th. 2009 to the Witche’s Voice
Re-printed for non-commercial educational purposes only

Only a few days ago when I looked out our front door and across the porch the foliage of the pink dogwood, viburnam and yellow twig dogwood was thick and green, obscuring the view to our country road and the hillside beyond. Now, in what seems only an instant, the leaves are beginning to turn shades of yellow and enough have already fallen so that I can get a glimpse of the big oak tree, hickory, sumac and others that border this side of the creek which runs down through the hollow.

In spite of the drought conditions we’ve been experiencing here in east Kentucky for many weeks now, late blooming plants are beginning to put on their early autumn show of color. The domed, dusty raspberry colored flowers of the tall Joe Pye along with the brilliant yellow of goldenrod and the vibrant purple of Iron Weed dot the hillsides and roadways, while here and there remaining cheerful blue corn flowers and little white umbrellas of Queen Anne’s Lace nod in the breeze. In shaded areas the tiny slipper-like spotted blossoms of orange Jewel Weed are everywhere, and occasionally the not as common yellow variety.

With September comes a subtle change in the light and the sun beckons us outside to enjoy the beauty and remaining days of harvest. As the month progresses the nights become suddenly chilled and we cannot fail to see, hear and feel the turning of the wheel within every aspect of nature. Soon, as we celebrate Mabon, we will be at the time of perfect balance of light and dark of Goddess and God.

This season is more than the time bounded by the summer solstice and an equinox. It is a time for taking stock, not only in the sense of the harvest, but in our own lives as well. Author and poet Hal Borland said of autumn that it is a summing up without the finality of year’s end. As summer fades, out thoughts turn more and more to hearth and home, and the slowing of the natural world helps to slow us down as well. Communities take time out for fall festivals and celebrations, giving us a chance to reconnect with friends and neighbors. We are reminded of the blessings of home and family and of the abundance present in our everyday lives.

Mabon brings a quiet, but magickal feeling to autumn and also into our homes. Sometimes called Harvest Home, it is associated with rituals for giving thanks and remembering that we need to make time to share our blessings.

Of all the seasonal and holiday decorating I do, autumn is my favorite! The rich reds, golds, greens and browns we find all around us in nature and the changing leaves can lend a feeling of warmth and intimacy to our surroundings inside as well. Decorate your altars with colored foliage, interesting bare twigs, stones, nuts, gourds, small pumpkins, mums, autumn colored candles (in safe containers of course!) , and other natural items from your particular locale.

This is a wonderful time for spending together as a family or with special friends. Have fun with activities such as nature walks, simple picnics, making corn dollies, popcorn balls, and caramel apples.

As days lengthen there is more time in the evenings for curling up with a good book and a cup of your favorite brew, or to gather the young ones close to hear their favorite stories read.

When we gather our herbs from the garden throughout late summer and fall, we are of course thinking of preserving them for future magickal, medicinal and culinary uses, but what about the stems and twigs? If you have a fireplace or outdoor firepit (or even the occasional campfire) , dry them as well. Herbs such as lemon verbena, lavender, rosemary, lemon balm, sage, oregano, bay, bee balm, etc. can be tied into bundles with raffia or scraps of ribbon and used as wonderfully fragrant fire-starters!

Many of us spend a great deal of time these days during hot weather shut up in air-conditioned homes and offices. When the weather cools enough for windows to be opened again, let the autumn breezes blow through to give your rooms a good airing out before winter comes along to close us in again. You can put your favorite essential oils to use in making your own homemade room sprays. Just combine the following in an empty spray bottle:

about 1/3 cup of vodka (the cheap kind works fine for this) ,
and 3-6 droppers of essential oil (in your favorite combination) .
Shake well then add enough water to finish filling the bottle and shake well again.

This spray lasts longer than most commercially bought ones and can be used once or twice a day on rugs and upholstery, keeping away from glass and windows. You can even make up these sprays with a certain magickal focus if you match the scents to your intent. Try creating special ones for different rooms of the house.

All of the colorful and many-shaped leaves that are in abundance now can serve as a reminder of their magickal importance. Think about pressing and drying them between the pages of books for use in craft projects such as framed leaf collages or to carry as a special amulet. There is much information available in books and on the Internet about the magickal properties and correspondences of various trees.

For instance, Pennsylvania German tradition holds that the five-pointed leaves of most maples resemble the outspread fingers of a hand, and that these five points also represent the five senses. You might also think of this as a reminder of the four elements plus spirit. Among others, oak is sacred to the God and elder to the Goddess. The sometimes three-lobed leaves of sassafras are said to represent the Triple-Goddess, and the lore goes on and on! Leaves can also be dipped quickly into melted paraffin and left to dry on waxed paper. They can then be displayed in bowls or jars.

You can celebrate the abundance of this season with the making of prosperity candles. Choose a pillar candle in a harvest color, and using a stylus or sharp pencil inscribe symbols to represent your intent, such as Fehu, the rune for prosperity. Dress your candle with cinnamon, orange or ginger oil by rubbing rubbing the oil between your palms to warm it and then rubbing it over the candle from bottom to top. Burn your candle on Mabon and then throughout the season to attune to the change of the seasons and bring peace and prosperity.

A wonderful, magickally charged potpourri can be easily made to bring love, protection and prosperity to your home by the following recipe.

Harvest Potpourri

1 ½ cups oak moss
2 cups dried oak leaves
1 ½ cups dried honeysuckle
1 cup lavender buds
1 cup dried rosebuds
1 cup rose petals
¾ cup dried pine needles
2 tablespoons dried crumbled sage
a few bay leaves
a few pieces of dried citrus peel
a few acorns
rose essential oil

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl, sprinkle with the rose oil and toss lightly together with you hands. As you work repeat the following chant. These herbs I combine for protection, to bring love and peace and prosperity. May they bless all those who enter within, and keep us from every adversity.

Pour the potpourri charged with your magickal intent in a decorative bowl and place near the front door. If you wish you can decorate the top with small charms, crystals or pinecones.

Especially during the autumn, one of the things that most speaks of home are the aromas of wonderful things being cooked and baked coming from the kitchen. The following recipe has been in my family for many years and always makes an appearance at our fall and winter family gatherings and celebrations. It will fill your home with the spicy smell of cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg and bring the ambiance of the season to all within.

PUMPKIN BREAD

1 ½ cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cloves
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 2/3 cups flour
½ cup cooking oil
2 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
½ cup water
nuts, dates or raisins if desired

Sift sugar, soda, baking powder, salt, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and flour into a large mixing bowl. With a spoon make a well in the center. Add oil, eggs, pumpkin and the water. Stir until well mixed. Bake in greased and floured loaf pan (s) at 350 degrees F. for a little less than an hour if making two small loaves, and a little longer if making one large loaf. If adding nuts, dates or raisins, toss them in 2 tablespoons of flour before stirring into batter to prevent them from sinking to the bottom of the pans.

Until next time I wish you and those you love many special blessings of the harvest season and wonderful moments to remember.

ABOUT…

CatDancing

Location: Mayking, Kentucky

Bio: CatDancing is a solitary eclectic green/hedge witch practicing in the mountains of eastern Kentucky where she shares a mostly quiet lifestyle with her husband, 5 cats, 4 dogs, 1 ornery goat, and a small flock of hens and noisy roosters! When she is not tending hearth,
home and herb garden she enjoys reading, writing, designing pagan-themed needlework, painting and photography. She is currently the
owner of the ‘Mountain Witch’s Cottage’ group on Yahoo, co-owner
of ‘The Mother’s Magickal Herb Garden’ and moderator of ‘Stormy’s Book of Shadows’, also both on Yahoo. She can be reached at catdancing@fastmail.fm.

above: Lady Abigail

“Spirited away, my energy gently glides above the treetops like a down feather blown within the circling wind. Below, I see the quilted workings of Mother Earth in the patches of green grass, freshly plowed ground and fields of grain ready now for the harvest. The air is sweet and cool as it moves round my body and delights me like loving whispers of voices unknown. Faeries dance on wing; their joyous laughter calling my spirit ever on. Reaching down, I try to grasp a bright purple leaf from atop the sugar maple. As my energy moves within the magickal moment, I feel the sun warming me as it moves through the essences of my being, giving glimmers of what possibilities lie just beyond. . .”

So begins Lady Abigail’s “Autumn: The Croning Time.”  For the entire article, please click here to  visit the original post on Witchvox.