Pagan Village News

Merry Meet readers. This month I will not speak so much of a specific herb or herbs, but discuss the harvest of fruits and vegetables of which the gods and goddesses have provided a hardy abundance of, enough to get through the long winter months.

As the school buses disappear into the early morning mists, the warm September afternoons are still shaded by the green foliage of trees. Yet, you look across the field and meadow to see a blanket of yellow goldenrod mixed with purple aster. The monarch is sipping nectar in preparation for their long migration to the hilltop forests in Mexico. Woolly caterpillars as well migrate where they will hibernate for the winter. The woolly caterpillars foretell the coming of winter.

September is the month we celebrate Maben, the last harvest cycle of the year. We celebrate the Wine Moon, for this is also the month of the Wine Harvest. The grapes are now dark and heavy on the vine and although August has dwindled, there are still days when there are tomatoes to pick and string beans were canned in quantity early in the season. This month, when the remaining beans are picked, they are hung to dry, in older times in the attic, today in cool dry places. After they have crisped to a look like white bony fingers of a skeletal hand (leather breeches they are called), they are dropped into a post of homemade soup and become plump and green again. Also, early in this month, the sugar content of the plump clusters of grapes has reached their peak and the grape harvest begins. The harvest begins by pouring a glass of wine into the vineyard and chanting to Dionysis:

O Lord Dionysis

God of Wine and of resurrection

Through whom we receive

The spark of Spirit that animates us

In honor do we pour this libation

We thank you Great God of the Vine

For the Harvest we are about to gather.

(author unknown)

Then the process of cutting and dropping the grapes in the baskets began. Every step of the wine making process was accompanied with ritual. Crushing the grapes with their feet, dancing and singing, the warmth of their bodies bringing the yeast to life, the children were immersed in the warm blood-red liquid as a protection against illness. Wine was such a sacred fluid, the Pagans of old named this lunar month The Wine Moon. Then, and now, the night of the Full Wine Moon is celebrated with dancing the magickal round in the moonlight. This night of magickal senses is a kind of transformation of true spiritual initiation. The term Harvest Moon is given to the full Moon nearest the Autumal Equinox. This is because, when harvesting was done completely by hand in the old times, the farmers were able to work into the night in the brightness of Her light.

There are gourds and squash to be harvested, and being naturally decorative they are used to adorn porches, mantles, and dinner tables. Being born in the ninth month of the solar year, the gourds and squash are sacred to the Goddess in Her aspect as the Earth Mother. They are appropriate for altar and circle decorations at the Autumal Equinox. The coyote melon, grown in the American Southwest, can be dried easily without rotting. When completely dry, the seeds inside make a natural rattle and perfect for use in pagan and shamanistic rituals.

During this time of the year, ornamental corn is abundant. Much is homegrown, but you can find they are sold at roadside stands on the back roads of the country or in country/farm areas. There is golden corn, Indian corn, Raspberry corn, and sqaw corn. You might also find bunches of ripe golden wheat. Now is the time to select the corn and/or bundle of wheat that will represent the Goddess in Her aspect as Bride for the ritual called “Bride’s Bed”, performed on Imbolc in February. Bring the corn and wheat into your home with ritual and honor as part of the Autumal Equinox celebration. Make sure to arrange it in a sacred place/space where it will remain until Imbolc chanting:

Welcome Corn Mother

We welcome thee

Welcome Corn Mother

Blessed Be!

(author unknown)

The gathering of seeds during this time is a magickal act and should begin with deep breathing and grounding, visualizing the life contained in the seeds will blossom and bear fruit in the coming year. Also, as you collect your gourds, squash, dried ears of corn, pods of peas, dried heads of zinnias and marigolds, chant the following words:

From this life

Life to come.

From all the vegetables and fruits that you can obtain seeds from, once dried, place the different types of seeds in small paper bags, label and date and keep in a cool dry place for six months, the entire dark half of the year and then bless them during the Vernal Equinox. As the nights get cooler, now is the time to plant herbs indoors if you have the space. This will provide fresh herbs throughout the winter months. Rue seedlings need to be dug up and potted now in case the fresh herb is in demand one winter’s day. Dried Rue loses its potency. When herbs begin to die back, gather those of which the roots are used. If aerial parts are used, gather when plant is coming into bloom as this is when their magickal power is the greatest.

Mandrake or Mandragora root was considered so magickal that many legends grew up around it. One legend has it that when the root was pulled from the ground, it gave out such a chilling scream that it drove the herbalist mad. The roots sometimes grow doubled and even tripled and can sometimes be seen to resemble a male or female human figure. The woman could wear the female figure if she wished to conceive and the men wore the male figure for retaining or regaining virility. The root makes an excellent amulet, not only because it increases the magickal power, but it also increases fertility or virility. It is also an excellent amulet for protection.

Angelica root is also used as an amulet for protection and purification. It is also used as an incense to dispel evil that is psychic in origin. Hang it up in the house or wear it in a small pouch.

Elcampane, a tall plant that grows wild in many areas of the country and blooms late summer, whose roots are used, can be quickly dried in an oven on low heat (150 degrees with the door open a crack). The roots are also used as an amulet and love charms.

Valerian root is a natural sedative and its roots are the most potent part of the plant. The root can be used in charms to end or prevent arguments. It can be used in bath preparations for relaxation and purification before performing any ritual. The root can also be dried and powdered or crushed to make a tea. Because of its calming and sedative properties, one cup before bedtime is drunk for a peaceful nights rest.

Yellow dock root, when dried and ground to a powder, can be steeped in boiling water and used to anoint doors of your home or office for good fortune.

One final word, this season is the beginning of cold and flu season. I suggest taking Echinacea tablets or drinking Echinacea tea daily for at least two weeks to build up your immune system. After a couple more weeks, repeat for two weeks throughout the winter months. Vitamin C daily or zinc works wonders with the Echinacea.

I hope you enjoyed this months column and I look forward to sharing with you again next issue.

Brightest Blessings and Happy Mabon

Silver Spiritwolf

Many Blessings and I hope you all enjoy

Silver Spiritwolf

But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782