An Autumn Afterthought

A Hasty Haiku by T J B Googins (2011)

Listen to the wind

Leaves applauding as they fall

Autumn's destiny

I'm a little behind in celebrating the recent spate of autumnal "high holy days" such as All Hallow's Eve (Hallowe'en) and All Saint's Day, as well as a couple of obscure yet notable dates, which I will now reveal for your edification (Information courtesy of Patricia Telesco's book "365 Goddess") :

My friend, Mr. Jack O. Lantern

October 31 - Hallowe'en (Goddess: Nicneven; Themes: Protection, Ghosts, Divination, Peace, Winter; Symbols: Pumpkins, Gourds, traditional Hallowe'en fare) "In Scotland, Nicneven is the crone goddess of Samhain, which is the predecessor of modern Hallowe'en festivals. Nicneven governs the realms of magic and witchcraft and represents the imminent onset of winter. In magic and Celtic traditions, this is the new year, a time when the veil between worlds grows thin and spirits can communicate with the living. Follow the usual customs of carving a pumpkin or turnip for protection and to illuminate the way for family spirits to join you in today's celebrations." Well, naturally!

My fire pit busily chasing away negative forces.

According to this book, Samhain was a time when the Druids would rectify matters of dissent, so I wrote down some recent difficulties on a piece of white paper and tossed it into my fire pit as I asked Nicneven to help dissipate these problems. Of course, it will take more than that to fix some things...

Fire pit detail

Moving on to November! The book says wintery months seem to be a time for introspection and that one might use divination tools for foresight and preparation, to seek guidance within and to ask the Goddess for a special spiritual vision to carry us through the last months of the year. I have decided I need to learn to meditate - really meditate - and I want to be more focused and diligent in taking care of my mind, body and spirit. Well, as they say, it is a process...

Yesterday, November 1, was Author's Day - which I did not know even existed - and it is dedicated to the Sumerian goddess Nisaba (Themes: Creativity, Communication, Excellence, Inspiration, Universal Law, Divination, Dreams; Symbols: Pens, Computers, Books, Snakes) "Since 1928, this day has been observed as a time to honor authors who have contributed to American literature and to encourage new writers." Snakes are the goddess' sacred animal and, as it happens, my Chinese horoscope is the Snake, so I suppose this is a giant hint to do more writing! As for honoring important authors, I would have to honor J.R.R. Tolkein, Jane Eyre, Mark Twain, Tom Robbins, and... oh, my - so many, too many... that list is going to be very, very long!

Laughter keeps the ghosts at bay.

Today, November 2, is All Soul's Day, following All Hallows Eve and All Saint's Day. (Goddess: Nephthys;Themes: Death, Ghosts, Rebirth, Devotion; Symbols: Sunset, Hawk, her sacred animal) "Just as Isis embodies life's energies in Egypt, her sister Nephthys is the force of death and reincarnation. Traditionally, Nephthys dwells in tombs, guiding and welcoming spirits into the afterlife. Her name means 'death, which is not eternal,' referencing the Egyptian belief in the soul's rebirth." The book continues: "In early times, children would go 'souling,' collecting small cakes believed to rescue souls from purgatory." (Sure sounds like Hallowe'en to me!) "Oddly enough, Romans announced engagements today (likely as a way of stressing life's continuance). So if you've been thinking of deepening a relationship, or making a commitment to a beloved project, this is one date that might suit the occasion." Now that's a good plan!

 

So - let's gather the firewood, pull down the winter blankets and clothes, stock the pantry, give thanks for what we do have and fix our sights on the things we want in the coming year. Stay warm!

 

Culinary Oddities

Hen of the Woods - Photo: wildmanstevebrill.com

This morning I made myself breakfast (it's a day off - sunny, cool and breezy) and what a lovely breakfast it was! My co-worker (I'll call her "Miss J") has been adventuring into the woods lately, looking for edible mushrooms and, a couple of days ago, she found and took home a bountiful amount of a 'shroom called "hen of the woods" (Grifola frondosa, also known as Maitake or Sheepshead). Not to be confused with the edible "chicken mushroom," these lovely shelf fungi (a pinkish beige tinged with grayish brown) are thick and soft, sort of rubbery to the touch, but let me tell you this about that: Sliced and sauteed in butter along with onions and scrambled into an egg, they are absolutely delicious! I plan to add them to a yummy vegetable soup I am going to make, perhaps tonight...  

Hen of the Woods - Photo: Tom Volk's Fungi

Here's more info about Hen of the Woods:

The clustered, overlapping grayish-brown, lateral spoon- or fan-shaped caps grow 3/4 to 2-3/4 inches wide, arising from short white stalks that branch from the base. The surface of the tiny pores under the caps is whitish. The spores are also white.

The mushroom grows throughout most of the US at the bases of deciduous trees, living or dead, often over and over at the same time every year, in the fall. It’s very common, although easy to overlook due to its camouflage colors.

Hen-of-the-woods (sold in health food stores under its Japanese name, Maitake, to fight cancer and strengthen the immune system) has a deep, rich flavor and chewy texture. The only downside is that it can be a pain to clean unless it’s very fresh. Grit gets ingrained in the dozens of little caps, and you have to cut it away with a paring knife.

Prepare this flavorful fungus any way you like—sautéed, simmered in soups, marinated, baked, or even pickled. It cooks in 15 to 20 minutes. (from Wild Man Steve Brill's web site - see below)

Miss J has been attending mushroom workshops (with, I believe, Wild Man Steve Brill himself), so she knows a thing or two about local mycology (the study of mushrooms). I once gifted her with a very informative coloring book all about mushrooms. So she collected these tasty polypores and carefully sliced and washed each piece, then lovingly dried them all and put equal amounts into three paper bags for me and our two employers. Miss J tells me (and now I have read up on them a little bit) that the mushrooms will grow back even after they have been lifted up out of the ground because there are still many spores that remain in the soil. As always, when dealing with wild edibles, especially mushrooms, double-check the plant's identity to be 100% positive it is not poisonous! Some tasty-looking plants, when touched or ingested, can make a person very unwell...

 

Also, I visited this web page:

http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/nov2006.html

Grifola frondosa is an apt example of a well-documented traditional Chinese medicine. The first record of its use comes from Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing (Shen Nong's Scripture of Herbal Medicine [cited in Mizuno and Zhuang 1995]), which was compiled between 200 BC and 200 AD. This scripture states that Keisho (one type of medicine made with Grifola frondosa) "has been used frequently for improving spleen and stomach ailments, calming nerves and mind, and treating hemorrhoids" (Mizuno and Zhuang 1995). There are a variety of other Chinese medicines containing Grifola frondosa, ranging from cancer treatment to remedies for palsy, nerve pain, and arthritis. Other described uses of this mushroom include general treatments for immune stimulation and regulation of homeostasis. (Thomas J. Volk, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse)

For information about mushrooms and other wild edible plants (including recipes), visit:

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/

(Spoiler Alert: It even includes a recipe for the very invasive, tastes-like-rhubarb Japanese knotweed!) 

Bon apetit!

A Sign O' The Times?

Zooey Deschanel

 image of Zooey Deschanel courtesy of:

  http://www.wolfgnards.com

 (spoiler alert: this blog is funny, but followers' comments may feature "unsuitable language")

Since I don't seem to be making much money these days, I thought I should make an effort to save a little, so... I cut my own hair! It's not bad, but I definitely wasn't able to "style" it at all - I just trimmed my bangs and a little off the sides (it's uneven but you really can't tell from a few feet away) so I saved $20 ($15 plus tip) 

Tomorrow I will color it (I have plenty of henna waiting to be plastered all over my new "do") and think of other ways to make/save a few more dollars

And so, to celebrate my cleverness, I went out for salad (healthy appetizer) wine and pizza with a friend - and spent $30! (One step forward, two steps back!) I can rationalize that, tho: I will have left-overs for lunch tomorrow

We decided that next time, though, we will share a meal at home with an already-purchased bottle of wine and it will probably cost less than going out (it will be a cozier setting, as well)

SORRY, Angie (hairdresser) and Marco (pizza) - when the economy improves we will happily darken your doors again

Until then, I leave you with this:

    The term bangs, always used in the plural, is, as you know, the fringe of hair usually cut squarely across the forehead.  According to etymology scholar Robert Barnhart, the term is strictly American in origin (the Brits call it fringe) first surfacing in 1878.  It was believed influenced by the adverbial use of bang in the meaning of abruptly, as in hair cut bang off;  some sources offer a relation to earlier bangtailed (1861) of a horse's tail that has been cut horizontally across.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Etymology-Meaning-Words-1474/bangs-fringe.htm

First Day of Fall 2011

Mid-Autumn Festival - Montreal

Mid-Autumn Festival - Viet Nam

 In other news... Jupiter and the Pleiades can be seen rising above the eastern horizon tonight - as you know, I'm partial to the Seven Sisters, so I'll be out there looking (if I can keep the mosquitoes from sucking all my blood, that is)


Happy Autumnal Equinox!

This is from a blog entitled Daily Kos

At 5:05 AM EDT, the Northern Hemisphere passes from Summer into Autumn as the sun passes over the equator heading south to give the Earth's Southern Hemisphere its turn at Summer. 
The Autumnal Equinox is also known as: Alban Elfed, Autumn Equinox, Fall Equinox, Cornucopia, Feast of Avilon, Festival of Dionysus, Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Mabon, Night of the Hunter, Second Harvest Festival, Wine Harvest, Witch's Thanksgiving, and the first day of autumn

Pagans generally call the Autumn Equinox Mabon, though that's a fairly modern name, and some groups dismiss it. Neo-Druidic traditions call it Alban Elfed, and in some circles it's called Meán Fómhair (from the Irish name for September, "Middle of Autumn"). Others simply call it Second Harvest, or Mid-Autumn . . . and there's nothing wrong with just calling it the Autumn Equinox.

For those that observe the Oak King/Holly King duality, Mabon marks the ascendancy of the Holly King. Now he is the more powerful of the two, waxing stronger until he stands at the height of his power at Yule, the Winter Solstice.

For the rest of us, this is the time when the Goddess shifts from Mother to Crone, and it's in this aspect she's celebrated at Mabon rituals. The God grows old and tired, soon to die at the upcoming Samhain. The year is almost done. They move into old age, as they do every year. As the world does. As we all will.

Autumn, as I said, is an ominous season, and the specter of Death always looms large. The coming Winter symbolizes that inevitable turn of the Wheel, and the growing dark and the reaping of the crops are reminders of our journey towards it.

This should make us all the more mindful of what we have, and makes it all the more appropriate that Mabon should be a time of thanksgiving and joy. Gather with family and friends. Celebrate. Share. Feast.

    "Once more the liberal year laughs out O'er richer stores than gems or gold: Once more with harvest song and shout Is nature's boldest triumph told." - John Greenleaf Whittier

Sunrise at Stonehenge

This is from the web site for The Stonehenge Tour Company
 
Each year on the 23rd September Druids and Pagans gather at Stonehenge early in the morning to mark the Spring Equinox and to see the sunrise above the stones.

It's an ad hoc celebration that brings together England's New Age Tribes (neo-druids, neo-pagans, Wiccans) with ordinary families, tourists, travelers - usually about 100 people!
For many, the impulse to arrive at Stonehenge in time for the Solstice and Equinox is a little like all those people drawn to the strange rock in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. It's akin to a spiritual experience. Anyone who has witnessed the crowd become silent as the sky begins to brighten can attest to that.

This is the third of the four ‘sky points’ in our Wheel of the Year and it is when the sun does a perfect balancing act in the heavens.

This is the point of the year when once again day and night are equal - 12 hours, as at Ostara, the Spring Equinox. The Latin word for Equinox means 'time of equal days and nights'.
After this celebration the descent into winter brings hours of increasing darkness and chillier temperatures. It is the time of the year when night conquers day.

After the Autumn Equinox the days shorten and nights lengthen. To astrologers this is the date on which the sun enters the sign of Libra, the scales, reflecting appropriately the balanced day and night of the Equinox. This was also the time when the farmers brought in their harvested goods to be weighed and sold.

Here in Wiltshire (as with the rest of rural Britain), it was traditional to drink dandelion and burdock cordials at this time, as these herbs help to cleanse the blood and are a good tonic for the body after its winter hardships.
 
The full moon nearest to the Autumn Equinox is called the Harvest Moon and farmers would harvest their crops by then, as part of the second harvest celebration. Mabon was when livestock would be slaughtered and preserved (salted and smoked) to provide enough food for the winter.

At the South Pole they will be celebrating the first appearance of the sun in six months. However, at the North Pole they will be preparing for six months of darkness.

During Medieval times, the Christian Church replaced Pagan solstices and equinox celebrations with Christianized occasions. The Autumn Equinox celebration was Michaelmas, the feast of the Archangel Michael.

The small group 'non-obtrusive' nature of this tour means you can have a real authentic experience, a great photo opportunity and valuable insight into ancient Britain.

Tonight, even though it's raining, I'm going to get a little fire going in the fire pit out on the back porch - I will burn some dead branches from the tree that fell during the storm... I will throw on some dried herbs (mugwort and the like) and say farewell to Summer... and some other things...

Visit both sites for some interesting information:

http://www.stonehengetours.com

http://www.dailykos.com

Photos: courtesy of Stonehenge Tours and Google Images for mid-autumn celebrations

An Ode To "Nothing Is Wasted On The Writer"

I will never forget the day I was introduced to Crescent Dragonwagon - writer, blogger, animal lover, former restaurant owner and fellow human being - not because it was so unusual but just because it was, for me, a lucky accident. (Please understand: I didn't actually meet her; I suppose I should say that I "discovered" her one day.)

A few years ago, my husband and I were at a bookstore (probably Barnes & Noble) looking for a cookbook containing recipes for South American (specifically Peruvian) meals. One of his sisters was having a milestone birthday (turning 60, as I recall) and the family was planning a surprise dinner that would be comprised of some of her favorite foods. She had married a Peruvian and lived in Peru for 30 years before moving back to New England ten years ago to be near her children and grandchildren.

We weren't having much luck with our quest, but we kept looking, hoping to spot some lone title proclaiming "The Best 100 Recipes of South America, Featuring Peru!" when a little book with an attractive cover caught my eye. It said, simply, "Soup & Bread" and, being someone who loves soup and bread, I picked it up. After looking through it, I put it back thinking, "I'd better see who wrote this because I want to buy it the next time I'm here, or online, or something..." and that's when my jaw dropped. The author's name was Crescent Dragonwagon.

Seriously????

Yes. That is her name. Crescent Dragonwagon. For me, it was love at first sight, if one can indeed love a personal pronoun.

As soon as I got back home I looked her up on the Internet. I also found some pretty good Peruvian recipes online, which I could have done without a trip to the book store, but then I would never have "met" this woman, this writer, this troubadour of life. And although I still haven't bought her book about soup and bread, I am now a huge fan of her writing.

You see, she's written several cookbooks, quite a few children's books and she puts out a wonderfully and thoughtfully written blog called "Nothing Is Wasted On The Writer." This is a blog I would be proud to put my name to, especially if my name was as incredibly inventive as Crescent Dragonwagon. She chose the name for herself, back when she was younger and more rebellious.

On this blog is a FAQ where she addresses such questions as "Is that your real name?" and other marauding mysteries about herself. She comes from good solid writing stock, too: Her mother, Charlotte Zolotow, wrote children's books and her father, Maurice Zolotow, wrote interviews and notable biographies about such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe. She writes about the vagaries of life (mostly hers, which to me is mind-bendingly fascinating and heart-breakingly moving), as well as the wonders of nature, the whimsy of love, the joys of family, the pain of loss, the comfort of food and other seemingly tepid topics, only when SHE writes about them, it's done is such a way that it makes you want to examine your own experiences and write about them with as much openness and honesty and perception as she does.

Just below her blog title is this marvelous header:

"Cooking, eating, living, loving, writing, reading, thinking. Listening, tasting, sniffing. Cozying up to mystery at midlife. I think we're all part of the narrative life tells itself about itself."

One of my goals is to attend "The Whole Enchilada" writing workshop that she hosts every September. The event involves several days and nights of writing, talking, cooking, eating and many other succulent activities, and I really want to be a part of something like that. It costs several hundred dollars, so I really have to start saving up for next year (I've said that before, but this time I mean it) and some day I will be there, laughing and listening and learning how to really write and/or create, as in "learn how to unlock and unleash my muse."

Meanwhile, I'll just keep tapping away at the keyboard and sitting upstairs in my unorganized "studio" trying to figure out what the hell I need to be writing about or creating or doing in my spare time - as if that will ever become vividly apparent to me (as in "apparition" or "epiphany") or come to me in one of those sorts of revelatory "a-ha" moments we can only dream about.

Check out her blog. Live life to the fullest. And wish me luck!

http://crescentdragonwagon.typepad.com/

A Week (or two) of Anxiety & Sorrow

There is just something sad about the last few weeks: earthquakes, floods, wind, rain... mayhem and destruction 

Then there was the 10th anniversary of Nine/Eleven and I watched it happen all over again - I felt like I needed to remind myself of what had happened - planes crashing, buildings falling, people suffering 

I've watched documentaries about the rebuilding and rebirth, how so many people are trying to piece their lives back together after the attacks

 I was also worried about other things: Mom in the hospital, bleeding from some medication she was taking for her atrial fibrillation - my "new" car quit running and my husband had to pay $500 to have it fixed (never mind that I still owe him $1000 for helping me buy it) - and underneath it all a gnawing worry and fear when my lovely outside cat, my stray, my sweet Willie, my Mister Handsome has simply vanished in the wake of that stupid storm, Irene, a storm that caused so much damage and took away so much from so many - maybe it was no Katrina or Andrew but it still took its toll

Now, this cat is a survivor, he is savvy, he is streetwise - he has a white bib and a little white stripe on his nose and four white paws - plus he has six toes on both front feet, which is unusual - he has come to me for sustenance for several years now, ever since he was abandoned and left behind when his family moved away - he's come to me again and again, through rain and snow, blizzards and blackouts - and now, there's absolutely no sign of him - I know it's just a cat, but for me there's an emotional parallel with Willie not coming home and all those souls who, in essence, "vanished" when the Twin Towers fell, never to be seen again...

I put a few flyers up - I've listed him as "lost" on the local animal shelter's "Found and Lost" web page - I've called four veterinary clinics to see if anyone brought in an injured cat - and nothing yet

But I still won't give up on him, not quite yet - I want him to know that I will always be here for him, my sweet William 

Harvest Moon

Last night was a Harvest Moon

 and a waxing gibbous moon

 and a full moon in Pisces

 Now that's what I call a busy moon phase!

 I saw it as it was just clearing the tree line on my way home from work last night - it was the palest gold and quite large as it rose - later on, as it moved higher, it was exceptionally silver and bright - I wanted to stay up and stare at it, but I was dog-tired - my husband made a lovely dinner for us and we watched a movie - The Conspirator - excellent movie but I was so tired that I fell asleep a couple of times (courtroom drama will do that to me, on occasion) 

(This photo courtesy of EarthSky web site - see below)

 In the days before electricity, farmers counted on the lamp of the Harvest Moon to gather their crops. Making up for the autumn season’s waning daylight, the Harvest Moon faithfully provides several nights of dusk-till-dawn moonlight. This bonanza of moonlight remains the legacy of the Harvest Moon!

 http://earthsky.org/

 http://earthsky.org/tonight/legendary-harvest-moon-shines-on

Just a short post this morning - have a nice week!