WyseWitchUK

Mother Earth Pagan Prayer Beads by Cauldron Crafts Mother/Father Earth has had many names through the years, so to celebrate Earth Day I thought I'd write about a few...  Akka ('Old Woman') or MaderAkka ('Mother Woman') - Finnish and Saami Goddess of Fertility and Nature. She is the wife of Ukko, the Thunder and Sky God, and when they make love, thunder rolls. In Scandinavia thunder and its associated rain is often said in legends to make the earth fertile. Akka gives life to the body. Akka is associated with mountains such as the Ahkka massif in Sweden that still bears her name. Ceres ('To Feed') - Roman Mother Goddess of Agriculture, especially Grain, and Fertility. Ceres is said to have discovered spelt wheat, created the art of pastoral agriculture and created law and order. Our word cereal comes from her name, as do our words creativity , creation and increase . Ceres was honoured at a seven day festival in April called the Cerealia festiv...

Like its lighter and beloved sister, the Hawthorn, who is said to rule over the light half of the year, Blackthorn has long been associated with Faeries, Witches and Magic. Blackthorn is often considered a darker, more sinister tree than its sister and it rules over the darker winter months for this is when it is in its element. At the start of winter the Blackthorn produces its wonderful deep blue/purple/black sloes and as winter ends the trees explode in ghostly white blossom. With its rich nectar and pollen, it is a lifesaver for many foraging insects, like bees, for whom there is little else at that time of year. With its shrubby and dense nature, along with the H awthorn, Blackthorn is a vital component of hedgerows which provide refuge and food for many birds, insects and small animals as well as the Fae. The contrast between the dark thorny stems and the beautiful white flowers is stark, rather like the contrast between the light of the moon and stars and the darkness...

(Originally written for the Bumblebee Conservation Trust ) The bee features as much in folklore from around the world as it does in our gardens in summer time. Yet, in this article, I can only scratch the surface of this vast body of information. Bees show up in human art forms almost as soon as mankind learned to create them; they are depicted in ancient rock art from around the world, for example from the Palaeolithic in Spain and from the Mesolithic in India and are mentioned in some of the earliest forms of writing in the world. Bees crop up everywhere from poetry to prose and even in our everyday sayings: we can be as 'busy as a bee', we 'make a bee-line' for things, we can get 'a bee in the bonnet' and the term 'bee's knees' now famously refers to something fabulous, although originally it referred to something small and insignificant. Bees are linked with magic, love, industriousness and creativity. The mere presence of bees on a ...