The besom has a home

We have been working on my 'Den' today.  Although snow covered the ground this morning, after a few hours it had melted so we made a lot of progress.

I love this area.  For so long it has been neglected and used as a dumping ground for things we wanted to burn, hide or take to the tip, which now I feel was very wrong as it's such a beautiful place. 

The besom has brought much laughter and many jokes from my friends and family but this broomstick is there for a practical use, not to fly about the garden on.  Much as I would love to do that, I use it to sweep the area clean. I didn't want to use my hard yard broom in this area. It's big and has a very hard brush, it simply wasn't practical. It didn't feel right so that is why I got a traditional Besom instead. 

Saying that, my beautiful natural besom can also be used in a ritual to sweep away negativity and cleanse an area from bad feeling. Luckily I have not had to use it for that purpose yet.

I feel so close to nature when I am in this space. Birds nest above and I can see all kinds of life around me. I still can't believe at times that this is not actually a tree but just ivy growing from something man made. Another reminder of how we all seem to be connected, we are meant to be here together with our animals and plants and beautiful landscapes, it's just working out how best to get along and so all of us can thrive.

This is from the other side. We are trying to clear a path so that it will be possible to walk all the way around it.  We have a raised area here which is from years of piling more and more soil and making a compost area. I want to turn it into a miniture hill where we can sit and gaze down on the firepit below.

The 'Den' may take months to create but even now it has become a magical area where I can meditate. I love to just sit or stand here. It's amazing how much you see anywhere if you just stop what you are doing, stand still and observe nature

I have a few guests that seem to like my den. A male pheasant has taken a shine to being in this place.  On several occasions I have surprised him when entering only to have him squalking at me and flying off in a huff as though he objects to me being there!

So, the work continues, I wonder who will visit next?

 

 

A Clootie Tree in the back garden

We spent some time clearing the garden this weekend and focussed on the areas that we have neglected for years.  Some things that are right under your nose go un-noticed but then today this magcial site became open to me again.  After years of storing rubbish and things I wanted to burn, I had forgotten how magical this part of my garden is. 

I think it looks like an ancient tree with all  those clinging roots but in fact it is just a covering of ivy over an old structure that I have in my garden.

This was an old stone crusher from the times of mining around the Clee hills.  My garden is part of the old railway that went up to the Titterstone Clee. The stones were brought back down here for crushing. It must have been a hive of industry in those times with constant activity from the mining but now I find it so magical that after more than a 100 years, nature has claimed it back. 

Many birds enjoy the cover and countless creatures of all kinds love to dwell here.  This is why I have adopted it as my own 'Clootie Tree'. Although most Clootie trees are ancient and grow by the holy wells, this will serve me just as well.  I feel it is still a special place, it has history, it has nature and now it has me to look after it and enjoy all the magic that grows with it.

I will certainlly follow the tradtion of some of the Celtic ways of using a Clootie Tree.
The tradition is that you dip a ribbon or piece of cloth from a person that may need help or healing into a spring or well.  You then hang the ribbon onto the tree and when the ribbon finally rots away, the individual will recover.

Apart from that I feel that it is a lovely place to sit and meditate about my own life and feelings. After hearing the news of a family bereavement the other day, I felt comfort by placing something there.  I knew it would not bring him back but it felt good to think about him and acknowledge a life that had been and gone.

There are many ancient Clootie trees and wells all over the country and they are well worth a visit but at the moment I feel lucky that I do not have to go  any further than my own garden to feel the same emotions and appreciate what is out there.  

Blessed be!

                                                The Yew tree, not just a place of worship but in some cases an object of worship

Hello and welcome to the first post of my new blog 'Pagan Apprentice'  I hope that anyone who feels the same way as I do about the old and magical ways of life will comment on this blog as it is lovely to know that I am not on my own seeing the world  in a different way.  Sometimes modern day life can be so horrific with news of cruelty and death and war nearly every day of the week.  I am powerless to all these horrible things happening, all I can do is care for those who are suffering and take comfort in my way of life, however mad some people may think that is. 

I worship nature and all of the animals that we share this beautiful planet with and see these things as equal, or in some cases even superior to our human way of life.

I have been longing to talk about the way I love to see life, it may not be to everyone's taste and that is why I decided to start this new blog where I can express all the things I feel and think without boring or upsetting anyone.  My other blogs are quite different and would not be suitable for the sort of things I want to talk about on this one.  So here it is, my first post as a fully pledged Pagan.

Some people have asked if I am a Witch, maybe hundreds of years ago I would have been accused of such things just because I love to dress in a cloak occasionally, cast a few runes for fun and do the odd spell but hopefully now most people would understand that there is nothing evil or wrong about having a different religion as long as it does not harm anyone.

I called it the Pagan Apprentice because I am constantly learning.  I thirst for knowledge and love to find  ways of dealing with life and what it throws at us every day of the week.  I like to find ways of mentally overcoming barriers and ways of celebrating the wheel of the year as every season is important to how we all we live and survive. Even though most people love the Summer best, we still need the ever changing seasons so that every form of life form can have its chance.

I first got these feelings when we were celebrating Halloween a few years ago. I now prefer to call this Samhain and it has become one of my favourite pagan celebrations.  I love to dress up and do all the usual stuff for fun but on this occasion I suddenly felt different as we sat in our cloaks in front of the bonfire.  Something changed in the way I viewed this day, it was not a fancy dress party, the cloaks served purely to keep us warm and the bonfire made me reflect on the year gone by and things that had happened.  This was the beginning for me and it was the beginning of the New Year of following the pagan wheel of the year.

I celebrate all the magical and fascinating sabbats or festivals through the year and hope in the coming months to enjoy them with you.