Updated the Website

edited

Spring is here!

Its spring! Usually, here in southern California spring is nice and warm. I can't believe the amount of rain we've been getting lately... it will be warm and sunny, then really rainy for a few days. Today its bright, clear and the sunshine is out!

I feel as though the weather is a metaphor for the coven. Two of our members are currently on sabbatical until June. We miss them and though we've closed ourselves off from recieving their energy until they return, there is definitely something missing when we meet. We have had some rainy days without them... and I just hope that they find what they need- and I really hope that its back with us. I *know* it will be sunny again!

April is almost upon us, and with that, its almost time for Beltane! Beltane is the first of our two friends and family rituals. We host two a year- a small step below a "public" ritual... its more like an open ritual. I don't know if we want to try a maypole again. I did a shoddy job of teaching the dance last year- we were very rushed from not starting on time because of location logistics.

This year, we should be able to do more, with more people. Yule went rather well, methinks, and the fact that everyone was involved was great! Its time to brainstorm, and we'll probably do a little bit of that this weekend.

Just for fun and springs sake, here are a couple pictures from last years Beltane...

Ostara Recap

Willow led an amazing Ostara ritual. I had a great time and to see how the Coven Plant that we planted last Ostara has grown was so awsome!
BB Rayne

February's All Coven Meeting

Our last all coven meeting was really great! We did some energy exercises, drawing it from different sources, shaping it and directing it. I have a picture of Amber and Willow sitting on the ground with a nice big orb in between them. I'll edit this and post it soon.

We have a meeting this weekend, too. Dominique will be presenting her final dedicant project on journeying, and if time allows, we'll be doing some more work on energy. Its so nice to be able to go back and concentrate on the basics once in a while.

As for myself, I need to update the website. We have a new dedicant, Amber. That will bring our number to eight. We start Wicca 101 tomorrow. This would be our sixth Wicca 101 circuit! Its almost March already! Ostara is coming up so soon! And then its Beltane, our first "friends and family" ritual of the year, and the opening of our Outer Court again.

Rayne is beginning work on our coven newsletter, something that we'll be posting here, as well as on our website and our friends and family group. Its something that we all will contribute to! So fun!

Its been so long since we've really updated the blog, I kinda feel as though this is a Christmas "card" newsletter! Trying to shove a couple months worth of updates into one post!

Also, it looks as though the Society of Sister Witches will be putting together a study group. Woohoo! We'll each take turns teaching a class. Too fun! I know its not directly coven related, but since all of the coven members are also members of SSW, I thought I'd mention it. :)

Aspirant Mixer

We had a lovely time last night crafting journal jars at our aspirant mixer. We had one person come who is interested in our Coven. Everyone's jars look great and it was nice just chatting and crafting while talking about the things we do as a Coven and just getting to know those who are interested.
xo, Rayne

Outer Court Imbolc Opening

We are opening up our Outer Court for new sisters! Outer Court sisters come to all-coven meetings, sabbat rituals, and classes (as well as social fun-ness). We open it up 3 times a year (possibly 4) and we welcome all sisters who are interested to petition. Visit our website to read our bylaws and get a feel for what we are all about. :) http://twilightmooncoven.tripod.com

We'll be having a mixer this weekend!

Posting Pics of the Ritual!

Now, this might screw up the blog, but I want to try to post pics here...







Yule Altar





Another Altar Shot





Azure Fixing the Light





Lining Up (only a portion of our line)





Post Rite





Post Rite 2





Yule Tree




Part of the Potluck

Last Night's Yule Ritual

Last night, we had our annual Friends and Family Yule ritual! It was great! We had a nice sized turnout. We started closer to on time than ever before, and we had a few new faces. We took pictures with Raynes digital camera, so hopefully she'll post them here soon.

We seated the spectators- we allow spectators at our rituals, so that those who don't want to particpate can get a feel for what happens. Ligeiya smudged me first so I could go in and cleanse the ritual room. Then, everyone lined up and Ligeiya smudged everyone. Everyone came in and formed a circle around the beautiful altar, and the quarters took their places. I don't want to go into detail about the ritual, but we sacrificed something about ourselves that we didnt like to the dark before we cast the circle. Then we learned the short chant, and I cast the circle. The ritual began. We had our usual enactment of the battle of the kings and we welcomed the sun by calling to him in song. I felt we raised a LOT of energy. I could really feel it on my fingers.

For this ritual, I was in the center of the circle, rather than a part of the circle like I usually am. It was very different, and I really liked the feeling of taking in the energy and helping send it up.

I hope other members will post about how they felt about the ritual....

Annoyance

I'm really getting annoyed. I keep trying to blog to my other blog, but it keeps coming to this one. Are any of the other coven members having this problem?

Preparing for Yule

Every year, we do two friends and family rituals. Last year it was Lughnasadh and Yule. This year we've done Beltane, and we'll be doing Yule this upcoming weekend. Our ritual will be followed by an ornament exchange and a potluck.

Last night, we gathered at the covenstead and did a thorough cleaning. Its amazing how much 5 (well, 6) people can get done. Frank came with Ann and regrouted the tile in the entryway, because people were tripping on the broken tile. We do a lot for the room that we borrow for our meetings and rituals. Our christmas lights have been up since last year (they look really pretty), so we didn't have to do that. Wow, to think, last year we were three people, and now we are seven.

Neat.

Getting Closer and Closer

I am really excited about Yule. It's almost here and it is going to be so awesome!!! Working on my ornament for the exchange this year is funstuffs.
Ooooohhhhh and nope it won't be the one that was chillin' on my coffee table either hahahahaha!!!
xo, Rayne

Yule!

Hi all! I finally got on the blog. I'm so excited about Yule. I can't wait to battle Willow as a King. It's nice to have a part in ritual other than my normal quarter call. I just hope I make you all proud.

Congratulations to D'Rchhaartt (and other randomness)

Last evening, we initiated D'Rchhaartt into the inner court of the coven. It was great! She's been such a trooper! I don't know anyone else who would have agreed to go camping with people she's only met twice. She's done a lot of hard work and totally deserves it.

Also, we went shopping yesterday, and even took our first step toward our friends and family Yule ritual. We bought the most beautiful material for our altar cloths. So pretty! We learned that grocery shopping when you are HUNGRY is not always the best idea. We bought so much soda and water.... may we never thirst, right? :)

Ist Annual Priestess Training...

went so wonderfully!! Thanks (and kudos) to Ivy for putting together SUCH a comprehensive program to train us. I learned SO much, especially about myself. It was great Ivy, thanks for being a great high priestess!!

Samhain was so great!

We had a beautiful candlelight spiral, and honored our ancestors, as the tradition of Samhain dictates. It was really really great. Hopefully we'll get some pictures to post. We all wore our witch hats, and robes... and it was FREEZING. And wet! The moisture in the air curled the paper on some of our shrines that we created.

Oh! The best part was that everytime we had silence, the animals on the block would make noises. From sheep... to horses... to dogs... to donkeys, I felt like I was on Old MacDonalds farm. It was great! I envy Ligeiyas yard.

I want to do luminaries EVERY time, now. Thank the Goddess for Pacific Circle this year... otherwise, I never would have known how cool luminaries were. Easy clean-up too. I'm all about the clean-up.

Shopping for Samhain

Well, I shopped for Samhain today... got some good deals on the makings of ancestor shrines. Bought some wooden boxes at Ms... finally invested in a coven glue gun. If any coven needed that in their box of stuff, its us. Bought a few rolls of harvesty ribbon that was on sale. Bought bags for our luminaries. I think its going to be beautiful. Now, if only I had a nice SLR camera with which to take pictures... Oh well... hopefully my disposable will do the job!

Lets get the Inner Court all up in here!

You should be able to post from your blogger account (just sign up for one if you need to). Then we can all post to this blog! This is great!

Evoking the Excrementals

Saturday was very interesting... Ligeiya lives in the BEST out-in-the-country area. We got there a little after 10am, and played with her dogs for a while before getting down to business. One of her puppies wanted to come home with me... I just KNOW it.

Anywho, we get outside and notice the poop. Now, I saw a few random donkeys on the corner and wondered why the owner hadn't tied them up. Turns out thats because there IS no owner! They have stray burros! So, I took the poop patrol, and started shoveling it into a big pile. Ligeiya and Dominique started hoeing and raking the area. I think it was Dominique who made the remark about evoking the excrementals. It was funny.

Ligeiya's hubby got the riding mower running a little bit so that totally helped- until it died. Then he got the plow hooked up to his truck. It was great. I wish I would have remembered my camera.

Anyway, we plotted out the general ritual space a little bit. Samhain is going to be great!

Blogtastic!

This is the first testing post for the Coven of the Twilight Moon blog.