Sluggy's Pages!

Volume 2, Issue 1 - Imbolg 1997

Welcome to Sluggy's Pages. This is Shining Lakes Grove's kids' page. It comes out eight times per year, with information and activities for the young folk and their parents. We encourage you to send us any seasonal stories, poems, art, games or puzzles for us to include in this newsletter. Editor is Mama Moon: (313) 439-0434 or send mail to: 38 Neckel Ct., Milan MI 48160.

Maze

Take Brid to the Hearth.

Lore Corner

• Did you know that Imbolg celebrates the first hint of Spring's return? You can see the days getting longer, the buds swelling on the trees, and sometimes you can smell a dampish Spring smell in the air.
• Imbolg is old Irish for "in the belly", because the life of the land is in the belly of the land, under the blanket of snow. Th earth is pregnant with the greenery which will spring forth in Spring. The Earth Mother also protects the baby sun.
• At this time of year, we have a modern commemoration of the season. It's called Groundhog Day. The legend is that if the groundhog comes out of its hole and sees its shadow, it will run back down in fear, taking the sun with itm and we'll have another six weeks of winter. Hope for clouds!
• The Scottish spelling of Imbolg is Oimelc. It means "ewe's milk", because at this time of year the sheep and dairy cattle are pregnant and beginning to produce milk for the babies to come.
• In Christian times the holiday was given the name Candlemas, for the many candles they lit. In this practice, they were borrowing from the paganfolk who came before them. The candles are to help encourage and strengthen the sun.
• Imbolg is the special holiday for the Goddess Brid. We make Brid's crosses of straw as a house blessing and protection from fire.
• Another custom is the Bride's bed. Bride is the Scottish name for Brid. The Bride's bed is placed by the fire, to let the goddess know she's welcome.
• The young people in days past would sometimes carry a corn dolly of Brid from house to house, wrapped in the Brat Brid, the mantle of Brid. The women of the house would throw open the door, chanting "Brid, Brid, come to our house, come to our house tonight!" And the young people would come in, singing to bless the house. They wouldn't go away until they'd been given ale or mead and oatcakes.
• Brid is a goddess of many things. She presides over the hearthfire and the forge fire, the beehive and brewing, childbirth and inspiration, and the sacred well of vision. Her flower is lavender, and her animal is a house cat. And since the Christians could not make people stop worshipping her, they turned her into a saint, Saint Brigid. In that form, she wears a blue cloak, takes care of new mothers, and helps the cows to give lots of milk.

Winter Riddle

Four fingers and a thumb
but flesh and bone I've none.
What am I?

Answer at the end of this issue.

Greenhouse

Here's a great activity to do at home around Imbolg, to help you remember Spring is really coming. It'll help you to get started on a home-grown garden.

Make your own Egg Carton Greenhouse

Ingredients:

• egg carton bottoms
• potting soil
• shallow cardboard box
• aluminum foil to line bottom
• 4 posts (dowels, paper towel rolls, Lincoln logs, etc., to height of plants)
• plastic wrap or cellophane
• seeds (tomato, calendula, green pepper, zinnia, petunia, cucumber, pumpkin)

Directions:

• line box with tin foil, shiny side up
• cut egg carton tops off and discard
• put potting soil in carton sections
• put one seed per section, about half way down
• label type of seed
• put in box
• tape dowels to four corners of box, uprights
• cover with plastic
• water the seeds and wet tin foil - the sun will evaporate the water to make a "green house effect" in your little hot house
• put on window sill
• wait
• keep an eye on the moisture level, but it should only need water that once. If it gets dry, just open a corner and spray water inside.
• The seed plackets will tell you how long each type of seed takes to sprout. By the time the ground is soft enough for you to start an outside garden, your babies will be ready to go out.

Coming Attractions

• The February Grove Playdate will be Sunday, March 1, 1997. (Think of it as February 29th...) We will be celebrating the birthdays of Gareth and Elaine. The party will be from 12:30 to 2 PM at Kid Kingdom in Ann Arbor. For directions call Kami at (313) 761-1137. If you're bringing a kid, please let us know, so we can tell Kid Kingdom how many to expect.
• Also, on Sunday March 2nd, there will be a Watershed Fair at Kensington Matropark, with activities to help us play with and learn more about our Mother Ana. For more information and a time when Grove members might meet there, call our Grive Ecologist, Marae, at (313) 663-3276.
• Parents' Meeting on Monday, March 10th: help us plan future child-centered activities, and establish rites of passage within our grove. Sr. Druid Fox may attend. All welcome, whether you currently have kids or not. Bill Knapp's on Washtenaw and Carpenter at 7 PM. Contact Mama Moon for more information: (313) 439-0434.
• Our March Playdate will be Sunday, March 23rd. Meet at Chili's parking lot, Arborland, at 1 PM to go maple sugaring at Sugarbush Farm in Mason. Bring your sweet tooth. Call Kami at (313) 761-1137.
• Children, if you are planning to plant a garden this Spring, start thinking about it now. You are welcome to bring some seeds to be blessed at our Spring Equinox Ritual.
• On Sunday, March 23rd, there will be a partial eclipse of the full moon at about quarter to midnight. Might be worth waking up for, as it will be the only one this year.
• Bring hard boiled eggs or blown eggs to our Spring Equinox ritual. We'll be able to d-egg-orate them there, for offerings, to exchange with friends, or take home to mom and dad. Eggs you've done at home are welcome too. (This is for kids, but grownups can be kids too...)
• If you would like to help run children's activities at an upcoming ritual, please contact Mama Moon at (313) 439-0434 for times, activity plans, thanks and a hug.

Spring Scramble

Rearrange these letters to spell words having to do with Spring. When you have all the letters in place, the ones on the equal signs will tell us what the earth is doing at this time of year. (Best I could do with all text, sorry! -robh)

ELANBAC

-=-----

MARW

=---

GSASR

--=--

TEKI

=---

NXEUQIO

=------

NUNYB

--=--

And the mystery word is:

------

The answer is at the end of this issue.

Family Traditions for Spring Equinox

It's almost time to plant a garden. If you haven't picked out seeds and just the right spot, do it now. Pick out tools that fit your hand, too. I've been very pleased to find really well-made kid-sized garden tools in the last few years. If your Grove or Coven is not doing a "blessing of the tools" this Equinox, you can do it in your own family - pass them over a flame and sprinkle them with blessed water, asking the goddess of the land and the god of the sun or the green things to make them strong and true in your hand, to do their work well and lovingly, for growth and health. Offer a bit of seed or grain or dried fruit to the land, and a drop of cooking oil into the flame to say thanks.

The Christian holiday of Easter gets its name from a Norse holiday, Eostare. It celebrates life and fertility, as the chickens begin to lay again and the dairy goats, cows and sheep to give milk again. Decorate hard boild or blown out eggs by coloring on them with a white crayon in flowers or special symbols, then dipping them in food coloring. You can make a yellow dye out of onion skins, a brown from coffee grounds, and red from beets.

Here's a neat trick you can do with eggs on the Equinox itself: find a flat surface and balance an egg on its fat end. It'll stay there until the equinox is over or someone knocks it over. The exact point of the equinox is over or someone knocks it over. The exact point of the equinox this year is Thursday, March 20th, and 9:55 AM. Have fun! It won't be long now until we can all take off our coats and play outside again.

Answer to the Winter Riddle

A glove.

Answer to the Spring Scramble

balance, warm, grass, kite, equinox, bunny; awaken

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