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[Sluggy]

Sluggy's Pages!

Volume 3, Issue 1 - Imbolc 1998

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 to include in this newsletter. Send submissions and ideas to: Mama Moon, Editor, 38 Neckel Street, Milan, MI 48160, (313) 439-0434

Maze

[Brid Maze]

Lore Corner

Do you know that Imbolc celebrates the first hint of Spring's return? You can see the days getting longer, the buds growing on the trees, and sometimes you can smell a wet Spring smell in the air. One plant which blooms now is called witchhazel, a very useful astringent.

On February second, we celebrate spring with Groundhog Day. Legend says if the groundhog comes out of his hole and sees his shadow, he will be scared and hide, and there will be six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, he stays out of his hole, and winter ends.

Christians call this time of year "Candlemas" because they light many candles to remind them of the sun. We keep a special candle for Bríd, the Goddess of Home, on Her own special altar near the fire at our rituals.

In the old days, men prepared for Imbolc by making corn dollies from the last hay of the harvest. Women prepared a Bride's bed to honor Her. Women stood in the doorways, calling out: "Bríd, Bríd, come to our house, come to our house tonight!" The men brought in the corn dollies. Then, everyone in the house knelt to greet the Goddess.

This year, we are bringing back an old tradition, called Biddies and Biddy-boys. In the old days, the Thursday before Imbolc, people carried corn dollies from house to house. They sang, blessed the house, and left Bríd's crosses to protect the house in the coming year.

Bríd is also Goddess of bards, artisans, and healers. She inspires the bards with poetry, the artisans with weaving and smithcraft, and the healers with drying herbs and a gentle healing touch, especially with pregnant women. Bríd is a Goddess of many things.

An ancient saying about this time of year is, "Half the wood and half the hay, you should have on Candlemas day." This reminds us not to be wasteful.

Ana's Playhouse

This time, we have something to do outside, and something to do inside!

Snow Snake: This is a Native American game played on any long stretch of ice. Find a long, straight stick. Decorate it any way that you want: plain, fancy, or anything in between. Take turns sliding your sticks down the ice. At the end of each turn, mark your spot by poking a twig into the snow, squirting some juice, or piling up a snowball. The longest slide wins.

Candle Recycling: Gather up all the used candle ends in the house. Separate them by color. If you only have white candles, you can make colors by melting pieces of a crayon. You will need some candle wick, which your parents can get at a craft store, or some thick string. You also need a weight, such as a penny or small fishing sinker. Tie the weight to one end of the wick, and a pencil to the other. This will keep the wick straight. You can make your candles in paper cups or baby food jars. If you use cups, make sure to remove them when the candle is done. If you use jars, you'll see the candle colors through the glass. Put the weight in the bottom of the cup or jar, and lay the pencil across the top.

You will also need some old soup or coffee cans, and a pan of water. Ask your parents for help, because you're going to heat up the old candles in the cans, one color at a time, and pour the liquid wax into the cups or jars. You can make one color candles. If you want, you can also make candles with more than one color by pouring in some wax of one color, waiting for it to cool, and then pouring in some wax of another color.

When it's all done, you can peel the cup off. If you used a jar, glue tissue paper and other decorations on the outside. Be creative! If you want, you can wind a pair of pipe clearers into a handle to make a small lantern.

Another name for Imbolc is Candlemas, and the days are still dark and cold, so this is a great time for making and carrying candles!

Celtic Coloring Challenge!

Ancient Celtic artists turned ordinary animals into magical beasts by twisting, turning, and tying up their legs, necks, and tails. Color one of these beasts red and the other one blue!

[Celtic dogs]

Imbolc Song

Bright Bríd, Bright Bríd,
Goddess of our Hearth
Bright Bríd, Bright Bríd,
We keep you in our hearts!

Imbolc Word Search

D M B C H I L D B I R T H

L I O L H T M R A W E L L

T C R O S S S P O E T R Y

F P M B L E S S I N G G T

A E E M R P E S O T M U I

R E S I I I D R C H I A L

C H F N B R D O O G D R A 

B S D A E L O E W I W D T

R L B A U N G V S R I I I 

E E M A L F I O U B F A P

H R C H C H I L D R E N S

O M N A M O W E S I W D O

E S S E T S O H T R A E H

Look for these words up and down, left and right, or diagonally. When you've found them all, the letters you haven't used will spell a secret message! (Answer at the bottom.)

Cashlan Gherra

This is a game played in Ireland inside during the cold. winter months. This is a 2 player game. You will need 6 playing pieces, like 3 pennies and 3 dimes, or 3 dark buttons and 3 light ones, or 3 raisins and 3 peanuts! Take turns with your opponent placing your pieces on the circles. Then take turns moving one piece one space along any adjacient line. Keep taking turns until one of you has 3 in a row (like tic-tac-toe). You win!

[Cashlan Gherra board]

Riddle

What do you call sausage on February 2?

Answer at the bottom

Family Traditions for Spring Equinox (for older readers)

Time for Spring cleaning! While it's still too cold to play outside, you might want to get out some of your outdoor play things and check which ones need repair, and which ones are outgrown. Many organizations, such as Kiwanis and Purple Heart, will recondition old toys. By giving them away, you make room for new ones, as well as making someone else happy. Pick one or two simple wooden or cloth toys and learn how to fix them up yourself - your parents will probably be glad to get you some sandpaper, glue and paint, or teach you to use a needle and thread. Consider reading The Velveteen Rabbit together: it's about a much-loved toy and takes place in Spring time.

Herbs are often the first things planted, and the first things ready for harvest. Pick a small number of easy-to-grow herbs and learn their healing or cooking uses. You can begin with a window box or table top garden and then transplant it when the soil is softer. Oregano, mint, and thyme grow well in this climate. Healing herbs might include chamomile, wild ginger, lavender, and calendula. As the land begins to wake up, go looking for buds on the trees, pussywillows, newly sprouted withies such as red oziers (a kind of dogwood) by the river. Watch the ice breaking up and the water beginning to flow. Don't get too close to the banks though; the ice can be thinner than it looks. You might bring home some pussy willow wands to root. They'll keep for a while until you're ready to put them in water. Once they have some roots on them, you can plant them outside.

With the coming of warmer weather, farmers shear their sheep. You can get wool in various stages from completely raw and dirty to prespun. If it's fresh off the sheep, wash it in warm water, not boiling or very cold, to get out the worst dirt. Tease out the burrs with your fingers or a very wide toothed comb and "card" it with a pair of dog brushes, putting a bit of wool between them and pulling in opposite directions. Take it off the cards and roll it into a tube called a "rollag," and then it's ready to spin. A drop spindle can be made from an apple or lump of clay with a pencil run through it. Ask Kami or one of the artisans to teach you to spin. At any point in this process, you can dye your wool using these natural plant substances:

What a lovely way to bring some color into the early Spring house!

PUZZLE MIX-UP

What is this? Cut along the dotted lines and shuffle these nine squares to find what every good hostess needs.

Hint: Younger children can look at the letters in each square and form the picture using their "A B C"s.

[puzzle mix-up]

(Answer at the bottom.)

Coming Attractions

Instead of a playday in February, come meet us at ConVocation! Please join us for such kid-friendly activities as

(There will be an entrance fee to ConVocation.)

Our March Playdate will be Sunday, March 22nd. Meet at Chili's parking lot, Arborland, at 2pm to go maple sugaring. Bring your sweet tooth. For info, call Kami at (734) 761-1137.

On Sunday March 8nd, there will be a Creek Festival from 11am to 4pm at Kensington Metropark, 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 Grove Ecologist, Marae, at (734) 663-3276.

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.

We will be making an altar peice for the Nature Spirits at our Spring Equinox ritual. If you have a special small stone, feather or other natural object which you would like to add to this offering, please bring it with you.

Look forward to a Parents' meeting on Monday, Apr. 6th. Help us plan future child-centered activites, and establish rites of passage within our Grove. Sr. Druid Fox may attend. All welcome, whether you currently have kids or not. Meet at Bill Knapps on the corner of Carpenter and Washtenaw, at 7pm. For information, contact Mama Moon.

If you would like to help run children's activities at an upcoming ritual, please contact Mama Moon at (313) 439-0434 for time, activity plans, thanks, and a hug.

Answers

Word Search Message: Bless Our House!

Riddle Answer: Ground Hog!

Puzzle Mix-Up: A teapot

Rob Henderson, SLG Webmaster

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