Here we are at the end of the first month of 2023 and I'm curious...out of all of you who made resolutions...how are you doing? As I said at the beginning of the year, I'm not a resolution person but I do have goals and objectives for the year 2023 and beyond, and I am managing to take the steps needed to reach those goals. And that's all I'm going to say about that.
As I was sitting here putting together my first newsletter for 2023, my muse smacked me in the head with a new book series idea. As you probably have noticed, I write a lot about the pagan or Celtic or Irish holidays on my blog and rather than dedicate my newsletter to Valentine's Day, I was writing about Imbolc. Well, my muse decided I needed to dedicate a series to those holidays, so coming up in the next few months you will see the first book in A Year of Witches. Each of the stories will be about a witch born on each of the various sabbats and will meet their romantic partner around that time of the year. I'm not sure which one I will start with, but it may be Samhain or Yule. But, as always, my blog followers will be the first ones to know!
I've been diligently working on Shannon from my Magickal Clan of O'Reilly and it's coming along quite nicely if I may say so myself. Set in a stone manor just along the Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, my heroine has come to learn about powers she had no idea she even had from a mind reading and difficult man...who has a shape shifting brother who prowls the cliffs as a wolf. And of course, there's the snooty woman who has her sights on my hero...that could get interesting as my heroine comes into her powers...enough about that.
Here at the house, we had a sad loss on Friday night. Lucky, my fluffy butt yellow cat took his walk to the rainbow bridge. Rather than talk about how sad I am about losing him, I'd like to honor him by telling how we ended up giving him his name. Found beneath my daughter's car at work on a 95 degree day, she brought him to me. The story is that someone "dumped him off"...which is true...it just so happens I knew who dumped him and authorized such 'dump'...because who could resist such a purring little fur ball who was probably not more than about 5 weeks old. Initially dubbed "Donald", over the next few weeks he earned his name...Lucky...because he was one lucky kitten. I'd only had him about a week when he came up missing. The last we saw him was when we were eating dinner and he was hanging on the patio door looking in at us. Later, when I tried to get him to come in, he didn't. I was worried the coyotes had gotten him, but lo and behold, the next night I got a video which started with the words "well, look what I found in my driveway when I got home...".and there was the kitten in his driveway when he got home from work. The little scamp had hitched a ride in his truck the night before and rode seven miles to his destination. Another afternoon when I got home from work I couldn't find him. Kate, my drama queen Redbone was prancing and pacing and whining because she had taken a liking to the little furry creature. She shot out the door and ran to the fence line whining and barking. It was a windy night with gusts of 25 MPH and bitingly cold. I put on my Carhartts and grabbed the spotlight and followed the sound of his panicked mewing. He wasn't caught in the briers nor was he up a tree...no...he was on top of the electric pole about one inch below the wires. It wasn't until the next day that the electric company was able to get him down. He survived a night of high winds and avoided electrocution. And that's how Lucky got his name.
Early on, I spoke of Imbolc, which is how I'd like to wrap up this post. Imbolc, which is also known as St. Brigid's Day in the Christian faith, is celebrated from the evening of February 1 and ending on the evening of February 2. A traditional Gaelic or Celtic celebration it marks the mid point between the Winter Solctice and the Sring Equinox. and marks the beginning of spring. Imbolc means "in the belly" and refers to the pregnancy of ewes. In ancient times, the sun was considered to be the weak and helpless Child of Light, but as the year progressed from Imbolc forward, that light grew stronger and more powerful blessing the earth with the green shoots and flowers of spring and summer. Such goes the way of the wheel of life. There is so much more to tell about this particular Sabbat or festival and as I write my series, you will learn more about Imbolc.
Happy February, Happy Valentine's Day and Imbolc Shona Daobh!