Maeve has really really been "working" with me atm ... dare I say, initiating me. I have been getting uncomfortably close to her prickliness, but also have realised her generosity. She epitomizes the Feminine to me, the kind of feminine that I am emerging into, and so for that, although she was portrayed negatively in the Tain by the Irish Christian Monks, I can still sense her as the power of Desire, Sovereignty and Inspiration.

Things I have begun to associate with her: the Sheela-na-Gig, nettles, blackberries, purple and red, needles, menstruation, mead, altered consciousness, riding, battle zeal .... the list is evolving.

May I also recommend the book "Celtic Queen Maeve and Addiction: an Archetypal Perspective". It was difficult to get into at first, seeming too psychologically heavy, but really it is an amazing book, discussing how Maeve, as both real entity and mythic archetype, represents both the binding pattern of addiction and the liberating pattern of acknowledgment and the soul's sovereignty. What was most interesting for me was how similar my experiences with PTSD and her clients' stories of addiction were.

The picture posted with this was done by James Fitzpatrick, and is the best Maeve artpiece out there that I know of.

Got my results yesterday in the mail. I passed my Welsh Fluency Exam!!! YAY! What a huge relief.... I thought I had, but still, one never knows after only studying the language for 2 years and other exam takers have been studying at least 5 years or more, though granted not at the same pace as I have. Diolch yn fawr, Y Teulu Cymraeg twy'r y byd!

A new recipe I made the other day, and all on my todd! As in, this recipe is original with me and Dafydd and the family strongly approve, to the point that when I made 4 dozen, they were gone within 3 days between 4 of us. And Dafydd has been particularly raving, which is amusing as he is usually the one to be the pickiest, hardest one to please when it comes to food! So as it was such a hit, I thought I'd post the recipe here for anyone else to try.

Makes roughly 4 dozen, although less if you make them bigger

You will need:

8 oz soft butter
8 oz caster sugar
2 big tablespoons golden syrup
1 egg
1 lb self raising (all purpose) flour
2 heaped teaspoons ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 ish teaspoon almond essence

To make it:

1. Cream the sugar and butter, making sure there are no lumps of butter left. It should be light and fluffy. Add the golden syrup and mix well. A little water (only a very teensy bit) is ok to clean off the spoon too.

2. Add one beaten egg with the almond essence and fold until light and well-mixed in.

3. Add cinnamon and ginger into the flour and then add dry ingredients to the wet, slowly mixing in more and more. Make sure all is combined, leaving no bit too wet or too dry. It should be a sort of sticky crumbly (but not too crumbly) dough.

4. Bake in pressed balls on trays in an oven. Because I use an AGA with regular temperatures, I don't know the rough temperature you should use. But obviously, bake until golden or brown. It took mine about 10-15 minutes.

If you want, lightly sprinkle with cinnamon on top before baking for an extra kick. These are sooo lovely with a hot cup of tea, and they are slightly chewy but slightly crisp, and not overly hard or overly soft. The texture is just like ginger snaps too .... yum.

I am sat in a cosy wooden carriage with plush maroon seats and big clean windows, on the Welsh Highland Railway .... which runs through the heart of Snowdonia, right at the feet of the great mountain itself. This is the place I get to see every time I work ... the place I live ... the place I get my food and air and water from ... the place that fills me with endless inspiration. Let me describe the view for you now.

Outside is the stunning valley below Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon). The grass at the bottom is green like wild mint, lush velvet, verdant with rain, and the whole place is a scattering of huge rocks and boulders peeping their heads above their grassy beds -- the sense is of a rugged wild place, still full of beauty and goodness.

To my right is a tall ridge and behind it are the two long mountain ridges that hold like a treasure, Dyffryn Nantlle (where I live), the valley of Lleu's Stream. Lleu is the Welsh version of Lugh, an Irish Sun-Beam God (very simplified) and great Feat-doer. To y left, rises Snowdon, not a single bit of snow on his uplifted face. Snowdon had been the home of a giant, but no more. Arthur slew him in the early years and now, the tallest mountain of England and Wales is called "Yr Wyddfa"--which means--place of the monument, place of the burial monument. To me, I think it means that Snowdon is a great burial chamber like Newgrange, only 100 times ... no 1000 times bigger because it belongs to the remains of a giant, the giant glacier that formed this entire Snowdonia area.

The sun now gleams in a blue-and-white sky, and the purple foxglove and yellow buttercups are out in full array for this Midsummer season. The trees passing by are so fragrant, so heady, so full of the richness of life and that fecund aroma that makes me want to make love up on the old cairns on the mountainside surrounded by gorse and heather, by crows, red kites and hawks spying down on us. THIS is a good day in Wales, the kind that makes you glad to be alive.

Yesterday on the other hand was all ice and gale and bitter cold that made the whole house shiver and creak. But that is the Celtic Isles for you ... abit like a woman ... moody, magical and majestic like a Queen.

Apparently, they are making an Icelandic movie about Thor's Adventures from the old sagas ... how cool is that! Animated (hmm) but still sounds cool.

Also got this link from an acquaintance, which I thought was particularly fascinating as there has been some discussion going on in the Welsh academic community about an Arabic connection to Wales (and here ... it's in Scandinavia):

New research refutes myth of pure Scandinavian race:
http://healthsciences.ku.dk/newslist/scandinavia/  A team of forensic scientists at the University of Copenhagen has studied human remains found in two ancient Danish burial grounds dating back to the iron age, and discovered a man who appears to be of arabian origin. The findings suggest that human beings were as genetically diverse 2000 years ago as they are today and indicate greater mobility among iron age populations than was previously thought. The findings also suggest that people in the Danish iron age did not live and die in small, isolated villages but, on the contrary, were in constant contact with the wider world.

You can find an audio of this done by yours truly here on http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1010 .. singing and everything! It's only about 7 minutes long and really, I am quite proud of it. It's one of many little tidbits I am doing for our ritual on Saturday. To actually read the meditation ...

more cat pictures

I have noticed a gradual change in how I express my response to beauty, wonder and prayer. For many many years, I have used writing as the almost sole externalization of these feelings, but in the last year or so, I have begun to dance more. It's almost as if words are no longer enough, sometimes not even appropriate, and the only thing I can do is dance.

The way the air moves with me, parting and invisibly swirling ... the warmth that rises from my centre out to my fingertips, toes and head ... the sense of motion all around me ... the sense of gracefulness, lightness, freeness or the sense of strength, power, heaviness .... music of the blood pounding in my eardrums, in my veins ... closing my eyes and opening up to the experience ... hearing my voice when i feel sudden outpourings of emotion ... the wild carried-away rush of dizziness ... the seductive goddess ... the sweet river of beauty all around me ... the anger or love, joy or pain coming out in physical motions ... the sensation that I am giving an offering of love to life, to myself, to the spirits ... the complete and utter aloneness yet union with all things.

I am describing this now with words ... but really, none of the words express how I feel when I dance.

I wrote this tonight .... it came to me while studying for my exam tomorrow and it felt very appropriate, all things considered. It made me cry a little bit for some reason, and I think I feel very emotional in regards to my exams because for the last two years I have been working towards them and now I am finally doing them. Doing them is like a gateway into another period of my life ... into my BA ... into other plans and goals.
It also feels like coming home. My prayer has been to all that is Wales, Cymru, fy mam i, to the spirits of this place, to those who live on in my blood. I feel very strong and gentle and ready for tomorrow.


We stand here today                                         Sefwn yma heddiw,
arms open to the world;                                   breichiau yn agor i'r byd;
We stand in intense longing,                          Sefwn mewn hiraeth,
fingers open to the ravens.                              bysedd yn agor i'r brain.

They walk over the brest of the wave,             Cerddant dros bron y don,
those people from the soul, and                     y bobl o'r enaid, ac
They walk above the deep,                               Cerddant dros ben y dwfn,
those tribes from the mind of the world.        y tylwyth o'r bryd byd.

They read our hopes,                                        Darllenant ein gobeithion,
tales flying in the embers.                                chwedlau yn ehedeg efo'r marwor.

They sing our tales,                                           Canant ein chwedlau,
hopes climbing to the stars.                            gobeithion yn dringad i'r ser.

I cry to them,                                                        Llefainaf iddyn,
I call to them,                                                       Galwaf iddyn,

The Old Folk,                                                       Yr Hen Dylwyth,
The Sea Folk,                                                      Y Tylwyth Mor,
The Oak and Thunder Folk                               Y Tylwyth Taran a Derwen,
The Other Folk in the Otherworld,                    Y Tylwyth Arall yn Annwfn,
The Bright Folk,                                                   Y Tylwyth Teg,
The Dark Folk,                                                     Y Tylwyth Tywyll,
The Star Folk, and                                               Y Tylwyth Serennog o'r Tir-na-nog
The Spirit Folk.                                                     Y Tylwyth Ysbryd.

Remember us                                                     Cofiwch ni
in the long stretch of your memories.              yn yr amser hir o'ch cofion.

They stand here                                                   Sefant yma heddiw
and know our worlds are one.                          a gwyddant ein bydoedd yr un.
May our blessings be your blessings,            Ein bendithion bydd eich bendithion,
And our burdens be your burdens.                  Ein beichiau bydd eich beichiau.

This is our love. This is our pact.                     Mewn cariad ac mewn cytundeb,
So be it in the sky, land and sea.                     Dan y nefoedd, y ddaer, y dwr.

One of my friends had a brilliant idea, one that I won't quite utilize in the same way as he does. M. has started his own blog in Welsh / yn yr iaith Gymraeg! (goes off into a stream of Welsh in her head...) I think posting my journals in Welsh would be a great way to practice, stretch and keep up my use of the language over the summer, BUT the only problem is that I don't really have that many friends who would understand me. Of course I have loads upon loads of them in Wales, but how many of them can I share myself with like I do on here? I dunno. At least most of you are pagans and not devout chapal-going Methodists (stereotypical of me, I know! .. but really).

So from time to time, maybe I will do a Welsh post, to ease my conscience and feel good about myself, lol. And perhaps ... who knows ... maybe one of my friends now or in future will speak Welsh and being able to comment on my posts! Gobeithio!

Oh btw, if you want my friend's ENGLISH blog, which is quite entertaining and enlightening to read any day of the week (except Mondays when you might be feeling a bit sensitie). Enjoy that! And if you are a "druid" or "pagan", you will either love or hate M. In my case, I love him. ;)

I'm happy to finally "officially" announce that my latest project is now chugging away happily on the server: "The Mabinogi Study Group" for whoever wishes to read along and discuss the Mabinogi, at whatever level you desire (basic, academic, deep, etc). The forums are to be the main meat, so to speak, but there are only a few members at this stage.

This is all so exciting because I've not found any other website dedicated to doing something like this. I know a couple different groups in the pagan community and in the academic world who discuss it from time to time, but my new website is something (I hope--correct me if I'm wrong) entirely new!

If I have piqued your interest, you might want to look at the About Us page to give you an idea of what I have in mind ... and of course, if you like or feel inspired, feel free to join the forums.

Also, I have set up a small part of the forums especially for welsh speakers / siaradwyr Cymraeg to talk about the Mabinogi.

O wow, mae'n ffantastig iawn! Dw i jyst wrth fy modd ar hyn o bryd achos mod i'n ffindio rhwybeth ar y Facebook i gyfeithu'r safle yn Gymraeg, ac dw i'n falch o'r gymuned ar-lein sy'n gweithio mor galed i wneud hwn. Os ti'n defnyddio'r Facebook, ac hefyd, ti isio dysgu Cymraeg, wel--dyna'chi. Hwn ydy'r peth i chi!

Dos o'ma i'r safle; wedyn i'r "Account" a mynd ymlaen i "Language" tan ti'n gweld rhwybeth am "Translating". Defnyddia hwn yma i gael rhaglen sy'n newid dy tudalen yn Gymraeg.

http://www.facebook.com/translations/?auth_token=7f9722d3d45c8e0808f995be03f5eb04&installed=1#/translations/

Oh wow, it's so fantastic. I am just over the moon at the moment because I found something on Facebook to translate the site in Welsh, and I am proud of the online community who are working so hard to do this. If you use Facebook and also if yo want to learn Welsh, well, there you are! This is the thing for you!

Go from here to the site; then to "Account" and carry on to "Language" until you see something about "Translating". Use this to get an application that changes your page in Welsh.

Mostly posting this as a future reference for myself but you may also be interested--the "Bible of Bee Venom Therapy", something possibly worth me getting on my never-ending long list of things to read.

http://healthresourcespress.com/apitherapy_books/bible_of_bee_venom_therapy/bible_bee_venom_therapy_bodog_beck.htm

I am becoming really interested in Greek paganism and the stories/mythology too. I had never had an interest in "Classical" stuff but for the last two years (ever since I moved to Wales, would you believe it), and it has crept up on me out of "nowhere". And for some bizarre reason, I have been finding Greek things (from Greece) in charity shops all over the UK for the last two years too. Dafydd says that I must actually "draw" these things to me, because it is ridiculous to the point of me having to exercise some self control. Our dining room at Drybones has turned into a Grecian theme and that was not my intent originally at all. Then after that, books about Greece, Greek language, Greek food, Greek music and dance have been practically falling off the shelf at me ... and then, in the end my favorite Eurovision song was the Greek one. I think I have been a bit thick for it to *suddenly* dawn on me today, after nearly 2 years, that perhaps I ought to explore this a bit more.