Midsummer madness and a tag

It seems a while since I last posted. As you know I took a three week vacation in May to celebrate some significant life events. I usually don't take anyway near so long at once and, of course, returned to a large backlog of work. Also this time of year I have the joy and great privilege of designing and printing the programme and other material for the Lammas Glastonbury Goddess Conference which takes up quite a lot of time. And, if all that is not enough, I finally took the plunge and signed up for an Irish Gaelic summer school at a local college.

Since I last posted Medusa has written a very good article entitled, Why Goddess Temples. Sadly I live a five hour drive from the Glastonbury Goddess Temple so my visits are quite limited but when I am in Glastonbury I always make a point of spending quality time there. So here are three reasons why the Temple is important. Firstly, the very fact that the Temple is means that there is a living community attached to it. The priestesses and priests, the melissas who keep the Temple open, the artists and craftspeople who grace it with their beautiful creations, those who see it as their spiritual home, the madrons who help pay the bills... This community is a place to be, a place to grow, a place to give, a place to receive... Secondly, the Temple is a focused sacred space graced by the presence of the Goddess and the practice of those who use it. It is one of the few places I know where it is possible to spend two or three hours in personal spiritual practice with consummate ease simply because the atmosphere is so conducive to it. Thirdly, but not finally ! a Temple open to all regardless of race, creed, gender, etc. is a sign to all that the Goddess is very much alive in our land.

Thinking about the Temple and midsummer; Domnu, Queen of the Deep and Lady of the Springs and Wells is one of the Goddesses honoured there at the Summer Solstice. I am delighted that Caroline Probyn, one of the Temple artists, has given me permission to place her beautiful image of Domnu at the head of this post. Thank you Caroline.

June in the North of England has been a very wet month 280% above average. In fact where I live it is not only the wettest June since records began in the mid-nineteenth century, it is also the wettest month since records began - beating even the records for traditionally very wet months like October. On several days more than a month's rainfall has fallen in a few hours resulting in widespread floods. Now, of course, there have always been floods. The climate in Brigid's Isles has always been variable and unpredictable. However, climate model predictions are showing that very intense rainfall is going to become much more common here. I recently read that a one degree rise in average global temperature results in a 6% increase in water trapped in the atmosphere, all of which has to fall as rain somewhere. Here we have been treating our Mother very badly, demanding of Her more than three times as much as Her wonderful bounty can provide and yet we still talk about growth and demand more and more. Maybe a Goddess Temple is a small public stand against the psychosis of patriarchy and the insanity of looking for rapture, a saviour or a prophet but we have to begin somewhere.

On a lighter note it was a delight to join a group of Goddess loving people in Nottingham to celebrate the Solstice and give honour to Domnu.

On Saturday I was tagged by Terri Moore in Johannesburg. Here are the Rules: Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

Now I am not sure I can play simply because I have not been blogging long enough to tag 8 other people who have not already been tagged themselves. But I hope this does not preclude me from providing 8 random (and probably useless facts) about myself for Terri's delight.

1. I am never happier than when I am in a liminal place close to water. I love the outer isles of Brighid's Isles particularly the Outer Hebrides and Orkney.

2. I worship the Chocolate Goddess especially if She is Fair Trade.

3. I have never been south of the equator although I have been 15 miles north of it.

4. I have been using computers since the 1970's and would find it really hard to give up my Apple Macs.

5. I am a great lover of myth and story and delight in spinning a good tale.

6. I really appreciate silent starlit nights.

7. The hearth is the centre of my home and my altar.

8. I am very good at mathematics and very bad at sport.

Now just to play along a little I tag Nichole and Pammy

Thinking Blogger Award

Whilst I was on my travels in New England I was surprised and delighted to discover that I had been nominated for a "Thinking Blogger Award" by Nichole over at A Pagan Sojourn. On my return home, after three weeks away, there were a hundred and one things to catch up on. So I didn't get chance to say thank you or nominate 5 blogs that make me think. One person I was going to nominate was Terri Moore at Aquila ka Hecate but this morning I discover she has also nominated me. I am not sure I deserve one nomination let along two, but a big thank you to you both. Now I get to nominate five bloggers who make me think and they are in alphabetical order :

1. Anne Johnson - the one and only out of 341,000 in the United States. She not only makes me think but she always brightens my day with her wonderful writing. I really do wish I could have met one of her pet dinosaurs whilst I was in the USA.

2. Athana - for her relentless posts encouraging us all to gently replace bronze age war gods and messianic delusions with some good thealogy.

3. Kay - for her honest exploration of spirituality and for daring to turn out the light and dream dreams.

4. Richard Bartholomew - for his meticulous research on mainstream religion and the utter insanity that comes from being sure you possess absolute truth.

5. The Keeper of the Grove - for her delightful blog on life, Norse Paganism and the Goddesses in her life.

If you have been tagged this is how you play :

1.Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think,
2. Link to this post so that people can easily find the exact origin of the meme,
3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote