1999 Imbolc Issue
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10. Shopping Corner - Dor
11. Events List - Selene
9. Meagan's Imbolc - Kat Dyer
Once upon a time there was a little girl named Meagan.
She lived with her mommy and daddy, her big brother Corwin
and her beautiful cat named Starweaver.
Meagan was waiting for her daddy to pick her up from
school one day. It was cold and she was very unhappy. She
couldn't wait for her daddy to get her to help her feel
better. Soon she saw her daddy standing at the doorway.
She ran to hug him. "Whoa there," said Michael, "you almost
ran me over! What's the matter honey?" He lifted Meagan's
chin and looked into her tear-filled eyes. "Some, some
other kids called me names today!" cried Meagan. "Oh,
honey," said Michael as he gathered her up into his arms,
"let's go get into the car and you can tell me all about
it. It looks like it really hurt your feelings." Meagan
nodded and hurried into her coat.
Once she and Michael were in the car she started to
tell him about her 'most awfullest day'. She told her daddy
how she had been telling her best friend Cindy about making
candles for Imbolc. Some other kids overheard her and
started calling her 'witch' in very mean voices. On the way
home Meagan cried and cried. Her daddy started to look very
upset himself. When they got home, they found Corwin
sitting in the living room playing the recorder that
he had gotten for Christmas. "There you are!" said Corwin,
looking rather disgusted, "Dad, do you know what she did?
She went blabbing all over school about being a witch. Two
of the guys in my class were talking about it. Why does she
have to be such a big blabbermouth?!" Michael looked at
Corwin sternly and said, "Meagan was talking to Cindy
about making candles for Imbolc, I hardly think that counts
as blabbing all over school. Do you remember how hard it
was for you to keep from telling everyone about rituals when
you were her age? Meagan feels very hurt because some kids
don't understand our religion and were making fun of her.
As I recall, you felt the same way when the boys down the
street teased you about learning to cook even though you
like cooking. I think you'd better go up to your room and
do your homework while your mother and I talk to Meagan
about what happened." Corwin looked at the floor, "Sorry
Meagan. I'll tell mom you're in here on my way upstairs."
and with that he slunk out of the room.
Meagan's mother Elizabeth came into the room frowning
just as Meagan settled onto her daddy's lap in the big
armchair by the fireplace. "Oh my," she said as she saw
Meagan's teary face, "Corwin said that you'd been teased at
school today. What happened honey?" Meagan snuffled her
nose and took a deep breath, "I was telling Cindy about
making candles for Imbolc and she asked me what it was and I
was telling her when some stupid boys overheard me and
started calling me a witch!" Meagan burst into tears again
because remembering made her feel bad again. Michael kissed
the top of her head. "I know that it's hard when other
people say things to try to hurt us," he said, "Why do you
think they were teasing you?" "Because they're mean!!" said
Meagan. Elizabeth took her hand and said, "I
don't think that's it honey. Do you remember when we told
you why you shouldn't talk to Gramma Lee and Granpa Scott
about rituals?" Meagan nodded, "Uh-uh, 'cus they're
Christian and they're scared that we'll go to hell and so
they get really mad when we talk about it." Meagan's
parents smiled at each other. "That's right Meagan. They
don't understand why we are pagans and when people don't
understand things sometimes they get mad instead. Lot's of
people are afraid of things they don't understand but they
don't like being afraid and so they'll get mad to keep from
being so afraid," said Elizabeth, "Do you think that those
boys understand what being a Pagan is?" Meagan shook her
head.
Michael hugged her close. "Are you feeling a little
better?" he asked. "Yeah, I guess so," said Meagan.
"Well," said her daddy, "What would you like to do about
this? Do you think that we should talk to your teacher, or
to the boys?" Meagan thought about it. The boys'
teasing did make her feel bad but she knew that she was not
a bad person and she really liked going to rituals. "No,"
she said to her parents, "Maybe if we leave them alone for
awhile they will not bother me. When Bobby teased me about
my hair at day camp I just pretended like he wasn't there
and pretty soon he stopped doing it. Maybe these boys will
do the same thing." Her parents smiled at her. "That's a
really good idea Meagan," said Michael, "Let's leave them
alone for awhile and see what happens."
Elizabeth stood up, "So are you in a good enough mood
to make candles now?" she asked. "Oh yes!" said Meagan, her
face brightening as she jumped up from Michael's lap.
Meagan and her mother went into the kitchen. Just then,
Corwin came thumping down the stairs with something in his
hand. "Here Meagan," he said handing her a small circle of
metal, "I was saving this for your birthday, but I thought
it might cheer you up. I'm sorry I called you a
blabbermouth." Meagan looked at the disc in her hand. It
had her name on one side and runes on the other. "Thank-you
Corwin," she said, "What do the runes mean?" "Oh," said
Corwin, "this one stands for you and this one is for
protection and this one is for happiness. So, mom, are we
going to make candles now?" Elizabeth nodded, "Remember to
keep away from the stove Meagan, it's going to be very hot!"
They all worked hard to make candles for Imbolc. They
made green for the earth, yellow for air, red for fire, blue
for water and purple for spirit. They also made white
candles for the Lady and Her Lord. Meagan helped pick out
the scents for the candles. She had been studying oils told
her mother to add patchouli for earth. She decided they
should add lavender for air and cedar for fire. Meagan
wanted lilac for water and sandalwood for spirit.
But she couldn't decide which oils to use for the God and
the Goddess. She looked at the list of oils in her parent's
Book of Shadows. The Book of Shadows contained lots of
information, like rituals and lists of herbs, oils and
runes. She saw that carnation and jasmine both stood
for Imbolc. Carnation was listed as a masculine herb and
jasmine was a feminine herb. When she asked her mother what
that meant, Elizabeth told her that masculine meant 'male'
and feminine meant 'female'. So Meagan decided they should
put carnation and jasmine in the candles for the Lord and
Lady.
"Momma," asked Meagan, "why *do* we make candles for Imbolc?" Elizabeth set aside the hot wax. "Well," she
said, "do you remember what I said about what we celebrate
at Imbolc?" Meagan nodded, "We're celebrating because
Winter is starting to go away and Spring is coming back."
"That's right," said Elizabeth, "and we light candles to
remind the Sun to come back to us. On Saturday we'll have
an Imbolc ritual and light all the candles so that the Sun
will know where to come back. If you remember to take a nap
on Saturday you can stay up and go to Circle with us."
Meagan was excited. She loved to go to Circle and
she especially loved to sing the chants to honor the gods.
Just then, Starweaver jumped onto the table. "Oh no!" cried
Elizabeth, "Star, get down, you might get hurt by the hot
wax! Meagan, you'd better take him outside so he'll be
safe. The candles will have to cool and harden now. Corwin
can help me clean up." Meagan picked up Starweaver the way
her parents had taught her, holding him under his chest and
holding his back legs so that he would feel safe. She and
Starweaver went outside to play.
Soon, it was Saturday. The boys at school were still
teasing Meagan but because she didn't pay any attention to
them they weren't finding it as much fun as they had at
first. It still made Meagan feel bad and she had written a
story about how she felt and that made her feel better. On
Saturday Meagan helped her brother Corwin put the candles
all around the family room. In the winter their Coven met
in the family room because it was too cold to circle
outside. Meagan saw their High Priest Jeremy put a fire
extinguisher by the place where the gate to the circle would
be. That made her feel better since there would be so many
candles lit tonight. Soon it was time for ritual. Meagan
took a bath and got into her robe. When she
went downstairs she saw that all the candles had been lit.
The regular lights were out and the room looked like a
fairyland.
After circle everyone helped clean up. Meagan yawned.
She went over to Isabella who had been made an initiate in
their tradition. Isabella had been studying a long time to
learn all the things that their tradition said a first
degree initiate should know. Meagan knew that she had to
wait until she was grown up before she could become an
initiate. In their tradition a person had to be 18 before
they could become an initiate but Meagan's mother told her
that she could go ahead and learn many of the things that an
initiate had to know. She was already learning about oils
and herbs and things. Meagan went to kiss her mother
goodnight. Just as she was going to kiss her father she
yawned even bigger than before. Michael smiled at her,
"Excuse me everyone, I think a little girl needs a proper
escort to bed." He picked her up and carried her to her
bed. As Michael tucked her in, Starweaver jumped onto the
bed. Meagan cuddled up with him to go to sleep. She
decided to dream about the magic land of pancakes where the
rivers are made of syrup and all the leaves are different
flavored pancakes. When her mother came into check on her
she was sound asleep with a smile on her face. Her week had
started out bad, but ended up very, very good.
Meagan Makes Candles
copyright 1998
Meagan and her family traditionally make candles using molds
and the 'dip' method but they also use some alternative
candle making methods. One of Meagan's favorites is to make
handprint candles. They fill a shallow box with sand and
then wet it. Once the sand is wet you push your hand into
the sand and wiggle it gently and carefully remove it
leaving an imprint of your hand in the sand. You use votive
type wick holders and pour the wax into the sand...when the
candle has hardened you scoop a bit of the sand away and
lift it gently out. Some sand will remain attached to the
candle so carefully brush away any excess sand. You can
make other shaped candles using this method by using other
objects to make the mold. It's fun seeing what items will
work and what don't...just make sure you don't put in
anything that will be hurt by being in sand! Another fun
candle to make also recycles paper milk cartons. Open up
the carton and put in your wick. Now fill the carton with
ice and quickly pour in your wax. Once the ice has melted
you will have a lacy candle. Using different sized cartons
or pouring to different levels you can make a lovely display
for Imbolc or any other festive occasion.
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