.: May 2010

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pagan meaning of the Summer Solstice

I've always been drawn to the moon as summer lovers are drawn to the sun. I prefer to walk in the twilight hours or night when a blanket of stars surround a full moon. To stand skyclad (au natural) on a beach or deep in the forest to commune with nature charges me with a snap of electric energy. My birthday is on July 18th, I'm a Cancer, the crab and find comfort in all things from the sea and sand. I've had the honor of joining Wiccan covens in the forest for ceremonies surrounding the natural celestial occurrences of mother earth. The one time I walk in the sunlight is during Litha.

Litha, or Midsummer, is one of the four solar festivals observed by many Wiccan and Pagan traditions on June 21st. Litha is an ancient Solar celebration when the sun reaches its zenith in the sky. It is the longest day of the year and the point at which the sun seems to just hang there without moving – in fact, the word “solstice” is from the Latin word solstitium, which literally translates to “sun stands still.” Stone circles such as Stonehenge were oriented to highlight the rising of the sun on the day of the summer solstice.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Reading Dreams the Gypsy Way

On my gypsy side, I was taught by my great grandmother Lucia that all animals dream, whether they have nightmares of predators or just running for play, every being dreams. Psychologists would tell you that dreams and sleep keep you sane. What gypsies believe is that a dream can foretell your future or present circumstance. In gypsy lore, there are many symbols that may come one at a time or many in the same night. Deciphering these dreams takes years of apprenticeship and are discussed openly among the Romany and other clans. If you dream you are under the warm sun...a worry will be relieved. If the sun comes out from behind a cloud...you will learn a truth about something that has eluded you. Symbols you may think will bring you harm or dark days are in fact good omens...like wounds, cuts, bruises and illness could mean love will come unexpectedly or a hasty marriage is in your future.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Embracing the Irish Gypsy

The Irish Gypsy's Parlor allows me to stretch out as an author of paranormal using my heritage as both a gypsy and my family's history of Wicca. I can trace my family on both sides from the wandering gypsies across Europe to the Irish Wiccans who came to Massachusetts. There is something very comforting in knowing where you come from and where you're going. After three decades of serving my country, working in an operating room and traveling extensively...I've found my niche. I will share everything from the family Book of Shadows to the old Gypsy sayings, tarot readings and spells. Enjoy the paranormal novel excerpts, the ambiance and remember...And ye harm no one...do what ye will...

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Author Blog now PARANORMAL!

Welcome to the Irish Gypsy's Parlor...This is where all the characters from my novels will share their lives with us. A gypsy love spell is on the blog today and I'll be creating niche areas that will draw you into the world of gypsies and wiccans. Share your thoughts, talk to the characters and read the novels to bring you closer to your favorite hero or heroine.

Tales of the Red Moon Clan, buy it NOW!

Tales of the Red Moon Clan

BUY LINK for Noble Romance Publishing

If you own a KINDLE, use the Amazon button to the left.

Neol Pallaton walks alone through the bowels of society as a bounty hunter, until he shifts into a cougar to save Assistant D.A. Sara Hughes from certain death. A relentless killer keeps them moving by day through the Oregon forest—and by night under the full moon, passion rules their hearts.

The rugged forest is no place for a beautiful and feisty city woman, but Neol’s determined to help Sara piece together why she's being hunted. Sara thought bounty hunters were brutal loners who stretched the law she’s sworn to uphold. But Neol proves that no one can hunt, track and protect her like a Navajo medicine man from the Red Moon Clan.

Neol is willing to anger the spirits to protect his one true mate. Sara will have to bend the law to keep Neol and her alive—and together forever.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Gypsy Omens

Animals

Cats & Dogs--If a black cat should cross your path it brings good luck. If the cat stops to look at you the luck will be greater, but if the cat spits at you it brings back luck. Dogs howling for no apparent reason brings news of death.

Spiders--spiders hold a deep fascination with gypsies and you should never kill a spider. If a spider should attach a filament of web upon you, the fates are about to make a change in your life.

Butterflies--A butterfly settling upon a young woman foretells a pregnancy; on an older woman it signifies a new baby in the family. On anyone else the butterfly foretells a time of celebration & frivolity.

Nature

The Moon--To see the new moon out of doors is very lucky. You should bow to her three times, then turn your money over three times; it will increase ninefold by the next new moon. Make a wish on the full moon, and of course you should always wish on a shooting star - but never tell your wish to another, or it loses its power and won't come true.

Gypsy Magick

The Gypsies say that the power of magick lies in four simple ingredients. The first of these is the desire/need of the practitioner. The stronger your desire for something to happen and the stronger your need for a thing, then the stronger is the power that you generate towards that goal. We can say, then, that the first ingredient (indeed the first necessity) for successful magick is will.

Along with the will for something to happen must go a certain amount of concentration, the second ingredient. It is no good doing anything, least of all magick, in a halfhearted manner. You must concentrate on what you are doing so that you can put that necessary will power into it.

There is no magick wand as described in children's fairy tales. There is no way you can wave a wand or utter a chant or spell, and FLASH! the thing is done. No; even magick takes time. Some spells can have effect within 24 hours, but most take longer. Some can take weeks, months, or even more. So the third ingredient is patience. Do the spell with the necessary will power, give it the required concentration; then be content to sit back and wait for it to have effect... and it will take effect.

The final ingredient is simply secrecy. Gypsies don't announce when they are doing magick, nor what exactly they are doing. They do it quietly, within the privacy of their vardos. So you, too, should keep secret what you are doing. By running around telling - perhaps bragging to - your friends, you are only weakening the power of what you have done.

~Raymond Buckland, Secrets of Gypsy Love Magick

Book of Shadows

SONG OF THE GODDESS

I am the Great Mother, worshiped by all creation and existent prior to their consciousness. I am the primal female force, boundless and eternal.

I am the chaste Goddess of the Moon, the Lady of all magic. The winds and moving leaves sing my name. I wear the crescent Moon upon my brow and my feet rest among the starry heavens. I am mysteries yet unsolved, a path newly set upon. I am a field untouched by the plow. Rejoince in me and know the fullness of youth.

I am the blessed Mother, the gracious Lady of the harvest. I am clothed with the deep, cool wonder of the Earth and the gold of the fields heavy with grain. By me the tides of the Earth are ruled; all things come to fruition according to my season. I am refuge and healing. I am the life-giving Mother, wondrously fertile.

Worship me as the Crone, tender of the unbroken cycle of death and rebirth. I am the wheel, the shadow of the Moon. I rule the tides of women and men and give release and renewal to weary souls. Though the darkness of death is my domain, the joy of birth is my gift.

I am the Goddess of the Moon, the Earth, the Seas. My names and strengths are manifold. I pour forth magic and power, peace and wisdom. I am the eternal Maiden, Mother of all, and Crone of darkness, and I send you blessings of limitless love.

Pages