Flowers & Plants in ceremony

Christmas Cactus, Holly and Mistletoe, Roses, Blackberries, Grains, Sunflowers, Hawthorn, Bluebells, Daffodils, Dandelion and Snowdrops, Bile Tortain (cedar tree)- ideas how to use in a centre, a prayer, activities and traditions.

Imbolc – the maiden goddess is symbolised by the purity and innocence of white dew bejewelled snowdrops, gentle and apparently fragile these little plants are tough and bold bursting through the frozen ground, the first stirrings of Spring. White is said to be the colour of heaven. In the earliest centuries of the Christian church all vestments were white.

Spring Equinox – joyful golden yellow or deep royal purple of crocus and merry daffodils, naturally yellow but also in pinks, whites, creams and orange, remind us of what has lain waiting in the ground, the bulbs ready when the time is right to burst forth. White and pink cherry and apple blossom promises an abundant future harvest.

Bealtaine – fresh green leaves and foliage burst forth in hedgerows and fairy hawthorn trees' white flowers form drifts across the land, as if the snow had returned. Under the still bare woodland canopy peaceful bluebells nod, releasing a subtle scent. Most flowers bloom in the Spring and our attention is heightened as they call to us for admiration and praise.

Summer Solstice – the mother goddess, her blood colours representing the life force which is full and strong, coursing through all of nature, springs up in vibrant orange/red poppies, their passion warmed in the heat of the sun. We feel most alive and nurtured in the summer.

Lammas – the land is still green, with sunlight and wispy clouds playing every shade over the hillsides and harvest rich fields. From gold and yellow to deepest orange, warming and ripening energies are expressed in the beige and brown of expanding food grains and grasses.

Autumn Equinox – red of ripened apples and abundant black and red berries continue the harvest theme as the earth mother shares her cornucopia of abundance.

Samhain – yellow, orange and red fire colours are a last hurrah of autumnal leaves as many of the plants and trees withdraw their life force, the mother goddess growing more restful and ready to put her feet up.

Winter Solstice – the crone goddess in her guise of all absorbing black of the lengthening night exhibits the colour of darkness when all rests, recalling the stark truth and wisdom of life and the deep mystery of it all. In this state we are reminded of eternity by the evergreen, spiked, waxy dark green leaves and vibrant blood red berries of holly, yew and pine.

This is taken from the Blog Colour

Plant Conversations

Plants and trees draw most of their nutrients from the soils around their roots and they embody and express the land on which they grow.

Stop reading now and go to the nearest leaf you have – maybe a lettuce leaf in the fridge, a potted herb on the window cill, a tree or plant in the garden.

Just as you wouldn't go out and grab the nearest person in the street so with the plant.

Ask the plant silently, or out loud, if you may hold it and ask it to show you its ancestors or anything it wishes to share with you. You will instinctively know if the leaf will 'play game' with you.

I just did this with a cabbage leaf and had the impression of a tropical Pacific island swamp. Not the environment usually associated with cabbage.

Searching the internet I discovered the cabbage tree that grows in the swamps and damp places throughout New Zealand. It provided cabbage like leaves as food for early settlers and was known as a food source for the Maori. The leaf from my cabbage was showing me some of its relatives by name. Interesting that when others tried this they were also presented with tropical climates. The primeval swamps from the beginning times of earth.

Closure:

I close the circle to the apparent world, thank the guides, guardians, beings, times and realms that have joined in this celebration. Sin sin, that's it.