Mabh Savage's Blog: A Celtic Witch, page 15

Keep Turning the Lights Off

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I sometimes feel

In the singular

Even in my own home

Flicking switches

Tightening taps

Rinsing our eggshells

Crushing them

Like brittle dreams

But over time

My way is becoming

The way

Save the jars

Scrub and recycle the plastic

Make towers of tubs

And rockets from

Rubicon cans

Just mind those sharp edges

The challenge is fatigue

Sometimes it’s just easier

To throw it all in one bin

To leave the house bright and lit

No dark space

For contemplation

But the world is on fire

Greta wasn’t joking

When she told us

The world is on fire

Australia is on fire

America has been on fire

Portugal has been on fire

Midden heaps exploding

In the midday sun

So my fatigue

The thoughtless laziness

Of small boys

And larger

Is meaningless

But action

Means very much indeed

So sort the bins

Walk to the shops

Patch the clothes

Replace fuses, not fridges

And when it’s hard

I’ll just keep

Turning the lights off

One at a time.

Image via Unsplash, Skye Studios, @skyestudiosmedia

Imbolc Book Club: On Now!

What’s your favourite Pagan book for beginners? Come tell us all about it at the Imbolc Book Club!

https://facebook.com/events/s/pf-imbolc-book-club/617211628849368/?ti=icl

Imbolc Blessings!

May the first stirrings of spring be felt joyfully within you. Here’s my musings from last year:

https://mabhsavage.com/2019/02/01/imbolc-treasure/

From Europe to Eternity

As much as I would like to say something meaningful about the U.K., my home, leaving the European Union today, I’m finding it hard to find the words. I feel a bit numb; like it’s a bad dream I might wake up from. But then, I’m hyper aware of how melodramatic that sounds, especially to those who either supported the Leave campaign or who don’t care much either way.

I firmly believe this is the wrong decision. I believe that we are stronger together. I believe that as an island country with no empire (despite what some seem to believe) and few meaningful trade agreements as yet, we will struggle. There’s this pervasive attitude of “Well, we’ll struggle through together! Like in the war!” But… we shouldn’t have to. We shouldn’t have to.

Having said that, little I or anyone else can say will change what’s going to happen today. We are leaving the EU. Bloody hell, I’ve got a tear in my eye as I write this. We are leaving the EU and now all we can do is this: unify. We must, we have to forget the things that divide us and work together to make sure no one suffers because of the changes that are coming. We need to become a nation of kindness, of compassion, of celebrated diversity and acceptance for all. We need to be firm and fight when required, whether via letters to MPs, protests, or at the voting booth. We need to keep our voices, all our voices, loud and steady, as steady as they can be, to ensure fairness for everyone. Opportunities for everyone.

We are leaving. Nothing can change that now. Britain looks into eternity alone, with uncertainty, with at least eleven months of trials and trade agreement troubles and trepidation. Let’s make it as easy as we can by being the best we can for each other. The best we can be.

Thursday Thoughts…

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I Realised I Was Air

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I realised I was air today

After years of toying with fire

Getting fingers burned yet

Revelling in the pain

Believing I may be a green witch

A child of the earth

Because I could grow things

Back from almost nothing

Nurturing and coaxing straggling shoots

Back to life.

Then when the house nearly flooded

Over and over

I thought water was mad at me

For not taking notice

For not paying it enough attention

Or respect.

But I realised I was air today.

Standing in the kitchen

The door slightly open

So the cats could run in and out

As they pleased

The wind blew hard and sudden

Trees whipping wildly

And the grass transformed to waves

I felt it

Right down my spine

The thrill of the wind

And I remembered

Laughing on the edge of a cliff

Stormy nights and days made dark to match

Clouds scudding across the moon

Battering door frames and windows

And the slow, elegant breaths of meditation.

Suddenly the rain started

The green garden glinted gloriously

Like a great flat emerald

And the central heating roaring behind me

The fire in my heart and hearth

Of this modern age

And I became confused

With the heat, the soil, the dripping sky

But then the wind howled, triumphant

Clearing the cobwebs away

You are air, they say

Realise, you are air.

The Christmas Tree

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May you have a wonderful Yuletide or Christmas, however you may be celebrating or spending your time these next few days. Here’s my musings on the magic of the Christmas Tree over at Pagan Pages:

https://paganpages.org/emagazine/2019/12/01/notes-from-the-apothecary-56/

Luke Eastwood: How to Save the Planet

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Let me start by saying that this kind of primer is absolutely essential. We know climate change is a serious issue. We know humans have the biggest impact on the planet. As a society, we understand this. But on an individual level, I think our understanding has that surreal kind of disconnection that means we don’t quite get that it means us. You. Me. Everyone. We all have to change and we all have to change now. Luke’s book is not only a way to reconnect with this truth but guidance on exactly how to do this.

How to Save the Planet is handily split into ten simple steps. Just reading the contents page isn’t enough though. Luke takes each point and expands upon it, exploring the collective sense of denial I touched upon above but more importantly explaining why each action is vital and the impact it will have.

For example, buying less stuff isn’t just an individual’s impact on natural resources and their own carbon footprint, but about sending a message to manufacturers and retailers that demand is dropping and they should make less and offer less in the first place.

Luke also considers reducing the amount of meat we consume- from a meat lover’s perspective. Too often, people presume that everyone preaching “eat less meat” has been vegan for decades and “doesn’t understand” the need for animal-based protein. Luke, like myself, enjoys eating fish and meat but recognises that the meat industry is not only bad news for the animals we eat, but for the wider environment. Eating less meat is achievable and I think hearing that message from an actual meat eater has the potential to have a much more powerful impact among die-hard carnivores.

Luke touches on issues which can be very controversial: family size, travel, and our responsibilities as humans to campaign for a better world. These can be emotional topics, but the more we open up a healthy debate about them, the closer we get to a genuine societal realisation that we can make changes and those changes really will make a positive difference to this amazing planet.

I’m going to read this book to my husband and kids and I’m going to give copies, digitally purchased of course, to all my friends. Please, take a look inside and realise that you are so important and vital and integral to our planet’s survival. You really can help save the world. And so can we all.

Buy Luke’s book here.

Blackbirds and the General Election

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Despite the pouring rain, the garden has been full of birds today, primarily blackbirds. They are out in force, braving the weather to get the food they need, to keep themselves fit for the future and the cold months ahead.

I hope we are like the blackbirds. I hope we are out in force, making the changes we need so we can remain fit in the future. Fed. Warm. Finishing work before we die. Healthy without being bankrupt. Well educated- or at least with the choice to be.

Let us stretch our wings and brave the weather. It’s going to get cold, so wrap up warm, ask a neighbour for help, help a neighbour if you can, watch out for treacherous pathways and busy traffic; watch out for each other. Let’s get out there as a community and vote.

I won’t tell you who to vote for. I just hope that you can vote with the most vulnerable in mind. The Conservative manifesto promises to cut funding for children with learning disabilities and autism within four years, plus there’s no money in the first year to support parental leave or childcare. Families will suffer. The promises to the NHS are warped and twisted and don’t cover the cuts already made. And if leaving Europe is your main agenda, if it hasn’t happened by now, I struggle to see how the incumbent party can make it happen. To be clear, I don’t want to leave Europe. I believe we are stronger together, building local, national and global communities on a foundation of compassionate and kindness, to each other and the environment around us.

The blackbirds sing noisily, backing up Damh the Bard and his Sons and Daughters of Robin Hood. This song reminds us of our power, that we hold the key to who remains in power.

If you think that we would do nothing, you’ve misunderstood…

I truly hope that today, together, we do something. Make a change. Vote for a cleaner world, a kinder world, a world where more people have opportunities. A world where gender and sexuality and race and religion and ability aren’t used as tools to divide and isolate people.

The blackbird is the gatekeeper of dawn and dusk, the bird of transition. They indicate change, transformation, and liminality. As they sing now, my heart dips then soars and tears fill my eyes as my anxiety batters me but hope flutters ceaselessly. This is a liminal time indeed. May the blackbirds be an omen of change for the better.

Pagan Federation: New Poetry Book!

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I’m very excited to announce that The Pagan Federation Anthology of Pagan Poetry (Volume 1) has been published and is available to buy on Amazon.

I have two poems in the anthology, plus there’s poetry from Dan Coultas (who brought the anthology together), Eleanor Rose, Krystal Holmes, Jenny Luddington, and The Bee- plus loads more amazing pagan poets.

All proceeds from the book go to fund the Pagan Federation, the organisation supporting the rights of Pagans right across the U.K.

Buy it here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Pagan-Federation-Anthology-Poetry/dp/171032693X/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=Pagan+poetry&qid=1575569591&sr=8-2