i have checked out of the library a scholarly book (published 1962) about surviving Lughnasa traditions in Ireland.  i have been reading it.  it is to me a precious treasure.
i hope to visit "Council Ring" a high point in a state park for a Lammas ritual around the time of that festival.

Here's something that was posted in an email list i'm on; LB=Lemon Balm

Hey guys, I've never grown nor tasted LB before; so, I would like to see if anyone has had any similar experiences as myself.

For the longest time, after scattering and germinating my seeds, it seemed like they were taking forever to get any size and ght on them, until we got some much warmer weather and a couple week's worth of great rain--then, they really shot up! So, I decided to pick a single, somewhat smallish-sized leaf, and ate it. That night I had a series of rather unusually intense and vivid dreams! (They were, of course, non-prophetic. ) Lately, though, my dreams have not been very intense or vivid, and were easily forgettible. So, trying to test a hypothesis, I waited a couple days before attempting to try LB again, and had very mild and easily forgotten dreams in the interim, until I tried LB just yesterday: I chewed up two leave in the afternoon, and had one helluva' trippy dream that was far more intense and vivid!

So, I was wondering if anyone else who's tried LB has encountered similar experiences? Indeed, one wonders if this is why it was regarded as being sacred to Artemis and Her priesthood, the Melissae (aside from the fact that it is used to help bees locate their hives, and "melissae" means "honeybee" in Greek)?

http://www.gpnc.org/cottonwood.htm

this site says there are both male and female cottonwoods, and the females produce the seeds, so i guess Sister Cottonwood must really be a female!

tonight (and i think last night too) i saw fireflies!  sign of summer, if you ask me.
there's a huge cottonwood tree in my neighborhood i like to visit; today she (i call her "Sister Cottonwood" and sometimes "Grandma Cottonwood")  was surrounded by little cottony things on the ground ; cottonwood seeds, i gather?

from this prompt:

black and white--
the concert becomes a ritual
where the two become mixed
into a thousand shades of grey.
the jazzy rhythm is the heartbeat of this beast,
this new, temporary creature-spirit of an event,
and all clap and dance and swing to the heartbeat
--performer and audience as one, no longer so cleft into two.

after centering prayer at a local UCC church, i acknowledged the Trinity and elements at a large stone block outside it (as if it were an altar) and the Beltane feast and left a dandelion on it.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Mother, Amen.
May there be peace in the east with brother Air, the realm of the sky, the cool and warm breezes, the sparrows, robins, grackles, doves, and other birds, the fragrance of flowers.  May disease be stopped and not spread.
May there be peace in the south with brother Fire, the sacred eternal flame, the waxing sun, the energy and passion of youth, the sunniness of dandelions.
May there be peace in the west with sister Water, the realm of the sea, the sacred well, the sap flowing in plants and blood flowing in animals, the rain and mist.
May there be peace in the north with Sister Earth, the realm of the land, the sacred tree of life, the blossoming soil, the fruitful rabbits and other animals, the fertile farms.
O Holy Trinity, be with me now: Holy Father, Lord God, our Sun and Shield; Jesus Christ, Bridegroom of my soul; Holy Spirit, our Mother. Amen.
I honor too the saints of the season: George of the green earth, Mark of the fiery Gospel, Walburga of the sacred mountain rites, Mary the queen of the may, Monica of the clooties and may trees, Julian of Norwich and the sixteen shewings of divine love.
Trinity, elements, and saints:  It is now the cross-quarter festival of Beltaine, "bright fire", between the spring equinox and summer solstice.

Today was a lovely warm day....and i saw a dandelion, the first this year.  I was on a walk and i sang a chant that goes, "Like a bee my mind is buzzing 'round the beautiful feet of the Divine Mother, the Divine Mother" (originally it had slightley different words; see here )  and i imagined harmony and melodic variations as i sang, and i thought of changing it a bit more to stuff like "...feet of Holy Sophia, Holy Sophia."  I could sing it at Beltan, but also at summer solstice, associated as it is with John the Baptist, who is associated with bees and beekeepers (remember how he ate wild honey?)

Tags: beltane, midsummer

candle(s) and mb incense will be Beltane "bale-fire" in my room--consecrate wand in its smoke

ETA: not sure i'm ready for that

Tags: beltane

lots of green leaf buds on trees and bushes now! yay.