March 2006 APA newsletter
Editress Ginger Strivelli
The ole APA started planning our annual May Day Celebration
this month…we hope to have a good crowd, and a good time
this year. With the usual jokes about the maypole standing
in the spare tire and the Jesus piñata we have been making
our lists and checking them twice about who is in charge of
what. We’ve also had several new APAers join the yahoo group,
where we do this daily bantering.
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Spring Equinox Report
By Angel Walden
Occurring on or around March 21, the spring or Vernal Equinox
is one of 2 days of the year when day and night are equal.
Eostre, also known as Ostara, who is an ancient Saxon Goddess
of new life and fertility, is connected to this celebration.
Legend has her being saved by a bird whose wings had been
frozen by the cold of winter, but eventually turned into a
hare who could lay eggs. The church adapted this celebration
into Easter with the egg, for new life or beginnings and
the rabbit/hare for fertility as it's symbols. They also seem
to use the name Easter as a variant of the Goddess Eostre,
who was honored in this celebration.
Various Gods and Goddesses associated with spring are Venus,
who is, among other things, a nature Goddess associated with
spring, Demeter (Ceres) brings spring when her daughter,
Persephone, is returned, Dionysus' festival is held in the
spring when the vine leaves begine to ripen, Blodeuwedd, who
is the Welsh Goddess of spring created from flowers, Maia,
the Roman Goddess of spring, Xipe Totec, the Aztec God of
springtime and regrowth.
This is a good time to plant flowers and such on this day
of celebrating the beginning of spring. Some symbols are
associated with the day. Hot Cross Buns are offered, the equal
armed cross is for a solar cross and the surrounding circular
shape represents the eternal cycle of birth, death and rebirth.
The tradition of wearing new clothes for the Eoster
festivities comes from initiates into the Mysteries to wear
new clothes to reflect the fresh, new beginning of their
life. “Wearing o’ the green” was also a common ‘like purposes
like ritual to implore Spring to dress Mother Nature in
Her green gown again after the long infertile Winter.
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Poem By Paula Swaney
My universe moves with rhythm
A rhythm determined by mood and emotion
Effected by ecstatic music
Driven by desire to live
My universe has given birth to other universes
Melding itself with another
Giving forth the perfect blend of each
A union of love and desire
My universe cant be defined by rules and theory
It was once a blend of others
Became unique with growth and knowledge
Evolving into something divine
My universe is strong and powerful in its imperfection
Frail in its omnipotence
Sustained by distraction
Depleted by consciousness
My universe contains life, supports life and lives life
Self destructs, reinvents itself,
Draws in, lashes out and heals
A never-ending cycle of beginnings
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Tarot suggested reading list.
By Ginger Strivelli
Actually a list of tarot cards suggested by this ‘reader’
for y’all who ‘read’ the cards too.
The Tarot of the Ages is a wonderfully collection of
artwork from various ancient cultures about Mother Earth,
including Aztec, Viking, Egyptian, West African and Hindu.
It is a great deck for all purpose questions, but I find
it particularly good at money/work issues. Also excellent
conduit of repast life readings.
The Cloisters (round) deck is another beautifully artistic
deck, looking like stained glass rose windows…it works
very well for most topics, but I find it works best on
Spiritual issues questions and Issues with learning, study
and such mind/soul work.
The “Whimsical Deck’ is a great ‘fairy tales’ theme that
makes for an easy to learn on deck..also is good for
questions about kids or pets, I find.
The Renaissance deck is a romantically themed artwork
deck which does seem to work best for questions about
matters of the heart, which it seems to have been intended
to be.
The Spiral deck is another ’all-purpose’ questions good
choice, and again the artwork is detailed and beautiful,
which I think is a absolute necessity for a good Tarot
deck or oracle cards deck. The visual element must be
enlightening and engaging to the reader..and this reader
is an artist with a love for art, so I tend to like the
more beautiful artsy decks.
Speaking of ‘oracle’ decks. Meaning decks of cards used
to divine with that aren’t based on the major arcana and
4 suits standard tarot deck, two of my favorite oracle decks
are the ‘Goddesses knowledge’ Deck and the
‘power of the flower’ deck. Both are great to give
‘advice’ when you already know the problem, and just
need guidance as to how to better the situation. The
‘Goddesses knowledge deck’ has better artwork, of course
being the paintings of various Goddesses by the
wonderful artist Susan Boulet.
