October 2021 Goddess of the Month: Themis

 

The Titaness Themis presides of justice and divine law.  She was prophetic. Most oracles, including Delphi, were under her care before they came to be Apollo's domain. She is the mother of the Horea (seasons) and the Fates. She is often considered the first wife of Zeus. 

Themis often worked hand in hand with the goddess Nemesis to ensure that justice was carried out. Themis, like many of the female Titans, was neutral during the war between the Olympians and the Titan gods, and thus retained her position as the goddess of law and order when the Olympians rose to power. 

Eventually, Themis rose to the heavens and became the constellation Libra, her scales of justice a symbol in the night sky. 

To honor this goddess, carry stones like jasper, agate, or ruby with you to encourage balanced decisions and fair play. You can carry a nutmeg, or cook with it, for luck and to sway things your way. 

Sources:

Theoi.com https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisThemis.html

Greek Legends and Myths: https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/themis.html

Photo credit Sergi Takmakov

October Challenge: Eat Better Together

 October is National Eat Better, Eat Together Month. While we GG's are a family in our own way, sitting at the table isn't possible, but we can each resolve to eat better. That's going to mean something different for each one of us. For some it may be cutting out a heavy evening snack, others it may be watching sugar, salt, or calorie intakes more closely. For others, it may be cutting back on caffeine or ultra-processed foods. Let us know in the challenge thread what you will be paying closer attention to. If you like taking pictures of your food, leave us a picture of your delicious healthy meal. If you have an awesome healthy recipe you'd like to share head down to the recipe swap thread and leave us a link or the recipe itself.  

We might not be able to gather but we can certainly Eat Better Together. 

photo credit: Pali Graficas

Mabon/Autumn Equinox

As originally written by Paula (MYRINA_SAVANT) 

MABON 20st-24th September

Also known as: Autumnal Equinox, Fall Equinox, September Equinox, Harvest Tide, Harvest Home, Harvest Festival.

Mabon is the second harvest and a busy time for all farmers as they gather in the crops.

A season of plenty with fruits, grains and vegetables in abundance.

A Harvest Festival or Thanksgiving is a wonderful way to honour the Season.

Creating a menu for this Sabbat is extra special for me as it is my Birthday on the 21st September.

Each year I make a new menu and enjoy trying new recipes.

Mabon Foods include:

Fruits:Apples, Blackberries, Raspberries, Peaches, Pears, Plums

Vegetables: Eggplant, Beetroot, Potatoes and Sweet potatoes, Butternut Squash, Sweetcorn and various root crops.

Nuts and Seeds

Bread

Meat and Fish: Roasted meats, Fish of various types

Share your Mabon Menu and add pictures if you want to.

Spiritual Focus

Abundance

Accomplishment

Balance

Gratitude

Symbols and Tools

Cornucopias

Baskets

Scarecrows

Garlands

Colours

Brown

Gold

Green

Orange

Red

Yellow

IDEAS TO PLAY WITH

Many of us live in urban settings making it harder to celebrate the seasons as many do who live in rural areas. However we can still enjoy the celebration of this season.

Walking in a park we appreciate the wonders of Autumn and we can pick up leaves to add to our altars.

Being creative with our altar decorations we can make jars with leaves stuck to them using Mod podge.

sparkandchemistry.com/blog/leaf-maso

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Have some fun with food make your own edible Cornucopia with an ice-cream cone and fill it with fruits

Make an apple pie or crumble

Individual pies are nice and you can add cinnamon to them as well, add some soft caramel chopped up small and you will have an extra treat to your apple pie. If your sure about the caramel melting use Fudge it is softer and works just as well.

octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2014/09/lit

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Bake some bread.

Okay breadmaking is time consuming some may have a bread maker many do not have one. You can get bread mixes that can be made by hand, all you need is water, a little kneading, resting and proving before baking and you have fresh homemade bread.

You can get all sorts of bread types on the supermarket shelves. Try some out and find your favourite.

Still not your thing, how about part baked bread, you can get rolls and baguettes that are part baked and in 8 minutes you have fresh baked bread.

Don't forget depending on what you decide to have for your Mabon meal you can get part baked Garlic bread as well.

What ever you do have fun and please share how you celebrate Mabo