Conversations from the Porch

18/06/2019

Two.

The planet is sounding all sorts of alarms—including with the mass death of birds.

08/06/2019

This is not ok. They say it's a rare occurrence, but it's not. It's pretty common place and it needs to stop.

Police say the attackers threw coins at the women and made a number of homophobic comments before punching them in the face.

15/04/2019

snoopynette is LIVE — Paris, France

21/03/2019

Oh no! That makes 3 this year for our community.
RIP

Very Sad News: Edain McCoy crossed over today at 12:35 p.m. after a couple weeks battle with influenza. We Will Remember Her

19/03/2019

And we didn't know it was coming 🤔😮

Scientists recently observed a meteor exploding over the Bering Sea with the energy of 10 atomic bombs. It’s officially the second largest fireball of its kind to occur this century.

18/03/2019

We can all come together.

17/03/2019

A total of 50 people have died in the massacre, as of Sunday.

17/03/2019

“Here is a new challenge for all you bored teens.”

25/02/2019

In traditional Norwegian society, like absolutely anywhere else, there was only one way to become a master musician, and that was through meticulous practice and dedication, preferably under the guidance of a master. For many fortunate souls the teacher came in the form of a close relative, if not t

03/02/2019

The practice of witchcraft in the U.S. has rise dramatically over the past few decades, with millennials turning to astrology, tarot cards and Wicca beliefs as they turn away from Christianity and other traditional religions.

25/01/2019

Miami
Beginning Friday, from Noon to 2 p.m., Chef Michi will be providing free hot meals to furloughed federal workers and their families in South Florida. She just needs them show up with a valid government identification.

Also providing free meals to furloughed employees are Subway at the Miami International Airport.

Come have an arroz con pollo or have a croqueta. Thursday night in Miami's Little Havana superstar Chef Michelle Bernstein is busy launching her new restaurant: Cafe La Trova. 

20/01/2019

Federal workers and their families can stop by the Soul Kitchen between noon and 2 p.m. Monday for their free meals.

Federal workers and their families can stop by the Soul Kitchen between noon and 2 o'clock Monday for their free meals.

20/01/2019

the billionaire philanthropist has made good on his promise to protect undeveloped and bio-diverse land in the picturesque western Carolina mountains for future generations.

For over a decade Fortnite creator Tim Sweeney has been purchasing forest land to preserve and protect it for future generations.

27/12/2018

23/11/2018

23/11/2018

Thanksgiving is nothing to celebrate for Native Americans, who are gathering in the town where the Pilgrims settled for a solemn National Day of Mourning observance. Thursday's noon gathering in downtown Plymouth, Massachusetts, will recall the disease, racism and oppression that the...

31/10/2018

Blessed Samhain from our Hearth to Yours.

Samhain had three distinct elements. Firstly, it was an important fire festival, celebrated over the evening of 31 October and throughout the following day.

The flames of old fires had to be extinguished and ceremonially re-lit by druids.

It was also a festival not unlike the modern New Year's Day in that it carried the notion of casting out the old and moving into the new.

To our pagan ancestors it marked the end of the pastoral cycle – a time when all the crops would have been gathered and placed in storage for the long winter ahead and when livestock would be brought in from the fields and selected for slaughter or breeding.

But it was also, as the last day of the year, the time when the souls of the departed would return to their former homes and when potentially malevolent spirits were released from the Otherworld and were visible to mankind.
https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/origin-of-Halloween.html

31/10/2018

Blessed Samahin to you all

30/10/2018

On Samhain Eve, supper was served in absolute silence, and one place was set at the head of the table "for the ancestors". This place was served food and drink without looking directly at the seat, for to see the dead would bring misfortune. Afterwards, the untouched plate and cup were taken outside "for the pookas", and left in the woods. In other traditions, this is the night to remember, honor, and toast our beloved departed, for the veil between the living and the dead is thin, and communication is possible on Samhain Eve.
https://www.druidry.org/druid-way/teaching-and-practice/druid-festivals/samhain/deeper-samhain

29/10/2018

Mythology tells us that when the invaders of Ireland known as the Miliseans landed at the Boyne, they made their way to Tara. Once there, they were advised by the Druids that they should return to their ships and sail off the shore to the length of nine waves. When they were on the sea a great storm arose which scattered their fleet. The commander of one of the ships was Donn. His ship was broken to pieces in the storm and he himself drowned along with twenty four of his comrades. He was buried on the Skellig Islands off the coast of Kerry.

He is the first of the new wave of invaders to meet his death in Ireland and, as such, he became elevated to the status of god of the dead. The place of his burial became known as Tech Donn - The house of Donn, and soon became identified with with the otherworld. The Celts were fascinated with tracing their ancestry back as far as they could and often they identified their earliest ancestors with the gods of their peoples. Hence, a belief arose that when they died they went to the house of their ancestor, the god of the otherworld.

It is interesting to note that the abode of Donn, on the Skellig Islands, is just a few miles from the traditional home of Mog Ruith at Valentia Island. As well as being geographical neighbours, both are closely associated with Samhain, when it can be said that Mog Ruith as sungod sojourns at the realm of the underworld, the abode of Donn.

Donn is seen as a retiring god who prefers the isolation of the bleak Skelligs and remains aloof from the other gods. His name means "brown" and he is associated with the shadowy realm of the dead. O'hOgain tells us that a ninth century text attributes a highly significant quotation to him "To me, to my house, you shall come after your death"

Many other sources say that the dead assemble at his house and describe deceased people travelling to and from here. Fishermen in the area were wont to hear strange boats passing to the island at night and the names of those who disembarked were called out.
https://www.newgrange.com/samhain.htm

28/10/2018

Samhain is almost here..The Veil is almost thin.. are you feeling it?

26/10/2018

As a portal into the Underworld of your Psyche, Samhain is also a time to burrow deep into the caverns of your unconscious mind and your Shadow Self.
https://lonerwolf.com/halloween-samhain-rituals/

25/10/2018

One of the Celtic idiosyncrasies was the concept of everything beginning in darkness, and then works its way towards the light. This means that the year started with the season of winter, and the days started at sundown of what we now see as “the previous day”. This means that, according to Celtic timekeeping, the night of October 31st was an integral part of Samhain, known as oiche shamhna or "evening of Samhain". After all, this is also reflected in the modern “Halloween”, which in itself means “All Hallow’s Evening”, and in that way is simply a precursor to November 1st as well.
https://www.tripsavvy.com/samhain-irish-feast-1542530

24/10/2018

6 Days Until Samhain! Samhain
Chant for Samhain

A year of beauty. A year of plenty.
A year of planting. A year of harvest.
A year of forests. A year of healing.
A year of vision. A year of passion.
A year of rebirth.

This year may we renew the earth.
This year may we renew the earth.

Let it begin with each step we take.
And let it begin with each change we make.
And let it begin with each chain we break.
And let it begin every time we awake.

From http://www.beliefnet.com/.

23/10/2018

Today is officially Scorpio Season!
The Scorpio-born are strong willed, passionate, intelligent, jealous, possessive and secretive, and they know how to effortlessly grab the limelight, as they possess what it takes to achieve their goals. They have a magnetic charm that can't be ignored.

Shoutout to all you Scorpio's out there. Happy Birthday!

23/10/2018

We will call their names at Samhain. What is remembered lives.