I'm on YouTube!

Oh my, I'm not sure this is a good thing ;)

While attending PantheaCon I participated with the WOW Besom Brigade! A "precision" drill team of Witches in pointy-hats with brooms!

While dancing around the Circle, I'm following the Witch in a kilt, and I'm No. 5 in our Precision Pentacle Presentation.

This fabulous chaos was facilitated by Macha, was says,

I would think doing this would appeal to any able-bodied Witch with a sense of humor, one who doesn't take herself too seriously. Even so, we attract few, if any, younger folks, and seem to be comprised of grey-haired women and gay men. . . But overall, we tend to be hags and fags. And, boy, do we have fun!

She has some fab photos posted on her site! Here are the YouTube Videos:

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Random Thoughts in the Aftermath of the Storm

Thank you Goddess that our heat is propane, as are our burners on the stove - so I have heat and can cook without electricity. I ran the generator mainly to run the freezers, the well pump, TV, lights (sparingly) and hot water-with great care.

I don’t know how to make decent coffee with a percolator on the stovetop. Can it be done?

The heavy THUMPS of snow falling from branches onto the roof kept me awake until 3am last night.

Today’s high temperature at home was 38-degrees, the snow is melting in the rain.

Between 5pm yesterday and 5pm today we got 1.9” of rain.

The trash and recycling trucks didn’t make it up the mountain this week.

The Girls are convinced the sky is falling. They complained bitterly today about how wet the Chicken Run is and the dripping, then peck at the snow on my boots.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

The Storm that Ate "Ought"

Today is January 9, 2008, it’s 2:00pm, 36-degrees (f), the winds are calm and the sky a slate-grey. There are several inches of slushy snow on the ground, and the Great Drip has begun.

The past five days have not been so calm, as the storm of 2008 slammed northern California. The very rural Sierra foothills, where I share 15-acres with Ma, Jeff & Dale, and the Girls of Penny Lane Farm got hit hard. So, I have some pictures to share, a few tales to tell, some lessons learned, and a wish list.



First - thank you, Gaia, Mother, Mary, Lady in all Your Forms and Names for protecting us through this expression of Your Passion. It was exciting and challenging to experience your Fury as the Moon waned towards new, thank you for keeping us safe.

In the dark hours of the morning of January 4, 2008 the first of several winter storms landed with winds in our Sierra foothills measuring 80-90 mph. At 6:46am the power went out. I had filled all of the gas cans the previous day, so starting the generator was no problem; but there was no sense in going out in the worst of it just then.

I fed the dogs and went back to bed. I watched the trees swaying and listened to the wind howl. I was sitting in my room upstairs at 12:30 when I heard a very loud crack, the house shook, Jeff & Dale looked at me alert, ears straight up! It wasn’t an earthquake, the earth wasn’t moving.

I went downstairs, it was much darker than it had been, the top of a tree was pointing at the window, branches overhanging the patio. Branches were hanging down outside the sliding glass door of the dining room. There was a tree on the roof. A 100-foot Douglas Fir tree had blown down, catching the very corner of the dining room.

No windows broken, nothing broken in the dining room hutch, or pictures knocked from the walls. Nothing had come through the ceiling.

Sitting on the bookcase in that corner of the dining room was my mother’s white porcelain Madonna. Ma is a very catholic Catholic, the Madonna and the saints are a very important part of her faith. She is very accepting of my spiritual path. This specific Madonna belonged to my grandmother - a gift from Grandpa to Grandma when Ma was born.

She hadn’t even moved. I picked her up, thanking Mary, Gaia, Isis for protecting us, enabling the tree to fall in such a way as to do the least amount of damage. I then moved her out of harm’s way and lit a fresh candle.

With the cost of gas so high, I decided to limit myself to one 5-gallon tank of gas in the generator per day. During the five-day outage I learned that a hot shower is equal to watching TV by candlelight for 3 hours.

As soon as the crew had removed the tree, the snow began in ernest. I dug trails to the generator in the shop, the well house, the garage/chicken coup, and the mail box. It took over an hour to dig the trails, and there was an inch of snow on the first ones when I finished the last. I groomed them again an hour later, and then was out of daylight.

We only got 7" of snow - the trails would take a lot longer to dig out if we get much more than that.

What I learned from the Storm of ‘08
The generator “ought” to charge the battery on the starter when it’s running - it’s not. Now that I know that, I know to hook up the charger to the battery while I’m running the generator. Thank you to my great neighbor who could pull-start the generator when the battery was dead.

We “ought” to have a power-tool to deal with snow, shoveling is for the young - we’re not. We have a snow-blower, but I don’t know if it’s working or how to operate it. We have a snow-blower for the tractor, but the tractor is dead and it takes a man with an engine-lift to put the blower on the tractor - or so I’m told. Shoveling is also risky since I’m out of shape, if I have a heart-attack the response time is 45-minutes with the helicopter. Resolve in ‘08 to somehow solve this “ought” before it eats me.

Trees “ought” not to walk, but they do, but only for one or two steps before becoming horizontal.

It's snowing again.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

December’s Waxing Moon

I’m listening to “This Winter’s Night” by Mother Tongue, circa 1994

During the past week I’ve decorated the house to celebrate the return of the Sun - Solstice - under the guise of Christmas. Lights, tree and a collection of nutcrackers that began when my Son was seven.

Now, he is grown, but I’ve still managed to find a different Nutcracker for 2007. Someday he will take the collection to his home - yet another symptom of an “empty nest”.


The waxing moon is visible between the pine branches. It may snow tonight. The dark is crisp and cold.

I am grateful for the love in my life. It warms my heart even when I am alone.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Reaping what I’ve sown. . .

Gaia blessed my first garden with abundance. The various tomato vines were quite rewarding. I enjoyed the Yellow-Pear heritage and Roma tomatoes best, both were extremely flavorful and firm inside. The differences between our homegrown and the store-bought were significant, and well-worth the effort.

August 28th was a banner day!
My largest single-day harvest from the garden - tomato and eggplant stewed and served over polenta; fresh mozzarella with tomato and basil - delightful!

Marilyn, one of the Gold Sex-link hens, laid the first egg in the hen house. A pretty, brown egg measuring 1.846-inches. [Who knew we had a set of engineer’s calipers in the shop?]

Marilyn’s second egg measured 1.945-inches and by September 12th they measured 2.227”. She continued to be the only hen laying until about the 12th of September.

Now, at 21-weeks old, the Black Sex-link and one of the Australorps have also begun to lay.

Everything I’ve read has said that “hens lay first thing in the morning.” Well, not mine, at least, not yet. The first egg usually appears about 10:00, and the Black Australorp seems to like to get into the nesting box about 3:00 in the afternoon. Perhaps as they get older and the days get shorter, this will change. But, for now, these girls are truly My Chickens, where, preferably, “first thing” doesn’t happen before ten.


I’ve noticed a significant change in behavior with The Girls. Once a hen has produced an egg, she is much more willing to be petted and picked-up. It’s happened with each one - where before the hen would run away from me, now they squat at my feet and allow me to stroke their feathers. They no longer squawk when I lift them.

I saved the first egg’s shell. Now it rests on my Altar for Abundance and Joy. With this strong magic at the center of my life, I celebrate the Harvest.

Interesting things I’ve harvested online:
http://www.myspace.com/kttunstall
http://www.myspace.com/brucespringsteen

Have an Excellent Equinox,
Julie Epona

House of the Mooning Dragon

I visited my dear friends, Sarah and Larry, this past week at the home in Mt. Shasta. The prevailing wind often turns their delightful Dragon to ‘moon’ the road. Today, she was enjoying the flowers with me.

Sarah is a gardener extraordinaire with the eye of a trained artist. Her gardens have inspired me for years. I call S. my “4-H Mentor” - she gives me advice on gardening and chickens. She’s also taught me to knit and bead, but those are stories for another day.




While my garden is bursting with tomatoes, Sarah’s is a riot of flowers: Poppies, Black-eyed Susans, various types sage and lavender, and lots of others whose names I can’t remember.



The Iris Labyrinth is a wonderful walking meditation. At a quiet, meditative pace it takes several minutes to complete the 11-levels to the Center and back to the Eastern entrance. When the Iris bloom it should make for a rather spectacular presentation, a colorful meditation, "Tout, touta, tout, tout, throughout and about. . . ."

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Sweet Taste of Summer

Yesterday I ate the first little, ripe tomatoes from the Yellow Pear bush - sweet, juicy, still warm from the sunshine.

WOW! Thank you, Goddess. What a delightful, sweet reward for all the work of gardening. I've never been able to grow anything prior to this. I'm very thankful I listened to Her prodding to plant a garden this year. The blessing of eating from the garden is more fulfilling than I had expected.

Today there are 3 more tomatoes ready for lunch.

Another diversion - Playing paperdolls online with the Yahoo Avatars. What fun! A great way to spend the afternoon when it's 100+ degrees outside.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Garden Delights

The Garden is thriving! Each of the tomato plants is bursting with tiny, green fruit. I’m seeing canning lessons in my future.



The sunflowers tower over me with thick, green stalks. The eggplant is now showing buds below its thick, green foliage.

There have been a few “volunteers” in the garden: a white Petunia, one small Pink. The wild Sweet Peas have finished for the year. Still no buds on the Morning Glories.

Each evening I water. Each morning I look for what new surprise the Garden has for me.
My first harvest of Purple Bush Beans tasted divine, very sweet. The harvest was one, small handful, and I enjoyed it immensely.

Watering, watching, cultivating - She is giving me a sweet lesson in patience.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona

Chop wood carry water

Until very recently I’ve always lived in the city. Now, I find myself out in the country - way out - and my spiritual practice has changed significantly with the move.

I am learning to stay “in the now,” grounded, quite literally, to the land. A Zen parable says that before enlightenment we “chop wood carry water.” After enlightenment we “chop wood carry water.” Luckily, I mostly carry: branches, debris, leaves to the burn circle; and water to the garden and pots.

Watering the garden has become a peaceful meditation. I search the pots and raised bed for new sprouts, enjoy the variations on green that Nature creates, and take pleasure in the smell of the Earth as I water, encouraging the garden to grow.

I’ve carried yards and yards of fallen branches, saplings, and brush to burn. I’ve found myself communing with the trees, explaining to them that by clearing the duff from around them and the low hanging canopy from their trunks I’m working to protect them from the ravages of forest fire. I ask their blessing and protection while I work. I’ve felt their peace and understanding.

In the Fire Circle I call forth the Dragon of the Circle to light the fire. It’s taken some practice, but I can now start a fairly large fire with one piece of newspaper and a match - provided the pine needles are dry. I enjoy the challenge of keeping my Fire sacred and have rejected the common practice among the old-timers up here of starting the brush-burns with diesel or gasoline. Each time I invoke the Dragon I call Him forth to consecrate the Fire, keep it within the confines of the Circle and protect our home from the ravages of unbridled fire in the forest.

This weekend I will light my Beltane fire and watch the Moon rise over our trees - celebrating the sacredness of the Earth and the life She has provided. I know I'm not alone and that many other Pagans are gathering this weekend or, like me, celebrating at home, and in this knowledge I hold the isolation of the forest at bay.

Blessed Be,
Julie Epona