Pomagranates

I had my first pom of the season this morning for breakfast. I look forward to the times when they're available, and I wait all year for them-- this year it came a little early because the farmer's market had a little pile of perfect early poms, but all the associations are always there, regardless.

I eat them despite the fact that they're a pain in the butt because I like them-- but part of why I love them is because they're so full of history. Each of those little 888 ruby kernels is like a piece of history. The fruit was one of the first domesticated, and was common in the earliest civilizations man participated in. They're sacred to the feminine forces, and a vital part of myths. When I had my circle, we'd take them with us to the Esbats and Sabbats, and we'd crack them open and share them with each other through the fall and winter celebrations along side fire-brewed tea, honey-drenched apples and gypsy stew. They're part of my personal mythology, too, because of those nights, three beautiful falls and winters that seeped into my little pagan soul, and now I don't have a circle, but I can still have Poms and I can eat them and remember those shiny, innocent days before we all had to deal with the crap of an adult life in a mundane world, when we were all together and felt like we belonged.

So I have my yearly ritual of slowly eating and enjoying my first pom of the year, and this year it's early, but no less powerful. And I thank the Dieties for the chance. I'm planting the seeds to preserve this chance, just in case they're unavailable or far too expenseive next year.

Mabon

I am a bad pagan. I missed Mabon again. Maybe it's something that's wrong with my life or my life-view, but I always miss the First Harvest, like it doesn't even matter, when the whole point of a harvest is to reap the rewards of all your hard work. Wouldn't it have been nice if I'd gotten a job that day, because that's where all my hard work is going right now...

Maybe it's the fact that I'm living in Florida, where it's still pretty summery as far as sun and rain are concerned, and we've still got months left on our growing season. The hurricane killed all my tomatoes, which would have been starting to actually produce now that the nights aren't so hot, so I'm already missing that little connection to the Wheel. I've got my peppers and eggplants, but they only just started budding and fruiting again, so that's a false message, as far as a temperate-climate calendar is concerned.

Maybe it's the fact that the afore-mentioned temperate-climate calendar just doesn't apply here? I've been playing with the idea of figuring out a non-temperate calendar for myself, moving the holidays around to fit their equivalent placements in a Florida year, but that would require a large chunk of the holidays to be crammed into the small segment of the year that isn't summer, and Mabon's an equinox, anyway, so that's set even if the rest of the year doesn't like me. I'd have to separate it from the equinox, and that just seems... weird. Wrong? I don't know, something like that. Of course, I'd be able to have two calendars running at once like the Maya did, and that could be neat.

But this post is supposed to be about Mabon. Here's what I've reaped in this first harvest:
- an understanding that retail is not what I want to spend my life stuck in, and an understanding that the state of the american economy might make that necessary
- a little knowledge in how to market myself, and the vague feeling that it's degrading-- and yet, less degrading then dumbing myself down for a crap job I hate
- the belief that without a circle, I kinda suck at being a pagan, and the existential question of whether religion even matters to the world if you only share it with yourself?
- one pepper from the garden, but lots of basil all through the year
- a renewed dedication to getting my fat ass thinned down, even if I sometimes forget the exact day I'm supposed to be dancing on
- a refreshed love of cooking

What did you reap?