2008 IMBOLC/LUGHNASADH SEASONAL ENTRIES

[katsu]

Notice: This is the Pepper (Piastra) Scott Memorial Category for seasonal entries. Please enter your best work that reflects the current season for this Eisteddfod. For example, in the Imbolc/Lughnasadh Eisteddfod your work must be about either Imbolc or Lughnasadh. Any type of work can be submitted (Poetry, Artwork, Photography etc.). Judging in this category should be based on the work that best reflects the season. Completely original entries ONLY.

[Hennie]

bloom

first milk flowing
in this time of birth
below snow plants are growing
from our sleeping dreamy earth

first breath taken
from frozen healthy air
winter's reign is shaken
Mother does take care

[Dryadia2]

I would like to honor Piastra with a Brigid's Cross I made last year.
I left the 'grain' attached to represent Lughnasadh, and of course Brigid is associated with Imbolc.


(click for larger image)

Peace and Blessings,
/|\

[City Druid]

Willow

Glistening dewdrops,
moonbeams shimmering in the breeze,
the stars they shine down upon you
and reflect your immortal soul

O twisted bent one
leaning naked by the stream,
give forth your music
and echo the harp string

You’re like a budding flower
pollinated by the bees,
full of life
and pregnant with new dreams.

[Cottilion]

In labour


Dead branches carrying young green.
Wood dwellers awake from their seasonal slumber.
The clear sky is filled by the everwatching eye.
We watch as the ravens of the Morrigan take flight again.

Sunlight, like small translucent fingers,
runs over the cold body of the earth, as its lover.
The tweeting of newborn chicks, a cry from a life reborn.
Falling rain, the smoothing voice of the loving eternal mother.

With a whipping cold gust, nature wakes us.
Wakes us to see the new light creeping though our windows.
Her reborn lover, her newborn son will rule the sky again.
The ground will come to live and prosper once more.

[EarthWard]

Shadows of Light

Mark the date
Yet it does not come in a day
Celebrate it with ritual
Yet the ritual is already being played
Imbolc a time unlike the rest
As elusive as shadow
As obvious as bird song
Its a small turn of our Earth
A shift in the Light
Cued by the Winter Solstice
The longest of the night
Feathered Bards do their best to tell us
Singing songs of ancestral tongue
Celebration to the changing solar rays
The promise of Spring has begun
Yet the Snow Moon still threatens
With a sharp bite of winter chill
Our last frosty purification
Before the wolves emerge from the hills
So mark those Roman days
The Green Men will look in other ways
For that change ever so slight
In the oaken shadows of Light


EarthWard

[Twyrch]

This image, which I call "First Fruits", represents Lughnasadh because these are the fruits of my great-uncle James' lemon tree. As you can see, he was blessed with a bountiful harvest.

Lemon Tree 1.jpg

First Fruits

(147.52 KiB) Downloaded 1032 times

[DaRC]

Imbolc
( a 9x9 poem )
Pure she flows, petall'd snow, pepper knows -
All ask her, a giver and grower,
can she turn? Candle burn, prep the urn.

Cast off age, turn the page, astral gauge -
light body temp'rally lifted she
with bright barks, hags head harks, to Bride's sparks.

Sloughs and plows, gravid grows, oimelc shows
the seasonal return that lights burn
youthful skin, nice and trim, eases in.

[Fox]

Imbolc

Green leaf unfurling
On a gnarled elder tree
Green spring unfurling
Its flag and heraldry

The rain is cold, the wind is strong
And yet the world is turning
With sunlight and birdsong
And green leaves unfurling

[wyeuro]

lughnasadh

is it smoke on the horizon or just dust?
hard to see through the heat haze.
more than one species keeps a marsupial eye on it
till it dissipates and
willed away by our fear
is gone.

red sand sears my soles
little lizards flicker away like
bits of silver flame
my glance flickers like flame
over the path ahead,
flicking away the possibility
of snake

sister spirit
deadly fanged
savage with the love
of her eggs about to be laid

crows laugh sardonically
lifting a breeze that sometimes
smells of a promise of cooler weather

pelicans shepherd the air into
vague thoughts of clouds
that can’t yet form

hard blue sky
hot red earth

lughnasadh

the land is waiting…




wyverne /|\
Thanks to ImageShack for Free Image Hosting

[kytty]

Snowdrops of Imbolc

So
Now
Our
World
Dawns
Radiantly,
Offering
Pearls
Sublime.

Of
Fresh

Internal
Motion
Beseachingly,
Obliging
Life's
Chime.

[RedKite]

Imbolc Sunrise

Welcome New Sun, to planet Earth
We give you Blessings on your birth
Come spread your light upon our souls
And guide us now toward new goals

We now have cast off our old life
And things that caused us pain and strife
Old things now rot, farewell, adieu
Recycle into something new

The Sun now climbs high in the skies,
As we wipe sleep from tired eyes,
He shines on Oak and Golden Bough
Be Blessed oh Sun and warm us now

© RedKite 2006

[Claer]

A Simple Celebration of Imbolc

Cold fingers,
Chill wind,
Bare branches,
Hard ground,
Frozen puddles,
Ice shards,
White frost.

Dark buds,
Grey sky,
Sleety rain,
Muddy boots,
Green shoots,
First flower,
Setting sun.

Hot chocolate,
Pink nose,
Warming up,
Cosy hearth,
Lit candles,
Seed catalogue,
Spring plans.

[Bracken]

Blessings of Imbolc to you all.

Thinking about Piastra and knowing that this new category was coming up inpired me to attempt this project. She used to get so angry when people didn't vote in the eisteddfod, didn't she? She was magnificent in full flow, and taught me that it is absolutely ok to speak your mind when you feel strongly enough.

I have made a crown of lights for the upcoming Imbolc celebration. It is modelled from copper wire and has five glass candle holders of different colours. It is designed to be decorated with leaf or flower or whatever feels right as it can be woven all round with, well anything really, and then used again with something different next time.

I wish Urbandruid was here to do the honours with his fantastic camera and creative eye, but as he isn't I did it myself. [And the crown is modelled here by the Lady Brigid herself on a rare day off in her tracksuit. ]

[Jingle]

Imbolc

imbolc.jpg

(30.29 KiB) Downloaded 726 times

In memory of Piastra, I picked up a paintbrush. This is my very first acrylic ever.
Acrylic on Canvas
Shown Actual Size
Painted 19-Jan-2008