Date: June 4th 2023
Moon Phase: Full Moon.
Weather: Warm and clear skies.
Place: Home, Lancashire.

Juno crept upon me all of a sudden this year. It felt as though one minute it was Bealtaine, then ‘pow!’ , it was June. The name origins for the month of June come from the Roman Goddess Juno, Goddess of marriage, childbirth, and protection, and often comparable to the Greek Goddess, Hera.
Although I do not personally work with the Goddess Juno, it does strike me as suitable that a matriarchal deity should be Matron of this particular month. For many of us who are mothers, June represents a busy period. Parents with school aged children and adolescents are often supporting their child through the right of passage that is exams and the transitioning of either in to school, or from school into further education, or even into the workplace setting.
Other parents, who like myself, practice either full homesteading or it’s urban counterpart, are in full swing of the gardening season and even harvesting some of our early crops. I myself have been busily gathering Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) for dehydrating for use in future herbal remedies, and also gathering rose and elderflower for honey infusions. I can’t begin to explain to you how gorgeous that fragrance is. Sometimes the medicine is in the consumption, and sometimes it is certainly held in the aromatics. Which is probably why I love and have self studied aromatherapy for much of my adult life.

For me as an individual, June is also reminiscent of the folk ways and folk witchcraft held within my own family’s matriarchal ways. As a child, I was taught to gather some of blackberry flower (Rubus fruticosus) that were now coming into season. These could be dried and used in certain charms and workings for health and protection. By this time, the roses were also in full bloom and could also be utilised within certain divination rites. One such divination was devised to be performed upon the June full moon. Ideally, this would be as close as possible to the date of the Summer Solstice, but on some years, the gap between the full moon and Solstice could be lengthy. Such as this year, 2023, there is a two week gap between both events. But never-the-less, this is the June full moon, and I felt the pull to participate in this annual rite. Though in reality, there is no harm in deviating from this slightly, and performing this rite in July.

The full details of how to perform this divination ritual are over on the private Facebook group that both premium content subscribers and Patreon supporters can access.

This ritual was initially designed to be a very specific working to be performed by a matriarchal figure within the family – this was due to the fact that I am of a tradition where folk ways were predominantly, (but not exclusively) passed down from mother to daughter, or even mother in law to daughter in law. With this in mind, this particular divination ritual was created to fit that niche, and serve as an activity where a matriarch could go out in to the full moon light and divine on topics important to her family. As I refine and document my particular tradition, and the ways passed down to me (in combination with the ways I myself have learnt or created over the years), I ensure that my two sons and anyone else who follows ‘The Way Of The Rubus’ can also participate in such divinatory rituals. It is through circumstance alone why only my family passed down certain folk ways to girls and not boys.

The weather is warm tonight, and as I travelled from the patio and down the garden path, I could smell so many gorgeous fragrances. The earthy tang of sage, followed by the grounding and spicy scent of mint. The mint then gave way to the uplifting and intoxicating smell of lemon balm, and then suddenly I found myself jarred away from all of these heavenly scents as a tuft of nettles stroked my calf and shin; sending prickly hot sensations pulsing through my skin! The Romans used to whip themselves with nettles because because they knew that that it would relieve aching muscles. Personally, despite knowing the medicinal qualities of the nettle, I think that I would prefer a different course of treatment for body aches and pains. Although, my husband goes out of his way to be stung by nettles as a form of self medication – or maybe self torture.

Now that the nettle had abruptly brought me out of my aromatic and dreamy trance, I remembered my true purpose for being in the garden; roses and divination.

I walked across the garden with no fear of stumbling in the night, why would I? The full moon cast a full silvery lunar glow around me, and I could see everything. When I reached the rose bush, I marvelled at her midnight beauty. The pink of the rose petals glowed almost supernaturally, and instead of their usual porcelain pink, they looked more like a dusky cerise.
This particular rose variety (whose name I annoyingly can’t recall) always boasts a hugely voluptuous flower. A flower that would take up the space of almost my entire hand. With this in mind, I only pick one. There is no need for waste here, and I do not need to pick several roses for my task. One will do nicely.

Walking back down the garden, I take my place in the middle of the lawn. Most of the garden is taken up with the growing of fruits, medicinal herbs, or children’s outdoor play equipment. But here in the centre is a soft patch of lawn, and it’s perfect. I look up into the sky and, there, is Lady Moon. She is not yet directly above me, she is still ascending, climbing her arch across the sky. She moves quickly though. By the time my divination ritual is over, she has reached her zenith above me.

There on the lawn, I close my eyes and take long and slow steady breaths, taking the warm and fragrant air in through my nose, down in to my lungs, and then exhaling them again out through my mouth. I keep this cycle going, my main aim being to ground and centre, but what the hell? This moment of peace is blissful! Why not accept the gift and take in a few more life giving breaths.
A swoosh and flutter above me falters my attention, and I open my eyes in time to see a bat speed past my left side! They had obviously sensed a tasty moth or other such creature that I cannot see, so had swooped down to catch it. The bat then climbs the air and disappears over the top of my house, not to be seen again. I bid them a goodbye and wish them well on their night time hunting.

I am now ready, so take up my rose and whisper to them my intention. From there, I cast a circle to work within and then carefully pull petals from the head of the flower and walk a circle about me. Casting the petals so that they gently fall to the ground and mark the space that I shall work within.
Once this is done, my divination begins.

I pick up my tarot cards; growing up I was taught how to read the Rider Waite deck inside and out! However, I later discovered the Druidcraft deck when I began to explore Druidry, and this has now become my main deck of use, with the beautiful Rider Waite coming in second place, and the herb crafters deck coming in third. Though in reality, I’m not sure it is this easy to categorise ones favourite tarot or oracle decks.
I close my eyes and give the tarot it’s initial shuffle, taking in slow and deep breaths as I do. In my mind, the first of my pre-prepared questions sparks to life and plays over and over again like a mantra, until I spontaneously ask it aloud to the moon, the spirits of the land, and the ancestors around me. I then begin to steadily flick through the deck until one card resonates and makes my fingers tingle. This is my card! I lay it at my feet to analyse and journal in my diary later. Again, I ask my first question aloud and wait… for a sign… any sign from the elements around me. At first there is stillness, it looks as though the first questions answer is a no, but then a sudden breeze picks up, seemingly from nowhere, as until that moment all had been still. The current rises up and sweeps through the poplar tree. I take this answer as a yes and thank the elements and spirits for their sign. I lean over and turn over the Tarot card I had picked up. Usually this is done at the end of the ritual, but I am impatient and want to check that the landscape was speaking to me and that it was not just coincidental.

The two of wands! Yes, the elements and spirits were talking, and this card ties in so perfectly with the personal question I had been asking!

I once again shuffle the deck and then whisper my next question to the moon, ensuring that while I do so, all around me is quiet so that I can rule out any other movement. Almost instantaneously an owl calls out from somewhere to my left and my heart soars! I’ve not heard my friend Owl in about three weeks, so their presence both fills me with joy and answers my question as a yes. As I whisper a thank you to Owl, another owl hoots somewhere ahead of me. Two owls calling two and fro! A rarity for me to experience, as I usually only hear one! I think the last time I heard two owls together may have been back in 2019 when I stayed in a beautiful cove down in Cornwall. I pull another tarot card, the High Priest, otherwise known as the Hierophant (again, this card came up the other day) and it’s meaning does tie in with my second question.

After a few moments silence, I ask my third and final question aloud. I wait, after experiencing such obvious call backs from the landscape, I mistakenly think that a third yes will be offered up to my question. But no, this is not the case. All around me stays silent. Even the ducks and chickens in their pen are still. I take this as a no in response to my question. But this is not negative, a no is just as valid and as powerful as a yes. I pull my third and final tarot card, the fferylit, otherwise known as Temperance. But she is not reversed. Perhaps then the answer to my secret question comes down to balance and patience. As I consider this, I feel my Nan’s wisdom come back to me. “Good things come to those who wait. Better things come to those who work bloody hard for it”.

“Thank you Nan” I whisper to the night sky, “Wherever you are now, everything you taught me is locked inside my core, my inner well of magic. Ready to be called upon whenever I need it”.

The divination rite is now coming to a close. I thank the moon, stars, night sky, the landscape, spirits of the land, the rose, and the ancestors, before dismissing my circle. I gather up my tarot and slip them into my pocket, but I leave the rose petals upon the ground. A beautiful decoration and reminder of the magic of the night before for when I enter the garden in the next days daylight. After all, why not? They are biodegradable and I am on my own land, so the leave no trace ethos does not count here. Home is a safe space where magic is everywhere.

Once inside, I sit down at the dining table and I write down my experience. Carefully detailing everything and the tarot cards picked, so that all of this can be referred back to over the coming months, as and when needed or relevant.

As I close my journal for the night, I can’t help but embrace the feeling of how lucky I am. I have the folk ways passed on to my by previous generations of wise women, the ways and means I have learnt and cultivated myself over the years as both a Folk Witch and Priestess, and I am married to an amazing man who is also an animistic Witch and follower of Druidry, and together we are raising a beautiful free spirited family that thanks to home education, we have the freedom to learn on the go and at beautiful locations such as neolithic sites, standing stones, tors, lakes and beaches! I am probably the first in my family to not have to hide under the guise of folk-ways, or hide my practice completely for fear of being outed as a Witch. I can be my completely unapologetic self! I can embrace and share my whole self with the world, I can be as loud, as colourful, and as political as I like!

How blessed are the Gen X, Millennial, and following generations to live in such an open and almost tolerating world? Long may that live and expand.

From the time, mists, and distance between us, blessings from me to you.

Zanna.

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