LETTER FROM THE EDITOR:
So this is it, the one year anniversary of "Spiralbound" It's amazing to me to look back over the past year and see how much Spira has grown and what an interest we are getting. Spira has truly been a blessing in my life and I have had the opportunity to share the journey with some terrific people. I am proud that as we grow we remain true to the original vision, and remain true to ourselves. I am happy to have "Spiralbound" as an outlet to share news about Spira, however, I feel like there is so much more to be communicated in this newsletter. So I look to this year as another year of growth, and hope that you all look forward to some great changes I have planned for "Spiralbound". Stay Tuned!
Mayda
EVENTS
August 15 - Twilight Mysteries - Lunar Ritual
August 16 - Calgary Circle of Pagans - Circle Night
August 23 - Calgary Circle of Pagans - Camping Trip, Writing on Stone
August 28 - Grove of Mysteries - Online Liana Chat
August 30 - Calgary Circle of Pagans - Circle Night
September 6 - Twilight Mysteries - Lunar Ritual
September 13 - Calgary Circle of Pagans - Circle Night
September 23 - Grove of Mysteries - Mabon Ritual
MOON TIMES
Lammas (Traditional) August 2 2003
First Quarter August 5 2003 12:13:00 AM
Lammas (Calculated) August 7 2003 8:05:00 AM
Full Moon August 11 2003 9:46:00 PM
Last Quarter August 19 2003 5:52:00 AM
New Moon August 27 2003 10:25:00 AM
First Quarter September 3 2003 5:30:00 AM
Full Moon September 10 2003 9:34:00 AM
Last Quarter September 18 2003 12:05:00 PM
Autumnal Equinox September 23 2003 3:42:00 AM
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Calgary Pagan Pride Day 2003 is fast approaching! This year's event will be held on Saturday, September 20, from 11am-6pm, at the Center for Positive Living, located at 103 17Ave SE(two blocks west of the Victoria Park C-train station), and will feature live music, vendors, lectures, and more! Admission is free, but please bring a nonperishable food item for donation to the Calgary Interfaith Food Bank. Vendor tables, volunteer opportunities, and lecture times are still available, so visit the website at http://fly.to/calgarypaganpride for more information on this great event and how YOU can get involved!
Congratulations to Sagesse Abiona on her recent initation as a detached Liana into the Grove of Mysteries. We are so proud of all of your accomplishments!
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Congratulations to our seedlings Dragonfly and Luna Moonscape who are expecting the birth of their second child in March 2004. We wish you love and happiness!
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Congratulations to Sagesse Abiona on her Lammas Wedding to her love, Raph. May it be a day filled with joy and the promise of a bright future.
Lammas is the first of the harvest festivals; the end of summer, and the beginnings of autumn. It is a time where we can revel in the accomplishments that have come about from setting goals and planning. Yet Lammas is not a time to rest, there is still much to be done to prepare for the winter looming ahead. Nourish your body and soul with the gifts the earth provides, and take some time to relax in the sun. It will soon be time to focus our attention more into the future and the harsh months to come.
SEASONAL RECIPES
This is a recipe I make almost weekly throughout the rhubarb season. I love rhubarb, and find it a joy to cook with. Do not worry about finding the perfect red stalks; as long as there are no big brown mushy spots (little ones can be cut off, rhubarb bruises easily) they will taste fine. Pale pink to blood red, rhubarb is sooooo good.
Irish Tarte Tatin
900g. rhubarb
255-285g granulated sugar (if you like it sweet add more sugar, tart less) 9-10.5oz.
Scone dough
310g plain flour (11oz.)
20g castor sugar (11/2 Tbsp.)
1 heaped teaspoon baking powder
55g butter or margarine (2oz.)
1 egg
175ml. milk
beaten egg to glaze
granulted sugar for sprinkling
1. Preheat oven to 220C
2. Wash and trim the rhubarb. Cut into pieces about 2 1/2 cm. in length.
3. Place rhubarb into a pie plate and toss with sugar.
4. For the scone dough, mix all the dry ingrediants adding a pinch of salt.
5. Cut the butter into cubes and rub into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs.
6. Whisk the egg with the milk and add to the flour mix. Mix everything together well.
7. The resulting dough will be verrrrry soft and sticky, thats the way it's supposed to be. Plop, spread or knead the dough over the rhubarb.
8. Brush the top with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the temp. to 180C and cook for a further 30 minutes, or until the top is golden.
10. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a few minutes. Put a plate over the top of the pan and turn upside down ( beware of escaping juice!!!!) so the rhubarb is beautifully displayed.
11. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Heavenly!!!
Taken from: How to eat- Nigella Lawson
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This is a recipe that I shamelessly stole from "The Naked Chef". It is tangy and verrrrry good! You can adjust the heat factor by adding or taking away the amount of chilies called for. With the amount specified, you will get a nice twang, but no real burn.
Fragrant Green Chicken Curry
Green Curry Paste
6 green onions, washed and trimmed
2 medium green chilies, seeded and finely chopped (jalapenio or anaheim will work)
2 cloves of garlic
1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely chopped
1 Tbsp. coriander seeds pounded and crushed (a morter and pestal are the easiest tools for this)
1/2 tsp. pepper
pinch of salt
2 lemongrass stalks, trimmed and finely chopped
2 handfuls fresh basil
3 handfuls fresh coriander (also called cilantro)
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 limes, zested and juiced
Chicken Curry
4 chicken breasts (or 6 chicken thighs), boneless, skinless and cut into bite sized pieces
1 can coconut milk
handful of chopped pistachio nut or sunflower seeds
1.Put all of the green curry paste ingrediants into a food processor or good blender and whizz to a smoothish green paste.
2. Fry the chicken pieces over medium heat for about 4 minutes or until they start to get browned.
3. Add the marinade to the chicken ( it will sizzle and spit so watch out) and mix thouroghly.
4. Stir in the coconut milk, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 8 minutes or until the chicken is cooked.
5. Serve over rice or noodles with the nuts or seeds sprinkled over top.
Yummy!!!!!!
POETRY
A Summer Night
The twilight ends; the last faint crimson stain
Has faded from the west; the deep blue sky
Deeper and darker grows; and once again
God's lamps are lighted in the dome on high.
Above yon oak-crowned hill, whose trailing clouds
Hung low and slack at noon,
Now, round and red, from out their torn white shrouds,
Steps forth the harvest moon.
Thus she came forth last night; thus will she come,
The next night and the next. Oh, magic time!
The full moon wanes not at the harvest time.
And night's grand poem flows in even rhyme.
The grain is gathered; hills of tawny gold
Begem the earth's shorn breast.
Hard hands are folded; summer's tale is told;
The sickle lies in rest.
The night has wondrous voices. At my door,
I sit and listen to its many tones.
The wind comes through the woods with muffled roar,
The brook goes rippling on its bedded stones.
I hear the raccoons call among the corn,
The night-hawk's lonely cry;
A dismal owl sends out his note forlorn,
One whip-po-will sings nigh.
And there are other voices; all the grass
Is peopled with a crowd of tiny things,
We see them not, yet crush them as we pass;
These sing all night, and clap their puny wings.
Beneath my very feet, calls clear and strong,
A cricket, slyly hid;
While at my elbow, well I know his Song,
Rattles a katydid.
Poor, puny things! your gala nears its end
There comes a hint of Autumn in the wind
That bends the tassled corn; the night grows chill;
Short, and yet shorter, grows each passing day;
The year is waxing old.
The frost waits in the north, not far away;
The summer's tale is told.
-Ellen P. Allerton.
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Silver
Slowly, silently, now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel, like a log,
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy cote the white breast peep
Of doves in silver-feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws and a silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream.
-Walter de la Mare
Editor: Mayda Pyralis
Contributers: Aurora, Kiera, Mayda Pyralis, Ravendreamer
have I missed something? - - please email me at maydapyralis@hotmail.com
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(c) The Alberta Pagan Church of Spira