Happy Walpurgis Night and Beltane!

Another Pagan Sabbath is around the corner, ready to be celebrated, and with it I prepare to take the message into my heart. The most part of the information you get - from the 101 point of view - talk to you about Beltane, but it wasn't until recently that I learned about Walpurgis Night. Then, given that I'd like to work out another topic for today (or more like a different approach), and yet I wanted to keep my Pagan Calendar updated, I decided to invoke the help of Walpurgis ^_^ for the task. It's late anyway - or late for me, so you'll be probably reading this entry already for Beltane - which is held on May 1st... though I've heard of May 2nd as well. (My trusty Witches' Datebook 2012 - which I of course got because I had to and it has been very useful in my research - places Beltane on the 1st.)

In the Wheel of the Year, Beltane marks the middle of the year, and is opposite to Samhain, which is the New Year of the witches or Pagans. It celebrates the coming of the summer, the begining of the longest days of the year, with hours and hours of light and sun. In Costa Rica you don't feel this all that much though you may notice (if you wake up early enough) that you have an extra 30 minutes of light at dawn and another extra at dusk. In Europe there's no mistaking when you notice that the sun is nowhere close to the horizon at 8 pm, and 4 pm and 7 pm look exactly the same.

For many Beltane is also a much favored celebration because it's about fertility. The courting of the Spring, the shy blooms are over and it's time to get the land and the stock pregnant. Time for sex, fire and passion related thoughts, intentions and activities. However lets take the line of thought we have been following through the other Sabbaths and think about this one as well as part of our life cycle. What is this celebration of fertility? It's a celebration of Labor, and as such, it's not so farfetched to imagine how Beltane and Labor's Day fall on one and the same day (in most countries). One is a celebration of sex and the other a celebration of work, of jobs as a dignified human activity that makes the world possible. It's also a day to celebrate the conquests of Labor, the social and labor guarantees that keep us from expliotion and from working in inhuman, abusive condition. From any angle you see it, it's a celebration - a happy and passionate celebration! - of fertility.

We have planned, prepared and with Beltane we go on the Fields and work them. On these long days, under this hard sun, many peasants worked from first light to last light on the fields, on meager food if any, taking care of the pregnant Mother Earth for from the good completition of her pregnancy all of us depend. From her dark, soft womb is born our bread, from it nurtures our meat. With the very passion of unleashed joy and gayness, we should work our projects, work the fields alotted to us, push ourselves, even if we still don't see the result, even if the impact of our work gets swallowed in an endless land of waying greens and yellows. The harvests will come, the results will always show, and now is the time when we can make the difference. Now is the time when we can give into it everything we have, do our best and try to surpass ourselves, show ourselves that yes, we can and we can go even further. Surprise yourself, impress yourself! Show yourself what are you made of and do the whole 9 and then add the extra mile!

Beltane is where the plans and preparations get in action. It's the time to show the passion, unleash the flame inside our souls.

Today we went to the Velence lake, where a friend of us has a lovely summer house. The place is in one  of the many little villages that ring the lake, and to my surprise, they had a May Tree. (To Sartassa: I guess you were right! Hungarians also celebrate the May Day!) It's not a pole like the May Pole, but rather a long, long, thin stick (probably from a very thin tree), with a few branches on top, which are richly decorated with colorful ribbons. This May Tree is located at a prominent area of the village, such as in front of the city hall or some place like that. Nobody would think that it's a Pagan thing (actually in this place the city hall was in front of the church and there seemed to be no problems with that), but an ancient tradition the village is very proud to keep.

After seeing this, and since my boyfriend repotted our plants, I decided to do my impromptu May Tree from a little stick that had been in one of the pots. (One of the plants we've got was a little gift from a wedding my boyfriend attended, and on the stick was a little paper bird with his name.) I took a few ribbons I had lying around and tied them securely on top of the stick, and then stuck it back in the new pot the plant received.

This is the moment to make things happen, so are you going to make things happen, or will you remain at the drawing desk, with the blueprints of your fabulous life?

Taking a Break in Vienna

Since my brother was visiting us in Budapest - well, he actually had other business to attend, but those matters were resolved quite fast - my boyfriend and I decided to take him to Vienna. For him it might be like a vacation inside a vacation, or a trip inside of a trip, and what a wonderful experience! After all, when you are visiting a place, ddon't you love it if you have the chance to visit other places too? ^_^ For us, on the other hand, it was a chance, or maybe an excuse to go visit a city we love very much (though I may love more than my boyfriend, since I really take any chance available to visit Vienna!). A city full of music, history, romance, art and endless beauty... and friends. Yes, one of my penpals lives here, but - unlike in other occasions - we couldn't get in contact, which prevented us from meeting as usual, for a good cup of coffee and a long and never ending conversation.

The city is blooming with the most wonderful flowers all over the place. I'm not very versed in botanics, but I can tell tulips from other types of flowers, and these are simply breath taking. It never ceases to amaze me how such beautiful flowers are kept in different parts of town and there's nobody damaging them, or taking them home, as it would happen in Costa Rica. Present in the most amazing colors, their sheer sight brings endless joy to the soul. It is at looking at these flowers that you get an understanding about the importance of flowers in one's life. Looking at them in the gardens, you understand their beauty, what they do for the scene, and why it's so awesome to get flowers as present, or buy a beautiful bouquet of them to arrange at your place. Hve you noticed how much a vase of flowers can do for a room?

This year was the first time - by the way - that I've ever seen pink and purple tulips. Aren't they something else?? In a matter of hours I became absolutely in love with tulips. I have heard of black tulips but have never seen them in real life still.

The weater changed quite some, getting much warmer than expected, and thus rendering the clothes I packed for myself pretty unadecuate. It is Spring, and this Spring has been acting a little bit cold, so of course I packed only long sleeve shirts. Well, it seems it changed its mind, or maybe egged by the coming of Beltane or May Eve, it decided to go on and heat up. As result, I was pretty much "compelled" to go get myself cooler clothes. I've a pretty thin pair of jeans, but I needed short sleeve tops for it, so without further ado, I went today at the shop under our lovely hotel - an Esprit - and got myself a lovely white blouse and two green tees... Sorry, but I really needed AND wanted those ^_^.

We took a walk close to the Prater, but didn't go much inside, because our main program was to visit the Schönbrunn, where I've got yet another book about Empress Sissi. Yes, yet another book. I hope it's not one of the same I've at home already, as sometimes the translations can be misleading, but if so, then I'll have a wonderful gift for a good friend in my hands.

As many of you know, currently I'm not working, though I can't be called unemployed for I'm on leave, so you may wonder that if I'm not working, if I'm waking up at any time I feel like, going to sleep at any time I feel like, and doing all day pretty much what I feel like, what do I need to take a break from. Well, though I love my Hungary and I'm crazy about my marvelous Budapest, it's good to change the scenary from time to time, get a new air, stretch your legs and change your perspective. And from the well learned streets, our favorite hotel (I'm including you the link of it because if you are planning on visiting Vienna, you should seriously consider staying at Hotel-Pension Continental. I've visited Vienna around 10 times by now, and only in two of them stayed at a different place... and regreted it every single time... both times), and our regular places, we've also discovered new and fabulous things. Learned about a concert program we will make sure to attend the next time, and with includes a fabulous mix of Mozart and Strauss, approached the Herrengasse from another direction, actually walked to the Stephansdom... and I discovered a statue of Schiller that had the power to undust the name from my memory and yearn to read him with the desperate urgency of sweet, firey, intellectual and emotional passion. One statue, and I was tumbling my Kindle for everthing I could foung in amazon.com about him and from him.

I wouldn't say that no particular thoughts have formed yet, no new lessons have been learned, but rather that many seeds have been planted in my soul from the tulips, the streets, the sweet sounding of Austrian German, sprinkled abundantly with sweet smiles and Sachertorte, and Schiller... oh master Schiller. I'll take these seeds to my resting palace, my Budapest, and there kindle them, cherish them and see what new thoughts spring from them.

With Vienna there's a simple thought, like a word wispered from the wise that keeps echoing inside me: "even in the well known and the rutinary you can always find something brand new to learn, if you are willing to".

Thoughts about Going Green

In Costa Rica "going green" could be understood in a very, very bad way, as it could mean, that you are turning in favor of the currently ruling political party, a sick, corrupted strain of neoliberal breed no decent human being would ever willingly choose. However, I'm not poundering the thought of going that green, but rather eco-green.

Perhaps you remember, perhaps you don't (in which case you could simply scroll down...) but last week I wrote an entry about our planet (that in which I said Haiti is actually the scale model of the world), and though it had bleak points here and there, it ended up with a list of things you could do to make the difference. From it and through many sources (now from the Zümm too) I received a lot of support and positive comments from my friends, which got me thinking some more. Currently I'm reusing the plastic bags I have and carry around flax, ecofriendly bags for my groceries and on general, for anything I might need a bag for through the day. On Saturdays I visit the local market, where you can buy fresh veggies from the farmers, and as much as I can, choose the national product over the imported one, the green over the genetically or chemically enhanced. I'm still not there in the selective garbage thing, but I'm getting there.

The thing is that a few items from my list made me think that perhaps, as the proposal of them, I should take the idea in my hands and seek ways to make it happen. Among the ideas I choose to start with, there's the idea of gathering with friends, and the friends of our friends to make our own flax ecofriendly shopping bags, (not so likely to happen... at once), and organizing plant-a-tree picnics. This last one, I believe, could have a better acceptance, since you can make it really fun.

I'm putting the idea out there for my friends to consider it (after all it's easier if more of them participate), and will start checking with the local authorities about rules for planting trees and were could we do it. Also will try to contact different organizations, environmentalist organizations and Universities to seek some capacitation on how to plant different trees (I'm actually a poor gardner), and perhaps also get some trees donated for the cause. It's a lot of work, but I hope to get more people involved and the idea spread.

Kari told me in Europe there are Gardner Guerrillas, which are groups of rouge ecologists that pick a place and plant trees, regardless of whether they have permission to do so or not. Well, I don't wanna do something like that, but I do hope to do it within the legal system, in an organized and fun way.

Taking care of the planet doesn't have to be a boring, hard and fruitless thing. It can be fun and rewarding. It doesn't need to be something others do, eco-maniacs do, but it can be something you do. Would you like to do it with me? :-)

It's Eastern!

Happy Eastern to all of you, boys and girls! Many of you are going back to work today, but I ain't! I still have one week of happiness! Weee-hee!! Then back to the mines, with all of you, but even so, I had this year an extra gout of fresh, lovely, homely air. My dear friend Dragonfly rightfully demanded some pictures on my blog. Well, she's absolutely right: I'm traveling on far-far away lands, where the sun shines different and the air has a taste of ancient, and yet I have shared not even one picture with you. So I was thinking, I should give you a few pics. Problem is that I actually have very few pics, since I've been engaged in... other activities different than taking pictures, you mind.

Well, this picture to the right is Kari and I in front of the Kunsthistorische Muzeum in Wien, where we went to score my glass of candy... but there was not, soe we were "stuck" staring at the art of the Italian Masters. I can't get enough of Tizian, I tell you. The kid we asked to make the picture concentrated more on the building than on us, which is why you can't see our feet. Those two days in Wien were great. Well, what can I tell you? Wien is a wonderful city to visit, even if they are boarding up the entire city because they pick that precise moment to refurbish the whole shebang. Why can't they do the remodelations little by little?

We really, didn't made that many picture... I think we made two more, goofy pictures and that was it. But if you want, I'll share with you one of them, for all of you to have a good laugh at it. Here we are posing as "celebrities".


Hehehehe... Well, maybe more like blinds than celebrities, but that's the point.

There's also a fresh picture I want to share with all of you, one I just took. It's a picture of our first "common asset", which is a plant.

I saw it and I wanted it. Kari doesn't have any plants that have flowers, only greens, and I find that a bit darkening and depressing, so I asked him if we could get one (because in a week it will be his responsability, and we won't be living here, so the plant should be moved eventually... and moved by him, you mind), and he said it was okay. So I went to this tiny flowershop on the corner of the Márvány street and the Királyhágó and choose it among the selection of other plants there. First of all, it's not blue, it's purple. I call it Sunshine, and talk to it in English constantly. Hopefully it will bloom a lot and grow pretty and strong. I'm not much of a gardener, but I really like Sunshine.

Now, if you don't mind, I'll go wash the Keraflex out of my hair and change, because we have to be at Kari's Mom's place in... 30 minutes. ^_^