Celebrating Lammas

Chewing on a head of grass-seed; shelling and popping corn; bringing in the rye... honoring Ceres and Demeter and the beginning of Harvest Season... the mid-point between Summer Solstice and Autumn Equinox. Happy Lammas!

Swallow That!

The August new moon marks the beginning of the Jewish month of Elul. Its about the time our barn swallows begin their long flight back to South America. Twittering and calling, they line the telephone lines giving their youngsters last minute flight instructions. Quoting Rabbi David Ingber, it is spiritually, a time of change "both returning to who we really are and becoming who we are yet to be..." How like the swallows! We met and danced and played and ate in the red tent. Then we shared things we were sorry about and things we look forward to learning and doing better in the future.

The Project

Share inspirations and aspirations revolving around The Mother-Daughter Project: How Mothers and Daughters Can Band Together, Beat the Odds, and Thrive Through Adolescence
by SuEllen Hamkins, M.D., and Renée Schultz, M.A.

6:00 p.m. June 27 at Rachel's home

10:30 a.m. July 26 at Debra's

5:00 p.m. Aug. 25 at Rachel's

Round We Go!

Getting set

Warming up

Stretch and shimmyStepping out
Follow me!

going round

American Woman

For August's New Moon, Debra and Nita traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to view an exhibit of the American Woman as perceived by the world from the 1890s through the present. Starting post-Civil War with the corseted "heiress" with exotic hairstyles and foreign-made ball gowns; through the outdoors-athletic (but still corseted!) image of the "Gibson-Girl" look; through flowing tunic Bohemian styles; through the pale frail Flapper style; through WWI and Suffragette movement; through the tough, rough, and sexy Movie Stars of the 30's; right into a changing photo collage of the many individual choices of fashion for today's American Woman including Michelle Obahma in her inaugural gown, and minimally clad swim champions.

Looking at the garb for riding sidesaddle and swimming at the turn of the nineteenth century, we wondered at the torturous discomfort and actual physical danger women endure (and enforce among themselves) in order to maintain a "respectable" image in the eyes of men. Even with our relative economic, political, and sexual freedom of today, how do these attitudes continue to affect our lives? It was interesting to note that until very recently, the "American Woman" has been considered to be white, of European descent, and quite wealthy.

The August new moon was the beginning of Elul, the sixth month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year. In New England, this new moon will wax into the Grain or Green Corn Moon. We are already enjoying a bountiful harvest of juicy sweet corn and fresh tomatoes!

Please visit Motherhouse.us to learn of other gatherings.

ANGELS WATCHIN OVER ME

We met at Rachel's to make kool-ade colored angel mobiles.
Rachel had already made the angels out of white, carded lambs wool.

We filled custard pots with hot water and kool-ade...

and dunked our angels in for a swim.

When they were saturated with color, we rinsed them in cool water and laid them out to dry.

Then we tied them to a sanded tree-branch and hung them up where we can watch them watching over us!