By permission of Catherine Hyde
We’re approaching the Spring Equinox, one of the four Fire Festivals of the year. Today Spring seems to be as elusive as the hare – a glimpse one minute and then gone the next. The Equinox is that special time of year when the days and nights are of equal length. Symbolically it’s a time of balance in the Wheel of the Year, when light and dark are in harmony, like a perfect Yin/Yang symbol. There are many signs that spring is well under way, and the earth is stretching and yawning after the cold, dark winter. After the Equinox, the days become noticeably longer and there’s that lovely soft texture to the air that speaks to me of the warmth and vitality to come. Plants are pushing up through the blanket of earth, the birds are nest building and singing their hearts out, and altogether it’s a good time to feel alive. Even if it is snowing!
In the pagan calendar, the festival on March 21st is also known as Ostara, or Eostre. She was a Saxon goddess of the spring and the dawn, and it is a common held belief that her name is the root of the words “oestrogen“ and also “Easter“. Further information about her, and pagan rituals for the festival can be found on many sites if you type into a search engine. Hares are associated with this festival; in spring time they’re very active and can be seen racing around the bare fields where the crops are yet to grow. The Mad March Hare was immortalized by Lewis Carroll, and anyone who has seen hares boxing and frisking will understand the term. A couple of years ago I saw a group of hares in a field apparently going mad – then realised it was actually a female and a group of males indulging in what I can only call a gang-bang! My romantic illusions of mystical wild creatures were somewhat shattered, although I realised that of course procreation is an immensely powerful force, and the female was being very sensible ensuring that she got the best donations possible. The ubiquitous “Easter Bunny“ is thought to have been derived from the ancient veneration of the hare at this spring festival, and it was apparently believed by country folk at one time that the hare laid eggs in a nest in the fields. This was probably due to the fact that hares never burrow, but make a "form" in a slight dip or hollow in open land, raising their leverets in what appears to be a nest. The egg is of course a symbol of new life, used by many cultures to represent beginning and growing. Decorating and painting eggs is a custom found throughout the world – chocolate eggs are only a recent (but welcome) addition. I find it strange that the Christian festival of Easter is set for the Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox – it seems such a pagan way of deciding when to celebrate a Christian event!
The Spring Equinox is the first festival in the Stonewylde Series, and one that Sylvie and Miranda never see. The first book begins in late February/early March, and they arrive at Stonewylde just a couple of days before the Equinox. They hear the sound of drumming carrying through the night air, and Sylvie longs to see what’s going on. But Magus has advised them not to come along until they understand the ways of the community, and Miranda complies with this. It’s at the festival that we see Yul’s exuberance as he helps build the bonfire, showing off in front of Holly. And of course it’s later that evening at the dance in the Great Barn that he has a run-in with Buzz, who beats him up in the woods. Because of this, he’s sent to dig Sylvie’s garden as a punishment, and so she has her first contact with him – a dark, rebellious boy with a surly expression who refuses to speak to her. And so the story really begins … at the Spring Equinox.
I’ve been very busy since the last newsletter at Imbolc getting out and about promoting Stonewylde. Some Waterstones branches are now stocking the books, and I’ve just today sent out 200 letters to their branches telling them about the series and why they should stock it! I had intended to visit them all, but it’s such a mammoth task and would cost me a fortune in petrol. I’ve had some promotional postcards printed telling booksellers the nitty-gritty details, and if anyone could help me by taking one of the cards into their local bookshop or New Age shop, I’d be very grateful. If you e mail me your address I’ll send you a few. As I said in the last newsletter, I really do need everyone’s help.
Next month my partner (the famous Mr B in the dedications) and I are visiting the London Book Fair, where everyone in the publishing trade gathers for three days to network. We’re hoping to really move Stonewylde forward through that, and are grateful to one of our distributors, Pete Gotto at Counter Culture, for the tickets. Then in June, we’re visiting New York for another book fair – more about that in the Beltane newsletter. We need to get Stonewylde into the USA and Canada. Since joining MySpace (see the link on the website if you want to be one of my friends) I’ve been bombarded by people in the USA who are obviously very into the whole pagan thing. I’m sure Stonewylde would find a very good market there. I’m still hoping to publish Solstice at Stonewylde at Samhain, but need to sell more books in the next few months.
Ryewolf from the White Goddess site, www.thewhitegoddess.co.uk has very kindly put a Stonewylde banner on every page of his website, which is bringing even more visitors to our website. If anyone has a website or profile on a webpage and would like the banner, you can click on it on the homepage of Stonewylde and follow instructions. Any problems send me an e mail. Google now lists an amazing number of entries for Stonewylde (just checked and it was 634!!!) and it’s growing all the time. Most of these are online shops, but if you’ve mentioned Stonewylde on your website or in your blogs, it will come up on the google search engine. It all helps in the never-ending quest for publicity and promotion. Sorry that this all sounds so commercial, and perhaps even against the ethos of Stonewylde. I’m a writer and a day-dreamer, not a professional marketing executive and it comes hard to me! But if Stonewylde is to be successful, and the other three books are ever to be published, this is what must be done. So please help by spreading the word. And just think – rather than buy an expensive (and fattening) chocolate egg for Easter/Ostara, why not buy your loved one a copy of Magus of Stonewylde? Much better idea!
We’ve made some changes to the website recently, and also tried to make buying the books online easier. Postage and packing is now free in the UK (this may not last forever of course!) and we’ve also added Paypal to the ordering system. This will enable people from other countries to buy the books, until we can get them distributed worldwide. I’d really like to add a forum to the website so we can all interact and communicate with each other. Whenever I see people who’ve read the book, they always start to talk about the characters and some of the events that happen – it’s like hearing people discuss the latest events on their favourite soaps. It happened today with my lovely hairdresser Rebekah – she was talking about Yul, Magus, Sylvie, Miranda, Buzz, Mother Heggy and Alwyn for ages, as if they were real people! So it seems a forum would be a good idea perhaps, and we could share experiences of sacred sites, good places to visit, etc. Let me know what you think. I’ll have to get Mr B on to it. I’d also like to add an "e-mail this website to a friend" button. There’s a lovely new Moongazy Publishing website now (really for trade enquiries) as well.
Whilst I was looking for pictures of hares on Google Images, I discovered a wonderful artist called Catherine Hyde. She is as obsessed with the moon and hares as I am! Her pictures are stunning – take a look at her website www.catherinehyde.co.uk. All her motifs are entirely in harmony with Stonewylde – the landscapes, the crows/ravens, the goddess – and of course the moon and the hare. She now has a copy of the first book – and she kindly gave me permission to use one of her images, appropriately called "Spring Hare". Thank you Catherine for letting me use your beautiful picture. If anyone has any pictures or photos of a Stonewylde nature, let me know. I’m also hoping to start a gallery on the website, and I may be able to use your image in the Beltane newsletter (Green Men especially welcome!).
Please keep in touch; as I said last time, I love getting your e mails. Thank you to everyone who got in touch in February. Do let me know if you’d be happy to put some Stonewylde postcards about in your local shops etc, and also maybe help distribute some publicity literature later on in the summer. I'll be very happy to thank loyal readers who've helped me out with a free advance copy of Book Three! Please continue to tell everyone you know about Stonewylde, and pester your local bookshops to stock it.
Have a lovely time over the Spring Equinox, and also the four days at Easter. Keep an eye out for hares – they are truly magical creatures, associated for centuries with witches. They are traditionally known to be animals of transformation, and it was a great golden hare that first inspired me to write.
Bright blessings to all my Stonewyldians!
Kit xxx
PS – did you all see the WONDERFUL lunar eclipse? Wasn’t it spectacular? Of course it was under such a moon that poor little Raven met her fate …
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A Stonewylde reader from London contacted me after reading the Spring Equinox newletter. She too knows of the folktale about the hare laying her eggs in a nest - and she wrote me this lovely poem. Thank you MommaWhiteCougar!
As Eostre walked upon the Earth one early Springtime day
She saw Dame Holda high above upon Her goose so grey. "What are you doing flying high? The winter should be past!
It's time for warmth and growing things, not for a chilly blast!"
Dame Holda simply waved and smiled, "The answer's plain my dear,
I'm letting my goose stretch Her wings before we end our year." And so the goose's feathers fell as softly drifting snow.
Her flapping wings stirred up a gale that all around did blow.
Then Eostre saw the wobbly lambs all shivering in the fold,
And daffodils whose sunny heads were drooping in the cold.
But saddest sight of all was seen – it made dear Eostre cry,
A skylark frozen on the ground - too cold and weak to fly.
"What can I do to end this pain? How can I solve her plight?
She lies near death from bitter frost. I cannot bear this sight!" And so dear Eostre took the bird to give it all Her care.
To keep it warm and keep it safe, She changed it to a hare!
"A hare has such a fluffy coat and fuzzy furry feet.
She will not suffer from the wind or cold and falling sleet!"
The skylark was somewhat surprised to find herself earthbound
But in her snugly furry coat began to hop around.
The days went by (as days will do), the hare grew strong and bright
But she was not content you see, for she had had lost her flight.
"I know I sound ungrateful since you saved my life, it's clear. But I miss the thrill of open skies and soaring full of cheer."
So Eostre, ever kindly, raised the hare high in the sky.
She could not give the bunny wings, but had a plan to try.
She placed the hare in the night sky to shine there as some stars.
They're called Lepus - still there today - just somewhere West of Mars.
The hare was happy for a while so high above the Earth.
But stars (except in Hollywood ) are not equipped for birth.
She wanted babies as before, she wanted tiny chicks.
Eostre was now quite bemused. Could this request be fixed?
And then She had a brilliant thought: the answer was so clear!
The hare could come back down to earth for just one day a year.
"If eggs she wants, then eggs she'll have on just one special day.
The hare who was a skylark once will have her chance to lay!"
And so the day arrived at last, the hare could come to earth.
She tried to fly. She flapped her ears for all that she was worth!
She hopped and jumped. She bounced off Mars. She caromed off the Sun.
No matter what the bunny tried all she could do was run!
"How will I ever lay my eggs? I cannot seem to fly.
The earth is still so far away, whatever can I try?"
She looked down on the shining Earth, all sparkling in a shower.
"That's it!" the clever hare declared, "I'll slide on rainbow power!"
And that is what the bunny did. The rainbow saved the day.
By sliding down its colours bright she now her legs could lay.
But when the eggs were laying there on grass all moist with dew,
They were not white, oh no my dear, but were of rainbow hue!
Yes, Magick from the rainbow made the eggs all green and blue -
Some red and orange and violet eggs. No honestly, it's true!
And that is why on just one day these eggs you still may see.
A gift from Eostre and the hare that's left for you and me!
Ostara Blessings MommaWhiteCougar
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