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On June 9th, in the early morning, the expectant Crown Princess Noirin MacNeil went into labor.   She was attended by Queen Honeee, her husband, Crown Prince Andrew and Doctor Gates Barrington.   Prince Valandil Fionn MacNeil was born at the hour of 2:00 PM.  The newborn prince weight 7 pounds, 14 ounces and was 22 inches long.  Mother and child are doing well.  Congratulations to the Royal couple on the birth of their son and heir!

Word rang out throughout the lands as many stood and cheered as the news was passed. Bells rang in all chapels at the precise hour alerting all those who had waited once word first went around the Princess was in labor. King Peter's ships shot off a few cannons in salute while tug boats and barges added the sounds of their bells or horns. The Sylvan Elves came out of hiding in the hidden forests to mingle amongst the other citizens in celebration. It was the first contact they had with others that were not blood related. Gifts were given of delicate foods, necklace wreaths of woven flowers and ivy. Valandil was as much their heir as he was of Heathfield and its lands.

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Midsummer's Night at the Moors: There was a night of fun in dressing up, where the Fae play and other mystical beings. A fountain that pours your favorite drink no matter your choosing. Allies and friends joined in the festivities that turned to a renewal of vows between the King and Queen, Byron and Caillean. Those of Heathfield attending were three of the McAndrews brothers, Jon, Joe and Liam along with Morgan Murray.  --submitted by Jon J McAndrews

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Healer's Touch
by Samantha Golden

Caraway - is best known as the seed that flavors rye bread. The reason it's in rye bread, and many other foods, is that caraway has been used since ancient times to calm the digestive tract and expel gas. Caraway seeds have been found in prehistoric food remains from 3500 BC. The ancient Egyptians loved the aromatic seeds. They were recommended for digestive upsets in the Ebers Papyrus, one of the world's oldest surviving medical documents, about 1500 BC. Caraway is one of only a handful of herbs whose major medicinal use has remained unchanged throughout history. In Shakespeare's day, baked apples with caraway seeds were considered a stomach-soothing dessert.

Throughout history, in Europe, the Middle East, and early America, caraway was a favorite addition to laxatives herbs because it tempered their often violent effects. Caraway's only other traditional uses relate to women's health - for menstrual cramps, menstruations promotion and milk promotion in nursing mothers.

Healing with Caraway: Digestive Aid - modern researchers have discovered that two chemicals (carvol and carvene) in caraway seeds soothe the smooth muscle tissue of the digestive tract and help expel gas.

Women's Health: Antispasmodics, which appear to be present in caraway, soothe not only the digestive tract but other smooth muscles such as the uterus as well. Thus caraway might relax the uterus, not stimulate it. Women may try it for relief of menstrual cramps.

Rx for Caraway: Fresh seeds may be mixed into any food or chewed a teaspoonful at a time. Add caraway seeds to any dishes that benefit from their unique flavor. They are often used in breads, soups, salads, stews, cheeses, sauerkraut, pickling brines and meat dishes. There have been no reports of harm from caraway. Although caraway appears to have antispasmodic properties, which means that it might relax the uterus, the herb has been used throughout history to promote menstruation. Pregnant women should exercise caution and not use the herb medicinally. It should still only be used in medicinal amounts only in consultation with your doctor. -- Excerpts Taken from The Healing Herbs by Michael Castleman

Life Around Here

The Rangers: Not many know a lot about the Rangers that keep the lands safe. There is a few dozen that make up the regiment, mostly Elves for their speed and proficiency with bows and arrows. They go unseen in the further stretches of the lands, mountains, valleys and forests alike. They expel poachers caught, as well as highway men. The royal guards take care of the areas inside the castle walls while regiments of soldiers patrol outside for a few miles keeping these areas secured. It is outside that perimeter, as well within at times, that the Rangers take care of. Michael Reeves Silvertone heads this division under the castle. Unlike the guards stationed to a particular castle or Keep, these units keep safe the boards and lands within of all three lands, Heathfield, Ballicastle and Tyremoor. Arrangements will be made or units trained to include Kildare in the near future.

The Zoo: There is much excitement and anticipation over the building of a Zoo for the lands. Calum Creighton has been made Head Keeper with Kaylea MacKay as Second Head Keeper. The grounds have been broken and buildings being constructed. It is plan that the main manor on the lands where the Head Keeper will reside in the upper portion, will have a museum and history of various animals, birds and reptiles as an attraction. It is hoped to have it opened by August or September if all goes as planned. There will be articles added in the upcoming Gazette editions to tell of the various animals, birds and reptiles as they are added. Sir Amory Randall is donating his camel that he had won during an event in the past year. Aleric Traugott will be donating a male Capuchin monkey he has. Faelan Callihan and possible a sibling or two, has offered to help capture various species in the wild once the zoo is completed.   --submitted by Maurice McDonough

Births:  Rory and Kia McDonough, son Maurice Robert, born June 3rd. Andrew and Nori MacNeil, son Valandil Fionn, born June 9th. Marriages: None this Month. Engagements: None this Month.  Deaths: None this Month. Citizenship: Please welcome Raphael O'Keeffe and Artani Gunari.

The universe's pantheon holds a vast array of gods and goddesses, each pertaining to a different aspect of life. It is not unusual to discover that a number of these deities are also reflected in other cultural mythos, such as Gallic and Roman; amongst these cross-cultural deities is the goddess of the Horse, Epona. It is frequently assumed that Epona was a native Celtic goddess predating the Roman conquest of Gaul in 52BCE This may well be true; the evidence for it is sadly lacking

The earliest datable evidence is a wall painting in Pompei, which must date to before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79CE. The latest is a large marble statue from Thessaloníki dating to 299-303CE. Thus, all Epona evidence dates from the Roman Empire and before the adoption of Christianity by Constantine. There is a missing century of Epona evidence between the conquest of Gaul in 52BCE and, say, 50CE. A theory that Epona is a pre-conquest Celtic goddess must explain this gap. An alternate theory that Epona is a post-conquest, fusion Celtic-Germanic-Roman goddess is not troubled by this gap. The earliest dated Epona finds are not centred on Gaul as might be expected. They are widely dispersed - Italy, France, England, Bulgaria, Rumania.

The name 'Epona' - The name Epona comes from Gaulish, a member of the Celtic family of Indo-European languages. Gaulish was spoken during the later Iron Age (La Tène C and D, around 300 BCE to 50 BCE) and then in parallel with Latin during the Roman Civil War and Roman Empire (50 BCE onwards), gradually dying out over the next four centuries. Gaulish was spoken over much of continental north-western Europe including modern France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany[Lambert pp13-24, Mallory]. Related Celtic languages were spoken in Spain (Celtiberian), in Britain (Brythonic, or British, from which later developed Welsh, Cornish and Breton), in northern Italy (Lepontic), Hungary and Romania (Danubian), and as far east as Turkey (Galatian) [Mallory]. The word epos means horse in Gaulish, derived from the proto-Indo-European root *ék u os and giving similar words in other Indo-European languages such as equus (Latin), ech (Old Irish), ešva (Old Lithuanian), ekvon (Venetian) and Ηιππος (híppos, Greek) [Delamarre p. 163-4], the latter giving the English name hippopotamus, water horse.

In Gaulish, -os is the masculine singular ending and –a, the female singular [Lejeune p.325, Lambert pp. 29-30]. Thus epa means a mare, a female horse. The component -on- is frequently found in the names of Gaulish or Gallo-Roman divinities including, besides Epona, such examples as Divona, Maponos, Carnonos, Matrona, Rigatona, Sirona [Jufer]. However, it is also found in other contexts like personal names and in the names of months (such as Giamonios) [Lambert p.108-115] and there are divine names that do not have it, such as Esus. It should probably be considered to be a way to turn the name of an object into a personal name [Gwinn]. The name Epona thus means, in Gaulish, ‘divine mare’ or 'she who is like a mare'. Although Celtic peoples possessed writing in the late Iron Age, they did not produce a body of literature in their native languages, or use monumental dedicatory inscriptions before becoming part of the Roman Empire. Thus, the Gaulish name Epona is only found as a foreign word in Latin or Greek inscriptions and literature.

Who worshipped Epona? -  Epona seems to have been a protector of horses and was worshipped by people whose primary job function or livelihood depended on horses. Examples include cavalry (naturally Epona was more popular among the cavalry alae than among infantry), scouts, dispatch riders, mule drivers, carters, stable hands and grooms.

Epona Temples - The Romans were very accepting of other deities, regardless of origin, provided they were worshipped in what was considered an appropriate manner [Woolf pp1-23 and chapter 8]. Thus, in general, Epona was worshipped in the same way as any other Roman deity - praying by making vows, dedicating altars in fulfillment of a vow, erecting temples, sacrificing animals, incense, or wine. Temples were set up (although in Gaul these would be the Gallo-Roman fanum type rather than the classical type - a taller central cella surrounded on all four sides by a covered walkway. Sacrifice of animals, incense, and libations of wine were made in the customary Roman manner, the same as other deities. Libations were made by pouring wine from a specal shallow dish called a patera. Many sidesaddle depictions of Epona show her holding a patera in her right hand.

Epona in the Home - Several of the Epona depictions are small, portable bronze or pipeclay figurines. These were probably used in a domestic or workplace shrine, or indeed in the lararium, the shrine found in each home and attended to by the paterfamilias or head of the household, who also acted as priest for the whole family in their daily devotions. Moulded pipeclay figures were cheap to make and widely available; bronze figures would be used by the more wealthy.

Epona in Stables - The worship of Epona -  small shrines were made to Epona, not just in temples but also in stables, presumably to protect the horses and asses in them. This is confirmed by archaeology; several Epona artefacts having been found in Roman stables such as the inscriptions in the stables of the praetorium of the governor at Apuulum. In the Golden Ass, the carved depiction is enclosed in a small shrine and fixed to the main pillar that supports the roof. Painted images of Epona on stable walls are also known. Apuleius tells us that it was customary to decorate such depictions with flowers, in this case fresh roses; presumably this was well enough known among the general population that finding an Epona shrine could be introduced into the story as a way to get the needed roses. Note that despite the non-temple location, the small shrine was still considered sacred - taking the flowers or other offerings would be considered sacrilegious. (EPONA.net - a scholarly resource)

July

Once known as 'Quintilis', as it was the fifth month of the Roman year. The name 'Julius', later 'July' is believed to derive from the honour of the Roman Emperor 'Julius Caesar', named by Mark Anthony. It is the seventh month of the year. As part of the seasonal calendar July is the time of the 'Hay Moon' according to Pagan beliefs and the period described as the 'Moon of the Red Cherries', and 'Moon when Cherries are Ripe' by Black Elk (Black Elk Speaks, Neihardt). July was also known as:

'Hooymaand' (Hay month)
Old Dutch

'Moedd-monath' (Meadow month, cattle were turned into the meadow)
'Lida oeftevr' (Second mild/genial month)
Old Saxon

The last month of 'Beltane', before 'Lammas', July is more commonly associated with the healing properties and sanctity of water. Perhaps this is due to the knowledge that July is a month of warmth, of the sun, the scorching heat, and the dryness of the land that comes with the dreaded drought. Man, being so much water, has understood only to well how water is such a vital resource for the body and the spirit. It is no surprise then that water and springs have been universally included in many beliefs, legends and folklore, seen as sacred. Is it not ironic that today modern man is battling with pollution to maintain what has always been viewed as precious. Again like our ancestors we are beginning to value water, but perhaps the reasons and methods are different. Whilst the ancient practice of divining  is still used the ability of animals to discover a watering hole indicates their closeness and dependency on the earth. There are many instances of this in the teachings of the Celtic church and of the severed head being connected to many of the sacred wells. The head was seen by the Celts to be the place where the soul existed (we can see similarities here with Aries and the head being the power source). The head being detached from the body was seen as the final act of sacrifice given by the sacred king in Celtic mythology, and in the early Celtic church. Placing the head in water was seen to draw on the strength and wisdom of the sovereign, believing that it flowed forth into the waters.

The appearance of a new spring at a site where a king or saint died was also common. The Druids believed that the appearance of a new spring or well indicated a spot where man would find a place acting as an opening or bridge to eternity. It has been suggested also that these sacred sites indicated where the power of light, of positive forces could enter and spring out of the earth Water and wells have also been associated with providing the opportunity to reach eternal life, seen as a sign or mark of that belief when drunk or carried. Indeed we can note the significance within many faiths of water and the ritual of baptism, where it is poured over the body or man is immersed within it. The Chalice Well, at Glastonbury, Somerset, England  is one such site visited by thousands of people, being associated with the Celtic cult of the severed head and the Holy Grail. Trees growing by water were associated with wisdom, those bearing nuts being especially favored with the ancients, as these could be gathered and eaten. The fish of the water were also seen to benefit from their proximity, and it was said that anyone eating fish from such waters, where nut trees grew nearby, would receive inspiration and mystical powers to further the third eye. Perhaps connected with this was the belief that sacred waters could also heal sickness, especially of the eye. Wells were viewed as having power of time as well as eternity as has been said here. To have full effect on curing the malady, the person drinking the water had to sleep immediately. Here again we have associations with the many stories that describe man waking by water having received prophetic visions or wild terrifying dreams. The rituals of Well dressing are still widely practiced, which is believed to originate from the placing of prayer rags by pilgrims to sacred sites water as a vehicle for asserting that negative forces, even the Devil existed, was used most effectively by the Catholic church during the Inquisition. Those considered to be in league with such forces were cast into water; should the person float it was taken as proof of their rejection of God, (but we must remember that to prove the presence of God the person should not float which surely resulted in many innocents being drowned). from Mystical-WWW : Mystical Months and Days  -- submitted by Mary Colleen McAndrews

Between the Dusk of a Summer Night
by William Ernest Henley

"Between the dusk of a summer night
And the dawn of a summer day,
We caught at a mood as it passed in flight,
And we bade it stoop and stay.
And what with the dawn of night began
With the dusk of day was done;
For that is the way of woman and man,
When a hazard has made them one.
Arc upon arc, from shade to shine,
The World went thundering free;
And what was his errand but hers and mine --
The lords of him, I and she?
O, it's die we must, but it's live we can,
And the marvel of earth and sun
Is all for the joy of woman and man
And the longing that makes them one."

--submitted by Nycole Nolan

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Lang Days
by James Ballantine

"In lang, lang days o' simmer,
When the clear and cloudless sky
Refuses ae weep drap o' rain
To Nature parched and dry,
The genial night, wi' balmy breath,
Gars verdue, spring anew,
An' ilka blade o' grass
Keps its ain drap o' dew."

--submitted by Deirdre Callihan

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Bed in Summer
by Robert Louis Stevenson

"In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way,
I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?"

--submitted by Joshua McDonough

A Violet Bank
by William Shakkespeare

I know a bank whereon the wild thyme blows,
Where oxslips and the nodding violet grows;
Quite over-canopied with lush woodbine,
With sweet musk roses and with eglantine

--submitted by Morgan Murray

Summer
by John Greenleaf Whittier

"Along the river's summer walk,
The withered tufts of asters nod;
And trembles on its arid stalk
the hoar plum of the golden-rod."

--submitted by Deirdre Callihan

Did You Know?

Mystical Landscapes - Ancient peoples believed the earth to be alive and the landscape and the heavens to exist in the form of deities. Within this living environment, they worshipped the earth and sky as gods and goddesses, often believing their kings and queens to be descended from them. To express their sense of unity with this natural, God-filled world, people constructed roads, drew lines and patterns across the lands and created vast earthworks. Much of what these people left behind, in the lost cities of the Incas, in the sacred landscapes of Europe and Australia, and in the effigy mounds of the Americas, remains inexplicable. Yet some archeologists and anthropologists are beginning to unlock the intriguing secrets of some of these mystical ancient landscapes.

The Incas: More than 500 years ago, the Incas made changes to enormous areas of The South American landscape to make it more sacred. Around 1200 AD they began to amass an empire that stretched from present-day Ecuador in the north to Chile in the south. By building a variety of roads, cities and shrines, the Incas created a symbolic landscape, one that combined ancestor worship, water symbolism, astronomy, ceremonial and social activities. The capital and seat of the emperor, Cuzco, lay a the  heart of this sacred Andean landscape. The Incas believed that their emperor, himself called the Inca, was the son of the sun. And each year as the winter solstice neared (in  June at the latitude of Cuzco), the emperor sat in a niche facing the sun in the Coricancha, or Temple of the Sun, as the sun rose. Sheathed with gold and set with gems, the niche glittered in the sun's rays, thus proving the emperor's divinity to the people. For the Incas, Cuzco was the center of their empire. The Temple of the Sun stood in the middle of the city, its site chosen by a god. Inca mythology tells that Manco Capac, the first Inca, who was sent to earth to spread civilization, used divine means to locate the site of the temple. He stuck a golden rod into the soil to find the right site: at the correct spot, the myths said, the golden rod disappeared into the earth. Manco Capac's golden rod may be a mythical reference to the cosmic axis, an imaginary vertical line that was believed by many different peoples to link the zenith with the mystical naval of the world or sacred center. This cosmic axis was believed to provide an access to heaven, hell and the spirit world.

Mysterious Ceques: When the Spanish invaders arrived in Cuzco in 1533, they sacked the city and conquered its people. Their chroniclers, however, recorded some of what had gone before and been ruined. According to their accounts, 41 ceques, which they translated as 'lines', radiated out from the Temple of the Sun like rays from the sun, or spokes from the hub of a wheel. Yet they did not explain what the ceques, which no longer exist, looked like. Many researchers now believe that the Spanish did not describe the ceques because they were never visible on the ground. They were probably not roads or even lines but directions or alignments of Inca sacred places (called huacas in Quechua, the Inca language.) These huacas could take many forms: standing stones or natural boulders, waterfalls or springs, temples, holy mountains or caves. Modern scholars have located some of these sacred places. One of them is Tambo Machay, a ruined huaca outside Cuzco that also served as a lodge for the Inca. The temple of Pukamarka in  the city itself is another shrine. There were approximately between 3 and 15 sacred places along any one ceque. Yet scholars do not know what purpose the ceques actually served. It seems most likely that they had a number of different functions. The geography of the city itself was also sacred. Around 1440 the emperor Pachacuti divided Cuzco into quadrants. He laid out the principle buildings of the capital according to a regular pattern, which contained a strict social ordering. Thus the people of Cuzco lived in certain regions, based on kinship groups (ayllus) to which they belonged. These in turn were related to the part of the empire from which their ancestors came.

Quartering the World: The city of Cuzco and the Inca empire beyond were divided into quarters. The suyus or four quarters of the city, were believed to extend out to the farthest corners of the empire. The Huatanay River divided the city and the surrounding valley into two halves, one for the privileged and the other for the commoners. The Inca road system had its hub in Cuzco at the great plaza of Haucaypata. There, four main roads me to form the dividing lines between the suyus. But the quarters of the city did not form a regular X-pattern: some were larger than others. The main reason for this variation in size, according to modern experts, is that the suyu boundaries track the flow of water in the Cuzco valley, for instance in the form of rivers or canals. The boundaries assigned the right to use water to various kinship groups. The hunas on the ceques were often located where the flow of water changed direction, such as at the bend of a river or where two rivers meet. The spirit world was also related to water. According to Aveni, the kingship groups received 'water directly from their ancestors who were believed to reside within the earth'. The ceques, some of which were located near rivers, were thus sacred to the ancestors of the kinship groups that lived in the area. The kinship groups were responsible for worshipping at the holy places along their ceques at certain times of the year. The ritual year rotated through the land around Cuzco, as the huacas on the ceques became ceremonially active. At such times the huacas may have been tended by the kinship group that lived nearby, visited by pilgrims or used as staging posts on the journeys of the children who were on their way to be sacrificed. Some adult human and animal sacrifices may also have been carried out at the huacas. The ceques also helped to order the territorial relationships between groups. They may also have determined how they organized cooperative ritual an work activates, and even intermarriage. In sum, says Aveni, the ceque system may be considered a rather complex kinship map based upon residence and ancestor worship. -- submitted by Samantha Golden (taken from the book Earth's Mysterious Places, Reader's Digest)

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