Pooka's Page for Grownups - Pooka Pages

Pooka's Page for Grownups

For weeks, I was pestered everywhere I turned about "Telling the Bees". It would pop up unexpectedly on websites I visited, on tv shows I was watching, in novels I was reading and conversations with friends. Finally, I turned my face to the Heavens (actually, if you must know, I looked up at the living room ceiling...) and yelled, "Okay, I get it! You want me to write a story about 'telling the bees!'" And so, in this issue, that's what I tried to do. And, speaking of stories, a wee word of warning: Many of our young readers may simply see Fiona's Letter from Scotland as simply another of Meg and Attila's marvelous adventures. Adults, however, will quickly understand the deeper meaning of the story... and I'm hereby issuing an Official Hankie Alert. In other news, by the time this issue is posted, Pooka's "Summer Book" will be available on Amazon. Fully illustrated, it covers the holidays of Litha & Lughnasadh, with 6 "Pooka Stories" for each sabbat as well as herbal lore, recipes, crafts and spells for both... all designed and written for the youngest members of our Pagan Community. The book is 50 full color pages and only $7.95. If you do buy it, please leave a review? Not only will it help others on Amazon to find the book, I read them also...and they encourage me to write more. They also help me know what you like, or don't like and where I can improve in future books. Meanwhile, please join us in "Pooka's Circle" on Facebook! I do most of my own posting here and there are even more posts from our Team members and readers ... parents, grandparents, teens and kids - all sharing pictures and information about their own seasonal crafts, songs, celebrations and recipes. In order to safe-guard our members, it's a Closed Group. You must know a password to join, but, if you've read even one "Pooka" story, then the password is easy!) Pooka, the Team and I all hope you have a fabulous Midsummer Holiday filled with lots of sunshine and sweetness!

Happy Litha!

- Lora & Pooka

Also known as: Midsummer, Summer Solstice

This is the longest day of the year when we celebrate the peak of the sun's power. From now until Yule, the days grow shorter and shorter. Fires are lit to honored to encourage life-giving rain during the hot months ahead. This is a perfect time to have an outdoor celebration with barbeques, bonfires and water games! Midsummer Eve is one of the times during the year when fairies and other nature spirits especially love to frolic. It's customary to leave offerings for them such as food or milk set out in the evening.

In this Issue:

Storybook Chair - Telling the Bees Elsie's Herb Garden - Lemon Balm

Little Book of Shadows Kitchen Witch

Coloring Page - by Liliane Grenier A Letter from Scotland by Fiona Tinker Symbols of Litha by Carmen Sanchez Bezzard

Coloring Page by Liliane Grenier WitchCrafts - a Fairy Ladder by Amber A.

Jimmy Hears a Fable by Evelien Roos Coloring Page - Litha by Hope Mayo Celebrating the Sabbat by Hope Mayo Wee Witchling's Read-Along - Chasing Honey

The Pooka Pages Magazine is published by Lora Craig-Gaddis This is a FREE Publication for Pagan Children

The Pooka Pages is published 8 times a year about a week prior to each sabbat.

To get the current issue go to: And visit us on FaceBook at PookaPagesTeam Pooka Pages, Litha 2018 is ? June 2018. No portion of this publication may be used without the author or artist's permission. To contact an author or artist or for general inquiries, write to pookachild@

Telling the Bees

"...Marriage, birth or buryin', News across the seas, All you're sad or merry in, You must tell the Bees."

Rudyard Kipling from "Puck of Pook's Hill"

"Maybe I should have brought my little wagon," sighed Elsie as she shifted her heavy

basket from hand to the other. "Yes!" agreed Pooka who was trotting next to her. "Then I could ride in it. That would be

fun!" Elsie cut her eyes at him, but the cat was blissfully oblivious. He loved Market Day with all

the scents, sounds and familiar, friendly faces that went with it. They stopped first at Sally, the Flower Lady's booth where Elsie delivered lavender sachets

and bags of rose & spice potpourri. Next, a pair of boots was dropped off at the Cobbler's for re-soling. "They'll be ready next week, Elsie, and good as new," the cobbler told her.

"Thanks, Mr. Mac," the girl smiled. Pooka called a cheery hello Trilby, the white kitten who lived above the bakery. She poked her head over the balcony. "Meet you for ice cream at the cafe' later, Pooka?" "Okay!" (Shhhh. Don't tell, but Pooka had a secret crush on Trilby and didn't mind in the least sharing his ice cream with her.) At the Fruit Stand, Elsie bought some peaches. "Are you making a pie, Elsie?" asked Mrs. Simpson, the plump proprietor. "You might want to toss in some blueberries. My husband loves it and says they make a nice touch." Elsie agreed and bought a little box of those also. Afterward, Mrs. Simpson gave Pooka a strawberry to munch on. She knew how much the cat enoyed them! He ate his strawberry outside the Pharmacy while Elsie delivered medicinal herb teas, ointments and lotions. (Mr. Ambercromby was a great friend of Pooka's but cats weren't allowed in his shop.) Next, Elsie stopped at the Beekeeper's booth. Pooka noticed that she hesitated, however, for just a moment before she approached. Instead of old Mr. Bartlett, there was a young man behind the counter. "I'd like a jar of honey, please, and some wax for candles," said Elsie, and then asked, "Where's Mr. Bartlett? He's not ill, I hope?" The man looked sad. "I'm afraid my grandfather passed away a few days ago - quite peacefully in his rocking chair, thank goodness. I'm George," and he reached out to shake her hand. "I'll be taking over the bee hives for him."

"I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Elsie. "Your grandfather was such a kind man. You told the bees of course?"

"Immediately," George assured her. "And we put black ribbons on all the hives." The little witch nodded. George, the new bee keeper, told her his grandfather's funeral was in two days and Elsie said she'd be there. As they progressed toward the library (where Miss Epstein, the librarian had some books waiting for them), Pooka asked, "What did you mean - Tell the bees? " The witch looked down at the cat curiously. "Bees are very canny creatures and their relationship to the bee keeper and his family is a sort of sacred trust. Whenever something important happens, you must tell the bees right away. Otherwise they will either all die or leave and abandon their hives." "That would be really bad," agreed Pooka. Elsie nodded. "It would mean no more honey. Also, without the bees to pollinate them, most of our fruits, herbs, flowers and vegetables would simply die off. We need the bees in order to survive!" "I didn't know bees were so important!" exclaimed Pooka and Elsie nodded. The next morning, instead of oatmeal, the witch and her cat had scrambled eggs (delivered by farmer Gilmore in exchange for some of Elsie's sunburn ointment) and hot buttered biscuits drizzled with honey for breakfast. Afterward, the girl washed up the dishes as Pooka went into the garden to play. Eventually, through the open kitchen window, she could heard him talking: "Edgar the crow won't play with me today. He's too busy with Mrs. Edgar and feeding their babies. I don't think that's fair, do you? But, Nathan's taking me fishing tomorrow and Elsie promised to cook whatever we catch. I hope we catch a lot. And she got a new book at the library yesterday. It's all about dragons and she promised to read it to me tonight. You can hang around and listen to if you like. Hey, have you seen my catnip? It's getting really big and

tall, even though Elsie keeps trimming it and I keep rolling in it and smashing it down. But it keeps coming right back up! Isn't that amazing?"

It dawned on Elsie that she'd been standing by the window and drying the same plate for several minutes while listening to this monologue. She put the plate in the cupboard and went outside.

She found her cat sitting next to a clump of Lemon Balm, still talking away. But, there was nobody there.

"Pooks?" she asked. "Who are you talking to? "The bee, of course," said Pooka.

Elsie now noticed a solitary bee busily visiting each bloom on the little bush. "Why?"

"I'm telling him all the important stuff," said Pooka.

"Actually, you only need to tell them really important events like deaths, births and marriages. And you're supposed to tell the whole hive."

Pooka just looked at her and said, "Well, this stuff is important to me and, if I tell the bee, then he can go back and tell the rest of the hive, right?"

The witch realized that she couldn't argue with her cat's logic. Lemon Balm is also known as "Bee Balm". In fact, it's botanical name "Melissa Officinalis" comes from the ancient Latin word for "Honey Bee". According the 16th century herbalist, John Gerard, if beehives are rubbed with this herb "it causeth the bees to keepe together and causeth others to come unto them." And, according to Pliny, the Elder, a Greek philosopher and naturalist who lived in the very first century: "When (bees) have strayed, they do find their way home by it." Even today's bee keepers plant the herb around their hives. This is a happy herb which lifts the spirits when you drink it as a tea. (There's even an old tradition that says music should be played whenever picking it.) A cup of lemon balm tea will help soothe and relax you whenever you're upset, wound up or nervous about something. Lemon Balm is wonderful for your tummy, whether you're nauseous, have heart burn or even more serious issues that grownups can get like IBS. It can even help a colicky baby brother or sister. It's both gentle and calming for your insides. The tea can help lower a fever and a syrup made with lemon balm is really good for coughs. Since ancient times, people have believed lemon balm sharpens the brain and memory. Now, modern science is saying that those old folks were absolutely right and the results of these new studies are quite impressive! So, the next time you have an important test coming up in school, sip some lemon balm tea as you study as well as on the day of your exam. It really will help you to do better! It's tempting to drink lots and lots of lemon balm tea every day since it's so delicious, either hot or cold. But, be careful because, if you do, it can make you get sunburned more quickly, especially in the summer. But, adding fresh lemon balm sprigs to your Midsummer fire or barbeque will help keep the nasty mosquitoes away! Lemon Balm is really easy to grow! Just scatter

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download