Figurine Of A Woman Baking, 8th-6th Century Bce, Pottery, Akhzib

Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming - USA (by James Marvin Phelps) 

Elijah in the Wilderness, Frederic Leighton, created: 1877–1878

Of Hurin and Huor and their coming to Gondolin Personal take of Gondolin (3/??)

Does anyone else on the pagan community feel genuine love for their deities? Not in the romantic sense, but more in the way you love a family member. It's especially strong coming from a religion where you never felt a genuine connection to "your" God. You felt fear, obligation, confusion, curiosity, and maybe love on some level, but this love is different.

It is finally understanding the feeling people around you described from being in church every Sunday. It's growing up finding the congregation's hands in the air, the singing and crying, the raw emotion to be... unusual, strange. What were they feeling? How can I feel this way? You try to forge that connection, but you're never successful. You start to doubt the God you grew up with. You wonder if he hates you, or if you're not trying hard enough — if you're broken.

...Then, one day, you find what you've been searching for all this time, somewhere else. You experience the feeling of finally meeting your soulmate, finally finding your place or your tribe. You experience the pure joy, the peace, the childlike wonder, the longing, the wisdom, the bond, the reverence, the admiration. You experience an unfamiliar tightness In your chest when you pray to them or make offerings.

I've never felt more in love than I am with my gods. Ive never felt more at home, more at peace.

I hope to feel this way for the rest of my days, because what is life without the gods? What is life without something beyond this world, yet at the same time, an integral part of understanding the meaning of existence on this physical plane — on this planet?

🍞honey cornbread muffins🍯

Orange Chocolate Babka

4 to 5 cups all-purpose or bread flour

1 pkg or 2¼ tsp. instant yeast

1 cup lukewarm water

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

¼ cup honey or sugar

½ cup safflower, canola, grapeseed or other neutral oil

2 eggs

zest of one orange

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Filling:

¾ cup dark chocolate chips or chopped dark chocolate

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

½ cup powdered sugar

⅓ cup cocoa powder

Syrup:

⅓ cup fresh-squeezed orange juice (or the juice of one orange plus enough water to make ⅓ cup)

6 Tbsp. sugar

Whisk one cup of the flour with the yeast and stir in the hot water until combined. Cover with plastic wrap or a dish towel and let rise about 45 minutes or until puffy and bubbly.

Directly into the bowl, add the salt, honey (or sugar), oil, eggs, zest and vanilla. Stir with a spatula or spoon until well mixed, then add the remaining four cups of flour. Stir with a spoon until dough forms a sticky mass. Turn dough onto lightly floured work surface and knead for just a few minutes, until dough becomes smooth. Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover it with dish towel or plastic wrap and let it rise in a warm spot until doubled in bulk, one to two hours or longer depending on the temperature of your kitchen.

Make the filling: Melt butter and chocolate together until smooth — you can do this in the microwave at 30 second intervals or in a saucepan. Stir in powdered sugar and cocoa until smooth.

Punch down dough and divide into two equal parts. Using a rolling pin, roll one half into a rectangle about 10- to 11-inches in width by 14- to 16-inches in length. Spread half of filling over top leaving ½-inch border all the way around. Starting from the short end, roll into a tight coil. To help keep coil bound, I wrap it in parchment paper and transfer it to a rimmed baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

If you are not refrigerating rolled dough overnight, transfer loaves to freezer to chill for 15 minutes — this was a Smitten Kitchen tip, which makes cutting and shaping the rolls easier. Meanwhile, coat two 9-by-4-inch loaf pans and one small vessel — I use a mini loaf pan — with butter.

Place logs onto a large cutting board and remove parchment paper. Line each loaf pan with the parchment paper, folding as needed to make it fit the pan. Trim last inch (or less) off each log. Cut the logs in half lengthwise and lay them next to each other cut sides up. Lift one half over the other and twist each around the other — see photos for guidance. Transfer the twist as best as you can into the prepared loaf pan. Repeat with remaining two halves. Nestle trimmed ends into small vessel. Cover pans with plastic wrap and let rise 1 to 1½ hours at room temperature or until dough has risen and is filling the pan.

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove plastic wrap, place loaf pans on a sheet pan and bake on the middle rack of your oven. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Check the mini pan around 20 minutes — it will be done before the others. If the loaves are browning too quickly, cover them with foil.

While babkas are baking, make syrup: Place orange juice/water and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and set aside. Remove babkas from oven, brush some of the syrup over the small pan, then pour half of the remaining syrup evenly over each of the loaves. Let loaves cool completely in loaf pan if you are able to refrain, otherwise 15 minutes or so should do it.

callout post for the morrigan:

steals cows

helps others steal cows

sets up a situation in which others steal more cows

Lugh is kindness. Lugh is creativity. Lugh is vitality. Lugh is masculinity. Lugh is dicipline. Lugh is confidence. Lugh is strength. Lugh is reciprocity. Lugh is an embracing warmth.

Hail Lugh, the shining god of warriors and kings.