The grey of morning fills the view outside the window from my child hood bedroom as I write this. I have come to my childhood home to spend the holidays with my children and my parents. The fog is thick and heady and an owl who's ring through the woods near by. Before I left my home the weather was miserable along I-5. Ice and snow on most the passes I was going to have to travel over to get here. The going was dangerous. I decided it was time to see if some spirit art could help me out. I chose to do some work calling on the spirit of winter itself as the Irish and Scottish Celts saw her, the Cailleach. Basing the working off the formats that Rev. Corrigan put together, I opened the gates called my allies among the kindred and then called to the Cailleach, giving offerings. I then entered into a trance state. In this state I saw with my inner sight, Stag come through the gate and indicate for me to climb on his back. It would seem I was going to go to her, instead of her coming to me. I climbed up and through the gate we went to the spirit world. The stag took me to a part of the spirit world I have never been to. Several mountain tops away from my usual area of visitation. There I met with the Cailleach. I saw her much as she is described in the lore. Grayish blueish skin, long white hair. I had expected her personality to be harsh and cold as winter can be, but instead found her to be friendly and kind. I talked with her and explained my situation and my request for a Solstice Celebration free of rain (the weather report called for an 80% chance of rain) and clear passage to Oregon. In exchange she requested a temporary shrine and daily offerings of pine incense till Imbolc.
The Solstice rite was a huge success and we had about 25 attendees. We got only the slightest amount of trickle on us at the end of the rite and it quickly let up, causing no ill effects. The next day on my drive up to Oregon, we did get some rain and stormy weather, but all of it in the low lands where it didn't slow us down at all. Just as we got to the first major pass, the mandatory chain check was taken away, and we had clear roads all the way to my parents home in Oregon. Even had some sunshine at the normally coldest and most dangerous sections!
Was it luck? Was it the Cailleach? There really is no way to know for sure, but I trust my heart. You can bet your last dollar that when I get home from this trip, the first thing I am going to do is build a shrine and light some incense, every day till Imbolc.
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