Update: News, Plans, and Other Likely Stories

Miranda–The Tempest, John William Waterhouse via Wikimedia Commons

I can't believe that it's been six months since either of us has posted anything!  Seriously, I started this blog with the express purpose of posting at least something once a month.  Leanne expressed to me the same desire.  Life, it seems, had other ideas.  Leanne spent those months preparing for and then welcoming her son to the world.¹  While I, like the ship in the picture, spent my time crashing against the rocks with a major case of burnout that ultimately cost me a job; granted, it was only a part time job, but since my other job is also part time I'm feeling the damage.  We've had no time for magic, is what I'm saying.  Or recording our magical practices, anyway.  More's the pity.

That, however, is changing.  I don't know about Leanne, because babies take a lot of time and effort, but I am planning on posting more.  I've promised my gods that I will observe all the Celtic Fire Festivals (Lá Fhéile Bride [Imbolc], Lá Bealtaine [Bealtaine], Lá Lúnasa [Lughnasa], and Oíche Shamhna [Samhain]) and I'm thinking I'll probably celebrate the solstices and equinoxes as well.  Everybody like a party.  I will record my ritual doings here.  As well as any major or minor magical happenings in between.

My religious leanings–polytheistic–have been pushing me more towards a more devotional practice, and towards Irish reconstruction and the Celtic pantheon.  I've been dreaming of Manannán mac Lir for months now, and, more recently, Brigid.  This change of perception requires a boatload of research, practice, and patience.  I will likely post articles about my path and what stumbles befall me.  It should be interesting.  Also, if you're interested, I've constructed an eShrine for Manannán (and Hecate and Bendis) over on Tumblr.  Check it out.

In addition to spells and rituals, and witchery of all types, I'm hoping to add poetry, prayers, stories, and songs.  I'd also like to add more reference pages/posts, which, I think, will come in handy on my journey, and will hopefully be helpful to our readers as well.  So keep an eye out for posts on: gods, gems/stones, the fair folk, plants/herbs, tools, shrines/altars, divination, and whatever else we think of.  Though, likely, those posts won't come any time soon.  There are a lot of changes happening in our lives, Leanne's and mine, in a lot of ways we're both having to rebuild from major upheavals, so please be patient!  We'll get this blog rolling again soon.

¹Cutest baby boy in the world, her son!  Not cutest baby in the world, as that title currently belongs to my brother's new daughter. ;)  I'm an aunt twice over (kith-aunt & kin-aunt)!  So exciting. 

What I'll be doing on the 31st of July

by M. Gage.  The logo is a highly stylized symbol of Ba'al.

I'll be participating in the Polytheist Day of Protest and Remembrance.  This is a mass ritual cooked up by Galina Krasskova, and posted on her personal website and polytheist.com.  It is meant as a remembrance of and protest against the destruction of ancient and holy sites by Daesh.

Check out the ritual and join me.

Gemstones For The Nursery

With a baby on the way, I have been thinking of ways to add some magic to the nursery. A simple and beautiful way to bring specific energies into the space is through the use of gemstones. The following are the gemstones that are especially helpful in the nursery.


ROSE QUARTZ

Polished rose quartz in heart shapes.

Rose quartz just may be the most beneficial stone to keep in the baby's room (or sleep space). She is the "Stone of Love", providing comfort and reassurance as well as deep inner healing. Attracting the energy of love and removing negativity while restoring peace, Rose Quartz is my number one choice for my son's nursery.

HOWLITE

Howlite

Howlite is a beautiful and unique looking stone. The "Stone of Tranquility", it is a perfect helper for a baby having trouble sleeping through the night. This stone is also known for its ability to eliminate stress, a bonus for sleep deprived parents!

FLUORITE

Purple and green Fluorite.

Such a gorgeous gem that comes in a variety of colors! Fluorite fits right in the nursery with its ability to bring strength and protection during transition; and what bigger transition is there than the move from womb to Earth? Fluorite stabilizes energy and brings order to chaos. 

LAPIS LAZULI

Lapis Lazuli.

A stone that was sacred to Buddha, Lapis Lazuli is my personal favorite, and therefore will have a place in my son's nursery. The "Stone of Protection and Enlightenment", Lapis assists with spiritual growth. Mentally calming, bringing serenity, it also enhances dreams. 

BLOODSTONE (HELIOTROPE)

Bloodstone also known as Heliotrope.

What a special stone! Bloodstone, or Christ's Stone, carries the purity of blood and speaks of life and birth. Its virtues are protective and nurturing. Legend tells that the blood of Jesus fell upon the green earth during crucifixion turning to stone. Connected to blood and detoxification of the organs, heliotrope brings strength and life force! This stone is a Mother Goddess stone, it assists in the bonding process after a traumatic birth. A good stone to keep close to baby who may have had a rough go at the start of life. 

May these stones enhance your baby's nursery, or your home in general. A word of caution; when your child begins to grow and put things in her mouth, do not leave small gemstones in easy to reach places. Such beautiful stones can easily be mistaken for tasty food! 

~ Love & Light ~

Cleansing and Purification

Elakala Falls. Forest Wanderer.

I think it's important to regularly cleanse and purify not only your sacred and mundane spaces, but your mind, body, and spirit as well.  Imbolc, which occurs on roughly the second of February marks the start of spring cleaning for me, and though I didn't write or perform an Imbolc ritual this year (which I totally meant to do) what follows is at least part of the purification process involved in my usual Imbolc rituals.

Cleansing and purification is important way to renew and rejuvenate.  By removing the negative energies that bog down your spirit, and cleaning your home of clutter and filth that exhaust your mind and body, you open yourself to the possibility of new beginnings and positive change.

Salt, Water, & Fire

These are the base of all of my cleansing and purification rituals/spells

Dead Sea Salt. Hassan Bushnaq.

Salt

Salt has been used for thousands of years by cultures all over the world for purification purposes.  According to folklore salt purifies and repels evil beings and negative energies, which makes it perfect for our purposes.  

Water

Water is the universal cleansing element.  It is what we use to wash ourselves, our homes, our world.  Water is connected to the moon and the divine feminine.

Fire

Fire is a purifying element.  Both destructive and creative, without which we could not be.  Our world would not be here, not as it is.  Fire is connected to the divine masculine and the sun.

Herbal Sea Salt Scrub for Self-Cleansing Ritual

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sea salt 
• 1/2 cup of jojoba oil 
• 1 tablespoon of dried rosemary 
• ~15 drops of rosemary essential oil 

Mix the salt and oil, stir well.  Add the rosemary, stir again.  Add the essential oil, stir again.  Put it in a wide mouth container for easy use.  Use.  

Fire from a brazier. Erin Silversmith.

[Notes: (1) The dried herbs and scent are totally optional.  (2) The coarseness of the salt will affect different people differently, so experiment.  I find that a coarse sea salt is great for my body, and the finer dead sea salt is wonderful on my face.  (3) Instead of jojoba oil you can you can use grapeseed, almond, coconut, or whatever type of oil you prefer.  (4) You can replace the rosemary and rosemary essential oil with any of the other cleansing herbs (i.e. lavender, sage, chamomile, hyssop, lemon balm, peppermint, etc) or you can remove it entirely!]

To use in a shower:

Light some candles to add the element of fire to the room while you bathe.  Burn incense if you wish.  PrepareWash yourself with soap and rinse off.  Turn off the water in the shower, if you use the scrub with the water running it'll rinse off before you're full scrubbed down.  Scrub you body head to toe with the salt scrub until you can no longer feel the salt.  Be gentle with yourself.  If you have a partner let them scrub your hard to reach places.  Turn the water back on and rinse off. 

To use in a bath:

Basically the same.  Only I'd drain the tub between washing and the scrub, and use a pitcher or hand shower to make sure I'm fully rinsed.

Visualization for the cleansing:

Focus on the warmth of the water, the coarseness of the scrub.  Picture all the negativity, all your troubles and worries being washed away, swept down the drain and out towards the sea.  See your mind, body, and spirit being purified.  Find that glow from within and strengthen it.  

To Purify a Space

Clean the room.  Pick up the clutter.  Dust, take down the drapes, beat the pillows, change the sheets or slipcovers, sweep or vacuum.  Move in a deosil or clockwise direction while cleaning, at least as much as possible.  When the room is clean in the more mundane sense, set small bowls of salt or salt water in the corners of the room.  Allow the bowls to stand for 24 hours before removing from the room and discarding the contents.  Additionally, you can mix water, salt, and cleansing herbs to asperge the room:  walk around deosil around the room and sprinkle the mixture while you walk.  You can also smudge the room with burning herbs or incense.  I usually use a mix of all three.

2015: Year Of The Sheep

The Year Of The Sheep begins February 18, 2015. After a fast paced, no holds barred, Year Of The Horse; the sheep brings a sense of calm and a more "Zen" pace to 2015. The horse was about DOING, while sheep is about CONTEMPLATING. This is a perfect year to start up that meditation practice you've been meaning to begin. 

Sheep are agile and expert mountain climbers. In 2015 we will have a sense of being grounded and sure footed in the direction we choose to go. Sheep literally cannot walk backward, and this is symbolic of the forward momentum we will continue to carry through into 2015 as we exit the Year Of The Horse. The difference in the momentum of the sheep is that it is slow and steady as opposed to fast and risky like the horse. 

Sheep correlates to the zodiac sign Cancer; the mother and nurturer. Family and close friends are important. Focusing on these relationships will be fruitful. 

A big theme we see for sheep is creativity! Dig deep and express your creative side. This is the year for art, imagination, dreaming, and cultivating beauty. 

Look forward to a calm and peaceful year full of creativity and beauty shared with family and friends. 

FOR THE ALTAR:

- A sheep figurine

- images that inspire creativity

- photos of family and friends or people you want to strengthen your relationship with

- rose quartz for love, peace and tranquility

NEW YEAR OFFERING:

Fill a bowl with the old, expired herbal teas in your cupboard. Stir the teas to blend them together. Take the bowl to a place where you can give them back to the earth; a secluded area of your yard, a river or even a compost pile. Hold the bowl between your hands and say:

"Out with the old, In with the new.

Mother Earth, these herbs I offer you.

The Horse brought us lessons and blessings,

laughter and pain.

Let the Sheep bring us peace, love, 

and nothing but gain. 

So be it."

Sprinkle the herbs on the Earth as an offering. 

Prosperity Spell

This simple spell will draw prosperity and abundance to you in 2015.


Supplies:

~ Images of your desires
~ Two small gold or yellow candles
~ a lighter or matches
~ Jade gemstone (or any green talisman)
~ Bergamot oil (or essential oil of your choice)

The Spell:


To begin, find a quiet space with a small table to perform the spell. If you have an altar this is ideal. First, place several images that represent prosperity on your table or work space. These images could be of money, destinations you wish to travel to, your dream home, job, car, images of happy couples, families or babies if you are wishing for children. Draw your images or cut them from magazines or print them off of the internet. After arranging your prosperity images, set two gold candles on the altar, one on the right, one on the left. Place your jade gemstone in the center between the candles and set the bergamot oil near the stone.

Dim the lights if you are indoors and sit before your altar in a comfortable position. Close your eyes and take several deep cleansing breaths.

After you are in a calm and clear state, open your eyes and light the candle to your left, as you do so say the following:

                       Money, love, and happiness,
                        Beauty in all I see.
                        A world of joy and adventure,
                        Where ecstasy is free.


Next, light the candle to your right and say:
     
                         This year I see full of magic,
                          I now possess the key.
                          I shall want for nothing,
                          So mote it be.

Now take the bergamot oil or the oil you have selected and anoint the jade gemstone or talisman with several drops. Rub the oil into the stone and then cup it in your hands. Bring the stone to your nose, inhaling the bergamot oil while staring at the images of prosperity you have placed on your altar. Spend as much time as feels good visualizing yourself happy and living your ideal life. When you can feel yourself in a mindset of prosperity, place the stone back on the altar and blow out the candles. 

It is done.

Repeat this spell as often as you like, and re-visit your prosperity images frequently. You may also choose to wear the bergamot oil or carry the jade stone with you as a reminder to be grateful for all the Universe has provided to you and to be an open channel to the prosperity and abundance headed your way. 

                         

Yule and Ritual

Source.

Yule* (also known as the Longest Night, the Winter Solstice, Midwinter, and a myriad of other names) falls on the shortest day and longest night of the year.  For the Norther Hemisphere it's usually sometime between the 20th and 23rd of December.  Yule, or Winsol (see my note at the end of this post), is, for me, a time to celebrate both the darkness and the rebirth of the sun.  It's the birth of the a new year, and I treat it as such.  This is my time to make plans, to rid myself of unnecessary and often negative influences, and begin the process of shedding my old skin.  Often, I write myself a letter to be read on the next Winsol, and read the letter that was written on the last.  And of course there's feasting and the exchange of gifts.  Winsol is a time for rest, regeneration, making plans for the next year, and spending time with loved ones.

Below is a short, solitary ritual that I wrote this year, and some associations I have for the holiday.  They are not Wiccan, as I am not Wiccan, but instead are some crazy amalgam of Neopagan, folkloric, and druidical traditions, coupled with my family's decidedly non-Christian Christmas tradition.

2014's Winsol falls on the 21st of December.  Sunset is at 5:03pm CST.

Source.

Associations

Colors: red, green, white, blue, gold, silver, black

Plants: mugwort, cranberry, bayberry, poinsettia, evergreens: spruce, fir, juniper, mistletoe, holly, etc.

Food/Flavors: goose, roast beef, lamb, nuts, dried fruit, cranberries, apples, oranges, gingerbread, spices, beans and legumes, mint

Drink: buttered rum, wassail, eggnog, spiced rum, ginger tea, hot chocolate

Scents: frankincense, myrrh, evergreen scents: balsam, fir, juniper, etc., spicy scents: ginger, cloves, allspice, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc.

Stones: bloodstone, ruby, garnet, emerald

Astronomical: Aurora Borealis

Source.

Ritual

A few minutes before sunset (which is at 5:03 pm CST, see above) bundle up and go outside.  As you watch the sun disappear below the horizon, hold your breath.  While you're holding that breath, think on the year past: blessings and sorrows.  Think of everything you wanted to do and didn't.  Think of what you did instead, and see how those things changed you.  Gather up your negative thoughts, your regrets, your pains and pressures, everything you want to rid yourself of from the previous year.**  Release your held breath, and with that release expel all of the negativity you gathered.  Meditate briefly on your goals for the coming year, then head back inside.

Once inside and relieved of your bundling clothes, head to your alter and light candles in the colors of the season.  (This year I will be burning 1 red and 2 green candles that one of my brothers gave me for Christmas a few years back.  Scents: cinnamon, balsam & cedar, and mistletoe.) Offer up a small prayer for the rebirth of the sun.  Meditate on the flames, feel the warmth radiating out.  Breath in.  Breath out.  Slow your breath, your mind, your body.  When you can see into the heart of the flame you can call the elements, cast your circle:

Facing eastwards visualize the power of air before you and the power of water behind you, feel the presence of the winds of the east and waters of the west.  When this imagery is strong in your mind, say: "Light and darkness; east and west; air and water; come, let my circle, my spirit, be the meeting place between you."

Visualize the power of fire to your right and the power of earth to your left, feel the presence of the fires of the south and earth of the north.  When this imagery is strong in your mind, say: " Heat and coldness; south and north; fire and earth; come, let my circle, my spirit, be the meeting place between you."

Focus on the elements and their powers, the cardinal directions and their powers, when you have these clear in your mind, say: "Powers that create, preserve, destroy, and redeem, come, and let my circle, my spirit, be the meeting place between you." 

Continue: "Come, powers of east and air, light and dawn; come, and receive your blessing.  Come, powers of west and water, dark and dusk; come, and receive your blessing.  Come, powers of south and fire, heat and life; come, and receive your blessing.  Come, powers of north and earth, cold and death; come, and receive your blessing.  Blessed are the cardinal points and elements.  Blessed are those that join our*** circle."

Now, if you wish, you can invoke your ancestors, your gods and goddesses, or other spirits, inviting them into your circle in much the same way.

Say: "We gather to celebrate Winsol (the Winter Solstice, Yule, whatever), the rebirth of the sun, and the passing of the year.  On this, the longest of nights, we pray for the return of the sun and the promise of rebirth and spring!  As the sun grows stronger, the days lengthen, growing brighter, may we too grow stronger, brighter.  As the sun is reborn, so too are our hopes and our dreams.  Blessed is the sun, blessed is this solstice!"

Meditate on once again on the flames of your candles.  Find the heart of the flame, allow it to fill you with warmth and light, driving away the cold and darkness, driving away your troubles and negativity.  Breathe in and out slowly.  As before, gather up everything you want to discard that lives inside of you, picture it being shoved in a bag and draw the strings of the bag tightly closed.  Breathe and relax.  Find yourself in the heart and the heat of the flame.  Keep hold of the bag.

Faretheewell the elements, the spirits, the ancestors, the gods and goddesses that joined you in your circle: "Farewell, powers of east and air, light and dawn; farewell, and thank you for your presence and your blessings.  Hail and farewell!   Farewell, powers of west and water, night and dusk; farewell, and thank you for your presence and your blessings. Hail and farewell!  Farewell, powers of south and fire, heat and life; farewell, and thank you for your presences and your blessings.  Hail and farewell!  Farewell, powers of north and earth, cold and death; farewell, and thank you for your presence and blessings.  Hail and farewell! 

Continue: "Powers that create, preserve, destroy, and redeem, farewell!  Thank you for your presence and blessings.  May may there be peace and honor between us now and always.  Hail and farewell!"

Extinguish the candles, or leave them in a safe place where there is no possibility of them setting fire to anything.  Bundle up again, walk outside, face east, say:  "May the coming dawn bestow upon us all the blessings the coming spring, and bring the promise of endless possibilities.  May it drive the shadows from my soul."  Breathe in deeply and release, releasing, as well, the bag you've been holding in your mind.  Gently push the bag out with your breath and let it go.  Imagine it drifting away, dispersing where it can no longer do harm.   

Breathe, slowly, deeply, meditating on new possibilities.  Breathe out, and take a deep breath in pulling in the blessings of the solstice, feel those blessing fill you, pushing against your skin.  Say: "This Winsol ritual is complete.  Thank you.  Hail and farewell!"

Go inside.  Decompress.  Eat something.  Drink some water.  Stretch.  Dispose of any ritual offerings you added in an appropriate manner.  Write about your ritual experience, record as much as you can - you can interpret it later.  Write about what you look forward to in the coming year.  What are your goals?  Your dreams?  Think about what you need to do to accomplish those goals.

So, that's it.  That's my Winsol ritual for 2014.   

I totally just found this on google images.

*A few years ago I started calling Yule "Winsol" which is short for Winter Solstice, and, as far as I know, was coined by one of my favorite fantasy writers, Anne Bishop, for her Black Jewels series of books.  I like the term.  It suits the season.

**Can you tell 2014 was a bad year for me?

***I speak in plural once I've been joined by spirits.  To do otherwise, to me, seems rude.