Dear Reader,
It is the day to feast and indulge. For tomorrow is the beginning of Moura, the season and month of discipline and restriction in honor of Our Lady's descent into the Netherworld. Eat, drink, and be merry. Offer up your joy to she who is the source of all delight.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Monday, February 17, 2020
Yay, it's Winter Break time.
Dear Reader,
It's Winter Break for the kids. They'll be off from school all week. The last several hours have been exasperating. It doesn't help that it's pretty cold out and booting them outside to play isn't the best idea right now. Neither does it help that someone in the building is painting and the fumes are coming up into my apartment. Did I mention that there's a dentist appointment today as well? To say the least, I am rather frustrated and having a hard time finding where my tarot deck that I was going to use for this week's card has gone off to. I can't find my bullet journal where I have my rough notes for my blog posts written out. And I have somehow run out of coffee.
And it's only Monday. Gods help me when summer comes, because I don't know how I'm going to get any writing done when I am playing the role of debate manager and breaking up fights between two bored preteens. I'll try to get the tarot post up a bit later in the evening but it might come tomorrow. It all depends on how that dentist appointment goes and if I have the spoons this evening to type up the post.
It's Winter Break for the kids. They'll be off from school all week. The last several hours have been exasperating. It doesn't help that it's pretty cold out and booting them outside to play isn't the best idea right now. Neither does it help that someone in the building is painting and the fumes are coming up into my apartment. Did I mention that there's a dentist appointment today as well? To say the least, I am rather frustrated and having a hard time finding where my tarot deck that I was going to use for this week's card has gone off to. I can't find my bullet journal where I have my rough notes for my blog posts written out. And I have somehow run out of coffee.
And it's only Monday. Gods help me when summer comes, because I don't know how I'm going to get any writing done when I am playing the role of debate manager and breaking up fights between two bored preteens. I'll try to get the tarot post up a bit later in the evening but it might come tomorrow. It all depends on how that dentist appointment goes and if I have the spoons this evening to type up the post.
Wednesday, February 12, 2020
Rough couple of days.
Dear Reader,
I haven't been sleeping well. It's beginning to show. Because I have complex-post-traumatic stress disorder, I have nightmares. I have lots of them pretty much every night. The nightmares range from invented fantasies of horrific things to reliving trauma. Usually, it's reliving trauma in some fashion.
I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of posting daily. Yesterday's lapse in posting was because I was busy with familial business all day. Monday was a day where I wandered around the apartment feeling pathetic until I wrote some escapist revenge fantasy. I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. It isn't what I had planned, but it is honest. I suppose there is that, at least.
February has always been a rough month for me, beyond the fact that I have been suffering from seasonal affective disorder on top of c-ptsd. There's a few trauma anniversary dates in this month. And the birthdays of people who had abused me in the past. It makes February hard because I can't just ignore it and move forward. My brain just won't let me. I'm still trying to process it all and even though it's virtually a lifetime away from me, I still can't fully wrap my mind around it. The week leading up to Valentine's day is usually the hardest.
So, please forgive my silence. I'm not doing too well right now. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
♥
I haven't been sleeping well. It's beginning to show. Because I have complex-post-traumatic stress disorder, I have nightmares. I have lots of them pretty much every night. The nightmares range from invented fantasies of horrific things to reliving trauma. Usually, it's reliving trauma in some fashion.
I'm doing my best to get back into the swing of posting daily. Yesterday's lapse in posting was because I was busy with familial business all day. Monday was a day where I wandered around the apartment feeling pathetic until I wrote some escapist revenge fantasy. I'm not sure where I'm going with this post. It isn't what I had planned, but it is honest. I suppose there is that, at least.
February has always been a rough month for me, beyond the fact that I have been suffering from seasonal affective disorder on top of c-ptsd. There's a few trauma anniversary dates in this month. And the birthdays of people who had abused me in the past. It makes February hard because I can't just ignore it and move forward. My brain just won't let me. I'm still trying to process it all and even though it's virtually a lifetime away from me, I still can't fully wrap my mind around it. The week leading up to Valentine's day is usually the hardest.
So, please forgive my silence. I'm not doing too well right now. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.
♥
Friday, February 7, 2020
Creating your on Herbal (pt 2 / 3)
Dear Reader,
In my last post on this topic, I covered the various reasons why one would keep an herbal and the basics of what an herbal is. Now, it may be that you've decided to go the path of least research and acquired for yourself a small library of herbals published by others. If so, congratulations on your library and don't be surprised if it continues to grow just as much as your beloved plants. On the other hand, you may have decided you want to make your own herbal and compile information into a format that you prefer over what others has done. This is a fine task to take up but it requires some elements to remain in place regardless of the format you choose to record your information in.
First, you must have all identification information for the relevant plant in question. This goes beyond its various names. The includes a pictorial identification of all parts of the plant from the tips of the tops to the bottoms of the roots. Some may choose to use photographs for this purpose. Others may choose to write out the description in great detail (as seen in M. Grieve's A Modern Herbal, for example). If you are a skilled artist, sketching the plant has well established roots (if you'll pardon the pun) in the history of writing herbals. But, identification of the plant is vital.
Secondly, you must note what manner of location the plant may be found, the soil it prefers, and such. This way you can identify the plant based on where it is growing because Colt's Foot is not going to grow at the same place as Devil's Trumpet, and neither are going to be found where you can locate Cat's Tails. Knowing the growing conditions for your plant to flourish is helpful in foraging herbs and for growing them. One might even go so far as to include in this section a note referencing what plants you commonly find them growing with (or you can companion plant them with in your garden).
The third section on your plant's page is where the fun stuff goes. How does it fit into your magical classification systems? What recipes for its use do you have? What recipes have you collected? What folklore have you collected about the plant and what personal gnosis do you have about the plant's spiritual nature?
In my last post on this topic, I covered the various reasons why one would keep an herbal and the basics of what an herbal is. Now, it may be that you've decided to go the path of least research and acquired for yourself a small library of herbals published by others. If so, congratulations on your library and don't be surprised if it continues to grow just as much as your beloved plants. On the other hand, you may have decided you want to make your own herbal and compile information into a format that you prefer over what others has done. This is a fine task to take up but it requires some elements to remain in place regardless of the format you choose to record your information in.
First, you must have all identification information for the relevant plant in question. This goes beyond its various names. The includes a pictorial identification of all parts of the plant from the tips of the tops to the bottoms of the roots. Some may choose to use photographs for this purpose. Others may choose to write out the description in great detail (as seen in M. Grieve's A Modern Herbal, for example). If you are a skilled artist, sketching the plant has well established roots (if you'll pardon the pun) in the history of writing herbals. But, identification of the plant is vital.
Secondly, you must note what manner of location the plant may be found, the soil it prefers, and such. This way you can identify the plant based on where it is growing because Colt's Foot is not going to grow at the same place as Devil's Trumpet, and neither are going to be found where you can locate Cat's Tails. Knowing the growing conditions for your plant to flourish is helpful in foraging herbs and for growing them. One might even go so far as to include in this section a note referencing what plants you commonly find them growing with (or you can companion plant them with in your garden).
The third section on your plant's page is where the fun stuff goes. How does it fit into your magical classification systems? What recipes for its use do you have? What recipes have you collected? What folklore have you collected about the plant and what personal gnosis do you have about the plant's spiritual nature?
Tuesday, February 4, 2020
Egregores vs. Deity part 2/3 : Discernment
Dear Reader,
In my last post on this topic, I gave a quick run down on the major differences between Egregores and Deities. The biggest difference between the two is Egregores are limited in their responses where as Deities are not. Now, there are other spiritual things out there in the universe that will masquerade as one or the other for the sake of mischief or something nefarious. Discernment is a vital skill in spirit work. Nowhere is it more important than in determining if you are actually working with a Deity.
There are a lot of methods to test the responses to figure out if they are accurate. (PROTIP: If the being in question gets huffy about you testing their responses, back away slowly and shut down contact. They're up to something and you may not want to be involved with whatever game they're playing. If you decide to proceed with contact, do so with great caution and make sure that your protections are well in place.) It is good to get secondary confirmation on what the being is presenting you. This might be by way of verifying the information presented against what is established about the being in question. This is really useful when dealing with well documented beings.
A really useful method is to get divination done for you by an independent party that isn't involved in the situation. This is one of the rare situations where I encourage you, regardless of your experience, to get a divination session from another person rather than doing it for yourself. The reason why is because the entity's focus on you can skew the reading in their favor. Going to a person who is outside of that feedback loop can get you a good picture of the situation.
Then there is the time honored practice of reality testing. Is the entity telling you something that is realistic and probable? Can you prove some element of what they are presenting via mundane means? Asking the entity questions that it should know the answer to that are simple yes/no questions is a great way to test the waters. Be aware that some beings and Egregores are going to be sticklers for phrasing. On the part of beings, it is in their nature. On the part of Egregores it is because of their programming. As such, make sure that your test questions are ones that have absolute yes/no results (such as the eye color of your child or if it is daylight out at the time and in the location you are at).
In my last post on this topic, I gave a quick run down on the major differences between Egregores and Deities. The biggest difference between the two is Egregores are limited in their responses where as Deities are not. Now, there are other spiritual things out there in the universe that will masquerade as one or the other for the sake of mischief or something nefarious. Discernment is a vital skill in spirit work. Nowhere is it more important than in determining if you are actually working with a Deity.
There are a lot of methods to test the responses to figure out if they are accurate. (PROTIP: If the being in question gets huffy about you testing their responses, back away slowly and shut down contact. They're up to something and you may not want to be involved with whatever game they're playing. If you decide to proceed with contact, do so with great caution and make sure that your protections are well in place.) It is good to get secondary confirmation on what the being is presenting you. This might be by way of verifying the information presented against what is established about the being in question. This is really useful when dealing with well documented beings.
A really useful method is to get divination done for you by an independent party that isn't involved in the situation. This is one of the rare situations where I encourage you, regardless of your experience, to get a divination session from another person rather than doing it for yourself. The reason why is because the entity's focus on you can skew the reading in their favor. Going to a person who is outside of that feedback loop can get you a good picture of the situation.
Then there is the time honored practice of reality testing. Is the entity telling you something that is realistic and probable? Can you prove some element of what they are presenting via mundane means? Asking the entity questions that it should know the answer to that are simple yes/no questions is a great way to test the waters. Be aware that some beings and Egregores are going to be sticklers for phrasing. On the part of beings, it is in their nature. On the part of Egregores it is because of their programming. As such, make sure that your test questions are ones that have absolute yes/no results (such as the eye color of your child or if it is daylight out at the time and in the location you are at).
Monday, February 3, 2020
Divination: Tarot Tour - Major Arcana 18 - The Moon
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| Image from Wikipedia |
This week's card is The Moon, from the Rider-Waite deck. It is a card of choices and tough decisions. It is a card of mysteries (in many ways mirroring the High Priestess). The moon is depicted over a night time landscape as a full moon with a crescent moon within. Drops of dew fall from it between two pillars. A path leads between the pillars from the mountains in the distance to the pool in the foreground. On either side of the path are dogs. Climbing out of the pool is a sea creature (in the case of the Rider-Waite deck it is a lobster).
In a direct orientation, the moon speaks of the querent having to make a challenging decision between two equally difficult options and that they must listen to their intuition to find the correct choice. In the reversed orientation, the moon warns the querent that there are no good choices here and they must follow their intuition to find the path that causes the least harm.
In the Fool's journey, the moon is an initiation card that indoctrinates the Fool into the deeper mysteries of their spirit. It speaks of reaching inner stillness to find the path forward.
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Blessed Lucaid & Imbolg
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| Image courtesy of Irina Anastasiu at Pexels.com |
Today is an auspicious day. It is the holy day of Lucaid, the Feast of Lights. It is also known as Imbolg (there are many variant spellings of Imbolg, such as Imbolc) in the Wiccan tradition. In Wicca, it is considered the very beginning of spring. In Filianism, it is considered the beginning of the end of winter.
Among the things I have done today is blessed my candles for the year that they might carry Divine light through their own light and lend its strength to any spell working I may do with them.
I celebrate Lucaid a day late because pretty much every year something comes up on the date of the first of February that tanks my plans to celebrate that day. In addition to blessing my candles, I meditated upon the Holy Daughter as the bringer of Divine Light into the descended world. It is a little descent compared to the greater descent into the Netherworld. I gave thanks for the light of Déa that resides within myself and all that exist. I gave thanks for the increasing light of the Sun as we draw closer to the Spring Equinox. I also gave thanks for all of the good things that I have in my life right now.
I did not make a Bride's Bed or lay out a willow wand to be blessed, as some others may do. I did not weave a Bridget's cross. I'd like to do that at some point in time, but I lack the green rushes to do so. I may possibly weave one out of wheat stalks one year. I'm not decided on the matter.
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