Step one: get chaos, step two: ???, step three: profit?

 Dear Reader,

My silence and absence from social media over the past month has been due to a combination of factors. Some of them are familial. My brother-in-law had a kidney transplant back at the beginning of the month and has not been well since then. For a while, things were looking pretty grim. He's home now but he's not doing great. We're doing what we can to be supportive of my sister-in-law, but it's been a challenge.

The other big familial thing that's been keeping me from being active online has been the fact that my kids have been keeping me really busy since summer school ended. It's hard to write as someone is digging through legos and arguing with their sibling at full volume. Even noise cancelling headphones are hard pressed to resist that pitch of sound.

Look for more regular content next week. This week, like the last few, is shaping up to be pure chaos.

On going familial crisis this week.

 Dear Reader,

Please forgive my lack of posting. My brother-in-law is currently in the hospital. He had a kidney transplant last week and there has been serious complications. My sister-in-law has been at his side virtually night and day. There's not much we can do to help but it's been cause for concern. He's shown some improvement over the last 48 hours. There is hope that he will continue to improve, but it is uncertain. 

It has made it difficult for me to focus on writing as I am waiting for news. At the same time, my children have finished summer school and are home now for three weeks until the beginning of the fall session. I am trying, honestly, to make time to get writing done but it has been virtually impossible. Throw in a migraine last night that is lingering into today and things aren't going too great.

Migraines suck.

 Dear Reader, 

I am in the midst of dealing with a migraine. Light feels like being stabbed in the face. It sucks. And, somehow, I have to keep up with the kids. Long story short, I won't be doing anything on today or yesterday's planned topics. I'm just going to wear my sunglasses in the house and wait for this stupid thing to pass. I hate this weather.

This week's Practical Witchery post is delayed.

 Dear Reader,

I'm short on time to get a quality post up for you on the topic of Earth Elementals. I will try to get it up tomorrow. This week isn't quite as busy as last week, but various factors are delaying my post on the planned topic. I'll try to, in the course of my afternoon, find a good image to go with this post. I can't promise I'll be successful. Worst case scenario, you might be looking at a picture of a shiny rock out of my collection. :)

Divination: Rune Study - Radio

 Dear Reader,

This week's rune is Radio/Rad. It is present in all variations of the Futhork. It represents the letter 'R' and has been carried forward in the English language virtually unchanged in appearance. 

It is the topic of three rune poems. For the sake of brevity, I will skip the translations of the poems and give you the link to where they can be found on Wikipedia. All three rune poems speak of this rune as being one of travel. There are some who associate this rune with the tarot card The Chariot.

Some diviners interpret this rune as traveling in a vehicle. Others simply interpret it as travel. I interpret this rune as transition or movement. It can be literal movement, like travel, or it can be a shifting in concepts identified with.

Recommendations: Check and then double check your schedule.

 Dear Reader,

This week has been madness. Appointments and other people screwing things up makes it really hard to stay on task. It would have worked better if I had those appointments written down properly. If you think you have the time to do a thing, check your schedule and then check it again as it draws close to the date in question. Trust me, it will save you a big headache. There's lots of scheduling and organization systems out there. I've tried a few and modified a few to fit my purposes. What I'm using now is a mash up of FlyLady's system and Ryder Carrol's Bullet Journal system. My binder has a whole lot of notes in it and tons of little boxes I mark off as I get things done.

I also cross reference everything against the wall calendar that has the master schedule for the month on it. All the appointments, when bills are due, and major events all put down in one place. (My planner has a monthly page like that too but it's just easier to look at the calendar every day instead of flipping through the planner.) Sometimes, your week goes haywire because of other people screwing something up. (Yesterday was a great example as I tried to figure out what in the nine hells was going on with my health insurance company. I spent my whole afternoon clawing my way through phone trees to get answers instead of being on Keen and doing tarot readings. It was not fun. I don't recommend it. The hold music was pure torture.)

But, always check your schedule. Don't rely on your memory to keep you on track because our brains will tell us that everything's fine when in actually, there's a meeting or something lurking in the wings waiting to ambush you. What ever system you have for keeping track of everything, may it be awesome and helpful. And may life not ambush you several days in a row, like what happened this week.

Practical Witchery: Water Elementals

 Dear Reader,

Mermaids, mermen, undines, and sea-serpents are all known aspects of Water Elementals. Like all Elementals, these spiritual beings can appear to us in a wide range of forms that we might best comprehend them. Some make the mistake of thinking that Water Elementals are the most peaceable and serene of the Elementals. While they do not have the aggressiveness of Fire Elementals, they possess all the fury of the ocean in a storm and should be regarded with caution, even when their bearing is kindly.

Water Elementals hold sway, quite obviously, over bodies of water. They also are known to have influence over matters of the spirit, emotions, and all things psychic. They have a special affinity for lunar magic, given the close relationship between the Moon and all bodies of water on Earth. Water Elementals are fickle and can change their demeanor rapidly. When approached with disrespect, Water Elementals tend to cause mischief because of their refusal to forget a slight.

Water Elementals are associated with the magical weapon of the chalice and, by logical extension, the cauldron. They will accept offerings of candles because as the flame warms the wax it turns to liquid, which they hold influence over. They will also accept offerings of water or other liquids. Wine is a popular offering, specifically white wine. Partly because it is an offering that requires some expenditure on the giver's part and partly because there is a historic precedent of wine being given in offering because it was the only potable substance aside from pure spring water. White wine is popular because it visually resembles water compared to red wine.

Regarding a Print copy of the Lokean Devotional.

 Dear Reader,

As I had stated in a previous post, if there is enough interest in a print version of my newest book (The Veiled Witch’s Ritual Book, Vol. 2: A Lokean Devotional) I will make that happen. Now, the question one may ask is how I gauge interest. If I have at least 10 people ask, I will put this into motion. The print version will have additional content because it will be longer than the ebook. As of right now, the ebook does not meet the minimum page count requirement for a print book. I’m in the process of developing more material for the print version, but I need you to let me know that you are interested.

Our Lady: Empress of Heaven

 Dear Reader,

An Empire is a nation built of many other nations. The individual nations are ruled in their own fashion but owe honor and a measure of fealty to the Empire. Our Lady Anna, as the true born Daughter of Marya, is more than Queen of Heaven. She holds that title, but she is also Empress for all the gods that reign are beholden to her will.

She allows them their dominions but hold ultimate sway over their actions. As such, Anna calls them to tend to the Earth under her auspices. Some would say that these gods are the terrestrial janyati. That they are angels and not gods. I hold that either position can be accurate, for the janyati are emanations of Déa and can be seen as divine in their own respect as such or as messengers and servants of Déa.

Some may ask, what of the 'evil' gods and I would ask if these gods are truly evil or if they've been maligned and slandered by the religions that came after them in an effort to prevent people from 'backsliding' into worship of them.

I hold to the belief that Déa is not constrained by the limits that we have. As such, Déa can reach out to us through any possible form you can consider. This means that all religions can lead us back to Déa if we simply pay close enough attention and look for the signs that she has given us.

Chelanya/First Harvest

 Dear Reader,

Yesterday was the holiday of Chelanya, the Golden Festival of grain and nature's bounty. The holy mystery of it, for the Filianic and Déanic communities, is the death and resurrection of the Daughter. In some ways, the cycle of mysteries associated with the harvest season mirror those of the Eastre cycle. In the Eastre cycle, we celebrate the life of the Daughter and her taking on of Fate (and mortality), we follow her journey into the Netherworld, and mourn her death before celebrating her arising from the abyss of absolute death by virtue of her Mother's tears and love.

In the harvest season, we approach the death of the Daughter with holy awe for she has arisen from the abyss of death like the grain springs up from the earth. We celebrate the bounty of the earth, more specifically the grain's bounty, as a reminder of the perpetual life that we find in union with Our Lady and her Mother after we have passed through the gates of death ourselves. This is the celebration of Chelanya.

The next harvest celebration, Cuivanya, comes and we celebrate the fertile earth and it's bounty in all things. It is a day of joyful abudance and embracing the life we have in this world by way of the benevolent gifts of the Bright Mother. The third harvest celebration corresponds with Tamala. With this third harvest celebration, we honor the Dark Mother, who is the ground of all being, and the one whom all souls return to in union at the end of days.

First Harvest is also celebrated within the Wiccan community as Lammas, the celebration of the bounty of the grain and the holy mysteries of the death of the god of the grain. It is, in many ways, like the celebration of the holy mysteries of the death of Freyr within Heathenry. The first harvest marks the beginning of the season where all produce is gathered in and prepared for the long winter.

Freyr, as the grain-lord and patron of the harvest, dies in ritual sacrifice so that the earth remains fertile and he arises a new in the spring with the sprouting grain to the joy of Gerða, his wife. He spend the winter within the halls of Helheim, just as the winter wheat planted at the end of the season spends the earth in fallow ground. When the snows of winter gives way and the season warms, the winter wheat springs up and Freyr returns. This is much like the story of the grain god of the Wiccan belief system. (There are some who theorize that the God of Wicca is a folk memory of the god Freyr of the Anglo-Saxons.)

In either way, First Harvest is a holy day. In my personal practice, First Harvest is a day dedicated to work. I wanted to spend time in meditation but life persisted in refocusing me on work that needed done. I dedicated my efforts to the High Ones and did my best to give thanks for the bounty in my life.

Divination: Rune Study - Ansuz overview

 Dear Reader,

This week we're looking at the rune Ansuz. It is an interesting rune from the linguistic front because in the Elder Futhork it is a single glyph, in the Anglo-Saxon Futhork it is split into 3 separate glyphs, and in the Younger Futhork it is split into quite a few more. In the cases of the Anglo-Saxon and Younger Futhork, it represents different letter combinations and sounds. The one consistent point is that the eldest glyph remains associated with the letter 'A' and holds the same sound in each instance it appears.

The fluidity of language is fascinating. That said, most people who practice runic divination use the Elder Futhork for their work. This rune can mean 'god(s)' or 'signs' in its base interpretation. The Younger Futhork rune poem attributes this rune to Odin, as seen below:

Óss is aged Gautr
and prince of Asgard
and lord of Valhalla.     (Source: Wikipedia)

While this rune is reversible it tends not to have negative connotations as dire as some other runes when it falls in the reversed orientation. It is a rune of communication, especially of communication between the querent and the gods. In the upright orientation, the rune signifies that a message is being expressed and that the querent should watch for signs of the message, remaining open for communication. In the reversed orientation, the rune indicates that a message is not being received or that communication is breaking down between the querent and the other parties. It speaks of a necessity to focus on good communication and listening skills to overcome this challenge.

At times, it can indicate a direct message from the gods and it can indicate that Odin in particular is attempting to communicate something. More often, however, the rune is indicative of communication challenges and success in the interpersonal realm.