Ah gods, has it really been that long?

Dear Reader,

I apologize that I dropped off the internet for over a month. I was severely depressed and dealing with a very challenging medication change. The side effects were the hardest part. Aside from the utter exhaustion that had me sleeping through the night and all day, I had a lot of difficulty focusing. The most exasperating bit about this new medication on the witchy front is the fact that it has filled my head with utter silence. I am head-blind and having difficulty connecting with the gods. 

As such, I have resorted to alternate means (which I will describe) and I'm trying to get a feel for using these means more often. They say that once you learn something, it is like riding a bicycle. They are wrong because you forget details and snippets of how it works depending on the length of time since you've done the thing. Astral temples, liminal communication where your mind meets the general psychic space of the area, and such are not easy exercises. It is, however, very effective once you get the hang of it and working while in trance states. 

In the grips of depression, I was struck with powerful waves ennui and I contemplated shutting down all my blogs. I didn't do it because I didn't have enough proverbial spoons to do so. I am not up to my full spoon count for a given day. I'm pretty sure that I am going to have days that a ten minute writing session is going to be too much. But this is the beginning, which is always hard. I anticipate doing my writing and getting some texts out for you all to read.

As I glanced at my multivolume Book of Shadows, I realized that I had enough research in there to write several serious papers about occult topics. As such, I am going to and try to organize and filter everything so that it makes sense. I had been contemplating going back to school for my master's degree in divinity, but I don't think I have the energy to be that ambitious. So, I'm just going to crank out papers based on my research and peddle them to public resources where they can get peer review and basically do the work for a master's thesis on my own time. I was considering Cherry Hill seminary but the limitations of doing the work there is things like timing and technological resources.

Devotional art: Prayer as a physical object.

Dear Reader,

You may have heard of prayer shawls and prayer cloths/squares. They capture the intentions of the maker(s) with every stitch and call down the blessing of the Divine upon the recipients. Another example of this is the preemie hats that I make (funded by your purchase of the Clear Recital: Children of Déa Version, we're up to 594 hats since initial publication! Great work, everybody!). Into each preemie hat goes prayers and intentions for them to grow up healthy and strong. I also invoke the blessing of Déa over the children who receive the hats for them and their families to have good fortune.

Prayer items, like rosaries, not only are made with prayers in mind but also with them recited as each bead is added. This increases the potency of their use and can give comfort and blessings to the recipient. Prayer items are touch stones that guide us closer to the Divine and helps us draw strength, comfort, and transpersonal love for the world from that holy presence. They bless the maker and the recipient in equal measure.

Progress Report: Embroidered casting cloth

 Dear Reader,

Remember how I said the project room eats everything. It's like a purse. A small black hole that takes in the ton of stuff you give it and then will randomly dump everything on the floor. I found this casting cloth that I had drawn out the design for embroidery in 2017. It was at the bottom of a bag of books. How it got there, I have no idea. I wasn't even looking for it, for I had forgotten about this project. And then poof it appeared and I said to myself "Hey, I know what that is!"

Progress Report: Making my own Dream Oracle Deck.

 Dear Reader,

I wish I could say that this project is complete since I announced it last year. Unfortunately, it is not. The initial set of cards have gone missing, much to my frustration. I haven't had time to re-draw them because I've been busy with health related problems most of this year. When I wasn't sick, I was attempting to clean house because it turns into a disaster when I'm not well and staying on top of the cleaning. (Ah, teenagers, they stack dirty dishes instead of washing them.)

I haven't begun my notations on the meaning or how to work with the cards because the cards are missing in action since July. I am really hoping that they didn't get accidentally thrown away. If I had enough random magazines, I would like to collage the cards along the themes they represent but I am not going to cannibalize my crochet magazines because there are patterns in there that I still want to make.

I just haven't had the time to poke my head in at the library to ask if they have a pile of old magazines that they want to discard. So, when I finally do find the cards, I suspect I'll be making abstract backgrounds to go with the glyph on each card.

Speaking of dreams, my dreams of late have been influenced by the news and my past trauma. On top of that anxiety inducing bit of fun, I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea which could explain some of the nightmares as well. Faceless people trying to kill you is not a pleasant dream, trust me.

Practical Witchcraft: Dirt Poor Witchcraft - Stealth Altars and Shrines.

 Dear Reader,

Sometimes we find ourselves in places hostile to our religion. And yet we wish to have an icon and a small place set aside for worship. Being a bit crafty you can create everything from a portable altar to a portable shrine (as I have pictured here devoted to Freyr-Ingvi).

I'm not a big fan of stealth altars and shrines but I recognize the necessity of them and I have used them in the past when it was necessary. Candy tins and diminutive boxes are excellent tools for this sort of project. With a little craft paper, you can line the inside of the box with designs you associate with the deity or spirit in question. ModPodge is a popular adhesive used for these projects but I find it dries to fast for me to position things just right. Arleen's Craft Glue is less expensive and has just about the same versatility as ModPodge. If you're looking for a serious business method of securing things in the box, don't go with super glue because it may destroy your project. Use judicious amounts of hot glue.

Some people want to have an icon in their shrine/altar box. String dolls are an excellent way and sometimes you accidentally capture the essence of traditional figures of the deity or spirit in question. That penis shaped portion of the string doll of Freyr was entirely unintentional. I still don't know how it appeared. The choice of yarn color for the string doll was based on what I had at hand. You can be guided by traditional correspondences or your personal associations for color if you have the luxury of a range of colors available.

The most important part of a stealth shrine or altar is making sure that it can close discreetly, fit where ever you need it, and that you have all your supplies for it inside, neatly tucked away so it will close.

Working Magic In Stitches

 Dear Reader,

As any crafter can tell you, what they do is a labor of love and a work of art. Even the kiddie artwork with the googly eyes counts because they put their heart into it and worked hard. When you start looking at old fashioned crafts (i.e. knitting, crochet, needlework, weaving, etc.), you can discover a world of folklore surrounding these crafts and myths featuring them. Careful examination of the folklore and mythos behind these crafts reveals that they are not mere past times to wittle away idle time. You will discover there is true magic hidden there.

Some of the modern folklore seems odd but unerringly true. Consider the tale of the 'Boyfriend Sweater'. A young knitter is utterly smitten with their boyfriend and decides to make them a love gift of a sweater. After many hours of tiresome and at time tedious work, the sweater is done. The knitter presents their gift to their beloved only to discover that their boyfriend's response is tepid and they never wear the sweater. Eventually, the couple parts, for our young knitter realizes that the boyfriend didn't truly appreciate them or their effort. Many knitters can tell a story like this of people disregarding their handwork in favor of mass produced goods.

There is the folk-wisdom of weaving a strand of your hair into a garment for a person will bind them to you as long as they own the garment. I've yet to hear of this little gem failing.

In ancient times, weavers were considered to have magic powers. Their ability to weave, to tangle, and untangle their work sympathetically effected their people's success on the battlefield and abroad. Spinners were also viewed in this fashion. Indeed, some cultures regarded spinners highly and with great caution because through their work they could influence one's fate.

Those who could sew (and by extension do embroidery and other forms of needlework) could bind or unbind people. They could fashion intricate sigils and spells of protection with the designs they produced. The core element in all of these crafts is not merely the fact that they are fiber arts, but they are highly effective means of casting intention into action. And such deeds could be done openly when more overt ritual practices are opposed by the overculture.

Update on the Charity Works.

 Dear Friends,

I have no words to express my gratitude for your support. The preemie hats are due to go to a rural hospital that the big program I was a part of missed. I may start making more preemie hats to send to the other rural hospitals in the area. I'm still deciding.

I am in the process of locating local organizations that would distribute scarves to the needy. It's not quite as easy as I thought it would be. I am not going to be defeated by people being hard to contact and such. If I have to, I'll show up on their door step with a box of scarves and say 'Hi, you help people in need. Winter's coming, these will be useful.'

Having just gotten over Covid, everything I've made thus far is going to go through a wash on high heat (thank goodness acrylic can stand it and just gets softer with it). I think I have about a medium load of stuff to wash. It feels like it should be more, but all of these hats are so small.

I am also working on a preemie layette. I've been writing down the pattern. I'm going to include a note with it requesting that they hold onto it until Nov. 7 (approximately) so that the preemie born on my birthday gets their first birthday present from someone who was a micro-preemie. I'll be including a card for the family of the child. This idea hit me as I was wrestling with some super thin yarn. And it struck me as so perfect a way to close this project for me. A bit of love and good will to someone who is fighting the good fight from another who fought that fight is always a good thing.

Recommendation: Acrylic yarn for charity crafting.

 Dear Reader,

If you are of the inclination to make things for charity (like how I am making preemie hats for my local NICU), skip the fancy yarns and go with basic acrylic yarn. It is hypoallergenic. It washes easily at any temperature and can handle a bit of bleach with out the colors fading too much. It also is warmer than wool when dry (a bunch of us yarn nerds did an experiment about three years ago making cozies for coffee mugs to determine what yarn worked best for insulation. Acrylic was the clear winner followed by wool/alpaca blend).

There's long been an argument that acrylic yarn isn't too good for projects that are going to be against the skin because it's really abrasive. This  might have been true 30 years ago, but changes in technology and how acrylic yarn is produced have created yarns that are just as soft as lightly spun cotton and woolen spun Merino wool. Acrylic yarn doesn't have the spring or the memory of wool yarns, which means it is less prone to stretch when worn and will be less inclined to shrink when washed. (Honestly, I have yet to have an acrylic project shrink on me when I've washed it. And I've been working with acrylic yarn now for over 13 years.)

If you are concerned about the scratchiness of low cost acrylic yarn, wind it into a skein and soak it in a basin with fabric softener for 24 hours. Then rinse the fabric softener out before washing it. Make sure before you do this process, that your have tied your skein of yarn in at least three places or it will become a tangled mess as you run it through the washing machine and dryer. (Yes, you can throw acrylic into the dryer on high and that will help soften it up too but that process takes longer than the soak with fabric softener.) You do not want to use acrylic yarn treated in this fashion for garments intended for individuals with sensitive skin, such as babies, because you never know who is going to react to the fabric softener.

Acrylic blends are a risky proposition. They can have the traits of both fibers but they introduce a potential allergen into the mix. Tread carefully with these yarns. If the recipient isn't allergic to the second fiber blended with the acrylic, you're in great standing. If there is an allergy, don't use it no matter how small the percentage of the second fiber is in the blend. Having experienced an accidental allergic reaction to yarn that I was unfamiliar with, it's no fun and can be a serious problem for people with severe allergies. Fortunately, mine was mild and my skin just got itchy and red. Some people have a serious allergic reaction. This is why I avoid mystery yarns when I'm crafting for charity and stick with acrylic that I know is 100% pure. Sure, that grab bag of 5lbs of yarn at the second hand shop looks like a great deal, but you don't know what's mixed in with it all. Play it safe.

Happy crafting!

NaBloPoMo 6: Cord Magic II

 Dear Reader,

In my last post, I mentioned a number of forms of cord magic that went beyond simply tying knots in a string. Today, I want to share with you my favorite forms of cord magic. Top of the list is spinning. Spinning yarn or thread is a labor intensive process with many steps. You can skip some of the steps and buy roving that is already dyed and prepared, but it is still a lot of work. The cool thing about spinning is the fact that it is a process that goes into antiquity. Modern spinning wheels are not too different from the ancient ones, except for those nifty e-spinners. (I've been thinking about possibly getting one but they're a bit out of my price range right now.) And if you really want to go back to the roots of spinning, get yourself a spindle.

This art is steeped in history and the form of magic that goes with it is equally so. Also, spinning can be a very relaxing, if not literally entrancing form of handcraft. When I am spinning with intention, I have not only the item I plan on making from the yarn or thread in mind but what the end goal of the item involved will be. For example, I spun some fine thread with the intention of it being a protection charm. I kept that focus as I plied the yarn and then fashioned it into a cord for the protection charm that I made to go on. As a result, troubles missed their target and I honestly believe that an attempted curse was averted given the description of what happened from the recipient of the protection charm.

My second favorite form of cord magic is crochet. Number one, you get to use a hook as a wand to direct your energy into the yarn. That's fun. Number two, crochet is the process of making knots with a hook to make a fabric. (A single crochet stitch is the same as a slip knot. All other crochet stitches are a variations off of this.) I use crochet to make healing shawls and blankets to help people who have difficulty sleeping. I also use it to make protection and health enspelled hats for preemie babies. (I've made SO many hats.)

Crochet is a highly versatile fiber art. You can make anything with it. Slippers and socks to hats to high couture garments and art pieces. (If you do crochet and want to make something cool, start with a round of 6 stitches and double the number of stitches every round. You'll wind up with a hyperbolic plane that looks like a bit of coral.) As with spinning, you put your intention into each stitch and part of the process. In the end, you have a magically charged item that can be used for quite a while before the spell wears off.

NaBloPoMo 5: Cord Magic.

 Dear Reader,

Cord magic is something that gets mentioned as a really simple thing. At it's most basic level, cord magic is as simple as tying knots with intentions and then untying the with intentions. You can, however, delve deeper into this category of magic. Crafting with string or yarn is a for of cord magic if you're impressing your intentions into what you are making. (Like the best damn baby blankie in town that puts the colicky tot to sleep every time you wrap 'em up.) Sewing is a form of cord magic if you are impressing your intentions into each stitch. If you want to move away from sewing and get into stuff like embroidery, you have more complex stitches that gives you more opportunities to cast spells as you work. And then there is spinning, where you're literally making your thread or yarn with intention. Let us not forget the second oldest form of cord magic, cord making. If you're using a tool like a lucet, you are making a TON of knots to fashion your cord out of string. Each knot can be a spell component or a full spell in itself.

Don't limit your cord magic to just tying a few knots in a string. Branch out into the different possibilities. You may find that there's a form that works even better for you.

Line edits are driving me batty.

 Dear Reader,

I have the rough draft of the Clear Recital up on the editing block. I'm working to make the language easier to read and fix grammatical issues. It is slow going. There's a ton of comma splices and sentence fragments. I've been breaking things out of the prose that need to be put into different structure to make it easier to read (i.e. lists of attributes). I have mashed together all of the sources I could get my hands on and made a mess of the grammar in the process.

I'm almost finished with my second round of line edits. The first one was really rough and putting in sentence/verse numbers. I found mistakes in that and corrected them. The hardest section to work on wasn't the Holy Mythos, which I thought it would be. Nope, it was the Pillar of Light and the Heart of Water. It's a literal coin flip which one of those two texts was harder to edit.

Now, I'm not removing material from the wisdom texts. I'm changing phrasing and fixing things like run on sentences that last for over three lines. There's a lot of run on sentences. I am also updating some of the language because there are random bits with dated language that got carried over from the Aristasian version of the Clear Recital which I had to fix so it fit with the rest of the text.

There is two sections in the wisdom texts that I am adapting to reflect the modern social structures that we're living with. I have zero guilt about doing this because it is my understanding that the Clear Recital is a living document that must change and adapt with the changes and adaptations that happen for the community that references it. For example, there is very few households who can actually afford servants or staff of any sort. It's slow going, to be honest, because I have to make sure that the 'modernization' of the text is accurate. 

Note: If I see another sentence spliced together with a comma, I may just scream. There's just SO many.

A Tale of the Elder Kin.

 Come, hear another tale of the first mortal children of Déa and the world that was. The time before beginnings, all was light and, some say, gold and silver. The time before beginnings was a happy time when all was delight. The children of the Mistress of All Things were content to be in her presence. Then came the Sundering. When the Snake had deceived the first daughter of Déa, a great abyss opened between the realm of the mortal children of Déa and the realms above to fair Avala and beyond. The cracks of the abyss went deep into the realm and wormed their way into the hearts of the spiritual forms of these children. The elder kin looked to Déa as they watched their younger, more delicate kin wander deeper into the abyss.

“Go and do good works among them,” Déa commanded, “Guard them and keep them from evil as best you may.” So, the elder kin went through the world that was torn and tattered with the dangerous abyss of khear, seeking out the many children of Déa. They found them gathered in groups about the world, huddled together for fear and grief for the distance of their Mother. The sliver of Déa's light shone upon them all. The younger kin were blinded by tears and were mostly unaware of it. The elder kin gathered their strength and approached the younger kin. The many hues of light of day and the sliver of Déa's light was reflected brightly by the elder kin. In the mirror of the elder kin, the younger kin could see something of their Mother in the distance and took hope. The elder kin wiped their tears and took them by the hand.

Together they walked over the rent world in tribes scattered for every hue of color. The true-selves of the younger kin were lulled to sleep in the safety of the elder kin's presence. So it was that the Snake saw a chance to beguile them. The Whisperer spoke and said, “Lo, I am the voice of your self. Listen well. The elder kin of your tribe are the true elder kin. All others are false and must be destroyed. All who follow them are false as well.” The elder kin set one of their number to keep watch over the Snake, so that they might warn their charges of the danger it brought. They, however, argued in their council for being in the tattered world, they were not immune to its distortion. Soon, the watcher of the Snake was confused with the Snake. This pleased the Snake and it delighted in the discord that had been sown within the tribes of the elder kin and the younger kin.

One of the tribes were lead by a great queen. She took it of mind to bend all the other tribes to their knees before her. She pitted her power against them but the might of the elder kin cast her down into the abyss. For one brief moment a hue of light was seen falling into the abyss and then utter darkness returned. With horror, the elder kin realized that one of their own had fallen from the ways they were set to. The queen, her court, and her servants found themselves among the realm of the Snake. “All honors and glory be upon you, oh queen,” the Snake said. The queen looked curiously at the Snake. “You have come into the lands that are yours by destiny. I have prepared them and opened the way for your coming.”

“So say you,” the queen said suspiciously, “What do you gain from my remaining here in this place of exile?”

“No,” answered the Snake, “This is not your place of exile but of glory. Come, embrace me and you shall have power over life itself. All places where this darkness abides, your cold hand shall reach.” The queen reached out a hand to the Snake and it slithered upon her shoulders. “I gain an ally and companion. You shall be my completion. I abide within the darkness. With the Sundering of the worlds, I too shattered in to fragments. Within each creature upon this world, I lay. Through me, you shall have power over them.” The queen recalled her desire to unify all of creation under her hand.

“I can not be in all these places, creature,” she said, “In my descent to this place of utter darkness and desolation, I have broken into pieces as have my court. We can no longer mirror the light of She who is Mistress of All Things, from whom our power derives.” The snake looked at the queen and thought. “Your power shall derive of this place and my own strength. Your shattered children and court shall be made whole. They shall gain the strength from you to roam the world over. No longer shall you be mere mirrors of light but whole beings in yourselves. You shall gain sway over the world by way of your army fashioned from your shards and that of your court. None, not even the Princess of the World may resist you if you take the power I offer you.”

The queen who had once been a mirror of Déa's light considered the Snake's offer. She laid a hand upon the Snake's head and said, “I shall not embrace you but you shall give me this power you promise. Though I am not whole, I still have the power to bend you to my will, Tempter.” The Snake, for the first time since time uncounted, felt fear as the queen drew from it the power that had flowed into it from the first mortal daughter. As she did so, the queen changed. She looked upon her court and her children. Broken limbs knitted themselves together. The lesser shards of her being took on forms of their own and became like phantoms upon the wind. The chamber wherein she stood had been in utter silence, save for her own voice and that of the Snake. Now it was filled with voices. Her eyes had become those of death and a terrible aspect came upon her. The Snake realized that the queen had greater power than it had presumed when she fell into the abyss and in taking from it, the queen had yet greater power still despite her diminished state.

The queen looked about her realm. “Go, build gates across the path I had fallen,” she commanded, “Let them be vast and strong.” Her servants sent to their work building fortifications for her realm. “Let none of the living tread my lands,” she said in a terrible voice, “Any soul that ventures here shall become my thrall. I shall gather to me all the souls of the living and keep them in bondage until the end of days, if my power lets me. The Mother of All Life has turned from me, so it is I shall turn from Her. The rebellion of my kin shall not be forgotten. If any of them falls into my hands, I shall keep them forever more and all the world will know desolation.”

Prepping for major research.

 Dear Reader,

I now have a fresh copy of The Gospel of Our Mother God. (What I had hoped were minor notation errors in the previous edition remain and more evidence as I review my .pdf of the NCUV and other sources shows that they did edit out a great deal of material.) I now have a hard copy of the ECE. Sometime this week, my hardcopy of the NCUV will be arriving.

My plan is to read all three again and start cross referencing material. I want to get to the things that are consistent across all three book. I want to compare and contrast the things that are different and attempt to understand the differences in them. I could be doing this right now with the .pdf of the NCUV but it is hard for me to read it on my kindle because the type font used is so small. It is my hope with a hardcopy in hand, it will be easier to read. 

I want to draw out of the three texts the core belief structure of Filianism and Déanism. I want to clarify the things that were confusing in the Gospel of Our Mother God. And I want to learn as much as I can to be a better priestess to Déa. It is beginning to become clear to me that I am in the process of building another sect of Filianism. This was not my goal. I did not want to be on this path and it makes me very uncomfortable. I go, however, where Déa sends me. I do my best to follow her will.

I just wanted to learn more. And She has given me things to write. I've been busy with the kids and avoiding it, but the pressure is becoming greater. So, I will bend to her will as grass does to the wind and move according to what my Lady desires. I shall not fear for I know that Déa is all good and that which comes from her hand is always good for the world. I ask only for patience because I am moving as a blind person in an unfamiliar room.

Project: Crochet Goddess Poppet

Dear Reader,

To the right is one of my latest creations that isn't charity oriented. I have no idea what to do with this little tiny goddess poppet but I'm sure something will come to me.

The skills you need to make this are basic knitting and basic crochet. I did not use the magic ring to begin this. If you know that technique, go ahead and use it to start. This project is made working in the round.

Round 1: Chain two. Work six single crochet stitches into the first chain. Slip stitch the sixth stitch to the first, Chain one to begin next round.

R2: Single crochet twice into each stitch of the round. You should have 12 stitches. Slip stitch the 12th stitch to the first, chain one to begin next round.

R3: Single crochet twice into the first stitch. Single crochet once into the next stitch. Single crochet twice into the third stitch, single crochet once into the fourth stitch. SC 2x in stitch 5, SC into stitch 6. Repeat around in this pattern. At the end of the round, you should have 18 stitches. Slip stitch the 18th stitch to the first. Chain one to begin next round.

R4 - 9: SC into each stitch. Slip stitch final stitch of the round to the first. Chain one to begin next round.

Pause in your crochet to stuff the doll with fiber.

R10: SC together next two stitches. Proceed around in this fashion. You should have 9 stitches. Do not slip stitch your ends of your round together.

R11: SC together next two stitches, proceed around in this fashion. You should have 5 stitches. Do not slip stitch your ends of your round together.

R12: SC together next two stitches. Proceed around in this fashion. You should have 3 stitches. Do not slip stitch the ends of your round together.

R13: SC together all three stitches. Make a knot, break yarn, and weave in ends. Body is complete.

At your desired distance down from the head (starting at R1), wrap a length of yarn to make the neck of the doll. Tie off and weave in ends.

With a pair of size 3 double ended knitting needles (don't be nervous here!) cast on four stitches. Knit four and slide them to the opposite end of your needle. Knit again. Repeat this process (you're making an I-cord) until your cord measures the length you desire. Knit together two stitches. Knit together two more, slide your cord over. Knit together final two stitches. Slide your cord over again. Knit one more stitch. Pull tight to make your knot. Break yarn and weave in this end. Leave a long tail when you cast on your stitches. Repeat this process to make the other arm.

Once you have your arms made, use the long tails to sew them on to the body. Weave in the ends of the tails. Now pick out a bead you like. Cut a length of yarn and thread it through the 'hand' end of one arm, through your bead, and through the next 'hand'. Tie it together over the bead. Ta-dah! You have your own goddess poppet.

You can ditch the bead and make the arms a wee bit longer to make a doll suitable for small children. When stuffing the doll, add a jingle bell in the middle of the stuffing to make it a little more exciting for the littles.

Spinning Magic (2/3)

Me and my current spinning project.

In my previous post, I gave a quick overview of spinning magic. Today, I will give some examples of how I use spinning in my magical work. As I mentioned, the process of spinning intention into your thread is rather simple. Just focus on your intention and do your spinning as you envision the intention's energy being drawn into the thread along with the kinetic energy of the spindle's motion. This drawing in of energy adds twist to your fiber and keeps it from coming apart.

After adding twist to your fiber and making your single thread, you wind it off into skein. This is another opportunity to add another layer of intention. The skein is then soaked with water and weighted to set the twist. Yep, as you may have guessed, you can soak intention into the single with your water if you have blessed it or are using some water that you have magically charged. After this, you allow your skein to dry out and if you choose you can use it as it is. Or, you can wind it up into a ball and twist it together with another ball of yarn in a process called plying. Add more intention in the plying process, repeat the wetting and drying process with more intention, and in the end you have a very magically potent yarn.

This yarn can then be used to make magically charged items. If you are making a poppet of someone and you are going through the whole process of spinning yarn that you then knit or crochet into a doll, you can include a length of their hair in the spinning to incorporate their energy into your work. You can also make what most spinners would term 'art yarn' with things like feathers, crystal beads, and shells included in it. It is a labor intensive process, but it makes for a witch's ladder that is unlike the braided variety.

I don't make 'art yarn' because I find it difficult with a drop spindle. I'm not yet brave enough to try it on my spinning wheel because I'm still learning to use the thing. That said, I have used magically charged yarn to make wedding cords for marriages I have officiated which help bind the pair getting married together. I have used magically charged yarns to make bags to hold charmed objects and spell components. I have used magically charged yarns to make prayer shawls for healing as well.

Sacred Text Transcription Project.

Dear Reader,

I am at work on a project that I know will interest you. I am making a handwritten transcription of The Gospel of Our Mother God. I'm presently at work on copying over the holy mythos of the Daughter. The book I am using for this has room for me also transcribe at least one other version of the sacred texts of the Filianic/Déanic faith.

My goals with this project are two fold.First, it is a meditative act of devotion. Secondly, it is for me to make notes comparing the different versions of the texts. I'd like to eventually have as full of a set of text variations as I can acquire and copy. This is a desire of mine because I want to study the texts as deeply as I can and I want to cross reference the different variations and, if possible, come up with an annotated set of texts that I can study when I hit a quandary in life.

I have decided on a red hard bound book for this project with archival quality paper and I have been using pens with archival quality ink. When I have filled this book up, I will be recopying it with pen and ink onto a blank book with archival quality paper and illuminating it. I expect this to be a very much long term project. I am thinking about making pages with black-work (embroidery technique) like ornamentation and reserving color for miniature figures and such. This part of the project, however, is still in the idea stage. The initial transcription into the red book is where my focus right now lies.

Blessings upon you and yours.

♥