September 30th, 2012

Today is the beginning of the Ivy Celtic Tree Month (in spite of the fact that Ivy isn't actually a tree). The Celts called this month Gort.

The word "Ivy" encompasses 15 species belonging to the genus Hedera, native to Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia. The plants have been introduced to North America as well, though some varieties are considered invasive. On ground level, Ivies are creepers, not exceeding more than 20 cm in height, but once they find a surface to climb, can grow to well over 30 feet tall. Such surfaces include rocks, trees, homes, and other structures where the vines can get a grip on the surface. Young vines are tender and flexible, allowing them to wrap around new material, but as the vines mature, they become woody and firm, much like a small tree trunk. The berries produced are typically bitter and are dark purple or black. Ivy is frequently pollinated by bees and small birds.
Ivy was a plant sacred to the Roman god Bacchus, god of wine and pleasure. According to legend, Baccus' son died, and out of pity, Gaia transformed the boy's body into the Ivy plant. In Egyptian lore, Ivy was connected with the Sun God, Osiris. A Cornish legend recounts the love of the knight Tristan and his betrothed, Iseult. As is typical in most such stories, Tristan was slain in battle, and out of mourning, Iseult died as well. A vengeful king, who had desired Iseult, ordered their graves to be placed far apart, but an Ivy plant grew from each grave. The two plants met, and twined around each other.
Magickally appropriate for Samhain, Ivy is related to rebirth and resurrection. Additionally, one can take a cue from the third myth and use Ivy in matters of the heart and strengthening positive relationships. The plant can be used to create a magickal barrier around your person, shutting out negative influences and energies. It is useful in cooperation, protection, and healing, and ensures fertility. Some folklore recommends boiling Ivy twigs in butter and using as a salve to reduce sunburn; only try this if you can say without a shadow of a doubt that the plant you are using is not Poison Ivy.
Although many birds and other forms of wildlife consume Ivy berries, both the plant and fruit are poisonous to humans, and should not be consumed. The berries aren't deadly, but consumption of them can have unpleasant side effects; luckily, they don't taste good, anyway, so we aren't missing anything.

September 29th, 2012

As we approach Samhain, one of my favorite sabbats, I do about a zillion crafts, doing everything from altar decoration to the more secular "spookifying" the house and front yard. I ran across a post by a fellow Pagan blogger the other day, and her Pagan version of a Mexican Dio de los Muertos skull inspired me to make my own. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and thought I'd share:

~~~~~~~~~~

Dio de los Muertos, or the "Day of the Dead" is one of many celebrations similar to the Celtic Samhain. Like All Saint's Day, Day of the Dead's origins have been traced back to Samhain, as well as to an ancient Aztec festival honoring the goddess Mictecacihuatl. The Aztecs, however, celebrated the entire month rather than a single day. Dio de los Muertos is a time of remembering family that has passed, and is celebrated with festivals, parades, and prayers at the graves of loved ones. Ancestor shrines are constructed, and gifts of food and drink are left at grave sites as gifts to the deceased. Flowers may also be offered, especially a Mexican variety of marigold, as well as toys for deceased children, and pillows and blankets, so that the spirits have a place to rest. Skulls are a popular symbol of the day, with candy sugar skulls being made and intricately decorated up to a year in advance. The decorative skull I made is a non-edible version of one of these.
To make your own decorative skull, you will require the supplies highlighted in yellow. The craft itself can take anywhere from an hour to several hours, depending on how intricately you wish to decorate, but be aware that the skull may have to dry overnight before it can be decorated.

• Begin with a piece of aluminum foil that is at least two feet long (the more you use, the bigger your skull). 
• Crumple the foil into a general skull shape - a lot of detail is not required here, but try and create a defined nose and indentations for eye sockets. Everything else can be very loosely defined at this point.
• Tear paper into thin strips. You can use newsprint, computer paper, etc., but I found that paper towel works well for this application.
• Dip the paper towel into a mixture of water and liquid glue. You may want to do this in a disposable bowl, to ease cleanup.
• Wrap the wet paper towel around the foil skull. Continue adding strips until the entire foil shape is covered by two or three layers, at least. At this point, really shape the eyes and the back of the head. You can add a lot of detail to the mouth if you wish, though I kept it simply defined and just added detail with paint.
• Allow the skull to dry completely. Depending on how much paper towel  and watery glue you used, this could take as long as eight or nine hours.
• Paint the skull a base of white. It will look something like this:

• Once the white is dry, use paint to add meaningful symbols. Flowers are a traditional way to decorate the skulls, so if a certain flower holds meaning for you, you may wish to add it. Other possibilities include a pentacle, an Egyptian eye, ankh, patronus animals, etc. Any symbol can be used, provided it has meaning to you. However, if you don't find that an image resonates with you, don't feel obligated to use it.
• For the eyes, glue on paper or silk flowers. If desired, use black paint to define eyes in the flowers' center.

Mine came out like this:

The purple circle in the middle of the ankh is also representative of the O in the )O( symbol.

Here you can see one of the ) in the )O( symbol, as well as a gold spiral for the God, and an owl and fish for air and water, respectively.

On the back of the skull I painted a pentacle with a lotus flower beneath it.

And on the final side, I painted a silver spiral for the Goddess, a bison for earth, and a phoenix for fire (the phoenix was the idea of my friend, Steph). You can also see the final ( to complete the lunar trinity.

September 23rd, 2012

Happy belated Mabon, one and all! It has started again - the insane business that keeps me off my blog. In the last couple weeks, I have been working at the library Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I have had to do all my homework, of course, and I've had practice and setbuilding for the fall play. Thus, I am only now getting around to posting things from some time ago. To begin with, the woodchuck I mentioned a few posts back has been periodically visiting, and I got a picture of him sitting in the grass:

 A few days later, I was waiting for the bus, and noticed the fog rolling over the middle school's football field. I was struck by its appearance, and thought I'd share:

In addition to our woodchuck friend, we were visited by a hummingbird, which pleased me greatly. After stopping for a drink at our zinnias, it hovered in front of our window for several minutes, allowing us to get some pictures:

And then today, I decided to set up my Samhain altar, which ended up as follows:

September 15th, 2012

It's a beautiful Saturday! I had set-build for the fall play until noon, but after that I got outside for a while and re-colored the deck for my dad. I also saw that woodchuck again; he's been poking into our gardens recently, eating our plants. Anyone have suggestions for keeping woodchucks out of a garden?

~~~~~~~~~~

Mabon, of course, is next Saturday, and to get in the Sabbat mood I'm still looking for interesting activities to do. Here are some that I've come across on the vast expanse of the world-wide-web:

• If you follow a Druidic tradition, consider cutting willow wands at this time.
• Apples can be left on grave sites and/or burial cairns as a token of honor and blessing.
• Take a walk in the forest to gather dried seed pods and other organic materials for decoration.
• If you grew fruits or vegetables over the summer, pick a piece of high-quality produce and return it to the land with prayers of Thanksgiving.
• In a meditation, offer thanks to each direction - North for finances, the home, and health, East for gifts of knowledge, South for a career and hobbies, West for relationships, and Spirit for spiritual insight.
• Plan a feast using the produce of the season - squash, apples, corn, bread, and cider. 
• For a protective charm, string Hazelnuts on a red thread and empower.
• Make a wreath out of grapevine, wrap with gold ribbon to bring in the God's energy, and add any desired herbs and seasonal flowers.
• Visit an apple orchard, pick grapes, or harvest pumpkins.
• Make rattles out of dried gourds.

Don't forget the "mundane" stuff, either - just because a tradition doesn't take place in a circle doesn't mean that it doesn't have its own magick.

• Fix up anything in the house that needs to be mended before winter.
• Take a look at family scrapbooks and pictures, and remember loved ones, both living and passed.
• Fill up your bird-feeder, and put some of that dried corn out for the wildlife.
• Consider what you can do to reduce your ecological footprint. Can you use less water or electricity? Recycle more?

September 10th, 2012

I saw this earlier and it made me smile.

Hazelnut and I went to Styx & Stonez, a local metaphysical store, on Saturday. She got two new CDs, a piece of quartz, Scott Cunningham's Wicca, and a dozen small taper candles. She also got me a black taper, since I didn't have any. It's a beautiful store with practically one-stop-shopping for most typical metaphysical supplies. 

I've also been working my way through Teen Psychic, by Julie Tallard Johnson. It's full of great information, with personal and traditional stories from around the world. The book has sections on chakras, the Rainbow Body, spiritual empowerment, psychic protection, and psychic visions, among other things. It's great for anyone looking to develop their intuition, teen or not.

Celtic Tree Month: Vine

Autumn is on the way, and with it the Vine month, which focuses specifically on the powers of the grapevine, used extensively by the Celts in wine-making.

Grapevines are one of the oldest plants ever cultivated. Egyptian hieroglyphics show the making of wine, and many historians estimate that wine-production has been occurring for at least 8000 years. The grape is the seed of a deciduous vine, occurring in clusters rather than individually. The grapes can be dark blue, black, yellow, green, pink, and orange, most of which are descended from a European variety. A few rarer species can be found in the Middle East and Asia.
In Christian lore, wine is used in the Eucharist as a symbol of the blood of their god. They are also mentioned at leats twice in the Jewish Torah. In Greek mythology, on the other hand, wine was the speciality of the god Dionysus (also god of revelry and theatre) and his satyr friends. In Roman myths, Dionysus is referred to as Bacchus, leading to the modern word "bacchanalia", meaning a typically alcohol-induced frenzy. Egypt, where wine played a major role in daily and religious life, had its share of vine god/desses, including Geshtinana, also known as the "Lady of the Vine", and Asar, who, in addition to playing a major role in the afterlife, judgement, etc., was a god of agriculture, responsible for wine and beer.
In magick, grapes are a popular symbol of abundance at harvest time, and as a Mabon symbol are second perhaps only to the apple. The vine and fruit thereof increase fertility and mental prowess. The plant is useful in spells both for the garden and money (going back to that overlying theme of abundance). It can be used in workings for balance, to enhance one's goals and ambitions, and, if desired, to connect to the Dark Goddesses.
As I'm sure almost all of you are aware, while we may not eat the grapevine, the grapes themselves are perfectly edible! Grapes can be enjoyed raw, cooked into jellies and jams, dried as raisins, added to fruit salads, fruit cocktail, and jellos - the possibilities are almost endless!

September 2nd, 2012

Happy Sunday, everyone! 'Tis the first weekend of the school year, for us at least, and personally, I'm quite enjoying the peace and quiet. It's a rainy day, and that too adds to the calm. Something about rain is soothing; I've heard that science attributes it to the negative (as in a + or - charge) ions that water releases - they cause the body to relax.

~~~~~~~~~~

Mabon is on the 22nd this year, a Saturday. I've got a ritual planned out, of course, but as always, I look for fun activities I can do up to that point to get in the Sabbat mood. Part of that is the decorating - anyone who knows me can tell you that I love to decorate, and though I can't put Mabon symbols all over the house, I can add to my altar. Here are some ideas to consider:

• Use colors like red, orange, maroon, brown, yellow, and indigo.
• Use acorns, fall leaves (especially oak), and statuary of the Mother Goddess.
• Other plants of the season include marigolds, yarrow, sage, rose hips, and apples
• If you like tarot cards, consider using imagery from Judgement and The World.
• Add gourds and cornucopias.
• Stones ruled by the sun can be included (i.e. citrine, clear quartz, gold, peridot, diamond, yellow topaz, and adventurine).
• Animal statuary (or pictures) can include birds of prey, salmon, owls, wolves, stags, and blackbirds.
• Mythical creature imagery can include Gnomes, Sphinxes, and Minotaurs.
• Incense can include sage, frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, pine, and apple blossom.

Picture from About.com.

September 1st, 2012

The first of September! Where did summer go? Funny how that happens, isn't it? Anyway, today I did my Blue Moon/Esbat ritual. I had hoped to do so yesterday, but just as I'd started, mom and dad called me to do something else.

Today we discovered that we have a new resident in our backyard - a chubby little woodchuck found the abandoned rabbit hole under the shed and seems to have moved in. He's been busy all morning eating the tall grass around the shed.
The word "woodchuck" actually comes from the Native American name for the animal: wuchak. According to the mythology of the Algonquin Native Americans, Grandmother Woodchuck was a very wise creature who adopted Glooskap, an Algonquin equivalent to Hercules, who frequently fought monsters to make the world safe, but ended up getting into trouble from which Grandmother Woodchuck had to save him.
Because the groundhog (another name for the woodchuck) hibernates during the winter, the animal is symbolic of understanding the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. It is further representative of the ability to know when to "go underground", or to back up from a situation.
Do you have a groundhog living in your neighborhood? Consider what he might be trying to tell you.