May 30th, 2015

How is it the end of the month already? Where did the time go? I got back from school for the summer on the 15th. Since then, I've been doing an assortment of things - knitting, mostly, with some crochet and a bit of reading thrown in. This morning, I got to setting my Litha altar up, did a little rearranging on my smaller shrine, and finally - after four years - filled up my notebook version of this blog. More on that later, but for now, a few pictures:

I just bought this pendant off of this Etsy shop; the woman who owns the store, Rebekka, uses only natural, high quality stones, and hand wraps all of them. A lot of her pieces are Labradorite, which are absolutely stunning, but she's also done work in different quartzes (Amethyst, this Tangerine Quartz, etc.), Opals, Aquamarines, and more. She gets her pieces in the mail pretty immediately - the only reason I had to wait a bit on mine was because I ordered it over the holiday weekend - and she sends it through priority mail, so once it ships it arrives quickly as well.

Here I am wearing it. Sorry, the lighting isn't great. I really like it! 

EDIT: Rebekka's store has moved - she now has her own website! Click here to view her work.

May 5th, 2015

My architecture studio got quasi-cancelled today; rather than having the usual four hour class, we only have to go into the gallery for an hour to present our final projects. That freed up a lot of my afternoon, so I went back to the Gaia House to check out the display of Pagan artwork they are currently exhibiting. There were some really lovely pieces there, including these:

Owl with triple goddess eyes.

Handmade robe with Goldstone and Mother of Pearl beading.

I might be in love with this owl dreamcatcher.

I didn't know about the exhibition soon enough to make something to submit, but it sounds like it's an annual event, so maybe next year!

May 4th, 2015

I ended up not doing much on Beltane for Beltane, but I was very busy this weekend with other creative and manifestive pursuits, so I still got to tap into some of that energy regardless. On Saturday, I helped one of my friends paint the nursery in her new house, and on Sunday, I worked some more on an accessible dog park with my architecture group. (Friday night I spent seeing a production of Godspell instead of actually doing a ritual. Oops.)

Tonight, though, was amazing! I just learned that there's a Pagan alliance in my region, and they do open rituals every so often. They did an Esbat tonight, over in the labyrinth circle behind the Gaia House, and I was able to make it. I don't have any pictures at the moment, although one of the guys there did take a bunch, so I'll keep you all updated.

We started off by going around the circle, smudging each other with sage smoke. Then we drew down lunar energy and used it to charge a bowl of moonflower seeds. We all got to take little peat pots, fill them with dirt, and then plant several seeds to take home! I've always wanted moonflowers, so I was very excited. Everyone was really friendly, and it was absolutely gorgeous weather. Plus we had a few little bats dart around overhead.

I'll be going back home for the summer, but in the fall I'd really love to check out their Mabon ritual or something! Great group, for sure, and I'm excited to go back.