Altar Update

With it now being October, I've updated my altar for Samhain. It was in need of a change, as I hadn't done much to it since the Eclipse.

I've made a sort of ancestor altar toward the front, with the rest of my ritual tools in the back. It's hard to see in this photo, but in front of the cauldron is a black skull candle I bought at Earthbound.

Also from Earthbound is this beautiful display shelf, which I am using to showcase some of my crystals. It has the moon phases at the bottom. I fell in love with it the moment I saw it!

March 3rd, 2017

My design studio took a field trip to the mall yesterday (our next project involves retail design), and of course I couldn't go to the mall without stopping at Earthbound, so...

...I bought a baby cauldron! It's a small, cast iron piece with three legs, and it was on sale for half-off. I've been eyeing them for a while, so I'm glad I waited to get one until they were on sale.

I also got this tiny leather-bound book. It was on clearance, plus I got another discount, so it was less than $1. I'm going to use it for recording sigil ideas in.

February 22nd, 2016

I actually bought this the 13th, but life being what it is, I never got around to posting a picture. This is a hanging censer from Earthbound. Usually, these are $20, but this one was on clearance for $5.60. Seeing as I cannot burn incense either at home or at school, it's a little bit of a pointless purchase, but I also think they look incredibly cool, and I've wanted one for years, so frankly I'm okay with it. We'll consider it an investment purchase.

December 12th, 2015

The semester's winding down, which is good, because I'm exhausted, but even as school is giving out, the holidays are picking up. I did some shopping for gifts last weekend, and ended up getting myself a few things as well. Earthbound always has some great stuff.

I got this pentacle ring with triquetras on the sides.

And then they also had these lovely Quartz crystal ornaments on ribbon, so I got one for my mini Yule tree.

SIPA had their Yule ritual a bit early, seeing as many people go home over the winter break, so I went to the store yesterday and picked up some drinks to take. They also were doing a gift exchange, so while I was at the store, I found this lovely box of incense. It comes with six scents, both as sticks and as cones, with a flower-shaped burner to go with. I thought it was real cute and appropriately witchy!

August 22nd, 2015

I am officially moved in to my dorm room for this year! My mom and I got to my building around 9:30, at which point we had to haul everything up the elevator to my floor. It took the greatest bulk of the time to get the furniture placed correctly, but once that was done, the decorating went pretty smoothly. I didn't set my altar up at the time because I didn't want to make mom uncomfortable, but I was able to do it this evening after she left.

Once I had the basic unpacking done, she and I went to lunch, and then went shopping. We checked out both the local thrift store and the mall, and I found some very cool things I would like to share.

This is a book I got for a dollar at the thrift store. It's called We'Moon '07: Gaia Rhythms for Womyn; there's no single author, as this almanac was compiled by many people, but it was published by Mother Tongue Ink in 2006. Obviously, the 2007 calendar is way out of date for 2015, but the book contains some beautiful illustrations of goddesses and other figures, poetry, astrological information, and what looks like a lot of other cool things. I'll write you all a review after I read it.

Next, we went to the mall, and I went into my favorite store, Earthbound. They had Himalayan salt candle holders for $6.95, so I picked one up. I'd been wanting a salt lamp of some kind for years, and although this one wasn't fitted for an electric light, I still liked it a lot.

I also got this: a baggie of Guatemalan Worry People. The bag holds seven of the little figures. One is supposed to whisper one's worries at night into the bag, and then the Worry People will carry away your worries. That seemed like the sort of thing which might help me manage my anxiety, and they're handmade, so I was happy to pick up a set. 

Tonight, I got my altar set up. Last year, I put it on my dresser, but this year I didn't want my bed lofted, as that turned out to be a huge hassle. My mom suggested I put my dresser under my bed to make room in my closet, and it doesn't even have an inch of clearance. That left my mini fridge as the only available flat surface. It actually seemed to work out well. My altar cloth fits perfectly, I have crystals all over it, and also some offerings for Athena. In addition, I took a Starbucks Frappuccino bottle, cleaned it out really well, and made a hyssop infusion in it. I'll probably talk about that in a later post.

Hanging off the edge of my bed, I have my travel altar kit, as well as a pixie dust bottle from Fairy Fest. My travel altar I may use to do outdoor rituals, to take on Pagan retreats, etc. 

So that's what's going on here. Days until school starts: T minus one...

Take Two

Well, I did it. I went back to the mall. I'm not buying anything else for a while, because I probably spent more than I should have, but it was worth it.

These little guys were $1.50 and also part of the buy-one-get-one-free deal. I'm not sure what actual purpose they're supposed to serve, but to me they look like a pair of antlers, and I plan to use them for a subtle Horned God representation on my altar. Also, since they have a little dish at the base, I have a place now to set offerings and the like.
I also bought the Generator Crystal set I wanted!

For the record, it's all Clear Quartz and just looks dark because I set it on top of its box. It's got a central pyramid, and each single-terminated Quartz projecting off is joined to the central piece with a small band of metal. I saw it yesterday and was drawn to it immediately. When I didn't take it home, it just kept wearing on my mind. Clearly, the crystal liked me and wasn't keen on letting me go.

And then there was this. I couldn't possibly look at this box jam-packed with different kinds of Quartz and walk away from it. I think it warrants an epic length post, which I'd better go start researching if I want it done by dinnertime.

September 13th, 2014

Today has been an interesting day. It started off a little slowly, as cold Saturdays have a tendency to do, and I was more than comfortable staying in bed for a while. However, I'll be going home next weekend for my little brother's birthday and still needed to find him a present, so I decided to figure out the bus system and get myself to the mall. Mission "read a bus schedule" having been accomplished, I let myself wander for a while, checking out the different stores. Nothing really caught my eye until I found a toy store wherein I got a big set of child's art supplies for him.
Coming out of the toy store, my eyes lighted on a shop with a very eclectic assortment of goods in the display window, along with a couple of Himalayan salt lamps. Anyone who goes to enough of these places comes to recognize such salt lamps as the staple product of a new age store, so I walked in. I was not disappointed. The energy was fantastic, and as for the products... Suffice it to say that if I had had the money, I would have emptied the place.
There were masks, dresses, skirts, shawls, jewelry, art pieces, instruments, an entire table of gemstones, and if that weren't enough, the back half of the store was both clearance and buy-one-get-one-free. I could have cried with happiness. In the end, I ended up with several things for myself, as well as for a friend who also has a birthday party next weekend.

The first thing I discovered was the crystal table. It shouldn't surprise anyone that I was drawn to it like a moth to a candle flame. While I already posses a majority of the crystals on display, they had some stunning generator crystals that I had to tear myself away from. The picture at left is more or less what they looked like, and they came in Clear Quartz, Amethyst, and Rose Quartz. I really wanted to get one, and I was surprised by how reasonable the price was - I had been expecting $30, but these were about $15. Still, with everything else I was buying, I didn't know if I wanted to spend another $15 just then. I may go back tomorrow, though, because I really was drawn to them. It was immediately apparent why they were considered generators - all I had to do was hold my hand over them, and I could feel like a rush of cool air the energy spiraling around the central point.

I discovered the mask collection in the back; they were all excellent quality, and right up my alley where costuming is concerned. I bought this one:

Perhaps I'll wear it for Samhain. They had boxes of large white taper candles on sale for a dollar, so you know I snapped some of those up, and then I looked up and noticed these, tucked on a little shelf.

They're Tektites! I've been looking for these for ages - who knew you had to go to a mall in the middle of nowhere to find them? What are Tektites? If you don't already know, you'll just have to wait for me to post about them. Mwahahaha....