February 25th, 2017

I cannot believe I am only just now finishing my research on the stones I acquired at Fairy Fest over six months ago, but to be fair to myself, I've been busy with school and we had a bunch of family crises, so finding the time and energy to do my research has been a challenge.

Anyhow, the last Fairy Fest stone I have to share information on is Andara Crystal Glass; I was gifted a chunk of it by an energy worker at the festival, and it's a variety of crystal with a rather contentious, questionable story behind it. The long and short of it is, Andara Crystal Glass is synthetic, not natural (more on that below), and as such, many unscrupulous vendors will hype up the crystal while providing little factual information on it, and then charge an outrageous price for the stuff.

My stance on synthetic crystals is firmly positive - I enjoy Opalite, Goldstone, and etc. both aesthetically and magickally - but it is important to know before you buy that this is not some incredibly rare and hard-to-come-by mineral. Make sure the price tag reflects that.

~~~~~

Andara Crystal Glass

Physical Characteristics: This variety of glass can be found in virtually any color, and in varying opacities.

In Nature: Andara Crystal Glass is not found in nature. It is cullet glass leftover from other glass-making processes, and often found in the slag variety. Slag glass is its own subsection of streaky, opaque glass, often used decoratively in light fixtures, but the main takeaway is that this is not a naturally-occurring crystal. 

According to one story, a California earthquake in the 1960's uncovered a buried deposit of some of this glass, and that is what brought it to the attention of the metaphysical community. This makes sense in passing, as California is highly earthquake-prone, but I was unable to find confirmation of this from a reliable source, so take the story with a grain of salt.

Chemical Composition: Silica-based, varies by method of production

Mohs Scale Hardness: 5.5 - 6.5 (middle)

Can be Found: Theoretically, wherever glass (especially slag glass) is made

Healing Properties*: None noted besides the benefits listed below

Magickal Properties: The information available on Andara Crystal Glass is mixed, some of it being believable, and some of it going straight off the metaphysical deep end. That being said, Andara Crystals are generally associated with energy work. They can be imbued with Reiki energy, and likewise are used for clearing the chakras and raising one's personal vibration.

Other uses include raising one's conscious awareness, and channeling information. They are stones of positive thought, and for connecting to the energy of the universe and/or deity. Andara Crystal Glass is best charged with light, sunlight being the most effective.

Individual colors have their own meanings which can be investigated further, though keep a critical eye when reading through information provided by vendors trying to sell their product.

Chakra Association: Crown (Seventh) Chakra

Element: Akasha

Energy: Receptive

Planetary Association: Uranus, Moon

*Magickal healing should never take the place of seeing a doctor and following any recommended prescriptions, actions, or other advice. Magick works best in tandem with physical efforts, anyway, so don't skimp on those check-ups!

November 7th, 2016

I'm really excited! A week or two ago, I put down a bid on a crystal auction that Rebekka, who I've ordered crystals and jewelry from before, was having on Tumblr. Her pieces usually sell very high, and I was expecting to get out-bid. Somehow, however, I didn't, and I ended up winning the auction for five beautiful pieces of Spirit Quartz for only $41!. If you've ever bought Spirit Quartz before, then you know it can be quite pricey; the one little piece I had already was $15 or $20 by itself when I bought it. Five pieces for $41 is definitely a deal!

These are my new babies - on the top left is a Clear Spirit Quartz, while the top right is an Amethyst Spirit Quartz. The other three are Citrine Spirit Quartz, and they're all uniquely beautiful. I immediately set them up around the election spell I did the other night to amp up the power (remember, Americans - go vote tomorrow!).

This Amethyst Spirit Quartz I bought at Fairy Fest last year. Now it has friends!

And finally, Rebekka was also doing a little "Trick or Treat" special in October - anyone who ordered something before Halloween got either a bit of Green Jasper or some plastic spiders. I would have loved the Jasper, but the spiders are cute (they'll be good for next Samhain), and I can always use little sachets, so that was a nice bonus, too.

For my post on the specific properties of Spirit Quartz, click here. If you would like to check out Rebekka's shop - and I highly recommend you do - you can find her new website here.

Fairy Fest Goodies

I got lots of neat things at the Fairy Festival this weekend.

Among the miscellaneous items I bought were some pieces of artwork, all of them by this artist. I'd seen the original of the mermaid painting on the right at an art fair in Iowa and loved it. When I saw she had little prints available, I had to pick one up. I also got some postcards to give to my girlfriend and friends at school. Then I found a dragon's blood soap, which is great, seeing as I can't burn the incense, some sachets to hold crystals, and a pentacle charm which I'm actually going to use in a Night Vale Girl Scouts cosplay.

In terms of crystals - because I just had to get some - I got two pieces of Sunstone, a Labradorite sphere, a Fluorite point, tumbled Rhodonite and Moonstone, Andara Crystal Glass (which was actually a gift from a man advertising his service as an energy worker), and a Citrine point.

Finally, I picked up this little hummingbird pin. The hummingbird is actually velcroed to the pin, so it can be swapped out with other accessories, or attached to headbands, clips, etc. It's so cute, and it's my favorite color, so I had to grab it.

Posts on the stones are upcoming. In the meantime, hope you're all enjoying your summer!

August 8th, 2016

The World of Faeries Festival was this weekend! I was so excited to go; after a long, difficult summer of family crises, I was really looking forward to some down time out in the open air with magical people and surroundings. The theme this year was Seasons of the Faeries. Participating children got a calendar, and then could go to each of the twelve month fairies (I was February) to play a game and get a birthstone sticker for the corresponding calendar page.

Me as Amethyst, the February fairy.

Destiny, the Season Changer fairy.

Hazelnut as Corra, the November fairy (she also did a lot of the season changing, as Destiny wasn't feeling the best).

The Blue Rose Mermaid.

One of the vendors' daughters with Natsu, the iguana dragon (check out her mother's work here).

Raincloud made it out with her boyfriend - I haven't seen her in forever!

There were some funny little field mice scurrying around the park.

Kaladin, the stilt walker.

The Statue Lady.

Bubbles...!

A vendor, Sara, working on a fantastic watercolor painting (view and purchase her art here).

Fairy Godmother Rose with her right-hand gal.

The river - we had perfect weather. Warm, but with a steady breeze and some cloud cover.

After the fair closed last night, the cast went out to dinner at a local buffet (photo credit to Hazelnut).

And last but not least, a group photo of a bunch of the cast (photo credit to photographer Mike Smith).

I met some cool new people and got to reconnect with a lot of old friends, which made me happy. I also did lots of shopping, so posts on that are upcoming. I'm very glad I got to go, and I'm already looking forward to next year.

January 8th, 2016

Hello, friends, and happy New Year! Or, in Japanese, あけましておめでとうございます! I can't believe it's already 2016! I know for a lot of people, 2015 was a struggle, but we made it through, and here we are.

I certainly spent the year keeping busy. I read loads of new books, many of which I reviewed on this blog, performed in a play last spring, spent Litha in the Boundary Waters, had a grand time at Fairy Fest, and began working in earnest with a few patron deities. I also acquired many new crystals, and joined SIPA, the Pagan organization in my university's locale. I've started making some new friends, which was a pleasant surprise.

Here's to 2016 being an even better year! I've ordered a bunch of new books which hopefully I should have by the end of the month (topics include dragons, moon magick, and solar goddesses), and now that we're past Yule, the days will start getting lighter, which always improves my mood. I am looking forward to sharing another cycle with my readers, and hope that all of you experience love and light.

September 6th, 2015

I've been watching a lot of YouTube videos on my day off, and also did quite a bit of work on my "Scrapbook of Shadows". Here's what I was working on.

I added some more decor to my Celtic tree month pages. We have some holly trees by my residence hall, so I picked one up and pressed it. The other lead is a piece of ivy from our garden at home. I'd like to add more to this still, but this is what I've got at the moment.

Here's the last Celtic tree month page. It definitely needs some plant samples, so I'll have to either find or draw some sometime. The right page is adorned with packaging from a bar of soap I got at Fairy Fest a few years ago. I added a tiny feather I found coming back from brunch this morning, and also wrote in a summary of how to make a magickal hand wash as demonstrated by Ashera Star Goddess on YouTube.

I have these pages mostly covered up because a lot of the information is pretty personal to me (not that you could read it, anyway, as blurrily as my laptop took these photos), but these pages were about my power animal, or patronus, the Hummingbird. 

Here's a detail of the Ruby-Throated Hummingbird I drew in the corner. 

I also put up another video today, talking about how I got into the Craft. If you're interested, a lot of it is things I haven't talked about much on here. 

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...

August 9th, 2015

My piece of Aragonite I was able to identify from flipping through some crystal books, but this stone I had to take with me to Fairy Fest and ask around at some of the vendors to learn the name of. It turned out to be synthetic, which I had already guessed at, but here's what information the internet had on it.

~~~~~
Carborundum

Physical Characteristics: A black crystal that sparkles like a rainbow in the light. Carborundum is water insoluble and does not fade in sunlight, so the more popular modes of cleansing are appropriate for this crystal. As it is synthetic, cleansing it of other people's energy is vital. Do exercise some caution, as pieces may be brittle and break with rough handling.

In Nature: Carborundum only occurs very rarely on Earth; when it does, it is called Moissanite and is generally found in meteorites. The crystal was first developed for mass production in 1890 when Edward Acheson attempted to create artificial diamonds with clay and powdered Carbon. It quickly became popular as an industrial abrasive.

Chemical Composition: SiC

Mohs Scale Hardness: 9.5 (very high)

Can be Found: Rarely in meteorite or Corundum deposits, but is commonly produced in laboratories 

Healing Properties*: The stone can help to clear the mind of chaotic thoughts and stress, while clearing stress' physical symptoms from the body. It can also assist in the treatment of depression or more general melancholy. Carborundum heals eye strain, headaches, and computer-related injuries. Back and neck pain may also be lessened with the stone, as can the severity of problems with the skeletal system.

Magickal Properties: Carborundum is a meditative crystal, inspiring serenity and peacefulness. It strengthens the bond with one's "inner child", or perhaps more accurately with the part of one which is playful and curious before such behaviors are socialized out of our personality. 
It is a purifying stone, and encourages intuition. As a conductor of electricity, Carborundum will amplify energy in any sort of working, but especially in healing efforts.

Chakra Association: All

Element: Air/fire

Energy: Projective/receptive

Planetary Association: Earth

*Magickal healing should never take the place of seeing a doctor and following any recommended prescriptions, actions, or other advice. Magick works best in tandem with physical efforts, anyway, so don't skimp on those check-ups!

August 7th, 2015

After years of a nagging intuition, I was finally galvanized into actively seeking a patron or matron God/dess this past weekend when I found an embroidered Athena drawstring bag at Fairy Fest. I've felt drawn to Her for a long, long time, and finally felt the time was right to reach out to Her, so I bought the bag to give as an introductory offering. Yesterday, I spent several hours researching Hellenic Paganism; while I enjoy practicing as an eclectic, it was important to me that I honor Her in the appropriate manner. I found this website to be an extremely helpful introduction.

I also wanted to give an offering of olive oil and barley, and luckily we had both in the pantry. I set up a small shrine to Her last night. It looks like this:

You can see the oil and barley sitting on the left; I later poured these into the white dish. The back of the altar is adorned with some paintings of mine, as well as several owl images, a few things I've crocheted, and some of my pottery. I put some knitting needles and a crochet hook in one of the pottery pieces. Also present is a tea light, a replica arrowhead, and an award from my high school. 

I wore the flower crown I bought at Fairy Fest, as well as an owl ring, and a red shirt. According to Judika Illes' Encyclopedia of Spirits, red is Her color. 

I had worried that I would not receive a response, but no sooner had I finished introducing myself and giving the offerings than I received an image of Her in my head. She spoke to me for some time, and one of the final things She requested was that I share the knowledge of her power. So - if you are feeling in any way drawn to Athena, then make yourself known to Her! She accepts all honest acts of devotion.

Here's a closer look at the back of the altar:

August 3rd, 2015

It's probably a good thing I took today off work. I was so exhausted from walking around all weekend that I could barely sit up this morning. A shower seemed to take the edge off, though, so that was good. And after taking today for just me, I feel almost completely re-energized.

This morning, I worked more on a weighted blanket project while watching CharmingPixieFlora's YouTube videos. I would recommend them to anyone, but especially to those practicing Wicca or eclectic Paganism. Some of her videos contain more 101-type information, and others delve into greater detail, but even as someone who now considers herself to be pretty experienced in the Craft, I still find it helpful to refresh myself on basic information every now and then, or to listen to a different viewpoint. Besides, she's so bubbly that you can't help but feel happier listening to her talk.

After I got to a solid stopping point, I moved on to researching the crystals I bought this weekend. Expect posts on their properties over the course of the next week or so.

I also finally took some time to reorganize my closet. I consolidated boxes and got everything straightened out, which had the ultimate effect of freeing up a lot of stagnant energy and giving me an extra crate to contain my books when I return to school so that I don't have to disturb the one currently holding up my shrine.

While I was at it, I went ahead and sorted through the things I bought at Fairy Fest.

From left to right, I purchased a piece of Kyanite, a piece of Amethyst Spirit Quartz, a tiny chest with a brass pentacle on top, a little turtle dragon, a Ruby, and a drawstring bag embroidered with the image of Athena and an owl. I also got two little pouches for the Kyanite and the Ruby.

The straw mat the things are sitting on top of is actually a miniature tatami mat that I made in a class while in Japan last summer. I've been trying to figure out what to do with it for ages, and it finally just occurred to me - I can take it with me to school and use it as a tiny altar! I feel like that will be much energetically neater than setting things on the old dressers or desks that the university provides. 

The turtle dragon's name is Frederick. I adopted him from the Dragon Lady at Fest (see more of her work here), and when I told a little girl he didn't have a name yet, she suggested Freddie. He seemed to really like that idea, so I ran with it.

I got the Athena bag not only because it is lovely but also because I think I'd like to start working with her, and it seemed like it could make for a great introductory offering.

I also got this wonderful headdress that my bunny is modelling for me. I love the little horns on it! 

The World of Faeries Festival 2015

The Fairy Fest was simply amazing this year! The theme was The Eleventh Hour: A Journey Through Time, so of course I wore an updated version of my steampunk fairy costume, while Destiny went with a lovely red and blue outfit of her own.

(That's me on the right.)

Destiny borrowed a pentacle necklace of mine until she could buy her own.

We heard fantastic music from award-winning Native American flutist, Randy Granger (pictured), a Japanese Taiko drumming group, the band Patchouli, the "Harp Twins" who do contemporary music played on harps, and more.

There's always so many interesting characters...

...and fantastic creatures...

...and if one looks carefully in the fairy garden...

...one might spot a little hummingbird up in a tree!

Destiny bought herself several things, including these stones:

From left to right, these are Labradorite, Rose Quartz, and Citrine.

I also bought myself many exciting things, but those will get their own post. 

The weather could not have been better (except for a thirty-second downpour Sunday afternoon), and we met up with many delightfully Pagan vendors, some of whom we already knew and some of whom were new this year. All in all, another amazing weekend!

Blue Moon 2015

What a weekend it has been! A blue moon, Lughnasadh, and Fairy Fest, all overlapping one another!

Destiny came over on Friday and we got all our costume things sorted for Fest. We also did an Esbat ritual to celebrate the blue moon, which was her first time doing an Esbat as well. I won't get into all the details, but we got dressed up in some robes of mine and some pieces of magickal jewelry - a pentacle and Tangerine Quartz necklace for me, and a silver wolf necklace for her.

My phone doesn't have a front-facing camera, so my selfies always turn out a little blurry-looking. I thought this was a cute pre-ritual picture, though.

We enjoyed a nice ceremony where we did some spellwork to further our long-term goals, and then afterwards we took leftover cookies and juice outside for offerings, standing under the moon for a while. It had what looked to us like a blue halo around it, and was very bright over the neighboring houses.

As always, my camera-phone utterly failed to do the phenomenon justice, but the pure Goddess energy was really spectacular.

The next morning, we had to be up quite early for Fairy Fest. Lughnasadh dawned bright and clear this year, and for once we had an actual harvest to honor - our tomato crop has delivered in droves now that my dad and brother built them a planter box. 

As you can see, the tomato on the left was bigger than my hand. We've also had bowls full of cherry tomatoes, and as of yesterday several more large heirlooms have come into ripeness.

I took this photo of a (very short) sunflower soaking up the morning rays after I paused a moment outside to set down a bit of toast in offering. Destiny and I enjoyed the light for a bit, and then it was off to Fairy Fest!