October 15th, 2017

One of the organizations I belong to at school took a social trip today over to a local pumpkin patch. The weather, which had been kind of wet and gross this morning, turned out to be beautiful, and it was a lot of fun picking through the pumpkins with everyone. Pumpkin carving and baking pumpkin seeds are a few of my Samhain traditions, and I always have a great time doing it!

The pumpkins - they ranged in size from little bitty ones to big carving-size ones.

I didn't buy any, but I love ghost pumpkins. They look so neat!

Here's my purchases - a big pumpkin to carve, two gourds, and a mini pumpkin. The gourds I'll be trying to dry out and turn into shakers. I also picked up the "Witch Please" mug today, over at Walmart. They had a whole collection of oversized Halloween mugs, and it just seemed very me.

In addition to the pumpkins, I bought this wire-wrapped tree of life necklace. There was a local artist selling them there at the pumpkin patch, and I'd been wanting something like it for a long time, so I decided to go ahead and get one.

Things are getting spooky here! I've decorated our apartment, and my roommate and I have been getting costumes together. We've also engaged in a bit of spirit work, talking to some of the other inhabitants of the apartment. They seem to be friendly, and like to knock on the walls at night.

O hí Lughnasadh

I haven't done an actual Lughnasadh ritual in at least four years because I'm always spending the weekend at Fairy Fest. This year, however, with Destiny coming over, we're planning to do something in the evening. As such, I figured I ought to get my altar set up ahead of time.

I rather like this design. I might edit it a little still before next week, but I think I've got a nice, solid foundation.

On the left, I have my chalice, gourds, (plastic) grapes, a cup and saucer for water, salt, and a pair of dried corn cobs.  I also have a "corn dolly" goddess figure (actually made out of taffeta) which I put together several years ago. 

In the center, I've my elemental candles all sitting around the direction plate I got at the auction last month. In the center is the tea light from Rebekka, as well as a tiny incense holder and my new Selenite wands. 

Over on the right side of the altar, there's a god figure to match the goddess one, as well as my wand, athame, and a feather. There are more gourds and grapes, and I filled my cauldron with some festive potpourri I found. A seasonal fairy hangs in the back, and up front sit pieces of Orange Calcite, Citrine, and a crystal which I've finally identified as Aragonite. 

All of this is sitting on an orange tablecloth with a smaller green swatch in the center. The orange is one which I've generally reserved for Samhain in the past, but I decided that I might as well use it since I likely won't even be here for Samhain, and I wanted some more color. The green is actually a piece I got in Japan during a high school calligraphy class. Hidden under my elemental items is the Japanese kanji for "festival"; it's really just as well that it's hidden, because I didn't do the neatest job of writing it. C'est la vie.

Still not entirely sure what our ritual is going to consist of - I'll continue researching that this evening - but I'm excited!

June 11th, 2015

I meant to make this post yesterday, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what I wanted to talk about until like 11:00 last night, so obviously that didn't happen.

Purchase from Silver Bonsai

I've been interested in the concept of threshold magick for quite some time, but it was brought back to my attention earlier this week while skimming through Scott Cunningham's The Magical Household. He has a section dedicated solely to the role of the threshold, and what it can mean to the magickal practitioner.

There is an old belief that spirits cannot enter a place unless they are invited, and this is the real point of the threshold as a magickal construction. When one casts a circle, one is establishing a temporary threshold, and as such must then carefully invite in those spirits or other powers which one is working with. The physical doorway acts similarly; doubtless, you've heard stories about vampires or other entities which cannot enter a home until they are asked.

What separates a house's threshold from, say, the doorway into Super Target? I was reminded of a quote from The Dresden Files: Summer Knight. (For those who haven't read the books, a summary; Harry Dresden works as a wizard in downtown Chicago, helping the CPD with supernatural murder cases, and etc. Quasi-Pagan, film noir, and urban fantasy style. Kind of great. I definitely recommend it.) The quote goes like this:

I stepped across her threshold. Something tugged at me as I did, an intangible, invisible energy. It slowed me down a little, and I had to make an effort to push through it. That's what a threshold is like. One like it surrounds every home, a field of energy that keeps out unwanted magical forces. Some places have more of a threshold than others. My apartment for example didn't have much of a threshold - it's a bachelor pad, and whatever domestic energy is responsible for such things doesn't seem to settle down as well in rental spaces and lone dwellings. Murphy's house had a heavy field surrounding it; it had history. It was a home, not just a place to live. 

-Jim Butcher, Summer Knight, ch. 7

Personally, I disagree with the sentiment that rented spaces do not have strong thresholds, but really believe that it comes down to the last statement - in order to have a strong threshold, a place needs to be a home, not just a place where one stays, transiently. This is, in my opinion, the key difference between the thresholds of public and private spaces. In a store, a museum, or etc., the theory is that anyone is welcome, and as such, very little boundary exists. That being said, a case could be made for places like expensive stores, fine restaurants, or etc. - that feeling of unease one gets upon entering may well be a result of crossing a threshold where one is not wholly welcome. Even though the space is technically public, it still caters to a specific clientele and is really only trying to invite them in. 

 Regardless of the semantics of public boundaries, in a home, we consciously and unconsciously project a desire for privacy and exclusivity, and this carries over to the energy of the place. If one were renting a place longer than the short term (say, more than a couple months), I see no reason why the same kind of barriers and protections couldn't be readily established.

As a young adult living at home, I recognize that our house has a main threshold, of course, but other zones have them, too. In open areas, like the living room, the boundary is shaky and not very defined. However, my own room has a much stronger threshold. I keep a very clear division between my space and everyone else's, and even if the rest of my family doesn't know anything about magick, they sure know that this space is mine, and mine alone.

If your concern is that your boundaries may not be strong enough, and you would like to lend more power to the sanctity of your living space, consider some of these ideas.

• Establishing wards is one way to get the ball rolling, by deliberately marking out one's territory on the astral and calling powers to defend it. 
• Redecorate. Get rid of clutter and objects you have no use for or connection to. Try to have the bulk of your furnishings be ones which you, personally, enjoy. 
• Cleanse. It's one thing to leave the energies of, say, a family heirloom intact, but if you're buying anything, especially secondhand, and all the more so if you plan to use it for magick, it's always a good idea to erase the energy imprint of old owners and replace it with your own. 
• Care for your home. Whether it's a city studio apartment or a fixer-upper in the country, be proud of your place. 

The next suggestions for threshold enhancements come paraphrased from Cunningham's book

• Hanging a gourd outside on both sides of a door prevents negativity from entering
• Chalk a circle on the door to stop ghosts from entering (do not use if you like ghosts)
• Dill and garlic both have protective qualities; hanging them near the door will stop ill-disposed people from entering
• A bag of salt or bells hung on the doorknob will stop negative spirits (see also: these amulets)
• A blue door repels evil, as does leaving two crossed needles under the mat
• Ferns, lilies, marigolds, and juniper can all be grown around the door in beds or pots for added protective benefits
• There's no end to what can be done with keys. Any number of protective spells have been devised employing them

December 5th, 2012

It's beginning to look a lot like Yuletide...
On Sunday, my family went over to our local Home Depot to get a live Christmas tree for this year. It's an uber-fresh fir (a frasier, maybe?), and it smells like pine sap and oranges. Good stuff. We had to spend forever looking for one, though, since it seems everyone had taken advantage of the nice weather and had bought their trees before us! When we got home, I set up my plastic Yule tree in my room and decorated it (I forgot to take pictures though. Oops.), and also set up my Yule altar. Here's a general picture:

And here is a close-up of the middle. I have some great new items on here this year. The four red candle holders I'm using for my elemental candles were actually a gift to my dad from one of his Indian co-workers. He didn't have a use for them, so he gave them to me. These candle holders were designed as a decoration for Diwali, which I think (and correct me if I'm wrong) is sort of a Hindu equivalent to Imbolc, a Festival of Lights. I also have, holding my center Spirit candle, an adorable ceramic bowl my friend Steph made for me in her Spanish class. It's got a gold pentacle painted on both sides, and here you can just see the little green Hummingbird she made to sit on top of it! Over the summer, Hazelnut and I scored a box of holiday decorations at a garage sale - the box was full of all kinds of goodies that we split between us, this silver snowflake being one of the things I got.

This is the left side of my altar (sorry it's so dark). You can see some greenery, a gourd that I'm still drying, lots of pinecones, etc.

And this is the right side of my altar, with more greenery and my cauldron, which has a red votive for the Sun King in it.

Have a wonderful evening, everybody, and brightest blessings in this season of joy!

October 21st, 2012

Well, it has certainly been an interesting weekend! Yesterday, having had beautiful weather, my family and our neighbors from across the street drove an hour to Royal Oak Apple Orchard. We picked probably a bushel of apples total, and, because they're essentially organic, they're delicious.

We also got some apple cider and apple cider doughnuts, which were equally delicious. My mom noticed that the farm was having a sale on gourds, squash, and pumpkins - fill a wheelbarrow with anything marked with a yellow flag for only $20. Seeing as we usually pay more than that to get B-grade pumpkins, we lept at the chance to get a gazzilion really awesome ones.

 

I feel like perhaps we overdid it a little... Still, it'll be great for Samhain! I just have to find a spectacular pattern to carve now.

Today, we had a little "incident" with the electricity. As we were eating lunch, my brother and I noticed a weird sound coming from the furnace. Somewhat alarmed, my dad turned off the power and called our electrician, who was kind enough to come check things out even on a Sunday. Apparently, the main power fuse fried itself and was actually melting the fuse box; if we hadn't switched off the electricity, the whole house could've caught fire! Thank Goddess that didn't happen. Unfortunately, we did have to get a whole new fuse box, but the other one wasn't up to code anyway. Things turned out okay, and we even got the power back tonight.

October 6th, 2012

Good morning, everyone! I feel like I should still be sleeping, but I have to go and help build the set for my school's fall play, so I'm awake. It's a beautiful morning, but it's cold. The weather has been fluctuating wildly the last couple of days - first in the 80s, then the 40s. I guess we know for sure that we're into Autumn! One of my family's annual traditions is to go to Pumpkin Fest, an event that our town puts on. In past years, they have had pumpkin-pie-eating contests, a race for the grade-schoolers, pumpkin decorating contests, and more. Unfortunately, some of those events have since been canceled, but it still makes for a fun day. I'm hoping mom will let me get some gourds like last year. If so, I'll dry them. One can never have too many dried gourds! They make excellent altar decorations, and most of them will turn into natural rattles as they dry. You can keep them pretty much until the end of time, provided they don't rot before they dry completely. I find that smaller gourds dry out better, so if you plan on creating your own such gourd shakers or decorations, choose vegetation about (or a little smaller than) the size of your hand. Also check to be sure that there are no soft spots, or places where mold is already growing. Pumpkins are great decorations too (although they don't dry out very well; not even the mini ones), and they present all sorts of options: painting, carving, stacking, etc. One can also just leave them plain, if a more natural look is desired. Personally, I love to carve the pumpkins, and spend quite some time looking for innovative patterns that won't be ridiculously difficult to manage. Mine tend to be more secular, as I don't think my parents want a pentacle pumpkin sitting on the porch, but magickal sigils and symbolism can be used as desired. Here's my pumpkin from a few years ago, a design that I still enjoy:

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.

My Gourds

See? Gourds! :)

October 2nd, 2011

Today, ladies and gentlemen, and I going to write about gourds. Yes, you heard me: gourds. Gourds have been used for thousands of years as food, decorations, bird houses, and musical instruments. What is a gourd, exactly? A gourd is either a fruit or vegetable, the reproductive organ of the plant that produces it. Squash also fall into this category. Like with squares and rectangles in Geometry, all squash are gourds, but not all gourds are squash. Looking at non-squash species of gourd, only a few are edible. However, that does not limit the uses to which they can be put, particularly when dried. For instance, I went to a local fall festival yesterday, and my mom purchased for me two small gourds, each just slightly larger than my hand. I have set them on my altar, as my closet area is cool and dark, and over the next few months, they will dry and turn into lovely hand shakers. I did the same thing last year, and already have two lovely ones. These are great for instruments, and also for decoration when not in use. I love the sounds of gourd rattles during chanting, particularly during rituals. Now, I like to leave my gourds plain, as it gives them a more natural look, but if you like, one could also add beads, bells, twine, etc.. Indeed, if one was feeling particularly crafty, you could even paint on designs or traditional symbols. Dried gourds can also be carved into birdhouses by creating a bird-sized hole near the base and removing the seeds. A cord can then be strung through the top, and from what I hear, they're pretty weather resistant. However, if you're concerned about rot, you could coat the outside (and inside too, if you can) with a bit of resin or other finishing product. A final project I saw in a craft book once called for covering a dried gourd in wax crayon, and then using a knife, pencil, or other scraping tool to etch off the crayon to create designs. In the book, theirs looked like a bird, but you could easily make other symbols or pictures. If you were to have a feminine-shaped gourd, one could even make a goddess! So go on, get a few little gourds, and get crafting!