SIPA Imbolc

Since SIPA always has a potluck with their rituals, I borrowed a pot and made up some soup this evening; it wasn't anything fancy, just a mix from the convenience store and some tomato puree, but it turned out pretty decent.

I've hardly ever used the dorm's communal kitchen, but this seemed like as good a reason as any. I even got a bonus view of the sunset.

This little framed painting was, I think, unrelated to the ritual, but it was sitting out in Gaia House, and I liked it. "But still, like air, we rise. ~Maya Angelou"

The main altar; I love the cloth, I need to see about getting one for myself sometime.

I wish I would have gotten a picture of the Air elemental altar. All the elemental altars were nice, but the one for Air was just so pretty - it had a bunch of crystals, including a gorgeous Quartz cluster, a drawing of a deity who I think was Hermes, and a Pegasus statue. A very elegant set-up.

Ritual fire in the fireplace; I took this right after it had been lit, so it hadn't quite caught yet.

The main portion of the ritual was spent chanting while making Brighid's Crosses. They came out looking more like God's Eyes, but it was a lot simpler for a large group to do than trying to teach everyone to weave straw the traditional Celtic way, so it worked out.

My Brighid's candle, which I lit in the last part of the ritual.

The potluck was afterwards, with lots of good food, and then I headed back to my dorm room. Great night!

January 28th, 2017

I'll be heading over to SIPA's Imbolc ritual later this evening, but in the meantime I've been working on a knitting project. I like to knit a lot - there are few things quite so satisfying as making something you can actually use and wear - and I've been trying for years to get the hang of knitting sweaters. I've made no less than three separate sweater attempts in the past, and have gotten horribly stymied every time. However, as a holiday gift, my brother gave me a copy of Knitting Wizardry, by Amy Clarke Moore; it contains 27 projects inspired by the aesthetic of the Harry Potter movies, including socks, gloves, hats, and yes - sweaters.

On New Year's Eve, I picked a pattern to try. The techniques seemed like ones I could figure out, and I loved the look of it. The pattern, titled "Ginny's Sweater", features lacework up the back showing the faces of owls.

One of the benefits to being a knitting witch is that knitting (or crochet, for that matter) is a remarkable opportunity for knot magick. The owls in the back remind me of Athena, and also the expression "eyes on the back of your head". Therefore, I've been knitting this as a protection sweater. The idea is that the owls keep guard so nobody can sneak up on you wearing it, and so forth.

This is the sweater as it currently is in progress. I have the bulk of it done, but I need a bit more yarn to do all the finishing details, most particularly the button-band.

And here's the back. The owl pattern looks more subtle here than it does in the book's photo; not sure yet if that's a combination of my gauge and the yarn I chose, or if it just needs to be blocked. Regardless, I'm really happy with how it's coming along, and it even looks like it might actually fit me.

If you would like to purchase Knitting Wizardry, it's available as an e-book or a hard copy. This is the author's page for Ginny's Sweater on Ravelry, which in turn has links off to get the book.

January 30th, 2016

Tonight was SIPA's Imbolg ritual over at the Gaia House. There were a lot of new people, plus the usual crowd of folks I'm starting to get to know. As part of their fundraiser, SIPA was raffling off a sword and chain mail shirt donated by one of their members. It would have been pretty cool to win, but I think my dorm might have a policy against swords...

Sword

Chain mail (and sword, but the lighting was bad and you can't really see it.)

Imbolg altar. Our ritual was dedicated to Brighid, and centered around red candles; everyone had a taper which we carved our intentions for the coming year in, before lighting them from the center candle, which has been used by SIPA since 2003, and was itself initially lit from Brighid's sacred fire in Ireland. Afterwards, we enjoyed milk and some delicious homemade bread.

My taper candle after the ritual. 

It was incredibly warm tonight - even at almost 9:00 at night, it's still now over 50⁰F outside. I don't know if I've ever known Imbolg to be so unseasonably warm!

January 29th, 2016

Hail reign a fair maiden with gold upon your toe,

Open up the West Gate and let the old year go;

Hail reign a fair maiden with gold upon your chin,

Open up the East Gate and let the New Year in;

Levideu sing Levideu the water and wine

The seven bright gold wires and the candles that do shine.

- Imbolg charm from The Sun Goddess, by Sheena McGrath

January 25th, 2016

I redecorated my altar on Saturday, getting it at least somewhat set up for Imbolg. I'll probably add some more crystals in February, but for now I quite like it. I'm charging my new tarot cards at the moment, so those are sitting on the left side, and I'm also hoping to work more with dragon energies in the near future, so I have some dragon figures over here now in a place of greater prominence.

The red candle to the right of my Book of Shadows is for a SIPA ritual this weekend; we'll be over at Gaia House again, enjoying Imbolg festivities. Otherwise, I have a lot of the same things out, just moved around so they feel more balanced. It took me a while to figure out, but it feels pretty good.

January 15th, 2016

I went with my mom to Goodwill today to find some silly things for gag gifts (we're having a bit of a party tonight) but also ended up getting a few other things while we were there.

I need a red taper candle for an upcoming Imbolg ritual, but when we went to Target the other day, they were totally sold out. Party City was also sold out. Apparently, people needed a lot of red candles for their holiday festivities or something. Anyway, Goodwill had one, brand-new and in the plastic, for $0.50, and my mom also stumbled across an owl candle for $0.99.

I thought the owl would be great for my shrine to Athena, so I took it home, and it seems to fit in perfectly.

Shrine to Athena, now +1 candle.

January 11th, 2016

I won't be home for Imbolc, but I decided yesterday that I wanted to update my altar anyway, so that the energy would be more in tune with the current season. It was still set up for Lughnasadh when I got back in December.

I put a bunch of my herb jars in the center to charge (mint, rose petals, lavender, and yarrow), and then decorated with flowers and candles. I'm also using some pillow cases on top of my altar cloth; they're mostly plain white, but my great grandmother embroidered hummingbirds with flowers along the edges. 

My usual BOS is at school, so in its place, I have a small notebook sitting out on the left side which has sabbat and esbat rituals copied in it. 

I always feel like Imbolc is hard to decorate for, but I actually rather like how this is looking. As always, I'd be happy to hear from any of my readers regarding suggestions for amendments to my 

February 5th, 2015

I totally missed my Imbolc post. That may have something to do with the fact that I've basically been doing nothing but continuous schoolwork for the last 72 hours and never even had the chance to celebrate. Perhaps I will be able to tonight, depending on how late my roommate is out. I missed Esbat, too, for the same reason, but the moon was absolutely lovely tonight. The sad camera in my phone utterly failed to capture a photo, but it was large and honey-yellow and just sort of hanging in the air while I spent my evening running across campus-town.

In the meantime, I'll leave you all with this video. It's of a sleepy little Peruvian hummingbird snoring. (FYI, it's very high pitched, if those sorts of noises are hard for you to listen to.)

February 2nd, 2014

Happy Imbolg, one and all. It's been a very busy day here - I had to teach Sunday School all morning (oh, the irony), ate a quick lunch, and then worked until 4:00. It also happens to be Superbowl Sunday. Oi vey. I may not get to anything much resembling a ritual tonight, but I did start my spring cleaning yesterday and am looking forward to an evening of fun and good food with my family, which is what counts, right? Maybe I'll end up with a little extra time to sit and meditate for a while.

December 27th, 2013

It's amazing, all the little signs that come to us sometimes, saying that all is well. About a week ago, I was feeling a bit low at work when I found this:

It's the sequel to the first Rupert's Tales book that I found sometime last year, including narrative poems about Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, and Ostara (the author is Kyrja). It made me smile, and I set it on the top of the shelf as a display item. Hopefully the next person to find it smiles, too.

February 18th, 2013

A very happy early birthday to my friend Hazelnut! I've been working on some (hopefully) cool presents for her, but as per last year, I'll have to wait until after her party to post pictures - don't want her coming on here and finding out what they are early!
Since today is President's Day, I've been off from school and am just relaxing at home. I spent most of the morning reading, and I painted some pictures as well. I have to work this evening, but on the whole its been nice to just reconnect with my creative side. My brother is feverishly preparing for spring, reading and rereading seed catalogues, looking for interesting vegetables to grow in our garden. Everywhere, the snow is melting and the animals are coming back out. Even so, we're supposed to have another winter storm coming thorough here in the next couple of days. Spring is on its way, but it sure isn't going to get here without a fight!
Speaking of spring, I don't think I ever shared pictures from my Imbolc altar.

I actually really like how this altar came out - I think I finally got the right balance of color!

February 1st, 2013

Happy February, everyone! Happy Imbolc, too (I know Imbolc is tomorrow, but we're going to the zoo, so I probably won't have time to add a post). Imbolc is a fantastic time to expel all the negative energy that has been building up in the house over the winter. First, clean the house really well physically - vacuum, mop, sweep, wash the windows, and put away all that junk that you know is piling up on the desk. Then, if you have a besom you use only for magickal purposes, grab it. Otherwise, make one. Try binding some birch branches or broom together with white ribbon. Sprinkle every room in the house liberally with salt and blessed water, and then sweep every room in a counterclockwise fashion to banish negativity. Repeat a banishing chant if desired. Finally, sweep the room again clockwise, invoking positive energy to fill the space. Don't forget to do the garage, and if possible do the closets as well. A very blessed sabbat to everyone!

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!

Corn Dolly

How many of you ate corn on the cob for the 4th of July yesterday? Come on, raise those hands... I know I did, and as such, I had a big bag full of leftover corn husks afterwards. Why waste those precious husks on the garbage can? A compost bin is a good place to begin, but a good number of those husks can be saved and turned into corn dollies, which make great decorations for Lammas, Mabon, and even Imbolc! So go on, grab a hand-full of them. I'd recommend having 20 or so on hand, per dolly. You probably won't use all of them, but having extra is better than not enough. If you didn't happen to have any corn on the cob last night, it's okay. Most megamarts carry dried corn husks that can be used instead - just soak them in some water for about a half-hour first. You will also want a pair of scissors, some cotton balls (two or three per dolly), and a skein of yarn. I chose red, but the color is really up to you.

Head:

1. Take a single husk and place a cotton ball or two in the middle. 
2. Fold the husk in half and twist around the cotton balls to form the head.
3. Tie in place with yarn.

 Arms:

1. Take two or three corn husks, and lay them on top of each other. Fold in half, and then in half again.
2. Tie off both ends of the husks with yarn to make the arms.
3. Slide the arms between the front and back flaps of the head piece. Tie in place with yarn, wrapping around several times.

Skirt:

1. Begin layering husks around the waist of the corn doll, pointing up. Yes, that's right - it ought to look like your corn dolly pulled a Marilyn Monroe.
2. Once the skirt goes all the way around the doll, still flipped up, tie the husks to the torso tightly.
3. Begin pulling the husks down over the top of the yarn, so that her skirt appears normal, and conveniently hides some of the yarn.

Extras:
At this point, it's up to you. You could use some yarn, leftover husks, raffia, or other material to give her hair. Using glue and some beads, or just a marker, you can add a face. A poncho-style dress is easily made by taking a length of fabric twice as long as the body, folding it in half, and cutting out a circle for the head. Slide the fabric over the head, and consider tying off with ribbon or more yarn. Or, just leave the dolly as-is. You be the judge.

February 29th, 2012

Happy Leap Year, everyone! As I'm sure you know, every four years February has an extra 29th day to keep the years in time with the seasons. As with many such occasions, there is legend and myth tied to this event, dating back to as early as the 1400s.

According to legend, St. Brighid (sound like a Christianized version of an Imbolc Goddess to you?) complained to St. Patrick that it was unfair for women to be unable to propose, as in this time, and even to modern day in many places, women had to wait for a man to propose to her. St. Patrick then set up a compromise: women would be permitted to propose one day every seven years. Brighid was not content with this, and an argument ensued. Eventually, both came to the agreement that women would be allowed to pop the question once every four years, on Leap Day. Brighid then proposed to Patrick, who refused, but gave her a kiss and lovely dress in consolation. Since then, this legend has come to imply that any marriage where one was proposed to on Leap Day will be happy and lasting. However, this is untrue in Greece, where to be married in a Leap Year is actually considered unlucky. In Denmark, it is a standing tradition that any woman whose proposal is turned down on Leap Day must be compensated by the man with a yearly gift of gloves, for 12 years. Similarly, in Finland, if a man turns down a woman, he must provide her with the fabric for a new skirt.

Imbolc

February 4th, 2012

A blessed (and belated) Imbolc to everyone! I stayed over at Hazelnut's house last night, and after dancing in circles around her room for about two hours, we did a lovely Imbolc ritual together. We lit seven candles (six white and one red) and read an invocation of the element fire over each to usher in the warmth and life of spring. Then we meditated for a while and enjoyed some delicious spice cake her mom made. Recipe, please? ;)
Today we walked to a half-dozen thrift and antique stores to browse, and found some really neat stuff. One shop had a mini cast iron pot on three legs that Hazelnut thought would have made a perfect cauldron, but it was $18, and a bit more than she wanted to spend on one item. We also found a pair of adorable rabbit candlesticks (Ostara, anyone?), a statue of a stag, and a few dream catchers; I was quite shocked by the number of witchy items that turned up. However, in the end, we got and split a pair of small bottles made of recycled glass, and a pair of tea-light holders. Mine is a sun, and hers is a moon.

January 8th, 2012

Today has been a day of tidying. It is tradition, of course, to intensely spring clean before Imbolc, but this was really more of a rudimentary fixing up of my bedroom. Over the last week, things had gotten strewn all over creation, and my Yule tree was still up. Much as I love my tree, Yule is well and passed, and 'tis time to think of the future. I took my tree down and got my reading chair back in place, before having to find homes for everything I acquired over the holiday season. I can say now that I'm very pleased with the result. If you can recall that whole Feng Shui business I wrote about a few months ago, then you'll know just how much moving some furniture around can change the feel of a room. I definitely feel much calmer, almost languid, and I can be pretty darn sure that I'll sleep well tonight! :) I'll leave you with a last thought: my brother and I each received some flowers to grow, and I found a sweet little garden blessing on the 'net just now. If you have or will have a garden, even if it's just a pot of herbs or flowers, give it a go! Plants need love too.

"Lovely yarrow is known as the wise woman's herb,
Elements four, gather round at the sound of my words.
Bless this garden with growth, health, and bounty, I pray,
Bringing wisdom, magic, and joy, day after day."

January 2nd, 2012

Hazelnut came to visit last night, much to my great delight, and was able to stay over, so we were up quite late jamming to music and playing Wii, among other things. We also escaped from my brothers for a time, to do some more Pagan activities.


Aunt C gave me this robe, but because it doesn't fit me well, I never wore it. However, it fits Hazelnut beautifully, so I gave it to her.


Aunt C also gave me this one, which I do wear for Sabbats, although I'm often too lazy to put it on for Esbat.


This morning we made corn dollies for Imbolc. We used some raffia-type material however, not actual corn husks. I got a huge bag of the stuff for free from school. They were going to get rid of it, as it's a fire hazard, so I took it for them.


My Goddess dolly. Hazelnut suggested that I braid her hair, so I did, and I love how it came out.


And my God dolly. His arms came out a bit thick for his body, but I'm pleased with it nonetheless.