March 20th, 2017

Happy Ostara, and happy 21st birthday to me! I celebrated both events by... doing homework and going to class. Such is the life of a college student. I did get to go out to dinner with my mom and my roommate, though, so that was fun.

This image is by Linda Ravenscroft, as printed in Llewellyn's 2017 fairy calendar - it seemed appropriate for today.

This little wooden sign also seemed appropriate; it was a gift from my mom to her spring baby.

March 5th, 2017

I rearranged my altar this morning and got it set up for Ostara!

I used a different scarf for an altar cloth (very handy if, like me, you have quite a few scarves), and then set up my many glittery egg and/or rabbit-themed decorations. It's both festive and colorful!

This afternoon, I am going hiking with SIPA; pictures to follow!

March 22nd, 2016

A happy belated Equinox to everybody! I got to spend Ostara riding the train back to my school and working on homework, neither of which I was really all that interested in doing, but oh well. I found some books on Feng Shui in my department's architecture library, so I started to read through one of them - if and when I have time to finish it, I'll be sure to let you know what I thought!

In the meantime, enjoy what we have so far of spring. It's pretty chilly here still, but a lot of the trees are starting to bloom. I'll hopefully be taking some pictures soon to share.

March 22nd, 2015

I missed my Ostara post, as usual, but seeing as it was also my birthday on Friday, I think the gods understand.

It's been absolutely perfect weather here at school the last couple of days, and when not going out for sushi with some friends or doing homework, I have gotten to enjoy it. In fact, I've had my window open all day today, letting in a nice breeze. 

I also got to go to an art museum, and to the zoo, yesterday, so that was a great opportunity to soak up some of the creative, springtime energies abroad in the world. Today, I finally got around to doing my ritual. My roommate moved out last Monday; seeing her go was sad, as we'd gotten on quite well for never having met before this school year, but it does mean that now I can have a proper altar laid out without having to worry about making her uncomfortable. It's pretty nondescript at the moment, but then, most of my decorations are back at home. 

And then I have my little Basil plants. They're growing very slowly, but they are growing. The taller one just started putting out a second pair of leaves. I put some eggshell in the pot for added nutrients, but I think I need to pick up some fertilizer. 

I put a moss agate in there, as well, to help encourage them to grow.

And now, for kicks, here's some pictures of spring flowers from the zoo yesterday. Happy (belated) Ostara!

March 30th, 2014

So I never posted pictures of my Ostara altar, and I thought I should remedy that before the month is out:

As usual, the lighting was not cooperating, but what can you do? I also took a picture of my shrine, which is set for general use and is currently housing a bunch of birthday cards as a sign of gratitude.

And finally, here's a close up of the card from my grandparents, which I thought was too quintessentially Pagan to be ignored:

For the first time all spring break, it's actually warm outside, and I have my windows open for the first time in 2014. It's so nice to have sun, heat, a gentle breeze, and the sound of windchimes all at once. Here's to spring!

March 15th, 2014

Well, I already know I'm not going to have any time next week to make my Ostara posts, so I'll do it now, yes? I mean, let's see:

• Sunday: Teaching Sunday School (so much irony), work
• Monday: School, rehearsal, work
• Tuesday: School, rehearsal until 8:00
• Wednesday: All day rehearsal, more rehearsal, work
• Thursday: School, rehearsal, work, MY BIRTHDAY, Ostara
• Friday: School, rehearsal until 7:30, parent night
• Saturday: All-day acting competition, theoretically going out for the birthday dinner I'm not getting Thursday...

I think that paints an accurate enough picture of my schedule. That's not even accounting for homework time. But enough about me. I mean, gosh, you'd think this was, like, my blog or something.

Today being the first weekend in months that I haven't had homework, I finally had a chance to power-clean my room. Ever since winter break, I've been home so little that I just had college mail piling up in corners with books and art pieces, two baskets of clean laundry waiting for me to put them away, a terribly made bed, dust all over, ceramic pieces I've made without a proper home, and on top of all that, my poor altar and shrine were still set for Yule. It feels so much better to have everything in order - I jest you not, there is a physical difference in my stress level right now. Cleaning gets rid of negativity, of course, especially since dust hangs on to it, but it also looks way nicer.
After cleaning my room, I got down to the business of fixing my altar. I got out all of my Ostara decorations (plastic eggs and silk flowers, mostly) and got the Yule stuff boxed up at last. My little brother came in as I was working on it, and he just sort of stared for a moment before saying:
"Is that all you do to make a living, besides work? Decorate your closet?"
I just laughed. He thinks it's so bizarre that I change my decorations every other month or so.
Suffice it to say, it's overwhelmingly pleasant to be caught up. Now if I could just find the motivation to sew the buttons back on my coat...

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.

March 30th, 2013

It's been a nice, quiet day - nowhere to go, no company, not much to do. I'm enjoying it while it lasts, because the next two weeks are going to be nuts. My mom is decorating for Easter, and we're going to dye eggs this afternoon. I don't mind, since it's basically a belated Ostara celebration. I don't think mom would be too happy if I drew pentacles on the eggs, though.

I'd love to make some eggs like this one day!

These were found on DeviantART - credit goes to here.

March 23rd, 2013

I feel like I ought to get a medal for being so busy all the time! Wednesday was my birthday (I'm 17 now - I'm so old!), I had rehearsal for the musical and work on Thursday, I had rehearsal until almost 10:00 last night, and I had rehearsal from 8:00 to 3:00 today. I love Les Miserables, and I love all my cast-mates, so I enjoy all that time I put into it, but now that I don't have practice for the rest of the day or tomorrow, I hardly know what to do with myself. I hadn't even had a chance to think about performing an Ostara ritual, let alone actually getting around to doing one, so I think that's going to be on tonight's schedule. I also have some laundry to do, I need to clean my room... It's never ending.

If I have a chance, I'm going to knit a pouch that I can carry my new Moonstone, and maybe my Sodalite, in for our performance nights. Both are great choices for actors to stimulate creativity and the Throat Chakra. Also, perhaps on Monday, I want to officially consecrate the auditorium and our set to Dionysus, Greek god of theatre. I'll likely just do something basic - a bit of salt water sprinkled around with a simple invocation, and maybe a little food offering if I can come up with some grapes or other appropriate victuals. It's getting to the point where I'm simultaneously excited and nervous. I'm even having dreams about it. All I can say is that I hope everyone loves the show!

March 17th, 2013

I can never decide whether to say "Happy St. Patrick's Day" or not. While I have no problem celebrating Irish culture - I am distantly Irish, after all - I have something of an issue with a holiday that is blatantly anti-Pagan. Do I hear exclamations of shock and surprise? Most people are unaware of the actual history of March 17th and why it's celebrated. The story goes that a Christian monk visited the Green Isle to drive out the snakes, and thus there are no longer legless reptiles there. The story, however, is metaphorical - the snake imagery is indicative of Paganism. Though Patrick didn't persecute Pagans the way some Englishmen did, he did such a good job converting them that Ireland quickly became almost exclusively Catholic. While it is true that snakes are hard to find in Ireland, as a fellow Pagan put it, "this may well be due to the fact that it's an island, and so snakes aren't exactly migrating there in packs".
Many Pagans thus choose to wear a snake pin or similar on St. Patty's Day, but I personally like green, and I like clovers, so I'll wear my shamrock socks and tee-shirt. Celebrating the secular aspects of the holiday are fine with me (my mom always makes dinner out of solely green food), but I'm not about to go sit through a Catholic church service, either.
Snakes could potentially figure in seasonal altar décor, or in decorations around the house. The image is just as appropriate for Ostara as it is for the 17th, especially as snakes lay eggs and have long been considered fertility symbols in many cultures.

Celtic Tree Month: Birch

The Celtic name for this month is "Beth", pronounced "beh", and celebrates the Birch tree. Birch is a broad-leafed hardwood of the genus Betula, and is in the same family as Alder, Hazel, and Hornbeam (the first two of which are other sacred trees to the Celts). Birch trees and shrubs tend to be of a medium size, with small samara fruit. They are typically found in well-drained, often acidic, soils, and are considered a pioneer species, meaning that they are often the first trees to return after a fire or other disaster.
Folklore surrounding the Birch is plentiful. In Gaelic legend, the Birch is closely associated with Tir na Nog, the Otherworld of the faeries and the Sidhe. To the Celts, brooms, or besoms, made of birch had a purifying quality and were used to drive away evil spirits. During handfasting rituals, the couple would jump over a broom made of Birch; for a long time, the "besom wedding" was legal. Birch were also used in Beltane celebrations as a living maypole - as one of the first trees to grow leaves in the spring, the Birch is an obvious symbol of fertility. The spring goddess Eostre, from whose name comes both "Easter" and "Ostara", was associated with the Birch, as was Frigga, Thor, and Freya from the Norse pantheon. Siberian shamans make their own use of the Birch, notching a Birch twig nine times during an initiation rite to represent the nine steps to heaven. In North America, some Native Americans prized Birch for its practicality in canoe and paper making, and also used the bark to ritually wrap their dead.
Magickally speaking, many cues can be taken from the Birch tree's mythological background - today, wood and leaves from the tree can still be used to make besoms, to ward negativity, and for aid in love. Birch can be burned at Samhain, Beltane, and Yule, and can form the traditional Yule log and Maypole. The wood can likewise be used in dealings with faeries and nature spirits, whether to call the friendly ones or banish the not-so-friendly ones.
Both the leaves and the inner bark of the tree are edible; either can be eaten raw. The inner bark can be added to soup, or can be ground and used as a flour. Made into a tea, it is diuretic, can help cure other minor illnesses, like fever, and makes a good antiseptic. The leaves have similar properties. Birch sap is also edible, and though it is infrequently tapped (it's less sweet than maple sap), it can be turned into a molasses-like syrup or be fermented into beer or vinegar.

March 13th, 2012

I did end up going out and having a bit of a chat with the local sprites the other day, and had just barely walked out the door when Nick pointed out the tundra swans, which were returning after flying off for the winter. They were too high up to get any good pictures, but were so loud and numerous that I could hear them clear as a bell, making something of a honking coo, if that makes any sense. While outside, I fixed up a fairy house which got somewhat destroyed over winter (I'm wondering if unhappy fairies were contributors to the energy imbalance), and I took pictures of the crocuses which are now blooming.



We were outside today for gym, and it was wonderful. The sun was out, the sky was clear, and it was a balmy 65 degrees or so. What with play practice and all, it was literally the first time I have been outside in daylight (on a school-day) since early February. Pathetic, isn't it?

If anyone has any suggestions on how to correct energy flow, please do let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the lovely weather, and happy-almost-spring!

March 4th, 2012

Today, I must begin with a personal anecdote. If you have not yet watched the recent movie adaptation of Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, shame on you. Go to a movie theatre. Not only was the story great (and has always been my favorite Dr. Seuss book), but the message is extremely touching and important. Essentially, the story depicts the importance of environmental consciousness in an industrialized world. In the words of Dr. Seuss himself:

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not."

The planet is our responsibility, and it is about time that we stood up and acknowledged that.

Also today, I took a video of my Ostara altar:

February 11th, 2012

Today is a beautiful day. We had some snow yesterday afternoon, and now the sun is shining off it and making everything seem brighter than usual. I redecorated for Ostara, and found some great cloth place-mats we never use. They have two bunnies on each and a few irises. I've dusted them off, and now they're making lovely replacements for my pink altar cloth, which was really just a scrap of torn fabric. I've also cleaned up a bit, as things were getting out of place, and was throwing off the energy of my room. It's attuned very specifically to me, and I can always tell when something is wrong. Even now, things don't seem quite right, and I suspect it is due to my reading corner. I've had my Amaryllis and Nick's Paperwhites there, and for some reason, they started acting up the other day. I suspect too much water is the cause, and I've tried to rehabilitate them properly, but so far there hasn't been any improvement. The Amaryllis in particular is doing poorly; some of the leaves have started to yellow and turn droopy. I moved her out into the kitchen where the light is better, and I'm trying to regulate her water more carefully, so hopefully she'll feel better. I don't have too much (successful) experience growing plants, so if anyone has any idea what to do for a sick Amaryllis, please let me know! Even having made these changes, I think the area has gotten over-cluttered, so I'm going to do some work today getting things straightened out physically. Astrally speaking, I really need to redo an energy-cleansing spell I came up with a while ago, and clean the atmosphere through the whole room. I've had kind of a rough two weeks, and some of that negative energy has seeped into my surroundings. Anyway, here's my Ostara altar (video to come later):

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.