May 15th, 2017

I am home for a fraction of the summer, but at the end of this month I am heading out of state for an internship! It's hard to say how much I will get on here when I'm working full time, but there's lots of natural area around there that I would like to explore and share with my readers.

And now for an assortment of updates...

Last year, I acquired a prickly pear cactus at a native plant giveaway that was happening at school. I re-potted it, but was concerned that perhaps I had done something wrong because of how little it was growing. However, my worries were assuaged by coming home to find this:

It's got the tiniest little cactus pad growing out of the top of it! I'm so happy!

Also, the peonies are blooming, which for me is the surest sign that it's summer.

I did run into a bit of a snag on my way back from school - my pentacle and triquetra ring, which I've been wearing every day since I bought it over a year ago, fell and got irretrievably stuck in the moving van. I must have tried to pry it out for over an hour, but no such luck. To me, that meant that either it was just that ring's time to go, or that it had gotten too overloaded as a protective talisman.

Either way, I knew I needed a new one, but I did not have a lot to spend on a relatively "frivolous" item. I ordered the ring pictured above from New Frescos; I'd never ordered anything from there before, so I was not sure what the quality would be like, but it's a sterling silver piece and it's really nice! I think I overestimated the size just a tad, as it's a bit loose, but that was my own fault.

Otherwise, I've been getting a lot of yard work done, mostly repainting things like the porch railings and trim, so that's been keeping me busy.

April 27th, 2017

We all know by now that I am a sucker for crystals, and last week, the lovely Rebekka of bekkathyst.com had a really great coupon running. As a result, I bought myself some little treats to get me through the end of the semester.

I got another Aquamarine and a Rainbow Moonstone, and then I also got a new crystal - Apophyllite. I'm looking forward to researching its properties.

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 14th, 2017

Happy Valentine's Day, to those celebrating it!

I really should have made this post last week, but that's par for the course with my schedule. Rebekka, who I love to buy crystals from, was recently selling Gold Sheen Obsidian daggers in her store here, and I just had to buy one. I've been in the market for a good athame for a long time; I technically have one at home, but it's actually my dad's, and the blade likes to fall out of the hilt, so it's not very practical. I've looked at athames before, but just never really found one I connected with. Knowing my love for crystals, however, I thought I might get along a lot better with an Obsidian piece.

It's so beautiful, and the shimmer only sort of shows up in the photo, but it's absolutely stunning in the light. The blade is about 3" long, and as I predicted, I like it much better than any steel blade I've ever looked at.

There it is, sitting on my altar. As always, Rebekka shipped quickly, and her items are so high quality. I definitely recommend her products!

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!

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.

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.

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!

Shopping Haul

I did some shopping today! 

In order to celebrate my new job, and also just to relax a bit, I went out and bought some things at Earthbound that I've really been wanting.

First off, they had this amazing candelabra which I've been eyeing since last fall, and I finally just had to have it. It's completely my style, and just very bright and cheerful, so I'm glad to have it, even if it was pricey.

I got this cool candle at a discount, and it's actually a bit brighter purple than it appears in this photo, but it's a four-sided pyramid carved with an eye, and I think it'll lend a really interesting energy to any psychic work I delve into.

I got one of the best deals on these. They're 100% pure essential oil diffuser bottles, originally priced at $16, but they were on clearance for $4 a piece, and I got the second one at an additional 50% off, so I only paid $6 for the pair. The brand is rareESSENCE; on the left is the peace scent (frankincense, myrrh, palo santo), and on the right is the clarity (eucalyptus, sage). 

I also walked over to Goodwill and picked up a few things. This is Zen: An Ancient Path to Enlightenment for Modern Times, by Peter Oldmeadow. It looked interesting, and it was only $1.

This book, also, was $1. It is Medicine Woman, by Lynn V. Andrews, and is an autobiography. Again, it sounded interesting.

And then last, but by no means least, I picked up a frame for a very cool piece. This poem was written by Travis, of the Pagan Scholar YouTube channel. I won it in his giveaway, and wanted to be able to display it appropriately. It's a piece of blackout poetry, and basically turns an old Bible page into a unique, Pagan-ish poem!

August 29th, 2015

I'm super excited! Today, the Gaia House was having what they called an "Omni Sale" - basically a rummage sale with books, clothes, art, household goods, and more. They are fundraising so they can do some much-needed renovations, and let's face it, I'm a sucker for a good bargain.

To start off with, I got several books. They were all only $1 each!

I first picked up this, The Fifth Sacred Thing, by Starhawk. I read her The Spiral Dance several years ago and really liked it, so I'm interested to see what this one is like. The back synopsis made it sound like it's a work of fiction. I guess we'll see!

Then I got Kundalini Experience, by Lee Sannella, M.D.. I've not read extensively into kundalini energy, and I am interested to see what this has to say.

I also picked up Being-in-Dreaming: An Initiation into the Sorcerers' World. My understanding is that this one is an autobiography of a woman, Florinda Donner, who participated in a Mexican variant of sorcery. Once again, it looked neat! I'll report back with reviews, eventually. 

While I was there I also got a vegetarian cookbook; I think that'll be a Yule gift for my Aunt C.

The last thing I picked up was this fine gentleman:

This dragon is actually an incense burner! One sits a tea light in the receptacle between his wings and then pours essential oil, liquid incense, or etc. in the glass dish above; wax melts would also work. Then one lights the candle, which heats the dish, and causes the scent to be released! I probably won't be using him in this fashion anytime soon, but in the meantime, I think he's going to be a little room guardian. He seemed to like that idea! 

August 24th, 2015

I had my first round of classes today, and on the whole, they went pretty well. I did spend a couple of hours doing homework this afternoon, but it luckily wasn't anything too stressful. I was able yesterday to read my new book from the thrift store, but by the time I finished it, I didn't get the chance to do a review. Hopefully I can bang one out in short order here.

Once again, the title of this was We'Moon '07: Gaia Rhythms for Womyn. The 2007 theme was "On Purpose".

This was a datebook and sort of almanac for the year 2007, but it also contained a lot of general astrological information, poetry, short stories, information on the sabbats, and lots of gorgeous illustrations. Interestingly, the calendar component also followed the lunar calendar, so there was that element of femininity to it.

Parts of this book were really great, and parts I was less interested in. The spelling of "women" as "womyn" threw me off a bit. I do have grapheme > color synesthesia, and any time the spelling of something is altered, it also changes the color of the word, so that was weird. They did it, they explained, to create a word etymologically separate from the word "men"; "women", "female", and etcetera are all obviously derived from words referring to the male gender, which the authors apparently found too patriarchal. I sympathize with the sentiment, but found their solution to read as rather contrived.

Besides that small linguistic criticism, I found it to be very readable, and actually more inclusive than I had been afraid it would be. Obviously the calendar was eight years out of date, but if this sounds like the sort of thing you'd want to look into, they are offering a 2016 datebook on their website here.

The message of this book, On Purpose, was really about intention, and using one's energies to focus on the future. A lot of the works asked, what can I, as a person, do to make the world a better place for future generations, and I think that's a message which still bears relevance eight years later. Much of the discussion was about the environment and climate change, but social justice was also a prevalent theme.

There was a poem about being gender-nonconforming, some art and a story by disabled women, works which crossed racial lines... In general, it struck me as being one of the more intersectional books I've come across.

I'd originally bought the book thinking maybe I'd cut out the artwork and do a collage or something, but now that I've read it... Yeah, I think that's just going to stay intact on my bookshelf.

A few other things from today...

That's my "back to school" picture outside the design building.

And then, I was able to pick some sage today!

I only got a couple of leaves, but remember that spiral garden I helped build last spring? Sage and kale were about the only things that grew, and there's a lot of them! I'll probably harvest more gradually, but I need to clean out another jar first.

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 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! 

July 23rd, 2015

Oh my goodness, the crystals I ordered arrived today, and I am in love!

Rebekka's products always come very well-packaged, as you can see. The items also come with labels, so there's no confusion about what is what.

This was one of her $10 "Mystery Boxes" (contents reflected by the price), and it's like Yuletide in July! For starters, she threw in a little white tea light, which are always useful to have around for spells and rituals, and then there were the crystals themselves.

Here, a glittering chunk of Black Tourmaline.

Next, seven lovely Amethyst points - maybe now I can look into some crystal grids for dealing with anxiety!

Then, two Selenite wands - I might use one of these next Esbat!

And finally, the pièce de résistance: a palm-sized chunk of Blue Calcite. This is my new baby. It's so beautiful, and the vibration it exudes is astonishing. Expect a post regarding its properties soon. In the meantime, see the following posts on Black Tourmaline, Amethyst, and Selenite for further information.

Please do consider supporting Rebekka's business. Her store can be found here on Etsy, and truly is a quality establishment. I don't believe she has any additional mystery boxes on sale at the moment, but she always has stunning handmade crystal jewelry at very reasonable prices. I know I plan to be buying from her again!

EDIT: Rebekka's store has moved - she now has her own website! Check out her work here.

July 7th, 2015

I've been very absorbed the last couple of days in a craft project, but I finished it this evening, so here I am!

Mom took my brother and I to the thrift store this morning. She needed an ugly Christmas sweater or two for a convention, and I wanted to look around a little. I hadn't actually been planning to get anything, but I suppose the moral of that story ought to be, never let me into a thrift store.

I get a little excited around books (to put it mildly), and they had paperbacks for only $0.89. Most of them were things I'd never look twice at - weight loss manuals, Christian memoirs, you know the type - but after some digging, I was able to find a couple that looked promising.

From left to right, I found:

Power of the Witch, by Laurie Cabot with Tom Cowan

Astral Travel for Beginners, by Richard Webster

Celtic Lore, by Ward Rutherford

I'm hoping that I'll find the one on astral travel helpful; I've made attempts at it before, but haven't been especially successful. Also, Power of the Witch had unexpectedly positive reviews on Amazon, so that should be an interesting read as well. Reviewers were less enthused by Celtic Lore, but it was only 89¢, so I can't really complain.

Garage Sales

I hadn't really wanted to spend any cash today, but my mom saw a garage sale on the way back from looking at new stove hoods, and apparently my youngest brother had a great desire to acquire material objects, so I went with. Naturally, I ended up spending several dollars more than I would have liked, but I think ultimately it was worth it. I got a really cute set of Japanese sake (酒 - rice wine) cups with a matching pitcher patterned with goldfish (I don't drink, so I'll probably end up using them for tea or something), and two glass jars.

I'd just been thinking the other day that it would be good to have some more jars to store herbs and the like, and now I have some. 

June 2nd, 2015

Destiny and I had a fun afternoon today! Her grandma drove us over to a local Half-Priced Books (which I hadn't even realized we had), and we spent a couple hours totally geeking out over books. I got a couple of things - as it would happen, their metaphysical section was in fact better-developed than most Borders'.

I got a little book about Nordic runes, and then we each got a copy of a volume recording Celtic myths and legends. I also got the next book in the Dresden Files series, because why not? Book reviews to follow for the first two, as soon as I get my act together and read something new instead of just rereading YA books (but hey, the Kane Chronicles have me all psyched over Egyptian mythology, so there's that).

Afterwards, we drove over to a nearby metaphysics shop - yet another place I had no idea existed! We had a bit of a time limit, so we only got to stay long enough to wander a little and get a feel for the place, but it was absolutely lovely and had a huge selection of crystals available, so it won me over immediately. The place was called Quest Books, or something to that effect. Apparently, they also have a labyrinth down the street one can go walk.

In short, if I keep finding brilliant places like this, my bank account is going to be in trouble.

Thrift Shopping...

In an additional bout of excitement, my mom took my brother and I to Goodwill on Thursday to do a bit of (thrift) shopping. I found some good quality candles and a glass candle holder, all for less than $4!

Together, I've got an unopened package of eight small white tapers, a medium-sized baby blue taper, and a larger purple one, plus the holder, which I really needed. Now maybe I won't have to try keeping my tapers vertical in a jar full of gravel.

 

Also, while cleaning out our shed a week or two ago, my mom found a glass top for my cute little bunny rabbit table. I don't know how well you can see it here, but in any event, I now have another surface in my room on which to set things. I've been wanting to put together a little shrine for a while; maybe I'll make that a summer project.

February 24th, 2013

I had a fabulous time at Hazelnut's birthday party yesterday - after a mind-numbing two hours doing a mandatory charity walk for National Honors Society (couldn't we have done something more useful to help people?) she picked me up and we went with her other Pagan friend, Haley, to the mall to do a bit of shopping. Hazelnut got a bunch of cool Hunger Games memorabilia on clearance, Haley found an adorable stuffed dolphin, and I got a Goddess necklace and Hummingbird worry stone from a store selling Native American crafts.

Here's Hazelnut and Haley trying on hats in an anime/movie store.

Drinking bubble tea. Mmm....

One of my presents to Taylor - a Triple Goddess Washcloth that I knitted. I also took a tiny wooden treasure chest and painted elementals all over it for her. It was really cool, but I forgot to take pictures - I'll have to do that next time I'm at her house.

Happy birthday, Hazelnut, and brightest blessings to you and yours! )O(