SIPA Samhain 2015

Wow. I cannot even begin to describe tonight's Samhain ritual. It was just so cathartic on so many different levels.

The evening started off sharing an organic pomegranate with some new friends.

The site looks so different from how it did at Mabon, with all the leaves changing colors and falling.

We hung a pair of tarps across the front of the shelter to provide some privacy from passing traffic.

There was a potluck dinner, to which someone brought these adorable zombie cupcakes. The meat cleavers were candies.

Jack-o-Lanterns

A better picture of my Harry Potter pumpkin

Sacred fire

More pumpkins

Wolf pumpkin; we actually heard a pack of coyotes barking and howling during the ritual!

Group ancestor altar

(Blurry) image of my part of the ancestor altar.

I was also gifted with an absolutely gorgeous Quartz point, which I will cherish. 

I won't get into the details too much here, because it was an extremely personal ritual, but it was something special, that's for sure.

More Pagan Art

So, I got a little bored earlier and was feeling like making some art, but there's only so many things you can hang on your wall before you run out of room. The solution, of course, is to make things for other people, which is what I did.

I painted this for my friend Destiny, and I'm going to tell her about it by posting the picture on here. Hi! Surprise!

Hope you like it!

Bonus picture: Me. Hello, readers!

June 8th, 2015

So I pieced together this little photomanipulation for Destiny tonight.

She picked out the pictures, and then I edited them together. I think it came out neat! She's going to use a series of these for iPad backgrounds.

February 14th, 2015

I had been going to compose a post today about how St. Valentine was not only the patron saint of love but also pestilence and bees, and then I got distracted by the realization that the Roman festival of Lupercalia runs from February 13th through the 15th.

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Some scholars are of the opinion that Valentine's Day was introduced by the Catholic church to try to supercede Lupercalia, but given that there's little to no evidence actually supporting this claim, it sounds like that theory's been pretty well disproven. That being said, there are some thematic similarities, which we will explore next.

Lupercalia was observed to banish evil spirits from the city of Rome, and to purify the city by invoking health and fertility (seeing the "love and romance" correlation yet?). It replaced the earlier spring festival of Februa, which was also a cleansing festival held at the same time (a later Roman god, Februus, personified both the month and the cleansing; the month of February is named for the festival, not for the deity).

The word "Lupercalia" is believed to have come from the Roman "lupus", meaning wolf. Lupercus, a Roman god

often identified with Faunus (the Roman Pan), was god of shepherds, and his festival on the 15th honored the founding of his temple. Ceremonies were held in the Lupercal, a cave on the south side of Palatine Hill, where it was believed Remus and Romulus (the founders of Rome) were raised by a female wolf.

Lupercalia, which literally translates to "Wolf Festival", was directed by priests of Faunus called the Luperci. They dressed in goatskins and officiated the ceremonies. In the Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, Mark Antony (historically, the head of the Luperci) bestows a ceremonial crown on Caesar to foreshadow his intent to become king during the Lupercalia rituals.

The festivities themselves involved the sacrifice of two goats and a dog. A pair of young Luperci were then anointed with the sacrificial blood, and the hides of the animals were cut into thongs. The Luperci dressed in the remnants of the skins and ran around the old Palatine city. The citizens would gather to be struck by the thongs - getting hit with one was meant to ensure fertility and ease the pains of childbirth.

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Interested in celebrating something a little more Pagan with your partner? I'll grant you, spring cleaning doesn't make for the most romantic of dates (and if you're into getting whipped with thongs, that's your prerogative, but I can't give you a whole lot of advice there, myself). Still, there's nothing stopping you from skipping out on all the hype of the 14th, buying a boat-load of half priced chocolate tomorrow, and then going out to dinner or a movie the evening of the 15th when places will be much less busy. Then there's always the option for a formalized ritual of romance - this asexual hasn't got much for you in the way of sex magick tips, but again, if that's your thing, I imagine there's all kinds of advice out on the web for coming up with creative costuming and dialogue for one heck of a night in.

Whatever you do (or don't do - focusing on yourself and self-care is just as important this weekend as ever), be safe, and have a good time!

February 3rd, 2013

As part of a birthday present for my brother, my family went to the zoo yesterday. We had a ton of fun seeing all the animals, and since it's February, there was hardly anyone else there - no lines! A lot of the animals were really active, too. A wolf was running around his enclosure looking for a place to bury a bone and came right up to the glass twice.

The penguins were also right next to the glass, as was a lion and lioness - the lioness actually sat up on her hind legs and batted at the glass for a good ten minutes, "playing" with my brother. I've never seen them do that before!

Just a note - the gentleman in the picture is not my brother, he was just another zoo patron who happened to be in one of my not-blurry pictures. In related news, I was able to purchase a piece of uncut emerald from a zoo giftshop for just $3.50! It's not gem quality or anything, but that certainly doesn't matter for magickal applications.It's a stone I've been wanting for some time, so I'm super psyched.

Emerald

Physical Characteristics: Emerald is a stone that can range from a yellow-green to a sea-foam color (like mine) to a very dark, almost-black shade of green.

In Nature: A type of Beryl, Emerald is colored green because of traces of chromium and vanadium in the crystal. Although Emerald comes in many shades, the essential component is that it is green. If it doesn't have a green hue, it isn't Emerald, even if it is Beryl - a blue Beryl is also known as Aquamarine, for instance, not Emerald.

Chemical Composition: Be3Al2(SiO3)6

Mohs Scale Hardness: 7 - 8 (middle-high to high)

Can be Found: Egypt, India, Austria, Colombia, and Zambia

Healing Properties*: Emerald is useful for healing ailments of the physical heart and also supports the back, eyes, nervous system, and immune system. The Emerald was used in the ancient world as an antidote to snake venom (anyone who has read Emily Rodda's Deltora Quest may recall this). The stone can also prevent or alleviate insomnia.  

Magickal Properties: A stone of love and romance, Emerald enhances joy, clairvoyance, memory, and faith. Being the sacred stone of Venus, it is most associated with relationships. Still, the stone supplements intuition and communication, relaxes a troubled mind, enhances prophetic abilities, and brings both wisdom and reason. Emerald wards off negativity and strengthens spiritual insight. It can be used for scrying, and works best when paired with copper or silver. This stone is allegedly most powerful during the spring season. To charge an Emerald, burn a green candle while holding the stone and focusing on your intent.

Chakra Association: Emerald is connected with the Third (Solar Plexus) and Fourth (Heart) chakras.

Element: Air

Energy: Receptive

Planetary Association: Venus, Jupiter, and Mercury

*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 16th, 2012

Yesterday was really busy, as my Aunt C and her friend Leah took us to the State Fair. We saw everything from animals carved of chocolate and butter, to quilts and knitted items, to animals (from the farm and the wild). There was a presentation on wild edibles and how to collect outdoors, as well as one on Midwestern wild canines - foxes, coyotes, and wolves. We actually got to see and pet a sweet little wolf pup, who was only a year old.

Once the day was done and we'd eaten dinner, we returned to Aunt C's place. I love her house. She has hand made wooden, clay, and fabric masks hanging from the walls, replicas of Egyptian and Roman statuary, and dozens of other art pieces. She also has four cats: Wiccan, Skylla, Tinkerbell, and Onyx. Skylla is really shy; I saw her for about 10 seconds, and she's been hiding the rest of the time. The other three are quite playful, though, and more than happy to climb into bed with you, as I discovered last night. Onyx sat next to me for the longest time, waking me at 3:00 this morning when he started bathing my fingers. Today, we met my mom's friend, Tara, at the Botanic Gardens. They had a stunning selection of plants: orchids, banana palms, cacti, and even some wee bonsai trees.