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!

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.

A Familiar Face...

Usually when I go to or from school, it's by train. Chicago Union Station, a Neoclassically-detailed building, with representations of Greek figures throughout, contains a statue of particular interest to me in the Great Hall. 

The Union Station website claims that this statue, a woman holding an owl, is meant to represent night, while the man on the column next to her holds a rooster, and represents day. They argue that this is meant to stand for the 24-hour nature of railroad transportation.

While I do not doubt that that was their intention, the Greek goddess of night, Nyx, is not associated with an owl. The only goddess I am aware of tied iconographically to the owl is Athena, of whom Owl Faced One is even an epithet.

Whatever the case, I find it comforting to pass through Her gate.

New Year's Purification Bath

As hectic as my life has been, I have tried to keep some magickal things going. The main one was a purification bath I set up on January 1st. 2016 was a disaster on multiple levels, and I knew I wanted to come out of that making 2017 a much better year. This was my first step toward doing so.

I started by collecting bath supplies to represent each of the four elements. I used bath salts for earth, a bath bomb for air (because it's fizzy and makes air bubbles), and some bath confetti for fire; it was pink and heart-shaped, so it seemed to convey the idea of fire's emotional passion. For water, I used a very special ingredient. Back in 2015 when there was that major Super Blood Moon Eclipse event, I charged a bottle of water in the moon's energy, focusing on capturing its qualities of profound transformation. I had never used any of it, wanting to save it for particularly significant moments, but I don't know that I can think of a time that has needed more transformational power than 2016 going into 2017, so I poured some of my Blood Moon Eclipse Water into the bath as well.

As always, these ingredients are just things that I used. I had all of them on hand, and did not go out of my way to source anything. Feel free to make substitutions as you like - other bath products, herbs, crystals, whatever works for you. If you don't have your own Eclipse Water, substitutions there are also perfectly acceptable. You could use Storm Water, if you have some, or just empower the water that's already in the tub.

Once I had my ingredients together, I ran the bath water, and then added everything, invoking each element as I did so. I used a small lamp for mood lighting rather than the overhead, and then took my bath! I also find that it's helpful to shower after doing something like that, to make sure that all the soap is out of my hair, but in terms of set-up, it's quite simple. My only other note would be to then thank the elements once the bath is concluded.

January 22nd, 2017

Hello, everyone, and Happy New Year. Yes, I'm a little late to the party, but I think we all know by now that I am incapable of posting consistently. I have some more explicitly Pagan things to share, but first: yesterday, all around the world, was the Women's March, in solidarity with the Women's March on Washington, DC. Things have been looking bad since the election back in November, but to echo the statement made by many others, for the first time yesterday, I felt hope.

I participated in the local march here at school. It's a small college town, but they still had a turnout of at least 1,000 people - we surrounded an entire city block!

Here is the sign I made to carry; in all caps, it says "I'M WITH HER," and then in smaller font, it lists "Black, Hispanic, Arab, Asian, Disabled, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Non-binary, Asexual, Muslim, Christian, Pagan, Hindu, Atheist, Mentally Ill, Lesbian, Immigrant, Buddhist, Sikh, Jew, Neurodivergent, Poor, Middle Class, CEO, Janitor, HUMAN".

And this is me at the Civic Center before the march, with my pantsuit, pussycat hat, "Love Trumps Hate" pin, and asexual pride pin. The local Women's Center was also giving out pins, so I got ones saying "Start by believing" and "I <3 consent".

Beforehand, there were some speeches and even a Native American blessing of the marchers, but there were so many people that I actually couldn't get close enough to hear what was going on. Instead, I met up with some friends, and we checked out the booths of local organizations like the Sierra Club. Gaia House also had a booth, specifically sharing information on their Labyrinth Peace Park.

Then we marched. We only went a little over a mile, but there were so many people that it took something like two hours. While we marched, we chanted things such as, "The people united will never be divided," "Justice - we're coming for it! Freedom - we're fighting for it!" and so on. There were news crews, and people filming, and even a group of frat boys standing outside their house with a megaphone to read off people's signs as they went by.

It seemed like every other car to go by would slow down to honk, wave, or give us a thumbs up. The reaction was so overwhelmingly positive, it was incredible. And it was also clear that people were there marching for a huge number of reasons - gender equality, racial equality, religious equality, LGBTQ+ rights (My favorite sign was held by the child of a queer couple in front of me - it was the pride flag with the words "Toddlers against fascists" on it.), acknowledgement of climate change, and more. I know I marched for all of these things.

I am not necessarily an outspoken person. I learned the hard way growing up that divergence from the norm would be punished by my peers, and nothing about who I am would typically be classed as "normal". As such, I tend to be quiet, and easily steamrolled by those who are willing to speak over me. I am going to end that. In the face of misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, ableism, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, misinformation, and fear-mongering, we must not be silent. I am not Wiccan, but I do ascribe to, "An it harm none, do what ye will". Or, to put it another way, "Do no harm, but take no shit". I am not going to sit back and take this shit. 

To all those who marched, thank you. To all those who could not march for one reason or another, your resistance is not less important just because it may be less visible. No matter what path you take, we all stand in solidarity against hatred, because we know that we are stronger together.

As scary as it is that this WWII poster is once again relevant, I will close with this final sentiment:

Freedom is in peril. Defend it with all your might.

December 29th, 2016

"A hummingbird tells us that the physical constants of the universe are slowly degrading and may someday shift, invalidating the laws of physics and instantly wiping out the universe as we know it, while simultaneously creating an entirely new universe in a single transcendental moment of genocide and genesis."

- Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

Welcome to Night Vale

December 16th, 2016

I'm officially home for winter break! I actually got back around 12:30 yesterday morning, to weather which is roughly 40⁰ colder than it was at school; I was not prepared to come back to -18⁰.

I stayed huddled inside as much as I could yesterday, and among other things got my Yule tree set up in my bedroom.

One of my grandmas moved in with us at the end of the summer, and has been sharing my room ever since. This has made it harder to keep my altars out, not necessarily because she's close-minded or anything, but just because she needs places to put her things, and they've mostly ended up on or around the spots I usually have an altar. That's been a little frustrating, but at least we're both enjoying the tree.

My mom has been buying me Hallmark's fairy ornaments since they started coming out with them 12 years ago (12 years! I was eight at the time...), and this is this year's edition, the tulip fairy. She promptly joined the tree with my other winged friends.

December 13th, 2016

I got the family Christmas card in the mail today; along with the usual letter, my mom sent along a little ornament she made.

I think she wanted to send everyone a little extra love in these difficult times. It's so cute, I hung it on my Yule tree.

Tomorrow afternoon I'll be taking the train home for winter break. I'm excited to be back - this semester has been good academically, but rough on just about every other level, and I need the holiday.

December 3rd, 2016

I've been feeling the Yuletide spirit pretty hard after Thanksgiving; my family went and picked out a Christmas tree, and ever since I've been listening to carols and drinking peppermint hot chocolate. I also got the little Yule tree in my dorm all set up.

Then on Thursday, I received a package from my mom with some more holiday goodies in it, including this little guy:

It's an ornament, but it's a bird wearing a hat! I love it so much, it's adorable!

I didn't have time to put up my larger Yule tree while I was home for Thanksgiving, so I'll have to do that when I get back for winter break in a week and a half. Let me just say - I am ready for this semester to be over with.

I also had Habitat for Humanity's home dedication ceremony to attend this morning. It was a really nice little event, and I'm so happy for the new homeowners. In the midst of all the hardships in the world right now, it was great to be a part of such a meaningful thing in the community. The home is so crucial to any family, and getting to help build the place and then turn it over to the people who will live their lives there is an incredible privilege.

It's been an emotional week for a lot of reasons, but it's these moments that really make it worth it. Blessings to all as we go ever deeper into the dark and rest of winter. May this time of introspection and reflection bring healing and wisdom.