#30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Days 18 & 19

Day 18: Elemental Magic
Spend some time today working with and acknowledging the elements of your practice. Do you honor the Land/Sea/Sky elements, or the elements of water, fire, air, and earth, or something else? WHY do you work with those elements and what have they brought to your life?

If you couldn’t tell by now, my two favourites as far as elemental work and magic goes are water and earth. I have, however, certainly been working with a lot of fire since starting my tea shop, and air of course for inspiration. I very much like balance, so even though I am most comfortable with earth and water, at least for myself, I know I need to work with air and fire as well. In fact, the last couple of years have been very air and fire-intensive.

The other element that I feel strongly connected to is spirit, or what I like to think of as love. The thing that connects us all, that’s in us all, that we are all a part of. Every thing. I’ve also been thinking of spirit as simply connection.

I feel spirit most when I allow myself to be authentic with another person, when I allow myself to speak straight from the heart, to emit an openness and truth that we are often not taught to share. I feel this when I am overwhelmed with emotion when interacting with not only people, but animals, or even a place.
I know that pleasantries help us avoid conflict, but to always wade in the shallow end doesn’t allow us to really connect to each other and see our higher selves, who are connected by this human experience, connected by our very existence in this universe.

This idea of spirit and connection has allowed me to be much more compassionate and understanding with people. And with myself.

Day 19: Sacred Space/Circle Casting
How do you create sacred space for yourself? Do you cast a circle every time you work a spell? Or do you have a dedicated space that you practice in? Take some time today to settle into that space and enjoy its sacredness.

How I create sacred space changes a lot for me each time I do it, though it usually involves one of or more of a few simple actions. The first is to clear a space with incense. I will walk around the room I am going to be in whilst performing

The first is to clear a space with incense. I will walk around the room I am going to be in whilst performing magick or just connecting with my gods, or meditating.

The second thing would be asking the four corners of the earth to aid and protect me. This is something I do when I want to do some serious ritual or magick. This can also be asking the elements to aid and protect me. This would involve the incensing of the room, as well as salting, asperging, and carrying a flame around the room to not only help in cleansing, but infuse the room with each element’s energy.

For serious work, I will formally invite my gods in. It may be all of them, or it could be just one, depending on the work to be done.

Finally, I will create an astral boundary around the room, though I usually like to do the whole house. This comes from a combination of my own energy, as well as earth energy, and if I’m working with my gods, a bit of theirs as well.

 

Sitting in sacred space feels similar to sitting in spiritually cleansed space, in that it’s warm, and seems to flow easily. However, there is something more to a sacred space, something tingly, something that feels like home. Perhaps it is that we are more in tune with who we are outside of this body, this human life. I’m not sure, but it’s certainly different and lovely!

 

Why not give this #30daysmagicalroots challenge a whirl? You can find it on Plentiful Earth ❤

#30DaysMagicalRoots Days 16 & 17

Day 16: Connect with Mother Earth
Go outside! Find a tree to sit with for a while. Maybe clean up if there is garbage around it. Let today be a day of service to Mother Earth.

Today was not a day for being outside. With the quick weather changes that happen in the summer, and the rains come, it brings headaches and fatigue. I still very much enjoyed the rain though, the smell of petrichor before the rain especially.

I think on a nearly daily basis, whether or not I can go outside, I either look out the window, or go hang outside on the deck or near my garden bed to just feel the earthy energies.  I really love feeling the grass and springy soil beneath bare feet when the weather is warm, knowing that that soil provides so much for not only me, but every living thing that walks upon it and makes its home there.

One of the things I would love having one day is some sort of all-seasons sun room, so many windows, so that even in the coldest parts of winter, I can go out, sit with the plants that live in there, and connect to the earth without worrying about weather. Thunderstorms would be even more magical in a room like that.

 

Day 17: Raise Some Energy
Try chanting, singing, drumming, or dancing! Turn some tunes on and work on that Stevie Nicks spin. When you’re feeling complete throw your arms up and send it shooting out through your hands into the Universe.

Oh, this is one of my favourites! I don’t believe I’ve mentioned very much on the blog here about dancing, so I’ll fill you in.

The past year or so, as I inched towards 30, not that it’s that big of a deal, I’ve been really feeling the need to take care of my body, to move it, to really be seated within it. To enjoy it. So I off and on would do yoga. I discovered Kundalini yoga, which is amazing, and works very well spiritually for me, however, it still wasn’t quite right. In February, I stumbled upon Rachel Brice dancing in a Stellamara performance video. Belly dancing. It just immediately connected with something in me that was super grabby hands about the whole idea.

I Googled her, of course, and found the site, Datura Online, that she runs with other amazing dancers. I’m especially inspired/moved by Colleena Shakti’s teachings in traditional Indian Dance, and her performances of Temple style dance (she has an amazing temple dance for Durga that is so emotionally moving and pure, I must share it, so take a look below).

There’s just something so pure about moving the body, not using words. I even feel this way about words when it comes to music sometimes, as some of the most powerful songs for me are wordless, just this instinctual song that can be understood regardless. We can speak to each other, tell stories, be intimate, be passionate, and understand each other, all just using the movement of our limbs.

I used to dance quite a bit as a kid and young teenager, but like many entering the “adult” world (seriously, what the hell is that anyway?), we feel we need to not play anymore, to not be so overtly joyful or expressive. To keep all of our feelings, no matter the intensity, inside. We feel we must only do these serious exercises to keep our bodies in working order, to not have any fun in them. Dance can be serious business, of course, especially if you’re a performer. But please, show me any performer, of dance, of music, of acting, who doesn’t go out on stage and enjoy themselves, who doesn’t have that energy build up and express itself in the joy of the act? This is why we love performers of all arts, their expression and use of the energies of passion, of inspiration, of joy, of the emotion they pull upon.

So for me, right now, and hopefully for a long time, I’m dancing. I’m being in the moment in my body, and feeling the power of the dance and my body. Feeling the energy that creates, and sometimes after a dance session, I put that energy into a candle, or simply send that energy out with a purpose.

It’s so freeing, and highly recommended ❤

Making all the art

The inspiration bug has bitten hard over here. Not only for paintings, but I’m feeling the need to make music wash over me again. I’m focusing more on the paintings at the moment, but I have been recording snippets of melody and even lyrics now and again.

It’s funny that I used to think I SHOULD only focus on one or two things, and now I’m like, YAAAASSS, all the things, all the time. I’ve even been planning a couple different meads.  And also (see I told you I just wanna do all the things), I’ve been feeling a very strong pull back into witchcraft, which has fallen very far off to the side in the past few years.
I suppose now’s the time to do things since once the holiday buying season ramps up, I’m not going to have time for anything at all.

But let’s talk about the paintings because I haven’t shared them with you here yet. I currently have 4 that have been printed and are ready to ship when I get the proper sleeves for them, they’re my Elemental Goddesses.

Lady of Earth

Lady of Air

Lady of Fire

Lady of Water

 

Even though I wanted to start putting these up in the shop earlier, turns out I didn’t plan for the extra matting around the prints, and now I have improper sized plastic sleeves to ship the prints in. Sigh.

The reason why I’m waiting to fix that issue is that I am currently in preparations for my first craft market next month, so I’m waiting for funds to be replenished first. However, I’m excited to see what a market is like on the selling side of things!

Lastly, I just finished Her last night, is my Star Goddess. I really loved painting Her, and I think when I order prints, I’m setting one aside for my own wall. Also, nebulas are so fun to paint!

A Month for Baldr – XIII – Modern Cultural Issues

Well, immediately what comes to mind when I think of what would Baldr be concerned with in general is those who suffer from depression, and the alienation that usually comes with it. Those who cannot find a light in their lives, cannot find what is good and will bring them joy (whether via depression, or a seeming inability to find what makes them happy).

The reason I feel that this important to Him comes from both of His tales about His death. In both, He wastes away for awhile before succumbing to His fated death. I belive that He likely did suffer depression, whether over the fact that He could not have Nanna (Saxo’s version), or that He knew His death was coming, that His entire life was about to change (Snorri’s), and we all know that change is never handled well by anyone. And in the case of a God, knowing that you’d be separated from your family, from the life you knew, unable to go back and live that life anymore… well, that’s pretty heavy stuff. He knows despair.

Along with knowing hopelessness, and dread, it seems that He knows how to get out of it as well. He is likened to the Sun, after all, and I feel that along with lighting up Hel’s domain, He recovered His own light again once He had taken on His new role in Helheim, of adjusting, and seeing what good He could do there.

What I’ve also noticed over the course of o/Our relationship is how fond He is of natural places, meadows full of flowers, crop fields, forests, rivers… anywhere really in nature. I very much feel a strong relationship, and much welcome for Him from the land wherever He goes with me. It simply feels as though He has a strong bond with the earth, that He wishes for a good balance in any ecosystem, including our own human roles upon the earth. This aligns well for me with His marriage to Nanna, who is very earthy to me. I often imagine She would have helped Idunn in the orchards, tending the golden apples which kept the Gods alive and youthful.

TPE – Earth

by George Crawford - https://www.flickr.com/photos/georgecrawford/8377508281/

The word “earth” has multiple meanings. What does it mean to you? How do you use its definitions to support your work?

What does earth mean to me? Oh man, lots of things, as most things do. They all kind of intertwine with each other, though some seem more mundane than others.
Physically, earth is the earth, it is our planet, it is the ground we walk upon each day, and provides all we need to be protected, safe, and nourished. We are of the earth, and the earth is us (I often think of that scene in the Lion King where Mufasa is telling Simba that they eat the antelope, and when they die, they become the grass that the antelope eat).

I also view all living creatures as well as those things we don’t view as living as cells of a large organism, working together, or not so much, in order to keep surviving. I think now that we’ve come to the 20th century, and have a plethora of ways in which we survive much more easily (re: vaccines), we really should be seeking to work in better harmony with our lands more than ever. We have so many more people on this planet than we did 100 years ago, hell, in 1804 there were only a billion people on the entire planet. It’s only been 200+ years, and we now have over 7 billion. We really need to start farming in ways that will truly be sustainable, not just for the crops, but for the land those crops are grown upon. If the land is completely stripped of nutrients, erroded, etc., we’ll keep losing land for crops for ourselves, and keep harming the land for anything else to live on as well for a long time afterwards.

Another part is obviously finding better ways to fuel our transportation. If we throw our climate too much out of whack, it’s not the soil we’ll have to be worrying about, it’s how fucked up we’re going to make our weather and storms. You can plant all the crops you like, but if it’s too cold, too hot, or lots of nasty hail storms come by, we’re not going to be eating. A lot of earth work for me obviously ties in to tending the earth, tending our home, creating a planet that will sustain many, many generations of our descendants, and unfortunately, capitalism only thinks about how much money can be made now, screw the consequences.

There’s also the elemental aspect of earth, that of being a foundation, of grounding, of being the place you return to. Earth is strong, it is nourishing, it will support you. It is where you plant the seeds you’d like to germinate, and where you bury the things that are dead.

Alright, so how does this support my work as it were? If you haven’t read my blog before, I like to garden (I missed it very much when we lived out West where all I could have was a potted garden). I also love to go on bike rides out on my favourite path. I often clean up jerks’ garbage on the trail (it seems there is always more garbage on the trail when I bring along an offering for the wights of the trail, and I have no qualms if it wants me to help clean up as well as leaving the offerings). The gardening for me holds a lot of magick, it’s where I can work with the land wights around me, the wights of all the vegetables I grow, and really instill nourishment and love into the food I feed my family, as well as put love back into the earth. I also have lots of flowers, many of which have been chosen to entice the bees, my effort to bring balance to the ecosystem of my yard, and in turn the area around us.
I suppose there’s a lot earth in the work I do, which isn’t surprising, being a Taurus and all.

I do a lot of grounding as well, calling my flailing self back to center to see with more clarity the situations at hand. Since I probably ground myself a few times a day, oftentimes without acknowledging that’s what I’ve done, I’ve built up its effectiveness, which has been especially helpful when depression rears its head. It’s not that the earth energies get rid of the depression, it just allows me to be restful in it. It allows me to stop the flail, like I said, and then just look at the depression from farther away. I often just remind myself of the bigger picture of my life, that things are actually pretty great, that I’m just feeling like this right now because my brain gets a little messed up every now and again. Just rest. Just be with this.
I feel that’s a big part of what the earth in me deals with, it’s always the place I return to, the resting grounds, which eventually turn into the ground I jump off from again.

And to pull it all together, why would the energy of the earth want to work with me if I mistreat it? If I keep doing things that harm it, all the plants and creatures, how could I possibly even consider calling on the earth in my magickal and spiritual work? This is why I do what I can, though it may seem small in the scheme of things, to tend the piece of land I can with respect and love. This is not the only reason, but a very good one in working with anyone. You don’t go in someone’s house and trash the place, then expect them to be happy about helping you out when you need it. In fact, I’m pretty sure they’d seek some sort of vengence.
As I said, this is not the only reason, but something that is important for our own survival, as well as a reflection of my reverence of nature, because am I not myself part of nature, recycled bits of earth?

Pagan Blog Project – O is for “Over Those Tree Filled Hills”

Over those tree filled hills
You’ll find most magnificent peaks
Crushing Earth moved together
Forming stark heights

Snow-covered rock
What once was the core of terra
Now sun bathed
Against the twinkling of night’s stars

There You stand
Laughter in Your eyes
Light dancing on Your skin
Hand out for me to take

We run, we dance, we fly
Above this valley You share with me
Of eternal blooms and nourishment
We shall want for naught

As You sing magic into my soul
My fear falling away
My awe of You expands
Mine own songs find my lips

– Miaerowyn

Virgo

Windflowers by Waterhouse

Dates: August 23 – September 23

Symbol: The Virgin

Element: Earth

Planet: Mercury

Virgins in Mythology:
The Virgin Mary (Christian), Hestia/Vesta (Greek/Roman), Anat (Ugarit), Artemis/Diana (Greek/Roman), Astraea (Greek), Athena/Minerva (Greek/Roman), Electryone (Greek), Bona Dea (Roman), Fulla/Volla (Norse), Cavillace (Incan), Umay (Turkish), Gefjon (Norse), Devana (Slavic), Hecate (Greek).

Characteristics of a Virgo:
Analytical, precise, observant, reliable, helpful, reserved, conscientious, concerned with health, detail oriented, industrious. Virgos are those who wish to do their jobs well, no matter what the task, no detail is too small for them. They are intellectually inclined, and while they may appear calm on the outside, their wheels in their brains are constantly whirring. They have a thirst for knowledge, yet are also quite idealistic. They seek constant improvement in their surroundings, including the people around them, and within themselves.

Elemental Magick – Earth

Earth is the element of the north. If you are experiencing issues with money/wealth, growth, fertility, creativity, employment or your own business, this will be the element you should call upon.

Herbal/Oil/Incense Associations:
Pea, vervain, wheat, turnip, primrose, sagebrush, alfalfa, oleander, rye, mugwort, tulip, beet, oats, fern, corn, cotton.

Stone Associations:
Turquoise, green and moss agate, black and green tourmaline, alum, stalagmite, stalactite, green calcite, salt, cat’s eye, peridot, chrysophase, olivine, coal, malachite, brown and green jasper, kunzite, jet.

Elemental Beings:
Gnomes, trolls, dwarfs, beings who live within the earth and rule over precious gems, minerals and the entirety of the Earth herself.

Animals:
Cow, bull, snakes, stags, bison, mouse.

Tarot:
The suite of Pentacles or Coins (for quite obvious reasons). The Empress, the Hierophant, the Hermit, the Devil, the World.

Gods:
Adonis, Athos, Arawn, Ceres, Cernunnos, Demeter, Dionysus, Mah, Marduk, Nephthys, Pan, Persephone, Prithivi, Rhea, Rhiannon, Tammuz.

Magical Workings:
Finances, wealth, riches, prosperity, employment, business, work, promotions, material possessions empathy, fertility, life/death, stability, success, growth, creation, agriculture, gardening, ecology, construction, buildings, food, progress.

Thank You!

Thanks to all those who read this blog! I see that there are people still checking in and such, my views haven’t dropped to zero yet! Lol. You guys are awesome!

So I thought I’d let you know what’s been going on since we haven’t chatted for a few weeks.
School has been going pretty well, all my profs are wonderful and helpful. I had some issues with being overwhelmed and exhausted, but thanks to upping my vit B12, and getting a B vitamin complex pill, I’m getting more and more energy, woo! It’s just frustrating though with having the B12 deficiency and not being able to find the proper amount of the vit in a pill… :S
Anywho, I’ve been kind of a bad doggy mummy too, unfortunately, the poor babe hasn’t had a walk in two weeks I think it is… so hopefully with this energy building, I’ll be able to take her out soon!

I’m just so happy that I’m completely immersed in music again… it’s been much too long! Singing makes me feel connected to my body and through my body, connected to the earth, it’s a wonderful feeling, you should try it! Doesn’t matter if you can’t sing well, it feels good, just like dancing 🙂

Alright my lovelies! Till we meet again! Which shall hopefully be soon!

Many Blessings!

Taurus & Happy Birthday to Me!

 

Taurus – Olga Kostenko

Well, folks, today is the day that I have completed 23 turns around the sun. I am quite optimistic for the coming year! Not only will I finally be going to school for singing (operatic of course!), the man and I will be moving out to British Columbia for me to do it! It is quite an exciting time indeed! 🙂

Alright, so what I thought I would write about today, is the Zodiac sign of Taurus!

Taurus

Dates: April 20-May 20

Animal: The Bull

Element: Earth

Planet: Venus

Associated Body Parts: The throat, voice, vocal chords

Bull Gods:
Dionysus (Greek), Apis (Egyptian), Tarvos Trigaranus (Celtic/Gaulish), Moloch (Canaan/Modern day Isreal, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories and parts of Jordan, Syria and Northeastern Egypt)

Characteristics of a Taurean:
Steadfast, stubborn, stable, grounded, enjoys the finer things in life, loves the arts and anything of beauty, attraction to material things for their beauty and what they offer the senses.