Monthly Meanderings and Spiritual Crossroads

So here I sit in my parents house down in Florida, i packed light this time b/c i knew i wouldnt be down long. i grabbed by book and a deck of cards and left everything else up north. its been odd and i hadnt realized just how much i had gotten used to having ritual space. my altar is my ground, the place where i focus my thoughts and meditate on what i believe and what i want to do... without it ive been a bit sluggish. id like to blame my lack of exposition here and in my Book on that but its deeper and more concerting. i believe that everything i write within it must be a heartfelt reflection of my path and to be fair its still too wonky to nail into a concrete form. Am i pagan, yes. Am i a witch, yes. Do i have a ridiculously complicated view of the divine, maybe. but thats not it.

My problem stems from an online class i took on wicca and the books ive read over the years on witchcraft. my own practice is one of give and take based on what ive found to be expressive in nature, a craft based on my own experiences with the divine and magick. ive tried to expand on it over the years but every where i read it was the same. i even told my friend while in the shoppes of salem so. after a certain point you can open any book on modern witchcraft and wicca especially and their all the same. wicca especially seems watered down for the masses. and when i try to apply what i learn it amounts to very little if anything in my personal book.

Is it wrong of me to want some meat and potatoes with my craft? I certainly dont think so, and i entail no offence to my readers  when i say they'res something off with modern magick. while i believe there is a certain amount of personal will needed, intention only goes so far. magick is about communication with the divine and the forces of creation. building a bridge of communication, a working vocabulary with the universe.

Im looking for meaning, a deeper meaning than ive found in my books or at the bookstores. its about the experience and until i can resonate with a set of practices my book will remain a series of ethics, tables, ritual work, and prayers. i hold it in my hands and feel proud of my accomplishments, of everything ive written and made, but it also feels shallow because im on such shaky grounds with my practice.    

Mercurys Gone Retrograde...?

If nothing else i found it humorous that i can say this, and it's a convenient cop out for my post Lughnasadh frustrations. But before i get to that some pictures!!

 Harvested in the morning for a kitchen charm to promote health and love, the ritual itself was short but meaningful to me and  the bundle is tied with nine knots in a red thread that i've kept in the drawer since Imbolc.

 Yay, fixed the time stamp!!! this is my seasonal alter that blends in with the mantle, stay tuned for updates.

My personal alter from yesterday, it kind of clamshells into a semicircle for the actual working space. my smaller bos is the book standing up  and is where i keep my everyday musings, journals, and ritual notes. My big bos in any incarnation is usually only out like this on the sabbats, otherwise id have nowhere to function... >.<

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So back to my story. ive felt awful most of the day,  tired and more than a bit lazy, which i blame mostly on being a little overzealous during yesterdays ritual and not properly grounding afterwards. im such a noob sometimes, but eh it happens to all of us once and a while. that besides everything else my minds been a maelstrom of activity and frustration  at naming God.

Blame my christian upbringing but  i have some qualms about putting a name to God in general as i hang my hat with some Wiccans in that i view all god/goddessess as emanations of God/Goddess, and that they inturn are polarities of the One. In my head it all makes perfect sense but throw some names into the batter and it all goes down hill.

For me I first understood "god" like the depiction from the tv series Joan of Arcadia. a being beyond our comprehension capable of being everywhere and nowhere, wear any face and voice it chooses, beyond gender and yet gendered. so i fit well with the monotheistic take on wicca, but deep inside i wanted more.

im a very visual person, so ill site Harry P. Book 1 and the Mirror of Erised. i wanted that feeling of the gods, divine parents and cocreaters standing at my sides ready for counsel. i wanted them to be sentient and individual beings. but even then when i work with them together one always seems hollow, as though the divinity rests in one and then the other. its a bit of a conundrum for me.

but then i think, well... they're emanations arn't they? so are we in a way, just further removed from the true nature of "god" and we are sentient individuals. so it works, but the more i try to personify the deity the more wrong it feels, because to me they are much more than us. It gives me a headache sometimes that im technically a mono, duo, pan, and polytheist all at the same time...

with the exception of two goddesses that im perpetually drawn to despite my nature. Hecate and the Morrigan. of all the stories i know these two are the only ones to ever elicit feeling from me. Being greek ive know about hecate for years and my own gifts engender admiration and reverence for her and she sometimes feels so real that i dare not ask for her assistance. the morrigan is an odd one or me. Crows are a fact of life for me ever since i was little, they follow me everywhere, so much so that ive even gotten good a mimicking their calls. but quite frankly the morrigan scares me royally and despite that  i cant stop but be drawn to her.
\

Long story short ive taken a few steps back and realised i have some growing to do. with few exceptions im uneasy about locking the Gods into named people. ill just have to find another way to embrace them.

Lughnasadh - Lammas

The harvest time has come again, raise your glasses high. The day has come, the horn it sounds, Lughnasadh is nigh. Gather round the fires bright and dance and sing with mirth. Gather round with family true and bake the breads of rye. The sun is strong and hot and bright though the year is waning on, rejoice in skill and talents true, for this is the festival shining bright; this is the day of Lugh.

So for many of us Lughnasadh started at sundown today and continues into tomorrow until sunset, but the time of the celebration is not what i find to be important, rather that we celebrate in the truest form that our hearts are capable. For me, as the grandson of a candlemaker i enjoyed a ritual I've neglected for too long. my grandfather left me with a glass candle that I re-pour annually as my representative on my altar. its one of my dearest possessions.

 I'll be trimming the wick during the ritual ive planned to rededicate the candle's purpose and again i apologizes for the date tag. while the wax was setting i was getting nostalgic and decided to break out the old salt dough recipe for a new alter tile. 

I was a little impatient, and as I'm sure anyone who's worked with this stuff can tell, it takes a long time to set up. it was already late and hot in the house so i really ddnt want to use the oven. so i chanced using the microwave. It actually worked pretty well, but i had to stop because the center was starting to bubble. It wont be ready for painting tomorrow but i doubt the Gods will hold it against me. i was debating whether or not to carve or paint it after, might do both, but ill blog about it after.

So until the morrow blessed be. ill post pics of my own and my household altars tomorrow.

My Ongoing Adventures in Book Binding and BOS Compilation

So heres an update on my current Book, or BOS. Ive been sewing books since i was little and recently due to a need for a more flexable record book, have delved into post binding. it taken 4 attempts to reach my latest and im quite proud of it.

 pardon the date, i never remember to set my camera so its a given for most of my pics, though saying this ill just go and set it now so i wont forget.

 Here's my baby, leather bound and all new... you've got no idea how much i prayed while assembling this. i used a spray adhesive that gave me no wiggle room so once on that was it. luckily the post holders were spaced almost perfectly. 

 the spine was tricky in that i never quite got the glue to set right but i still like the way it turned out. i ended us doubling the thickness of the spine to give it more weight and holding it is very gratifying. its light, without the pages and even then much lighter than the wood case i was preparing to cut.

 Here open, the pages fall over the post holders and i realized while making the last prototype that they can be cut back to improve the paper fall. oddly enough for anyone who loves books like me, each time the book opens the spine gives a nice creak that i find marvelous. and while the posts are visable for the time being, once at capacity they should be unnoticeable.

Here standing, you can get a sense of the spine hinge and depth. its been a fun and daunting project but im happy with it. i havent added marking ribbons yet but will do so when i find the right ones. its far from being full though and about half of it is typed for space and legibility's sake. the rest is scribbled and scrawled and illustrated as best i can. ill be posting some of my manuscript pages here as soon as i get a proper scanner.

 Till next time, Goddess Bless.

A Day in Downtown Salem

Hey guys, well, anyone actually reading these.. >.< Anyways, after many years and some finagling i got to spend the day in Salem, Ma. with one of my closest friends. She lives there and made it a point to give me a grand tour since the last time i saw the sites was about 15 or so years prior. Didn't go to the museum but the shops more than made up for it. We grabbed lunch at a Thai place, Bangkok Paradise, excellent Pad Thai, and it doubles as a club at night... i grabbed a flier. After that we hit the shops and i can tell you it took almost all my self control not to just buy everything in sight and i had a goal to maintain. store to store i was mesmerized by the music and the sights, the curios and the candles, some things i had only seen on the Internet, Dryad Design plaques for example. And chime candles, no where else have i seen so many, usually they're ridiculously hard to find.

Of note was the bookstore we stopped in. She warned me before going in, knowing how much i love books and i couldnt believe my eyes. Picture it, columns of books stacked and piled high from floor to ceiling with little hallways where they left voids. it was like a hoarders paradise of books. just be careful how you pull them out or a book-a-lanch will ensue. i ended up grabbing one, "Celebrate the Earth" from Laurie Cabot. I thought that with Lughnasadh around the corner some light reading would inspire me. As to Cabot, i paid a visit to her shop while in Salem. Understandable i know there is some dissension about her but without meeting the woman i can only go by her creation. The shop is quiet and actually quite beautiful though the particular incense burning was a bit much for my lungs. I left a bit dizzy but really no worse for the wear.

We stopped at a goth boutique too, trying on all manner of hats and victorian coats. I personally loved one that reminded me of Lestat from the Vampire Chronicles and Sam then got me into a tail coat. ahh, if i only had an extra 500 bucks. But anyways, after much speculation i did buy a fedora, the only one that ive ever found that didnt give me the diamondy pilgrim look. So that brings me to my shopping conclusion, the reason i saved my money to begin with. i planned to buy a proper cauldron. id been using a ceramic vase that was roughly the same shape and size. good for scrying and seasonal fruit but not for much else. so i bought it in a leather shop if that doesnt beat all. its a harry potjin 6" x 6" potbell and i got it for 23 dollars without a lid. The seller had pre-seasoned it with olive oil which meant little to me at the time. considering how i intend to use it i doubt there will be much cooking being done, though i would love to learn how to use it like that it will most likely serve the same as my old pot except that now i can use it as a seasonal fire pot and to burn paper during ritual.

Thats really all there is for now, for take care all, and if you get a chance, go to Salem, if nothing else its a lot of fun! 
     

Where Movie Meets Magick

So I managed to see the premiere of you know what this morning, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II and was fairly impressed and sad at the same time. Showed up last night around 8 with my friends and ramembered to bring my graduation robe and a spare wand. I've never been to a cosplay scene so it was doubly awesome. So many people dressed up and where there werent costumes there were wands, so many wands. Gods I wish my college had a hogwarts day or at the very least a Renaissance fair once a year. But anyways, an era has come to a close and Voldemort is, at last, dead dead. So many moments worth recapitulating but i wont here, not going to spoil it for anyone unfamiliar with the books. The kicker of this is, of course, the full moon, which was technically this morning on my ride back home from Peabody Ma. I have my usual ritual later on but i wanted to talk briefly about my thoughts while i was walking earlier.

When i was small i desperately wanted HP to be real just so i could go to hogwarts, and im sure there are a lot of others who felt the same. we grew up with him in the books and then again through the movies. it's a portrayal of magick that is and yet is not true, lucid dreaming and astral travel aside. we do conjure and bring about change, but our physical world works on subtlety.  we draw influences on the web and cascade that into larger outcomes. looking at the world of Rowling i can safely say that while i would love to be able to physically do what harry and the gang do, im also satisfied with what i have and would ask you to think on that for yourselves.

Thoughts as the New Moon Approaches - May 26 2011

He nourishes the land below and She teaches those who listen to their hearts. He is the Father of all that is; guard and protector of all that yet may be. She is the Mother of Creation; Queen of Heaven and resplendent beacon in the night. Together, They twist and turn in an ancient dance, a circle that has no beginning and no end for in truth they are One. Feel them in the all embracing sun and in the gentle light of the silver moon. And lastly, walk with respect upon the earth beneath you, for it is sacred beyond measure.

At the Doctors Office

So Turns out that after many years of just not really seeing a need, i went for a physical. I figured with Grad school looming and blood work needing to be done anyways, why not? So i walk in and procedure as usual. there i am waiting on the table for the doctor in nothing but my shorts, forgetting that i had my bico pentagram on. like i said earlier im not really all the way out of the broom closet, and it tends to pass under the radar. Most people i know think its just a necklace. It's amazing what people see, or dont see rather when theres no circle as in a true pentacle. So anyways, she walks in and spots it right away ( not like i was wearing much else mind you) and starts going on, giddy with excitement.. "is that like a wiccan thing? are you wiccan.. i mean your religion? Are you a witch!" I'll admit i was taken aback, noone at least to my knowledge had picked up on it like that and i was suddenly unsure of how to answer. I returned that, no i wasn't wiccan.. i dont hold the threefold law as i believe there is no scale on which to judge actions. i simply believe that what we send out returns. the Law of karma.

well, she was caught up in it and went on about how she found a marble pentacle under her carpets and how she brought in a rabbi to check it out. How he explained that it was a protective symbol, which i confirmed and i ended up explaining about invoking and banishing pentagrams... so while i didnt admit it, she knwos im a witch now, which is strange to me since i barely know her.

But anyways, i wanted to post this experience because while i have a deep affection for the label witch, i also, as i realized this afternoon, harbor a fear that i had though i overcame years ago. Witch means different things to different people and i know my family views it in a negative light. I have plans to sit down and talk with them on Samhain but i find myself feeling more trepidation than i expected i would.

I guess this was a needed visit to the doctors' physically and emotionally.

Take care and good night all, Blessed Be. 

Tomatoes and the Half-Lit Moon

So, my garden is doing well considering when i got to plant, late for me, but anyways, we ate our first tomatoes today and they were deliciously sweet. They were cherry tomatoes and i cant way for the full size ones to start turning... yum. our peppers are doing well too, but the show stoppers are the berries. Both of our blackberry and blueberry bushes are overflowing with berries. they've never put out this much before and my mom in particular is very excited. The herb garden is not doing well sadly but there will be a good harvest come fall for basil, sage, and lemon balm. our ferns are ridiculous this year, but it looks like the rest of the herbs just aren't growing all that well this year. So it looks like it'll be the shops this winter for supplies. Come to think of it, the cucumbers and eggplant are fairing about the same... I cant complain though, i just love seeing when seeds turn into plants and the return is so much more than i really ever need.

As to the moon. I came across an interesting bit on on the half lit moons. when the moon is equally half dark and light the time is ripe for magick to shift the outcome of a situation thats 50/50 to that of your favor. the waxing half to draw a victory, winning the prize,  and the waning half when you don"t want to (ie, when the prize is jury duty).

Thats all for now, I'll dust off my camera tomorrow!!

A Moment in the Sand - A Meditation

So we spent an impromptu day at the beach yesterday. Went up to Salisbury for Tripoli's pizza and ended up walking the beach and soaking in some good old vitamin D. I'm no sun worshiper, if you'll pardon the pun, but i do love the feeling of the sun on my skin, the coolness of the water as it suddenly goes from lapping at your ankles to almost knocking you over. the smell too, there's nothing quite like the smell of the ocean. we even caught sight of a baby seal basking on the sand. Did I mention sand, there's nothing quite like the sensation of hot sand between your toes as you walk. It was amazingly fun, we don't get to go up there as often as we'd like. We ended up driving up the coast to Hampton, and then to Rye Beach. i collected my fair share of shell and rocks, no sea glass though. Finished the day with ice cream from Lago's, my sister loved missing out on that one (work).

Only mildly singed around the edges, I've never been able to tan despite my Mediterranean heritage. Fun fact, poolside 100 degree heat and full sun and i don't burn, here at the beach i don't burn, but working outside my house for ten one day i fry, go figure.

The day finished with thunderstorms, i had to restake my tomatoes this morning from the wind, but i want to offer you something of my day at the beach.

Imagine for a moment that you've just arrived at the beach. You park and open the door, the heat of the day washes over you as the scent of the ocean fills your heart with childhood laughter. You hop out and pull off your shirt, the sun kissing your skin sends a shiver down to the base of your spine. Kicking off your sandels your feet meet the rough pavement and you being your walk. the smell of beach food and sunscreen abound as you walk down the sidewalk to a set of stairs. But the pavement is hot and your feet relax as you step down into the soothing sand, conforming to your every step. You continue walking down the beach, the sand getting hotter then cooler as you reach the wet sand left from the mornings tide.

You reach the water, and look out to the endless horizon. stand here for a moment and listen to the ancient call of the water. this is the same water your ancestors sailed on, the same air they breathed and the same sun at their backs. All things are drawn to the ocean, the cradle of life. close your eyes and hear the gulls, feel the tingle of the sun, and the push and pull of the sea, soft and gentle yet powerful and vast all the same.

Open your eyes and begin walking the shoreline. the day is getting hotter, and you can feel the sweat beading on your shoulders and glistening on your arms, the water is cold at your ankles. a drop of sweat glides down the small of your back as a warm summer breeze greets you, the sweat making it all the more present. Turn towards the sun and feel the sand between your toes. Take a deep breadth and exhale, feeling the pricking kiss of the sun as it melts into your being. Embrace this heat, this warmth. it is a part of you, just as the sea air is a part of you. A primal urge within and a joy that is a gift of the father's love and light. Remain here for as long as you wish before returning the way you came.         

Changing the Water Meter

It all began with a water bill that came to $540.00, when we were in Florida and my dad was watching the house. outrages and curious we investigated to no avail until the consensus was reached that the water company had be underestimating our bill and decided to lay catch up for who knows how long. Given this we decided to fix the problem. You see, our meter is in our basement and looks like something from WWII, pipes and gauges abound and it looks more like something from a submarine than a water meter. they're downstairs now slicing and dicing to replace it with a new model that scans from outside. I kind of feel bad for our water guy, he's been reading the meter in the basement for us since '89.

It's 11:26 but for some reason the time stamp is way off today??

Sticking Your Neck Out

I think that it's fair to say being a closeted witch has its perks. Granted, the majority of my friends know, or at least, assume i practice the craft, but as far as my family and the government are concerned, they're none the wiser. To be fair i'm waiting for the day my mother asks, because i know it'll be her who pieces the puzzle together. It's not like I hide it, my altar is is plane site every time you walk into my bedroom and its been that way since i was small. planning beds for rosemary, lemon balm, and foxglove, and calendula went without incident, although i do admit some pride in then spouting what they're used for. Discussing the pagan origin of holidays as well goes unnoticed. Ive always had an open policy. if it comes up, or they ask, I'' be more than glad to explain, but this ridiculousnesses is getting too far.    

I enjoy the liberties of being closeted at home, but I'm also immensely proud of my beliefs and I'm tired of feeling like a criminal in my own house... thats right my house, and I'm not talking metaphorically. It was left in trust to my sister and I, and since she has a house of her own, it fell to me. There's just something irritating and frustrating about hiding your path in life for fear that it's some deep dark secret, when it isn't and you know it.
 

Poetry Backlog

Dance ye spirits dance with joy, dance beneath the violet moon, around the fires towards heaven climb, to the beat of the drum and the stringed spiral song, dance ye round and dance ye well, to the magic of Arachne's loom -- 7/3/11

Trust in the magic of children, they are the torchbearers untempered by the doubts of their older kin, to them is the gift of absolute belief and the keys to the doors of dreams. -- 7/3/11

Thoughts are things everything that is was or wil be, is first concieved of as such. To see this construct in the world above is to glimpse the future and to reduce it to a symbol is to create a true work of Art -- 7/2/11

Come and know me, the melancholy angel beckened, for i am a ghost, a relic of a bygone time, and an era of magic long abandoned. learn of my regret and my shades because you and i are bound as one, my fate is yours. whether you accept it or not --6/29/11

There in another world i wait. upon the rocky cliffs, the storm brewing in the ocean below, the keep crumbling around me. the fire has long since died and the pale moonlight is our only light. the woman, that damned woman, like a mournful statue, a pale and forgotten figure stands behind me, watching and waiting for my return -- 6/29/11

To be adrift in your own soul, when there are no stars to chart by, or winds to sail by, or even an omen to guided by, what is there if anything to desire? --6/29/11

If your in a bind and are faced with problem dire, whose outcome is or, or either and if pressed it be against the blade, such that fate be either-way swayed; gather up your goal and make a wish upon the half lit moon, to garner favor and shift this outcome towards your desire -- 6/25/11

The nights are long and the chorus of my thoughts endless; words unwritten in the millions scream at me for recognition, but i sit idly and bear them for fear of what they may become. even i must use caution, lest they be brought to bear against me. but lo, these are the nights of darkening and even now the pages filling. what will they become? even i cannot say for certain; but surly something magical -- 6/24/11

In golden sunsets and the glistening of the morning dew; in the meadowlark's song and the crow's chilling call; in the shade of the waving willow tree; and in quiet walks in the pouring rain. My temple is not one of stone, rather the world with the songs of nature as my hymns. There are those who would condemn me for it, but I'll forgive them still. Because this is our time, and the earth is in need. -- 6/24/11

You never know where the path of life will take you, it twists and turns all the time, but i like to think our visions can shape us, and that when you stand firm in what you believe you need no defense, because there is nothing to fear from prying eyes. -- 6/22/11

The sun has set beyond the hollow hills and thus begins the waning year. But hope, my friends, is far from lost. the summer is yet half to be, and the promise of the harvest is yet to come -- 6/21/11

Leather and some super glue, some brass and aluminium posts, then the pages from spine to spine and some words to make it right. this and then the book be done, but "finished" it will never be -- 6/21/11

Midsummer Litha or simply the Summer Solstice. By an name this is a time of magic and of rejoicing. the wheel has turned far from the winter and the Sun will soon mark its most triumphant of hours. To the fae i offer my words, the song i've nearly completed in waking this night. Dance and be glad on this the longest day of the year, and hail to the sun as it does shine upon the earth, for the days of summer are yet far from over. -- 6/21/11

The pursuit of the self, of knowledge, and of secrets. Hearken to the words of midnight, the whispers of all you may be. The trials they will be great, but nothing will be asked of which you cannot give. -- 6/20/11

Awaken to world reborn, a vision of an earth renewed, Awaken to a heartbeat strong and spirit bold. There stands a marker at the well of life, read the words that fuel the day and sing the song that makes the night, join hand in hand by kindred birth, sing songs of life; sing songs of mirth -- 6/18/11

Heed the call, a call to arms, a call to stand again in the night. to gather in the light reflected back. reflections in the water, while the storm brews over head. -- The moons true face dark, she has no light of her own to shine, the balance gives her radiance, the light of stars. -- 6/18/11

Listen to the chimes as the wind gathers strength. listen to the clash of lightning above. Feel the power of nature unrestrained and listen with reverence for the lessons it teaches us. The rain has yet to fall, but if it should, gather it true in a container of glass. Such waters carry power, but if only for a short time; so use them with care before their third sunrise. -- 6/15/11

The wind it blows from Gulf to Grove, the skies are alight with reverie. The lightning, o how it dances across the heavens, Thor's mighty hammer against every cloud. -- 6/15/11

Words have power because they are expressions of the mind, body, and spirit given form. Their union is the door through which miracles are born and magic is channeled. Is it no wonder then, that humanities potential is beautiful and terrible all the same? She is beauty and love without end, She is the mystery and the wisdom, and She will test you beyond measure, to show you who you are. -- 6/12/11

A city waits in the world below, the crystal keep we all will know. and in that place in where magic sleeps, the king he waits, and the queen she weeps. -- 6/11/11

Lead me down those narrow streets into the arms of dawn, and in that place, in solace found; the tears of the ever white forest. Sing with us of the morning dew, the meadowlark song, and the shining sun. Dance with us in the autumn leaves, by the ravens call, and the breathless moon. -- 6/7/11

I sleep away the hours true, i sleep in a place of power, between the dusk and dawn so blue, between the years of school and life. i have walked this path so long before, so long yet short all the same, and while i lay down to bed this night, a student caught between, i wake to a world very different still, my life brought to bear yet once again... a graduate one more time. -- 5/21/11 -- Merrimack College Class of 2011 -- 

-- All work (c) Solstice 2011 and is not to be used without expressed permission from the author. 

 

 

Reflecting on the Summer Solstice

It's been a few weeks now but given why i began this blog i thought i should post something. The summer solstice, also known as Litha and Midsummer, is the longest day of the year. A day when we celebrate God is the guise of the Sun at the hight of his power. We mark and celebrate the vibrancy of life in high summer and the triumph of light, the waxing year. But there i also the passing of this year and the dawning of the waning year at sunset. 

I found myself in Florida quite unexpectedly and as was the case the trip made a good example of the true nature of my path. I had no candles or incense, no altar and no tools for a traditional ritual. To compound this little privacy given company present at the time. But still I sat back in amazement of the life around me. The sun was bright and hot, 98 degrees outside and inside since the air conditioner was broken, and for the first time ever, all of our crape myrtles were in bloom, bright and red.

I spend the morning weeding with my uncle and mother in the front. this vine had almost overtaken the entire front garden... it was remarkable, and we even cleaned the gutters. we celebrated our triumph with ice cream from DQ afterwards, and a trip to Walmart. The ideas I had for my garden back home... if only. But i got an eco-binder and spent the afternoon converting it into a screw post book.

It was going to be my new Bos but i had left the posts home. It ended up being a prototype but for five dollars and some patience it turned out well. I'll post instructions when i make the next one.

While it was drying I designed a new Solstice Illustration for my sabbat page, that I still have to scan... webcam pic below 

The night was exciting as a torrential rains fell over the house, i just stood out on our lanai offering a silent prayer of thanks and hope. I have a lot to be thankful for, even if i rarely say so. the feeling of the warm summer rain was beautiful and very relaxing. It was a simple moment, personal and important to me. I closed my eyes feeling the rain on my face and asked the gods to give me a sign that they heard me and would watch over us; thunder rumbled in the distance. I took it to heart and sat back to watch the thunder storm. I've always loved the storms in Florida and it lasted through till morning.

I guess my lesson for readers is simply that it isn't the props or the spells that make one a witch, its something deeper, something in your soul that calls to nature. Something that cannot be summed up here save for a closeness to the earth and a wounder found in the eyes of children.