44 Days of Witchery - Day 29

44 Days of Witchery - Day 29
Water Element

A person can hardly live in the area I live in and remain completely disconnected from Water.  I live in a city along the Mississippi River (or just, The River).  In fact, where I live is the only place where The River flows east to west.

The River permeates our lives. It floods almost every year, and we adapt. Many people live on one side of The River and work on the other. We who live here are often crossing back and forth if not daily, usually weekly, at least monthly.

It is beautiful; giving us amazing photos of itself, it's wildlife, giving us entertainment. It is ugly; the site of industry, pollution, contaminated water and fish. It drives people to great lengths to clean it up. To avoid it. to seek it out.

I happen to be very fond of Ancient Egypt and it's mythology, and I see The River as that Great River... a reflection of the celestial Nile. The water that flowed through the Nile in Egypt has flowed through the Mississippi. It gives me a deeper connection to the mythology of Egypt, especially since we are nearly at an almost perfect annual inundation every spring/summer.

It is Water, with all it's beauty and challenges. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

44 Days of Witchery - Day 28

https://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise

44 Days of Witchery - Day 28
A picture of a witchy I-want-it-now!

I don't care what color it is.
I don't care how I get one.
I WANT ONE OF THESE SWEATER COATS.

Now please.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/katwise


PS:  She sells a how to booklet on how to make one. I bought it already. I have some sweaters, mostly black and grey. I just need a serger that can stand up to making it! I'm not sure my serger will survive.

UPDATE:  I don't have one of the Katwise coats but I did get myself a sweater made by a friend, Saren, of Vespertine Fabrications. Contact her for awesome fiber art clothing!

Zentangle!

I have yet another new hobby! lol... I'm doing Zentagle... basically it's doodling with rules. I used to doodle a lot when I was younger (in school). I didn't take notes in class... I doodled, and it helped me concentrate on what the teacher was saying.

Anyway, I've come back to doodling. I enjoy the Zentangle style... there's hundreds of patterns. Usually it's more flowing looking, but I had to fill a pentacle from the moment I started playing around with this. :)  I also plan to do some of the zendala (mandala templates filled with zentangle).

There's a whole money-making industry around this, but you don't need to spend anything except for some decent paper and a good fine tip pen. I have mixed media paper and a Sakura Micron 05 pen (which is what is recommended and I like it better than ultra fine sharpies).  I also happened to have the Zentangle for Beginners booklet but I got it free at the CHA Craft and Hobby trade show in Chicago a few years ago. You don't need the book though. You can google Zentangle or you can stop by www.tanglepatterns.com and learn a lot there. That's where I found the most patterns.

A few of the patterns in my pentacle above were zentangle patterns I found. A couple of them I made myself from witchy symbols, like the center which is a repeated protection symbol.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend. :)

44 Days of Witchery - Day 27

44 Days of Witchery - Day 27
Picture of Nature (Earth Element)

Tree
Yellow lichen growing on a tree
very earthy to me

44 Days of Witchery - Day 26

44 Days of Witchery - Day 26
A Witchy Podcast

Well... I don't really listen to podcasts much! I used to but the job I had at the time nixed that.  I never got back to listening to them.

So I went looking for a witchy podcast. I only tasted a couple but wasn't satisfied. I finally came to PaganFM and am listening to it right now. It's ok. I'm not into listening to politics so I doubt I'll keep listening to this, right now I'm waiting for the next song to come on and that's really it.

So, if you have a favorite witchy podcast that's ABOUT witchy stuff and not just politics... frankly, I get enough politics day to day... if I'm going to use my very valuable time to listen to a podcast, then I do not want to have it be about politics. Anyway, if you know of one, do share. I'm interested. :)

44 Days of Witchery - Day 25

44 Days of Witchery - Day 25
How do your close ones feel about your witchy path? Do they know? Why or why not?

I'm using a photo of the altar at our handfasting and wedding.  This was when my parents learned that I definitely was not a christian. I had tried to give little warnings, but it was hard to come out and say "I'm Wiccan (as I was then, I do not identify as wiccan now), in a coven and everything." Or even that other dreaded "W" word... witch! gasp.

My hubby doesn't seem to have any religious or spiritual leanings at all... I might be able to safely call him a "pagan agnostic".  hahaha.  He's totally supportive of my choices, I was a witch before we met and he knew what he was getting into. Theoretically at least. :)  He's attended open rituals and celebrations, he's attended a few workshops and my former coven's Wicca 101 classes.

Dad never talked to me about it, and my stepmom has never spoken in disapproval about it.  Both were raised with christian backgrounds. Dad has passed away, so I'll never know how he felt about it I guess.

My lack of communication did hurt my mom's feelings and we needed to process it later, a few weeks after the wedding. Mom has a strong christian lifestyle and at first there was a lot of "I'll pray for you."  But now she doesn't say that anymore, and I think she even made a witch joke to me once. :)  I do know she's passively tried to instill christian ideas into my kid's head, once. I watch for that though. We live quite a distance so our visits are not as often as I'd like... I do long for the days when we could talk about anything openly... after I got over my teen rebellious stage, we used to talk about astrology and other things.

My husband's mother doesn't seem to care one way or the other...she even asked me to teach her a little about it, not for herself but in case something happened to me, so that she could tell my son what she knew and he could decide to walk a similar path or not.

Nearly all my closest friends are either pagan themselves, or at least know and accept that I'm pagan even if they don't know the details. Anyone else's opinion doesn't really have effect on me.

While I do consider myself "out of the broom closet", I do not consider myself "out there" or super blatantly witchy. I don't do the "goth" look except perhaps as a costume. I look like a tubby middle class mom, not particularly witchy... if witchy has a look.  But I am not furtive or secretive in my choice of lifestyle so if someone hears me say "by the gods!" they are welcome to ask what I mean, if it matters that much to them. :)

44 Days of Witchery - Day 24

secretsofthezodiac.tumblr.com

44 Days of Witchery - Day 24
Your moon sign

My Moon is in Gemini!

So I went googling of course. The interpretation of moon in Gemini at 0800-Horoscope.com is mostly on target. A few things didn't jive... I have no interest in idle gossip for instance.

This comment made me laugh, so true! lol
"Women with Gemini moon are talented with their hands. Though efficient and organized, a certain restlessness makes it difficult for them to remain content with household chores."

44 Days of Witchery - Day 23

44 Days of Witchery - Day 23
A favorite candle

My husband and probably son too, is sensitive to some scented candles. Add to that our 3 cats jumping on any shelf that has room... or not. So I don't buy lots of candles anymore, nor scented candles. I have quite a few left in the house that haven't been used.

Now days, I prefer pure beeswax candles. They are safe to my sensitive household noses, plus the added meaning of making the candles myself. Pictured here are beeswax tapers we made at a friend's house, for a Waldorf homeschool crafting day. We also pour wax in jars for contained candles, or in juice tubes for pillar candles.

44 Days of Witchery - Day 22

44 Days of Witchery - Day 22
Current Moon Phase

Moon at 3 days old = Diana's Bow!

A good time to trim your hair if you want it to grow faster, thicker. Start new projects!

44 Days of Witchery - Day 21

44 Days of Witchery - Day 21
A favorite scent

LILACS!

My favorite scent is lilac. What a shame these flowers have such a short season!

44 Days of Witchery - Day 20

44 Days of Witchery - Day 20
A picture of a tarot or oracle card and it's meaning.

The High Priestess  (Robin Wood Tarot)

I primarily use the Robin Wood Tarot, which is why I chose it for this post. I picked this card, because that's what I'm aspiring for, feeling, moving toward.

The High Priestess represents practicality, good judgment, wisdom, knowledge, mystery, spiritual leadership, maturity. She is an avatar of the Lady.

Worth the work to become!

44 Days of Witchery - Day 19

44 Days of Witchery - Day 19:  Fire Element

Heat. Energy. Destruction. Desire. Creation. Power.

I was just accused of being a pyromaniac, for taking joy in lighting off my son's little novelty firecrackers for the 4th of July. I'm not really a pyro. I do enjoy lighting the stuff off but I have a healthy respect for the potential pain fire could cause should something go wrong.

When I was a latchkey kid, at 11 yrs old, I was terrified of having to light our gas stove to start making my own dinner. I'd been raised to have a fear of "playing with matches" but that had the side effect of making it difficult to overcome that fear when it was time for me to learn to cook on my own!

My son doesn't have that fear yet, though he seems to have some healthy respect, at least I hope so.

Fire is not my home element. But I'm no longer afraid of it, and I can work with it. Fire is beautiful. :)