Our Handfasting

the ring shot

I mentioned in a previous post that we had a full Wiccan Handfasting. I thought I'd elaborate on that!

It was both elaborate and formal, but the feeling (I thought) was also very intimate.

At the time, I was a belly dance teacher and had a troupe. They are all friends, and I asked them to be my attendants. I planned a themed wedding, "historical" bellydance. I bought fabric for all of them and made their costumes, and a friend made poufy shirts for the guys.

the altar from one side

My coven and a few additional folks were the circle participants. The HPS cast the circle in advance, after they set up the altar, kept it on the down low, though it was not hidden. The only folks IN the circle were coven, close family and circle participants.

We had couples at the quarters, for blessings from the elements, we had cups and a unity cup, we had the cord, we had the broom but I also added a sword with the broom as my own little touch, perfectly suited to my hubby and I.

HP and HPS with us

Funny story:  We had brought our own video camera, and my husband set it up to record during the ceremony, and a friend was asked to hit the button at the right time.  My dad also brought his video camera and had it set up to record at a different angle. A friend of ours also brought his video camera and held it while recording.

Not a single camera managed to record the ceremony.

Our Attendants

Our camera somehow shut itself off... it has like 5 minutes of just the very beginning before anything actually happened. My dad's camera recorded 45 minutes of static.  My friend's camera had no picture, and the sound when in and out so you can't even really listen to what was said.  True story. We'd always joked in the coven that there was no point bringing electronics into a circle, and this ceremony proved exactly why!

Coven and Circle Participants, even the kids had a part.

Our wedding was a blast! Almost everyone, even those who hadn't a clue, said it was one of the most moving and beautiful weddings they'd been to. And of course we had the BEST reception!  My belly dance instructor gave me a good rate to hire her to dance at my wedding, and she was fabulous. :)  After the performance, my troupe and I danced, then everyone danced but it was mostly belly dancing, with friends just boogieing along for fun. :)  Best wedding ever! lol

mom's corsage, a cd case/egyptian sarcophogus gift, the garter, my dance teacher

Felt skulls

I wanted a new craft that my son and I could do for the season. We made felt skulls for our Samhain altar. :)

I bought some felt from the craft store. I wanted wool felt but our Ben Franklin only sells felt that is 20% wool.




I made a pattern and printed it out in three different sizes, though I only cut out two sizes. :)

I cut out a bunch of pairs of heads in the two sizes.



Then I sewed the pairs together with the blanket stitch and stuffed them with some wool stuffing.

I stitched mine with threads, and different embroidery stitches. :)

Kevin wasn't sure about the stitching part.
I didn't want to push him. I suggested coloring them. I dug out some fabric markers and those worked well for him. He actually colored both sides of the skulls and had fun doing it. :)

They looked great on our altar!

New Quartz

This weekend is the local Rock and Gem club's fall rock show. We always go, and tomorrow the kid, hubby and I will go together. However, today the kid was at grandma's and the hubby in bed since he works 3rd shift and I thought... it would sure be nice to be able to go look at everything without anyone telling me to hurry up or come give me a dollar for this...

So, I went on my own. :)

Not a lot of money to spend on shiny stuff right now, the kid's birthday is coming up.  But I did buy a couple little quartz crystals.

A milky white double terminated quartz wearing a baby on it's back. Seemed very mothery to me. Not sure if it's meant to stay with me or become a gift someday. We'll see.

The clearer quartz is a Scepter Quartz. I had never heard of these but basically there is a smaller older quartz that stopped growing and a larger second generation quartz grew over it.  When I picked this one up I knew it was mine.

I do like to read the crystal meanings and healing uses though sometimes they come off a bit too new-agey for me!  Looking up Scepter Quartz was no exception.

From Crystals, Rocks and Gems site:
"Scepter Quartz, these crystals were used in Atlantis and Lemuria in healing ceremonies and were a symbol of the power of there realm; those who carried a scepter crystal were in a position of "high priest/priestess". ... It is an excellent configuration for transmission of directional energy. 

The Scepter Crystal is considered a naturally formed crystal that belongs to the quartz family. These crystals can have a unique clarity that almost looks like water. The crystal actually looks like a ruler's scepter; a rod at the base with a crown-like configuration on the top. The clearer the point on the scepter the stronger it's ability as a healing tool. This crystal has an excellent configuration for the transmission of directional energy. 

The crystal is used in many ways. It can be utilized as an aura wand to cleanse and clear auric energy. It is believed to have a relationship with the etheric layer of the aura, where restructuring of our physical, mental and emotional bodies can become unbalanced. It is used to bring the spirituality of the Universe into the healing arena for positive applications. This crystal, although it can work on balancing all the Chakra, it has a special affinity to the heart and heart Chakra. Hold the crystal heart level with the point facing the heart. This brings to the heart the benefits of all it has to offer.
Often said to connect the human plane with the spiritual plane due to its power and its clarity. It allows us to see what really matters in our lives. Because of the phallic point, it is believed to harness' the energies of quartz as a tool to enhance fertility. 

Scepters act as a purifier and tunes into the frequency of each individual. Will unblock specific areas or organs blocked from transmitting or receiving the flow of energy throughout the body. Helpful in guiding our search for the meaning and importance of existence. Aids in meditation. Can be used in conjunction with any other stone or gem for specific physical problems. It will amplify the effects of individual stones and attune the treatment to the energy of an individual person."

A little new-agey for me, especially the bit about Atlantis. But I do look forward to working with this crystal, and getting to know it.

Green Witchery: Elderberries

Last year I ordered dried Elderberries from Mountain Rose Herbs and tried Elderberry syrup for the first time. Elderberry syrup is supposed to be a cold/flu preventative and remedy.

Let me just say, IT WORKED for us. It worked really well. I am exposed to kids for my part time job and I went through the whole school year without catching a cold or flu, and so did my son and hubby and even my mother-in-law. I think each of us had the sniffles once, but it never developed into anything worse.

We make our own syrup:  a half cup dried or 1 cup fresh elderberries to 3 cups water in a pan and brought to boiling. Simmer at least 30 minutes (I sometimes leave it a little longer) and near the end of cooking, mash the berries with a potato masher. Then I strain the berries out with cheesecloth, squeezing out as much of the juice as possible (be careful, it was boiling so it's hot! I wear gloves).  Then I add a cup of local raw honey, make sure it's the real stuff, from an apiary that does not feed their bees sugar water. The local honey adds the benefit of treating local allergies. I mix that really good and pour it into a jar and store in the fridge. 

We all take at least 1 spoonful a day. If we've been exposed, 1 spoon in the morning, 1 at night. If we feel like we're getting sick, a spoonful every few hours has always nipped it in the bud.

In September I realized Fall was upon us, and we were out of dried Elderberries. I mentioned to my mother-in-law we would need to make an order and she told me a friend of hers had just told her they had elderberry bushes on their property and to come pick all we wanted!  We arrived to find that this friend had picked for us! Bags and bags of them! What a sweet thing for her to do!

It took all day but by the time we picked all the berries off the branches and I cleaned, dried and measured them into freezer bags, we had 25 cups of Elderberries to put into the freezer. Wow.

I considered coming up with other useful ideas for the elderberries but I'm not sure I'm willing to part with any... the syrup is too precious! :)

Favorites: Books

Some friends that are new to the Craft had asked last month about books to read. So I whipped up this list quick-like and gave it to them.

This is NOT a comprehensive list of to-read books. It's just a list of books that influenced me the most, my favorites, ones that I would even read again (and again and again, in some cases!).

These are in no particular order except for the heading they are under. :)  The book titles are amazon links.

The books I found most influential from day one to today!

• Cat Magic   by Jonathan Barry and Whitley Strieber - the first (fiction) book I ever read that presented witches as anything other than evil devil worshippers. Very witchy and is what sent me on my witchy path quest.
• Diary of a Witch  by Sybil Leek - the first non-fiction non-evil-devil-worshipper witchy book I ever read.
• Earth Power  by Scott Cunningham - the second non-fiction witchy book I read.
• Drawing Down the Moon  by Margot Adler - different pagan paths
• Spiral Dance  by Starhawk
• Positive Magic  by Marion Weinstein
• The Witches' Goddess  by Stewart Farrar and Janet Farrar
• True Magick  by Amber K - Amber K is my magickal "grandmother". She initiated the HP/HPS who initiated me. I will always  love her books! (the link is to the 2nd edition, which is quite expanded since the 1st ed that I read)
• When God Was a Woman   by Merlin Stone
• Real Magic  by Isaac Bonewits - I have read it twice and am thinking I may be re-reading it again soon. Discussion of what magic is, how it works. Changed my paradigm.
• The Science of the Craft  by William H. Keith -  another paradigm shifter... introduces the idea that quantum physics may be behind the reality of what we call magic.  May be true, maybe not. It was still well worth buying so I could read it several times.
• Jambalaya:The Natural Woman's Book of Personal Charms and Practical Rituals  by Luisah Teish  - don't let the title fool you. Luisah is a priestess of Oshun and this is an awesome read.
• TheFifth Sacred Thing  by Starhawk (Kindle version) - fiction, but it's Starhawk's pagan vision of post-society collapse. pretty awesome. She's trying to make a movie of it.

Books I have on my bookshelf I've read, learned from and that I won't give up

This is NOT a comprehensive list of what's on my shelf... ha!

• TheWitches' God  by Janet Farrar and Stewart Farrar
• Coven Craft  by Amber K (Kindle Edition) - The craft of forming covens
• Candlemas  by Amber K  - Llewellyn published books for each Sabbat, this is the one for Imbolc.  I have some of the other books in the series but they weren't published by Amber K. The ones I have are good.
• Circle Round  by Starhawk - raising children in pagan traditions. Awesome.
• Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs  by Scott Cunningham 
• The Complete Book of Incense, Oils & Brews  by Scott Cunningham
• Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic  by Scott Cunningham
• The Truth About Witchcraft Today  by Scott Cunningham  - I use this little book to educate non-pagans because it's pretty generic, very accessible to mundanes and not over-the-top.
• The Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca by Kerr Cuhulain

And all the other books by Starhawk, Marion Weinstein, Dan and Pauline Campanelli, the Farrars, Doreen Valiente, Cunningham.

Check back now and then. I'm sure I'll be adding to this list!

I'm no artist...

I can sure pretend to be one! lol

A friend got my attention about this new outing that you can sign up for, called Vino Van Gogh.  You pay a reasonable price and show up at the restaurant site, the teacher brings all the supplies and you order a wine or beer and proceed to learn to paint the picture choice of the night.

It was fun! I loved doing it and hope to do at least a few more. I'd like to have one for all the seasons, and just switch them out on the wall as the seasons change.

Got my witchy artsy self on! lol

44 Days of Witchery - Day 44

44 Days of Witchery - Day 44
Witch's choice!

My new tattoo! :)

It marks a new phase in my life.  I am part of a new coven. I'm working on some changes in my life. And well I just fell in love with this design.

It is from an stone age tribe of people who lived in Siberia, the Pazyryk. I am fascinated by the designs of their tattoos, and wouldn't mind another in this style. This tattoo is the first one (the 4th total) I've gotten that I chose to be deliberately visible. All the others I chose to be in places that would be covered up all or most of the time. This one, I'll probably want it seen at least in the summer.