Hard days...

It has been a hard few days in this witch's household. I woke up this morning and our home feels just a bit empty. We had to put down one of our fur babies yesterday. Dexter had become extremely ill and there was not a thing we could do.

Dexter was our eldest's kitten. He was just over 10 months old. Our eldest knew that Dex was sick. He also knew we were taking him to the vet. I told him when he got home from school about Dex. He took it rather well, all considering. I do believe his exact words were "fucking cancer".

We decided that come the spring we will make a memorial stone to place under our tree. I know we'd like to get another cat but we are going to wait awhile.

On a lighter side of things, Imbolc is almost here!! I'm stoked. I love this Sabbat. I have a few things to do to prepare. I'll be following the same ritual I used last year (which is posted here on the blog under the ritual page).

Well... baby is still asleep so I'm going to head back to bed as well so I can catch up on some much needed rest.

Blessed Be
      )O(

Energy clearing and children

I was finally motivated and feeling well enough to take down all our holiday decorations. Ugh... I was so sick of seeing them. Not too mention I felt so suffocated. I can't stand clutter or knick-knacks. But I have 8 boxes of decorations for the holiday season. It gets to be too much for me. Although... I love decorating.

After I put everything away I realized how much stagnet energy was clinging to our home. Its no wonder we were all a bit cranky. So after the eldest got home from school I gave him a set of bongos and we went through the house together. We had an energy clearing conga line going! He settled into a wonderful rythym and we came up with a neat little song to go along with his beats.

Afterward the feel of the house was so amazing. I encourage you to include your children. As soon as the baby is old enough to follow along with us he will have a set of shakers so he can join in as well.

Speaking of including your kids... the eldest and I have  a new bedtime ritual. Every night I test and teach him about stones/gems/crystals. We have only been doing this about a week but he already knows the name, colors, and properties of Clear Quartz, Red Jasper, Hematite, Amethyst, Tourmaline, and Tiger's Eye. Apparently, he has a knack for it.

My children's interest in what I do, my beliefs, and need to participate in everything amazes me more and more everyday. I never push anything on them, which makes their desire to learn and be actively involved all the more wonderful!

I'm currently working on a new spell book. And considering I didn't have a whole lot of time yesterday to do it, I need to get to work!

Brightest blessings!!
        )O(

Ground and Shielding

I have been busy, busy, busy lately!!

And I am NOT complaining!

I love being busy. Although lately I'm busy because of my inability to put down an amazing book! Although, in my case its more like a series. I began reading the Lords of the Underworld series earlier this week and haven't been able to put it down. I've consumed 5 books this week alone :)

On the flip side of my laziness, I've done so much spell casting earlier this week that I have felt like my energy for the month has been sucked out of me.

Which brings me to today's topic of discussion... how to avoid energy drain and is it possible? Personally, I have never been able to avoid it. I will tell you why. Everything I do, I load with my own energy as well as whatever I borrow from the different elements, items, ect.. I find it far more effective. I do, however, ground and shield myself to avoid excessive draining.

Many people (not just spell crafters) can benefit from grounding. I have a very close friend who is extremely empathetic (and Christian) who has benefitted greatly from learning to ground and shield herself. It has helped her to block out the more mundane everyday emotions that surround her and lessens the impact of stronger emotions.

Now I know a few of you may be thinking "I really don't need that". To you, I pose this question... have you ever gone into a store around the holidays while in a great mood. But by the time you leave you are as miserable and grumpy as those around you? That's because we "plug into" the collective consciousness when we enter a group of people. Its the same with the mob-mentality. Granted if the answer is no, you are one of three things... 1. Very connected to your self and emotions 2. Lying or 3. The Dali Lama :)

It is very easy to ground yourself. Sit quietly, for as long as possible. Breathe deep. Imagine your feet turning into tree roots and digging down into the earth. When you feel connected, you my friend, are grounded :). Like I said super simple. My 9 year old does this all the time.

Shielding is slightly harder. By slightly I mean it takes slightly more imagination. How we do it at our house may not work for everyone, so feel free to adapt this to your own needs. After you are grounded, imagine/feel that there is a small orb of light, color depends on you. (I use purple or blue, my son utilizes green because its his favorite and it makes him happy. Others I know use white or gold. Make it hour own.) Envision the orb growing inside you until it pushes it's way outside of your body and surrounds you in warmth and light. Voila... you are shielded. Imagine that it remains in place while you go about your business.

Its a great meditative practice too. This process can take a bit of practice. But once you get it down, it is totally possible to pull your shield out in a single breath.

Well... the baby is demanding mommy time.

Brightest blessings!!
           )O(

New traditions

Lately I have been wondering if I am creating and upholding enough traditions to pass along to my children. I have this thing with passing something down throughout the generations. So as the new year began, so did a new family tradition. We now have a yearly time capsule. It started on the first of the year and on December 31st of this year we are going to crack that baby open and read all the events that took place throughout 2013.

It was a craft project that literally took me 5 minutes to make! I love mason jars and cannot get enough of them. Also, I have a ton of scrapbooking supplies. I combined the two to create our time capsule. I added a small card stock box to the jar to hold slips of paper and a pen. Instead of the metal lid I cut a piece of card stock into a circle, cut out a hole and screwed the metal rim over it. Just for fun I wrote out the directions and tied them to the jar with a piece of raffia ribbon.

Simple, right?!

The beginning of the following year I'm going to add them to our family scrapbook and start a fresh time capsule.

Blessed be!!
       )O(

Goodbye Manic... hello depression.

I am not sure if I ever stated this on here before, and it's certainly not a secret, but I am severely manic depressive. For the most part, years of counseling, and a breakdown or two later I have it well under control. That is not to say that I never have bad days. They are much better than they used to be because I realize now when they are happening and I try to interrupt the cycles before I go spiraling out of control. I do a decent job.

Today is a bad day for me. I was having such a high in my manic phase earlier today. Unfortunately, about 20 minutes to midnight while making applesauce (because that is normal -.-) I came crashing down into this funk.

Rather than sit here and wallow in misery for no reason, I thought, I'd take this moment to let anyone out there who struggles with any type of issue that it's OK to get help. It took me almost 20 years and a failed suicide to realize how bad I had become. Please please please, don't wait until it's too late.

For those of you who don't want to he medicated, I get it and I didn't want to be either. After working with BOTH my therapist and psychiatrist I was able to get completely off meds and in control of myself.

And.... that's all I have in me today. Excuse bad spelling or failed grammar. I'm on my new phone. Perhaps I will get my comp fixed soon.

Blessed be
)O(

The new year brings...

The new year always brings a sense of...well... beginnings. I refuse to make new year resolutions as I have touched on before. I still believe that it's setting yourself up to have a bad year when you fail at keeping your resolutions.

Instead, I decided to plan! That's right, I have a bunch of projects in the works and decided I am going to start planning out the course of actions that will help me complete each one! I already accomplished one! My eldest and I, with the help of a commune member, rearranged furniture and set up the gaming systems in the basement! The eldest has an amazing hangout and I have a wonderful workspace for mixing medicines, drying herbs, and keeping my reference books! As well as meditating and spell casting :) (although, I still prefer to cast outside when possible)

My biggest project is keeping the commune organized and setting everything up for this coming spring. I need to help plan out gardens, who is going to grow what. What everyone needs. I need to get lists of all natural and green pest control together. The list goes on and on. I'm so excited to see how this pans out!

I have a few craft projects that are in the works too. And I've returned to studying herbal medicine again too. I plan to have a decent herb garden this coming spring again too. Ugh... It seems like so much when I list it all out, but it doesn't feel like it.  I have deemed this year The Year of Learning While Doing! I love to expand my knowledge base and this year I plan to, not only further my own studies and share much of it on here, but also help teach my boys and begin passing on my traditions and knowledge to them.

The newest book that I have delved into is The Herbal Medicine-Makers Handbook by James Green. I am only 3 chapters in and I am in love! This book encourages you to jump right in and start making a tincture in the first chapter. I will have a full review of this book once I finish it! It is definitely a mainstay on my shelf! (I'd post a picture but for some reason it's not letting me upload it. So I'll post a link to it instead) http://www.amazon.com/Herbal-Medicine-Makers-Handbook-Home-Manual/dp/0895949903

The biggest spell workings I've done lately was the renewing of the protective wards around my home on New Year's eve. It's not that I believe that there is a boost in protective energy that night. It's more of a marker that reminds me it's time to re-ward the house. For the first time ever, I had an outsider observe the entire process. It was... different to have an audience. Not bad, just different.

Well, I have millions of things to do today! I hope you all had a fantastic holiday season!

Blessed Be and Brightest Blessings!!

          )O(