You Know That You Were Born For More Than What Machines Provide

"I command the darkness to leave this space
And out, and out, these demons will race."

I command the sage with a wide blade of banishing, hurling it forward as the smoke billows in my hands. I am not quiet. I am not polite. I get angry and vicious. My voice is sharper than the blade I wield, for I know that belief and demanding are the only ways to get anything out of life, and the matter of smudging my apartment of negativity is no different.

I move from room to room, no space or object or entry is left untouched. I tell the mirror that it is not allowed to harm my self-love, and command the shadows to take flight. When I'm finished, the sage branch does something I've never seen before. It pops in an orange glow of a spark, bright like a flash, and its like the pressure equalizes or a window has been thrown open full of clean spring air. I breathe and feel the exhaustion, but its the satisfied kind, the sort of heavy breathing I once felt upon finishing a day of hay work for a local farm or walking four miles to the factory. The ache is a pleasant sort of thrum, but there is no time to rest.

The sun is setting fast and I need to catch it before it does.

I kneel before the altar with a new blade in hand. The banishing has done its chore, and now the summoner must finish the job.

At first, its difficult work. The line is far and I'm tired. At first it resists and I find myself speaking not in words but in sounds, the snarls and growls of an angry cat demanding obedience and submission. Finally, just as the sky turns orange, it does. Not with a force like a blow, but a caress and a whisper that races up my hands holding the knife to the sky. Not a shiver but a heady embrace, taking me in and pulling me close in the sinew and spaces from deep within, as if there are unexplored spaces between flesh and bone that hold something I have not yet tapped, something waiting to stir that only now rears its head.

It feels like a miracle and a battle cry, the divine and the war path.

Its like coming home.

Its never done this before either, but it recognizes me, whispers my soul's name and pay's homage to my presence there. The line is no longer a din of noise, but a singular voice in a quiet but raging river of life, one that does not try to drown or fill or destroy, but a presence of movement and possibility. One that is not malicious, is not threatening, is not dark or light or good or evil. It simply is. It is calm and it is pleasant, and it is honorable, and it is pure.

And it does not ask for sacrifice, or pain, or servitude. The voice fills my head like the pleasant sounds of waves underwater, the cascade of perfect movement, the push and pull, a rhythm older than time itself, asking only what it is I desire.

I ask to never doubt my beliefs. I ask for the strength to do what is right. I ask for vision that guides me in the direction of my dreams without straying for a moment, without taking two steps back.

I ask for everything.

I want it all.

I feel the spaces between stirring, shoving against the edges of the insides, like the gentle headbutt of a house cat, but far greater, far older, and far more powerful. She rears her head and roars proudly, a great thing of black and gold and white, neither purity nor darkness, but simply life and all it holds. Life is what pours from the shadows within, moving from the tips of my fingers to the ends of my toes as perfect and true as the water, as wild and free as the raging river, as boundless and deep as the rolling seas.

Promise is what it brings.

House Guests and Hammering

Sorry this space has been so quiet my darlings, I assure you that the blog is a bit slow because everything else in my life right now is anything but.

I am just days away from releasing the new shop line, I've increased my reps to almost double in under two months without my workout routine, and I've been running around like a madwoman trying to find time for my loved ones, like the amazing Manda Marie who came over to visit for a few days. She was kind enough to take all of these photos with her wonderful camera while I attempted to write articles.

OH YEAH I SHAVED MY HEAD

And sort of joined a gang...

The top brass says Las Lobas and the bottom copper says Honor

Every photo in those rows was found on tumblr :3

On this wall you can find ska music posters, and now an alto sax fingering chart, as I've taken up playing it again

my lovely altar with its latest additions: the Strength card from my last reading and a reiki-charged Gratitude candle

Shells and reef fossils from my trip to the Keys last summer, with blue obsidian and my bottle of holy water

Lets play I Spy, find the Mace in this photo

SO CLOSE TO LAUNCH I CAN TASTE IT.

Thats it! I will try to have my usual words for you all on Wednesday, and I should really start posting music on the regular, seeing as I have and listen to SO MUCH OF IT, and its a pretty constant force in my life. Check out my 8tracks widget to see what I've been mixing up lately, otherwise keep your eyes peeled for more words, tunes, and magick <3

The Mystery Begins- An Eerie Enchantments Sneak Peak

From Beneath It Rises

It came forth not with a flash but a roar of thunder, subtle but growing until its crescendo of a slap against the skies of my soul. 

The shift begins, and the pressure shift is a sensation and excitement like no other.

Not all of the change is perfect happiness. There are hard decisions to make and sacrifices to be made, and I can already see one of the small forks on the trail ahead. But I'm ecstatic for the simple that its happening. 

Change is good.

Change means I'm living, and they are all changes in the right direction.

I throw myself headlong into this shift with all of the force of my passionate soul.

Speak Little, Listen Much

I had a conversation with a friend not long ago. I'm not sure how it came to this topic, though many of them like myself are non-linear thinkers and as such topics tend to move from one to the next with seemingly no relation at all. But somehow in someway I ended up sitting in my kitchen drinking tea and found myself defending the importance of living in your thoughts.

I know the first argument against this, I do. You get too disconnected, they say. You get too lost and your thoughts can go to very dark places, they argue.

 First off- don't kid yourself into thinking you are more connected to the world than you are in your own mind. What is meditation other than going deep inside yourself, into your mind and the confines of yourself to feel out your connection to the world around you. I don't know about you, but nothing bad has ever come out of my meditative exercises. Through meditation I met Kaijana, who has taught me to stand up for myself and what I believe, and that to me is one of the most powerful lessons any of us can learn in life.

Second- You can control your thoughts. You are not their slave, they are your own and you are their master. One of my favorite books on witchcraft has one of the most powerful quotes about life I have ever absorbed "You are the magician, you are the master of your world and everything in it, including your own emotions."

Growing up pagan, I'd get a lot of crap about going through a phase, what with the amounts of paganism in popular culture in the 90's, but honestly what I love about this religious path is not just the magick or the feeling of endless possibility, its the lessons you learn from it that you carry in life. The first goal to being a witch is Know Thyself, but that shouldn't apply just to a religion, that should be a life necessity, because it is. And by thinking deeply, by truly letting yourself delve deep into your mind can you allow yourself to do exactly that.

Through witchcraft I grew up not begging for forgiveness from my gods and goddesses for my mistakes. To me, they don't forgive, because there is no need to. There is no Hell, because there is no need for one. The threefold law will show you the error of your ways, and with it you learn, and you grow stronger, fuller, and more powerful in your own way.

What happens when you don't, you ask? I can tell you the answer, because I did exactly that for the past three years of my life. You become stagnant. Often I hear from loved ones that they are in a rut, and my first question will be, "Well, what you have been thinking about lately?" And the answer is always the same, they haven't.

Don't be afraid of the dark places or the scary thoughts. Follow them to where they lead, master them, and they will no longer rule. They are parts of yourself, and just as important to your individual existence as the lights and joys you carry. I won't lie, there are plenty of things of which to fear in this world, but your own mind should never be one of them.

"Bide within the Law you must, in perfect Love and perfect Trust.
Live you must and let to live, fairly take and fairly give.
For tread the Circle thrice about to keep unwelcome spirits out.
To bind the spell well every time, let the spell be said in rhyme.
Light of eye and soft of touch, speak you little, listen much."

-the Wiccan Rede, stanza 1

Weekend Witchcraft- Protection Spells for Divining the Shadows

Probably one of my favorite things about this time of year is curling up on cold and cloudy days, and watching what I can only call Bad Paranormal TV Shows. Some people watch Cops, I watch people who think that painting over the creepy symbols in their old basement will just make the problem go away. Because ignoring them works infinitely well, mother of Aradia. 

Don't be a dummy this Halloween. I know its a wonderfully magical time of the year, and it is, but there are reasons which we don masks and cover our front porches with scary pumpkin heads in the first place, and to that effect, I am here to give you as many ways to stay safe as I can possibly think of. These are spells which I have used personally for years, so rest assured, if you back them with your personal power and belief, they will work for you. Ouijia boards are great fun, really, they are, but just as you should never ever have unprotected sex, you should never bust out the plachette without at least a few of the following.

Herbs. Ivy, and not the poisonous kind. I mean big ol' English Ivy leaves. They're more common that you think (I used to pick some growing under a bridge at my university), and the dry up really easily in a basket. Ferns will work, also everlasting mint, horehound, and sage. Try burning sandalwood incense to assist your divination techniques. 

Salt. Yes, Supernatural is right on this one. Get the freaking salt. I don't divine on Ouijia openly without a circle around myself and the board, casting my circle with the chant "I cast the circle thrice about, to keep all evil spirits out, round and round the circles bound, evil sink into the ground." Remember to start in the North, moving clockwise. It helps if you smack your fist onto the ground and say "As above so below, the circle is sealed," (think of it less like a circle of salt around you, and more of a bubble of protective energy all around you).

Stones. I have a quartz grin that encircles my entire home, but if you wish to work on a smaller scale you can always make a quartz grid around you by simply placing a point on each of the cardinal directions, and a fifth piece in the center of your space (or let it ride the plachette for protection and a boost of power to your readings) Selenite is a great protection stone, as is snowflake obsidian for banishing and keeping harmful entities from you. Smoky quartz is a wonderful stone for divination, specifically for the discovery of hidden mysteries. You can also simply wear stone jewelry for this purpose. 

Liquids. Holy water can be used to bless your tools against negative influence, aid in your circle casting, as well as simply anointing your body (hands and the third eye chakra are a must). You can also use sage oil, by rubbing a small amount into your wrists and the center of your forehead, or just rubbing it into the candles you plan to use for the circle. 

Symbols. One of the first things I often find myself drawing or carving into a circle this year are runes. Algiz has always been one of my favorites for Ouijia and any other circle casting where communicating is the sole purpose, as it works to support even as it shields you from danger. Teiwaz is known as the Warrior's Rune, and brings strength and courage as well as protection. If you are looking to boost your psychic abilities on this night, try Dagaz for awareness, Ehwaz for transportation and the spiritual journey, or Laguz for trust of your intuition and unconscious mind. 

Words. I grew up in one creepy as heck house, so whenever I felt nervous, I fell back on this old protection prayer. I've used this with others when doing Ouijia in groups, and its never failed to keep everyone safe. 

God and Goddess of the skies

Please respond to my cries

Lift me up in your strong arms

Away from those who seek to harm

Shield me from the awful rage

That shall face me day to day

Help me be strong in what I do

And help my heart to remain true

So mote it be

There you have it! Plenty of easy and effective ways to safely divine the shadows this Samhain. Don't panic, and don't be those people from the tele who Think It Will Go Away If You Ignore The Creepy Thing, be smart and stay safe. Remember- you have the power of the universe at your finger tips, just waiting for you to master it.

 

Spirit Animal Reborn

I seemed to be gifted with a new companion since cleansing the house. My spirit animal comes to me now in the form of a protective, fierce, yet often skittish jaguar of larger than normal size. I sleep in a large full-size futon and she takes up just about the entire bed, with a smidge of space left for me. She's been around for a few weeks, now, but only this morning has taken to resting her head on my leg.

Her name is one that I know in my mind, yet can't quite suss out. Its just like that word on the tip of your tongue, yet it remains there for days on end now, unspellable and unpronounceable, yet I know it in my heart. I can see it vaguely in my minds eye. I know it begins with a K, and has many vowels, and a j that sounds like a y.

She is fucking ferocious and not to be trifled with, was downright scary today with company, but only in the good way, which was protective of my well-being and making sure I never allow anyone to over-step my comfort zone. She reminds me always to be strong, and never back down.

I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, and call her by her chosen name.

You'll Feel A Change In The Air

I was going to bed last night, at my usual hour of 3am, when I felt it. I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom, door open, all other lights aside from the bedroom off, and I kept getting that twitch on the back of my neck that says "Something is there". I kept looking down the hall, the darkness in the living room, and no matter how much I told myself, 'there isn't anything' the feeling would not leave me.

That's how I knew it was time to cleanse my apartment.

If you're feeling anxious, depressed for no reason, its probably more than just you. Negativity collects, like cobwebs in corners. And just like you have friends that leave a mess behind them, you also have friends who track their emotional mud in and can leave it behind for you to clean up.

If you've never cleansed your apartment before, you're going to need:
-sage
-a fireproof dish

Optional additives:
-feather/athame
-holy water
- incense (this I do NOT consider optional, but you don't need it to get the job done)

To note, I have never heard of anyone using an athame, but that's what I did today for the first time, and I felt infinitely better.

Some say cleansing is a solemn affair, but for me, this simply isn't the case. When I smudge, walking from room to room, wafting the smoke onward with my Greek athame, I get angry. I demand the negativity get the hell out of my house and out of my life, and tell any negative entities that they are not welcome here, ever. I sweep the negativity of friends and ex-lovers and lovers alike out the door.

The next step for me is my holy water. I used to a spritzer bottle, but since it stopped working when I moved, I just dip my fingers into the blue glass bottle you see on my altar, and fling it about the house, letting its purity and warm and strength soak into the home and into me. I'll press my palm over the top, so it leaves a circle of holy water in my hand, then palm my front door and windows, and draw banishing pentagrams in the wetness. I take extra care to dab a little on each quartz of my grid (do NOT get any on your selenite. Selenite and water Are Not Friends) and simply soak it all in as my home feels lighter, happier, easier to breath again.

The last step is the lighting. When I remove darkness, I always want to bring in light. I light a candle in every room, and incense wherever I can. Not only do the scents help to take out the smell of pot which burning sage always brings, but it rekindles the warmth of the hearth fire and the spirit of my home, which is turbulent and wild, ever-changing as I do.

Grounded In The Sea

I've traveled to quite a few interesting places in my life. I spent eight years living in the swamps of southern Texas before returning to Massachusetts. Have hiked the cliffs and canyons of Arizona and Nevada. I've been to Florida a few times before, but nothing could have possibly prepared me for the sheer beauty, serenity, and delightfully kooky atmosphere that is the Florida Keys.

Being in the Keys is like being transported to the Caribbean, without ever needing a passport. Key West itself is literally just two miles of bars and shopping and hotel resorts and places to charter fishing and water sports, like jet skis and kayaks, and snorkeling expeditions. There's history here too, the Ernest Hemingway house is a must-see, and who doesn't love eating brunch at a table shaped like a six-toed cat paw? Its a lot of fun, but I was truly in love with the more northern island we stayed on, the stunning and serene Islamorada.

I rode jetskis and kayaked and snorkeled and swam and fell in love with this beautiful and astounding place. Where freaking iguanas run wild that could give my cat a run for her money, fish are abundant and beautiful, and the locals are simply charming and all around lovely people. My neighbor was burdened with having caught too much yellow snapper, and gave my mother and I two, which I cleaned myself and gave to our chef for the freshest sushi of my life. The Florida Keys are the origin of Pirate Radio, which I would listen to while reading fan fiction on my Kindle in a hammock that swayed in the cool sea breeze while giant crabs skittered about beneath me. 

I learned a lot being there, about the sea and myself, and found a new sense of clarity and wonder. I realized just how much I can accomplish, how limitless and infinite the possibilities of my life truly are. I was reminded that to truly move forward, I must completely let go of the things which hold me back, and the people who continue to do so. And that grounding, for me and my energy, should not necessarily bring me to the ground, but to the waves. With that idea I have grown so much stronger, and the idea of witchcraft and power raising and playing in the local ley line has become a bold and exciting one once again.

Leaving the Florida Keys was one of the most difficult return trips I have ever had to make in my life. I didn't want to leave, and the only way I convinced myself to do so was with a simple and bold promise.

I will come back.

And next time, I won't ever be leaving.