Imbolc

written: Feb 7th

So I did finally get around to doing my Imbolc ritual….on Feb 6th. Just a couple of days late. ::shifty eyes:: Eh, better late than never.

I dunno. Imbolc is one of those weird Sabbats. I got an amazing flash of inspiration on how to set up the candles, as Imbolc is also called Candlemas and it is traditional to have a lot of candles. And who the hell doesn’t like a nice ritual with tons of candles?

So I set up the altar DAYS in advance….and then Imbolc rolls around and I’m all like “meh”. I kept waiting for that feeling to go away, but it just kept getting stronger and stronger. I did not like how the center piece to my altar turned out with the different colored candles. And the candles were a bit bigger than I had envisioned in my mind. And just a whole lot of “meh”.

Well, February 6th, I decided it was shit or get off the pot time. I’d been feeling the Ritual Itch….a name I picked up from a Hoodoo blog post I read a few months back and just loved the description. It’s a restlessness inside that you know you NEED to do something but you don’t know what….and is generally alleviated by ritual/ceremonial/magickal work. So I decided fuck it. Just do the damn ritual and be done with it. Then I can start planning for the upcoming Full Moon and later on Ostara.

And damn, this turned out to be one hell of a ritual. But because I hadn’t really PLANNED it, once I Cast the Circle I realized I needed my notebook with the Imbolc Tarot Reading notes (it was downstairs) AND I needed by actual Tarot Cards (other side of the room), but after that it all really came together.

Lots of snake energy in this ritual. I need to write down the notes from this ritual.

And that center piece that I didn’t like because of the candles? Turned out very pretty once it was lit. ::shakes her head:: I think I got a touch of perfectionist on this one before I even did the ritual and that’s what was holding me back.

So I ended up blessing my Book of Shadows, my Working Grimoire, Annette’s journal, and my Bastardize Bullet Journal (lovingly referred to as my BaBuJo). And I blessed this snake hair pin carved of buffalo bone I snagged from TalismanaDesigns. I’m using it as a wand and man, it is LIGHT in my hand. I get very swishy with it. ::laughs::

And holy crap, the Brighid’s Flame candle from MoonGoddessMagick is AMAZING! So much aroma for such a little candle. Like DAMN! It smells like honeysuckle to me and I LOVE it.

Oh, and I rededicated myself to my Path as well. ::chuckles:: I was smart enough to do a video recording of that part of the ritual so I can write that down, word-for-word in my Grimoire. That, and I definitely want to know what exactly I spoke aloud to Sekhmet. It’s not wise to “forget” one’s promises to Her. ::grins and winks::

So photos!

Altar:



The center piece I was iffy on:



Showing off the serpent side of the altar:



My post-ritual selfie:



Actually feeling pretty damn good afterwards:

Next Round of Insanity

 written: Feb 6th

Photo of the day:



My beautiful, double terminated (meaning it’s pointed at both ends) black obsidian wand. Ordered this from Sage Goddess (I know, SUCH a surprise there!) and I just love it.

I also received TWO postcards from the LetterMo Challenge. I have already written response letters to them both. Seriously, I LOVE getting snail mail!

I finally got around to order the Mason Jars we need for our Galaxy Jars project that we will be doing at the after school program. I ordered enough jars that each of my 67 students can make one…plus the aides as well. ::laughs:: Which, the aides pitched in some money to help cover the costs, as I am unable to use the program’s budget money on this project. Oh well, I’ve used the budget money on other things, so it’s not like that money will go to waste. And besides, if the jars turn out HALF as awesome as the tutorial? That’s a friggin’ in in my book! Next up, I’ll need to get the Modge Podge, food coloring, and the flameless tea lights we’ll give the kids to put IN the jars. Not giving those crazy students of mine actual fire, no thank you! ::laughs:: But seriously, I do hope this project turns out to be worth the massive about of extra labor involved. I have to take the jars home after the students paint them and bake the jars in my oven to set the colors. We’re doing these in small batches, so I’m not trying to lug 71 GLASS jars to and from work and making sure each kids gets the jar that they painted and not mixing anything up. ::laughs:: Wish me luck in this new round of insanity.

But if we manage to pull this off? I am going to brag about it until the end of time! ::laughs::

A Message

Today’s #cy365 photo prompt for today is “A Message” and my photo is of a message my hottie Barista wrote on my Chia Tea Latte (no water). And Jasmine, my hottie barista, was kind enough to know I prefer a pump of vanilla in my latte, but that I don’t want to pay 60 cents for it. So she was kind enough to add it to my drink, free of charge.



The following was written around 2 am this morning:

I am feeling so off center today. Like everything is wrong. I don’t want to be doing this damn finance class, especially since I feel like a complete failure and utterly stupid compared to the other group members.

I’ve come to realize that a person I kind of know in real life – a friend of Liz’s (a good friend of mine from high school and really the only person from high school that I have ANY desire to be friends with), who’ve I’ve hung out with and had no reason to dislike…he’s a “men’s rights” supporter. He’s a fan of President Trump. And he believes the two crackpot press individuals Trump has (Spicer and Conway)…that they are honest and have only made minor flubs in their press-statements. Can we say “alternative facts”? Oye. I’m just really having a difficult time wrapping my head around it.

Weather’s been really wonky as well. This past week had temps in the 70s only to drop into the 50s on Thursday. But we’re supposed to be back up in the low 80s tomorrow. But we’ll drop back down into the 60s again on Wednesday.

I need to do something realign, re-center myself…

So Much Ramblings

Today’s #cy365 photo prompt for today is “Selective Focus”:



Photo is of my Last Unicorn coffee mug and a stock cheat sheet of information that one of my classmates gave me to help out with our group project….that was utterly useless.

Can I just say right now, I know less than NOTHING about evaluating stocks. This has been less than enjoyable. Plus I have two other assignments due tomorrow evening, PLUS another assignment due on Thursday. ::shakes her head:: If I ever have enough money to look into stock and stock options, I’ll go to a broker and have them walk me through it. This whole, attempting to figure this shit out on my own, ain’t working!

Man, I want a vacation. Like right now. Like, let’s leave tomorrow and not come back for an entire week. ::sighs:: That wanderlust is back hard core.

Maybe tomorrow I can get in some ritual time and maybe that will soothe the soul a bit.

Imbolc Ramblings

written: Feb 3rd

Photo for today:



I love how guilty Josey always looks after destroying a box….that I gave her. ::laughs::

I keep putting off my Imbolc ritual. I have excuse after excuse…but honestly? I’m not overly feeling it now. ::shrugs:: It’s one of those rituals that honestly vibes with me the least. I don’t have any particular ties to the Celtic lineage of Paganism.

I mean, my maternal grandmother is a full-blooded Scot…but other than that, I don’t have any real ties to the paganism from that area of the world.

Instead, I’m focusing more on it being the first Sabbat of the year. I don’t honor Samhain/Halloween as the Witch’s New Year. I dunno – it’s just never made sense to me to celebrate Samhain being the last day of the year, even from the pagan mythos standpoint. Yule to me is more about the end. ::shrugs::

My plan for Imbolc revolves more around blessing my creativity and my various Books of Shadows and journals. And since I’m working in Annette’s journal, and I’ve gotten her permission, I’ll be blessing that as well.

Now I just have to get around to the actual ritual itself. ::laughs::

Thankful Thursday 05

written: Feb 2nd

Today’s photo is of the 2017 LetterMo Participation “stickers”. I’m poor, so they are just printed on copier paper and I cut them out and glue them onto the letters and postcards I’m sending out.



I DID order some LetterMo postage stamps, but didn’t realize they had my old address on file. So yeah, I’m STILL waiting for the replacement postage stamps to arrive. ::sighs:: The best laid plans of men…. I swear.

I am thankful…
1. For the absolutely BEAUTIFUL weather we’ve had the past few days. Bright and sunny and in the mid-70s was very, very nice. Today, we barely made it into the 50s and it was gray and overcast. Not that I hate this weather…it’s just different.
2. A truly awesome dream last night – I had an old cell phone (one of those flip phones), and had finally been able to charge it (I was in a post-apocalypse world, so electricity was scarce). And I had a voicemail on it…my maternal grandfather (who, for all intents and purposes, was my father figure) had left me a voicemail, singing me happy birthday and telling me how proud he was of me. Pop had passed away my first semester of my undergrad college, so this dream was so precious to me.
3. Got some great photos of Leviathan yesterday. They are the first photos I’ve taken of her in a more naturalistic setting and I love how they turned out. I definitely plan on doing more photos like that once the weather is warm again.
4. The Boss, Gail, has really turned her shit around. We are cordial and kind and respectful to each other. I’m almost sad to see her go at the end of the semester! ::chuckles::
5. Setting up a new bastard BuJo (Bullet Journal) for the new month. I had a handful of sheets left at the back of the previous BaBuJo, but wanted to start the month off in its own journal instead of splitting the month between two journals.
6. That Hearth Wisdom store (a near-by-ISH Pagan store) is offering a Magickal Bullet Journal meet up later this month and a Book of Shadows meet up in March. I am actually kind of excited to go to both of those. And I’m thinking that I’m not going to let myself back out of either of them. I need to make a concentrated effort to attend classes like these that interest me.
7. That Josey had an AMAZING walk yesterday. Like the best EVER. We even did a longer walk than usual because she was doing so good.
8. That David came home early today. Such a nice surprise, because normally he works an hour or so late each night.
9. The “On This Day” app on Facebook. It’s kind of cool to look at the various things I’ve posted on that particular day throughout the years I’ve been on Facebook.
10. My Mockingbird buddy is back. Thus far, it’s a very polite mockingbird. I hope it stays that way and we aren’t having to wear a helmet when we step out our front door.

Happy Serpent Day

written: Feb 1st

Given that today is National Serpent Day, I decided to get some photos of the lovely Miss Leviathan.



Me and Leviathan:



And given that today was GORGEOUS weather-wise, I decided to finally take Leviathan outside for a small photo shoot. I’ve been wanting to get photos of her in a more naturalistic setting. I couldn’t do that at the apartments because they weren’t thrilled that I had a snake, and that, because I got her before any anti-reptile clauses were put in place AND could prove it, there really wasn’t anything they could do about it. But there was no need to flaunt that in their faces.

Leviathan seemed to really enjoy the small jaunt outside. Once the weather stays nice and warm, I definitely plan to do more of this for her. I’m actually hoping that David will build an outdoor enclosure for her that she can enjoy while I’m out there supervising. Sunlight and extra exercise will boost her health. And I would love to keep my lil serpent as long as I can.