Inked Goddess Creation box

written:  May 06

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My Inked Goddess Creation monthly box arrived today – theme is Animal Magick. So of course you know I had to buy it. It is so cool. I am very pleased with it.

This month’s box contained:
- Animal Spirits Knowledge Cards deck
- Animal Magick Meditation Balm
- Gemstone animal carving (which is a PERFECT addition to a gift I will be sending to a friend soon, so I’m super thrilled about that and keeping silent on what the animal is because I don’t want to tip of said friend)
- Raven Animal Magick Votive
- Familiar Totem hand-dipped ceremonial stick incense
- Familiar protection witch bottle kit
- And a porcupine quill

I am thinking I may do an unboxing video of this one and last month’s box (Storm Witch) for the Hearth group. One of the ladies in there (can’t recall WHO exactly), was wanting suggestions for good monthly boxes and I suggested Inked Goddess Creations. I could do a quickie video over those two boxes to show her (and the other members) what to expect from Inked Goddess Creations. Next month’s theme is Sacred Grove, and I’m not interested in that. I’ll wait and see what all will be in the box later on this month, when Inked Goddess Creations does little sneak peaks.

The big news for today is that I finished and submitted my final paper for the Resource Management class, so I am officially DONE with my final semester! Woohoo! And of course the professor nit-picked the paper to death and only gave me 80% on it…but it keeps my grade at a high B and that’s all that friggin’ matters. I should have 100% total for the Practicum class, so hopefully this will boost my GPA a bit. It’s currently at a 3.72 (cumulative). I would like to graduate with a 3.75, but hey, I’m good.

To celebrate, I purchased a resin cast of a crow’s skull. ::laughs:: It’s coming from Italy, so it cost a bit to ship, but it’s NICE. And it’s for a devotional piece I’m making for the Harpies, so I’m excited for it to arrive and I can begin work on it.

Beltane

written:  May 05

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One of the cards I drew at Class this evening – Thetis from the Goddess Wisdom deck.

We also had our Coven’s Beltane ritual this evening. Now generally speaking, I am not a fan of Beltane. I don’t care for fairies. I don’t care for the overt sexual nature of the sabbat (or at least what it has become in the modern Pagan tradition). But I have to say, this one was awesome.

Luna wrote and performed the ritual. And seriously, I friggin’ adore her. She is from New Orleans and has that “don’t fuck with me, I will end your world” vibe. ::laughs:: She is also a fan of serpents (she had a gorgeous serpent necklace on this evening) and has a “bone witch” vibe to her which just attracts me like a moth to a flame. ::chuckles::

She invoked Gaia and Cernunnos – which was nice, because Cernunnos is one of the very few male deities I work with and one of the ONLY male deities that has stuck around for more than a year or so. On the altar, she had a green 7-day candle for Gaia and a red 7-day candle for Cernunnos. In the cauldron, she had a gold 7-day candle to symbolize their union. To light that one she took two matches and lit one from Gaia’s candle and the other from Cernunnos’ candle, and then used the two matches to light the center candle.

We each pulled a white ribbon from the cauldron. On this ribbon we wrote a few things we want to bring into fruition. And then Luna had created simple Beltane candles for each of us in colors of either red, green, or gold. She got a 7-day candle, and tied a cinnamon stick to it with some fabric along with a single match. With our individual matches, we lit them from the union candle and used it to then light our own Beltane candle. I ended up wrapped my ribbon around the candle so I wouldn’t lose it, and a number of the Coven-mates remarked what a great idea it was and did the same. We are to tie the ribbons to a tree eventually, though, honestly, I may just keep it wrapped around the candle. Or I may wrap it around my spear, if I ever get my new altar cleaned and set up. ::laughs::

The sad news of the day is that this was Azza’s last day with us. She recently started a new job in Austin and just doesn’t have the time to continue with the Coven. I am super bummed that she’s leaving, though thrilled for her new job. She was one of my favorites from the student group.

In other news, I cannot STAND Sara in the student group. She seriously just rubs me the wrong way on a gut level. I have managed to ensure I do not sit next to her during class, but got stuck next to her during ritual. She is just a super attention hog in my opinion and I just do not like her. At all. Like she starts talking and I can feel a snarl growing in my throat – it is just almost instinctual. She speaks and my bullshit meter goes off the charts with her. ::deep breath:: I really am trying to give her the benefit of the doubt here and trying to be more accepting. But tonight, it was everything I could do not just growl at her anytime she even looked my direction.

Getting Close

written:  May 04
 
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My spinach and onions are already sprouting! And I noticed two tomato plants are sprouting as well (seeds planted last year). Still nothing on the lavender, but I am doing my best to be patient. Wish me luck with that! ::laughs:: Patience is not a virtue I possess most of the time.

I spent the bulk of my day working on the Final Paper of Doom for the Resource Management class. I am about 80% done and it is 19 pages along already. So friggin’ BORING. It was boring the first time I wrote the various papers for this class. I swear, it has gotten exponentially MORE boring going back over it all. I just keep telling myself, this is the last class, this is the last class, this is the last class. As long as I pass this class (which I will), I won’t ever have to take this class EVER AGAIN. I have just got to push through to the end of this and see it all the way through.

I have already picked out my “reward” for when I finish this paper and turn it in – I am buying a beautiful resin cast of a crow’s skull. It will be part of a devotional piece / witch’s ladder thing for the Harpies. And since it is a VERY nice cast and coming from Italy, it is a bit pricier than I would like. But, that is my carrot I am dangling in front of my own face to get myself through this final hurdle.

I will need to figure out the rest of the logistics of this little project of mine, once the skull itself arrives. The size of the skull will dictate how long the witch’s ladder will be. Then I will have to play around with how long and how many pieces of dried rose cane I will use. I saved a cutting from last year, and it has been curing all year in my little herb window in the kitchen. I will also need to decide if I am going to paint said canes and if so, then what color(s) I will use. THEN, I will need to drill holes in the canes for the cord to pass through. And I know I will be using the oval larvikite beads I bought 2 years ago, but I need some other beads to be spacers. Not sure what gemstones I will use at that point.

And now, I kind of want to do a witch’s ladder for all of the deities/spirits I work with currently. It would just be a nice devotional piece to honor them. So one for Sekhmet, Cernunnos, La Lupa, Medusa, and Circe. I am even kicking around the idea of doing one for Godzilla. He is currently chilling on the top part of the altar desk, and I have always viewed him as a type of guardian. So why not? ::chuckles:: That should keep me busy for a while, making all of these.

Better Day

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One of my rose canes, HEAVY with blossoms. And there are over fifty more blossoms not in this picture. ::smiles:: My lovely lady is really outdoing herself this blossoming round. I will have no problem harvesting enough roses on the next round to make some rose water for sure. ::smiles:: I am looking forward to that.

Man, I was in a foul ass head-space all day yesterday and most of today. I know it’s because I’m just super stressed about this final paper, but it doesn’t make it suck any less.
I did print out the papers I’ve written thus far for the class so I can knock this final paper out tomorrow. I’m super tactile in that regard and do better with the paper in my hands – all 36 pages total from three papers. I may have been wayyyyyyyy off in my assessment that the final paper will be 20-ish pages long. ::sighs::

Apparently there is a 10 day stretch this month that is the Greek Festival of Kallyntaria and Plynteria – days devoted to cleaning temples, sacred spaces, and altars. So I think that will be the perfect time to properly dedicate my new altar space. Gives me plenty of time between now and the 19th to physically clean my new altar and start figuring out where shit is gonna go. ::chuckles:: Note to Self: Festival of Kallyntaria and Plynteria is May 19th through May 28th. I need to put that on my calendar. It would be a good “new” tradition for me – a specific set of days to really clean, cleanse, and bless my altars and my room as well. Maybe the whole house, if I can swing it. Besides, my house could seriously stand to be smudged, blessed, and warded against fae and unwanted spirits again.

Honestly, I would love to get my hands on a metal detector and see if I can locate those railroad spikes. I want to make sure they are still in place. Maybe pull them up and see if the sigils need to be repainted or touched up. Maybe charge them up again and then place them back in the four corners of the property. But I’m not sure where I would get one…because, honestly, I would rather rent one and I have no idea where I would rent one.

Helpful

written: May 02

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Yeah, this is my husband being “helpful”. ::laughs:: That’s what I get for leaving my white board downstairs.

Today was our end of the year luncheon meeting. I hung out with Emily H and Kelly (don’t know her last name) – all introverts. Hurray! Hell, I don’t even want to talk about it. It was normal, luncheon thing.

Oh, one thing I did want to say, I HATE the fact that our Supervisors do videos and photos of us and put them up on the after school program’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts without even asking us if we are ok with that.

Which, I know, sounds silly, given that I do have a Facebook account and my blog that I share photos of myself on. But it comes down to the issue of consent. The photos I share on my FB page and my blog are ones that I have CHOSEN to share. The ones the bosses take during our meetings? I have no idea what’s being posted until after it’s already posted and out there for the world to see. And I don’t feel like I can tell them not to do this, as they are pushing this whole “get outside of your comfort zone” and that we need to “rebrand” the after school program because so many people within the district don’t even fully understand what it is that we do. ::shakes her head:: So honestly, I would probably just get a lot of push back about me being a “party-pooper” and not wanting to be a team player and all that bullshit. And given that this will be my last year (hopefully), there’s no sense in rocking the boat at this point. But if I am back next year, I’m putting my foot down and saying something about it. I’ll push back, because I’m not the only one that feels that way.

Blah, don’t mind me. I’m just in a super shitty mood right now.

Godzilla

written: May 01

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LOOK AT WHAT MY HUSBAND BOUGHT ME LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!

So we went to Wal-Mart to pick up some things for his coworker John. Apparently John had a EPICALLY shitty birthday (his grandmother, who lived with him, died suddenly), and David told him screw the actual birth DAY, just celebrate it when he can, the way he wants to. And so we ended up at Wal-Mart at 10 pm, picking up things to make John’s birthday better. We ended up with a Minion’s birthday card, that when you open it, it plays the Minion’s singing what I assume to be “Happy Birthday” in Minion-talk. ::laughs:: I found that gem. And David picked up a stuffed dog for John and a hot wheels version of the Batmobile. ::chuckles:: And we saw the Godzilla, so of course I picked it up. David ended up buying it for me when he saw how giddy happy I was to have it. ::chuckles:: I seriously have a truly amazing husband.

So yeah, I was a shitty employee today and took the day off. Fuck it, I needed a mental break from the kiddos’ insanity AND I needed to work on my final assignments. I got the final paper written for the Practicum class AND turned it in, so that class is now 100% officially done. I got to looking at the final paper for the Resource Management class. Fuck me, that bitch is going to be a good 20 plus pages long. Shoot me now! BUT, at least it brings together everything I have covered in my previous papers, so I am expected to pull the bulk of the info from those – so the bulk of the leg work is already done. But, I HATED writing those damn papers and I have ZERO desire to go back over them and rewrite them. ::dramatic sigh:: But I will do it because I’ve got to pass this damn class. And yes, I did the math and I have to pull at least a C on this paper to keep a B overall in the class. ::chuckles::

Oh, and I had the most VIVID and AWESOME Walpurgis Night based dream last night. Walpurgis Night occurs the night before May Day, also called Beltane. It’s a night when Witches travel the country side, there are tons of bonfires, and then leads into Beltane. It’s less sex based and more Witch power based (in my opinion). And the dream fit into that so beautifully. I’m still mulling it over and turning key points over in my head. It’s one of those dreams that dominated the entire night, that everything fit into the core story line, and that I woke up KNOWING I had talked to a god (and yes, a MALE deity at that).

P.S. Godzilla isn’t “that” big. It’s a lovely “forced perspective” shot. He’s about a foot tall and almost two feet long.

Walpurgis Night

written: April 30

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Josey pup, demonstrating her NEED for a better couch so she can watch the resident rabbits out the window in better comfort.

I mean, look at this pitiful face! How can you tell her that no, she does NOT need a new couch? ::laughs::



Todd (a former student) stopped by to visit and hang out. And do this apparently:



Yeah, never a dull day when Todd comes to visit. ::laughs::

Final day of April. Tonight is Walpurgis Night – Witches’ night in Germany. It’s the night before Beltane (or May Day, whatever you choose to call it). And honestly, I kind of like the “darker” feel of Walpurgis Night as opposed to the over sexual-saturated Beltane.

I dunno, I’m beginning to suspect that maybe I’m a bit Asexual now? It’s been ages since I’ve had sex and masturbation as really dropped off as well. But I do enjoy watching NICE porn (where it at least appears that the woman is enjoying herself), so I can’t be fully Ace, right? Shit if I know. Maybe I just am too damn stressed and grumpy with myself (physically) for me to even be sexually turned on at this point?

The plan at this point is once the damn semester is over and I have my mornings back 100% MINE, I will start using the elliptical and walking Josey on the days that it’s not raining. I do hope to get into Krava Maga around my birthday, but I have to get my cardio up so I’m not just sucking wind the entire time I’m paying for the damn class.

Man, more and more, I am understanding 2007 Britney Spears, when she was under so much stress that she just up and shaved her head. I am seriously close to taking my husband’s clippers to my own head.