Wrapping Things Up

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I almost bought this iris based on name alone. ::laughs::

Same with this one:



And then there was a third named “Mother Earth”. But I was good and reigned myself in. I only bought another planter and potting soil for the daffodil bulbs I haven’t planted yet. Plus seeds for lavender, green onions, and spinach for next year’s garden.

I then spent the afternoon playing in the dirt. I repotted the daffodil bulbs from earlier this year (sadly, only 3 survived; none of the lily bulbs did), planted the newest bulbs, and then added extra dirt around the rosebush.

I then did some fire magic. I wrote down 13 wishes for the new year and burned them. I also finally got around to burning the affirmation I had written back in October for the Jack-o-Lantern. I then mixed the ash in with the dirt, so the wishes and affirmation can grow and blossom in the coming year, along with my plants.

Getting Ready

written: December 30

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I spent most of the day setting up my BaBuJo (Bastardize Bullet Journal) for 2019. This is my spread to keep note of my Year Ahead reading I did. Hopefully this will help me pay more attention to it. plus, I’m doing spreads each month to reflect on the Tarot and Oracle cards I drew for that month. I got the idea from Samantha Menzo’s YouTube Video “My Witchy Bullet Journal + Book of Shadows”. So we’ll see how that works out for me. ::chuckles::

Well, I couldn’t wait any longer. I emailed the High Priestess back, accepting her invitation to join the ToK Coven’s study group. I am so excited. And she was excited that I accepted. ::chuckles:: I’ll get the calendar sent to me in late January or February for the dates for the year for the classes.

So how can you tell that you need to redo your Dream Guardian’s altar? You get a shit ton of nightmares. So yeah, I cleaned everything off the bedside table I have. I dumped the salt in the tray that I keep there. I put in new salt, cleaned everything off, and set it back up. Hopefully that appeases my Dream Guardian and the nightmares can stop. Everything will get a full blessing and whatnot on the January full moon, but hopefully this will tide things over until then.

Formal Invitation

written: December 29

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My pair of Tourmalinated Quartz Generators arrived today.

Those black lines are bars of Black Tourmaline running through the quartz. This was the last “for me” gift I bought for myself.

So I had my meeting with the High Priestess and the Guardian of the ToK Coven this morning and I just love them. And I like everything they told me about the Coven itself. And I was SO STOKED to receive my official invitation this evening to join their Student group. It’s a 13 moon long study group that starts in mid-March. I haven’t responded yet, as I do want to sit with all the information they gave me and really check in with myself that this is what I want and that I can meet their requirements. But I’m 99% sure that I’m going to accept it. ::smiles:: I’m super stoked.

So that’s my big happy news of the day.

Other than that, I worked on two Year Ahead tarot readings for friends. I got those done and sent off to them. I still have InaRae’s to do and write up. And then next Sunday, I’m meeting up with Hazel to do hers in person. I’ll still type it up like I’ve done all the others, but it will be fun to do it in person. ::smiles::

Hard to believe there are only 2 more days left in the year. I’ll need to verify that I have everything I need to make the black-eyed pea bean dip for New Year’s Day. I need to go cut some holly sprigs for us to turn on New Year’s Eve (to burn away all the negativity of this year, so it doesn’t follow us into next year). And I need to pick up a few more supplies for some home protection charms that I’m making for some friends. I have one major component already, and have ordered the second major part, so really I just have one thing to pick up and I’ll be ready to rock and roll on those. Then, the really fun part is mailing them out and surprising my amazing friends. ::grins::

So yeah, 2018 is wrapping up quite nicely right now. ::knocks on wood::

Chill Day

written: December 28

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Dragon Shrimp at Red Lobster. We went courtesy of a gift card from my Mom for Christmas.

It’s been a pretty chill day all around. Lots of relaxing and just following my whims today.
I did get my Year Ahead Reading. And holy crap – it’s almost scary how synced up it is to what I have planned and dreamed for 2019 to look like. I ended up using two decks – my beloved Jade Oracle Deck and the Gilded Tarot deck.

My totem for next year came to me right as I was about to fall asleep. It’s perfect for the year, especially with the goals and big things that are going to happen. Now I just need to find some good artwork so I can make a spread in my journal to start off the new year right. I’m still kicking around ideas on what my Word of Focus will be.

Wishes

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Just a cool stone that I’ve had for ages. I don’t remember when or where I got it, just that I’ve had it as long as I can remember. I think this is what Tara calls a Wishing Stone because of the white lines on it. I’ll have to double check with her to see if it is and if so, what the magickal properties are for such a stone.

I worked on my Year Review – basically the high points and low points of the year. It’s part of my Tabula Rasa ritual. I just need to print it out now and have it ready for the rest of the ritual. Which I should probably do tomorrow, as hubs will be at work all day. Gives me plenty of solo time to do the ritual at my own pace. I need to reread the article on it and make sure I’ve got everything I need for it.

Ok, just read the article. I’m so glad I have it saved as a PDF on my computer. Makes it so easy to pull it up and read over it quickly. The author does 5 different forms of divination – I’m only doing one. So that will cut a lot of time down. I do need to come up with a boon (a wish) to ask for in the coming year – most likely a good library job that pays well AND that I enjoy. And I’ll need to take my goal lists into ritual. I want to go over them and check off the ones completed, cross out the ones that I no longer wish to pursue, and come up with realistic steps to take to start achieving the others.

Winter Altar

written: December 26

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My Winter Time altar. I really like how this one turned out. Nice, simple, and crisp feeling.

I went ahead and did 3 of the Year Ahead card readings for friends today. Now I just have to type everything up for them and send it to them. I let them choose the deck they wanted me to use and thus has forced me to use some decks that I haven’t touched in ages. And was the first time I used the Dreamtime Oracle.

I spent most of the day working on updating my 10-year journal. I have notes for everyday up to yesterday, but I’m months behind transferring those notes over into the actual journal. I take notes in a freebie planner the local Teacher’s Union drops off at the elementary school. I don’t know what I’m going to do when I don’t have ready access to these. ::chuckles:: I’ll probably just have to have one of my after school program coworkers snag one for me each year. Or maybe I can just grab a whole bunch at once and just use those – it’s not like I really need to know what DAY a particular date falls on for the notes section. And besides, the Union drops off close to 200 of these planners, and typically 150 get tossed for recycling, so it’s not like I’m STEALING from anyone. Yep, I think that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll just snag enough to finish out my 10-year journal. I’ll need like 8 of them just in case. ::scribbles down a note to do so in her planner:: Seriously, if I don’t write it down, I will never remember it.

Xmas

written: December 25

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The various holiday cards we’ve received this month. I like hanging them up in the kitchen. We don’t do a lot of decorating for Christmas, so this is an easy way to do some decorating. ::smiles:: Next year though, I will be getting us a small tree to decorate.

We didn’t do Christmas today. After my Mom came up on the 15th, that was pretty much Christmas for us. Mom called to wish us a merry Christmas and I texted my Brother. After that, it was just low key, introvert heaven. ::smiles::

Which, lemme tell you, is something we both desperately needed after the craziness of the past few months. I am hoping that next Christmas time, I will have a new full-time job in my chosen career field and we can do a bit more celebrating than we have in years past. I would like to do either big projects for the house or maybe a trip for the two of us. And it certainly doesn’t have to be trips during this time of the year. Instead, we chose a trip for the next year that we want to do, and start actively putting money towards it. Same for any house projects we want/need to do.

I do need to check and see if my Mom happens to still have the blueprints to the stockings Fwing (my grandmother) used to make for all of us. I should get photos of those stockings as well. They are GORGEOUS. I want to try my hand at making some. The local library here has sewing machines that I can use, which would make the bulk of the stocking easier and less time consuming. The beading will have to be done by hand, but I am actually looking forward to that.