Have a Joyous Yule!

It's the Winter Solstice today. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time that the wheel of the year turns and we move toward the light. In honor of that, I often do a Yule log. I tie my wishes for the coming year to the log before I light it to offer them up to the universe. I pull some Tarot cards tonight and contemplate which chapters of my life should be closed and which should be opened.

Do you have a Yule tradition that you enjoy? Any recipes, like mulled cider or favorite wreaths? For me, Yule has usually been a fairly solitary holiday, but I'm looking forward to expanding my traditions. I'm thinking orange pomanders? I've never made those, but oranges always remind me of the sun.

Colette Baron-Reid's Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

Have you ever had a card deck follow you around? Well, this one has. Last week, I ran across it twice online among friends, and figured that I should pick it up quickly before it whomped me over the head a third time. Once was a general reading, and the other was a specific reading. I got the same card in each. So...it became mine. It arrived this morning, and it's really, really lovely. I have a couple of Colette Baron-Reid's other oracle decks, and this did not disappoint!

The art is whimsical, glowy, with a really lovely quality of light. The cards don't follow a traditional Tarot structure, but follow the lead of many oracle decks in which each card represents a self-contained idea. The deck feels gentle and positive. I decided to draw a card to start my morning, and this is the one I got: Treasure Island!

Well, hello, turtle! Hello, jackpot! According to the guidebook, this card is all about the manifestation of positive thinking and faith in abundance. The guidebook is really neat - there are interpretations of the cards for general purposes, relationships, prosperity, and protection concerns.

I think this will be my new morning ritual - drawing a card to start the day and leaving it on my desk. Do you have any card rituals that you use to get your day going?

Essential Oil Bath Fizzies

I love bath fizzies. But they're expensive, and I'm very, very cheap. I've been trying to figure out a way to make them, and I think I've succeeded. The recipe I ultimately used included ingredients I had around the house, which is the best way to do hedgewitching on a budget!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup salt (I had Epsom handy, but I think you could also use Himalayan or sea salt)
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 2 tablespoons of fractionated coconut oil (I think you could also use grapeseed or almond)
• Around fifteen drops of essential oil, depending on your tolerance for the scent
• Soap or food coloring

Gear needed:

• Large bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cupcake molds or tin
• Tablespoon

I mixed the baking soda, salt, citric acid, and coconut oil together in a large bowl until clumps started to form. I added the essential oil and soap coloring in last. I used soap coloring, because I have some that I've been trying to use up FOREVER. For essential oil, I used ylang ylang and lemon with a couple drops of jasmine, because I wanted something sunny and cheerful.

I mixed thoroughly, then spooned the mixture into my silicone baking cups. I packed the mixture in tight with the back of a tablespoon. Warning: do not fill your cupcake molds up to the brim! This mixture expands, and you'll have an unholy mess on your hands in a few hours that looks like it came from Mount Vesuvius. I learned this the hard way. You can see in the picture how my acceptable batch still has a lot of expansion bubbles on the surface.

Instead, pack your cupcake molds about half to two-thirds full. Put the molds to dry in a place they won't be disturbed for a day and ta-da! Bath fizzies!

Dragon Stones!

I went on a road trip last week to the lovely Serpent Mound in Ohio...more details on that, later! But I wanted to share with you a couple of lovely septarian spheres I picked up in the gift shop. Gorgeous, aren't they?

I haven't had septaria before, so I was curious to learn about them. They're old, very old...like 50 million years old. They're made up of a variety of minerals, like calcite, aragonite, quartz, chalcedony, and limestone. In these specimens, the brown stripes are aragonite. The yellow parts are probably calcite.

Metaphysically, septaria are stones for shamanic journeying, for privacy, and invisibility. They're called Dragon Stones...and they look exactly like the scales of a dragon. They're excellent protective stones for shielding.

I've put these two in a little nest in my altar...maybe someday, dragons will hatch!

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 30: Make a Commitment to Yourself

I think my takeaway from this past month of magic is a need for structure. I need to commit to getting outdoors daily, to setting aside time for reading and goal-chasing, for making adequate containers for the structures I want to build in my life. I tend to spend a lot of time on auto-pilot, and it's time to interrupt that with some intentional activity.

Thank you for joining me during this month of magic. 

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 29: Astrology

Today's challenge is to find one's moon sign. Mine's Libra. In my spiritual tradition, the moon sign is all about the tools that one has used in the past to accomplish one's goals...and these tools need to be set aside in order to grow and learn new ones. My takeaway from a moon in Libra is a need to be more decisive and not agonize endlessly over choices. Libra has a lot of positive qualities, but endless vacillation isn't one of them.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 28: Magical Podcasts

I read Elizabeth Gilbert's BIG MAGIC last year. I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the exercises designed to push us beyond fear and redefine it. I was thrilled to find that there are podcasts for the book:
https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/

Do you have suggestions for other fun podcasts?

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 27: Healing

This last year has been a year of healing for me. Sometimes, I think the universe puts the breaks on my life every so often to get me to slow down. This year has been like that. The Hanged Man tarot card reminds me of this, those times of suspension.

But I've been focusing on self-care. Sleep, meditation, crystals, and learning to set better limits. Energy is finite, and I can't do everything. Fighting the flow is futile, and learning to go with it is something I'm learning to do.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 26: Sigils

I dream up a sigil every once in awhile that I get obsessed with. Sometimes, I doodle these on my body with henna or scribble them on paper to put under a rock in the garden. I haven't found one yet that I love enough to commit to forever ink, though.

One that comes close is the image of Serpent Mound, a serpent devouring an egg. There's something very tranquil about that place, a meadow in the middle of the forest. I'd love to carry some sense of that with me.

Is there a sigil that you've loved enough to return to over time?

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 25: Esbats

I've talked before about five ways to celebrate the new moon. I tend to use the new moons for goal setting and evaluation of how the past month's plans have gone. I do try to schedule fewer things for new moons and practice more self-care. But new moons are awesome for planting seeds and beginning projects. They're also great for bringing things to a close and honoring the purging and removals that one does during the waning moon. I liken it to cleaning a closet...I spend the waning moon getting rid of what no longer serves me, so that by the new moon, I'm looking into the dark of an empty closet.

After a full moon, when the moon is waxing, is time to think about what I want to bring into my life. Where do I want to go? What can I build in the next two weeks? How does this compare with what I've done in other moon cycles throughout the year?

I do celebrate full moons, too. This is the height of luminous energy, like noon in the night sky. I usually attend Sage Goddess's online full moon celebrations - they're beautiful and very calming. I always learn something new about gods and goddesses, stones, and scents during these.

How about you? How do you honor the moon in your work?

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 24: Sabbats

I try to be diligent about celebrating the Sabbats. I sometimes have to celebrate a day off in one direction or another, because I like my privacy. But they’re good markers for me that relate to the cycles of the year.

Mabon, the fall equinox, is coming up. This is the second harvest. I’ll be looking at what I’ve accomplished this year and bringing some projects to completion. Since it is an equinox of equal light and dark, I’ll also be thinking about ways to bring balance to my life, like setting work hours, devoting time to what really matters, and making sure that I haven’t been neglecting areas of my life. A Tarot card reading will also figure in here, somewhere.

Do you have plans for Mabon? 

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 23: Book of Shadows/Grimoire

I love notebooks and blank books. I love scribbling, pasting pictures inside, recording Tarot spreads, and drawing designs for gardens. I guess you could call these my grimoires, though I do more journaling with them than anything else.

I would be mortified if I got hit by a bus and someone else were to read them. They're disorganized, battered, and generally a mess.

My online Book of Shadows on Pinterest is much better organized. It's here: https://www.pinterest.com/bellebookandbra/pins/

How about you? Is your Book of Shadows well-organized? I have one friend who makes an index for hers!

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 22: Self-Purification

I've talked before about how much I enjoy a good purifying bath with Epsom salts. I try to make time for that every day.

But in the summers, I think the best purification can be found by swimming. I learned to swim in the ocean last year, and I can't believe it took me this long. I'll be making sure to spend some time today swimming, letting the water support me and letting it rinse away everything.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 21: Symbols

Today's challenge is about symbols. I've spent a good deal of time studying alchemical, Reiki, Tarot, and astrological symbols, but I realized that it's been a long time since I've worked with runes. Many years ago, I made my own set by painting some milk quartz stones. I might try to do that again, maybe with glass marbles.

Are there any symbols that you return to, over and over again? Tarot is like that for me.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 20: Ethics

Ethics are pretty simple in my religion: "An ye harm none, do as ye will." Pretty straightforward, eh?

If I were to choose to do harm to another, the threefold law kicks into effect. Whatever I do to others, positive or negative, comes back to me three times over.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 19: Sacred Space/Circle Casting

I have a permanent circle in my backyard, a garden. I have markers for the elemental directions, and a large flat stone in the middle as an altar. At the moment, the altar is completely obscured by some overenthusiastic crown vetch, but I know it’s there.

I have small altars all over the house, on window sills and the fireplace mantle. Sometimes, they’re not any more elaborate or obvious than a handful of stones in a planter. My main altar is in my office, facing east. I like to hang a mirror over it to magnify the candlelight. I do redecorate the altar with the equinoxes and solstices. Someday, I want to get a circular rug to put there to mark the directions, but I haven’t found the right thing yet. I keep intending on repainting that room turquoise, and I’ll likely get to that this fall. I hope.

Do you have a favorite altar or sacred space you’ve created?  

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 18: Elemental Magic

I admit, I stick to the classical elements in the classical directions:

Air – the eastern direction, mind and intellect, sylphs

Fire – the southern direction, will and strength, salamanders

Water – the western direction, emotions, undines

Earth – the northern direction, material things and prosperity, gnomes

I call them in a circle, beginning in the east and going clockwise. I release them beginning in the east and going counterclockwise. Spirit, of course, is in the middle, so I visualize this as a winding or unwinding spiral.

I’ve built a garden in my backyard that corresponds to the directions, with plants that correspond to each direction. There’s a flat rock I unearthed in the middle that I use as an altar.

It throws me for a loop when I’m in ceremony with one of my teachers who uses the correspondences in the Native American tradition. In her tradition, there are two axes: the masculine axis, which is about air (west) and fire (east); and the feminine axis, which is about water (south) and earth (north). 

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 17: Raise Some Energy

So I'm not a person who dances when other people are watching.

It's one thing to melt into a crowd, but I'm not much for being on stage. I think that's what caused me to ultimately quit belly dance - the performance requirements.

Every so often, though, I put on a hip scarf and jingle around the house. The cats find this to be fascinating. I never totally got out of the habit, as most of the magical teachers I've had in the last several years have insisted that dance is a way to ground spirituality, to bring teaching into the body.

Do you dance? I promise not to look.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 16: Connect with Mother Earth

This is the time of year when the trees are bearing fruit. I can see the crabapples on my crabapple trees. I've been eyeing my Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and Stayman Winesap apples all summer. The Stayman Winesap has only produced one apple. I'm hoping it's worth the wait.

One crabapple tree is my favorite. I love spreading a blanket out below its branches in the summertime. I think that tree has read most of the books I've read this year. It's also been my shelter for many a summer nap! There's nothing quite like sleeping outside in the garden, I think, for grounding and a general feeling of peace.

Do you have a favorite tree that brings you back in touch with Mother Earth?

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 15: Kitchen Witchery

Today's challenge is all about kitchen witchery. I love the everyday aspect of this, from blessing food to dropping (safe) crystals in water, and growing my own herbs.

In the spirit of today's challenge, I am going out to harvest herbs today. The catmint is past its prime, but the sage and oregano are ready to go. There's also tons of mint ready. I like to hang the ones the cats won't bother around the kitchen for a little extra scent while they dry. Though I do sometimes use a food dehydrator, there's something about doing this process slowly that I think leads to better results.

Hopefully, I'll be consistent enough with my harvesting this year to be able to make gifts of herbs for the holidays. I've got a vision of putting them in nicely-labeled mason jars. Fingers crossed I can get organized enough to make this happen!