Fall/Winter Update

Woman In Total Control of Herself

I've been neglecting my blog while I work on managing my SAD symptoms. Light therapy lamp, walking, listening to music, and making an effort to be social have been helping. Still, I want to give in to the urge to hibernate and eat sweets and carbs. Some days have been better than others and some days have been worse. I'm hanging in there.

Speaking of urges, I believe it was the new moon in October when I felt compelled to make an offering of incense. My bedroom windowsill is now decorated with chakra stones on one side and spirit bowls on the other. Meditated somewhat consistently in the evenings. Read Living Earth Devotional by Clea Danaan somewhat consistently in the mornings.

My Halloween celebration was pretty relaxed. Hid in plain sight at work with my lazy witch costume (pictured above). When I got home from work, I had dinner then handed out candy while I did some laundry and watched The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. The next day I went to a Day of the Dead Dance.

Not sure if I'll be better about observing sabbats and esbats now that my spouse is back from a month-long trip out of the country, but it'll be nice having someone to read me the Yule meditation from Magical Meditations.

Any tips for easy new moon and full moon celebrations in winter? What are you doing for the Winter Solstice?

Pagan Pride Day 2018

A Chronicle of the Events of Sunday, September 30, 2018

As my spouse and I were getting gas, I remembered we forgot to grab our canned food donations, so I texted my friend that we would pick her up shortly. We arrived at Bataan Park around 10 o'clock in the morning.

We got raffle tickets for our donations but none of us won anything. We also didn't stay long enough to complete the scavenger hunt. Since my spouse and I sold a used car the previous day, we had plenty of spending money.

I got a lavender spice aromatherapy balm (finally, after 3 free neck rubs at various events), a Llewellyn witch calendar, and plenty of food and drink: lemonade, strawberry waffles, one of my spouse's vegetarian tacos... I was also able to tip for my free 5-minute chair massage and a chakra reading session. There was interesting art to look at and some personal care and food items to sample.

The weather seemed pleasantly warm to me, but it got a little too hot for my friend, so we left around noon. We both dozed in the car while my spouse drove. Other than my friend not feeling very well, it was a nice day.

Full Moon September 2018

The full moon snuck up on me again. I was not prepared for it. However, I did admire how big and bright it was as I was leaving a String Quartets concert.

Mabon 2018

I switched out my yellow altar cloth with an orange one so now my altar is covered in orange and brown. My spouse read me another Magical Meditation. Started using my light therapy lamp that I bought last year, so hopefully I'll be better about posting regularly. Happy Fall!

New Moon September 2018

I just got back from my first business trip and didn't have a lot of time and energy. However, I did remember to wear my crescent moon necklace. Do you have any ideas for short and simple new moon celebrations?

Full Moon August 2018

The full moon snuck up on me again. I recently downloaded a Moon Phase app to my tablet and saw that the full moon was coming this morning. This evening I made an offering of moon incense (that I picked up from Crystal Dove this afternoon) during meditation. Tonight I'm also listening to some witchy music (a Lisa Thiel playlist from Circle of the Seasons that I put together for Lammas). How do you like to celebrate the full moon?

New Moon August 2018

I didn't really do much in honor of the new moon this weekend, but I think I should still check in about the full moon intentions that I had set. Letting go of a flaky friend over the last couple of weeks has made room to spend time with friends who care about me enough to show up. I'm working on making deepening friendships a higher priority as I find balance among my relationship with my spouse, friends, and family of origin. Yesterday, I spent some time out in nature to get some fresh air and sun while a friend took my picture. This is one of my favorite photographs taken of me.

Lammas 2018

For dinner, I had three-bean plus chickpea salad, mashed potatoes, and corn on the cob. Before meditation time (~7:30 pm these days), I took a calming and invigorating shower. I set my altar with yellow and brown altar cloths and an essential oil diffuser. I scented the air with sage and orange. My spouse read me another Magical Meditation. All the regular meditating has been paying off because I didn't fall asleep this time! I was more aware of visualizing images, which included grapes. Then I ate a handful of frozen grapes.

Full Moon July 2018

Tonight, in celebration of the Full Buck Moon, I attended a Pagan Pride Day fundraiser with my spouse. Attendees were welcomed, smudged, and blessed with salt water. Quarters were called. The God and Goddess were invoked. We did some cord magick. There were "cakes and ale." Then the circle was opened but not broken.

There was some chanting throughout. I'm not sure if these were traditional or the work of someone there, so if you know the origins of these words, please let me know.

Air I am
Fire I am
Water, Earth, and Spirit I am

Weave and spin, weave and spin
This is how our work begins
Mend and heal, mend and heal
Take the dream and make it real

I am plenty
I am abundance
Filled up and overflowing
Yes, I am abundance

I enjoyed myself and my non-pagan spouse told me they had a good time too. It left me feeling empowered and feeling ready for some positive changes. Hopefully we can attend such things more often in the future. I'm grateful for feeling well enough to go to Albuquerque so often and to be able to afford gas and going out to eat.

New Moon July 2018

Lavender Festival

Had an amazing day today. I'm not sure if this counts as a spiritual experience, but I had several moments of joy. Lavender is one of my favorite scents and my spouse took me to a Lavender Festival!

I drank lavender lemonade, ate elote while listening to music, browsed the booths, sampled sweet treats, then my spouse picked up some raspberry lavender jam while I got a free neck rub with a lavender spice aromatherapy balm. On our way out, I ate a lavender pop (and a bite of my spouse's lavender ice cream cone).

Hope we can make it a tradition to attend every year. If you want to learn more, here's a link: https://www.lavenderinthevillage.org/

Full Moon June 2018

I didn't really do much in celebration of the full moon this month. In the future, I would like to get together with friends in person, but how do I find out if people are pagan-friendly? Would it be okay to have people over around the time of the full moon if I don't tell them that I'm celebrating the full moon? At least I found my crescent moon necklace. It's been missing for a while and it turned up in my travel jewelry holder, so it must have been stuck there since the last trip I took over a month ago . . . How do you celebrate the full moon?

Litha 2018

This year for Litha, I got to participate in a pagan ritual at the UU church in a relatively nearby city. My spouse accompanied me. It was a beautiful service and we had a nice little feast afterwards.

Despite being rained out of having the ritual outdoors, the indoor ritual seemed to go well. The group had different people call the quarters, faeries, and ancestors. There was an option to participate in writing down goals and burning lavender, which I watched but declined.

At home I set up my altar similar to Beltane with a blue altar cloth in exchange for the purple one. I also did another Magical Meditation. I'm glad I celebrated the Summer Solstice in multiple ways.

Deborah Blake Tarot Giveaway

As you may know, I'm a Deborah Blake fan. I follow her blog Writing the Witchy Way and I also follow her on Twitter @deborahblake. She writes both non-fiction and fiction.

Anyway, I'm writing to inform you she's doing an Everyday Witch Tarot Deck givaway! I want one. Right now I have a small Radiant Rider-Waite deck and I donated the old deck I had.

Here's what Deborah Blake tweeted this morning so you can enter too:
Look what I'm giving away! Writing the Witchy Way: Celebrating the Oracle with a Tarot Deck Giveaway http://deborahblake.blogspot.com/2018/05/celebrating-oracle-with-tarot-deck.html?spref=tw … #celebrating

Beltane 2018 Altar

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring

I haven't been good about updating this blog this winter. Part of the reason for that might be the fact that I may have Seasonal Affective Disorder. Bought a light therapy lamp, but I still need to work on managing my depression symptoms during the winter.

Despite not posting as regularly as I'd like, I have been making an effort to make time for spirituality in my life. I've been aiming to meditate at home in the evenings for about 15 minutes per day. When I am able to do this, it really helps relieve stress. I've been pretty good about attending UU services too. Other than that, I've been doing Magical Meditations on sabbats at least and need to work on consistently celebrating esbats.

This weekend, I've sort of been playing catch up. There were a couple of deaths, one in my extended family and one of my friends from college and church died too. Yesterday I did the Magical Meditation about the Underworld and today I listened to Circle In A Box in honor of the full moon. On Tuesday, I have some exciting plans for Beltane and I'll let you know how that goes.

Death & Underworld Altars