Gratitude Tuesday

So I'm not sure if I am going to try and pull myself back into blogging by doing gratitude posts on Tuesdays, daily, or on select days during the week (although one should always acknowledge and show gratitude to some extent every day) but I figure it's a good starting point to say at least Tuesdays.

I'm grateful for Autumn. It's my favorite season, although Winter likes to try and get up in there too. A lot of people see Autumn as the season of everything dying, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with dying, especially when one considers that death makes room for other living beings to have a turn at life, and that, according to reincarnation/afterlife theories, we must die in order to experience the next part of our existence cycle.

But I digress! Autumn brings pumpkins and squash and warm days followed by cool nights. It's perfect hoodie weather, and even more perfect snuggling weather. Autumn cooking magazines, pumpkin iced coffee, crisp cool air, the smell of wood fire coming from chimneys, the leaves changing color as the trees wind into sleep for the season...

I am grateful.

I am also grateful for this bar of dark chocolate and bottle of Peach White Honest Tea on my desk.

Love and Shimmery Light,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Oil Perfume magick

I gave myself permission to skip a few weeks to get other stuff done :) And here I am again!

There is something magickal about perfume. We all are hard-wired to love beautiful scents, and to dislike and avoid unpleasant scents. Scent is the sense that is most easily identifiable and can jettison you back to a memory quicker than any other sense (like your grandmother's perfume).

A study (from somewhere made by someone :P lol) showed that 98% of women are more confident in themselves when they wear perfume. We wear perfume for a multitude of reasons:

• to feel sexy or beautiful to ourselves
• to feel sexy or beautiful to others
• to cover up odors
• to give ourselves a little bit of indulgence
• to perk up your energy with the scent
• to relax with the scent
• to lift your mood

Perfumes can come in a variety of types: spray, powder, incense, solid dab-on, aromatic bathing waters, or oils. Oil perfumes are my favorite! One reason for this is that they are so easy to make (just mix and go!) and yet you can make them as complex and experimental as you want.

Another reason is that oil perfumes are one of the earliest known forms of perfume, rivalled only by incense and possibly water-based perfumes. Ancient women, be they Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Roman, Greek, Persian or elsewhere would massage their bodies with oil perfumes, sometimes getting as creative as to rub a different scent on each body part. (Jasmine on their necks, Rose on their breasts, Patchouli on their thighs, etc) So, using oil perfumes makes me feel like I'm doing this ancient, ages-old ritual celebrating my femininity by adorning myself with oil perfumes. It's like being an ancient Egyptian Pharoahess! It's lovely to pamper yourself with the fruits of nature and give yourself the energy of a queen.

Most oil perfumes consist of essential oils mixed in a carrier oil, since pure essential oils can overwhelm or even damage your skin undiluted (with the exception of lavender, which is fine to use 'neat' or undiluted). Essential oils are distilled aromatic essences of plants that have been extracted through a variety of methods. There are synthetic oils out there created in a chemist's lab, but they are not nearly as healthy or natural-smelling as true essential oils. You can usually tell the difference by looking at the label:

1. If it reads 'fragrance oil' or 'perfume oil' instead of essential oil, then it is probably not real.
2. If it doesn't include the scientific, botanical name (for example, Callitris intratropica for Blue Cypress) then it might not be real.
3. Some essential oils are cheaper, and some are more expensive. If all types of oil are priced the same, they're more than likely fake. Similarly, particular essential oils like jasmine and rose are extremely expensive. Aura Cacia's current price for 0.125fl oz of Rose Otto is currently going for $79.99, and the same amount of Rose Absolute for $43.50. If a price on a rare essential oil seems too good to be true, it is probably fake or at least pre-diluted. Reputable carriers will put a note on the label specifying that an oil is diluted.

Truthfully, experimenting with essential oil blends can be somewhat expensive, if you're buying 15 oils and seeing what kinds of combinations you can make. My advice is, determine your budget, then go to the website of a reputable essential oil seller, such as Aura Cacia (http://www.auracacia.com/), Ananda Apothecary (http://www.anandaapothecary.com/), Mountain Rose Herbs (http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/), etc and scroll through their sites, making a list of scents you'd like to try, and their prices. Don't forget to factor into your budget in the cost of diluting oils, such as sweet almond oil or jojoba oil, or a blend. Create an order of preference of what you'd like to try, and using that and your  judgement about their prices, perhaps buy 1-4 oils that you can test-blend small amounts.

Some usually more affordable oils include but certainly aren't limited to: Amyris, Basil, Benzoin, Cedarwood, Clary Sage, Lemongrass, Lime, Marjoram, Niaouli, Oak Moss, Sweet Orange, Patchouli, Peppermint, Pine, Rosemary, Spruce, and Tangerine.

Personally, I love a simple mixture of Patchouli and Vanilla (vanilla comes in an absolute form, or I have used vanilla extract before as well). Lime and Basil are always a fun, sparkly combination. I've been meaning to get some Benzoin and try mixing it with my sweet orange, but haven't gotten around to it.

So anyway, within your budgetary limitations, GO WILD!!! It won't take long until you'll find what oils resonate best with you, and find some perfect combinations for you!

Love and Shimmery Light,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

L is for Love

Hi. I'm Larry. The Love Chipmunk. Brr. I'm cold. I need some lovin'.

Love. When you boil right down to it, it's what everyone wants.
Love. There's something about it.
Love. It's all around us, floating and flowing and surrounding and cradling each of us, even when we can't feel it.
Love. Sure, it's all around us, and yet we all want more of it, and the more we give of it, the more there is in the entire Universe for all of us.

I was always very leery of 'love spells' throughout my first few years as a pagan. People who cast love spells seemed to me like they were either A. casting them to attract someone in particular, which just has bad idea written all over it, or B. using it as an excuse to not go out and socialize and actually DO things that would truly allow them to FIND love.

As I go on with my life, however, I'm starting to realize that however you ask for love, whether it's specific or generic or avoiding some other situation, the universe answers you. And maybe it doesn't answer you in the way that you think, but it does answer you and provide you with what you need.

For example, maybe you cast a love spell to attract a mate. The universe maybe gets your request for romantic love but sees that what you need more right now is the compassionate, unconditional love that a pet companion provides and you find a dog or cat that connects that well with you. Or maybe the universe senses that you need companionship-love more, and so it sends you an excellent friend.

Or maybe even when you send your wish for love out into the universe, maybe love is all the same deep down beneath it all, and the universe can't differentiate, it just sends us love. Then, maybe the form that it sends us love in determines how we humans categorize that love. The Universe sent me a bunny, so I interpret this bunny's love as pet love. The Universe sent my mother to visit me, so I interpret her love as a mother's love. Maybe love is all just the same and other circumstances determine how we view that love. Such as Love+Attraction = romantic love. Love+Time Spent+Similar Interests = friendship. Eh? Maybe? Just an idea.

Anyway, so it would be fun to come up with a ritual and/or energy working that holds three purposes: gratitude for the love we have in our lives, a gift of love out into the universe, and  an expression of joy and hope, and invitation for all the love that is to come in the future. It could be done by yourself, with a loved one, or maybe even in a group. How powerful would that be??!!

Always Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Jasmine

I used to absolutely hate Jasmine until I realized I was using the fake stuff.

We ran out of sandalwood soap, and I was busy when Tim asked me what I wanted as far as soap, and I said something along the lines of *grunt* "eh? uh... yeah." And so he grabbed... a-this!:

Bee & Flower Jasmine Soap. Holy frikken moley. Yes, I just said Holy Frikken Moley. Well, typed it.

And it smells REALLY RIDICULOUSLY WONDERFUL. Granted, I know it's all natural fragrance, but I don't know if it's all only Jasmine fragrance, but since Jasmine essential oil is uber expensive, it's probably "enhanced" by some other flower. So anyway, me smelling all good after getting out the shower got me all curious in Jasmine, enough to write a short post about my findings, and other tidbits of knowledge I picked up from various places throughout the years.

According to Wikipedia, Jasmine is actually a genus, not a species. But there are specieses of Jasmine. Just, more than one like I had previously thought. Like, 200 SPECIES!!! And they're native to "the old world" (I chuckled when I saw Wiki say that) in tropical/warm places, mostly in Asia and Southeast Asia, but also popping up in the Middle-East, Africa, Europe, etc. It is also apparently related to olives, which is just weird.

Totally not an olive. Totally gorgeous photo of a blooming Jasmine by BarbaraDin on sxc.hu

You can make tea with Jasmine. I admit, I'm not a big green tea fan, and the only tea with Jasmine I can ever seem to find is green. Oh but to find some black or white tea with jasmine in it! But I digress. Apparently it's really awesome and sometimes the actual little petals are in there, not just some dumb flavoring and it's all smelly and pretty and sensuous and I really want some tea. Now.

Multiple sources cite Jasmine as an aphrodisiac, and I think I've heard about it as a really good remedy for menstrual cramps as well, both of which I have yet to try. All I know is when I shower with the jasmine soap I feel all soft and feminine and it makes me wanna put on harem pants.

Ok that's all for today. I'm not gonna lie, I didn't put much effort into that. :)

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Om Shanti Naturals Salt & Sugar Scrub Review

Last birthday, my sister completely broke character and told me in advance what she was going to buy me in advance. The reason she told me was because she wasn't sure what SCENT to get me.

I've been on this green beauty kick for a little over a year now, thanks to Julie Gabriel's Green Beauty Guide, which has become my bible for avoiding the noxious, harmful chemicals that cosmetics, hair products, body and facial care products dump into our delicate systems every day. (Yeah, pretty much anything you can pick up in your local grocery store beauty aisles contains petrochemicals, harsh irritants, carcinogenic compounds, and other lovely things that support your un-health.)

Anyway, Jenni was aware of this, and she did her homework. She found this company called Om Shanti Naturals, and got me a Patchouli Vanilla Sugar and Salt Scrub. The company is run by this wonderful, creative lady named Kate, who I met in person at the Collegeville Winter Farmers Market after having already used all of the Patchouli Vanilla scrub and loving it to death. Sadly, I did not get the opportunity to meet her Vice President of Marketing, an orange cat named Loiosh, but here's to staying hopeful!

The company logo. And it IS all crap-free. Not a single bad ingredient, it's all pure.

The stuff is amazing. I love it. It's basically a scrub made of sea salt, sugar, moisturizing oils and essential oils to make you soft and smelling delicious. It comes in this cute, re-usable wide-mouthed jar with a screw top, and when you're in the shower, after you've washed, you take a handful of this stuff and rub it all over your body. The result is that you get a REALLY awesome exfoliation, and it leaves the oil on your skin.

I know what you're thinking, OIL on my SKIN?? But don't panic. It's not greasy at all. The oils are natural, like grapeseed and apricot kernel oil -- these are the kinds of oils massage therapists use, the kinds that glide over your skin and feed it moisture and trace vitamins and wonderfulness.

So here's the thing, when you rinse the scrub off, the salt and sugar will go down your drain (it's ok, it won't do any clogging, I promise, but it will make your shower floor slippery, so be careful) and the oil will remain on your skin. When you dry off, it will transfer to your towel. Again, these are massage-therapist quality oils, they will not harm your towels at all. The towels will take off the excess oil that your skin doesn't need, leaving a slight amount still on your skin. Stay in the bathroom for another minute or five, and it will soak into your skin leaving you lightly scented, soft, supple, and simply lovely to touch. And you will stay SMOOTH all day long.

The other thing is, if you've never had a bathing experience with essential oils, you're in for a real treat. We're so used to synthetic fragrances in our lives, that essential oils can be a little overwhelming if you aren't expecting them. They truly are, however, a lesson in luxuriousness, and to boot, each essential oil has its own physical and emotional health benefits. When you take a bath with essential oils, they work into the steam in the room, swirl all around you, and envelop you. For me, I always have a keener, more vibrant sense of smell whenever I'm through showering with essential oil-infused body oils.

There are more scents than just the Patchouli Vanilla one, though. Personally, that one is my favorite so far, with its earthy, sweet scent-hue. I close my eyes and I'm standing under a sparkling waterfall in a magical forest with vanilla beans hanging from the lush greenery, and the smell of clean, pure soil below, nourishing the sky-high trees.

However, my boyfriend is not so fond of Patchouli. Right now, I have the Kyphi scrub, and it too is delightful; she uses a simplified, delicately beautiful balance of the main scents that make Kyphi smell like Kyphi: frankincense, myrrh, cinnamon, and spearmint. It too is delicious, but I do love the Patchouli Vanilla.

So, long story short, you need to try this stuff. And her other stuff. Up next on my list of Om Shanti products to try? I'm particularly keen on trying the Tangerine Vanilla Lip Balm, Cinnamon Vanilla Massage and Bath Oil, and the Spearmint Calendula Soap.

You can find her website here: http://www.omshantinaturals.com/ and she's on Etsy too.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Totally skipping last week. J is for Jacuzzi Magick!!

Seriously. Who doesn't love jacuzzis??!

It is a pure crying shame that there is a jacuzzi in my own bathroom and yet I rarely use it, mostly because of the sheer amount of water required to fill it up. And I was brushing my teeth this morning, thinking these thoughts along with the fact that I hadn't done a PBP post for the past two weeks (oops) and I suddenly realized, I'd never really heard anything about jacuzzi magick or lore or anything.

A jacuzzi is basically a modernized version of a hot springs with lots of mini geysers. Most people would automatically tag an elemental association as water, however, the jacuzzi is uniquely poised to be associated with all elements: water fills it, air bubbles flow through it to make it jacuzzi-y and awesome, heat is applied (fire?) and of course, the jacuzzi itself is the vessel that holds it all together. So if you're doing any sort of elemental workings, it would suit particularly for water, or for a balance of all four elements.

I'm not big on spell-writing, nor too good at ritual writing, but I am decent at offering suggestions on what to do with things! So here are some ideas for using a jacuzzi in your magickal workings:
--Cleansing energy work, since jacuzzis are essentially a bath and baths are for cleaning
--Relaxation, meditation
--Beauty energy work, particularly if you also indulge in a facial and hair mask, and really let the steam set in and open everything up :)
--For energy working that may involve a hot spring of any sort, a jacuzzi is a more accessible (and sometimes safer) way of working with these energies.
--Love and sex energy work, to heat things up a little ;D
--Releasing and banishing. If you sit in the water and meditate upon shedding all of your cares into the water, then pull the plug, everything will release down the drain.

Pretty much any bath magick can be performed in a jacuzzi, except for one warning: any herbs, spicies, oils, or any form of additive to the water might gunk up or harm the motors in your jacuzzi. Don't ruin your jacuzzi. It's probably super expensive.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Pagan Blog Project: I is for Imagination!

This was my most fun post to do so far. :)

When my friends and I were about middle school age, we discovered Wicca. This led us into a whole slew of experimental things: spells, rituals, scrying, meditation, but the most vivid, fond memory I have of this point in our lives was past life regressions.

We would sit there in the dark at sleepovers, bathed in candlelight, and Person A would lay her head on a pillow, Person B would sit and stroke the forehead of Person A, and Person C would hold her hand, helping to ground Person A. B would then talk A down into a trance, open doors, and ask questions about who the person is, what's going on around them, etc.

The friends who thought it would be dumb were always the ones who got really into it, and pulled past lives out of their psyche that they simply could not have made up. They always wowed themselves. Others would be skeptical, and say, "Well, how do you know I'm not just making this up?"

This is where the notion of imagination comes in. When you are past-life regressing, scrying, divining, astral-projecting, are you just making it up, even if you think or worry that you might just be making it up? I know I have a hard time quelling the skeptic in me. You may just think you're imagining things and that what you're experiencing isn't truly real.

I have two approaches to answer this issue, based on the same principle, however, to bridge the gap between imagination and reality. First: are they so different? If you are imagining something, who is to say that the thing you are "imagining" is not real? Define real. Define imagination. You probably said something like, well, real things are tangible things you can feel. Desks are real because you can feel them. Smells are real because you can smell them. The problem with this is that reality doesn't equal tangible, necessarily. Emotions aren't primary physical (even though they induce physical responses) but they are real. Ideals are real, such as beauty, justice, truth, even though the definition thereof may vary from person to person. Just because something isn't tangible doesn't mean it isn't real.

Everything that happens to you happens in your mind. Tangible things are really inside your head: your hand physically touches the desk, but your mind is what feels the desk, through the conduit of your brain. Shoot some Novocaine into your hand, and you can touch the desk all you want, but you can't feel it because it's not making its way to your mind.

Therefore: what is in your mind is real to you. Your mind defines your own reality. Some realities are shared: you can touch a desk together with someone else. Other realities aren't shared: perhaps you don't like desks and the other person loves desks; how you feel about things is a part of what defines reality. This is a different reality for you, but each reality is equally valid.

Therefore, again: anything you imagine is real... possibly only to you, albeit, but still real.

Second argument: Let's say you spend some time on the Astral plane and hanging out with some faeries, and you come back to the physical plane and disbelieve the entire thing, dismissing it as, "Oh, that wasn't real, I just must have made it all up inside my head."

BUT who is to say that reality does not impress itself upon your memory and imagination? Who is to say that you have that much control to make up such a rich environment yourself? Is your imagination really yours? Or do you draw the things you imagine from things that already exist, that already happened? Is it even possible to imagine something that doesn't exist? Imagine a color that doesn't exist. Imagine a shape that doesn't exist. It's almost like you can't imagine something without it existing, or at least with the idea of it existing.

So next time you're imagining something wishing it were real, who knows? Maybe it is, somewhere.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

H is for Herbal Healing

So, I've been reading a lot lately about Herbal Healing. Part of this is because of the fact that I'm starting to synthesize my An Leabhar Súilíneach (working title for my Book of Shadows, since I didn't like the shadow part, so I went with a light theme... Book of Shimmers! Except in Irish Gaelic since it sounds cooler, which, by the way, I absolutely do not speak a lick of, so if this is incorrectly translated/adjective-conjugated/whatever please let me know :D it's a work in process.) and I really wanted to have something sort of guide on how to use the fruits of nature to heal what ails you. Modern medicine worries the crap out of me sometimes, particularly with things like antibiotics, blood pressure meds (which I was prescribed at... 23??!) and other such drastic measures that are really having a slippery slope effect on our health, when things can be treated in natural ways.

So anyway. I've been gathering information from several different places. I'm loving the Medicine Woman's Roots Blog (http://bearmedicineherbals.com/), and the following two books, both of which interest me but I am somewhat taking with a grain of salt until I can actually see some of these things in action:

Heinerman's Encyclopedia of Healing Herbs & Spices by John Heinerman

and Indian Herbalogy of North America by Alma R. Hutchens



I guess what weirds me out about it is that one herb can have a whole slew of problems that it helps to correct. Goldenseal, for example, Heineman lists as being useful in healing eye inflammations, candida, mouth sores, drug addiction, poison ivy, insulin dependency in diabetics, sinus relief, and preventing blood clots.

And I'm sitting there, reading all that, going, "...what?" and trying to figure out if it's a miracle plant or just completely and utterly overstated and overinflated.

I also like to try and look for different sources giving the same information. For example, both books list the entire blackberry plant (roots, leaves and berries) as being useful in treating diarrhea. Both books also refer to cotton root as being helpful in delayed/obstructed menstruation.

Some of the claims are a little bit tall-tale-seeming. For example, Heineman lists a magical headache cure as making a tea with water and dried basil, cooling it and adding a little witch hazel and dabbing it on the forehead. I believe it a little more now that that medication you put on your forehead, with the annoying commercials on the Weather Channel, Head on (Head on! Apply directly to the forehead! Head on! Apply directly to the forehead! Head on! Apply directly to the forehead), exists, but I still have yet to try that one.

I'm also curious about learning the Bach Flower Remedies. Those sound interesting.

So, without further ado, some cures for what ails you:

Heartburn? Boil 5-7 tablespoons in a quart of water, add honey to taste and sip.

Hypertension? Evening Primrose.

Hangover? Barberry.

Sexual frigidity? Damiana!!!

Enjoy!

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Reading Challenge and Elemental Magick

Tim had two books on Elemental Magick lying around, so I thought I'd give them a peek. They are as follows:

Elemental Magick by DJ Conway aaaaaaaaaaand...

Elemental Witch by Tammy Sullivan.

I quite fancied both of them. I had done a post on air magick previously, even though I'd never really personally worked with air magick too much, I really just thought of various items and practices that rely on the use of air, and thought, wouldn't it be neat to work this into a practice?

Each chapter in both books focuses on one of the elements, with DJ including Spirit, which I also found helpful. Tammy's setup is as follows: each chapter gives an explanation on what kind of personality traits, interests, skills, and positive and negative attributes a Water Witch/Fire Witch etc might have. She then continues with elemental lore, including aspects of nature and creatures that align with each element (i.e. Crossroads for Earth, Birds/Bees/Butterflies for Air, etc.), including explanations and myths. The next section for the same element includes practical uses, using the element in different states of being (i.e. sea, snow, ice, rain, wells, etc for water), some useful items and recipes associated with the element, and finally, correspondences.

DJ structures her chapters slightly differently. She begins each elemental chapter detailing how the element relates to us, and a little bit of lore. She briefly touches on correspondences, and then transitions right into a detailed list of elementals, spiritual beings and mystical creatures associated with the element. The final part of each chapter consists of a guided meditation (that you can record onto a CD if you wish) and spell recipes.

If I had to compare the two, I have to say, I really truly enjoyed Tammy's book. DJ's was good, and I liked all the detailed exploration of a wide range of different elemental beings, but I felt like Tammy's writing offered more varied information, instead of just focusing on beings and spells. Tammy gave more imagery that gives you an aesthetic sense of the element, while still touching on a practical side. I really enjoyed her writing and insight.

For future reading, Sullivan's Pagan Anger Magick: Positive Transformations from Negative Energies looks particularly interesting. Not many Pagans would want to come close to exploring that area, since anger is so unpredictable.

There are most certainly some books by DJ Conway that I very much want to read.  I've read By Oak and Ash and Thorn, and Celtic Magick. I'd like to read Moon Magick, Norse Magick, Magickal Mermaids and Water Creatures, the Ancient Art of Faery Magick, A Witch's Travel Guide to Astral Realms, and a whole bunch of others.

Anyway. READ THESE BOOKS! They're awesome. (I actually paused writing this and started reading a Witch's Travel Guide to Astral Realms already on Google Books! It's neat. Read it.)

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

Handfastings is for H, briefly.

I didn't get a chance to post Friday or the friday before that or the friday before that because I'm super lazy.



So, Handfastings. This is an interesting term that can encompass a whole variety of meanings:

  --As a synonym for marriage

  --As a synonym for engagement (i.e. kinda like a practice marriage, or a test marriage, which I believe is its origin, at least in the Celtic world.)

  --As a fancy and/or meaningful addition to an otherwise non-Pagan wedding ceremony

Totally and shamelessly lifted from dailywicca.com.

All of these things are just fine, but handfastings really resonate more with me as a marriage in and of itself. Sure, the part with the cords are symbolic and fancy, like in the third meaning I listed, but I do think that one can be handfasted without actual handfasting cords. The idea is that you're giving your hand to the other person to hold forever. All the fancy stuff, cords and candles, something borrowed, something blue really all just kind of falls away when compared to the fact that this ceremony is happening because you want to make it so that someone you love is never lonely without you again. The fancy stuff is fun, but you are fastening your hand to theirs, before the earth, before the people, and before the Gods.

That being said, a kickass dance party afterwards can't hurt. ;)

That's all I can manage for today. I'm surprised I even did this considering my laziness.

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

ZOMGESBATS!!! Of the full variety... (Pagan Blog Project)

Hey hey hey!!

Esbats! Who doesn't love Esbats? I mean, seriously, not only is it more fun, but you can take a walk in the darker areas of your surroundings (i.e. no street lights) and actually see that tree before you run into it!

Anyway, so at 4qf, they hold full and new moon services for each esbat, which are fun, and totally member-run, and usually include dinner which is nice. However, it's a three hour drive over there, and making a three hour drive twice a month isn't much of an option.

I've never been big on rituals, though, at least not in the normal sense. The whole calling quarters, drawing a circle with the athame, and saying flouncy poetic words to incite some sort of magickal working for that month following, etc was never really my thing. I really take joy in simpler rituals. For example, there's something very meditative in pouring an offering of milk on the roots of your Heart Tree (yes I stole that term from a Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones, but I really love the term, and I use it as  referring to a tree you have a particular affinity with).

And sometimes you can customize these simple rituals (I like that, maybe that'll be my 'S' post - a list of simple rituals... Simptuals!!!!) to correspond with which moon it is. Full moons in a whole bunch of cultures have a specific name, depending on which month the moon falls in. And there's not just one system of naming moons, as you will see here: http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonnames.htm. For me, it's fun looking at all the possibilities that any particular moon can be named, and picking one or two or even making up your own names! So, according to that list, the Full Moon last night could have been the Fish Moon, Sleepy Moon, Windy Moon (definitely, if you were in Southeast PA last night, haha), Big Famine Moon, Moon When Eyes are Sore from the Bright Snow, Moon of Winds, Chaste Moon, or Death Moon.

You know what's funny though? There really aren't any names for new moons. Maybe that's a fun project, make up your own names for the new moons!

So here are some ideas for Simptuals for Esbats!
 -- Lay out on the hood of your car, or in a field, and just moon-gaze. La romantique ;)
 -- Feed your grass Moon Energy! Take an ice cube or two, let it melt in a patch of grass where the moon is visible, and the ice will feed moon energies through it. You know, if your lawn sucks or anything. ;)
 -- Celebrate the fullness of the moon with a glass of honeyed milk or mead.
 -- Make Full Moon balls! Decorate a styrofoam sphere with glow in the dark paint, glitter, etc and make it pretty and moon-like! Awesome if you have kids.
 -- Bake cookies shaped like the moon.

...ok I'm out of cute ideas at the moment. I have a cold. It makes me uggghhhhhh so I can't think straight. I'm sure you'll think of something cute and creative. :)

<3 Sapphire Orchid<3

E is for Expressing Spirituality Every Day

Yeah, that's got two "E" words, next week I'll be out of "E"s.

In our world, day and age, there seems to be a separation of spirituality and secularity (is that even a word?!) that runs rampant. Organized religions present a very good example of this (I went to church, ok, that was my good deed for the week) but I'm sure the chasm between is probably also an issue sometimes for individual practitioners of any religion. It's easy to get disconnected.

And I mean, I do it too. I'm not constantly thinking about how to be a good Pagan when I'm at work, or working out, or any of that. I go to The Land to rest and reconnect with nature when I can, but the rest of the time, how do you drive like a Pagan? How do you do your job like a Pagan? How do you check Facebook like a Pagan?

I guess what I'm trying to say is that Paganism for me isn't just a thing that happens when I burn some incense or meditate or go to Four Quarters. It's a way of life. It's a lens through which I can experience the world. I feel like part of being a Pagan, for me, is finding ways to express my spirituality every day.

For example, I love walking through Center City Philadelphia on my lunch break and just feeling the way my muscles move, feel the sidewalk under my shoes, watch squirrels and birds forage for food on the sidewalks. Is it nature? No. Is it a ritual or spell? Not really. Is it really that spiritual? Only really if you make it; only if you put the awareness into it, and say, this is what I'm experiencing now.

And you might say "well, feeling your muscles move and watching birds isn't really expressing spirituality" but it is... you're expressing it to yourself. There's nothing less expressive about expressing something inward, just because nobody else sees or hears or feels it.

Some ways I like to express spirituality to myself through awareness or pleasure:
--watch the sky for at least ten seconds whenever outside. It's simple, easy, quick, and grounding.
--blast music in my car, and just be a part of the music while driving
--eating an avocado by itself. I don't know why, this is just such a rich experience to me.
--playing in the snow, rain, or autumn leaves
--putting moisturizer, perfume or body oils on my skin and taking a moment to breathe it in
--writing or signing my name
--noticing the way light and shadows fall
--watching my boyfriend play a game
--feeling how fabrics feel against my skin, be it clothes, sheets, etc

It's all about awareness, and living in the now. Living and making life enjoyable is the ultimate expression of spirituality.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid <3

I'm ready to talk about it.

It's been two weeks since we said goodbye to Coco, our dog whom we have had since 1998. He was really sick, and we had to put him down. It was really heartbreaking, and I don't think I've lost anyone this close before. It was hard trying not to cry when he died because I knew it was especially tough on my little sister, who pretty much only has memories after he came around, and I wanted to be strong for her.

Anyway, so I just wanna go through and write down some memories that I have of Coco, and immortalize him in a blog post which is pretty irrelevant as far as the internet goes, but it makes me feel better.

I wish my carpet actually looked like this. That'd kick ass.

Cocoa was a funny dog. He loved stealing sticks of butter off the table and hiding them throughout the house. One time there was a stick of butter in my bed. Another time we found one under his pillow which we kept under the kitchen table for him to sleep on (since he took to sleeping there anyway.) It's pretty disconcerting when you're sitting on the couch, your hand moves the wrong way, and you discover a stick of butter in between the couch cushions. It was clever of him, actually.

This is Coco's Vogue pose.

Coco also for some reason never went into the basement, no matter how hard we tried to get him to. We were thinking maybe the owners before him kept him down there when they were away or something.

He was a little bit lazy too, but that's ok.

Oh, and he never played fetch. Not often, anyway. Every now and then you'd catch him in the right mood and if you threw a ball, he'd go after it, but most of the time if you threw a ball and said, "Go get it!!" he'd just sit down and stare at you like, "You're the one who threw it. YOU go get it."

With my older sister, Jenni. And creepy demon eyes.

When we first got Coco, my little sister Molly was 3 or 4. Soon after he came home, she would often shove his hand down his throat to see what was down there. It was pretty gross, and eventually we got her to stop, but just in case you ever meet her, feel free to tease her about it.

Our favorite story to tell is the Russian Chocolate story. We hosted two Russian nurses who were on a several week exchange program learning some nursing stuff here in the US, and they brought with them some Russian Chocolate for us as a gift. The day after they left, COCO ATE THE WHOLE DAMN THING. All of it. This was like, three full-sized bars of chocolate we're talking about. And he didn't even throw up any of it. It's been a running joke ever since.

He was a really great dog; I couldn't have imagined a better dog to grow up with through high school and college. He was always happy to see people, always happy to see people's food, and always happy to be scratched behind the ears or on the belly. He was also a great cuddler, which is an excellent feature in a dog.

Sleep peacefully, old buddy.

D is for Drum Circles

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it, and got so busy yesterday that I didn't get around to posting it til today.

 

I totally wrote this on Tuesday because I was so excited about writing it.

Drum Circles, for me, are a wonderful combination of three awesome things:

--Circles

--Drums

--Fire

So, whenever there's an event at Four Quarters, inevitably there is a fire circle pretty much every night of the festival. Sometimes there are even rituals that take place in the fire circle. It's a large ring of sand that surrounds an unenclosed firepit (People here respect the fire deeply and abide by the circle rules, and they are very careful. There have been very few incidents over the years. In fact, I can't even think of any offhand.). You enter from the eastern side of the circle. The drummers sit on the southern side, a stage/platform rests at the western edge, and the Ancestors' shrine is located on the north side of the circle.

This isn't the 4QF bonfire site, btdubs. This is an image from a festival in Brazil. BUT IT'S JUST AS COOL!!

The Order of the Bracers have a fire going every night. They are the people that are authorized by the community to tend fire. Joining their ranks is a great responsibility, but learning the secrets of playing with fire is challenging and exciting. They chop the wood, lay the fire, light the fire, and keep it burning through the night. It really is a ritual of service all in and of itself. Sometimes, particularly during Wickerman, the tenders will put harmless chemicals in the fire so that it burns pretty colours.

Like a-this.

Once the fire is going, drummers filter in, take their seats gradually, and a beat starts. It usually starts out simple and then becomes more complex as more drummers join in. Once the beat starts, the dancers fill into the sand and start dancing in circles around the fire. There really is something about moving to the heat and beat on a cool summer night through a ring of sand and light and the darkness slumbering outside of the circle. The drummers feed the dancers, the dancers feed the fire, the fire feeds the drummers. It's really its own little eco-system of light and spirit. Playing drums is a rhythmic practice (obviously) and the rhythms from the drum help the drummer weave into the rhythmic patterns of the Universe. It's really a celebration of cycle and rhythm and a connection thereto.

Drum/Fire circles can be useful for more than just meditative dancing, universal connection, and general merriment. One of the most powerful festivals at Four Quarters is Fires Rising. This event converts the drum circle into a spiritual-alchemical container, and you work through the night to turn your personal 'lead' into 'gold.' All-night fire circles are amalgamations of creativity, fire, community, spirituality, growing and healing, with song, dance, symbolism, stories, and truth. It's a beautiful, unique experience.

In conclusion: fire circles rock. Find one near you, or organize one. You won't regret it.

Love,

<3 Sapphire Orchid<3

Pagan Blog Project - Dedications, Degree Systems, Initiations (and other concepts I don't subscribe to)

I'm late. Again. I know. I had a hard weekend.

OK so I wanna talk a bit about the relationships between Dedications/Initiations, Degree Systems, etc.

Personally, I shun these concepts. I'm not saying that nobody should use them, because obviously everyone's path is their own.

To me, they feel very limiting. Let's start with a Dedication/Initiation ritual. This is a ritual/event where you declare to yourself/the world that you intend to be a Pagan, practice Wicca, practice "The Craft" (god I have that term), discover the magickal workings of the world. Some people need this as a sort of turning point, waystone, or even sometimes as a cathartic moment where they're escaping something else and travelling this path as a sort of new beginning for themselves. I get that. It's important for some people. Here's why I dislike the idea. I started studying Wicca at age 14. I decided I'd check it out for a few years, having just recently separated myself from Christianity (Seventh Day Adventism) and broken my poor mother's heart by telling her I didn't want to be baptized. I figured I'd do an Initiation/Dedication/Whatever in a fancy, solo ritual in the woods behind my house and it would all be quite magical and meaningful and beautiful and I'd live the rest of my life casting spells and drawing down the moon and whatnot.

Then I hit 16, and the physical aspect of it lost meaning for me. Rituals became kind of silly to me, as if I'm actually drawing energy with this knife and drawing money to myself by rubbing a candle with some oils and saying some words. I became very "Yeah right," as most 16 year olds do, and suddenly I felt kind of Agnostic, like how could I know about the universe, how could I WANT to know, etc.

Eventually I sort of progressed back into a sort of Agnostic Paganism wherein I had beliefs but I noted that I had no truthful, intellectual way of knowing they were actually how the universe worked, and accepted the fact that each person feels the universe/god/the great pumpkin in a different light. I feel nature and the universe, and I know they exist, I believe in higher power as a part of all of us, but I accept that this is not divine "truth" and that what someone else believes, if completely opposite of my beliefs, are just as valid.

So where am I going with this nutshell rant about my spiritual musings throughout my adolescence? I keep changing, even when I'm not changing. This sort of negates the need for any sort of initiation or dedication ritual. Why dedicate myself to exploration of the Universe when really, that's what I'm here for? Can I dedicate myself to be something I already am and have been all along, an explorer? Particularly when I change my mind and add new ideas and alter old ideas to fit better. Seven hells, I'd have to do a new dedication ritual every week or so when I chew, taste, and digest any new idea. Plus, dedications seem too baptismal to me. Just my own distaste.

So anyway. Degrees. My big issue with degrees is that it feels very organized religion-y. Organized religion is like combustion: used properly, it can be useful, practical, and beneficial. When abused and spiraled out of control, it is dangerous and hurts people. Organized religion is what drives a good deal of people away from organized religions, even people who subscribe to those religions. Get the wrong people at the top of an organization, and you see abuse of power, scandal, and all sorts of terrible stuff. Just look at the Catholics. Do I have a problem with Catholicism? Absolutely not; the philosophy behind it is incredibly interesting, poignant, and I find mass to be very enjoyable to go to. I do have a problem with the higher-ups covering up scandals with little boys, and preaching against contraception. These are abuses of power.

Now, I'm not saying that every Pagan system/coven/group/whatever with degrees of initiation are suddenly going to turn into evil, scandalous, money-guzzling cretins, or even that any other group besides Pagans automatically will. I'm just saying, when you throw a hierarchy into a system of people's beliefs, you set up the possibility for abuse. If I am your "superior" in the form of a High Priestess or 5th Degree Druid or whatever, this sets me up for some sort of power over your spiritual practice (to a certain extent) and can lead to a path of issues.

Furthermore, I wholeheartedly believe that every single person in the world has a right to practice and experience spirituality how they wish, given that they don't harm or infringe on the rights of others. Everyone has access to the Universe/God/Spirit/Great Pumpkin, equally and automatically upon their life given to them. Degrees put people on different levels of closeness to the Divine, and thus undermine this basic human spiritual existence.

Degree systems mimic modern religion, in that there are stepping stones to re-connect with the Divine. I am a big proponent of the idea that we don't HAVE to strive to reach the Divine; the Divine is within us all equally. Why make Paganism into a modern religion? Degree systems are the same thing as the race to Heaven or Nirvana, just with a different name and different ideas, different methods.

Spiritual existence isn't a race. That's my personal opinion. It falls under the Pagan umbrella. I'm not here to compete with you or learn degrees or secrets. I'm here to celebrate life. That's all. Hope this makes some sense and doesn't offend too many people.

Love,

<3 Sapphire <3

Late, Late and More Late. Pagan Blog Project Week 6 - C is for Costumes!

Well how can you not expect the theatre major to mention costumes?

"Theatre started in a circle."

At Alvernia, when we would start a new play, the very first rehearsal we would first all stand in a circle, hands held, and just be there, a group of actors, where it all started originally, in a circle. We'd also circle up before each performance. It was grand.

Whether you're by yourself doing the voices and movements for all the parts, or if you're in a group, you can really have some fun with Ritualistic Theatre. The last Stones Rising that I was at involved ritual theatre depicting the Voyage of the Argo. I didn't hear about it until all of the roles were gone, thus I didn't get to act in it. But it was spectacular!

Anyway, we were going to talk about costumes. Which have a lot to do with ritualistic theatre, but aren't limited to ritualistic theatre. Costumes are a very powerful tool in linking you to something else. Actors wear costumes not just for the benefit of the audience, but to help them get into the role. Playing Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina in Anton Chekhov's play Chaika would not have felt the same without the corset, the ornate dresses, the big hats, etc.

So what can you do with costume? There's the obvious, go all-decked-out costume of something, say maybe a God or a Goddess, or a historical figure whose energy you want to connect with or channel for a specific purpose. Maybe you could dress like Cleopatra for a love, beauty, or seductive ritual (or a bathing ritual! Cleopatra was THE bath lady ever, and baths can be made into rituals of beauty, feminineness, and cleansing!). Maybe you'll dress like Queen Elizabeth for a ritual wherein you want to invoke Renaissance energies or to feel more powerful. Maybe you'll dress like Adam Smith for a money and prosperity ritual. (Hey, don't make fun. I like that idea!)

But you don't have to go big. Sometimes costumes aren't about big. Maybe there's a certain color you want to wear to conjure some sort of energy into your circle. Maybe you could do a masked ritual, and make a fancy mask, or even just paint one a simple, solid color from the local craft store. You could do a ritual of simply adorning your body with jewelry, slowly, piece by piece, to symbolize a richer life (that doesn't have to be just financially richer, either). You could paint your face in woad to connect with ancient Celtic energies. You could make a pair of sparkly, gossamer wings that either strap to your back or hang from your arms when you astrally project, to symbolize flying.

There's just something to be said about placing a thing on, near, or around your body. Your energy mingles with it, dances with it, takes a taste of it, and for just that moment in time, you can connect with something you've never connected before, in a safe, highly theatrical manner.

This concludes the second C post. I can't wait to see what interesting, lovely things everyone has to say next week!

Big Love,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week... 5? C is for Children!

C is for Cookie, it's good enough for me!

JK it's about children. I'm not a parent yet, but I am getting to that age where I'm starting to think about what it might be like to have kids, what kinds of values I want to instill in them, and how I'd go about doing that. I read pagan parenting resources that I can get my hands on, as well as multicultural websites like incultureparent.com. I like to imagine what it will be like trying to explain what I can about the Universe, spirituality, and how the world in general is set up. I imagine what it would be like taking them to spiritual events and festivals at Four Quarters, and taking them traveling.

There's also the matter of figuring out how to raise children to be Pagan if they want, and not if they don't, especially amongst my Seventh Day Adventist family. I think a very important part of raising a child, to me, from a spiritual perspective, is making sure they have plenty of information available to them. Would I like my children to be Pagan? Sure, it'd be nice. But I'd much rather have them think for themselves. If something about what I believe doesn't make sense to my kids, and I try to push them to think what I think, then the only thing that will foster is resentment and divide.

I never want to have my children face a situation where they are uncomfortable talking about what they believe, or where they feel like someone is guilting or threatening them into switching up their beliefs without truly feeling in their hearts that that's what they want. I've seen this happen with plenty of people. When I first converted away from Christianity, I was terrified to tell my mother, and embarrassed about what her response might be, if she would think it was ridiculous or stupid. At first, she didn't like the idea, but as the years went by, she came to accept it as a part of who I am. I think she was just scared for me, initially, but she never made me feel stupid for believing something different. That's really important to me, but it's also important to me that I accept my children for who they are without resistance, even if society claims they're going through a 'phase.'

Actually, I really hate that word, 'phase.' Seriously, it sounds like you have this idea of who your children are going to be and all they have to do is get past this stupid obstacle phase thing. Did you ever stop to think that it's not a 'phase,' but instead it's just who your child is at this moment, and that it's perfectly valid? I've gone through phases. I went through my Wicca phase, my rebel phase (a few, actually), my no-jeans-just-Tripp-pants phase, my dyeing my hair every color ever phase (which isn't entirely done, but just on hold until I can find a suitable wig for work! haha). I don't consider these phases, though. That's who I was. That's who I wanted to be at the time. Accept it, and move on.

Anyway, so, I suppose my goal is to raise my children around Pagans, in a Pagan environment, and learning all about Paganism and the whole smorgasbord of options and freedom of belief that it offers. But other spiritualities and religions will also play a heavy part. So maybe we'll celebrate Christmas, Chanukah, Chinese New Year, Ganesh Chathuri, etc, etc. in addition to Pagan holidays and festivals. Luckily, my boyfriend is Pagan, and we ultimately do plan on getting married and having children someday, when the time is right. So, luckily, there won't be this clash of the religions in our future family, but nor will there be this sense of "YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE THIS AND BELIEVE NOTHING ELSE!!!" that is so often present in other, more dogmatic spiritual systems.

I'm just really excited about kids, even though I'm not ready for them by a longshot. (Maybe a mediumshot.) I think that by thinking about how I'd raise my kids years before they even exist will really help me prepare for being a mom. At least, on my own. I don't really talk about it very much with Tim, because I think it makes him kind of nervous, but that's ok.

So I guess that's my rant for the day. Happy Friday!
<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 4 - B is for Burning Man Festivals!

Burning Man Festivals. If you have not been to one, you must get yourself there.

Let me start with a little bit of my own spiritual history. I converted from Seventh Day Adventism when I was about 13 to Wicca. I dabbled in that for a bit. At about 16 or 17, I got a little bored of the practical aspect of it (spellwork, divination, ritual, etc) and declared myself to be a Pagan in philosophy, spiritual but not religious (whatever that actually means), keeping certain Pagan beliefs, and tweaking them as I went along.

And so I remained that way, with this belief but not really putting a whole lot of effort into it, until Baltimore. And I met some other Pagans there. They held a fire circle for the Sabbats and even on some Esbats, and it was a really nice situation. Eventually, I agreed to come to a festival at this Pagan/Wiccan Church/Community/Camping Place they had been trying to get me to ever since I  met them, called Four Quarters. I had always had some kind of excuse not to, but I went for Wickerman.

 A Burning Man, Burning.

Wickerman is a festival held every year in Mid June, in which we construct a huge man of wood, wicker, and other sustainable, burnable things. He is built, people often put burnable art offerings on, in, or with him, and he's ceremoniously BURNED TO THE GROUND, MAN!!! It's based originally on an old Celtic festival, which has a bad rap from Julius Caesar. If you like, you can read all about it on the Wickerman website here: Wicker Man - The Wicker Man.

Seriously though, Burning Man festivals are a celebration of fire, art, music, and all things wonderful. The idea here is that you're creating a burnable, natural offering to the Universe, the Gods, the Goddesses, whatever you believe. While not strictly Pagan, it has Pagan roots, most of the people who attend are Pagan (again, most -- not all. There's no spiritual requirement to attend, it's inclusive of everyone and anyone!), and thus I consider it relevant to the blog project. So there. :P

The BIG GUY is the Burning Man Festival which is held in the Black Rock Desert near Reno, Nevada every year. It's the biggest Burning Man festival, ever. They also have associated smaller burns in other areas of the country, but the Wickerman Burn event that I go to is not associated directly with the Burning Man Festival.

There are a few other things you ought to know. There are ten principles to the Burning Man Festival, paraphrased by yours truly:
1. Radical Inclusion: Anyone can participate. Even strangers. If you don't know anyone, you get to make friends!!
2. Gifting: Unconditional Gifting is the name of the game. Burns are devoted to the act of giving, with no expectation of recompense or exchange. It's all love, baby.
3. Decommodification: Gifting requires no expected exchange, including money. Thus, Commercial Sponsorships, Transactions, Advertising, etc are a big no no. There is no merchanting at Wickerman events. You cannot sell or buy anything while there.
4. Radical Self-Reliance: the event encourages you to discover, explore, and rely on your own  inner resources.
5. Radical Self-Expression: You are the only one who can express yourself. Only the individual or community/collaborative group can determine the content of your expression. It is given as a gift. You give your expression as a gift to others, and the art burn is a gift offering to the Universe. As a gift giver, also please respect the rights and liberties of the recipient.
6. Communal Effort: Creative cooperation and collaboration are values of the burn, and the community must strive to protect and support social networks, art gifts, public spaces, and communication methods to support those values.
7. Civic Responsibility: Community members who organize an event are responsible for the public welfare, and for communicating to the public their civic responsibilities, including keeping in accordance with all state, local and federal law. (As a side note, drugs are bad, mkay?)
8. Leaving no trace: the community is responsible for respecting the environment. When the burn is done, the place should look pristine like nothing ever happened.
9. Participation: transformation occurs through participation. We achieve through work, play, and do. So go out, have fun, and DO IT!!
10. Immediacy: immediate experience is the touchstone of the experience: do it now. Now is the time.

So obviously I paraphrased a lot like I said I would, but you can read the original (and much better written than mine) principles here: Burning Man: What Is Burning Man?: Ten Principles..

Aaaaand there's a few other fun tidbits of information: It's not just the burn. There are Theme Camps, Villages, Art Installations, and other awesomely fun activities. As an example, my wonderful friend Kate holds a Pirate performance art camp at Wickerman Burn, with games and contests and general pillaging awesomeness every year. One year, there was a theme camp where you could mark another person for assassination, and that camp would go 'assassinate' the person with water guns, water balloons, etc. And let me tell you, it's REALLY frikken nice being pelted with cold water in the middle of June. Last year, someone brought a 5-foot-diameter beach ball that was played with and rolled around throughout the festival.

And people think of some of the coolest stuff! It's really a treat to see what they come up with every year.

Find one. If you're not near Nevada, then you can find an official Regional Burn associated with the Burning Man Festival that is hopefully closer to where you are. The search (International, Intercontinental, by the way!!) can be found here: Burning Man: Regional Contacts. Or, if you're in the PA/MD/WV/DC/NY ish area, or can get to central PA, there's always the Wickerman Burn, which won't come up in the Regional list, since it's not officially associated with the Burning Man Festival. Here's the link, if you wanna join us!!: Wickerman Burn.

Or maybe, if you don't go to a festival, have your own little mini Wickerman Burn in your own backyard! Just remember to check with your local Fire Marshall to make sure you're in accordance with fire laws and fun stuff like that.

Happy Burning!

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 3 - B is for Beauty

I'm gonna try to make this one kinda short today, since I'm writing two posts today for the past few weeks in order to catch up to 'C' for tomorrow.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There's a lot of different definitions, opinions, and ideas about beauty, but there has to be some way that we can relate beauty to the spiritual, right?

Beauty is flowers.

Absolutely. Even from a metaphysical perspective, beauty is important. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer has done extensive writing supporting his concept of the Will, which he considers to be an underlying existence that moves everything that we do, in cycles of desire and obtainment, desire and obtainment. Aesthetic contemplation, he says, quells the Will for the moment, allows us to be free of desire, and puts us at temporary peace. This is because art is our way of attempting to make pure concepts into a material form of understanding, and thus it soothes us.

 Beauty is simplicity.

We actively seek out beautiful things. We strive to look beautiful ourselves, wear beautiful clothes, make our hair beautiful, fill our homes and altars with beautiful things, treasure beautiful works of art, and listen to beautiful works of music.

 Beauty is an old photograph of siblings.

There are several theories for why we do this. The first is that we wish to give pleasure to ourselves or to others, and beautiful things give us pleasure. That's a simple explanation.

 Beauty is juicy and tasty.

Another reason, and my favorite one so far, is that we may seek out beauty is because beautiful things inspire us to make other beautiful things, in a cycle of creation that makes us feel like we are touching the divine, touching our ancestors, touching the world, touching all of these things that led to our own existence and creation. Beautiful things inspire us to the creativity process. Creativity is divine in and of itself. Creation of beautiful things celebrates the universe, god, goddess, and oneness within ourselves.

 My dog doesn't actually meditate. I just like this picture.

Some modern religions try to quell the beautiful things in life. Muslims (and technically Christians too, with the 2nd Commandment) are forbidden from outright creating art, and so they (cleverly) use their aesthetically-pleasing Arabic script to create beautiful works of art. While they find the way around this, it still is a philosophical advising against attachment to art and beauty.

 Sometimes, beauty is desolate.

Christians are often encouraged to not be too attached to earthly, beautiful things, as they will not last. I find that delicateness, the ability to be destroyed, and the idea that beauty will not last forever is exactly a reason to treasure it while it lasts. Even if you create the most beautiful artwork in all of the world and burn it, then perhaps its purpose was to only be enjoyed by you. Perhaps it is the more beautiful in that you alone have experienced it. (Just -- don't burn or destroy other people's artwork unless you've asked them first, cause that's kind of mean.)

 Most of all, Beauty is Nature.

Enjoy beauty everywhere. Here are some suggestions to add beauty to your circles:
--Artwork Meditation. You can use someone else's artwork or your own as a meditative tool. Stare at the artwork from several distances. What do you see? Are you looking at the whole picture, or zooming into details, or switching back and forth? What can you learn from this artwork, and from its beauty? What does it make you feel?
--Music. Incorporate recorded music into your ritual, if you haven't already. There's a LOT you can do with this.
--Create your own artwork. Who says you can't sculpt, paint, watercolour, sing, play instruments, collage, or even randomly sling paint onto a canvas in circle? Create art with the deity.
--Bodypaints. Naked. It's a lot of fun, and you can put a lot of temporary beautiful things on your beautiful body! Especially fun when done with your partner.
--Physical Objects. Sure, you've used flowers, gemstones, beautiful statues or figurines, foods, beads, feathers, and other such objects ritually before. Why not create a ritual still life with them? Pop out your camera, and take some shots, or just take a mental picture.
--Gingerbread Yule House? That sounds pretty awesome to me. Pretty looking, AND pretty tasting. And, yes, flavors and scents are beautiful too.

I'm sure that there's more things you could think of, or more things you already do, so go do something beauteous today! Celebrate your divineness with beauty. DO IT NAOO!!!

Love,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Name of the Wind

So, a little bit over a year ago, my coworker lent me her copy of this book to read:

And me being the flitting-around, dabbling reader that I am, I read a few chapters and got distracted by George R. R. Martin's series and several other books.

BUT NOW I am reading Name of the Wind! And you know what the other awesome thing is? It will not only fulfill my books for my To-Do List, but it's got Pagan themes, including spell work and magic, supernatural creatures, etc so it counts for the Reading Challenge!

And you know, now that I've picked it back up, I love it. It's got characters that are fleshy and multi-dimensional, even only a fifth of the way through the way of the book. The language and style the author uses are delightful and at times truly heartwrenching. This is the story of Kvothe, a mysterious man with a wealth of power, as he tells it to a Chronicler who wanders into Kvothe, disguised as an innkeeper. It really is intriguing so far, and I highly recommend it. More to come when I finish it!!

Also, I'm gonna try and do two posts today for the Pagan Blog Project, both 'B' topics. They should be good. It will be awesome. And then I'll be all caught up for Friday, to start on the 'C' topics!

Peace,

<3 Sapphirescent <3

Pagan Blog Project Week 2 - A is for Air

This is my week two for the wonderful Pagan Blog Project, and I have chosen to do a brief rambling on Air, and then suggest some creative ways to celebrate air in ritual, spellwork, circle, or even just everyday life!

So air. It's pretty awesome. The funny thing about air is, it's invisible, you wouldn't know it was there unless you really paid attention, and yet it's the most immediate need we have. When you're underwater about to drown, all you think about is air. If you hold your breath for a few minutes, you'll pass out. Sure, after you get your air, you'll need all of the other things in some order, but air, breath is the first giver of life, the first thing we look for to make sure someone's still alive. (Unless you check the pulse first, shup.)

And you know what's funny? The first thing I think of when I think of air is Libras. You'd think that my first thought would be something romantic like the breeze, or something. Not that Libras aren't romantic, of course. I'm just saying. Air is the Libra's sign, after all, and it generally manifests itself in Libras, Geminis and Aquariuses as a sense of charm, wit, and intelligence, all of which lead to a talkativeness, which kind of makes sense because we use air to talk.

Air is light, air is free, air is constantly moving. You can't hold it down, you can't tie it to anything, and yet it's all around you, cradling your body and warming itself in your lungs, bringing you delicious smells of whatever is cooking near you, providing the basis for your speech and laughter, and playing gently with your hair when it whooshes on by. It's almost got a certain innocence, and a certain playful knowing about it. If your rituals are always too solemn for whatever reason, try incorporating some air symbols into it.

And you know what? Smoke from incense isn't the only way to invite the element of air into your circle or into your life. Try some of these:
--Fans. Flick fans around, maybe even ones that have been dabbed with (hopefully naturally) scented oils to stir up air energy. Use essential oils that were diluted into a carrier oil for best effect. (Synthetic fragrance oils are not as awesome.)
--Blow. Not like that. Literally, blow air out of your mouth. Cleanse your house by blowing in the corners of each room (watch out if it's dusty, lol), or infuse something with your own energy by blowing air on it. (Just don't 'infuse' any*one* with your air energy unless you have permission AND your breath smells awesome.)
--Blow Bubbles! Seriously, who doesn't love bubbles? Blow some bubbles around the circle. Be a kid!
--Balloons! In the same light, balloons are pretty awesome air tools, even just as decorations. Just don't inhale TOO much of the helium, k?
--Silky BellyDance Scarves. Flutter a few of these around in the air; they're so pretty, so much fun, and so... airy!
--An electric fan with Silky Streamers or Ribbons tied onto it. If you have electricity near your circle, you could just set up a few of these with streamers tied onto the cage thingy around the blades. Just be VERY careful that the streamers don't get caught up in the blades, cause that might start a fire. And you're wanting to add air into your circle, not an electrical fire. Seriously.
--Paper planes. I know, we're getting a little corny now, but honestly, it's fun if you've got a few people in a circle and you're just having a massive all-out paper plane war. Giggles galore.
--Singing, speaking, chanting, or even just conscious breathing are all air-oriented and ways to celebrate the existence of air in your life.
--If you're feeling adventurous, you can totally honor air by riding a roller coaster, bungee jumping, or skydiving. Seriously, breeze blowing in your face, free-falling through the air, it's TOTALLY a study in air-full existence. Yeah, it's not in a circle, but screw it, man! Isn't that one of the fun things about being Pagan? Discover the divine and spiritual in everything, even the mundane, supposedly un-spiritual, and 'strictly' recreational. Make your life spiritual, but also make it fun!!
--Use one of those wine aerator machines? Alright, alright, now we're stretching a bit. :P

I hope this has been kind of fun for you to read. Stay airy.

<3 Sapphirescent <3