A Few Things That Work (and other things)
Keeping my altar/shrine combo right in the freaking middle of the apartment. It is right in the entranceway, in fact. For no other reason there’s not really any where else to put it. It does however, keep the offerings and attention flowing. Out of sight, out of mind. In sight, on my mind … right?
I’m thinking of moving it into the sunroom in the warm part of the year. Then I can make a fuss about moving it “indoors” for winter each year etc. Who says you can’t have processionals in apartments?
Shelac. Sometimes, you just gotta use it.
My simple knife. It is by far the best tool I own for creation of sacred space and parting the Hedge. It is nothing more than a basic utility knife, handmade, with a wooden handle. The kind that you find at estate sales and flea markets. Something knife makers create for themselves, nothing fancy, just works. It fits in my hand, it’s just the right length. It’s old and worn.
I don’t even know what kind of wood the handle is made of. It’s old and beat up. I got it originally for whittling my stang. It’s now… Continue reading
Unfamiliar Territory
I find myself standing in unfamiliar territory. I have never seen a city on this Side before. Wait … maybe I didn’t go down and am still in Midgard? I feel embarrassed. How did I manage that? I am standing on a sidewalk in what looks like a major eastern city, New York, Toronto, Detroit, Chicago, something like that. I wonder if I ought to just turn back, find my way home.
I wonder if this is just a dream? But it can’t be, it feels like much more. I must have slipped out of my body again, dammit. I am embarrassed again; I really should have better control.
A man walks past me, accompanied by a woman. I overhear their conversation. His wife tries to do too much; the family business is failing as a result. Somehow I know the woman is his sister-in-law, she agrees with him. They worry about money and seem to be very stressed out. I follow them, curious. We enter some kind of diner or small restaurant. It is bustling.
Then I am in the backroom of the diner watching the family argue. The man and his sister-in-law are arguing with… Continue reading
Review: Last Year’s Birthday Reading
So, about a year ago I did a casting and reading for my 30th birthday and shared it with you. I thought that before I do a reading for my 31st birthday, I ought to have a look at last year’s reading and see how accurate it was.
Here we go.
I was concerned that there was nothing in the South. This turned out to be rather true. This past year really wasn’t about passion and fire. It was more practical, getting things done. Not much for adventures. I didn’t get any more worked up about anything than I normally do. I finished some projects, took on a few new things (like the tambourine) … but nothing really, REALLY, lit a fire under me. It was a “put your nose to the grind stone and try to be an adult” kind of year. Boy, I hope next year is a little more interesting.
Acorn and Clear Quartz rolled well away from the cloth and left me wondering why is masculine virility and clarity trying to run away from me? I can’t tell you why, but they have been. The bastards.
Jingle Bell and Tiger… Continue reading
To Be Alone and Useless
One of the biggest parts of my Path and practice has been that of a solitary. By that I don’t mean not being a member of a coven. I mean isolation and loneliness. Feeling cut off or different from everyone else. Not having someone with shared and similar experiences to talk to, let alone practice with.
I do have a few friends here in Ottawa (and other places) who have done some Hedgecrossing. But they have only begun to walk those roads, or have crossed only a handful of times. I have yet to meet another spirit worker, ancestor worshipper, Hedgewalker … like me. I know that they are out there. I see them on documentaries about shamans, I read their books, I read their blogs, and I listen to their podcasts. But face to face conversation, no.
Certainly I’ve met plenty of people who seem to think they know what they are doing. Or who do Hedgecrossing and spirit work. But their Path is still very different. No Tricksters, no dealing with the Dead. Their version of the Stag God is one of grapes and fun and sex. Not raw rutting danger, running blood and rotting flesh.… Continue reading
Random things that have been on my mind
I need to work with my casting collection more. I require clients. I have been considering offering to do a few castings at the Wild Geek Hang. I’ve never done long distance castings before, that should be interesting.
I have also been looking for an additional piece, something to represent kids, children, childhood, the inner child etc … maybe a brightly colored bead?
I am also interested in trying casting into a wooden bowl and reading from the top down. But since I have a new cloth I am still working with, this will have to wait.
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There are creeps and then there are creeps.
There are men who aren’t skilled socially, the kind of guys you have to draw firm and obvious boundaries with. Sometimes you gotta say “no” loud and clear. Usually they don’t mean harm, they are just either clueless or the kind of guys who push their luck.
I understand *intellectually* that many women find men who are “social retards” to be creepy. But honestly, I don’t get it. Is it that they can’t defend their own boundaries; can they not say “no”? Do they not know how to shield? Do they… Continue reading
To Fly By Night
Hoofprints in the Wildwood
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