Charms & Such for Beauty

First and foremost, whilst in pursuit of beauty by enchantment, one must call upon those goddesses so disposed to assist in such endeavors. These Blessed Ladies are know for guidance and assistance in this realm.

Aphrodite - beauty & love

Aglaia - one of the three Graces, the youngest, rules specifically over beauty

Cliodhna - an Irish goddess of beauty

Euphrosyne - another of the three Graces, gracefulness & charm

Hebe - Greek goddess of eternal youth

Idun - Norse goddess of eternal youth

Lada - Slavic goddess of beauty

Sif - wife of Thor, long beautiful hair, Norse goddess of beauty

Venus - Roman goddess of love & beauty

Xi Shi - Chinese goddess of facial potions & perfumes, known for Her great beauty

Ziva - Slavic goddess of longevity

Ask for assistance with respect and make offerings to honor and give thanks.

A charm for youth & beauty: On the night of the full moon, go outside with a cup filled with blessed water, a bit of salt and vervain. Take some petrified wood, dip the wood into the cup, then pass through the flame of a candle. Touch the wood to the face, hands, shoulders and head seven times, whilst asking for the blessings of youth and beauty.

Thread nine berries of the rowan tree upon a red thread, tie with nine knots. Wear beneath your clothing to obtain the blessings of beauty, within and without.

Crush dills seeds and steep in boiling water with petals of roses and apple blossoms. If you cannot obtain apple blossoms, bits of chopped apple will do. Add a bit of apple cider vinegar and rose water. Anoint  the skin with this potion daily and, it is said, it will make one irresistible to men.

And don't forget to gather the dew on May Day morning to add to your potions!

Blessings nine!

(I need not say, but I will anyway, that no guarantees are made for these potions.)

The Life of The Witch video

A lovely little video honoring the witch.
Be sure to turn off my playlist on the lower left panel.

Blessings nine!

Counting Blessings

Counting blessings, you may ask, Gentle Reader, what can this be about? Well, I stumbled upon a stitch-along where squares are stitched on fabric, then within each a small design that represents a blessing in one's life. Now, you may also ask, how many witches will be participating in this little scheme and do those mundane stitchers have any clue that a witch has decided to stitch along? Probably no idea and I'm not sure how welcome a witch might be. I'm going to say, in the world of stitching, it won't matter. (No laughing ladies - you know who you are!)

In any event, I am adding this along to my other projects: The Nativity (the one being stitched by a witch who is married to a Jew for her Catholic mother) as well as the little anniversary stitch by Beth of Heartstring Samplery for our thirtieth (oh gods!) wedding anniversary - and... many other things!

Some ladies are stitching 100 squares - very adventurous indeed and I think I may follow suit - you know me, why not? It will stir my creative energies and the squares are only 1 inch square - can I actually fit my blessings into one inch squares? I'll keep going until my needle drops from my bloody, worn fingers!!! What is one more thing to do after all? Tomorrow I will choose a fabric from my vast stash and draw in the grid as suggested. Further info can be found here:  http://countedblessingsproject.blogspot.com/. I have no intention of starting another blog just for this project, as suggested. I am the Witch of Stitches and here it shall be documented!

In addition to the stitching, I have an article to prepare for Goddess Pages which I hope to see in the Summer issue - keep your fingers crossed everyone! I am also coming down to the last weeks of school - if I can get back ASAP. I took a fall at the shampoo sinks on Wednesday (wet floor) and injured my arm when I attempted to catch myself - which I did not do - I fell hard on my knees and my arm was pulled in such a way as my hand, arm, shoulder and neck are not in good shape. Knees are both bruised, one swollen and worse than the other, along with an ankle that is pretty tender and my back is pretty stiff. My dear chiropractor nearly ripped my head off adjusting my neck - but it needed doing however much I dislike the procedure. The  weekend will be spent in the same manner as yesterday and today: ice packs, Reiki, reading, tea and stitching - oh and of course, a little writing. 

One other interesting tidbit: my sister has been teaching cosmetology in New York for many years. Recently her school has been invaded by a movie crew - a remake of Mildred Pearce. The front of the school has been transformed into the front of a restaurant! The exciting part though is that her students are participating in the make-up and wardrobe for the movie. I know from my school, that many of the kids are doing their own photo shoots with make-up, hair and fashion, so I can imagine how Steph's students are feeling. Good for all of them, I hope they are having a grand time.

Anyway, a cup of tea awaits me, brewing away, and it is very late. A late nap this afternoon has interrupted my regularly scheduled bedtime. I will be up for a while yet listening to a collection of classical music that was offered free at Amazon.com - a very nice collection, if I do say so. Thank you Amazon, although, with all the money I spend there, it is the least they can do, LOL!

Blessings nine!   

Beauty This & That

“The fair maid who, the first of May,

Goes to the fields at break of day,

And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree,

Will ever after handsome be.”

This is an old charm, still used, for maintaining one's beauty. I thought this was appropriate for this post for a few reasons; May is almost here and I am very close to graduating from beauty school. I just passed my final exam (100!!!) and have about 140 hours left to go. 

Another reason for the beauty charm theme, I attended the esthetics show in Miami a couple of weeks ago and it was VERY inspiring, making me want to get back to work as an esthetician ( I have had that license for ten years) - doing facials and body treatments. I am considering joining a friend who is a massage therapist in opening a little salon for skin and healing with the hope of eventually adding a chair for hair. We would also include lovely products, including those of a metaphysical nature. With the economy the way it is, it remains to be seen whether or not we will be able to do this. In the mean time I am playing with my Eminence line of skin care products - these are TRULY divine!!! The scent, the results - heavenly, enchanting! I am also playing with Bella Schneider's Christina line - Bella's presentation was also very inspiring; it was the first program I attended and it set the right mood for the rest of the show.

You may wonder (or not) why a Dianic witch would even care about this stuff - how does it fit in with a feminist philosophy? Shouldn't I be encouraging women to give up make-up, forget the pursuit of beauty and eat chocolate? Absolutely not - unless that's what they want to do. This is all about caring for one's self with lovely blessings - be it relaxing music, encouraging words, a healing, soothing facial or just pampering one's self at home. It's about giving yourself a treat, a lovely gift and doing those things that make you feel good - just for you. This could be as simple as a couple of cooled chamomile tea bag resting on the eyes and listening to some relaxing music. These simple pleasures make us feel good - not for a man, not for competition with other women, but for ourselves. 

Of course most beauty charms were used to "capture" a husband, but so what? Let's be very Dianic and reclaim beauty and pampering for ourselves. We are not only worth it, we deserve it!

To Keep Beauty From Fading

When all your face appears most fair,

When comets and meteors gild your hair,

And in your eyes the moon and sun,

Contest, surrender, and burn as one,

When ivory Venus smoothes your brow,

And Mars recurves your lips' red bow,

Make haste to utter this binding verse

And hold the stars on their kindest course:

Figures of fire

That shift and change,

Planets that move

By heaven's hinge,

Be signed and fixed

Forever here,

And close my image

Within thy sphere.

Measure a yard of golden string,

Loose from your fingers let it swing,

Then tie it in thirteen sturdy knots -

Hide it among your scents and pots.

- Valerie Worth, The Crone's Book of Words -

Blessings nine!

Images courtesy of The Graphics Fairy
http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com