Late Night Musings & Magick

Well, my mother has had her back surgery and her pain is gone, thank the Goddesses. Many people sent healing energy and prayers, we are very thankful, many blessings to all of you. She is on the road to recovery! She really suffered from terrible pain before the surgery and had gotten to the point where she could not walk. The surgeon said he's never seen such a bad case in twenty years, it was a mess. So... now she just needs to get back on her feet and back to her active life. 


As for me, I have a batch of peaches waiting to be turned into peach butter which I always enjoy making. There's something soothing and cozy about jam making, well, about home cooking in general, at least for me. It is a magickal experience, imbuing love and healing into every bit. If we all cooked our own food from scratch, we'd all be a lot healthier according to the Real Food movement. I get my info about this from The Weston Price Foundation, the book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon and various blogs and articles. My goal is to have home cooked, real food everyday. The jam, while it contains sugar, is healthier than anything you will buy in the store. I use organic sugar and fruit. I prefer fruit butters as they need no added pectin and it is simply fruit, sugar (which can be adjusted to use less) and spices - just keep cooking it down until it is the right consistency - very easy. The canning part is really very little trouble and I love to listen for that little ping as the jars cool after processing and the lids seal. One of life's pleasurable and useful activities.


Another thing I love to do as September rolls in, is make pomanders. I'm talking about the real thing - oranges studded completely with whole cloves, then dried in a mixture of aromatic spices. I have a huge bowl that I put the powdered spices in and just sit the clove studded fruit in, turning them and sprinkling them daily. Toadstool Condo is scented with the warm aroma and these pomanders last for years! I have some that are twenty or more years old. Of course my fingertips are a bit worse for wear after studding the oranges (I use an old  fine knitting needle to pierce the fruit, it doesn't stop a bit of staining) but they smell heavenly. I love the scent of cloves and it has many fine healing and magickal qualities.


Cloves are a most favorite spice. I use clove and lemon essential oils in my homemade vinegar cleaner, it smells wonderful, is antiseptic and germicidal, lifts one's spirits while calming as well as attracting good energies.  The best part, aside from the fact that it works well, is that there are no harmful chemicals. It is very inexpensive to make. I use a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and water, but you can use less vinegar if you like. I find the 1:1 ratio makes a better grease cutting agent. For two cups of liquid, I use about 10-15 drops of each essential oil, but this too can be adjusted to your liking. Shake well before spraying surfaces. Also, this is for countertops, sinks, tile - not wood. Test on the surface to be sure it won't damage it.


Magickly speaking, cloves are very useful. They repel negative energies, attract good ones, good people and can be used in protective ways. . Cat Yronwode, recommends studding a red candle with cloves, then burning to stop lies, malicious gossip and slander. This will also make your enemies friendlier. I find that having some cloves in a pot pourri or clove oil in an aromatherapy lamp, keeps visitors happy and feeling good.


Cinnamon and clove tea will help sooth an upset digestive system as well as taste divine. The scent will give an emotional lift while the spices do their work internally. Any medicinal tea is best made from scratch. Simply break up a cinnamon stick, bruise a few cloves, add some chamomile if you like , then pour boiling water over and steep 10 minutes, then add some black tea if you like and give it another 5 minutes to brew. Strain and serve as you like. I prefer my tea with a little cream, but to each her own!

It seems that August has just sped by and it is time to stitch a few holiday ornaments for my own Solstice tree and to give as gifts along with the jam and shortbread. Did I mention how delicious the merest smear of jam is on shortbread? Again - homemade is best, but in a pinch, Walkers makes theirs with just butter, sugar and flour, the best way and will do in a pinch.


All of this chatter about tea, jam and shortbread has stirred my appetite. I'd best be off to sleep so I am well rested for my various activities tomorrow.


Blessings nine!

Saturday Blessings

~Magickal Graphics~

The Baker Witch

The Goblin Baker

by Elizabeth Creith

The goblin baker with his cart

Cried "Cricket pie and tadpole tart!

Spider strudel, newt éclairs!

Children, come and taste my wares!

Shortbread made with butterfly,

Scarab wafers, who will buy?

Praying mantis petits fours,

Pismire patties by the score!

Macaroons of dragonflies,

Gingerbread with insect eyes,

Pie of newt and scone of frog,

Pasties filled with polliwog,

Beetle biscuits, moth meringue!"

So the goblin baker sang,

And goblin children ran to buy

Tadpole tart and cricket pie.

Baked yesterday afternoon, a sour cream pound cake with special ingredients. What are they, you ask? A witch has her secrets! But I promise you, there were no polliwogs or butterflies.

Blessings nine!

Trees

Think Like A Tree

By Karen Shragg

Soak up the Sun

Affirm Life's magic

Be graceful in the wind

Stand tall after a storm

Feel refreshed after it rains

Grow strong without notice

Be prepared for each season

Provide shelter to strangers

Hang tough through a cold spell

Emerge renewed at the first signs of Spring

Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky

Be still long enough to hear your own leaves rustling.

I was reading the above poem, jotting notes and contemplating its message when I remembered the photo of this huge tree, I believe in Clearwater or Largo, near my mother's home. I suddenly began to remember many meditative journeys where trees, their roots and branches, became part of me.  Those notes became the following poem.

Me, A Tree

I love trees, they seems a part of me and I of them.

My roots, deep in the soil, grow from my hands and feet.

Branches sprout, reaching from my head, 

Long and glorious, beautiful in the wind.

I feel the sap journey inside, feeding, refreshing, 

Nourishing, renewing.

I feel the earth, warm, moist, dark and deep,

healing.

When someone hugs me, they hug a tree.

A laughing Willow,

An old mother Elder,

A mysterious Yew,

Yes, that is me, all three.

copyright 2010, E A Kaufman

Blessings nine! 

Happy Monday!

Another beautiful week begins and I am busy at Toadstool Condo. Intense studying for my state board, finally. I sent my paperwork to the state in June, went off to care for my mother, no word. When I got back last week I called - oh, I was approved for my exam on June 28. Why didn't they notify me? Oh, the testing center does that, but sometimes they don't. *%&#? And how was I to know this? Well, anyway, that's the way it is and so I move on from here. Since I will have to go back to my mother's next week for her surgery, I have scheduled my exam for early September.

In any event, it is a lovely day. I sit with a cup of tea contemplating what else to do today, a little stitching, a little reading and how about sharing a spell? Some Monday magick!

Spell of the Sea Shell

Author Unknown

To perform this spell,  find a suitable sea shell in shallow water or use one you have had in your possession for some time. Take the shell, wash and dry it thoroughly. Draw a symbol of your desire upon the surface of the shell or write your desire or wish upon it. This must be done with something that will easily wash off in water. No Sharpies - they are permanent, but a water color pen would work perfectly.

Place the shell upon the shore (the sea shore is best, but any body of water large enough to have natural tides will do), so that the Tide will bring waves across the shell. The symbol or words written upon the shell must be facing upwards (toward the Moon). Be sure to note the phase of the Moon (waxing moon for the gain of something, waning for the dissolving of something). When the shell is in place, draw a triangle in the ground/sand, enclosing the shell completely.

Chant the following while looking up at the moon:

Goddess of Moon, Earth, and the Sea,

My wish in Thy name now comes to be.

Powers and Forces which Tides do make,

Now summon Thy waves, my spell to take.

The spell is finished. Walk away from the shell and do not look back. Once the waves come, then your wish will be taken out to the Old Ones. 

Blessings nine!

Give Away at Blue Ribbon Designs Blog

As an obsessive stitcher, I enjoy bringing others into the stitching fold. Belinda, the designer behind Blue Ribbon Designs, a favorite designer and also an obsessive stitcher, is having a giveaway at her blog: http://blueribbondesigns.blogspot.com/

While you're there, take a look at her designs - they're just wonderful!

In other news, dinner with Lucky and the old dude, then tarot reading. We were supposed to stitch, but got caught up in the cards. We did however have a brief show and tell - very brief, those cards were calling! Stitching and tarot - OK, how many spend evenings with these two pursuits - at the same time?

Blessings Nine!

Back Home At the Toadstool

Well, I am finally back home at Toadstool Condo after almost a month away. My mother is having terrible back problems and will be having surgery on the 23rd. She was barely able to move until a new pain management specialist gave her new meds and injections that have seemed to help. Of course, she won't be turning cart wheels anytime soon, but then she wasn't  before either! However, she did have a rather active life which has come to a screeching halt. My aunt has taken over her care to give me a break. The old man and I haven't ever been away from each other for more than a few days so we're happy and cozy once again. Gods, I did miss him and the Schmoodle terribly! We'll head back up to my mom's next week to be there for the surgery, staying a few days - Wendy Rule and Hecate's Wheel just happen to  be in concert there the day after her surgery - talk about luck!

And speaking of that concert, it will take place at a wonderful witch shop in Dunedin, Enchanted Earth. The owner, Kim, a most delightful witch, recently acquired a cauldron-load of used metaphysical books. I acquired about... I am almost, but not quite embarrassed to say, approximately fifty-five books! More about those as I wade through them, but one that I did read already, King of the Witches, a biography of Alex Sanders was pretty interesting even if much of it may be BS!

I attended a beautiful healing circle at the shop with Alania, a healer and angel messenger reader. Interesting and darling gal. We had some great discussions and I look forward to seeing her again. The circle was beautiful, ringed with chunks of rose quartz and pots of pink and white flowers. I helped by giving Reiki to about twenty five women. I happened, by chance, to be wearing pink and white that day. Some of the women told me I looked like an angel across the circle. Well, it's back to the black for me!!!!!!!! I'm about as angelic as Medusa - alright well maybe not Medusa, but angelic??? Me??? Please!

I celebrated Hekate's Night last evening with Raven, a wonder ritual. I will post a photo of the altar soon. Right now, the Toadstool requires dusting and tidying. I think I'll leave the cobwebs in the corners, they are a delightful addition to my Victorian Witch decor!

Blessings nine! 

I Don't Call It Toadstool Condo For Nothing

Last night, close to midnight, Mike called me outside. This is what he found.

Hundreds of those tiny white mushrooms we've seen before along with another type. Both are still unidentified.

I don't call it Toadstool Condo for nothing!

Mushrooms 

Overnight, very  

Whitely, discreetly, 

Very quietly   

Our toes, our noses  

Take hold on the loam,

Acquire the air. 

Nobody sees us,  

Stops us, betrays us; 

The small grains make room.

Soft fists insist on 

Heaving the needles,      

The leafy bedding,  

Even the paving. 

Our hammers, our rams, 

Earless and eyeless, 

Perfectly voiceless,  

Widen the crannies, 

Shoulder through holes.  

We diet on water, 

On crumbs of shadow,

Bland-mannered, asking   

Little or nothing.  

So many of us!  

So many of us!  

We are shelves, we are  

Tables, we are meek,  

We are edible,  

Nudgers and shovers  

In spite of ourselves. 

Our kind multiplies: 

We shall by morning 

Inherit the earth. 

Our foot's in the door. 

- Sylvia Plath - 

Blessings nine!

A Walk in the Moonlight

(photo copyright E A Kaufman 2010)

Took a lovely stroll beneath the moon at about 11:00 PM. I walked by my hedge and reached my hand out calling to the spirits there and well, they answered! As soon as my hand entered the area around the hedge I could feel them,a heaviness, heat, tingling. When I pulled my hand away, it stopped - I could actually feel the boundary. It gave me a little something because I feel clear and light. How wonderful it is when this happens. I've had a few little episodes of... I guess validation, this week. Answers to questions, signs, energy being stirred up in a positive way. It must be this moon energy; the full moon along with a grand seven planet cardinal cross, a lunar eclipse coming on the 26th and a solar eclipse on July 11th! Whew - major stirring of the cauldron!

In Beth Owl's Daughter's newsletter, Wings, she passes along this info:

Astrologer Rhea Wolf writes, "The Summer Solstice chart, which sets the tone of things for the next three months, holds a Grand Cardinal Cross – a major gateway energy in astrology. Yes, it’s big. Yes, it’s intense. Yes, it’s time to change. Those who argue for continuing on our current path of overconsumption and violence are delusional and out of synch."

Now that the Solstice has passed, there is no going back, and it is important that we all hold on tight and access our most heroic, Divine selves. 

First, we will be dealing with the powerful Full Moon this Saturday, June 26.  Renowned astrologer, Dan Furst explains this is, "an alignment of terrific power, and harbinger of what is to come within 3 weeks, on July 14.  At this Full Moon and partial lunar eclipse, Pluto in Capricorn conjoins the Moon, both opposite Sun and Mercury in Cancer, while Uranus and Jupiter are conjunct in Aries, both opposing Saturn in late Virgo.

"Thus a seven-planet grand cross forms. At the same time, Neptune and Chiron are conjunct, and Mars in Virgo is trine the Dragon’s Head in Capricorn. Venus in Leo is quintile the two Aries planets in the grand cross, so that all the planets and the Moon’s Nodes are linked in one tremendous configuration."

Folks, this is rare, and deeply challenging stuff. I am certainly not joining what Dan calls the doom pimps of astrology (and this event has sure brought some of them out of the woodwork!).  

But such a dramatic and rare alignment challenges us to ask ourselves  - who are we and what role have we agreed to, in the sacred work of awakening the world? 

"This is not a time to be afraid – doors are opening now and it’s time to walk through them.  Our world is in a state of terrible dysfunction and a rebalancing is necessary. Any fears and areas of discomfort that arise now are emerging so that they can be seen for the shadows that they are rather than the experiences of reality that we believe them to be."

Dan Furst heartily agrees, emphasizing, "Those who will have the hardest time with what is about to arrive will be those who fiercely resist change, most of all in their own beliefs and behaviors; who are endlessly engaged in attacking the ones whom they see as having caused the problems; and who refuse either to accept any responsibility for what has gone wrong, or [refuse] to propose any positive steps toward solutions, least of all those that might benefit people whom they perceive as their enemies."

Fear not, but do keep your seat belt buckled. This Summer is going to be a major turning point and it's all hands on deck.  Cultivate compassion, take exquisite care of yourself and each other, keep the faith, and live into the changes you want to see in the world.  

You can read more at Beth's site and sign up for her newsletter here: 

http://www.owlsdaughter.com/owls-wings/

Everything is shifting, moving, taking us along for the ride. I am hearing many stories from women I have read cards for and others whom I discuss metaphysics with. Me? I'm going with the flow, not letting myself get worked up - change has always been an issue for me, but now... well, I seem to be adjusting just fine. An old friend that I've reconnected with recently said it was good to read a positive take on the summer's energetic shifts when I shared Beth's newsletter on my yahoo group. She's right, that is the way to approach this, seeing the good and being excited about the possibilities that await us. So, with this in mind I  have drawn a tarot card.

King of Wands - well! Wands are all about fire, growth, creativity, inspiration. Fire also has it's negative associations, but we're looking at the positive here so I think the keyword is growth. The King of Wands represents confidence, ambition and leadership qualities, knowing. Possibilities are before us without much in the way of obstacles - we're ready to leap. Tempered by moderation, whatever our passion is, it is there waiting. Along with the astrological energies surrounding us, I would say we are all ready to fly. But it is up to us. We can remain where we are or we can take the chance. What are you waiting for? Where is your creative passion trying to take you? Indeed the doors are opening. Now is the right time. Yes, step carefully, but follow the path. 

So, fasten your seat belts, it's going to be the mother of all rides!

Blessings nine!