Last week

I focused on keeping going with the steady stars of my personal practice: morning offerings, my music and divination start to the morning, and generally sorting out what was and wasn’t working for me.

A lot of feeling scattered, and telling myself that was okay. Toward Saturday, I could feel my brain settling down, and I had a good writing day on Sunday, which is always promising.

One of the things I’ve learned from my witchcraft is that liminal states always feel weird, and that forcing myself into them or through them rarely works well. Working with them, however, helps a lot. I got a bit more sleep (I went to bed earlier than usual two different nights, and overslept on one of them…)

I’ve also got a page with some thoughts about how to look at this time almost written, but not quite done yet.

This week

I’m working on figuring out ways to include more explicit healing work in my daily practice, probably in the ‘offerings to relevant deities’ category.

Saturday: I’ve made arrangements with my coven for a Zoom call on Saturday morning (when we’d normally have had class).

My plans involve being able to check in with everyone, talk through some resources on the witchy side that I’m finding interesting or helpful, and then we were up to our healing class, so talking a bit about magical approaches to healing and supporting the body (though not attempting some of the exercises until we’re a little more familiar with the technology.)

Also known as “Half way through this project” and also “Wow, the world is complicated right now.”

Last week

Almost entirely taken up with prepping to be working from home for the forseeable future (at least April 10th, in my case), both in terms of work and in terms of grocery shopping, doing laundry, and so on. (I have no access to laundry without a laundromat or a laundry service other than ‘do in the sink’.)

I’m at high risk of lung complications (I have the kind of lungs that make my allergist eye me dubiously. A lot.) So my plan is to stay home as much as possible for the duration, barring some wide-open-air walks in the neighborhood and the bare minimum of errands for food and other necessities.

I’ve also got the edges of symptoms for something that had me feeling iffy on Sunday, and on and off today (minor things, but of course we’re all paying really close attention to all of that right now.)

Saturday: I sent out an email to my coven, just checking in, letting them know we wouldn’t likely be doing in person stuff for a bit, and to let me know if they wanted more resources for anything. And some notes about healing rituals, and what they could do without checking with me (we’re at a slightly weird point in training for that.)

This week

Getting used to working at home (I’m the kind of person who thinks a great vacation is being at home, sleeping late, and catching up on things, so the ‘being home’ is not actually a huge problem for me.) But figuring out how to set up my computer for long-term work (without having to log out of all my personal stuff) took some time.

We have a tradition-specific ritual that I do on the spring equinox every year, so I also need to prep for doing that. (I’m planning to do it on Sunday.)

Last week

Last week was full of things. The cat had her first vet appointment in a while on Tuesday, which took a couple of hours and resulted in her needing three appointments in the next couple of months (she needs to have a few teeth pulled, so there’s a pre-check for that, the actual process, and a check after.)

She did her best imitation of a small attack panther while still in her carry case. Then the vet came out to talk to me after they did the exam, with a “So, yeah, there is stuff going on with her teeth, but given that she was doing an alligator death roll on the tongue depressor, I wasn’t able to get the best look. Here’s the range of what I suspect we’ll find when she’s sedated, but you want to schedule that in the not too distant future.”

Oh, Astra. [1] Anyway, that was a lot of Out Managing Small Attack Panther, and then there was some more ‘stocking the kitchen so I don’t have to go out unnecessarily’ (I’m at high risk of lung complications, so while I’m not panicking about the coronavirus, I am taking sensible precautions.)

On that front: I wrote up a guide to coven practice and contagious disease considerations, and encourage you all to share it if it’d be helpful for other people you know. It includes my coven’s policies around health and the email I sent this week. (See: my lungs are perpetually cranky, I host coven stuff in my home, I’ve had a policy for a good while.)

Saturday: Class and a full moon ritual. Class was on meditation and pathworking (why we do it, and some different approaches.)

The ritual was making protection eggs, which is one of my favourite things, and one I do most years. I just find it really satisfying. (I had a crushing accident with mine, am not entirely thrilled with the replacement, and may make a new one, since I still have blown out shells.)

See the instructions down below if you’d like to do this yourself. It’s very flexible for your intentions (protection, well-being, home, etc.) and doesn’t need a lot of materials.

Sunday:

I’ve had an ongoing regular web chat with an accountability partner for one of last year’s projects (and we’ve kept going this year). She’s done training in hypnotic regression, and is working on a new certification, so she needed practice subjects she could document. We did a quite long session (2.5 hours) yesterday, which was quite intriguing, including building in some new deity practice.

(My basic instructions on how to take care of myself are apparently “read more” and “drink more water”. Ok, then.)

This week

I was expecting to be going to Oregon for a work trip, and cancelled as of this morning, so I have two weekends with nothing scheduled on them, and I’m looking forward to a chance to catch up on a bunch of things. (Also, release the romance book that has been in editing forever…)

Protection eggs

If you want to do this yourself, here’s what you need:

• Eggs (large white work best, though brown are fine if you don’t mind the brown background.) 
• Washi tape, medical tape, or something else that will stick to an eggshell (Scotch tape and similar tapes don’t.) You want enough to seal the hole in the bottom of the egg.
• Something to hang the egg with, if you like (floss, ribbon, etc.) 
• Markers (crayons can work, but I prefer markers)
• Dried herbs of your choice (for protection, abundance, or other things along those lines.) 

Process:

• Blow out eggs
  • Put a tiny hole in the top, and a bigger hole, about the size of a dime, in the bottom. I use a thumbtack to make the holes.
  • Blow out through the tiny hole into a bowl. You need a fair bit of pressure. 
  • Do at least one more egg than you think you’ll need. 
  • Rise out, and let dry out over night.
• Decorate your egg with the markers. You can write words, symbols, shapes, etc. related to your goal. 
• Fill your egg with a mix of herbs, and tape up the bottom. 
• Add a thread for hanging if you like. (This usually works better if you run it from the bottom to the top, held in multiple places by tape. Superglue would probably work if you let it set long enough.) 
• Charge with your intention.
• Place by a door (usually the main door of your home) for protection, or in other suitable locations for

You’d think that threading a bit of embroidery floss or fine yarn through the top hole would be sensible, but in practice this turns out to be logistically quite challenging.

If you want to try it, consider making the top hole big enough for a yarn needle (something with some weight), and then threading a pony bead (or something of similar size) with suitable knots to keep it attached, to hold on the inside. (A washer would probably do okay too.) Do this before you fill the egg with herbs.

[1] There would be cat photos, but she is basically entirely black, so most photos of her involve a black void, sometimes with teeth.

Last week

Saturday: We had our first initiate discussion as a coven! Very exciting. We talked through the initiation ritual in a bit more detail, now it’s had time to settle, and then started what is known in the tradition as the Infamous Tools Worksheet, a deep dive into ritual tools in theory and practice. I’m looking forward to it!

Sunday: I had a consult with Ivy of Circle Thrice, which I’ve been contemplating doing for a bit, but I finally hit a point of wanting someone to help me refine and strategise about two different sets of magical goals.

One is some better integration of stuff that’s good for me (food, exercise, etc. I’m pretty good at getting enough sleep, because it’s my easiest to manage migraine trigger. Migraines are really good incentive to fix a thing.) The other is looking at some magic to support the romance writing to increase income there in ways I feel good about (and that are good for the people who might enjoy reading my stuff.)

This lead to a discussion of “Given what you’ve said about your practice, have you considered added a solar-focused deity” (because mostly my primary deity work is either All The Water or cthonic. Which are both great in their ways, but not optimal for certain kinds of energy management needs.) So I am cheerfully contemplating that.

This week

Voting in Super Tuesday tomorrow morning, a vet appointment for the cat in the afternoon.

Saturday we have a full moon ritual (for scheduling reasons – I’ve got an out of town work trip with awful flight times – we’re not going to manage to do a spring equinox ritual). So we’re doing one of my favourite magical workings with protection eggs.

Take an egg, blow out the contents (small hole at the narrow end of the egg, bigger one at the bottom) into a bowl (make something with them later). Decorate with protective symbols/words/etc. Fill with a mix of herbs/etc. that you like and are suited. Charge. Hang by your door or in another suitable place.

Sunday, I’m doing a hypnosis session with a friend I’ve been doing other discussions with, and I’m curious to see how that goes.

Last week

A quiet week on the magical front, mostly – I was focusing on some editing and consulting work (outside of the usual day job) and the combo left neither much time nor brain for other things.

This week

I’ve got my first initiate discussion with my (last summer) initiate on Saturday, which I’m very much looking forward to.

I’m also doing a call with someone on Sunday about lining up some things magically more effectively.

See? Very quiet week. (On the other hand, I have gotten my editing done for the moment, and have some time to catch up on other stuff.)

Last week

Mostly low-key. (I have had more migraines than usual, due to a combo of a new med and weather patterns, which does not leave a ton of energy for other things.)

Saturday, we had Dedicant class (they’re now just about exactly half way through Dedicant year), covering magical theory and theory of divination, as well as talking through about where they should be on some longer-term assignments.

Sunday, I managed some notes for initiate discussion and a plan of attack (our first one is on the 29th), and wrote up the class notes for the Dedicants, and … yeah.

This week

I am finally almost caught up on other projects eating my brain, caught up on one bit of consulting work, and have a good sense of when I’ll likely finish the other, which means next weekend is joyfully sorta free!

By which I mean it will likely have laundry in it, and some other tasks, and a bunch of writing, but that’s good.

Last week

I did my taxes! (With the help of a great tax preparer, since this year’s taxes involved self-employment income that made things more complicated. If you need a rec, let me know through the contact form and I’ll tell you more. I’m in the US, they’re online, and work with people in any state, with a focus on artists and freelancers.)

Not witchy, exactly, only … it turned out that the money I’d been setting aside in case of taxes mostly wasn’t needed, so I bought a laptop with it. (I’ve previously been using an iPad and keyboard when travelling, but I have three trips between now and the middle of July, and there are applications useful for my writing I can’t access on the iPad.)

It came on Friday (it’s a refurbished 2019 MacBook Air) and I spent a chunk of Friday setting it up. I’m already finding it great when I want to focus on writing (since I set it up so most distracting things aren’t easy to get to on it…) I’m feeling much more like this is even more an explicit magical tool than most of my tech, and I plan to write about that at some point.

It also made a great excuse to clean up a bunch of my bookmarks and other files, though that’s still a work in progress.

Saturday: I spent Saturday up at friends for their community Imbolc feast and sharing of creativity with a couple of my students. It was great to have some amiable social time, followed by plenty of great food.

This week

Saturday we are doing our magical theory class and intro to divination (combined, because I had to cancel due to ugh two weeks ago.) They are both topics where we get good conversations going, so I’m looking forward to that.

Welcome to February! And happy Imbolc, for those for whom that is the thing.

Last week

A busy week in non-magical corners: I had a doctor’s appointment and the monthly dinner with friends.

Friday: Meeting for the ongoing project to discuss getting some metro-Boston Pagan events going. (Watch this space for more info on a meet-and-greet in April if you’re in/near the Boston area.)

Saturday: Imbolc ritual and class with my coven, which was delightful.

I’m still a bit under the weather and running tired and have two other big projects needing brain (organizational consulting I do for a friend, and working on the next book editing), so I didn’t get much study done on Sunday.

I did have what I think is the most Virgo (my sun sign) and Capricorn (my rising sign) moment of my life. I went grocery shopping on Friday before the meeting, came home, and had about an hour free. I discovered I’d just gotten the last tax document I needed, so I sat down and uploaded everything for the tax preparer. (Appointment online this week.)

This week

Mostly quieter (an online meeting for one of my courses), and then the Imbolc celebration friends host nearby, which is a chance to have excellent food, good company, and focus on the creative projects we’ve been doing, among other things. It’s an all afternoon/early evening affair.

A very quiet week last week, partly due to the ongoing annoyance of chronic health issues.

I’ve been feeling under the weather for about two weeks. It could be one of said chronic things flaring, it could be the weather, it could be side effects of the most recent medication change (since 2-3 weeks ago is about when it would have hit full efficacy).

This particular variant has involved brain fog, exhaustion, and a lot of inability to focus. I’ve been here before, so I have coping mechanisms, but it’s still really tedious.

I made the decision on Wednesday to cancel Dedicant class for the weekend – I hate doing that, but I knew I was at “I can prep for this class or I can do this class, and I can’t do both.”

Two days of sleeping late, doing some other restful things, and not doing anything substantial on Saturday other than some minimal writing helped a fair bit, but I can tell I need to be very deliberate about my time and energy for the next week or two.

I did manage a New Moon divinatory reading (um, on Sunday), and my usual weekly offerings, but that was about it.

This week

Doctor’s appointment, a regular monthly dinner with friends, and maybe a meeting, then our Imbolc ritual (and class) on Saturday.