Prayer for Boston

Today in Boston MA, someone set off two bombs, killing two and injuring hundreds. At the moment Boston Red Cross is saying they have enough blood and aren't looking for any.  

I'm not linking to any of the news coverage it's all over if you interesting in seeking it out. 

My heart goes out to those who have family and friends who were attending the event and to the thousands of runners who were almost done with their challenge.  My heart especially goes out the hundred of witnesses and survivors of the blast.

Please keep these people in your prayers.   

RIP: LA Banks, Leslie E. Banks

On my books read and books to read is an author who I love like hell, her name is LA Banks. She is too awesome for words, her books, are too amazing. She wrote books with characters that were flawed yet fighters complex yet, oh so simple.

Her take on vampire, and the paranormal world was something never done before, she mixed music, Black culture, African history, Kemetic history and lure all into one power packed story line that stretched into several books. Books that changed the way I viewed a lot of things, it also became  a bridge between my sisters, and myself. Through her books we formed a informal book club with several friends and we connected over these characters, we compared much of life's lessons with the wisdom shared within the pages; these books created characters that spoke, walked,talked and looked like us. In a genre where mostly white females dominate it was lovely and inspiring to read of a powerful black female character and her Neteru team.  Heck, my white bath got a makeover after reading her version of the old ritual.

According to her website she lost her battle with cancer, which she discovered only this year. Leslie will be missed, my heart goes out to her daughter and to all her fans and friends.

May she walk the path to the ancestors, and find peace
May Anubis watch over her and guide her safely to Ma'at
Blessed Be

Sympathetic New Year Magick

When i lived in New York, I used to hang out with an eclectic group of people. One of the young women i created my first 'circle' with had a friend who was a witch; she taught us the following lore:

• Don't do anything on New Year you don't want to be doing the rest of the year., so if you have unfinished projects attempt to get them done.
• If you can't have then done by New Years, have a plan to have them done within the first 30 days of the year, otherwise you will find an excuse not to finish them and it will hang around all year.
• Try not to carry old year baggage or drama into the New Year, so if you have the money, try to be current on as many bill as possible.  
• Clean up before and attempt to make the home as homely as possible so that, it's a place you wish to return to all year.
• try to have your laundry, and ironing current so that it's not something your carrying with you all year.
• set your goals and plans BEFORE New years, that way when the "new year" starts you have an idea of what you wish to do. Also make them realistic, and have time lines so that each thing gets done in a practical timely manner, instead of waiting til the last minute.
• focus on the habits you wish to keep and the things you wish to have, not what is lacking or what needs to be changed, when the clock hits midnight, that's a magical hour it's called the witching hour for a reason, send a wish out for others to have their basic needs met, and thank the Gods that your basic needs have been met this year.
• Try to do something for someone else on New Years day, (after you wake up from the hang over), either give groceries to the local food bank ( which are desperate right now) or give some of your clothing that you have sorted to the Salvation Army. Can't do any of those, there are tons more ways to help, donate blood, give your time, or even just a few dollars to any charity you wish in the name of your Goddess or God.

I also like to use this prosperity charm from Silver Ravenwolf, as it reminds me that although I may not be Melanie Gates (bill gates' wife) I am in a pretty good place.

Supplies: YOU

to enhance: 

• begin on a full moon and repeat until the next full moon; 
• begin when the moon first enters Aries, 
• begin on a Sunday in the hour of the sun,
•  perform on Beltane at the rising of the sun

Start by taking three deep breaths:

"At this moment, there is no yesterday,

at this moment there is no tomorrow,

at this moment there is only today

Goddess of abundance come to me, come to me"

Repeat until you feel yourself start to relax.

" I have clothes on my back

Food to eat, & a place to stay

Goddess of abundance come to me, come to me"

Continue to repeat the last line until you feel more relaxed, even if all of it isn't true, your putting the gratitude out there for what is true and asking for the rest. 

"I am perfectly okay, Goddess of abundance

come to me come to me"

Repeat until you have completely relaxed. Now imagine yourself as a strong tree ( I always imagine the oak) your roots deep into Mother Earth, and your branches reaching high to Father Sun. Raise your hands if this will help the visualization. Relax and allow yourself to become one with God and Goddess, with the universe, now say:

" I am one with the universe, 

& the universe will provide for me 

in every way.

Goddess of abundance 

come to me come to me"

repeat until a feeling of inner calm washes over you. Then say everything without pause and end with:

" this is true as I say 

so mote it be"

Clap your hands together, hold them out before you and say "In peace". More your hands to the right and say " in harmony". move your hands to the left, and say " in truth". bring your hands back to your chest and say:

" In love, 

May the Lord and Lady shower

their blessings upon me

I am the source

of my abundance

So mote it be!"

This always works wonders for me

I wish you many blessings this New Year

Bright Blessings

12 days of Mithra-mas day 1 Boxing Day

December 26th: Boxing Day Day of the Wren, St. Stephens Day, 
Irish: La an dreoilin

Today is Boxing Day December 26th. Today in history the old Lords and lady's traditionally boxed up their left-over Christmas feast and either gave it to their servants or had them delivered to homes of those less fortunate. 
In the Caribbean today is a day to visit all those you didn't see on Christmas. It's also a big day for games for the kids, and a chance for the adults to catch up(and lets be real, more food). 

The reason for today being associated with St, Stephens started from a legend about the saint's visit to Scandinavia. He was captured and when he was attempting to escape the wren gave it's call which woke the guards.  This has lead to the belief that the wren is unlucky and the killing of a wren on any other day is ill-advised.

Today is the day in history when the first person to kill a wren and display it was made King of the Feast of Fools.   When the saint was killed he was strapped to an unbroken horse which rode back to Saint Stephens home. This has lead to the saint's home being seen as a pilgrimage site as well as many people bringing their sick animals to the saint's grave. 

Middle age image of a mummers play courtesy of bing.com

The Mummers Plays, had young boys who would hunt the wren and then carry the bird (wither dead or alive ) back to the leaders home, when the dancing was done, the  feathers from the bird was passed out as a good luck charm. The killing of the wren was a symbol of getting rid of the past year, as it is believed the Celts viewed the Wren as the old years symbol.  Historians also believe that the killing of the Wren harkens back to the sacrifice rituals of the old European traditions, where the king was killed after a year of service.  

The theme of Boxing Day has to do with death and resurrection and animals. Today is also generally the day when most Mummers plays are performed. 


                                              To Celebrate the Animals:
Make a fruitcake and ice it and surround it with a circle of animals. they can be made from modeling clay or from the toy store. You can read the following invocation over the cake before you serve it:

Creatures of the wild world

we honor your strength

we honor your power

we honor your joy!

May you bring us

The Gift of your presence

The blessing of your truth

the Light of your being

Now and through the year to come

You can also look up Mummers Plays and attempt to re-enact them with your children, or even find some of their songs and sing those today.

Another thing to do would be to "box' up any left overs you know you won't be able to finish and share the love with either the homeless person you see regularly or give to a soup kitchen or even to one of the homes for those who are recovering, half-way homes, or even to the women's abuse shelters.

However you celebrate, have fun my loves.

Blessed be

Merry Yule

this is the Long night

this is the dark night

this is the cold night

this is the night of last hope

this is the night of the little spark

this is the night of turning from darkness

this is the night of turning towards light

this is the night of wonder

the long night is here

come to us, you spirits

together let us fill the long night with light

calling all beings to warm themselves at our fires

pg 156 Serith, Ceisiwr, A book of Pagan Prayer

Happy Yule everyone, I hope you enjoyed the 21 days leading up to Yule and will have an excellent and beautiful Yule ceremony tonight.

have fun with the 12-13 day countdown, which I will be participating in also. 
enjoy the first Sabbat of the New Year.


All of nature is dressed in the Goddess Splendor
And today the God will rise, and another will rest
Enjoy the magick and beauty of the Solstice

Empath

One of the reasons I am a loner is because I am an Empath. Even after 18 years in the craft, I sometimes still get caught by surprise when strong emotions hit. Like yesterday, after watching the Oprah show I needed a nap. I felt drained, and tired, I was distracted when I sat down to watch it and never warded myself, by time the show was over I needed that nap. I woke up feeling dirty, like I was covered in inky darkness; I felt like someone had used me as a punching bag, everything ached. I needed a white bath fast. 


Of Course, none of this occurred to me, while I wrote yesterday's post, I was crying so hard I couldn't see the words on the screen. Afterwards I went to sleep I was so deeply wounded and exhausted.  My empathetic abilities are severely strong.  It has played a massive role in what movies I watch, music I listen to,  & the books I read..


I get embarrassed by certain scenes in movies, (not that I'm a prude, but moments when a character is supposed to be embarrassed or even awkward moments, even sometimes the sex scenes because I can feel the actors' feeling towards each other) so much so that my family never lets me hold the remote when we watch movies, because I have been known to change the channel mid-scene to get away from the emotions.  Can I tell you how many movies and shows this has ruined for me?? Everyone would love the movie and I'm like no they didn't fit together well, or whatever reason I just wouldn't like the movie; even when there hadn't been a shred of evidence that the cast didn't like each other or get along famously.  


I don't watch the news because it just feels like one big wave of fear,anger, despair, and loneliness coming from the t.v. I sure don't watch horror movies, sometimes in the middle of action movies I get the urge to laugh because that was the emotion felt by the actor.  Movies with rape, or sexual assault get a massive pass, because I can feel it, and after a while it can only bring you down more. I haven't read a lot of the Oprah's book club books because many of her books have the same theme, like "where the heart is" I never got to the end of the book because of the graphic details of one scene.


I just couldn't, there are so many other situations like this, that i have found it easier to withdraw from some people and situations.  No matter how good my wards are I always feel the emotions especially in large crowds.  This led to me being socially awkward at times, because there is nothing like knowing what the person talking to you is really feeling to kill a good vibe. Even now, when i work with people I can sometimes tell when they are lying because their emotions don't match what they are saying. So saying all of this you know how awkward it is when I get hit on by a guy who's really smoking and all he's thinking about is hitting and quitting right???


Back to the white baths (more on that later) for me a white bath is a saving grace. It includes cleaning the bathtub to get rid of any negatively, lighting white candles that have been charged for healing, smudging the room, summoning up the angels for healing, playing either ritual music or meditation music and taking a bath in a tub full of Epsom salt and charged essential oils to help clear away the negative or cloying feelings. Since yesterday was cleaning day I already knew the tub was clean, I just needed my Epsom salt and essential oils. I wash myself from head to toe including my dreads, and chant or prayer while doing so, I never really remember what I say but I always end with a blessing which I will share here:

Blessed is my mind which knows the mysteries of the Goddess

and is blessed with calm and clarity

Blessed are my eyes which see all she allows me to see

may I see the truth, and not the lies

Blessed are my ears, which hear the words of the Goddess

and hear the whispers of my elders, 

may nothing I hear lead me from my destiny. 

May I hear the truth and know it

Blessed are my lips that speak the words of the Goddess

May nothing I say harm another, or lead them from their paths

May I speak truth always

Blessed is my heart that beats to the rhythm of the inner mysteries

may it recognize love, give love and be love

Blessed my womb, that holds the future generation, 

may I always have the strength of the Mother

and the ferociousness of the Maiden

& the Wisdom of the Crone within me

Blessed are my legs which guide my feet on this path

Blessed are my knees that kneel at the altar of the Gods

Blessed are my feet that walk the path of the Goddess, 

may they guide me deeper into your mysteries, 

and never stray from my journey.

my true destiny

Blessed am I, a child of the Goddess and God

May I be a Light and shining example for others to see

Surrounded and Protected by my Mother Goddess and Father God

I am Truth

I am Light

I am Love

I am Protected

I am Blessed

I then seal the blessing and quietly release any and all beings called to the ritual.. I would then (if it was spring or summer and early fall) go outside and put my feet in the ground (counter productive to a bath I know but it works) this aides in grounding me as, my property is also a part of my shield. if it's winter and it's not too cold I go for a walk around my neighborhood, and come back to myself, I may go to my woods and sit by the waterfalls, I unplug and allow myself the time to heal from such a moment, then I know that this is another thing (situation, emotion) that can slip in past my wards and can be better prepared next time.

I'm not saying this because I don't want to feel empathy or any of the emotions associated with dealing with yesterday's story, but such strong emotions will drain you and make it hard for you to carry on. It's one of the reasons many empaths who are untrained may become depressed or become addicted to things to aide in drowning out the sounds, feeling and impressions. Years ago before many knew there were websites for like minded people many who weren't able would unfortunately either be admitted to facilities to "help" them or some would take their lives.


This is how I heal and protect myself, and I wanted to share for those who may also be like me and needed someone to let them know that it gets easier, but it's a learning process and it can easily have slip-ups too.  I will post about the white bath later


Be Blessed my loves
May the Goddess and God protect and guide you

Samhain Prayers

There are many different prayers, the one's you make-up are of course the best ones which you can pray!!  I generally just wing it, but I have found that there are many different prayer books on the market, This one I love and it has many great prayers inside.  These prayers are from "A Book of Pagan Prayer" :

Prayer for the Festival of the Dead

• I pray to all the Gods of death of darkness, of sorrow. Though I do not love you, I respect you. Though I do not welcome you, I honor you. Though i do no invite you into my life. I know you are already there.
• Eat with us, Ancestors, on this night of the dead. Share our meal with us, and then go on your way.
• Wild geese flying overhead on your journey south, bear away with you on your thundering wings, the cares that have made my summer weary. Cry out my pain, passing over the darkened land, until the air ocean sail washes away.

                 Offering that can be made to the Gods and Goddesses of Death are:
Beer, Mead, Wine. Bread,  for the Hunter Gods and Goddesses  can also be Meat if you are a meat eater or a hunter you can place a piece of something you have hunted, or even a feather from the birds or a piece of hide from the deer.


Hope these were helpful
Blessed Be