Gratitude

I have been thinking about the things I am grateful for. Though (through no fault of my own) I’m not in the best of health right now, there are so many reasons to be cheerful.

I can study.

I have beautiful surroundings.

I have a home.

I have friends, and make friends, wherever I go.

I have my path.

I have someone to share life with.

I have family.

I have Witchcraft.

I’d love to hear what makes you happy and what you are grateful for. Do you have any big plans for 2024?

NEXT - Gratitude Jar

NEXT - Review: Wild Once by Vivianne Crowley

Journaling: Harvest Reflections for Lughnasadh

The beautiful fields of golden grain that carpet my local landscape have all been brought in now. We celebrated Lughnasadh earlier on in August, but the harvest energy is still current.

I think Lughnasadh, and the weeks that follow up to the Autumn Equinox, are the best time in the year for reflection and goal setting, so I spent some time thinking about Grimoire journaling prompts for this time. It’s important to think about our own personal harvests and the direction we want to move in over the coming months.

Journal prompts:

• What are you harvesting in your life right now?
• What has been the highlight of the last twelve months?
• What achievement are you particularly proud of?
• Where is there room for improvement?
• What would you like to achieve in the next twelve month?
• Why is this important to you?

What have you achieved over the last twelve months? Is there something you have achieved that you are particularly proud of? 

NEXT - Pagan Holidays: Lughnasadh 

NEXT - Autumn Equinox Blessings

Simple Magick: Birthday Rituals

Birthdays. What do you think of them?

I think of them as being a bit liminal. You have just completed a year’s cycle, and you are just starting a new year’s cycle; but you haven’t completed much of that journey. So whilst they might not be completely liminal, they do feel like an in-between to me. Not quite here, not quite there. But that’s just my own viewpoint.

I find them to be a reflective time, and carry an energy similar to some of the festivities in the Wheel. I find myself looking back at what I have (or have not) achieved, and what I want moving forwards.

I’ll be honest, birthdays are often a deeply difficult time for me. As I grow older I find these occasions more emotional. It is not the process of growing older. That is something I absolutely cherish, and I’m aware it’s a privilege denied to many; but it’s the realisation of the passing of time, and how I might have done things differently that plays on my mind. Even if many of these things have been beyond my control.

I take the day before a birthday to collect myself and get my thoughts in order. In the evening I sometimes do a little magick. On the day I often have a little cry, before getting on and enjoying it. I can’t help it, it’s just how these things flow.

Birthdays are an excellent time to create/perform self-love rituals. There’s no-one who can love you more than you!

Things you can include in a birthday ritual:

Pampering

Letters to the old, or new, you 

Releasing or letting go of old habits, behaviours, and thoughts 

Plans, ideas, intentions and wishes 

Journaling 

A special gift from you to you!

One thing I always concentrate on the day before a birthday is this thought:

We have immense personal power, and once we realise this, it’s much easier to tap into it. We have all the tools we need at our disposal to achieve anything we desire. We have the ability to transmute the airy energy of ideas, and manifest them into something solid, something real. What am I going to create? What do I want to achieve? What am I going to do?

What month is your birthday? Do you think they’re a good time for magick? Do you have any special birthday rituals?

NEXT - Simple Magick: Experiencing The Land Wights
NEXT - Simple Magick: 10 Easy Witchy Self-Care Activities
NEXT - Poppy Magick: Correspondences 

The Return of the Sun

Earlier on in the week @autumncroneapothecary and I were talking about most witches having a strong relationship with the Moon (as it should be), but us feeling much closer to the Sun and solar energy.

As a Cancer I put this down to being born in the summer, I just feel so connected to it. There’s also no avoiding the fact that with several conditions related to my muscles and joints I’m relieved when the days get longer and warmer and my bones don’t hurt and click quite so much!

As we approach the Winter Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, I have been thinking about all the good things that happened in the warmer half of this year, and I’m really looking forward to what’s to come. A particular highlight this year was driving through a quirky little village near us and spotting this telephone box with tomatoes planted inside.

I’m looking forward to picnics and our annual Beltane celebration, time in the park with the kids, dinner in my parents’ garden, foraging, spending some time near water (typical Cancerian!) and warmth on my face.

What about you? What Sun sign are you? Does it relate to whether you prefer summer or winter? Do you think 2021 is going to be a good year for you?  What are you looking forward to most in 2021? 

NEXT - Pagan Holidays: Imbolc 

NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Winter Solstice Celebrations 

NEXT - Greeting the Sun After the Longest Night

Spell: Graveminding Ritual

A graveminding ritual is one that anyone can undertake, regardless of spirituality or religion. It is purely about connecting in with, and venerating, the dead, and holding space for them.

Graves are often left unattended and unvisited for long periods of time, so caught up are we in the busy hamster-wheel of life, so Samhain is the perfect time to carry out this special visit.

For this ceremony you will need:

Gardening and cleaning equipment; a water bottle spray, gentle soap, and a cloth

Flowers/floral tributes

Candle

Cakes, cookies, or biscuits

On your way to the cemetery bring your beloved dead in to your mind, and think about the time you shared together, or the role they played within your life. Recall memories you have of them, and picture them in your mind’s eye if at all possible.

When you arrive at the grave spend time cleaning it and clearing away any dead grass or foliage. When you are ready, leave your tributes, saying a few words if you wish. If there are others with you allow them to do the same.

Light the candle, and imagine that your connection with them is represented by the flickering flame. Appreciate that their memory will always burn in you.

Stay here for some time in quiet meditation and contemplation. Partake in food and drink and if there are others with you you may wish to share stories, poems, readings, or songs. Say these words:

As the veils of Samhain fall, 

Sense this light, hear my call,

Blessed dead in earthly tomb, 

Your memory in me abloom.

You may wish to spend the whole day undertaking this pilgrimage, and if the grave of your loved one is far away, or it takes a lot of cleaning and clearing up, then it is entirely possible it may do so.

Leave the candle burning if you can, if the cemetery authorities allow it.

Graveminding ritual taken from The Journey into Spirit by Kristoffer Hughes. 

NEXT - Spell: Protective Evening Beauty Ritual
NEXT - Cemetery Stuff: Extracts From Regulations
NEXT - Cemetery Stuff: Memento Mori

Gratitude Jar

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.

~ Henry Ward Beecher

A Gratitude Jar is a great habit for happiness and wellbeing. It costs next to no money to make (all you need is a jam jar and some paper), and is a great way to record the many blessings that come our way over the course of a year.

Some know them as a ‘Joy Jar’, ‘Moments Jar’, ‘Good Times Jar’, or ‘Happy/Happiness Jar’. Ultimately, you can call it what you like, the idea behind it remains the same.

I have not made one in a few years, so I decided that as it is a new decade it was time I did one. Whilst I’m generally in the habit of practising mindfulness and gratitude on a daily basis, there is nothing better than opening up these magical bits of paper, and reliving those tiny moments of joy.

Some people choose to open theirs on New Year’s Day, but for me it makes more sense to do it on New Year’s Eve - a glimpse back at the past year, before starting a new year.

Whilst us Witches have actually had our New Year at Samhain, I chose to do this around the calendar year, because it just makes more sense (to my tiny brain!) to do it this way.

There are no rules as to what you can stick in your Gratitude Jar, but the focus is on what and who you are grateful for. However big or small.

Write it down, put the date on it, and stick it in the jar. It’s as simple as that.

I hope you all have a gorgeous 2020 full of blessings, big and small.

Cemetery Stuff: Memento Mori

Memento Mori. Remember you must die.

One of the most life-affirming things I’ve ever done is start living on a cemetery.

There is plenty of life here. A steady stream of visitors to the graves, dog walkers, and runners passing through on their daily run to admire the beauty of the place. Funeral processions, noise from the earth diggers that dig the graves, and the constant lawn mowing and hedge trimming.

There are owls, foxes, rabbits, and bats. There are birds in the tree outside my bedroom window, and a family of Starlings nesting in the gutter over the kitchen.

There are flowers; those left by mourning relatives, and those blooming in the spring. We have trees and shrubs and greenery; and big, dark, open skies with which to view the many millions of stars above.

And amongst the gentle hubbub there is also peace and quiet to reflect on all of this.

As I stand at the kitchen sink and look out at the gravestones I have silent space to ponder my own mortality.

This is an old cemetery and whilst death happened a lot earlier in the 1800s, one only has to take a quick look around the headstones to be reminded that death is always just around the corner.

So I choose to make the most of life. Memento Mori. Remember you must die.

NEXT - Cemetery Stuff: Extracts From Regulations
NEXT - Fabulous Folklore: Gravestone Symbolism