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Obsidian is a stunning and glassy volcanic rock. The name obsidian is derived from the name of a prominent ancient Roman, Obsius. It is most frequently black or very dark; however there are many variations of obsidian.

Black Obsidian is traditionally used for scrying, gazing, and seeking insight into the future because it is a natural glass from Gaia. It also is a powerful elminiator of negative or harmful energies both from the self and one’s environment. With the strong connection to the removal of disharmonic energy it is often called on to be a stone of protection.

Using black obsidian spiritually can aid in recognizing where you are holding negativity and help to eliminate those negative or harmful emotions and attachements.

An affirmation you might use with Black Obsidian could be “I cleanse myself of disharmonic energies and ground myself in light to the heart of the Earth and Gaia so that I can see clearly as I move in my path”

You can find some beautiful Obsidian pieces at the Sacred Mists Shoppe:
Black Obsidian Scrying Sphere:

http://www.sacredmists.com/obsidian-scrying-sphere.html

Black Obsidian Arrowhead:

http://www.sacredmists.com/obar.html

Black Obsidian Pyramid:

http://www.sacredmists.com/blobgepy.html

Obsidian – Nature’s Power for Protection Amulet:

http://www.sacredmists.com/slg-np-obsidian.html

Daily Magick posts are on hold for a little bit.  Mundane life has gotten quite crazy and I will post what I am doing each day to remain in touch with spirit as I can.

As we approach Lammas, I have begun harvesting and gathering the fruits of my labor this year and it’s pretty life changing for me.  Just in time our good friend Pat Olsen sent me an email early this morning with her Sabbat Poem.  Usually we share these on our facebook pages only but I thought it would absolutely do wonderfully sharing it with everyone today as we all begin the approach to the first harvest of our year.

Gathering in the Grain
(c) Patricia Olsen

Straw Flower

The days are mellow with amber;
The old God of Fire still potent in the sky;
The nights are still and sweet as musk,
With a green corn moon on high.

The grain ripens like silken threads of gold,
Fruit hangs heavy and expectant on the bough;
The season has turned — it’s Lammas Fair,
And time to speed the plough.

As bread we bake and corn dolls we weave,
To honor the spirit of John Barleycorn,
To once again regenerate,
Even though now he must be shorn.

For soon winter’s wraith will envelop the land,
As the wounded fisher-king grows weak and frail;
Our blessed Goddess nourish and sustain us all,
With the fruits of your life-giving grail;

To have bread on the board and wheat in the barn,
And shelter from storm and hail;
And in every cottage and tavern near and far,
Plenty of good brown ale.

So let us reap the bounty of harvest time,
At this season of growth and decay;
And know that what dies will be reborn again,
With the lengthening of the days.

A time of passing, a time of change;
A cycle of life, death and rebirth;
Like the little shorn sheaf of grain, we too must go
The way of all life on this earth.

But we do not grieve as the wheel turns;
Instead we celebrate and make cheer;
And honor the Lord and Lady,
As they bide with us throughout the year.

So come make merry, drink, dance and sing;
Lovers embrace as you did on the Eve of Beltane,
And kindle the fires of love, life and rebirth,
With the gathering in of the grain.

Last week I wrote up a little ritual for Sacred Mists Students for the Full Moon tomorrow. We are all performing this solitary instead of our normal meeting in a chat-room. I thought it might be nice to share with you all too!

A little note about this ritual for July:

The 4 winds were given magical names by the ancient Greeks – Boreas, Eureus, Notus and Zephyrus – it is these forces together with those of the elemental spirits of air, water, fire and earth that are called upon in the spell to carry your wish or workings to the four points of the universe.

For this solitary ritual we will be working with the Four Winds and our own life connections. If your life has been anything at all like what I have seen in my own lately you may feel the need for balance, for cutting ties to events or even people to continue your spirit growth. Normally you would do this type of working on a New Moon for banishment; however, with the current moon in Capricorn we are being gifted clarity, which has been absent in recent weeks. The light of the Full Moon is excellent for clearly delineating the depths of our obsession or desires which we need to separate ourselves from AND fill the space with that which we desire.

Items for this ritual:
-White Candle (this can be a votive or Ritual/Spell candle but of a size that can safely burn out)
-Incense of choice for cleansing/purification. I will be using Amber & Sandalwood sticks
-White Ribbon (length is not super important but if possible at least 9 inches in length)
-Colored ribbon to represent that which you will be cutting ties to (length does not matter here at all and if you only have white you can color the ribbon with markers or write on the ribbon that which you wish to clear).

Walking or pointing deosil-
I conjure you, O Circle of Power, you are a boundary of Sacred Mists between the world of men and the realms of the Mighty Ones; a meeting place of love, joy and truth; a shield against all wickedness and evil; a rampart and protection that shall preserve and contain the power that we raise within.

Move to the East.
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the East and the Element of Air, blowing forth thought and communication on your gentle breeze we call to thee, please join us this night! Hail and Welcome!

Move on to the South:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the South and the Element of fire, dancing on the flames of passion, vigor and transformation we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Moving to the West:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the West and the Element of Water, riding on the waves of emotion and fresh ideas we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Moving to the North:
Hail to thee Guardians of the Watchtower of the North and the Element of Earth, dancing under the protective embrace bringing knowledge and growth we call to thee, please join us this night. Hail and Welcome!

Returning to Center:
Hail to thee Bright Lady and Goddess, in your name we have gathered beneath the Silvery light of the Full Moon in your honor and seek your blessings, we ask that you join us in the Sacred Circle of Power. Hail and Welcome!
Hail to thee Warm Lord and God, in your name we have gathered beneath the Silvery light of the Full Moon in her honor and seek your blessings, we ask that you join us in the Sacred Circle of Power. Hail and Welcome!
Having chosen the appropriate ribbon color for banishment or cutting of the cord for an obstacle and the growth that you wish to bring, hold both white and colored ribbons in your hands and visualize the outcome of your banishment and the filling of this space with growth in fine detail.

Tie your ribbons together with 3 knots near the top, you will want to have enough ribbon that it can “blow in the breeze”. Hold the ribbons in your hand near your mouth and breathe upon it trying to force the magick and desire through your breath into the very structure of the ribbons.

When you are satisfied, turn to the North and say:
“King Boreas of the North Wind,
by the powers of earth,
I call you to carry my working to the Northern quarter,
and by the powers of the gnomes,
I ask that you bring me balance and growth.”

Blow onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of North. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the East and say:
“King Eureus of the East Wind,
by the powers of air,
I call you to carry my working to the Eastern quarter,
and by the powers of the sylphs,
I ask that you bring me a light heart and freedom.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of East. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the South and say:
“King Notus of the South Wind,
by the powers of fire,
I call you to carry my working to the Southern quarter,
and by the powers of the salamanders,
I ask that you bring me passion and joy.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of South. (gather them back up in your palm)

Turn to the West and say:
“King Zephyrus of the West Wind,
by the powers of water,
I call you to carry my working to the Western quarter,
and by the powers of the undines,
I ask that you bring me balance of emotion and movement.”

Blow again onto the ribbons wrapped in your palm so they might unravel and wave in the ‘wind’ in the direction of Center.

Turn to Center/Altar and say:
Great Lady of the Bright Moon, High Lord of the Warm Sun we call to life a balance of spirit, a removal of obstacles and a growth so that we might continue on our journey. We have called forth the winds to bring our magick to the four corners of the world. Your blessings received with joy and thanks. Blessed Be.
With the ribbons in hand and your scissors or other cutting utensil nearby Say:
“We sever the ties which restrict us
We sever the chains which bind us”

**Just below the final knot on your ribbons cut away the colored ribbon from the knot and place it aside, after the ritual is complete you will bury this ribbon piece or throw it away so that it is no longer near you. The place of burial should not be on your property or near your home/sacred space**

Continue the working by saying:
“We bring forth balance and freedom
We bring forth passion and joy
Moving forward in life our obstacles removed
Moving forward in life our attractions given the breath of life.
Our will is done, So Mote It Be!”

Moving to the North:
Guardians to the Element of Earth, We thank thee for thy presence and aid. As the seed grows within so shall it without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the West:
Guardians to the Element of Water, We thank thee for thy presence and aid. With pure love within so shall it be without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the South:
Guardians to the Element of Fire, we thank thee for thy presence and aid. With burning light within so shall it be seen without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Moving to the East:
Guardians to the Element of Air, we thank thee for thy presence and aid. With the air of change blowing within so shall it be without. Go if you must, harm none, but know you are welcome to stay. Hail and Farewell.

Returning to Center:
Great Father, Lord of the fertility and what will be, we thank you for your blessing and love this night. You have sown the seed and it shall grow. Hail and Farewell.
Great Mother, Lady of all that is and will be, we thank you for your blessing and love this night. You have nurtured the seed and it shall prosper. Hail and Farewell.

As I bring my hands together, the Mists lower and dissipate. This circle is open to all those who may enter with love in their hearts always and never broken for we are friends, brothers and sisters in the olde ways. Merry we Meet and Merry We Part to Meet Merry again another day.

Today I’d like to share my horoscope with you and my thoughts on it afterwards and a little challenge to you that I intend on doing myself.

Aries Daily Horoscope
You might be open to new experiences and meeting new people today, which may make you seem more approachable. Your friendly demeanor could be the result of your desire to expand your circle of friends in order to infuse your social life with fresh energy. Perhaps you can consider finding different ways to meet people today. Joining a club, trying a sport, or taking a class are all ways to increase your social circle. If you notice any anxiety about meeting new people while engaged in one of these activities, take a deep breath and think about all the wonderful qualities you have. You might picture yourself from the other person’s perspective and see how unique and interesting you are. Knowing what you have to offer people may make it easier for you to make contact with others.

Going out on a limb and trying new things is a wonderful way to widen our social network. Unless we take a chance at doing something different, we will never increase our social contacts. It then becomes more difficult to expand our worldview since we stay within the confines of our comfortable social world. Meeting new people means that we engage in discussions and activities that are fresh and exciting and help us grow and evolve. We not only gain alternate perspectives through our new acquaintances, but we also learn more about who we truly are. By opening yourself to new experiences today, your social world will expand and you will uncover parts of yourself that you didn’t know existed.

I apologize for the lack of the daily posts as I had been doing pretty well.  Last weekend (Friday night) my home had a massive failure.   This failure being what we originally thought was a broken phlange on the downstairs bathroom toilet (we found a leak).  Confirmed the broken phlange, cleaned up the mess (yay bleach!) and set out to find a plumber we could get on Monday.  Anyway LONG story short, it was not the problem only a symptom.  There were ROOTS in my pipes.  This is now fixed and we are in the clean up and repair phase of the whole ordeal.  This is why I have been oddly silent the last several days.

Onward to the challenge that I am undertaking.  On facebook I have a very limited set of people I allow on my “friends list” usually people that are a part of Sacred Mists School, a few wonderful customers of the store but otherwise friends and family.  Sometimes I have a hard time keeping up with it all but do OK.  I have decided to open myself up on facebook to include more people even when connections to people I am already friends with are not present.  I am also interacting more with people when I visit my favorite places locally.  While I do hope to be moving West soon I am actively becoming better friends with those around me right now and finding amazing joys in that companionship.

In today’s world of activity and online networking, what can we do to always be true to ourselves while at the same time trying to make new friends?

ME? I don’t hide who I am in any of my posts or interactions.  Right now I am on a short “vacation” from facebook but will be back on Monday.  I hope to see you all then!

Wishing you the most beautiful weekend and the opportunity to make amazing connections both online and off.

-Lilyth

If you’ve ever been to the Sacred Mists Shoppe website, you’ve no doubt seen the Fully Stocked Chest of Witchcraft.  Sacred Mists was the first and original creators of this beautiful offering for an altar.  This was born from Lorien’s (Lady Raven to her students) creativity that said to her that she should put together something completely unique that could be used as an Altar starter for people just embarking upon the path of the Witch.

This product was originally only available in the Pentacle design and just last year expanded to new designs including Triquetra, Triple Moon, Tree of Life and Om making this the most diverse design offering of this type ever. All the images you find within this review are from my own altar and my won Triple Moon Fully Stocked Chest of Witchcraft that I just recently purchased.  You see I’ve wanted one ever since we started with this new design and I finally saved enough up for one and I am so very glad I did.

First we will start with my altar picture with everything buttoned up and set just the way I like it.  You see my primary altar is located on my desk.  I set it up this way because I spend the most amount of time at my desk and like this to be sacred space.  It keeps me at peace no matter what may be happening during my day.  You can see on the left the Pentagram of the Elements Altar Cloth.  This altar cloth is perfect for my desktop at a cool 12×12 in size and eliminates the need for me to have a separate altar tile/paten on there.  These are made by a good friend of ours exclusively for Sacred Mists.  Decorated for Litha with bright colors and butterflies and surrounded by crystals my altar is my refuge and my working space for magick throughout the day and on the fly should something need to be done suddenly I can just turn to the side and voila!

Onward to the original purpose of this post today and that is to review and share more pictures of the Fully Stocked Chests with you.  These are stocked to the rim with fabulous items to either get you started or to add to your already existing altar tools.

The chest itself is a great size for on the altar and can be filled again and again with items you use to keep them tucked away for when you need them.  Inside each chest you receive an Itsy Bitsy Witchy Cauldron, a set of 6 ritual/spell candles, two candle holders, a set of 5 herbs (this varies by season and availability), a bag of blessed offering stones, charcoal tablets and altar oil.  As a special gift I received a pack of Sacred Mists Matches with mine, which are just beautifully designed and make lighting those candles so much easier (when you don’t always have a lighter handy).  I lit my candle (Dance of Crystals Fluorite) with my matches yesterday when I took these pictures.

I laid everything out and peeked it out of the top so you could see the contents quite nicely.  The candle holders are absolutely adorable.  Sacred Mists Shoppe uses the Bubble Magick Glass Mini- Candle Holders in the chests, this is a recent change to a much nicer and more functional holder.  I say this change is a winner!  I have a Dragonfly Urn Incense Cauldron on my desk so I am using my little cauldron for storing my blessed offering stones.

For me I used the top part of the cabinet to store my bags of herbs with the drawer holding my matches and charcoal tabs.  In the bottom I placed the mini candles and the candle holders and oil.

All in all I think this is one of the best put together little kits I’ve seen in a while and it’s always evolving with new additions and changes to presentation and offerings of within it.  No matter what your tastes are it seems that this chest has a design to suit nearly everyone.  I, obviously, am partial to the triple moon design.  Each of them are truly beautiful and works of art.  Hand-crafted with care and then stocked carefully by Sacred Mists just for you.

I hope you have enjoyed this little tour of my own Fully Stocked chest and if you ever have any questions you can reach me Monday through Friday between 8a-3p Pacific at our toll free number 866-918-2437 or via email help@sacredmists.com

I’ve been doing a whole lot of thinking this week and really enjoying the challenges and magick Morgaine and I have been sharing with you, today I am sharing something that I posted to my own blog.  It really struck me this morning and felt it would be a good one to share with you.

Today I really wanted to do something truly simple that can be done at anytime. Sitting here this morning listening as the rain hits the soaked ground and pavement outside my townhome helped me come to the conclusion that today’s magick will be based in simplicity and something you *can* do everyday and never tire of it.

Last week I posted about Urban Animal Magick and that was an amazing day for me with a lot of things coming up and whizzing into my life. It was a simple thing that we could do everyday but today…even more simple and filled with spirit.

Ready for it?

I’m talking about family, friends, strangers, people! The picture here is my Mom when we were at the Shreve OH Swamps in May.  It was a spur of the moment drive that really made my day and I think Mom & Dad’s too.  We were outside looking at awesome wildlife and scenery just enjoying each other’s company.

Everyday we have a choice on how we wish to live our day and be with our family. Everyday I choose love.

It’s a rainy day today. I know that I cannot take time today to play with my pup Ariyana the way I would like to. Rather than have her bored and unhappy she went to Doggie Daycamp. She loves it there and in turn they love her.  She gets to spend the day inside playing with all her canine and human friends and doing what she loves best…being the center of attention and a bundle of joyful play.  She is a true blessing to everyone she comes in contact with.  She just loves everyone and smiles all the time.

Last October I spent a week with a few people, some of which I was meeting for the first time. I shared my “home away from home” with folks and feel like I made some connections through the love shared. This is my friend Dreagon and I. I don’t get to talk to her nearly as much as I’d love to but she is always in my heart.  It was also an extra wonderful trip because I got to meet my favorite Pixie’s husband Dan and Carolyn who I also miss chatting with on a regular basis.

My points here are simple. No matter the circumstances, no matter what kind of day you are having if you allow your inner love and light to shine you can and will make connections that you will carry on your spirit. You may not even be aware of them but they are there. See that cashier that is frowning and grumpy? Be polite, smile and give her a little perk. She will carry that and remember that YOU were the nice person that gave enough of yourself to turn her day around. The person behind you in the drive through? If you can pay for their meal at lunch today. I guarantee they will return the favor to someone else.

You’ve created a chain reaction of joy and smiles that no matter what will carry someone through their day.

What will you do today to bring joy to the world around you?