Archive for the ‘Affirmations’ Category

  This week I am presenting an archaeological paper at the Digital Heritage conference at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst (excitingness!). And as I am in the birthplace of one of my favorite poets, Emily Dickinson, it seemed apropos to share one of my favorite works with you: one which emphasizes the notion of utilizing one’s imagination and finding fantasy and magick in the mundane elements of life.

  Dickinson’s A Murmur in the Trees subtly emphasizes the idea of seeing beyond the regular world into what I have always interpreted as a sort of faerie realm or different dimension which coexists with our own. It advocates for seeing the world as brightly techno-colored as we can, and holding that close to ourselves comfortably, without insisting that others must see it as well. Though it is not overtly a magickal bit of literature, it hints at the otherworlds magickal practices attempt to reach and at a calm understanding of the unity between those worlds and our own. I do hope you enjoy it (and wish me luck at the conference!):

A MURMUR in the trees to note,
Not loud enough for wind;
A star not far enough to seek,
Nor near enough to find;

A long, long yellow on the lawn,
A hubbub as of feet;
Not audible, as ours to us,
But dapperer, more sweet;

A hurrying home of little men
To houses unperceived, –
All this, and more, if I should tell,
Would never be believed.

Of robins in the trundle bed
How many I espy
Whose nightgowns could not hide the wings,
Although I heard them try!

But then I promised ne’er to tell;
How could I break my word?
So go your way and I’ll go mine, –
No fear you’ll miss the road.

Our week of empowerment blogged about earlier is coming to a close.

This morning I recorded the working for the final day as posted here.  I wanted to work on this empowerment to help build myself up for the pending Mercury Retrograde to help me weather the storm that usually knocks the socks right off me!

You can do these exercises anytime at all to give yourself a boost.

Right now the cosmos are gearing up for another Mercury Retrograde (starting on the 12th). Knowing that communications and such are going to go haywire, I feel that it is a good time to work on my own confidence and empowerment so that even when things go wonky I will be rooted firmly in myself to work through the toughest of challenges that Mercury may present to me.

Tuesday 3-6:

Burning this week on my altar is a Goddess Drop Candle from the Sacred Mists Shoppe.  It is a dark burgundy and perfect for empowerment.   I will burn my candle for two hours each day this week.  Rosy Pink and Marigold Orange Color Magick Sizzling Spell Papers will be used throughout the workings of this week.

Marigold Sizzling Spell Paper,write an affirmation.   You may use the one below I have written or write one of your own.

CONFIDENCE (on one side)
Light within, Shine throughout.
Blight within, I cast you out.
Strength and Calm, Filling my life,
Head held high, Blessed Be!

Today I have folded mine into a football shape and written my name on it.  After it is lit with my empowerment candle I reflect on strength and confidence.  I look within and find my core and anchor to it.  As my candle burns for the two hours today I will know that I am valued and can hold my head high.

Wednesday 3-7:

Rosy Pink Color Magick Sizzling Spell Paper.  On it I will write an affirmation (again you may use mine or write your own).

Beauty is a state of mind,
Love is a state of heart.
Beauty, a wonderful find,
Love within, never apart.
I love, I am loved.
I cherish, I am cherished.

This is all about love and self-love.  With my candle lit I will reflect on the simple act of love and loving.  I know that I cannot be loved unless I love and that includes loving myself.  Today I will be gentle for the mistakes I will make.

I will work in perfect love and trust thinking of others as each task is completed.

Thursday 3-8:

Everyday on the Sacred Mists Facebook Page, we are bringing our path to life with magick and affirmations!

Today’s Magick focuses heavily on Wisdom, Knowledge and Will to be open to receiving it.

See it here:

Thursday is all about wisdom and protection, classically you can see with the ruling planet Jupiter (which is great for money issues as th eruling planet of financial concerns), The magick of Jupiter will always make more of whatever you have so if you have nothing, this is not the best energy to work with. Colors for today are Purple and Royal Blue.

Today I want to grow what I have so I am going to work on wisdom through study. My altar candle is a rich purple (Witches Path from the Sacred Mists Shoppe). I’ve lit my candle on my altar and as it is nearing the end of life I am going to burn it all day. I have taken a little bit of the Power of Wiccae Oil and dabbed some on my third eye, solar plexus, and a little on both sides of my neck. Third eye to absorb the wisdom, Solar Plexus to invoke my power and will and on the neck so that I may speak wisely today.

On small piece of Color Magick Sizzling Paper (lavender) I have written, you can use any kind of paper infusing it with purple energy or using a purple pen!

Today I draw Wisdom
Today I gain knowledge
May my course stay true
May my words & thoughts be just
(reverse side)
Blessed Be!

Fold up the paper and light it with your altar candle or a purple spell candle if that is what you have lit on your altar then drop the paper into your cauldron or fire safe dish.

Today you will learn much along your path with the strength of your Will behind you.

Laissez les bon temps rouler

  Mardi Gras has come to mean many things in contemporary society: a celebration of excess, a sinful party, pure decadence prior to an austere period of fasting, etc.. But let us briefly look at it for what it really is: the closest mainstream celebration to those practiced in the ancient world.

  By this I do not refer to what Mardi Gras may or may not stand for, I refer more directly to how it is celebrated. Be it the famous North American Mardi Gras of New Orleans, the wild Carnivale of Brazil, or one of the parties of continental Europe: the festivities center on a decorative parade featuring costumed, often masked participants who throw offerings out to the crowd. This format is echoed time and time again through history, though Mardi Gras and perhaps nominally the Thanksgiving Parades are modern societies closest remnants of it. The ancient cultures of Mesopotamia would parade their gods through the city in lavish displays which culminated in a large feast and concerts for the entire population. The Greeks and Romans would celebrate their religious holidays and military triumphs with decadent exhibits, veiled dancers, and costumed or masked participants.

  The idea of the ‘mask’ is of particular anthropological and magickal significance in ancient and modern societies. The use of mask in ritual is believed to be one of the most ancient knowable elements of these long-forgotten and mysterious events. The painted masks, carved wooden masks, and animal hide masks of the documented hunter-gatherer societies of the past two hundred+ years are strong indicators of its ancient use. As are certain elements of Upper Paleolithic cave art, which depict mixtures of animal and man which could be masked ritual-goers. The psychology of the ‘mask’ is telling in this regard. The mask creates a concept of mystery, of anonymity. It makes the wearer something ‘Other’ than themselves. Be this the animals of the wild, a representative of something Divine, or merely something outside of known society –it creates a visual disparity which is somehow recognized at our most basest and primal level of understanding. This masked person is not the same as the unmasked person. And in that change we see something metaphysical.

  The use of the mask in festivities has continued throughout the ages, from our primeval origins to the present day and its associations with Mardi Gras. Most notably, the idea of the mask is associated with the grand masquerade ball of continental Europe. These masquerades were often high society events celebrating anything from a noble’s birthday to the anniversary of the city and beyond. They, like modern Mardi Gras, were periods of relaxed social customs, particularly with regards to the role of the female in society. Unfortunately this has perhaps led to some negative connotations, at least for modern Mardi Gras, but such over-excess should not completely defame the permitted excess of the event.

  The parade and its associated pageantry were joyous occasions of community and a wide-spread appreciation of life and its good things. They could be adapted toward any specific religious event. And while the its modern primary incarnation as Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday does indeed celebrate a very specific Christian ideology, the joy of life or joie de vivre of the event should not be diminished because of this doctrine. Any such celebration should be embraced by the Neo-pagan and Wiccan communities et al, for they are celebrations of the good things in life ~ a message that speaks to all.

  Happy Mardi Gras everybody! Laissez les bon temps rouler!! (Let the good times roll!)

  That’s right. It’s here… The dreaded Valentine’s Day. You’re either trying to find the perfect gift for your significant other (and anxiously awaiting what they’re getting for you!) or else lamenting your singlehood on a day that just can’t resist pointing it out to you. It’s the day to brush up on erotic magick, investigate love spells, and delve deeply into the romantic [Check out last V-Day’s Blog on Ancient Greek & Roman Love Magick!].

  From the chalky sweetheart candies to the constant barrage of red, white, and pink: love and love magick are all around you on Valentines Day…or at least they’re supposed to be. If anything, I think that Valentine’s Day has gotten a little too specific over the years. Romantic love is all fine and dandy, but there’s more than one kind of love in the world. The ancient Greeks believed that there were five types of love: agape (pure abstract love), eros (passionate, erotic love), philia (philosophical love or devotion to causes), storge (familial love), and xenia(hospitality and generosity as love) Thanks to the passing fancy of courtly romance in the European Medieval period (and the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare), Valentine’s Day has been associated with only one of the Greek types of love: eros , or passionate, erotic love. Why can’t it, indeed why shouldn’t it include the others?

  Other February love festivals around the world and throughout time have celebrated love in a variety of different ways. The Zoroastrian Sepandarmaz of late February celebrates the love one has for the nurturing earth as well as the love one has for those who have nurtured you over the years (parents, teachers, friends, etc). The name of the festival comes from an antique Persian dialect (Avestan) and references a feminine divine aspect of the ancient creator god Ahura Mazda. In Romania, the traditional festival of Dragobete is a spring festival (Feb 24) associated with the ideas of the nesting and mating of birds and the revival of nature from the winter. Snow collected during Dragobete is a powerful addition to love and health potions. Like Valentines Day, Sepandarmaz and Dragobete involve the giving of gifts between couples or those who hope to be couples, but they also incorporate elements of universal loves beyond the romantic. The ancient Roman Lupercalia was a festival of sacrifice to the spring, to youth, and commitment to one’s relationships conveyed particularly by a celebration in honor of the marriage of the divine couple of Jupiter and Juno. And it too incorporated elements of romantic love as well as love beyond that singular, albeit amazing category.

  And while these festivals might seem far away and foreign to you, think about how you’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day throughout your own life. You certainly probably included multiple types of love into the Valentine’s Day of your youth. In the good ole elementary school days, everyone in my class sent out cartoon coated paper cards and bits of candy to everyone else. Certainly that qualifies as an expression of xenia . Although I will admit, I do recall a lot of drama regarding who got what labels on their candy hearts; the best ‘Cutie Pies’ and ‘I Dig You’ being reserved for my best friends and playground crushes. I also distinctly recall making big doily accented Valentines for my mother and other members of my family. Carefully coating them in macaroni and glitter as if it were the most prized of presents I would be giving them. That’s a whole lotta storge right there. Why, as we’ve gotten older has love become more individualized? What about our society has conformed our love into a little tightly packed box reserved for only one person. Love magick is believed by many to be one of the most powerful forces around. Focused between two people it is an innately special and intimate reward. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t love beyond that special bond. The heart is ceaseless in its capacity to love, and while that love could and should be projected along different paths and in different forms, you don’t have to stop at just one kind of love on this impending holiday. Love for the world and for those others whom you cherish in it can also be celebrated on Valentine’s Day, the only day we, in the western world, truly celebrate the integral concept of LOVE. We give thanks on Mothers and Fathers Days, we celebrate Family on Thanksgiving: but at no other time in the Gregorian calendar do we actively celebrate such a beautifully abstract and complex notion as love as we do on Valentine’s Day.

  Valentine’s Day is a day of love. Whether we project love to just one person, or to our friends or to society at large, we are projecting it. With every paper heart, or cupid cookie; with every ‘Be Mine’ and rose bouquet, love is being sent out into the world. Positive thoughts and energy are zinging through the cosmos as a result. Whether you buy into the pop culture and merchandise, it is a day of immense positive power in the world. Celebrate it accordingly. Send some love out into the world and be loved in return. Bake some cookies for your office, send flowers to your grandmother or favorite cousin, make Valentines cards with and for the other mom’s in your soccer carpool. And yes, if there’s a significant other in the picture ~ not only should they get some sexy candles in the bedroom, and the best labeled candy hearts in the bag, remember that they are getting the best present of all: You and your love in return.

Shop the mists for love and life gifts ~ the 14th may have passed, but there’s an entire year of living and giving to be had ahead of you!