Why you shouldn't stop offering your menstrual blood to the earth

As response to the Golden Scarab

This is what we get when we combine several different cultural spheres without understanding these spheres...

Blood sacrifice

"So now it's on women to stop all violence and war, one cup full of our own blood at a time? How many gallons of women's blood is shed every day IN violence and war? But somehow our menstrual blood, which is not really much of a "sacrifice" to pour out (since it happens naturally without our will or intention) is magically the answer?"

Women shedding blood in wars and violence is not the same thing as women sacrificing their blood as a voluntary offer.

"We all know that blood is our life force (well, one of them) and that it carries the imprint of of DNA and who we are on an ancestral, energetic and cellular level. WHY WOULD YOU GIVE THAT AWAY?"

Your answer to what to do about this "natural happening" is "Just. Flush. It. Down. The. Toilet. Septic systems are already in place to hold human waste. Menstrual blood qualifies and human waste so just utilize the systems already in place. No, that septic system was probably not put into place with the Earth or the land's permission. You can make an offering (of anything but your bodily fluids) in gratitude for the septic system and to apologize for the human-centric way it was probably installed."

Blood is our life force that carries the imprint of who we are on an ancestral, energetic and cellular level, FLUSH IT DOWN THE TOILET AS THE HUMAN WASTE IT IS!

Excuse me, what? 

Darling little girl... it surprises me that your culture doesn't associate any power to menstrual blood. It doesn't mean that there isn't any in it. Menstrual blood is considered blood magically. Except that it's better, because no-one needs to be cut to get it. It happens naturally, whether we want it or not. (Unless we are really malnourished, but if there are children, there's menstruation.)
Every bit of a human is magical equivalent of the whole human. Blood is life.  Sacrificing blood - how ever it is collected - is sacrificing oneself.
I'd rather sacrifice it to Earth than the Holy Septic System and Wisdom and Technical Evolution of Man.

Human blood is one of the most magically charged ingredients there is in the world, and the fact that no violence or force was used to obtain it, makes it even more magical.

Moon Blood Offering
Moon Blood Ritual

"The Earth doesn't need anything from us to be nourished."

Raising my eyebrows here...
Basically that's true, we are just one sort of life crawling on this huge ball of materia, it doesn't NEED anything from us, it will survive all of us, and it will take what it needs. And to it, it doesn't matter if it's a ball of poison inhabitable for humans or not.
But WE need to nourish the Earth for OUR sake. Yes, it is a very human centered point of view. Last time I checked I was a human. And so are you. And all the other women who menstruate. It's kind of OK to be human centered.
But immature? Aren't you projecting something here, now? You need to understand that SHE is the Goddess, SHE is the Creator, She is the Mother - we are the creation, we are the product, we are the children, we are the needy ones here. We depend 100% of Her. She doesn't NEED us or our blood, she gets it anyway. The point here is that WE ARE SACRIFICING IT WITH THE INTENTION OF NOURISHING HER, not pouring it down the toilet letting the sanitation works take care of it the way it feels is best, which usually isn't very good for the Earth, and their intention is to earn as much money as they can, and they see earth as dirt they build their works on.

So, the Earth "needs" nourishment from us, more than She "needs" what most humans are giving Her right now, the exploitation and "human waste".

You are just being sanctimonious here, and you don't have the slightest understanding about how Old World Paganism works. You don't know anything about sacrifices and offerings to God. Your people might not have done anything of the kind. You most certainly haven't. This isn't any different from offering your tears to your ancestral spirits. Your tears are also "human waste", you know. This mineral infused water is also infused with pain. There are no tears not infused with pain, even "tears of joy and happiness" are infused with pain, of the fear of the future where this moment doesn't exist any more.

If you even bothered looking into the Menstrual Blood Sacrifices you would KNOW THEY INDEED ARE ASKING HER. But, you don't bother. You are just riding your high horses believing to be oh so smart and spiritual and caring about Earth more than we do, looking down on us. Sanctimonious.

"Menstrual blood is chaotic and not energetically nourishing."

Yours might be. Mine is not.

My menstrual blood is infused with me, who I am, what I am, "on an ancestral, energetic and cellular level", as you said. That is not chaotic nor is it something I "discard". The PHYSICAL function is discarding cellular material that is not needed. The SPIRITUAL function is what we give it. You think it's chaotic waste. I think it's my blood, my life force, part of me. It's part of the Red Earth I was made of, and I am returning it to the Mother without wasting pure water to flush it down.

Another thing you said was "The Earth is actually death-centered. That's what she does best-- she recycles death to give life and once that life is born (whether human, animal, plant, etc.) it starts to die." (Actually, I disagree with you there a lot, but to me death is just part of the natural cycle of life, things must die to give room for new things to be born, but it's all the same. I am a star is a flower is a wolf is water is stone is... Life. Energy.) But what this means is that the Earth doesn't care about the energies there are in the things she turns into new life. To Earth it is blood and tissue and other things. Organic matter. "Human waste", as you so eloquently put it. Shit is food I have taken everything that nourishes me, and it's literally things I don't want, need or care for, something discarded, something rejected, pure crap to me. Literally :-D But if you say that doesn't nourish the earth, the soil, the plants and microbes and all the other non-animal forms of life... Yeah... Believe you that, girl, if you choose to. :-D

Let me tell you a story. There once was a farmer who left a saucer of milk on a stone wall every evening. A visitor came to the farm, saw this and asked the farmer why he did this. The farmer said "That is to God, I thank Him for all the good things He has given me. He drinks it every night, in the morning the saucer is empty!" The visitor laughed at the simple man, and asked if they could see this with their own eyes. They hid in the bushes where they could see the saucer of milk, and - as one could guess - a fox kit leaped on the wall and drank the milk. The visitor laughed at the disappointed farmer, and the farmer swore to never leave another plate of milk to God. But when he was sleeping, God spoke to him. "I thought you gave the milk to me, and I could do what ever I pleased with it. I am God, I don't drink milk. But I have many children who do. That fox kit was left orphan and with your milk I could save its life."

"Does the Ancestral Guardian of the land want your blood?"

"it happens naturally without our will or intention"
The Ancestral Guardian of the land I live on gets my blood whether the Ancestral Guardian wants it or not.
The Ancestral Guardian wants to know I know it exists, the Ancestral Guardian wants my respect and love, the Ancestral Guardian wants me to not hurt the land. "Human waste" doesn't hurt land. A sacrifice, an offering, is a sign of respect and love and appreciation. The intention is to heal, to nourish, to not hurt. The Ancestral Guardian doesn't mind.

Also... "they are often very snippity and impatient/cold". Oh... I can understand how YOU have that experience of them.

"You could accidentally be making a blood oath with dangerous Earth Beings"

No, you couldn't. There's more in "making a blood oath" with beings than giving them an access to your blood. If there weren't, what kind of spirits have you made "blood oaths" with while you have been flushing down your blood in the toilet? How many used band-aids have you discarded without any care of who gets their hands on them? And all the other parts of you... how do you discard your nail clippings, or hair from your hairbrush, or urine, sweat, tears? How much of you have you dumped in the sewage without a care of what kind of dangerous swamp creatures you have made a DNA oath with? Get real, girl.

"It's not up to women to stop violent bloodshed with menstrual bloodshed"

I don't know about you, but I see myself as primarily a human, and it is up to me - as a human being - to do what I can to stop violent bloodshed. That I am a woman means that I can sacrifice blood without violence. Men can't do that. Unless one counts impromptu nosebleed as such.

"There's a story going around the internet that goes something like this: When enough women give their menstrual blood to the Earth, the Earth will stop taking men's blood in war."
Something like this. You mean “It is prophesied that when all women are giving their blood back to the Earth in a sacred way, men will come home from war and earth shall find peace.”

Firstly, as Abraham Lincoln said, don't believe everything you read in the internet. There is no references to any "Hopi prophecies" like this, and I haven't found any reference to that prophecy before 2015

Secondly, there is this: Feeding the Tree Ritual
there is this: Reclaiming Our Wise Blood
There's this: Blood Mysteries

So... perhaps the "women should sacrifice their menstrual blood to feed the bloodthirsty earth to stop violence" myth IS part of the patriarchaic society, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE SHOULD STOP SACRIFICING OUR MENSTRUAL BLOOD. What if it was designed to influence women who would stop ANYTHING if they thought it would support the patriarchaic society?
And here you go telling people the best place for their menstrual blood is the sewage and the best thing to do with it is "Just. Flush. It. Down. The. Toilet."

You know nothing, Darla Antoine. You know nothing.

"Donate blood from your veins to a blood bank. Get over your fear of death and spirits and learn how to help spirits move on who are hanging around because of violent and sudden deaths (love and light isn't enough. You need to learn to work with Death and make Death a spiritual ally). Moving these spirits over helps clean up the Earth's energetic field and lessens the human chaos and emotions that are informing everything from the weather to the collective consciousness. Donate money. Raise children with consciousness. Adopt a child. Hold prayer circles. March in protest. Vote with your money."

We do. How dare you to just assume the women who offer their menstrual blood to earth don't do anything else? HOW DARE YOU!!! Sanctimonious.

"These small, everyday actions will actually do something to help create equality and world peace. Pouring your menstrual blood out will not."



And how would you know.

"Go through the steps listed above: ask the Earth. Ask the Ancestral Guardian of the land. Ask the spirit of the plant or tree you want to leave you offering with. If you get yes's from all of these beings, and if you're certain there are no other beings living at that spot, that could take your blood, go ahead and offer your blood to the Earth! I totally understand why you would want to honor your body and the Earth in that way. I just also want you to think critically and realize that it's a two-way street and you should ask for permission from the other parties involved first."

So you're backstepping. It would have been nice if you had just shared your concern about the practice and that people involved in it might not be thinking certain important things, but, no, you write a whole blog entry about YOU SHOULDN'T!!! BECAUSE MENSTRUAL BLOOD IS DISGUSTING AND SHOULD BE FLUSHED DOWN THE TOILET AND YOU ARE DISRESPECTING THE EARTH AND ANCESTRAL SPIRITS AND I KNOW BETTER AND [more sanctimonious crap].

I don't give a crap about you "totally understanding". Your understanding is not required, asked for, wanted or needed. What about asking US if we want your "understanding" before you offer it? :-D
Especially when you don't understand the activity you are condemning and criticizing and getting your knickers in twist about.

What about The Red Tent Movement?

"While I admire The Red Tent Movement"
Who cares?

"I question their story of origin"

Red Tent is (probably) the invention of Anita Diamant, based on the information in the Bible and the theory of menstrual synchrony. Women thought the idea was amazing (which it is) and created a tradition around it. It doesn't matter that it's a modern tradition, it is a tradition, and totally valid and authentic.

This is part of what Anita Diamant based her book on.

19 “Whenever a woman has her menstrual period, she will be ceremonially unclean for seven days. Anyone who touches her during that time will be unclean until evening.
20 Anything on which the woman lies or sits during the time of her period will be unclean.
21 If any of you touch her bed, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
22 If you touch any object she has sat on, you must wash your clothes and bathe yourself in water, and you will remain unclean until evening.
23 This includes her bed or any other object she has sat on; you will be unclean until evening if you touch it.
24 If a man has sexual intercourse with her and her blood touches him, her menstrual impurity will be transmitted to him. He will remain unclean for seven days, and any bed on which he lies will be unclean.
Leviticus 15:19-33

Everything that touches her is "ceremonially unclean", everything she touches is "ceremonially unclean". And it doesn't matter if she is a free woman, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a slave. She is "ceremonially unclean" and it is highly contagious. In the Jewish life of the time when the Book of Moses were written, doing ceremonies while ceremonially unclean was catastrophic; it might cause your death, even the misery of the whole tribe! So you didn't risk it.

In modern studies they haven't been able to find any evidence supporting the theory of menstrual synchrony, but it is part of the feminine myths among several peoples, among others the Aborigins of Australia.

"The typical length of time between the first day of one period and the first day of the next is 21 to 45 days in young women, and 21 to 31 days in adults (an average of 28 days). Bleeding usually lasts around 2 to 7 days." 
But it's called "menstruation", isn't it? And why do so many women associate it with moon and moon phases, if there really isn't anything to support that theory? The moon is sort of constant. It takes some 28-29 days to go around this planet (a month) and has phases and every phase lasts for about a week - which is where we got the week from.
Modern women live secluded from the moon. We usually don't even notice it, unless it's especially noticeable. Not so in the history. We have all this moonlore.

Maybe it's all hogwash and wishful thinking. Maybe they knew something we don't. Maybe their life situation was different from ours resulting in certain phenomena we aren't aware of today with out modern lifestyle. What do I know?

"I cannot find any evidence that our ancestors ever gathered together to bleed under the New Moon and to share stories."
As you then continue with "first of all, second, thirdly..." I assume you give those reasons as why you think the idea isn't very probable.

Ok, then.

"ancient women didn't bleed as often as we modern women do"
How would you know? We know NOTHING about how much and often the ancient women bled. In fact, Leviticus (written some 500-600 years b.c.) say women bled about 7 days. with 28 days between the first days of bleeding. Sounds like what happens today.

"We are better nourished"
Again, how would you know? A lot of modern women either starve themselves or eat nutritional crap, like a lot of fat, starches and sugar. A lot of fat people are malnourished.

"we have less children"
Hmm... you know... you have to menstruate to get pregnant. If they had a lot of children, they also menstruated pretty regularly.

"giving us more time and energy to bleed"

A lot of modern women also have means to reduce this bleeding time, because no-one has "time and energy to bleed". Besides, it's natural, as you say. Women bleed, today and in the history and they will bleed in the future as well.

"as most camp/house labor was the realm of women"

Hmm...

"and most ancient women supposedly bled simultaneously, that would have left the majority of the women's work to be done by children, women who were pregnant or recently gave birth, women too malnourished to menstruate, older women who had gone through menopause, or, most likely, by slaves -- slaves that were probably denied a red tent experience of their own. That doesn't sound right or kind"

So... it couldn't happen, because it doesn't sound right or kind? ROTFLMAO

For your information, men are fully capable of taking care of "women's work" if they have to. Men have been to hunting trips and whatnot, there's priesthood where women were considered a taboo so much so that ANY female, from a baby to a 100 years old crone, weren't allowed in the premises. Someone did the "women's work", and this someone wasn't a female. Most likely an apprentice. You might want to look into the history of butlers, valets, pages and acolytes.

" we need to be asking ourselves the following questions: How did they energetically prepare the space for bleeding? How did they energetically clear the space after each bleed? How did they ask for permission from the land? What did they give the land in return (besides their blood). How did they close this space when it was time to pack their tents or teepees and move on?"

Why? If this was a historical fact, no-one recorded it, so there's no way of knowing the answers to these questions. Secondly, "gathering together to bleed under the New Moon and to share stories" doesn't require any of that. You are confusing two separate things. Red Tent tradition isn't associated with the sacrifice of menstrual blood tradition. The Jewish women of the Patriarch time would probably have "Flushed. It. Down. The. Toilet.", that is disposed it the same way they disposed their pee and poo. Maybe they burned the wool or rags or plant matter or what ever they used to gather the stuff in. Maybe they just bled into their clothes and washed the clothes. One doesn't bleed that much, really... it just feels like a lot. An average blood amount during a period is about 20-60ml. (1-3 tbls).

"Ok, but I still want to connect to the Earth as a woman."

No OK. No-one needs your permission or advice to keep sacrificing their blood to Earth, and after all that, I don't much care about your "advice". Ever heard that thing about unsolicited advice? Google it.

Frankly, the only thing you may do is to tell people why YOU don't sacrifice your menstrual blood.

"You can lay down on the Earth, your belly pressed against Hers, and just breathe. Whether you're bleeding or not."
OH NO, I CAN'T DO THAT, WHAT IF I ACCIDENTALLY BLEED ON HER!!!!!!

Beyond Pagan 101

Beyond Pagan 101 by Rowan Hale

My first Flow-ish!

I made the cover of the cover of an old magazine.

I ripped the cover off the magazine and painted it. Then I stenciled on the "Flow" and wrote the -ish over it. I copied the "Flow" from an actual Flow magazine and cut the template myself.

Then I made an insert of a junk mail leaflet by painting it white with gesso. 

I "bound" this insert to the covers with some paper string I dyed and spun myself.  It's the green string that can be seen in this photo. I hope she will unspun it and use the crepe paper for something.

Then I added pockets to the inside with washi tape. The washi tape doesn't stick. :-( Maybe it's old, or just... washi. It's not supposed to stick. Or something. Anyway, major source of irritation. 

This was a scavenger hunt swap. We got a list of things that should be in the Flow-ish. 

A lizard
A top hat
A horse
A hot air balloon
A head of lettuce
A saddle
A candelabra
A chocolate candy wrapper ( the real thing)
A mirror
A shoe
A coffee pot
A ring
A potato chip bag ( the real thing)
A pillow
A spool of thread
A clock
A truck

So... there's my lizard on the first page.

There is also a paper bag from Indiska (a Swedish shop selling Indian things), with all the tags from the items I bought; a saffron sachet with pink and gold things inside, like some jewel stickers and glittery things shaker bag.

Then there's some wallpaper samples, in metallics.

Inside the cover pocket is some snail mail love - envelopes, letter paper and post cards.

Then I made her some horsies and put in the pattern so that she can make more horsies herself.

There's also some papers.

A horse with tophat I drew, some pink and gold paper ribbon, some painted papers and a tag I made; gold cardstock with peacock feather in texture paste dyed with alcohol inks.

 

Now the candelabra... I read "chandelier"... and found that image of a chandelier and made an envelope of it. And then I noticed it said "candelabra", not "chandelier"... But then I saw that there is actually a candelabra on the shelf behind the chandelier. LOL

In the envelope is a little rubber stamp, Easter themed bunny child. Really cute :-)
And those two mini sachets, with salt and pepper. I think they are so cute!

There's some IKEA sticker sheets; paper napkins and chocolate candy wrappers... A cardstock wrapper for dark chocolate; a chocolate bonbon wrapper and then a mini candy bar wrapper. To be sure I got what Rosemary meant with "chocolate candy wrapper" LOL

More horses - my swap pal loves horses :-D
She also likes Dyan Reaveley's work, so I made her a couple of silhouettes to be used in her art journals; a horse with a rider and a bare horse. I also made some pages with these, to put a black acrylic layer on the paper to protect it and make it tolerate use better.

The hot air balloon on a card and a "head of lettuce" - a lettuce girl after Elsa Beskow. I hope it counts :-D

Some vintage pattern paper, more painted paper, some summer-y magazine pages, a page from paper palette, a page from National Geographic with someone's letter printed on, some pieces of scrapbook paper and a piece of tissue paper with my own designed horse themed vintage pattern on. My printer is crap, the ink is watersoluble, so I wonder how useful this paper will be to my swap pal, but... what ever. I'll give her the image so that she can print her own paper herself with her own printer, after she has received this swap.

There is also a piece of paper shelf edging and a polaroid kind of pocket for photos. I love these pockets. I make them myself, by cutting a polaroid frame from cardstock and covering it with printer paper. 

Oh, yes, and there's a paper bag I made from a magazine page, and a plastic page divider from my father's vintage Time Manager :-D

And here's a picture of a mirror, and some vintage scraps with shoes on them.

And a lot of paper from notebooks, composition books, telephone books, graph paper, music note paper etc. Also some pages from a Japanese book.

On the left side there's a little pocket I made from National Geographics order envelope. Inside this pocket is some pretty pictures and some tags.

The coffee pot is in one of those stamps; old Swedish stamps about the old coffee house and inn signs in Sweden. The ring is on that DARK page - it's an ad from a magazine.

There's also more paper, among others a page from IKEA instructions, backside of a security envelope (that's as fancy as it gets here.), an IKEA measuring tape, a lid from KESO (cottage cheese) can, a Finnish betting list, some strips of paper lace and a cover of a composition book with Minnie Mouse on it. And the potato chip bag. The turquoise one with hearts on it.

Spools of thread; I made some wood graining on cardstock, and cut some spools of that, and put some pretty effect yarn on them. 

The pillows are on the right side; one magazine ad about a hotel and one little ad about fancy throw pillows. They are pretty, I think.
There's also a bag of noodles, some painted kitchen towels and a piece of art of mine. Also, a couple of large sheets of flower paper; we get this for free from the grocery store, it is meant to be used to protect flowers and plants one buys from cold. The white is from Sweden and the brown from Finland. Then there are a couple of sheets "glanspapper" - a special sort of shiny paper meant for kids' crafting, and a piece of marbled paper I have made. That's the TINY sliver of green seen on the left bottom corner under the pink, purple and gold shiny paper. :-D

So, the clock is on the nightstand by the bed on the ad page from a magazine, and the truck - well... some sort of car anyway, is on the other magazine page. Now, I wasn't so sure it is good enough, so I put in another image of Truck... on the image under is a black and white drawing of two men. The one on right is Truck Hannah... But - a woman hanging out of the window of a car I call a truck. Under that is a piece of Russian writing from a tourist brochure for Russians about the town I was born in. There are some pictures on that, too. I hope she can use it. It's a bit boring, but, hey, Cyrillics. There's another bag with more interesting pictures, a slip of a cover, a matchbook notebook made of the wood grain paper, some vintage Christmas mini cards and a plastic pocket with some textured material; a piece of corrugated cardboard, a rubber rug slip mat, a piece of gold netting etc.

And here some more bits and bobs that couldn't fit in the earlier photos; a box of tea from Celestial Seasonings; some teabag paper, a teabag tag with a saying on the other side - in Finnish. Some string. Some pieces of ribbon from an old seamstress' stash I bought from second hand store. I don't know what those were for, but they are interesting. I hope my swap pal can do something with them. Also, some silver ribbon from the same stash. Some tags. A junk mail cardstock cut into tags and ATCs. A sheet of stickers, drawn on label sheet, uncut. I couldn't figure out how to do that... I mean... would I cut them and then put the circles as they are in the journal, or would I cut them and try to find another sheet I can stick them back to... and what does that do to the glue and... uh. So - I left them uncut. I hope it's OK.

I am really nervous if my swap pal will like this and feel satisfied. I really, truly hope she does.

P.S. A couple of changes in the final, it weighed a bit more than 1 kg, so I had to remove some things. I also made some other things, like embellished the paperclips.
Tomorrow I'll post what I got! IT IS WONDERFUL!!! :-)

Wonderful weekend

I spend the weekend with my sisters :-)
Absolutely wonderful! The best time ever. I love my sisters so much!

So I was away, no time to write anything. Not that that would be a noticeable difference... I'm really bad blogger :-D

But, September...
Mabon countdown calender.
Make a grape cluster, a couple of big leaves to decorate the hook carrying all the little grape baggies holding the goodies, and a  bunch of little grape baggies.

You can do the baggies like this: Lined drawstring bag
or like this: play mat (though obviously a lot smaller - and it is OK to just sew in the drawstring, not even put it in a... what it's called... channel?

Anyway, it's really easy. You can also choose to make the grapes of paper, and then simply sew two oval pieces of paper together, or glue them together.

What to put in as surprises?
Mabon is the Feast of Fruit - put in fruit related items. If you can't think of anything, use candy. Grape and apples are the best choice, but any fruit is good.
Generally, you can use any "stocking stuffer" list to come up with ideas.

But, here's a couple
1) grape smelling playdough
2) grape smelling bath bomb
3) coloring pages with Mabon theme
4) dot-to-dot puzzle pages with Mabon theme
5) little notebook with color design in Mabon theme
6) purple pen
7) leopard plushie or amigurumi
8) grape juice powder
9) autumn colored gloves
10) small package of raisins
11) winegums
12) unshelled nuts and nutcracker

Pocket letters

I don't know who got the idea, but there are these storage pockets for trading cards and collector cards, and someone noticed that if you fold it in three height-wise, it fits perfectly a certain size of an envelope. (US standards), and they decided to fill the pockets with nice things and send the page to someone they liked. :-)
Great idea.

(It seems this someone was Janette Lane.)

So, these plastic pocket pages are meant for trading cards, baseball cards, ATCs, collectible card game cards, so they are 2-1/2 inches by 3-1/2 inches (~6 1/2 x 9 cm).

So - I like templates and lists and rules and such, so here's how I do this.

1) decide a theme, especially a color theme.

2) write a letter
- date and place it
- write a greeting
- tell a little about why you are sending this letter
- tell a little about yourself, what you are doing at the moment, how are you feeling, what are you experiencing, did something happen to make you smile, did you see something interesting
-  conclude with well wishes
- sign
- add at least one P.S. like greetings from your pet.

3) find a teabag in paper wrapping (or a little sachet of coffee or cocoa or something like that.)

4) make the ATCs/cards for the pockets - usually people have 9 of these. These are either individual pieces or one bigger piece divided into 9 pieces.

5) find some other goodies in the other pockets. You have already the teabag and the letter to fill 2 of the pockets.

Some flat items to be put in the pockets
- a lot of people put in a little card with some washitape wound around, or small cards with embroidery floss or baker's twine. Other ribbons and piece of pretty fabric etc. works well too.
- small, flat pieces of candy or snacks
- paper scraps,
- magazine clippings, interesting article, Sunday cartoon, sudoku, word puzzle or something else like that
- different kinds of scrapbooking embellishments, like diecuts, snaps, journal box etc.
- quote cards, inspirational quotes etc. like Project Life cards. (Those are too big for these pockets, so you have to choose some that can be cut into size.
- paperclips and other such things that are used in planners
- stationery
- ephemera
- stamps
- stickers
- friendship bracelet
- seed packets
- anything in flat sachets
- recipes
- book plates
- balloons
- samples, like perfume samples
- origami
- temporary tattoos
- glow in the dark stars or gold stars
- mini flags
- cards, playing cards, tarot cards, oracle cards, alphabet cards...
- matchbook things, like notebooks or sewing supplies
- pressed flowers or leaves
- small bookmarks
- tags
- mini confetti bags

Pocket letter by Judy Zelenka Brand

Autumn Sabbathiade :-)

So, Mabon is coming, are you ready? :-D

This year... this year I will do better!

Hmm... let's see how it goes :-D I don't have my hopes up though. Perhaps I should. I mean, positive thinking, affirmations, law of attraction and so on. If I believe I won't, I'll make sure I won't. So I won't.
But if I believe I will, I will make sure I will, and I will. I'd like that :-D

So, what? What will I do better this year?

I will have a Mabon calendar ready, filled and waiting for the kids.
I will decorate every room, a little by little.
I will plan and prepare a delicious day of eating to celebrate the Harvest Feast of Fruit.
We will celebrate Rosh Hashanah
I will make and post Mabon cards
I will give gifts
I will spend time with my family, just be and enjoy each other's company, maybe play board games

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, day 31

30 days of magical roots challenge

"So many of us get stuck in a rut over the years of our magical practice, and this is a fun way to revisit some basics."

Day 1: Divination
Day 2: Grounding
Day 3: Centering/Breath-work
Day 4: Intentions
Day 5: Energy work
Day 6: Shielding
Day 7: Yoga pose
Day 8: Meditation
Day 9: Daily practices
Day 10: Herb/Plant/Tree
Day 11: Write a spell (& perform it for bonus points!)
Day 12: Deity
Day 13: Stone/Crystal
Day 14: Incense
Day 15: Kitchen Witchery
Day 16: Connect with Mother Earth
Day 17: Raise some energy
Day 18: Elemental magic
Day 19: Sacred Space/Circle Casting
Day 20: Ethics
Day 21: Symbols
Day 22: Self-Purification
Day 23: Book of Shadows/Grimoire
Day 24: Sabbats
Day 25: Esbats
Day 26: Create a sigil
Day 27: Healing
Day 28: Magical Podcasts
Day 29: Astrology
Day 30: Make a commitment to yourself

Some points from "Daily Practices"

"carry something blue on you, it wards off negativity"

"bless the food you eat, thank the life that was given to support yours"

"Change your computer desktop, password, etc. to something that reflects or reminds you of the season, a current spiritual goal, or a particular deity."

"Consider a simple physical act or decoration that is meaningful to you. A piece of jewelry dedicated to a particular deity, a choice in how you wear your hair, a tattoo, a special way of painting nails..."

"eat seasonally"

Try to infuse your everyday practice with spiritual meaning, like add a cleansing ritual to your morning shower. Add cleansing ritual to your home cleaning practice and dedicate it to a deity. Add a ritual to your exercise practice. Add trans-like meditation to every monotonous practice, from washing the dishes to exercise. See that the colors of things you use fit the magical purpose of what you do with the things, like at your workplace, you could choose a green planner for economical growth and prosperity.

15 ways to do witchcraft every day

Everyday Magic; witchcraft for busy lives 

Some things I have been thinking about, or missing from the list. 

* more focus on herbalism, plants, gardening, devas etc. Connection with the plant based lifeforms.

* Connection with the other kind of lifeforms, like angels and fairies, elementals and such. There's this book, by D.J.Conway, "Magical, Mystical Creatures".
I also really recommend the first chapters of The Findhorn Garden, that is, the stories of Eileen Caddy, Peter Caddy, Dorothy Maclean and Robert Ogilvie Crombie. Then you can stop, the rest is just... New Age Crap. Eileen Caddy speaks about her connection to God, which is the kind of connection I want. Dorothy speaks about the devas and ROC about fauns and other such creatures. That is what I want with my relation to the other lifeforms on this planet.
So this also includes channeling and communicating with spirits. 

* I want to really get my spellwork in order. To me being a witch is using magic, not just "I could if I wanted, bothered to..."
* this also includes potions, charms, amulets, talismans and other such witchy things

* connection with the elements, elemental magic, and not just elementals, but the elements.

* dreamwork

* divination - I want more of that

* energy work

I also find this blog interesting from this point of view. Magick 365
Everyday Witchcraft for a dorm room witch

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 30

"Add rose petals to sangria for love."

Wild rose petal sangria

magical qualities of rose

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 29

"Hang a silver bell on your front door knob for good luck"

Feng Shui bells 

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 28

"Paint sigils on your mailbox."

Ok... so... why?

How to paint a metal mailbox

What ever you do; remember this:

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 27

 "Inscribe sigils on the bottom of your pie crust before pouring in the filling."

sigil magic
rune magic

There's all kinds of symbols, signs, seals and letters to be inscribed on pie crust and other objects for different purposes.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 26

"Do a tarot reading first thing Saturday morning to lend some grounded perspective to the weekend."

Fool’s Journey: Ways to Make Tarot Part of Your Daily Routine in 2016
Deepening your Daily Draw Practice
7 Ways Doing a Daily Tarot or Oracle Card Draw Can Improve Your Life
 

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 25

Burn sage or cedar first thing in the morning to start your day off fresh.

The ancient art of sage burning

how to make your own smudge sticks (or bundles)

sacred scents - about incense, essential oils and their use in magic
how to make and use your own incense

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 24

Place crystal grids for protection or abundance in the bottoms of pots before planting.

Crystal grid of protection
Crystal grids

Er... I don't think so. Sounds like a lot of work and resources for little gain... maybe one could put a protection or abundance crystal in the bottom of pots, or what ever one wishes to attract to one's life. And perhaps one could paint the pots in an appropriate color, and add appropriate decoration etc.
But the crystal grid of protection for personal protection isn't a bad idea.
Also, learning to use the crystal grids is a good idea.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 23

"Make your own scented candles with oils and herbs to infuse them with particular magickal properties."

Making scented candles
Create Your Own Magic Candles For Spells And Rituals
An Introduction to Candle Magic

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 22

"Wear a crystal pendulum as a necklace so you’re always ready to do a little scrying."

 One thing about that, though... the chain might obstruct a little in scrying, so choose a chain that you can move so that it can hang in the clasp while you are using it as a pendulum, and choose a thin chain.

 Pendulum Scrying: How to Use a Pendulum for Divination

Now, this is not a crystal but a specially created divination pendant. The glass vial has been filled with mugwort and yarrow, but it looks like the bottle can be opened and filled with something else, for example, if one wishes to look for gold, one can place a small amount of gold in the vial, aso.

Divination Pendulum by Devonian Mists

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 21

Go outside on a new moon and look up at the dark sky.

New Moon Rituals

Celebrate the New Moon

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 20

Place drops of essential oils from the companion plants of the plants in your garden 

into your watering can to give your garden a little boost.

What is companion planting?
 

Tagetes Erecta by Mauricia Mercadante

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 19

"Carry a small pocket sized journal with you to act as a portable grimoire".

A grimoire is "a textbook of magic, typically including instructions on how to create magical objects like talismans and amulets, how to perform magical spells, charms and divination, and how to summon or invoke supernatural entities such as angels, spirits, and demons."

Do you have a "normal size" version of it? A lot of people don't. Now-a-days a lot of people keep all this information in their online bookmarks or in separate books in their bookshelves.

So, what about making yourself a grimoire or book of shadows and starting to use it, actively?

Actively and intentionally write a spell for every day, and see if it works, document the results, and make changes, and try to create spells that actually work for you. Note the date and weather and moon phase and astrological information, and any other circumstance that might have magical impact to your spell.
Try to create magical objects like talismans and amulets.
Write down your divinations, and get regular with it.
Experiment with summoning - or communicating - with magical, mystical, mythical beings and entities and record your experiments. 

Now, carrying a notebook about your magical observations, ideas and spells you happen to encounter, is not a bad idea, but get a regular size BOS as well, and USE IT.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 18

"Make your own toiletries, like soap and toner, 

with essential oils, alcohol-free witch hazel and other natural materials. 

This way, not only can you control what you’re putting on your skin, 

but you can include a few magickal ingredients as well!"

Yes, making potions and lotions has always been very witchy :-D

Making your own toiletries

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 17

"Keep track of your sleep and menstrual cycles and moods to see how the moon phases affect you."

Menstrual cycle chart
How to use a sleep diary

4 Ways to Honor The Power Of Menses
Discussion about menstruation and magick

Now, this is a good place to remind people of keeping a dream journal as everyday magic.

 

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 16

"Purchase or make a piece of jewelry from a protective stone like smoky quartz or obsidian."

How to make wire wrapped stone pendants
works with any stone, crystal, clump of material, plastic toys etc.

Obsidian arrowhead tree of life wire wrapped pendant

by Lone Wolf Boutique at Wanelo

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 15

"Keep mini altars in rooms you use regularly like the bathroom and kitchen
so you’re always close to a few special, spiritual items."

Altar Set-Up for Beginners and Witches on a Budget

7 Pooja rooms dedicated to 7 different Gods

Gaia Mini Wall Altar by EarthStarStudios

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 14

"Carve sigils into the sand at the beach and let the tides release them into the universe."

Now, I get this really bad feeling in my chest whenever sigil magic is mentioned. I will not be doing that, ever. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't or can't. Listen to the signals of your own body.

Here's a short description and how-to: Sigil magic

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 13

"Choose a Major Arcana tarot card that represents the ideal outcome of a situation and place it on your altar to remind yourself what you’re working toward."

More about drawing the card of the day

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 12

"Sleep outside under the stars and look for constellations and shooting stars."

During August there's the Perseid meteor shower, and it is at its peak this night.

There are several astronomical calendars for the celestial events online, for hobby astronomers. They give you information about things like lunar eclipses and meteor showers, which are, of course, something worth to stay up for.
Learn the constellations so that you can use the information given here, they give the different constellations are points of orientation, and if you don't know where Cassiopeia is, it might be hard to find the Perseids :-D

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 11

"Watch Practical Magic. At least once a month."

Or some other movie that makes you feel witchy and magical and wanting to add more magic to your life. Practical Magic is a really good choice for that.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 10

"Have tantric sex with a loving partner."

You can be your own loving partner if you don't have anyone else.

I love Rosie. :-)

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 9

"Plant lavender by your garden gate for luck"   

Magickal gardening around the world

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 8

"Bless your kitchen utensils, such as spatulas and wooden spoons,
that all the food you make with them will promote healing and love."

You do this by for example anointing them with olive oil. You take a drop of olive oil on your finger and trace a holy symbol, such as a cross or pentagram, on the kitchen utensil and appliances. As you do so, concentrate on what you wish from the thing; many years of service, delicious food, love between all who eat the food prepared with these things. What ever it is you wish.

BTW, choose all the things in your kitchen by their witchy appearance as well. Most things come in all kinds of appearances now-a-days and it shouldn't be difficult to find things that "look right". This simple thing is also magic, even though it's more stage magic than witch magic. Your clothes, your environment, the things you use, make you feel more witchy, which makes you be more witchy. Headology, as Terry Pratchett would have said. ;-)

Wood carving by Giles Newman

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 7

"Plant a cactus by your garden gate for protection."

 That's very cruel to the poor cactus in most parts of the world... but what you can do is to put a gargoyle by the entryway of your home and garden for protection. They have all kinds of these, from cute to grotesque.
There are also other ways of protecting the doorways, like putting holly by all the entries at Yuletide. Don't forget the fireplace ;-)

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 6

"Go outside on a full moon and look up at the bright sky."

Create your own Esbat ritual and tradition and start celebrating the full moon, the beauty of it and the influence of it.

The name "Esbat" comes from French esbattre, which means to flap one's wings; to attack; to battle and to have fun, enjoy oneself, to frolic - so go out on this night and flap around a little. Or a lot.
It's time to embrace the animal in you and let your hair grow. Be a little lunatic.

Full moon magic is about families, especially mothers and their children - even your inner child and inner mother; wholeness and fulfillment; psychic awareness and intuition

Drawing Down the Moon

Cakes and Ale

Moon in astrology - find out your moon sign and what it means, and celebrate that part of you on this day

Here's some moon superstition:
◯ Hang your laundry to dry under the full moon and it will get brighter
◯ Avoid arguing with people, any kind of interaction that might lead to arguments
◯ If you are sick, stay away from the light of full moon. If you are healthy, bathe in the light of full moon. Full moon is believed to fix the state.
◯ Don't sleep under the full moon; it might bring sickness and ill health. (Fixing the sleeping state...)
◯ Don't look at the moon over your left shoulder, it's bad luck. Looking at the moon over your right shoulder is good luck.
◯ Don't disrespect the moon. Never swear at moon or show it the finger, or other such things.


Researching moon deities and their respective areas of patronage gives you more insight to moon.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 5

Find a crystal necklace you really love and charge it under the full moon.
Wear it the rest of the month to bring the energy of the full moon with you. 

 Full moon crystal cleanse

Kyanite necklace by Little Sycamore

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 4

"Take a full moon retreat at least once a year to recenter yourself and reconnect with your spirituality."

 Now, I haven't been able to find a DIY full moon retreat, so here's one:

It is possible to have a retreat at your home, without ever leaving it, but it is essential that EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE is in it.
So, if you have a SO who isn't interested, he/she must go somewhere else, or promise to stay in the other end of the home, hidden and not to talk to you, not to disturb you, stay as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. If he/she isn't willing to do this, you should consider why you are having this important relationship with someone who doesn't respect you as much as he/she should...
You should be able to get your kids and pets to stay over at someone else's house.

1. Decide for how long you want to do this.

It is recommended that it lasts at least 6 hours, preferably a whole day, but could take the whole weekend.  (This month is great for this, as the full moon is on Sunday. (Actually, it's on Monday, but it's "full enough" on Sunday for you to reap all the benefits of the magical influence of full moon.) You can start preparing today, do all the work tomorrow, and spend the whole Sunday in your retreat. If you missed this time, next time full moon is on Sunday is in December, December 3rd.)

2. Plan the food.

There are two things to think about with the food. The first is that this is a retreat, which means that your food should be healthy or luxurious or both. What do you imagine people eat at a retreat? What would you want to eat at a retreat? The other one is that after having the yoga session, there is to be a feast under the full moon. What is "feast" to you?

Also, if you start your retreat with breakfast, would you prefer a brunch? And would you like a drink at the brunch, like Mimosa, Kir or Bellini?

See that you have all the dishes and utensils needed to make the food, serve the food and eat the food with. For a weekend retreat, it's possible for you to borrow singles from your friends and relatives, you don't need to buy everything. But it is also possible, that if you plan on doing this by every full moon, you might want to start collecting a Full Moon Retreat Box with all the special dishes for this occasion... or why not treat you with special dishes and such the whole year? You could as well be eating on a good, beautiful plate every day as on a cheap IKEA thing. 

Purchase the ingredients and prepare the meals as much as you can, so that it's practically just mixing the smoothies and whisking together the salad dressing.
This is also one thing you need to consider when choosing the meals. It should be something you can put together quickly so that you can focus on enjoying the food, and the quality of the meal shouldn't suffer because most of it has been prepared before.
Which means that you won't be storing the salad with the dressing, unless the dressing is to be soaked in the salad. You won't be serving freezer meals with rubbery potatoes and sauce all soaked up in the vegetables.
Now, it is possible that you enjoy cooking, and then that could be part of the retreat; the possibility to actually spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking, and then enjoying the food as it is prepared. (You probably need to begin with the dessert and make it ready so that you can just whisk it up and serve after you have enjoyed the main dish.)

3. Plan the clothes

Yeah... :-)
You need clothes to yoga in.
You need clothes to meditate in.
You need clothes to intake your meals. I mean, it's a retreat, treat yourself! Wear the best, softest, coolest, nicest, prettiest clothes you can imagine people wear when they eat breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner/supper/whatever you plan on eating. :-D
And then you need the clothes when you are dancing in the moonlight. 
Now, it's a private retreat, so you can wear anything. Or nothing. It's totally up to you. But I would dress up. Just saying.

Also, most people want to wear all white at Full Moon Retreats

4. Stage your home
Clean your home - or at least the area where you will be. Create hotel class cleanliness and uncluttered space. Put away all unnecessary things, even when it means moving furniture and packing knick-knacks in boxes, and then you will need to unpack things. It will be worth it.
Create an environment that is what you imagine a top class retreat environment to be.
Add something pleasant and relaxing to see, something pleasant and relaxing to smell, something pleasant and relaxing to hear.

5. Unplug the phones, shut down your mobile phone and unscrew the doorbell. Remember to undo this after the retreat. 
The only time you are allowed to use the computer is if you don't know how to do the moon salutation and need guidance, or if you plan on doing a moon meditation and need someone to lead you. If this is the case, see that you have a good video uploaded and ready to be played, and you won't go anywhere else.

6. Start the day by taking a long walk in a forest (or another kind of natural environment of your liking, like the beach or meadows). Take it as early as you wake up (preferably at sunrise) and as far away from traffic, urban environment and people as you can.

7. Journal.
I suggest mindful art journaling.

8. Self-healing

8. Yoga
Moon salutation
Do it 108 times. Why? Because the moon is worth it, and so are you. Here's "why" to the "New Year 108 Sun Salutations" traditions, and the same reasons go for the Moon Salutations.

9 Full moon meditation
There are several on YouTube. Pick your favorite.

10. Sing
Compose your own song to the moon and sing it to her. It doesn't matter if you sing like a crow and it doesn't matter if most of your song is copies of other songs. What matters is that you sing a song to the Moon, that you tell the moon what she means to you with your own words - or words you have chosen yourself - and that you sing. Singing is very healing.

11. Dance
Dance under the moon. Dance like no-one's watching and you are the most amazing dancer there ever was. .
Dancing is very healing as well.  

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday