Valentine's Day

Can you believe it’s almost Valentine’s Day? I have a theory about why the year gets away from us so quickly. Commercialized holidays. Before one holiday is over, ads for the next one come out. This makes it seem like it’s going faster. In early February, though, we get a whole bunch of things to celebrate at once. Imbolc, Groundhog Day, Lupercalia, the Roman Fertility celebration, and Valentine’s Day all fall within two weeks.

When you get down to the history of the holidays, it can get confusing. The legends behind both Imbolc and Lupercalia vary. Both are holidays to welcome spring and enhance love and fertility. However, while Imbolc is celebrated with flowers and cleansing and celebrates Brigid, a Goddess of Fire, healing, and fertility, Lupercalia, a Roman fertility celebration, that celebrated the Roman god Faunus, was a much more violent celebration involving animal sacrifice and slapping people with blood dipped animal hides to ensure fertility.  Read more

Super Blood Wolf Moon and Lunar Eclipse

Tonight we have quite a special event in the sky, and I hope everyone gets a chance to see The Super Blood Wolf Moon. (I'm sorry I'm running late with this, but the energy of the full moon is still very much available!)

The Blood moon part, although long prophesied biblical precursor for the end of times, naturally has a much less sinister genesis, the blood moon is called that because of the red ring that results when the earth is directly between the Sun and the Moon, and the earth casts a shadow on the moon. The Wolf moon was originally called that after tales of wolves howling outside villages in the winter when food is scarce and they’re hungry and hunting, and the Super part is because the moon is closer to the earth than normal, so it appears larger.  See more

New Beginnings

We all know that Winter Solstice is a time for new beginnings, the return of the light. The days grow longer, and we look to the coming of spring. All things seem possible in the new year to come. Yule is a time of celebration and feasting. Just as the Yule celebration was adapted into Christmas, so have most of us adapted to celebrating both Yule and Christmas, as well as the New Year, all of which herald the changing of the year and the coming of the new.

So, in the spirit of new beginnings, I thought we’d look at New Year’s Resolutions and some alternatives to them. Read More

Giving your "All"

I thought for sure I would be writing about death this week since I just lost another close friend, and in a way, I am, but I want to focus on the empaths and on why and how important it is to save enough energy for yourself. I know it’s easy to get so caught up in caring for others and seeing to their needs that you forget to replenish yourself, and you let your root chakra get out of balance. Sometimes this happens when you’re in a situation where your normal path to replenishment is blocked, or you just don't feel you have time.  I do understand all of that, but I’ve also seen what can happen when you give all your energy to other people. 

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a-spell-to-draw-holiday-money | PaganRealms.com

No matter how you celebrate Samhain and Yule, when you throw in Thanksgiving, fall is generally fairly expensive. We have a new moon coming up on the 9^th, so casting a money spell at this time can give you a good start for a prosperous fall. The waxing moon is always good for creating things that grow, and that includes wealth and prosperity. This spell can help you boost your prosperity in the coming year as well if you use it at the beginning of the year. When I do it this time of year, I usually keep it fairly simple, and holiday focused.

a-spell-to-draw-holiday-money | PaganRealms.com

Handfasting

Well, after 5 years, my roommate and I have decided to get married!!!!  I’m excited. He’s a wonderful man, and I don’t know what I’d do without him.  My best friend since junior high school is not only standing up with me, she’s also making my dress. I am truly blessed.

Naturally, this has led me to do some refresher reading about the history of handfasting and the meanings behind it. Handfasting dates to the ancient Celts and involves the wrapping of the intended’s hands with a cord and tying a knot. Sounds simple enough, and overall, it is, but you can choose to use all four hands, right hands, left hands, or one of each, depending on what it means to you.

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Chakras: Why we balance them.

We receive our personal energy from several sources. Our major energy centers connect to major organs that govern other body parts. Each of these main energy centers forms what we call a chakra.

Chakra means wheel or disk in Sanskrit, and you might find it easier to think of the chakras as a disk-shaped spinning vortex within a column of energy that runs along the spine in the center of our spiritual being to balance us.

While our bodies contain several minor chakras that assist in the operation of our bodies and minds; the seven main chakras form the energy centers in our body and help provide energy to the others. These “spinning wheels” can draw-in information through colors, stones, candles or even the auras of others. Through our chakras, we perceive the health of our environment, including the people in our lives.

This begins early and continues throughout our lives. See more:

Seeking your Animal Totem

People often confuse Animal Totems and Familiars, and the best explanation of the difference that I’ve found is that Familiars are assistants and Animal Totems are guides and teachers. Their purpose is to show you something, teach you something, or show you a particular path. Both connections are spiritual in nature, but the type of bond you have with each is different.

Animal totems represent our connection to the energy of the universe. Sometimes they show us skills and talents that we have or that we need. Other times they reflect our own qualities back to us. In almost all cases, they help us solidify and maintain our connection to nature and the universal. Many cultures revere animals as spiritual beings, and Jung’s view of animal totems as a representation of archetypes within the “collective unconscious” explains much of this. They provide the link between us and the energy of the universe.  

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Spell for Personal Power

#FreeSpellFridayonSaturday I know I'm running behind for #FreeSpellFriday, but with the waxing moon and an opportune time for increasing personal power coming up, I wanted to make you had this in time. Enjoy!!

A Spell for Personal Power

Zen Space: The Vision Board

Finally, it’s officially spring, and Beltane is fast approaching. As I finish my vision board, I thought I would share what helps me when I’m doing my vision board, and hopefully my tips will help you as well. As you know, for me, this is part of the whole spring cleaning, rebirth ritual to renew my mind and my office space, so I want all the energy in it to be positive. We’ve discussed set up and making sure your Vision board is where you can easily see it every day.

I view this recreating my space process as my own spring ritual, and while we will probably attend the local Beltane ritual, this is how I connect the creative energy of my workspace with the energy of the universe, and the spirit of fertility and rebirth of Beltane, and we’ll have a small celebration ritual at home on Beltane eve.  Read More

We're all in this Together

It’s been just about a month since the Florida Shooting. Students marched on the Florida House, asking them to ban assault weapons, and were met with refusal when not a single Republican voted to even consider banning assault rifles. 

Of course, all the Democrats voted to consider banning assault rifles. I only mention this comparison as an example of how divided along party lines we’ve become, and I can’t help but feel like I’m watching a three-legged race and the participants are fighting about which way to go.

Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost our connection to each other and to the world. I know this is not really “news,” but we’ve lost so much of our ability to see the big picture that sometimes I think we don’t even realize that we should be connected anymore. We don’t know what it means to feel connected, and unless we fix this, we can’t help fix the rest of what needs fixing in the world.   

Guns and school shootings are, of course, major problems, but I’m not sure why everyone seems to see it as either a mental health issue, a parenting issue, or a gun issue. How simplistic can we get? 

Obviously, Guns ARE a problem when in the wrong hands, and obviously, mental health issues ARE a huge factor in these shootings, and obviously, whether or not children are taught to value life, IS a huge issue, but no one wants to work with anyone else to find solutions, to any of it.

The ray of hope in all of this is just beginning to make itself known. The generation about to be of age is tired of this shit. It’s been coming, but this seems to have been the final straw. These kids grew up with science and technology, and they know the tools available to them better than anyone over 35 ever will. They know the power of social media, and they know how to stand up for themselves.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and others like them will be the ones to carry us into a more enlightened age. We started moving in this direction in the sixties, and these kids can carry what started then into the future. They know what needs to happen and are willing to do what it takes to make it happen.

Free Spell Friday will return this week with a group spell for peace that we’ll do on Saturday the 25th. Where ever you are on Saturday at midnight, let’s cast this spell together. It’s a simple set up, and all you really need are candles, but while we will do this as a group, it’s your spell, so you may want to add herbs, oils, or other symbols or tools to your spell.  I will tell you on Friday what I’m adding. The object is simply to send a wave of peace. You can so this spell on your own or in a group.

Zen Space: The Office: Bright and Fresh

Now that I’m done with the clean out, I’m ready for the setup. This requires planning as well. Like I say, my office space is set up in a Ω shape. Once this space is set up to my specifications, I can reach anything I need to work on quickly and easily. Your space will reflect your goals and your personality.

Part of setting up this space comes in the form of a vision board which I’ll talk about next time, but first, I get everything else cleaned and polished, so I can clear my head by clearing the space. That way I can focus on what I want to accomplish this year.

The first thing to do is to make sure all the old clutter is off the desk, and organize the jewelry table in a workable order, which I must confess is much easier said than done when dealing with that many small pieces, and when everything is off the desk, I clean and polish the tables. Then I can begin the new set up. This is the fun part.

Personally, I like to use a blend of Chakra balancing stones and Feng Shui principles to balance my space. You may find that other techniques work for you. The main thing to remember is that your space must reflect you since only then will it help you achieve your goals, but this works for me and will give you a place to start on your own Zen space.

My space is set up so the computer desk is in the command position of Feng Shui, in the space facing the door, so I can see opportunities that might appear, and I have a solid wall directly at my back when I’m at my computer, which to be fair, is where I spend most of my time. Then, a basic Bagua map will show what each area of your desk represents in Feng Shui. I use the map for the whole space, rather than just my desk, but your space will reflect how you interpret it, if you choose to use it. 

Power, Wealth, Abundance, Prosperity Element: Wood Colors: Purple, Green Gold Number: 4	Fame, Future Reputation, Social Life Element: Fire Color: Red Number: 9	Love, Marriage, Relationships Element: Earth Colors: Pink Skin Tones, Earth Tones Number: 2
Family Health, Community Element: Wood Color: Purple, Green Gold Number: 3	Good Fortune, Well Being, Balance Element: Earth Colors: Yellow, Earth Tones Number: 6	Children, Creativity, Entertainment Element: Metal Colors: White, Bright & Pastel Tones Number: 7
Knowledge, Wisdom, Harmony Element: Earth Color: Blue, Green Number: 8	Career, Work, Life Mission Element: Water Color: Dark Blue, Black Number 1	Compassion, Travel, Spiritual Life Element: Metal Color: Gray, Mauve Number: 6

In my set up, I basically sit in the position of the Earth element and have it as the center of my horseshoe, and then on the back wall is where I put my vision board to remind me where I want to go.

The other thing I consider is my Chakras. I like to keep stones in areas that will help the prana/chi/kundalini to flow freely through the setting to help keep the space and my personal chakras in balance.

Chakra Gemstones:

Ø  Root chakra stones: Black Onyx, Black Tourmaline, Bloodstone, Fire Agate, Hematite, Red Garnet, Red Jasper, Smoky Quartz, Tiger’s Eye,

Ø  Sacral chakra stones: Citrine, Carnelian, Coral, Moonstone, Orange Calcite, Tiger’s Eye. Sunstone

Ø  Solar Plexus chakra stones: Calcite, Citrine, Malachite, Topaz, Citrine, Yellow Jasper, Rutilated Quartz, Pyrite.

Ø  Heart chakra stones: Aventurine, Chrysoprase, Green Calcite, Green Tourmaline, Jade, Rhodonite, Rose Quartz,

Ø  Throat chakra stones: Aquamarine, Angelite, Blue Apatite, Lapis Lazuli, Turquoise, Sodalite,

Ø  Third eye chakra stones: Amethyst, Angelite, Black Obsidian, Fluorite, Iolite

Ø  Crown chakra stones: Amethyst, Clear Quartz, Diamond, Moonstone, Selenite,

I choose one for each Chakra and place one or two on each table. This helps me feel more balanced when I’m in my space. I know people who use candles, pyramids, or statuettes to create that same sense of balance. You will create according to your own leanings and space, so I hope this helps you in creating your own space. I know I thoroughly enjoy mine.

Zen Space: The Office

Everyone needs a space they can go to meditate and perform other magical workings, but everyone also needs a harmonious space to work on day to day matters. Whether you work from home or have a job elsewhere, if you have a desk, you can make it more peaceful and productive. I redo mine once a year to start fresh. 

For me, this happens in December because one of the things I do is teach English online at a local Community College. The semester ends in December, so this is the perfect time to recreate my Zen space. This is when I do the fall cleaning and rededication of the office space to prepare for the coming of the spring as we begin the journey back to spring and growth.

My little u-shaped office area is my Zen space for work. The jewelry table sits next to the windows, on one side, with a table for paperwork or drawing on the other. Between the two tables at the end, sits the computer. Everything I need, to do almost anything I do, is in this space. I spend more time here than anywhere else in the house, so it's crucial to me that the space feel good and I feel good in it. 

What I don’t know, is how on earth the desks/tables get piled so high with “stuff.” I keep trying to move to a paperless office, but the mail seems determined to bury us all in papers, and somehow, all electronic devices, cords, plugs, chargers, etc. seem to land on my desk. To be fair, most of it is my "stuff," but it builds up to such a point that I feel like I’m drowning. At this point, usually about once a year, it's time for a fresh start.

Whether you have a home office, or an 'office' office or any other kind of space you can make your own, the more personalized and personally charged the space is for you, the more productive you will be in it. Plan your space as much as you can within your space. If possible, you might even want to sketch it out if that helps you visualize what you want.

For me, the hardest part of going through this process each year is sitting down and sorting the mail. However, other than having the space completely ready, it’s the one that makes me feel most accomplished. Next is finding a place for all those little bits and pieces, generally related to technology, that build up on the desk. Finally, decisions about exactly which books must remain on the desk and which can go to the shelf take place. This must happen in steps, or it doesn’t happen.

Once this all happens, I smudge the whole room, especially the desk area, and set up my stones. Part of what I include in my design for the space is the placement of specific stones and desk materials to enhance productivity and creativity. Since the jewelry table takes up one side, you might think I have plenty of stones around me, but jewelry stones, even though cleansed and charged, are not a part of the permanent energy of the space, so I use a few special stones that help energize me and boost creativity and productivity.

My first choice in stones usually includes Malachite, Citrine, and Tiger’s Eye for confidence and balancing the solar plexus chakra. The solar plexus chakra is the energy center of the body, so I want it strong and balanced. We get so caught up in our day to day lives sometimes we neglect ourselves and our need to balance our energy. These stones boost the energy in the area to make maintaining this balance easier.

Next time we’ll talk about the rest of the stones I use and how I finish out the space.  Maybe it will give you some ideas for your space. If you have ideas on Zen spaces you'd like to share, please leave us a comment, or send us a message.

The Wheel Turns

The wheel of the year turns, and soon it will be Yule when the days begin to get longer, and the nights shorter. The sun is reborn and soon the earth will follow. We’re usually more than a little busy during the period between Thanksgiving and Yule.

Since people often celebrate both Christmas and Yule, or maybe Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, for any number of reasons, including personal preference, that’s at least double the work than if you only celebrate one. People also often have more than one Yule celebration and one or more Christmas celebration. The gifts and food alone involved in that can be stressful. We have two Yule celebrations and two Christmas, so we’ll be among those super busy this season. It's good to take a little time out when you can, however, to feel the rhythm of the earth as it turns toward the reawakening of life in the spring.

What I like best about this time of year is the sense of anticipation you can feel in the air. This is not just the anticipation of kids for Santa. It’s more than that. Personally, I feel more deeply in tune with the earth and the turning of the wheel. The final harvest is in, we’ve celebrated, and we’ve thanked the gods for the bounty of the year. This spirit of gratitude makes us want to share with others at this time of year more than at other times too, so we share food and give gifts.

All of this is just a lead up to the big event though, solstice. At Yule, the cycle begins anew and the sun returns. One way to prepare for Yule is by doing a fall cleaning and clearing out the things you don’t need, things you don’t need to carry with you into the new dawn as the sun returns to the earth. 

That’s one of my projects for this year. I tend to collect “things,” so I have to go through periodically and clear it out. I recently started on the closest and gave away several bags of clothes. Do you have any of those, “Oh I might wear that again” clothes? I do, or I should say I did.

This type of cleaning out can help you let go of the things that hold you back. See if you can find those self-sabotaging voices, if you have them, and most of us do, and toss them out along with each thing you throw away. I try to do this once a year, and some years there’s less to throw out than others. The less physical clutter you have, the less spiritual clutter you will have.

Once I’ve gotten rid of everything, I feel like I’m making a new start on accomplishing what I want for the year. This is also one of those times when I open up the house, if I can, to bring in positive natural vibes. Trees surround my house, so on a nice winter day, I just let nature sweep the house. I know I’ve mentioned that before, but the days when that’s possible are too few.

How do you celebrate the solstice? Tell us by commenting on the blog, on Facebook, or through our contact page, and let us know what you’re doing for Yule, or Christmas, or Hanukkah, or whatever holiday you celebrate. We’d love to hear from you!

Reflection and Being Thankful

In the spirit of starting the Yule season off on the right foot, I like to reflect on the past year and the things I’m thankful for not only from this past year but also always. Personally, I am most thankful for my family and friends. I hope most people feel that way, but I know that is not always the case. Not everyone has family, or friends who are as close as family, but if you do, don't forget to show them how much you appreciate them. 

I confess that I’m as bad as everyone else, and sometimes it takes the reflection and meditation of the beginning of the year and leading to Yule, and of course, the traditional Thanksgiving holiday, to remind me how blessed I am. However, that’s one of the things that we should all think about more often, not just how thankful we are for our family and friends, although that is huge, but how thankful we are for all the wonderful things in our lives.

I have a wonderful family, and a great group of friends that have been my extended family for over 30 years, some for most of my life. I’m not sure you can really ‘be’ thankful enough for that, simply because, without it, I don’t know how we’d function. In the words of John Lennon, “I get by with a little help from my friends,” and I think that’s true of all of us.

Family is wonderful, sometimes, and having a good relationship with your family is something to always value, but not everyone has that luxury. There are many reasons that we may or may not be close to family, not all of them necessarily bad; they just are, and our relationship with family may change over the years. Personally, I am closer to my family now than I was for many years, and I love them dearly. However, during those years when I wasn’t as close to my family as I am now, I became part of an extended family that I wouldn’t trade for the world.

I wouldn’t begin to know how to thank these people for what they have meant to me through the years, and I can’t imagine spending the past 30 years without them. We have partied together, cried together, been present for childbirth and graduations, anniversaries and holidays. We have bonded over parents who are aging and children who are growing up much too fast. Many of my friends are creative types, musicians, writers, artists, photographers, and chefs, and let me just say my college graduation parties were pretty epic, but that’s beside the point. What isn’t beside the point is that most of us have people like this in our lives, and we should find ways to let them know how much we appreciate them.

Most years I try to show my appreciation for my friends and family by having a Yule celebration dinner at my house each year. I fix dinner and share the feast with all those who have been there and been my family and extended family for all these years. This year, someone else is hosting, but seeing everyone all at one time is always a wonderful time. Other than the fact that we party considerably less now than we did then, nothing has changed.

This might not be possible for everyone, it wasn't for me this year, but I do want to advocate finding some way to say thanks to those who have kept you sane over the years, and we all know we have them. We also know we probably wouldn’t have made it this far without them, if for no other reason than that they’ve given us an outlet for those quirks that we couldn’t share with anyone else.

"A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself."
Jim Morrison

On another note, this time of year, I think it’s also important to make sure to give back to your community as well. It’s so easy to pick up a toy for a kid or a warm coat. Some groups have people who will come get them. We all have rough times and sometimes that one gift can make a huge difference for someone who is not as blessed. 

Celebrating Samhain

Samhain, finally!! I don’t know about you, but this is my favorite holiday. Day of the Dead Celebrations, Halloween costumes and parties, and the feel in the air make me happy. I have a sugar skull clock hanging on my wall. Ritual was last night, and we didn’t make it, but we’ll have a small celebration here to honor those who have passed and letting go of the past, so we can welcome the New Year.

Samhain, or summers end, originated with the ancient Celtic celebration of the end of the “light” part of the year represented by the harvest, and the beginning of the dark portion of the year as daylight hours become shorter and the weather grows colder. It’s one of only two times a year, people extinguished hearth fires and relit them the next day to celebrate the new beginning. This happens at Beltane and Samhain, and at no other time. Celebrations start at sundown on October 31 and continue through the day on November 1.

At Samhain, the veil between this world and the spirit world is thinnest, and departed spirits can return to mingle with the living. Samhain celebrations take many forms. People often clean house to clear the way for the coming year. It is also a time for reflection on the past year and on goals for the future. Samhain is one of the best times of the year for divination and looking to the future.

Just as the ancients inventoried their stock and the last of the harvest, it is time for us to take stock of our accomplishments and goals, our beliefs and rituals. What is working for you? What is not working for you? What changes can you make, and keep, that will make your beliefs, rituals, and life work better for you?

I’m not talking about making “New Year’s” type resolutions. We all know how well those usually work.  What I’m talking about is more subtle.  Review your grimoire or book of shadows, or start a new one.  Revisit the teachings you have been living by, and look at new teachings and ideas. Expand your outlook.  Are there other ideas that would fit with your belief system? If your focus has been on stones, read about herbs.  If you’ve been studying the tarot, learn something about runes.

Every skill and idea we add to our knowledge becomes a part of our philosophy. This gives us a much larger spiritual harvest to carry us through the winter months. Just as the ancients harvested crops and herds to feed themselves through the winter months, so can we seek a spiritual harvest of knowledge to feed our souls. We can approach this from many directions; personally, I prefer to spend time in study, meditation, and ritual, and truthfully, I make the decision based on how my heart leads me at the time.

Sometimes, I will spend an entire evening reading and explore new ideas to find out what I want to study over the winter. I think this year, I'm going to read Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft by Christopher Penczack, Celtic Mythology by Ward Rutherford, and Handfasting & Wedding Rituals by Kaldera/ Schwartzstein. It doesn’t really matter what path or paths you explore, as long as you expand your knowledge and look for something new to learn.

Other times, I will conduct a divination ritual or, depending on the position of the moon, a moon ritual outdoors. For divination, I know I’ve mentioned that I use the Motherpeace Tarot deck because I like the more feminine and peaceful images, but whether you use a tarot deck, angel cards, spell cards, or runes, any divination ritual will let you look within yourself. Then you can reassess what has passed, what is to come, and how you can manifest in your life the things you want and need. Only then can you start to create what you want for the future.

Strength

Sometimes when I sit down to write a blog, I get Aeslin to draw a card to give me inspiration. She uses the Magickal Spell Cards by Lucy Cavendish, so that gives me something extra to draw on.  I use the Motherpeace deck personally, so sometimes it's nice to get a little extra perspective on a concept. This week the card is Strength.

The Strength card represents strength, determination, power, and a higher level of consciousness. This card also represents responsibility and compassion. Just as the woman in the picture on the card offers patience and compassion to the lion in order to tame him, we offer patience and compassion to others to develop our energies around this card.

If you're like me, that's easier said than done. Sometimes I find it more difficult than at others to exercise that patience and compassion toward other people. This usually happens to me when I forget to take into consideration that the other person almost certainly doesn’t think the same way I do. Nor do they have the same values. I am constantly amazed at the varied approaches people take to situations, and to life in general. One of the hardest things in the world to do is to watch someone make a mistake, especially someone you care about.

Part of having patience and compassion is having the ability to let others have their own space, strengths, and weaknesses, and to realize that you can’t impose your expectations on other people. If you don’t base those expectations on what the person is capable of doing, you’re sure to be disappointed. Part of gaining the Strength of the Tarot is acceptance of people as they are. With this acceptance, you can gently influence others rather than criticizing them.

As an example, I tend to work a lot, simply because I love what I do. I love writing and research and working on the store. I love finding new merchandise and information that we can share with you, so that’s what I’m doing most of the time. However, sometimes I have to remind myself that it’s okay that not everyone is that focused on something. Actually, it’s most definitely a good thing. Most of us have this tendency, so that's an area where our control of our reactions and our treatment of others comes into play. 

The lion in the picture, on most decks, represents the animalistic nature that we must overcome at times. We all have baggage, and at times, all the stuff, we have sublimated, comes out. Anyone who tells you different is lying. Many times the way this comes out is simply in intolerance and impatience. We base our reactions to what happens to us on experiences we’ve had in the past, and the strength of the tarot is the strength that allows us to overcome our baggage, and allow others their own path, even if you’re convinced you know better. I usually am, but you can only master your own feelings and actions. Knowing and allowing that is part of the strength seen in the card.   

Strength also relates to responsibility for yourself and your world. Learning to work properly with that passionate, instinctual core inside all of us, gives us the strength to create our world as we wish. We all put on masks at some point, maybe when we go to work, or when we’re with certain people, we feel the need to hide our true selves. When we can appropriately control and work with both sides of our nature, we gain the ability to create our world as we wish while being truly ourselves. This is truly a gift.

Fall

It actually felt like fall for the first time this year. I live in Texas, so it will warm up again, but it’s here! I love most seasons except summer, so I’m relieved that part of the year is over. Like most pagans, I’m also looking forward to Samhain, and while I don’t know about anyone else, I’m looking forward to winter. That said, I’ll admit we don’t get much snow, or really have what most people would call a winter, but I like it because it’s just cold enough that you feel like getting out and doing things, but not so bad you can’t go anywhere.

Along with fall comes Samhain, which is my favorite holiday. The veil thins and magical energy intensifies. You can feel the extra energy in the air, and everything seems a little sharper and clearer. I generally use the time between Mabon and Samhain to prepare for Samhain. I reflect back on the past year and determine what I want to let go of, and what I want to begin or change in the New Year.

If you keep a journal, all you have to do is look back over the past year to see what you want to let go of to close out the old year and prepare for the new one. If you don’t have a journal, spend some time in reflection to see what has served you and what hasn’t over the past year. Sometimes it’s easy because you had a bad relationship, or you have lost a friend or family member, and sometimes, that makes it that much harder to let go. I have seen it take years for someone to be ready to let go of the grief and pain and move on.

Sometimes it’s much harder to find those things that no longer serve you, so you will need to meditate, journal, sit outside in nature, or even just sleep on it to find the things you want to leave behind. The end of the year at Samhain takes us into the New Year and the fall holiday season, and you always want to start the New Year on a positive note. It will give you a head start to carry that positivity into the New Year.

In my case, I’m usually letting go of bad habits, but I don’t approach it like a New Year’s resolution. I try to incorporate keeping those habits out of my life when I set my intentions for the New Year. Taking a different approach to something than you have in the past can be all it takes to achieve your dreams. You create your own universe through your thoughts and actions. What will you become next year?

Our spell this week was about cleansing and charging your tools, and that is one excellent way to prepare to cut ties with the old year. However, whether you do that, spend time looking back over the past year, or decorate your space, you want to get rid of the old and set intentions for the new. What do you want to accomplish in the New Year? Let us know in the comments.