This year I realized that I have been lying about my favorite season for years. The blazing glory of Northeast Pennsylvania fall foliage aside, my favorite season is not autumn. It is winter.
Hope is a commitment we make to ourselves. There is something about the darkness this season brings, something about the way it almost overpowers the light, that helps us see just how much that light means. I believe that this is why we light yule logs and Menorahs and Christmas lights.
The contrast between indoor coziness and exterior misery has something to do with this, I'm sure. But the real reason I love winter is because of the absolute clarity that this time of year brings. It is a clarity that doesn't come from books or journaling or other people. It is a clarity that comes straight from the source.
And here is an example. Standing on the edge of my snow covered lawn, I hear a crow call from the woods and a moment later another responds and even before the words come, I know something I didn't know before.
A few years ago I came in from another cold lawn and wrote that it takes determination to make a go of winter in Northeast PA. But the truth is that it takes more than determination - it takes hope. And just now, out in the wet snow, I realized something I should have figured out a long time ago.
Hope is a commitment we make to ourselves. There is something about the darkness this season brings, something about the way it almost overpowers the light, that helps us see just how much that light means. I believe that this is why we light yule logs and Menorahs and Christmas lights.
Because in the midst of darkness, we need to remember that light is hope and that hope is a promise we must keep.
This year, a relationship I used to believe in is in trouble and people I care about are trying to make their way through a very difficult holiday. Words are my gift but in this words have failed me.
So I light a candle and I remind myself that even if no one else can see it right now that's okay because there are times when they did and there will be times when they will again.
And I know that, eventually, we will all get a chance to keep that flame going and that this year it is my turn to hold the light.
I was asleep in my room when I heard (through sleep) a loud knocking or pounding. I was counting the knocks evidently half asleep and not really aware I was counting because I heard myself say, that's 13. And as soon as I said it, my entire body was flooded with fear.
It was the fear which woke me up completely. I'm not sure if I opened my eyes or if I had had them open all along in the dark but I see that the room has somehow filled up with light. Seeing the light reassures me. The fear evaporates.
The illumination in the room is white-out bright and the light itself is dense and diffuse at the same time like a spotlight in the dark - much brighter of course but of that same hazy quality. The light is so white and so bright that it obscures the contents of the room though not quite completely. Underneath the brilliance, I make out the form of my bedroom - the blaze of the mirror, the shape of the furniture, walls, windows, drapes.
The illumination in the room is white-out bright and the light itself is dense and diffuse at the same time like a spotlight in the dark - much brighter of course but of that same hazy quality. The light is so white and so bright that it obscures the contents of the room though not quite completely. Underneath the brilliance, I make out the form of my bedroom - the blaze of the mirror, the shape of the furniture, walls, windows, drapes.
I watch the light for some time, feeling no need to analyze or understand it. Finally I drift off to sleep.
Rebecca was the last "witch" to be hung as a result of the infamous trials in Salem Village (now Danvers, Massachusetts). She was 71 years old, in ill-health and so hard of hearing that she could not respond correctly to the questions she was asked.
The evidence against her came in the form of "spectral evidence" or psychic "apparitions" perceivable only to her accusers. Such evidence was allowable under English law in the trial of accused witches only. Other special legal conditions granted in English witch trials included the testimony of children, statements of sworn enemies, and evidence presented by those who owed money to the accused.
After readings my great aunt's testimony and Shirley Jackson's wonderful book, The Witchcraft of Salem Village, I feel certain that Rebecca did not have malicious bone in her body and was absolutely innocent of the "spectral torture" of the young girls who testified against her. Instead, she was a gentle warm-hearted woman, loved by her family and community, less vulnerable to slander than many of the accused but a victim nonetheless.
She was not, of course, the only only one to suffer.
She was not, of course, the only only one to suffer.
Of the 200+ people (most of whom were women) accused at Salem, twenty were put to death. Nineteen of these twenty, including Rebecca and her sister Sarah, maintained their innocence right up to the time that they were hung. A single victim, Giles Corey, refused to speak throughout his trial (because a plea would lead to forfeiture his land) and was, for that crime, sentenced to be crushed to death by heavy stones.
Rebecca was remembered for her courage on the gallows. I like to think that, as a Christian, she held a strong conviction that she was going to a better place - and that this was a place her accusers were unlikely to see. Even so, the months of hardship and dread in a primitive prison and the ultimate terror of Gallows Hill must have been almost impossible to bear.
Seeing Rebecca's home and the beautiful farm she and her family carved from the wilderness was a moving experience. Just that morning we had been in Salem proper walking with the crowds, smiling at the costumes, and enjoying the many witch-themed shops. The night before, I had stood with an large, boisterous group of people, in the center of town, taking photos of the Samantha Stevens statue - enjoying the high spirits and outright celebration of all things witchy.
Walking the same path Rebecca walked so long ago, however, made me see all of that in a different, and unexpected, light.
The most conservative of estimates tell us that an estimated 100,000 people, and most likely more, were put to death as a result of the witch hunts that spread across Europe and the colonies in an approximate three hundred year period (1450 to 1750). While some of these people did practice some version of the Craft, all were innocent, in my opinion, of the curses and murders of which they were accused.
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| Bewitched |
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| The Nurse Homestead |
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| Grounds |
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| Folding Rope Bed - Note 14 Inch Floor Board from Virgin Forest |
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| Candle Making. Something still done in our family :) |
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| Kitchen Garden |
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| Rebecca's Memorial |
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| Rebecca's Likely Headstone |
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| Outside Author and Witch Christian Day's Salem Shop |
Every year since I've began this blog on August 22nd 2010 I write a Happy Birthday Blog post.
Because the blog and I happen to share the same birthday this has always felt right.
For me, birthdays are meaningful occasions. They are a time to take stock, a time to think about where we are in life and where we have come from.
It makes sense to include the blog in this because, in many ways, the blog marks the true beginning of my spiritual journey. Not because I wasn't interested in spiritual things before but because there was nothing to keep me on track, pre-blog, nothing to keep me from drifting away and forgetting who I was and what I wanted to do.
So every birthday I think about how far I've come and then I think about what comes next. And it's occurred to me that what's next this year isn't really a new thing, just a better approach to the old things.
I'm especially interested, at this turn of the solar wheel, with hands on creativity and healing - though writing is still very much part of the mix.
The best example of this is my renewed commitment to my online shop. This is people centered because two of my boys are interested in participating - and even if they aren't as committed as I am, I can still do art and talk to people at the same time. It is people friendly because I can take my items to my tarot reading events and possibly do other events and interact with even more people.
The best example of this is my renewed commitment to my online shop. This is people centered because two of my boys are interested in participating - and even if they aren't as committed as I am, I can still do art and talk to people at the same time. It is people friendly because I can take my items to my tarot reading events and possibly do other events and interact with even more people.
I'm planning to make soaps, candles and clearing items and have been learning about aromatherapy and healing in hopes of adding that into the mix, I'd also like to do more jewelry and get back to sculpting.
And here is the big thing - I think that I can finally ignore my inner critic long enough to be productive!
And here is the big thing - I think that I can finally ignore my inner critic long enough to be productive!
Doing that with my writing is a little harder but I did post some of my work the week of the Wilkes Writer's Conference - which was a very big step for me. And I'm going to be posting a few excerpts here as well.
I'm zeroing in on what I want to write about which is another very important step because the critical me tends to shoot down ideas before they have a chance to mature - or even crawl.
And I owe a lot of this to the blog which really means that I owe it to the people who read it. Because without you it would have only been a matter of time until I forgot that there is more to life than what floats on the surface.
Thank you, for being there <3
I like science and don't spend nearly enough time thinking about it. It surprises me that so much of it is metaphysical in the popular sense of the word. Here are a few very basic facts on the frequency of color:
- Frequency refers to the number of times light passes a given point which can be thought of as vibration. Colors with long wavelengths have a low frequency. Colors with short wavelengths have a higher frequency.
- Red has the longest wavelength and lowest frequency of any color in the visible human spectrum. It has a low vibration or frequency and less energy than other light. Red represents earth and courage and the life-force. It is associated with the root chakra.
- Redder than red refers to a red whose wavelength is too long for us to see. Infrared light exists beyond the color we perceive as red.
- Violet has the shortest wavelength which translates into a very high frequency. This color contains the shortest waves we can see. It also contains the most energy. Ultra-violet is a very high vibration violet not visible to the naked eye.
- Color exists which has a higher frequency than violet. It is invisible to humans and known as bluer than blue. It interests me that blue corresponds to wisdom, spirituality and communication. Blue is significant to me personally, as is red so that made the outside the human spectrum stuff interesting to me. For more on my personal dream experience with color symbolism please see the following entry: The Spirit Dream
- There are many other wavelengths in the electromagnetic spectrum that which aren't visible to humans. The chart above illustrates this fact as well as all others mentioned.
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Chart created by Carl Fredrick. Creative Commons License.
My son Josh has done a lot of work on our family tree. He's found out all kinds of interesting people. Kings, queens, saints, women hung for witchcraft, Ray Bradbury and more.
This interests me, especially as I become more and more convinced that the tree in the Spirit Dream is our family tree. Though I am still unsure just what it means.
I got my Ancestry DNA done recently, as well. A lot of stuff washes out (like French and Irish). Other stuff pops up—like Scottish, Native American and Welsh, which was told was there but didn't know about for sure.
I'm happy about this because I have an interest in Native and Celtic culture. I understand, of course, that culture is something handed down and I know that the genetic part doesn't really matter, but I like the idea that there is a connection.
I also find it interesting that some of the historical figures that have interested me the most over the years, have popped in my family tree (and the family trees of millions of other people, I'm sure).
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From the temples of ancient Sumer to the forests of Native America, the owl appears as a frequent and remarkably consistent symbol of the spirit world.
First drawn on prehistoric cave walls, the owl can be associated with religion as early as 2000 BCE as evidenced by the The Queen of the Night Relief, a 4000 year old terracotta base relief presently located in the British Museum in London. The relief depicts a winged Sumerian goddess flanked by two large owls and the owls are not decorative but highly symbolic.
The goddess was called Inanna or 'Divine Lady Owl'. She was strongly linked to the underworld through The Descent of Innana.
The story is told on a series of clay tablet from the Queen of the Night period and tells of Inanna's descent into the underworld during the dark of the moon.
In Pagan Europe, the ancient Celts also saw the owl as a symbol of the underworld while in other cultures the symbolism centered on the soul. In Australia the aboriginal people believed owls to be the souls of women. The Ainu of Japan held the Eagle Owl to be alternately a a divine ancestor or a messenger of the gods. In Romania, folk tales say that forgiven souls fly to heaven in the guise of Snowy Owls.
In the Americas, the Aztec god of death, was often depicted with owls and the Hopi god of death was believed to be an owl. In Mexico, the Little Owl was called "messenger of the lord of the land of the dead", and flew between the land of the living and the dead. In the Sierras, native peoples believed that the Great Horned Owl captured the souls of the departed and carried them to the underworld. Several different Native Northern American traditions including the Mojave believed that the soul turned into an owl at death.
The mythology of multiple cultures places the symbolism of the owl firmly in the spirit world. His mythic role however is largely positive. As a messenger of the gods he is sacred, a bearer of divine knowledge and a facilitator of communication between the worlds. As a guide, he bridges the gap between life and death, but more correctly: the space between this reality and the next.
The Gem and Mineral Show is a great event with tons of beautiful crystals and gemstones as well as many free presentations.
There is easy access to the show from I-81 and the PA Turnpike
There are some beautiful gemstones at this event though I have to admit that my all time favorite specimens were dug straight from the ground in NE PA (near Seven Tubs).
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| Right Click "Save As" then Print to get a $1 off Admission! |
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| The Ruins of the Great Library of Alexandria |
Said to house as many as half a million documents, the Great Library at Alexandria represents the first concentrated effort to assemble the sacred wisdom of the world at a single site. Buyers for the library traveled by land and by sea, collecting the wisdom of the ancient world - a world far wider than we might imagine - to bring it home to Alexandria.
Founded by the Greco-Egyptian Pharaoh Ptolomy I Soter, in 283 BCE. the museum was a shrine of the Muses modeled after the Lyceum of Aristotle in Athens. It was a place of study which included lecture areas, gardens, shrines for each of the nine muses and even a zoo. The library was known to contain thousands of ancient scrolls from Assyria, Egypt, India, Greece, Persia and many other lands. Over 100 scholars were said to live at the site full-time performing research, lecturing upon or translating the precious documents it housed.
The great library survived for several hundred years before it was lost completely. Four possible tragedies are considered partially or wholly responsible for its destruction. These include an accidental fire during Julius Caesar's Alexandrian War in 48 BCE, the attack of Aurelian in 270 CE, the decree of Coptic Pope Theophilus in 391 CE and associated Christian riot, and the Muslim conquest on or around 642 CE. While historians debate the specifics, all agree that much of the great library's wisdom was irretrievably lost.
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| The Necromanteion of Ephyra |
Dr. Raymond Moody's classic 1993 book, Reunions focuses on the ancient practice of mirror gazing.
Mirror gazing, is a form of scrying - a very old way of connecting with other side by way of any reflective or dark medium such as metal, water, obsidian or blood.
This method of connecting with spirit, so interested Dr. Moody that he constructed his own psychomanteum in a second floor chamber in his Anniston Alabama gristmill for the purpose of studying the experience of others.
The psychomanteum, as prepared by Moody, is a darkened chamber which
allows the sitter to gaze into a mirror angled up and away from his own image. In this dark field the forms of those who have passed may appear and meaningful communication frequently follows.
Reunions includes a survey of the practice of mirror gazing through the
ages - including biblical references, the experience of the ancient
Greeks and that of such notables as Elizabethan occultist John Dee. Moody goes on to discuss research conducted in the psychomanteum, including first hand accounts of spirit communication experienced by both visitors and Moody himself. Specific information for those interested in setting up their own home psychomanteum is provided.
As Moody explains it, the modern psychomanteum can be traced backward in time to the necromanteion of the ancient Greeks. Necromanteion means "Oracle of Death" and several active necromanteions operated throughout the ancient world. These sites were the destination of thousands of pilgrims hoping to be reunited with those they had lost. As ancient records show, many of these seekers realized their quest.
This is where Odysseus found himself after he was instructed to "make a journey of a very different kind, and find your way to the Halls of Hades." His experience at Ephyra included the sacrifice of a ram and ewe (providing the medium of blood) and visions of a multitude of spirits including his own deceased mother.
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| John Dee's Obsidian Mirror |
In Reunions, Dr. Moody relates that approximately 50% of visitors to his psychomanteum obtain a direct experience of spirit and I am curious if I'm the lucky one of two.
UPDATE 2024: In deciding which old posts to republish, I chose this post because I'm curious as to how the chamber Dr. Moody wrote about actually worked. Is it a form of sensory deprivation or is it something else?
One of the first memory wire bracelets I made. I crafted the Celtic Knot out of copper wire and used a combo of Peridot, green Swarovski's, vintage and Czech glass, and vintage faux pearls for the bracelet. This bracelet was given as a gift, but I would like to recreate it for myself.
Decoupaging is something that anyone can do. To decoupage with tarot cards you will need a printer with scanner, a few in expensive craft supplies and your favorite tarot deck.
I use an ordinary inkjet printer.
The ink is water-based which means that it can run. But I have had no significant problems with ink running using Mod Podge (a special decoupage glue).
Decoupaged boxes can be simple or complex. If this is your first decoupage project, you might want to go with simple or if you're feeling adventurous, try a more complex design like this box.
I usually get my boxes at AC Moore or Michael's or Joann's craft stores because if I go in with a coupon I can get a pretty good price but these boxes are also available on Amazon.
The supplies that you need are:
- An unfinished (or repurposed) wooden box from your local craft store (or amazon)
- Mod Podge or other glue if you choose to use something else.
- Your tarot deck or online images A printer with scanner if you want to use images from your deck.
- A decent pair of scissors.
- A brush - I use inexpensive foam scrapbooking brushes because bristle brushes can leave strands stuck to your work which is never fun!
You will want to work on a clean--pet hair and dust free surface--but the process is pretty simple. You will also want to carefully remove any hardware and lightly sand holes before you start to decoupage.
I like to work with one side of the box at a sitting (or less if the design is very involved), scanning, printing and cutting out all my images and arranging them dry until I get them just how I like them.
Then I coat the back of each image with Mod Podge and put in place. You can't move the images once they are stuck down (usually) without tearing them but one of the great things about decoupage is that, in its way, it's very forgiving because if you don't like what you have you can just go right over it with another image and the small variation in thickness isn't noticeable to most people at all.
When you have the pieces in place brush Mod Podge over the top and let the box air dry.
You can also decoupage or paint the inside of the box. If I like the backs of the decks, I'm working with I like to scan and print those and use them as a liner for the inside of the box.
There are a lot of options with this project - you can create a design with your images, for example, or just put a single favorite image on the top of your box and paint the sides. Some people like to use embellishments like glass "gemstones" or ribbon or glitter as well.
But however you design your box - please take your time.
If you do a bit at time and let the box dry in between you'll have fun - if you try to rush (like I did with my first box) you WILL get frustrated.
My method now is to work on a TV tray in the evening when I'm hanging out with my family and enjoy the process. But working with music playing in the background is very nice too.
Decoupage is a great medium and the results can be beautiful. Once you've done your tarot box, you can do a tarot tray or the cover of your own tarot workbook - or really anything you want.
Enjoy your project and please feel free to share your results or ask any questions you might have in the comment section below!
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