It's becoming increasingly obvious to me that one area I need to focus on in my spiritual practice is working to regulate my energy. This is probably a combination of easing up on myself when I'm working too hard, and finding both mundane and magical ways of maintaining my energy levels through low periods.
And I do mean periods. I had been hoping to perform last night's protection ritual earlier in the week, riding the tide of the just-past-full moon, but I was slammed by my usual 2-to-3-day phase of intense pain and complete exhaustion that occurs every month. Every month. Recently, I had hoped perhaps I could somehow manage to avoid it. I've been eating better and exercising more routinely, and my energy levels have not just been higher, but downright awesome. Last month's moodtides laid me low, but it was in the wake of the custody hearing and a week with my parents, so I naturally attributed the energy lag to the stress, and within a day or two I was back on my feet. This month, I was disappointed and frustrated to find that all that awesome energy and vitality I'd been feeling for the last few weeks suddenly fled as quickly as usual, leaving me a sack of meat, fat and bones barely able to raise myself up in bed, let alone change out of pajamas and get my shit together.
For anyone (all two of you) reading this and wondering: it is extremely frustrating and embarrassing to have a regularly scheduled illness every month that slams you in the stomach like clockwork, especially when you're as intense and serious-minded as I am, and especially in a culture in which Successful, Serious People are supposed to be On the Ball all the time. Promises that birth control would help mitigate symptoms turned out to be empty promises, just compounding my usual fatigue and pain with morning sickness.
Yesterday, my energy was finally climbing back up to usual levels, and so Jeff and I dove into ritual. This morning, my energy was pretty good (I wrote that blog post, didn't I? yes I did, while walking on the treadmill).
Now, Jeff is on his way home, biking seven miles like a boss, and I feel like I can barely keep my eyes open. Physical sensations include: a headache that stretches across my temples, tension in my neck, eyes that feel tired and dry, muscles that feel flabby and somewhat tingly, feet that feel cold (my whole body generally feels cold), and an overall feeling of my old bag of flesh and bones being too heavy to shift around properly and hold steady. This is par for the course after a period, but it feels as though the effects were prolonged this month because of the energy work I did last night.
So..... items for the to-do list:
• Work on evening out my energy levels through the month so that, for the sake of slightly calmer highs, I don't find myself at such disruptively and frustratingly low lows.
• Work on post-ritual energy reboot to keep me grounded and healthy.
I really am not a witch. I really dislike being a female body sometimes, and my euphemistic moontides have been a bitch for most of my life. This is not oh-isn't-it-magical-and-special-to-be-a-woman time. Puberty was not a blessing. Menopause just might be. But let's take things one step at a time. I celebrate the sun. That's why I'm a Druid. But my fiery goddess has put me on hold for a little while and counseled me to get my act together and find a better balance, because otherwise she's fed up with me and my burn out.
So. Sorta-moon goddess, you're up. Let's do this thing. You aid women in labor, and this monthly round of gut-punching pain and bloodloss feels close enough to me. Let's say you and me work this out.
First things first:
• I'm going to make a list of activities that help me regenerate and re-energize, and see if I can get some healthy habits going. Same goes for foods.
• I'm going to make a list of activities and foods that deplete my energy and resources, and try to do better at avoiding them.
• I'm going to turn my morning meditations towards more deliberate energy work.
• I'm going to keep doing Tai Chi like a motherfucking KLINGON.
• I'm going to ask for help. Even if it kills me.
Showing posts with label spellwork. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spellwork. Show all posts
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Waning Moon Spell of Protection
Jeff and I went to Carkeek just after sunset last night to perform a banishing and binding spell of protection to guard the kids from harm and sever our ties from E and her toxic melodrama influence.
I think, all told, the work went very well. We found an out-of-the-way place just off the path by the creek (not Piper's Creek, but another, smaller one that runs through the northern end of the park) and settled ourselves beneath what was likely a douglas fir (though it was hard to tell in the dim twilight).
I won't share the details of the ritual itself, since they are private and specific, but the general format was pretty straightforward: declaring peace to the four directions, grounding in the three realms, weaving a nemeton of the three elements, inviting the guardians of the directions to join us and strengthen our work... "lighting" the central candle to mark the center and open the gateway (since we were in a city park where fires are not permitted, plus nestled in amongst dry branches and leaves, we used an LED candle). For the first time, I formally invited Her to attend and aid us; it seemed appropriate, since she is a Protector of Children (and young women in particular), as well as a fierce guardian of the borders. Her energy seemed ideal for a work of magic meant to strengthen and guard healthy boundaries that have been repeatedly violated and transgressed. I poured an offering of white wine to her in thanks. (Note to self: the smell of alcohol permeated the circle for the rest of the work, since we weren't burning any candles or incense that might have helped to dissipate it, and since alcohol is also not permitted in city parks technically, it made me a bit paranoid, but we had no disruptions, and we were out late enough and in a secluded part of the park so that not once did we even have a curious dog-walker pass — so, no harm no foul.)
After this opening and building of energy and allies, we settled down to the main work, which consisted of some good old reliable sympathetic magic, drawing a protective circle around the gathered locks of hair from the kids that Jeff got from them before he dropped them off at their mom's, as well as locks from both Jeff and myself. We used stones, salt, blessed water, herbs for strength and flower petals to draw the circle, which shone dimly in the twilight against the dark earth. With each drawing of the circle, we asked for a blessing of protection for our family. Then, we drew a triangle of salt outside the circle and placed a symbol of E into it (a piece of weaving she'd done years ago — Jeff threw the rest of it out before we began the ritual). We named the triangle as a space of protection and binding, so that we could address our grievances to her in safety. After we each spoke, we declared that she could not exert her will over us or harm us through will, word or deed, that we would no longer allow her to create unnecessary strife in our lives and that she was bound against harming the children, taking out her issues and insecurities on them or burdening them with guilt or shame. We then affirmed that her love and care for the children as their mother was welcome and that we had no wish to interfere, as long as her relationship with them strengthened and supported them on their path. We surrounded both the protective circle and the binding triangle with a ring of flower petals, invoking the love that weaves together the universe and binds us all to one another as equals through respect and good intention.
After this, I did some simple knot magic, taking a cord of twine for each of the kids and tying four knots in each symbolizing the various blessings we'd drawn around them in the circle. Later today, I'll find little trinkets for each of them to tie up the ends, and complete the charms so that we can send them to the kids.
After all this was done, we then buried the piece of E's weaving and dispersed the triangle. We closed the ritual with a prayer for peace, thanked the goddess who'd attended, thanked and bid farewell to the guardians of the directions, extinguished the candle (ie turned it off — yay LED!) and un-wove the circle of the three elements, allowing any remaining energy to bless the place of our working.
Since my leg was massively asleep by the time we'd finished because of the way I'd been sitting, we sat a little while afterwards in silence, enjoying the night, and then spoke a little about how the ritual had gone. We'd tried a different approach this time, since Jeff does not have much experience with ritual and I'm finding that the physical act of ritual are far more effective for me than sitting still and trying to visualize — my energy work is much more of a visceral, kinesthetic thing than a visual thing. So after I did the opening prayers and invocations from memory, I had Jeff read the prayers from our cheat-sheet (ie iPhone, the newbie ritualist's best friend) as I performed the various actions. This seemed to work out really well for both of us. I didn't have to worry about memorizing words or stumbling over prayers as I worked, so I could concentrate on directing my energy into the physical actions; and Jeff said afterwards that, with his Zen background, he's not big into the ritual itself, but as a linguist and writer he finds words themselves incredibly powerful, and bringing voice to the words and feeling them embodied and manifest through his own body and breath, as a deeply powerful experience that let him feel involved in a way that simply listening to a recitation usually doesn't. He said he could feel the protective strength of the earth beneath us, and I think doing the Three Realms working and grounding at the beginning of the ritual (as well as the few moments of centering and silence we took before starting the work) was incredibly helpful in that respect.
In general, I'm feeling refreshed and very glad to have the thing over and done with. I feel like this was exactly the right time for such work, and the way is clearer and more open now in a way that it wasn't before. I feel incredibly grateful for the work and the energy.
"Okay.... seriously, I know his hair is in here somewhere."
"It's holy water, of course it smells minty fresh."
"Deep in the still center of my being, may I find peace—"noise of massive jet flying overhead ".....I said, deep in the still center of my being..."
"Wait, I lost my sandal. Where'd it go? Use your iPhone, can you see it? It's in the bush there somewhere. I knew I should have gone barefoot..."
I think, all told, the work went very well. We found an out-of-the-way place just off the path by the creek (not Piper's Creek, but another, smaller one that runs through the northern end of the park) and settled ourselves beneath what was likely a douglas fir (though it was hard to tell in the dim twilight).
I won't share the details of the ritual itself, since they are private and specific, but the general format was pretty straightforward: declaring peace to the four directions, grounding in the three realms, weaving a nemeton of the three elements, inviting the guardians of the directions to join us and strengthen our work... "lighting" the central candle to mark the center and open the gateway (since we were in a city park where fires are not permitted, plus nestled in amongst dry branches and leaves, we used an LED candle). For the first time, I formally invited Her to attend and aid us; it seemed appropriate, since she is a Protector of Children (and young women in particular), as well as a fierce guardian of the borders. Her energy seemed ideal for a work of magic meant to strengthen and guard healthy boundaries that have been repeatedly violated and transgressed. I poured an offering of white wine to her in thanks. (Note to self: the smell of alcohol permeated the circle for the rest of the work, since we weren't burning any candles or incense that might have helped to dissipate it, and since alcohol is also not permitted in city parks technically, it made me a bit paranoid, but we had no disruptions, and we were out late enough and in a secluded part of the park so that not once did we even have a curious dog-walker pass — so, no harm no foul.)
After this opening and building of energy and allies, we settled down to the main work, which consisted of some good old reliable sympathetic magic, drawing a protective circle around the gathered locks of hair from the kids that Jeff got from them before he dropped them off at their mom's, as well as locks from both Jeff and myself. We used stones, salt, blessed water, herbs for strength and flower petals to draw the circle, which shone dimly in the twilight against the dark earth. With each drawing of the circle, we asked for a blessing of protection for our family. Then, we drew a triangle of salt outside the circle and placed a symbol of E into it (a piece of weaving she'd done years ago — Jeff threw the rest of it out before we began the ritual). We named the triangle as a space of protection and binding, so that we could address our grievances to her in safety. After we each spoke, we declared that she could not exert her will over us or harm us through will, word or deed, that we would no longer allow her to create unnecessary strife in our lives and that she was bound against harming the children, taking out her issues and insecurities on them or burdening them with guilt or shame. We then affirmed that her love and care for the children as their mother was welcome and that we had no wish to interfere, as long as her relationship with them strengthened and supported them on their path. We surrounded both the protective circle and the binding triangle with a ring of flower petals, invoking the love that weaves together the universe and binds us all to one another as equals through respect and good intention.
After this, I did some simple knot magic, taking a cord of twine for each of the kids and tying four knots in each symbolizing the various blessings we'd drawn around them in the circle. Later today, I'll find little trinkets for each of them to tie up the ends, and complete the charms so that we can send them to the kids.
After all this was done, we then buried the piece of E's weaving and dispersed the triangle. We closed the ritual with a prayer for peace, thanked the goddess who'd attended, thanked and bid farewell to the guardians of the directions, extinguished the candle (ie turned it off — yay LED!) and un-wove the circle of the three elements, allowing any remaining energy to bless the place of our working.
Since my leg was massively asleep by the time we'd finished because of the way I'd been sitting, we sat a little while afterwards in silence, enjoying the night, and then spoke a little about how the ritual had gone. We'd tried a different approach this time, since Jeff does not have much experience with ritual and I'm finding that the physical act of ritual are far more effective for me than sitting still and trying to visualize — my energy work is much more of a visceral, kinesthetic thing than a visual thing. So after I did the opening prayers and invocations from memory, I had Jeff read the prayers from our cheat-sheet (ie iPhone, the newbie ritualist's best friend) as I performed the various actions. This seemed to work out really well for both of us. I didn't have to worry about memorizing words or stumbling over prayers as I worked, so I could concentrate on directing my energy into the physical actions; and Jeff said afterwards that, with his Zen background, he's not big into the ritual itself, but as a linguist and writer he finds words themselves incredibly powerful, and bringing voice to the words and feeling them embodied and manifest through his own body and breath, as a deeply powerful experience that let him feel involved in a way that simply listening to a recitation usually doesn't. He said he could feel the protective strength of the earth beneath us, and I think doing the Three Realms working and grounding at the beginning of the ritual (as well as the few moments of centering and silence we took before starting the work) was incredibly helpful in that respect.
In general, I'm feeling refreshed and very glad to have the thing over and done with. I feel like this was exactly the right time for such work, and the way is clearer and more open now in a way that it wasn't before. I feel incredibly grateful for the work and the energy.
Highlights from the Ritual
"Okay.... seriously, I know his hair is in here somewhere."
"It's holy water, of course it smells minty fresh."
"Deep in the still center of my being, may I find peace—"noise of massive jet flying overhead ".....I said, deep in the still center of my being..."
"Wait, I lost my sandal. Where'd it go? Use your iPhone, can you see it? It's in the bush there somewhere. I knew I should have gone barefoot..."
Labels:
family,
forest,
moon,
protection,
ritual,
spellwork,
waning gibbous
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Letter to Mentor
Bob,
It's been just over two months since my last letter to you. As I mentioned in my letter at the beginning of August, I'd decided to put DOTR work aside until after our wedding and honeymoon, but of course my Druidry work more generally never really ceases! Now that it's October, I'm easing back into a somewhat stable routine of spiritual practice, and I'm thinking of using Samhain as an ideal time to renew my work on the DOTR lessons (primarily those focused on the four elements). This will give me time to get that Stephen Arroyo book I mentioned before, about the role of the four elements in astrology, which I hope will be a good resource to accompany (and deepen) my review.
I find that the more I study astrology, the more fascinated I am with it - especially with the "depth psychology" approach that Arroyo and a few others use in modern times, in contrast to what he calls "mundane astrology," which is more traditional and focuses more on predicting external events. Instead, the psychological approach treats astrology as a tool for gaining insights into the inner energetic fields and patterns of the individual. In some ways, it seems simpler, or at least easier for a novice to jump quickly into relevant and meaningful readings based on a few simple interpretive guidelines. On the other hand, those simple interpretive guidelines often seem to lay bare patterns at the heart of the inner psyche that, by the time they filter up into more obvious, conscious behaviors and beliefs, can be incredibly varied and diverse in how they express themselves. When I first began working on an interpretation of my own natal chart, it was constantly surprising how certain aspects of my chart seemed to describe accurately patterns of inner energetic relationships that have expressed themselves in so many different ways in my life over the years, but that once brought to light seemed obviously connected. And just as surprising was how other patterns were so clearly not expressive in my life and did not describe me at all, and how they always corresponded to aspects or patterns definitely not in my natal chart - so that it seems impossible to agree with the argument that skeptics often use, that astrological readings are so vague as to apply to anyone. Though broad or somewhat abstract, the interpretations Arroyo offers are rarely vague, and I can tell almost immediately when I'm reading about an aspect or correspondence whether or not it is likely to appear in my own chart, even before I check it against the chart itself. I have no idea by what mechanism the stars in the sky at the time and place of our birth can so deeply affect, or reflect or speak to, aspects of our inner psyches.... but there's definitely something significant going on. (It reminds me of the physicist I saw recently talking about the latest challenges in modern physics, such as exploring exactly how and why gravity works - the theory being that there are other dimensions curled up within our own three spatial dimensions that somehow give gravity and mass to subatomic particles. Perhaps in the same way, somehow the stars give shape and design to our inner lives - or maybe the other way around - as though there are deeper things at work, webs of connection curled up and embedded within our mundane material reality.)
So I've continued to study astrology over the past two months, and I'm about to launch into Arroyo's book on the elements to go along with my DOTR lessons. In addition, I'll be reading two different books on the influence of Saturn and especially the Saturn Return, as my own is coming up soon and (depending on how tight an orb you use) could be starting as soon as the end of this month. The first exact conjunction of transiting Saturn with my natal Saturn will be on Christmas, December 25 itself, and it will come into exact aspect twice more (because Saturn will go retrograde and then direct again) over the next year, with the final conjunction in next September (on our first year wedding anniversary, in fact). Because of a few other aspects in my chart (Saturn being conjunct Pluto right on my Ascendant, for instance), this coming year promises to be particularly intense, so much of my meditative work in the coming months is going to be focused on working with Saturnine energies in one way or another.
Other than this astrological work, I've been doing some work with archetypes and Jungian psychology thanks to my brother and his career as a "consumer psychology analyst." During a visit with him in August (when we were introducing our cats to each other so he could cat-sit for us while we were away on honeymoon), he just happened to lend me a book on archetypes and "the marketing of meaning" in modern advertising. That book had some fascinating but also some deeply troubling things to say about the use of psychological and spiritual symbols in modern consumer capitalism, but it did help me to clarify my own attitudes towards my writing as a potential career. When we saw him again in September, he lent me another book by the same author, this time much more of a "self-help" type of book that went into more depth and detail about the various archetypes. I'm intrigued by how these might match up with the kinds of archetypes and energies used in astrology, though I want to do a bit more research and experimentation before I can really draw any conclusions.
Also in August, I spent some time working through the "30 Days of Druidry" meme I'd written up and shared on the DOTR blog in July. I'm only part way through the thirty writing prompts, so I'll be continuing that in October and possibly in November as well. Those are published on my blog over on my website, if you wanted to check them out.
During September, it was pretty much non-stop wedding stuff for the first two weeks, and then honeymooning for the second two. One thing I am rather proud of (if you don't mind me getting personal and female for a second): a spell I cast during the August full moon to ensure that the wedding week and honeymoon wouldn't be interrupted by my rather painful and exhausting "that time of the month" turned out to be an astounding success. Though I was on a rhythm that put the worst of it right smack on our wedding day itself, I was able to move things forward more than a week, leaving me feeling rested and well for the week leading up to the wedding and for the two weeks after while Jeff and I were out west camping. I rarely do any kind of spellwork with such mundane, physical ends in mind. Most of my spellwork (which honestly I don't do much of in any case) is focused on inner emotional or psychological work, magic as "a willed change in consciousness." But this was one of those rare times when I had no real recourse to mundane, non-occult means of bringing about the desired outcome, which is the only time I feel like magic directed towards mundane goals is really called for. So I was particularly pleased at how well the spell worked - accurate to the very day. Not bad for someone rather out of practice!
Unfortunately, Jeff and I hadn't bothered to do any spellwork regarding weather for the wedding day (another use of magic that I feel less than enthusiastic about, especially since Jeff's ex-wife had a reputation for brazenly trying to manipulate the weather on a regular basis). We had a gorgeous week at the beach - sunny and warm and perfect beach weather - but the day of the wedding itself was gray and blustery, with winds so strong that almost the entire beach was covered by water (though usually even at high tide there was at least fifty yards of flat sand above the water's edge). Honestly, it was breathtakingly beautiful, though a bit chillier than we'd expected. Still, the rain held off the entire day (finally starting not thirty seconds after Jeff and I left together at the end of the reception), so we did have our ceremony down on the beach as we'd expected, on the threshold of the three realms. We had spent time during a visit the year before petitioning the spirits of the local land for their blessing on our wedding, and we had done similar work the day right before the wedding. Our guests joked that, well, we'd asked the elements and the three realms to show up, and they showed up in force! There may be some truth to that. (Jeff's oldest daughter, Savanah, said that during our invocations to the three realms in the ceremony itself, sand crabs and sea gulls both seemed to draw in closer to the small gathering of us on the beach.) All in all, it was an intense experience, and in some ways I think the weather forced everyone to really ground in their bodies and experience the power and beauty of the natural world in a deeply visceral way... which is exactly what we wanted. (My hair is probably going to be an absolute mess in all of our wedding photos, though!)
During our honeymoon the following two weeks - which we spent out in Utah and New Mexico camping and hiking in various national parks - I spent a lot of time working through some inner blocks or issues involving my career and in particular with my writing. I plan to write up something on this experience sometime soon and share it to my Working the Three Realms blog, so if you're interested in that, you can check it out there.
Since this letter has become way too long already, though, I'll end it here for now. Looking forward to hearing from you. Hoping your autumn has been well and blessed so far! I'd love to hear how you work with Erynn's book and the Three Cauldrons has been going!
--Ali
It's been just over two months since my last letter to you. As I mentioned in my letter at the beginning of August, I'd decided to put DOTR work aside until after our wedding and honeymoon, but of course my Druidry work more generally never really ceases! Now that it's October, I'm easing back into a somewhat stable routine of spiritual practice, and I'm thinking of using Samhain as an ideal time to renew my work on the DOTR lessons (primarily those focused on the four elements). This will give me time to get that Stephen Arroyo book I mentioned before, about the role of the four elements in astrology, which I hope will be a good resource to accompany (and deepen) my review.
I find that the more I study astrology, the more fascinated I am with it - especially with the "depth psychology" approach that Arroyo and a few others use in modern times, in contrast to what he calls "mundane astrology," which is more traditional and focuses more on predicting external events. Instead, the psychological approach treats astrology as a tool for gaining insights into the inner energetic fields and patterns of the individual. In some ways, it seems simpler, or at least easier for a novice to jump quickly into relevant and meaningful readings based on a few simple interpretive guidelines. On the other hand, those simple interpretive guidelines often seem to lay bare patterns at the heart of the inner psyche that, by the time they filter up into more obvious, conscious behaviors and beliefs, can be incredibly varied and diverse in how they express themselves. When I first began working on an interpretation of my own natal chart, it was constantly surprising how certain aspects of my chart seemed to describe accurately patterns of inner energetic relationships that have expressed themselves in so many different ways in my life over the years, but that once brought to light seemed obviously connected. And just as surprising was how other patterns were so clearly not expressive in my life and did not describe me at all, and how they always corresponded to aspects or patterns definitely not in my natal chart - so that it seems impossible to agree with the argument that skeptics often use, that astrological readings are so vague as to apply to anyone. Though broad or somewhat abstract, the interpretations Arroyo offers are rarely vague, and I can tell almost immediately when I'm reading about an aspect or correspondence whether or not it is likely to appear in my own chart, even before I check it against the chart itself. I have no idea by what mechanism the stars in the sky at the time and place of our birth can so deeply affect, or reflect or speak to, aspects of our inner psyches.... but there's definitely something significant going on. (It reminds me of the physicist I saw recently talking about the latest challenges in modern physics, such as exploring exactly how and why gravity works - the theory being that there are other dimensions curled up within our own three spatial dimensions that somehow give gravity and mass to subatomic particles. Perhaps in the same way, somehow the stars give shape and design to our inner lives - or maybe the other way around - as though there are deeper things at work, webs of connection curled up and embedded within our mundane material reality.)
So I've continued to study astrology over the past two months, and I'm about to launch into Arroyo's book on the elements to go along with my DOTR lessons. In addition, I'll be reading two different books on the influence of Saturn and especially the Saturn Return, as my own is coming up soon and (depending on how tight an orb you use) could be starting as soon as the end of this month. The first exact conjunction of transiting Saturn with my natal Saturn will be on Christmas, December 25 itself, and it will come into exact aspect twice more (because Saturn will go retrograde and then direct again) over the next year, with the final conjunction in next September (on our first year wedding anniversary, in fact). Because of a few other aspects in my chart (Saturn being conjunct Pluto right on my Ascendant, for instance), this coming year promises to be particularly intense, so much of my meditative work in the coming months is going to be focused on working with Saturnine energies in one way or another.
Other than this astrological work, I've been doing some work with archetypes and Jungian psychology thanks to my brother and his career as a "consumer psychology analyst." During a visit with him in August (when we were introducing our cats to each other so he could cat-sit for us while we were away on honeymoon), he just happened to lend me a book on archetypes and "the marketing of meaning" in modern advertising. That book had some fascinating but also some deeply troubling things to say about the use of psychological and spiritual symbols in modern consumer capitalism, but it did help me to clarify my own attitudes towards my writing as a potential career. When we saw him again in September, he lent me another book by the same author, this time much more of a "self-help" type of book that went into more depth and detail about the various archetypes. I'm intrigued by how these might match up with the kinds of archetypes and energies used in astrology, though I want to do a bit more research and experimentation before I can really draw any conclusions.
Also in August, I spent some time working through the "30 Days of Druidry" meme I'd written up and shared on the DOTR blog in July. I'm only part way through the thirty writing prompts, so I'll be continuing that in October and possibly in November as well. Those are published on my blog over on my website, if you wanted to check them out.
During September, it was pretty much non-stop wedding stuff for the first two weeks, and then honeymooning for the second two. One thing I am rather proud of (if you don't mind me getting personal and female for a second): a spell I cast during the August full moon to ensure that the wedding week and honeymoon wouldn't be interrupted by my rather painful and exhausting "that time of the month" turned out to be an astounding success. Though I was on a rhythm that put the worst of it right smack on our wedding day itself, I was able to move things forward more than a week, leaving me feeling rested and well for the week leading up to the wedding and for the two weeks after while Jeff and I were out west camping. I rarely do any kind of spellwork with such mundane, physical ends in mind. Most of my spellwork (which honestly I don't do much of in any case) is focused on inner emotional or psychological work, magic as "a willed change in consciousness." But this was one of those rare times when I had no real recourse to mundane, non-occult means of bringing about the desired outcome, which is the only time I feel like magic directed towards mundane goals is really called for. So I was particularly pleased at how well the spell worked - accurate to the very day. Not bad for someone rather out of practice!
Unfortunately, Jeff and I hadn't bothered to do any spellwork regarding weather for the wedding day (another use of magic that I feel less than enthusiastic about, especially since Jeff's ex-wife had a reputation for brazenly trying to manipulate the weather on a regular basis). We had a gorgeous week at the beach - sunny and warm and perfect beach weather - but the day of the wedding itself was gray and blustery, with winds so strong that almost the entire beach was covered by water (though usually even at high tide there was at least fifty yards of flat sand above the water's edge). Honestly, it was breathtakingly beautiful, though a bit chillier than we'd expected. Still, the rain held off the entire day (finally starting not thirty seconds after Jeff and I left together at the end of the reception), so we did have our ceremony down on the beach as we'd expected, on the threshold of the three realms. We had spent time during a visit the year before petitioning the spirits of the local land for their blessing on our wedding, and we had done similar work the day right before the wedding. Our guests joked that, well, we'd asked the elements and the three realms to show up, and they showed up in force! There may be some truth to that. (Jeff's oldest daughter, Savanah, said that during our invocations to the three realms in the ceremony itself, sand crabs and sea gulls both seemed to draw in closer to the small gathering of us on the beach.) All in all, it was an intense experience, and in some ways I think the weather forced everyone to really ground in their bodies and experience the power and beauty of the natural world in a deeply visceral way... which is exactly what we wanted. (My hair is probably going to be an absolute mess in all of our wedding photos, though!)
During our honeymoon the following two weeks - which we spent out in Utah and New Mexico camping and hiking in various national parks - I spent a lot of time working through some inner blocks or issues involving my career and in particular with my writing. I plan to write up something on this experience sometime soon and share it to my Working the Three Realms blog, so if you're interested in that, you can check it out there.
Since this letter has become way too long already, though, I'll end it here for now. Looking forward to hearing from you. Hoping your autumn has been well and blessed so far! I'd love to hear how you work with Erynn's book and the Three Cauldrons has been going!
--Ali
Labels:
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astrology,
DOTR,
letter,
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monthly overview,
psychology,
spellwork,
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