The Magickal Cottage

New Moon:

The new moon phase is an excellent time to give birth to new ideas and projects. It’s also a great time to write a wish list of those things you would most like to bring into your life. Writing a manifesting wish list, along with creating vision boards can get amazing results. Give it a try! You may be pleasantly surprised at the positive energy you generate to help realize your dreams!

The next new moon manifesting should take place on: Nov. 13th at 4:12 PM and end on December 13th at 2:41 AM

The moon will be in the sign: Sagittarius

This sign makes it a good time to manifest in the areas of: Quest for truth, peace of mind, travel, freedom, adventure, legal issues, faith, optimism, finding solutions

Sample wish: “I want to easily find myself with more energy to accomplish all my daily tasks.”

Set the scene by lighting a purple candle and burning some spicy incense. Call on Archangel Raguel to assist you in your manifesting since he works well with the Sagittarius energies.

Tips:

            *The best time to do your manifesting is within 8 hours after the time given above (not before).

            *Wish for no more than 10 things and not less than 2.

            *You can rephrase a wish if you wish and count it as another wish (adds more power to that wish).

            *You can only wish for yourself, since we all have free will.:-)

            *Handwrite your list, number each wish, and sign your list.

            *You can do whatever you like with your list short of throwing it away (examples: reread it every day, sleep with it under your pillow, give it reiki, whatever…). I put mine in a scrapbook along with a monthly vision board that I create to go with my list and keep the book where I can look at it often. That way I can focus on what I want to manifest. Remember! Your thoughts are things!

Note that these are not affirmations (yang), but wishes (yin – moon energy). Not, “I have lots of money” (present tense – yang);but, “I desire abundance in my finances”, or “I want to easily attract financial abundance.”(being receptive – yin). You can still make positive affirmations anytime you want. Please do!

Full Moon:

Full Moon Burning Bowl Ceremony

Not only is the full moon an excellent time to charge crystals (and yourself!) in the moonlight, it is also a great time to perform a burning bowl ceremony! This is a time to rid yourself of those things you are willing to give up once and for all. If you are truly motivated, then read on!

This month the full moon is exact on Dec. 28th at 4:21 AM, CDT. It will be in the sign Cancer. This is an excellent time to rid yourself of issues involving: Clinginess, feelings of insecurity, possessiveness, lack of definite goals, disease or pain of the breasts, chest, pancreas, stomach, tumors

 Here’s what you do:

Full Moon Burning Bowls

Supplies: pieces of paper, pencil, heat proof container to burn pieces of paper, matches, water (just in case!)

*Write down what you would like to get rid of on a small piece of paper. Sign and date the paper. Read what you have written aloud.

Example:” I now rid myself of the habit of procrastinating.”

*Light the paper and place it in the heatproof container.

*Visualize your “problem” going up in smoke!

*If you wish you may call upon Archangel Gabriel to be present and assist you. *You can also set the scene with the following elements:  Water, colors- turquoise or dark blue green and copper; herbs, oils, incense -chamomile and lily Be creative!

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 http://www.mermadearts.com/index.php

Some deities are very appealing to the general pagan population. I have always thought of Brigit as being very approachable. She seems like she would be the perfect counselor and all round best friend, as far as goddesses go.   My friend, Blaze, comments frequently of how she has been drawn to Brigit for as long as she can remember. I agree. I like Brigit, too.

That’s why I was surprised when I felt I was being approached by a goddess that I never thought of working with before. This was not really a goddess that gave me the warm fuzzies. I had a bad impression of her, through no fault of her own…..probably. She seemed kind of scary, in fact. Her name is Hecate. I was well into my “cronehood” when she started making her presence known. I started “seeing” symbols that made no sense to me. For instance, I would envision keys, and keys would appear everywhere in my physical environment as well. Most of these visions would appear as I was drifting off to sleep at night.  One night I saw a woman holding up a torch as I drifted off. Finally, I did what I often do: I “Googled” those symbols and found they were connected to Hecate.

So why was a goddess of the underworld calling me? Wasn’t I about healing and angels and light? I decided to research Hecate more. I found that she was a strong protector and even though she is a triple goddess she is often thought of in her crone aspect. Maybe she just likes that I’m “old”, I thought, or that I own a black dog (another of her symbols). Neither of those facts seemed reason enough for her to be contacting me. Then I had a friend tell me of how Hecate had actually healed him in a very powerful experience he would never forget. He was so moved by the experience that it was absolutely life changing.

OK, so that made sense. I am a healer. Hecate is a healer. Things were starting to come together. As I read more and more about Hecate, I realized that even though she was not a goddess that you wanted to mess with, she was interested in interacting with us. I was starting to get to know the other side of Hecate that was more like a wise and caring guardian – a protector of witches.

The first time I worked with Hecate magickally was when I had a friend who needed some major protection from two other “witches” who were persecuting her in a big way. I was outdoors when I cast the circle and started the protection spell. I was pretty pissed at the two evil women in question, but I tried to work from a place of neutrality. I calmly explained to Hecate the situation and asked for her protection of my friend, a fellow crone. As I finished speaking the verse I had written and began to raise power, ( I kid you not) there was a sudden gust of wind and a thunder clap! The weather had been relatively calm when I cast the circle, but the timing was almost too perfect! “Hey, that was cool”, I thought to myself. Needless to say, the spell got results.

Hecate is a lovely, wise goddess who stands by and listens to what you are telling her. If you ask something of her, she smiles, nods her head as if to say, “Is that what you really want?“ She makes you think things through and is a wonderful teacher. I still read about other gods and goddesses: Airmed for my herbal practice, Aine for the fairies, etc.. But I guess Hecate is my go-to lady when I need some powerful action. Hail Hecate! Blessed be!

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Last week our dog, Zoe, became very ill. We spared no expense to have her tested and treated with medicines, but it was her time to move on. She was 11 years old and she just couldn’t fight off her illness.

I gave Zoe a lot of reiki this past week and it really seemed to help her. She liked it, too. She never really liked it when she was well, unlike Tex and Frisco our other shepherds now in Spirit, who were reiki junkies! Reiki made Zoe nervous. It seemed weird and she was a dog that did not appreciate anything that was out of the ordinary….a lot like some people, I guess.

Tex used to come stop by my chair at the breakfast table each morning and I would place a hand on his back. He would stay for a minute or two and when he had gotten his “reiki fix” he would just quietly move on without any kind of acknowledgement.

Yesterday afternoon I had Zoe on the couch and I knew she was dying. I was very upset but knew it was time to take her to the vet. During all this, my phone rang and it was a former client. I declined the call and saw a moment later that he had left a message. I didn’t listen to the message until we were on our way home from the vet and Zoe was at peace. He was actually asking if I knew anyone who did animal reiki because someone had an elderly dog who needed it. I knew I couldn’t hold a conversation with anyone at that moment, so about an hour later I decided to text him. I said I would do the reiki for the dog at no charge.

As it turned out, when he texted me back, he and the dog and the owners were at the vet and the dog was about to be euthanized. He asked if I was an animal communicator, and I just asked where they were and the dog’s name. I said I would send the dog reiki. As soon as I started to send it, I could feel it going very strongly. Then a few moments later I felt a kind of release. My client texted me back thanking me. He said the dog had regained consciousness long enough for the owners to say their good-byes.

My client and the owners were very grateful, but ending a trying day in this way inspired a feeling of gratitude in me as well. I am suddenly feeling grateful for a lot of things: all the great times we have had with our pets, our family and friends and even all the material things we have that our ancestors never would have dreamed of. Talking with my sister yesterday, she was telling me about a new book that she felt was very powerful. The book points out that the key to a magical life is to cultivate a feeling of gratitude. Whatever comes along, whether it may seem good or bad, if we can say, “thank you,” we will have made some profound progress along our paths in this life.

Every night as I lay my head on my pillow I will repeat the phrase, “thank you, thank you, thank you!” My animals have all taught me some very powerful lessons about living in the moment, and for this I am very, very grateful.

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The Fairy Garden

Fairies, or nature elementals, are everywhere in the natural world. There are tree spirits called dryads, air sprites, undines of the water elements, gnomes of the earth…fae of many different varieties. Some fairies are reported to be helpful, if a bit fun loving, and others are not really good sorts for most of us to have hanging around.  It’s probably a good idea not to invite the fae indoors unless you have certain ones in mind and you have a positive relationship with them. Brownies are reported to be great house elementals to have indoors, but when in doubt about whether to invite an elemental indoors, don’t.

If you like keeping a garden, as I do, then encouraging the fairies to live in your garden is a great idea. They will lend their energy to the plants and create an amazing energy for you to enjoy all year round. You can do certain things to encourage fairies to live on your property, but most important to laying out the fairy welcome mat is your intention! You can make up a simple rhyme and walk around the yard repeating your charm over and over. I like to say a little fairy blessing whenever I plant something here at Angels Grove.  Even apartment dwellers can usually find a window sill or balcony on which to create a fairy garden. So don’t let lack of space stop you!

There are certain trees and flowers that are favored by the fae. Even planting a few of them will encourage the fairies to stay. Probably the tree that fairies are most crazy about is the oak. Some old oaks have hundreds of fairies living in them. Other trees sacred to fairies are the hawthorn, ash and elder. Holly protects your home and willows are sacred to the goddess. Fruit trees and especially apple trees are preferred. Roses are high on the list as well. I am a passionate rose grower and I feel the fairies’ energy very strongly each April when the roses start to bloom. Fox gloves are a traditional fairy flower, as are violets, primroses and lilacs. I planted a lilac bush a few years back and it just sat there for the longest time. Lilacs aren’t supposed to grow where I live in Texas so I knew there was a chance it wouldn’t do well. I watched and waited hoping that someday I would get at least one fragrant bloom, and this year it happened! I had been going through a very rough time emotionally and was talking to my son outside when I suddenly caught sight of a small purple bloom on the bush. I rushed over to take in its delicious fragrance! I knew that bloom was a sign from the fairies that things were going to get better in my life. I had been faithful to one of their sacred plants and they were telling me that they were looking out for me.

Some herbs worth mentioning for a fairy garden are rosemary and thyme. It is said that fairies like to use rosemary bushes to hide in. Thyme is intoxicating for fairies. Plant it liberally around your garden. There is even a variety of thyme with tiny leaves called Elfin Thyme. In fact, any plant with “fairy”, “elfin” or “sprite” in the name is worth considering for your garden. When you harvest plants from your garden be sure to ask permission from the plant or its elemental beforehand, and then be sure to give thanks.  Aine is a great goddess to get to know if you are planting a magickal garden. Gaia or any other earth or mother goddess would be excellent as well.

Need I say it? But don’t use a bunch of chemicals on your plants – especially poisons. That will indeed piss the fairies off! It is also a good idea to leave at least a small (or large) patch of your yard a little bit wild looking. Don’t be too obsessive about the weeds…not usually a problem for me! A fairy garden is a relaxed and joyous garden. Cottage gardens are ideal. Versailles would probably not be the fairy residence of choice.

With the popularity of fairies at the present time, there is a wide selection of fairy garden flags and statues. Placing a few fairies in the yard lets the fairies know that you recognize their presence. Whether or not they actually look like the beings portrayed by the garden artwork really isn’t important. They will read your intention and feel welcomed. You might even find some tiny fairies to place in your apartment window boxes.

Most pagans interact with elementals on some level due to the fact that paganism is usually Earth centered. Growing your own herbs and flowers for spells is so much better than buying them from an apothecary or on the internet. Gardens usually fail because the gardener fails to learn what they need to know about the needs of the plants they are trying to grow. Interested in learning more? Ellen Dugan has written some great books on the topic of magickal gardening. Check out Garden Witchery and Garden Witch’s Herbal.  Ellen is one of my favorite authors and writes a great blog! So do your homework, buy some flowers or seeds, and dig your hands into that beautiful soil around your house. And don’t forget to invite the fairies to help you!

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Finding the Elements That Will Enhance Your Life

The elements make up our world. We rely on them for staying alive and for working with energy in whatever way we choose. In western paganism there are four elements: earth, air, fire and water. In the Chinese system there are five elements: earth, wood, fire, water and metal. If you have studied Chinese astrology, feng shuy or Chinese health and nutrition you will have heard of their five element system.  I don’t really see any real conflict between the western system and the Chinese system. Both systems are valid and even complement each other in some instances.

The Chinese believe you should find those elements and their associations that will enhance your life based on your date and time of birth as well as your gender. I am inclined to believe that working with certain elements is a really great way to benefit your health as well as the energy work you do. For the longest time, however, I struggled with what the different systems told me I should have as a “lucky element”. I have always loved the ocean. I have a thing about mermaids and sea animals and since we moved to Texas from California I have missed the ocean so much. I love lakes and ponds and even impulsively dug a pond in my backyard one day just to be able to be near water. So why did all the different systems tell me I needed earth as my lucky element??? I decided to dig deeper to see what the deal was. I am a double fire sign with the sun and moon both in fire signs (I like fire..lots of candles in my home…fire pit in the yard…like the color red) so fire seemed to fit ok. But water…hmmm…one planet in a water sign. Very low on water in my horoscope except  that my sun and moon were in water houses (the 8^th and the 12^th). OK, so that might explain it somewhat. I still wanted to know more about why I had this strong connection with water.

Yesterday I remembered that there can be different ways of figuring out the Chinese lucky elements depending on who you are talking to so I decided to visit my friend Google and see what I could find out. I found a website that not only told how they figured the beneficial elements, but I finally found out why I was so drawn to water and fire. Yep, both of those elements are lucky for me. The website explained that I am, indeed, a metal person (which I knew) but I am a STRONG metal person. Since I am strong in that element I need elements that will reduce my metal or I’ll overdose on metal…who knew? Water and fire reduce metal. Yay! Now I know that my surrounding myself with candles and mermaids is a good thing! I knew it was, but wanted to know why. That’s how I am. You can be a weak metal person and then your lucky elements would indeed be earth and metal.

Want to find out your lucky element? Here is the link to that free website I mentioned:  http://www.geomancy.net/reports/free-report/freerpt-element.htm

The elements affect us whether we like it or not, so finding the colors and even the occupations and foods that will make us healthy and happy is worth looking into. Your best element could even tell you what kind of energy or even dieties you should work with in the most beneficial way and start you down a whole new path of study.

Blessings,

Sarina

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