Archive for Practical things

Pixies at the bottom of my garden?!!!

I woke to a misty day, the hills beyond the flat river valley shrouded from view. Outside it was grey, but still. After the wind and rain of the latter part of last week and the weekend it was blissfully quiet in the calm air. As the day went by the mist cleared and around mid-afternoon the sun came out!

So I donned my gardening togs and went out into the garden for the first time this year.

The frosts had left their mark on some of the plants, but I don’t think I’ve lost that much.Most of the garden is given over to growing <bursts into song here> food, glorious food…! Ahem… with a few flowers here and there, and allot of herbs-me being a magickal herbalist ‘n’ all, not to mention the Alchemy I dabble in.

The onions and garlic, (planted on the waning moon on a Tuesday last year) are looking good, and I noticed a few garlic that had ‘got away’ in the old patch, now growing nicely. I made a mental note to transplant them after the full moon. Plants that fruit under the ground are best planted and moved then y’see. Anything that flowers or fruits above the ground are under the dominion of the new to full moon.

In keeping with the new moon, I noticed both sets of chives are up too. The chives given to me by my dear friend Margaret in Orkney are about 2″ high! The garlic chives, less hardy and vigourous are only just peeping through the soil. I’m looking forward to harvesting them for boiled egg butties very soon! Yum! :-)

My tree onions have been got at! By what I’m not sure-slugs maybe? Do they like onions? I’m not sure, but we had so many last year it was a loosing battle and I lost several courgette plants to the nasty little so-an-soh’s! So I will have to keep an eye on them and possibly give them a feed of porridge oats-the slugs sorry, not the tree onions. :-)

The parsnips are still doing well and it will soon be time to plant the next lot! The leeks are fabulous and not running to flower just yet. I may let a few actually go to flower as they are so beautiful. We’ll see. 

I’m not going to grow french parsley again. It hasn’t stood the frosts, and I’m kicking my self that I never got round to making parsley wine with it. I probably had enough to make several gallons and it is such a beautiful wine. My Grandmother used to grow masses of parsley just for wine… hm… so perhaps I will sow some french parsley again, and do as she did. It’s allot more vigorous that the curly parsley, which is very hardly. I weeded that patch today as well as the kale, which I didn’t expect to last the winter at all! It was sown in one of these salad mixes and I’m very surprised!

So I tidied and weeded and pottered about. Sad that the Rue looks so poorly, but the balm is up and so is the marjoram! I checked on my lovely bush of rare variegated rosemary, and her friend wise old sage, both have come tho’ minus 10C of frost very well, as has the two thymes and the other sage, my rosemary cuttings, but it’s a bit early to tell about the fennel yet-but all the mints have done well! AND the little Mandrake is up and looking good! Reminds me, it will soon be time to go digging mandrakes in the woods! That will be fun!

It’s been a wonderful few hours, greeting my old friends after the winter. I have one solitary snowdrop out, but others will follow. I like to think that they only grow where the Goddess walks!

Soon the hedgerow will be full of them up and down the lane and here in the garden. I’m truely blessed to have such a garden-with the help of my beloved, who designed and made the raised beds and did all the hard work, digging etc, it is a wonderful place to be!

I’m going to have a little glass of runner bean sherry now, and yes you guessed, grown and made by me, with a little help from a grumpy pixie and Bacchus, of course!

grumpy-picksy4

Roll on the Summer!

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Basic Psychic Protection: The Aura

The Arte of Psychic Protection is an ongoing practise for me, and imho, a must for any follower of the Mysteries to use. It is the only thing I insist on doing; any thing else is up to the student of the Arte, but this. As with all things tho’ I suggest starting off with easy steps, baby steps if you will, for even we students of the Mysteries, must learn to walk before we can run. Once we have become good at something, we can then look to deepening our practise, and this will take time, of course.

Ok, rant over! <smile> On with the theory!

As the Student develops, so their energy changes. We are all fluid and ever changing, but when we start to follow our Path, study, learn and then, put that learning into practise, we raise our vibrations. All matter vibrates at a different rate. This is why sound healing is so affective; it heals on a very deep level, and it is this level which changes first as we begin to walk our Path. Around us, that deep level change is subtle. It shows in our aura’s, and it is this aura that needs to be protected, so that we keep our own energy for ourselves. Believe me, there are many people around who would steal your energy off you, either by accident or on purpose. Have you ever been in the company of a person, maybe a friend or family member, and felt drained to exhaustion when you leave them?  Yes? Then they have stolen your energy, usually, unconsciously. I have seen this happen many times; the energy thieves have been totally unaware of what they have done. It happened quite naturally. You might be aware of other instances when this happens too. Ever walked down the street only to have people bump into you, literally, one after the other? How did you feel? I know I felt annoyed and angry, when it happened. Expending that energy left me feeling drained, a little spaced out and dizzy too. Even in the presence of some of my Spiritual friends, I can feel drained.  It happens. It’s a sad fact.

So what do you do?

The place to start is with the aura. The aura is the energy field that surrounds us. While it is invisible, some sensitive’s can see auras, some sense them and kirlian photography captures them  in all their beauty. If we rub our hands together quickly, we will not only generate heat, but if you pull your hands slowly appart you will feel your aura, as a slight resistance between your hands when you move them apart and back together again. Try it, see if it works. 

There are different layers to the aura as well, but for now we are concerned with the outer layer. When this outer layer is reenforced with a psychic plating, nothing negative can get in, nor can your energy be stolen. To do this we need to be aware of the Universe. Within it is an abundance of Universal Energy. Some know it as chi, ki, and so on. But for me, it is the Great Divine Light; the Universal Energy, and it is available to us all. We will bring this Light down to strengthen our auras. Don’t worry about the colour, that  will be up to you, but for now I suggest you use silver or gold. More on this later. As the Light covers your aura, the intent is set. I suggest you say silently or aloud something like, “May I be protected from all negativity, and that only good, may here, enter in” Intend is important. If you don’t let good in, there will be no flow-give and take. By using this general intent, you are allowing a flow to take place.

Now to the practical.

So, switch off your phone, find a place where you will not be disturbed and sit quietly, close your eyes, turn your attention to your breathing, and when you feel relaxed, imagine above your head  the Universe and the bright Light within it. See this Light gather above your head, in a sphere, and bring it down over your aura in a column of bright Light, covering your aura, so that you are completely surrounded by this Light, resting on the edge of your aura, see it sealed all around you-no gaps. As this is now done, set you intent, that you are protected from negativity but good may enter in. Now, turn your attention to how you feel. Depending on how sensitive you are, you may, or may not notice a difference. Sit with it for as long as you want. Then bring your attention to your hands and feet, wiggle them a little and slowly come back into the room, hear the noises around you and open you eyes. Have some thing to eat and/or drink to ground you, and if you still feel spaced out, imagine some roots growing from your feet to earth you in reality.

I suggest you do this twice a day at first, in the morning and evening. Why? Well, to get you into the habit of putting your shields up, for one thing and because dawn and dusk are magickal tides as I’ve said here. But in reality, we do as much as we can, and if you can only do this once a day or week then so be it. BUT, with practise, you will find this becomes automatic and you will be able to strengthen you aura with just a few key words, such as “I am protected” or “Shields up!”

The plus side is you will, I can assure you feel/sense/see/know a difference, by using this very basic technique. There are others, and I shall be sharing these with you in the course of time, but for now, this is a very good place to start with.

After working with this for a while, begin to experiment with colours. One friend of mine who I taught this technique to has a beautiful blue protective sheath around him, which is so wonderful. He found it quite quickly, but then you may too. Always bring your attention back to how you feel. That is the key. I use a certain colour to block EVERYTHING out. When I found it for the first time, I felt very unsettled. Confused, I sat with it for a while, and slowly realised I was alone! Totally, alone. No psych messages, no outside influences, nothing, just me and my thoughts and this uneasy feeling! I then realised that this was probably the first time in my life I had felt this; no wonder I feel uneasy!!! I now use this certain colour when I wish to be totally isolated and alone. Blissful if I’m sleeping in a haunted house! <grin>

To finish, I suggest you record this technique and your progress in a diary. Writing grounds thoughts, bringing them into manifestation in this world, on a magickal level; on a practical level, you can look back and see your progress, and thus build on your protection technique accordingly.

I’m quite willing to open up a discussion here, so if you have any questions, this is the place to ask. Oh and I’d LOVE to know how you get on with it, though don’t give away any secrets, such things as colours are best kept to yourself!

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The Balefire.

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“Oak logs will warm you well,

That are old and dry.

Logs of pine will sweetly smell 

But the sparks will fly.


Birch logs will burn too fast,

Chestnut scarce at all;

Hawthorne logs are good to last-

Cut them in the fall.


Holly logs will burn like wax,

You may burn them green;

Elm logs like smoldering flax,

No flame to be seen.


Beech logs for winter time,

Yew logs as well;

Green elder logs it is a crime

For any man to sell.


Pear logs and apple logs,

They will scent your room;

Cherry logs across the dogs

Smell like flowers of broom.


Ash logs, smooth and grey,

Burn them green or old,

Buy up all that come your way-

Worth their weight in gold.”


 

So says an old Dartmoor verse*.

Nothing quite like a Balefire in the centre of your Sacred Space when working ritually outside. Traditionally, a Balefire is made up of nine different woods; with the addition of  poplar, dogwood, sandalwood, cedar, and juniper to the ones listed above. But fire can add warmth and focus to a ritual, and I think that no matter what wood it’s made from, it is sacred. I have a dedicated fire pit, surrounded by stones in my garden. Many a good night has been spent around it and I cook on it too, when the occasion calls. I’m lucky enough to have a tripod and cauldron made by my beloved, essential items for any Witch with space for a fire in her garden.

I like to collect thistle heads, birch bark and dry grasses to light my Sacred fires with. This I do in autumn and keep them tinder dry till needed. A small amount will soon flare up under a spark from a tinder-strike, the eagerly licking flames consume the twigs and small sticks laid on top of it, and as the flames grow higher the larger sticks catch fire and the fire is well and truly lit when the logs catch fire. It has a life of it’s own, and I love to scry in the flames, embers and smoke. 

There is something wonderfully mysterious about making fires this way; my actions seem to echo those of my Ancestors, and this leads to an awareness of how important fire was to them. We in our warm centrally heated homes with our modern cookers and microwaves, can often forget how easy it is for us to keep warm and cook our food.

© Cymraes 2008 – except *From Paul Husons excellent Mastering Witchcraft.

 

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