Cancer for the week

In the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, prayer flags are sets of brightly colored sacramental cloths that are inscribed with holy words and images of deities. They’re not designed for indoor use in solemn ceremonies, but are hung outside where the wind blows their blessings to the heavens and all over the world. I recommend that you draw inspiration from this practice. It’s a perfect time to take your spiritual yearnings out of the closet, away from the church and temple and mosque, and beyond all sheltered, temperature-controlled trappings. Build a shrine in the wilderness, Cancerian. Sing a hymn from a mountaintop, shower money on the river goddess, or create your own homemade prayer flags and hang them from a tree.

Oh yes indeedy!! Making lots of flags and banners I am.

Still executing witches

Thanks to Jason at Wild Hunt for this interview with Phyllis Curott:

http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/03/interview-with-phyllis-curott.html

“Recently, religious authorities in Saudi Arabia sentenced a woman, Fawza Falih Muhammad Ali, to death for the crime of ‘witchcraft’.”

Please sign the petition, a link is provided in the interview text and also here:

http://www.petitiononline.com/AIDFAWZA/petition.html

Wiccan charms

Just found this eBay seller who sells things for WICCAN miniature houses. Just bought some little cauldron charms (been looking for those FOREVER) and saw that she has a eensy Book of Shadows, a chalice, a crystal ball, all kinds of cool halloween stuff. *swoon*

http://stores.ebay.com/Pixi-Gardens-Dollhouse-Miniatures

Check this out! Too adorable…

miniwicca.jpg

I’ve always been enchanted by miniature houses, Colleen Moore’s Fairy Castle at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry comes to mind. But I’ve never thought of one to make myself. I’ve always been drawn to the halloween villages for sale around Samhain but they are always too gruesome or dumb for my tastes. But THIS? I can see myself making my own little miniature temple… Oh yes….

She even has miniature gargoyles. She got me. I’m enchanted. With visions floating around in my head. That will keep my mind off my neck…

Raising my head like the daffodils

This has been a very difficult winter for me. Difficult for my heart and also, it seems, difficult for my body. My work station in my office is not ergonomic and it appears that it is responsible for acute neck strain and subsequently migraines. I’ve had headaches varying from mild to severe migraine unceasingly for over 3 weeks. I finally took a few days off from work and did nothing. Nothing. Slept. Hung out on the couch. A little reading. Nothing much else. Friday I went to my acupuncturist and by yesterday, Sunday, I had some relief. Hours of relief. Woke up for the first time in days and days without a headache. *ahhhhhhhh*

Trying to work out a better arrangement at work. My monitor is simply too high and it forces me to stretch my neck and head back. Not Good. It might take a day or three to figure out the best way to set this up. Already I can feel my neck starting to freeze up again. And while that doesn’t make me happy, I know there is a solution and that this is temporary. THAT part makes me happy.

This weekend I raised my face to the sun and enjoyed watching the birds in the garden. So did Miss Mitty. We always have one glorious week in February where the sun shines and the rains stop and blossoms make everyone happy to be outside.

mitty02.jpg

What that relief meant for me yesterday was that I got to work on some more of my little cuties, bead dangles. I’ve been working back and forth on charm necklaces in a silver/black/blue/iris set and a gold/russet/black set. One for dark moons and midnight and the other for autumn and Samhain. I plan on making at least one more in misty fae blues and greens and silvers for fae and spring work and perhaps use that for full moons too.

On Friday I showed my Wheel of the Year project to a friend who is teaching an Outer Grove at the moment. And she wants me to come in and speak to the students about using art as a vehicle for figuring out what your own personal correspondences are. I’m so honored! Evidentyly there is lots of moaning about writing their books of shadows when they want to use the computer. She wants them to see that BoS’s don’t even have to be on paper. I’ve attended her Outer Grove myself and one of the assignments is for each student to determine their correspondences for seasons, plants, animals, gems, colors, etc…

I will be bringing in my necklaces too. The bags I make for my tarot card decks (they are legion) match the theme and/or feel of the decks.

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