Any Witches Here? Part 8.

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration.

Solstice how exciting!!!
Queenrollo and Violetcharlotte beautiful pictures!
Speakout your fajitas sound amazing.

Both dds made flower crowns and although the wind was against us in the garden we decided to light our fire and bbq in the yard. We made libations and turned the flames coloured under the watchful eye of my cat and Rowan the semi tame jackdaw.

Solstice how exciting!!!
Queenrollo and Violetcharlotte beautiful pictures!
Speakout your fajitas sound amazing.

Both dds made flower crowns and although the wind was against us in the garden we decided to light our fire and bbq in the yard. We made libations and turned the flames coloured under the watchful eye of my cat and Rowan the semi tame jackdaw.

Thank you everyone. Happy Solstice.

It has been a difficult week and I had a horrible incident at work, and ended up crying in front of and on the phone too more people than I have ever cried in front of. I felt really unsafe all afternoon too, but much better now thankfully.
I'm still not sure what I doing today. I wanted to watch sunset, stay out all night and watch sunrise, but can't think of anywhere to go/camp/stay and I am working tomorrow. I think I'll go and see the puffins. I have yet to see them in person and it is quite nice out at the moment. Then I might go for a late walk to the witch's wart (top of an old gallow's hill) to watch sunset, and similar for sunrise I think. I'll take my lantern with candle (an old tin cleaned out with holes hammered in to it with a nail to make patterns) on the walks and gather new things for my table.
That sounds quite nice actually.
RIght, to make some peppermint tea and prepare for a trip!

Love the photo of the laundry and the idea of laundry magic. There is something wonderful about laundry blowing in the wind and bleachin gin the sun.

Rivier so sorry to hear about your day your lantern walk sounds perfect though, enjoy

Happy Solstice sisters. I’ve had a peaceful afternoon with my feet in the sand and the sound of gulls in my ears. And we are being treated to a beautiful sunset this evening.

I’ve loved catching up with our thread this evening,

So many beautiful pictures, wonderful accounts of celebrations and ways to mark the solstice- the energy is divine 🌞💫

Thank you 🙏 love to all x

Happy solstice all! I can feel the energy today, especially from within our sisterhood.

Someone upthread mentioned Tolkien. Now this is potentially very putting, but, I used to work at Sarehole Mill which is the water mill from Tolkien's stories. It is without a doubt one of the best jobs I ever had, it was such an oasis in a bustling city. I still like to go back and enjoy the calm. I urge you all to visit!

Beautiful energy today 😊 I've really felt a shift. The last week or so, I've felt sluggish and like everything's hard work, today I feel so much lighter and more free.

So nice to read about everyone's solstice celebrations. Queenrollo I was just thinking about you yesterday and wondering how you are. Lovely to see you and what a beautiful sunrise 😊

River I hope you enjoy your lantern walk and it lifts your spirits. Sending love 💕

New moon welcome 🙏

I've has a fabulous evening. I went to a solstice celebration out in the countryside, where we did yoga, a fire ceremony and a gong bath outside, watching the sunset. Think the poor man walking his dog may have been slightly freaked out to stumble across us 😂

Good morning.
I have just read through all the posts from yesterday- what a spectacular day so much energy and joy shared on his thread, simply wonderful.
The sun is bright and the sky is blue, I can hear wood pigeons talking as I sip my coffee.
I have been musing about how a pagan path brings such acceptance of ourselves. When we embrace our own spirit and body and path we crack open a golden egg.
Some spiritual paths urge us to see ourselves as imperfect, or sinful, not quite whole or wholesome, and spend a lifetime trying taking the blame and making amends for being simply human.
If we open our hearts to love- to ourselves and others then joy will follow.

I have to go rummaging in the lost today for summer clothes, I know I will get very distracted, my DDs old rocking horse ( Robin) is up there, lots of old baby clothes, toddler artwork, photographs and heaps of interesting curiosities. I may be some time!

Off to drop DD at the railway station for work, the OH and I will have breakfast at a local cafe,off to buy a little table I saw in a furniture recycling store- I saw it yesterday, would make a perfect alter- hopefully it is still there.

Have a magical day sisters.

in the lost ha ha typo- the loft, but actually "in the lost" describes it perfectly!!

Sounds lovely Meadow!

Glad you are feeling better Violet

When we embrace our own spirit and body and path we crack open a golden egg.

If we open our hearts to love- to ourselves and others then joy will follow

Speakout this really resonates with me as I have been doing a lot of thinking lately and having put on weight and not been able to concentrate properly on my work with the pain would normally put me in a real downward spiral. However I have been able to embrace the world around me and realise where I am in it and am a much happier person for it.

Wishing you all a lovely day 💫

Loyaultemelie

*. However I have been able to embrace the world around me and realise where I am in it and am a much happier person for it.
*

I love that. And you make the world a better place for others by being alive.X

Interesting front page of my local newspaper today

www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/people/mystery-as-pagan-altar-and-symbol-unearthed-in-edinburgh-s-holyrood-park-1-4952500

Good afternoon sisters,

More seasonal weather here today too. Second lot of washing will be dry soon and I’m soaking up some solar energy too!

That is interesting speakout! I’m glad they’ve included comment from a pagan spokesperson but still the scary/satanic suggestion pops up!

Really interesting thoughts about self acceptance and how spiritual paths encourage/discourage this with notions of imperfection and ‘sin’ .

I agree a pagan path feels much more nourishing and conducive to growth in this way.

speakout and Loyaul your discussion made me think of this Carl Rogers quote. It’s been true IME in contrast to the religion of my younger years in which I would never have escaped the role of ‘sinner’.

Within such a rigid power dynamic the best I could have hoped for would be to be ‘granted forgiveness’ (for being human?!) and to strive to ‘do good’ to redeem myself. Again, the notion of doing good is dubious to me- it’s aims within the context of patriarchal religion..

Excellent growing conditions for guilt, shame, power and control IME- an antithesis of self acceptance and growth.

I love the path we tread together and in parallel as pagans/witches/spiritual and magical women. An absence of hierarchy encourages open discussion and leads to growth, supporting each other allows us to see ourselves as the already divine beings we are.

Connecting with nature, the seasons and ourselves in this context is also very empowering I think. For me, it allows recognition of being part of something bigger than myself- the beautiful order and chaos that is life. I don’t need to ‘be better’ to take part but I am better for doing so!

Longwinded way of saying I agree- imperfection isn’t a notion I buy into these days and that’s both an empowering and peaceful place to be.

SolsticeBabyMaybe I love your tree planting plan and am excited for you about the arrival of your midsummer DD. Sending good wishes for as smooth a birth as possible 💖

I love the path we tread together and in parallel as pagans/witches/spiritual and magical women. An absence of hierarchy encourages open discussion and leads to growth, supporting each other allows us to see ourselves as the already divine beings we are.

Beautifully explained.

My thoughts came from a conversation I had with a family member this week who was reminding me that not one of us is perfect, that we are all faulty.
I said no- I am actually perfect at being a homo sapien.
Would you look at a herd of elephants ( I know I have spoken to you before about this YashmisCrone) and say look at those elephants- none of them perfect- of course not, they are all perfect at being elephants.
Same with humans, we may have different personalities and may not always make the best choices, but we are all perfect.

It irks me to view ourselves as broken or sinful and shun any group or organisation that encourages me to do so.

I love your elephant analogy speakout. It has a beautiful clarity in showing the ridiculous nature of the notion of imperfection/sin in humans.

not one of us is perfect, that we are all faulty This is so common in patriarchal religion isn’t it? To me it’s like the narrative of an abusive relationship- ‘there’s something inherently wrong with you’ (pretty much impossible to feel confident and safe in your decisions and actions with that underlying belief) ‘your only hope is to do what I say’ ‘I’m the only one who can save you’ and so on.

We all know that abusive relationships are maintained through the coercion of power and control.
Genuine self belief and happiness would have a very hard job to flourish in this kind of dynamic..

It irks me too! I’ve seen (experienced) the extent of the damage this can do- I find it very hard to accept so I don’t/won’t.

Likewise, as we’ve discussed before anyone who sets themselves up as the ‘knowledge keeper’ above others or the one who holds the key to enlightenment or whatever it is irks me for similar reasons. Like you said before speakout and as we’ve experienced here ‘a flat organic structure is most conducive to growth’ (apologies if I’ve miss quoted you- I’m doing so from memory!)

These experiences and beliefs lead to me appreciating all the more what we have here in our wonderful community.

The vibrant energy shared, wonderful support and knowledge sharing make for an empowering place for growth. I’m very grateful to be part of that 🙏

Speakout Oooh, interesting about the 'buried pagan symbol' found in 2018. I see the standard of journalism is on a par with several other newspapers that don't mind if their readers use an adblocker.

Loved the comment in the newspaper which gave this link to the resin plaque.
www.amazon.com/Ebros-Elemental-Knotwork-Pentacle-Protection/dp/B00U6QCZ1U?fbclid=IwAR0r1suU2YmuVsDJ7WYsbw3YRIbtwDMAodTtiFCtAsdGplxANMIGYHMMAmM&tag=mumsnetforu03-21
I suppose 'Buried resin object bought from Amazon' doesn't quite have the same ring to it for a clickbait headline.

I think every home should have its own "The Lost" and proudly reclaim its name!

I love the path we tread together and in parallel I do too, I sometimes think of our threads as being like a piece of fabric, a tapestry where each one of us adds their own colour of the day, their colour of being and their colour of heart. As the whole thing grows we form strands that weave in and out, connecting and separating, we can not only see our own colours and every individual's colours, we can also see what a wonderful overall living moving pattern we create together every day

sometimes think of our threads as being like a piece of fabric, a tapestry where each one of us adds their own colour of the day, their colour of being and their colour of heart. As the whole thing grows we form strands that weave in and out, connecting and separating, we can not only see our own colours and every individual's colours, we can also see what a wonderful overall living moving pattern we create together every day

That is so beautiful BlankTimes 💖
Completely resonates for me. This last year I’ve been so nourished and supported by all you wonderful women and have grown so much. I do feel like I now have a more collective pool of energy and experience that I tap into. I can make my own thread as magic and shiny as I’m able but it comes into a new level of beauty in the context of the rich tapestry we weave together because it becomes part of the picture 💫

Nice find BlankTimes! I also noticed they failed to mention that the pentagram is also a Christian symbol. Maybe the journalist needs a visit to York Minster!

Great detective work!

I wonder if it was placed deliberately to hoax or if it is actually been used- Edinburgh has a thriving pagan community.

I'm smiling as I'm catching up on today's posts as so many of your observations are exactly what I've been thinking myself this morning 😊
We are so blessed to tread this path. When you are at one with nature and in tune with the seasons and the magic you do the universe, you don't need any of the material trappings so many people get all het up over. Everything is so much simpler somehow isn't it? Obviously we all have our challenges and our ups and downs, but as someone said earlier, that inner knowledge that we're part of something much bigger makes everything so much more manageable.

My yoga teacher read us this quote yesterday -
Ego says "When everything falls into place, I'll feel at peace."
Spirit says "Find you peace, and then everything will fall into place."

This really resonated with me, so thought I'd share it ❤️🙏

Oddly I was listening to an old album I have yesterday whilst taking the dog for a sniff ( walk would be stretching it - we manage about 2 miles an hour!)

These lyrics stayed with me:

"I'm forced to admit I'm far from a perfect man
And I guess I confess I'm a sinner as they'd say
But the Pagan life's not about single-dose redemption
It's a reaffirmation every day"

Violet I read that quote earlier today too! Lovely synchronicity as always. I love your reflections on treading this path 💖

Elphame thank you for those lyrics

But the Pagan life's not about single-dose redemption
It's a reaffirmation every day

that makes so much sense to me.

I have a ‘technical’ (?) question if anyone could help? I’ve had a lot of help here and have worked on getting my own energy field into both ‘protection’ (really like Elphame’s ideas on invisibility for when I’m in need of peace!) and ‘attraction’ modes. I’m fairly confident with this but have noticed that these are the two modes I seem to have- like an all or nothing. I think what I need is a filter.. I don’t want to block everything out or attract everything either! Not sure if that makes sense but wondered if anyone has had any success with filters in this way?!

Such amazing wisdom on this thread. I’ve often thought about how religious dogma mirrors abusive personal relationships in the sense that people are taught not to question ‘authority’ and told that they must be the ones to change. One of the rewards for me, of this path, is the opportunity for personal growth and development alongside the chance to be myself as I am.

BlankTimes the tapestry is such a lovely analogy. Are you a knitter or sewer by any chance? I enjoyed reading the knot magic / knitting posts on earlier threads, and as a knitter I often weave in spells and charms into my works in progress. Which reminds me to get my yarn out, I haven’t done any for ages.

Yesterday was glorious, I am attaching here a couple of photos of some garden blooms during the twilight. There was quite a fae energy in my little garden somehow, I don’t work with the fae, or haven’t yet, but there was ‘something’ about the light last night.

Violet I’ve written the quote about ego vs spirit in my journal, it was so timely, thank you.

Yes - you can adjust your shielding. Exactly how will depend on how you are doing it though. The easiest one to play with is if you surround yourself with a thick fog. You can then make that as dense or as permeable as you like. Stone walls can be replaced with brick or even wood.

A friend of mine uses a layering technique. She has a thin layer of white light and then adds more layers until she has the shielding she wants.