Any Witches here? Part 13

[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.

*quiet is the missing word there!

LunaHeather
Funny, I thought sea fret was in more use than haar (says the woman who hasn't seen the sea for years)

Depends where you live I guess- the UK is rich in regional vocabulary and dialects. "Haar" is very commonly used here, but in other areas the "sea fret" will be the term of choice- although I am guessing the distances are not huge!

I love both these words, despite living nearish the sea for almost eight years now I have never heard either until today.

I'm quieter than usual as I'm approaching a big grief anniversary and keep crying with no particular trigger - I find it hard to be my usual sunny self when I'm feeling so raw and sad. It's never less raw but it's easier to live with when it's not so close to the actual day :(

But in happier news I went to my studio today for the first time in several weeks and spent a happy afternoon working and creating and making and I feel much happier for it!

hilariousnamehere sorry to hear you are dealing with loss.
It seems to have been a recurring theme on this thread of late, I hope for those strugging this feels like a place to share and feel supported and understood.
I feel better whan I have a creative outlet too, it is so soul soothing.
Being in the flow is like a meditative state, the hands of the clock just run so fast when I am deeply focussed and allowing my deep self to steer the direction.
Creative outlet can come in so many forms- that's the great thing. Whether it is artistic or craft based, expressive- music, dance or song,
it is there when we garden, cook, write, journal, knit, work with fabric, set a seasonal table, decorate a room, build a bird table, even trying a new hairstyle.
We don't need to be an accomplished artist or musician to unleash that creative force, that energy that is life affirming and can still the uneasy mind.
I intend to spend the day lassoing Friday energy, the five o clock Crackerjack zeitgeist and adding it to my sand bath. Even though I will be working this weekend, I still enjoy dusting my feathers with it!

My local Lidl has good sized salt lamps ay £9.99 is anyone is needing one.
I can't have one as I have cats, but they look lovely.

Thank you @Aerwyna and @speakout. Yes, cooking dinner is a good opportunity to shut myself away for a while. During lockdown I also grab half an hour in bed with a brew whilst the kids stare at screens, as they're big enough now to be allowed downstairs without an adult.

@hilariousnamehere I'm sorry you're dealing with grief and loss, be kind to yourself. I agree a creative outlet is helpful, and can be meditative.

We'll begin our day's home schooling shortly. (This teacher is awfully lax!) I'll get the kids to read to me, and then we'll do some drawing. After lunch we'll do a bit of maths and then call it a day. I'm determined not to repeat the utter misery we had last time round, trying to shoe-horn as much as possible into each day.

I can't have one as I have cats, but they look lovely

I've never heard of that, now wondering how are salt lamps detrimental to cats? No probs, have googled. It looks as though it's one warning that's been taken up and circulated online from 2019.

I've got loads of salt lamps all over the house, one is over 20 years old, there are electric ones and t-light holders and several pet cats have passed through here in all that time, as well as quite a few hand-reared feral kits too, but I've never seen one of them take any interest. None of my cats have ever licked one or shown any inclination to, whether they are lit or not. I have some on the hearth and kitchen windowsills and surfaces. Current dark duo are 8 and 9 years old.

Large lumps of Himalayan salt as 'salt licks' are also prevalent in stables and fields for horses and cows, way before salt lamps were even heard of. Most farms have feral cats and usually domestic ones too. I'm surprised this hasn't been publicised widely as a source of feline toxicity years ago.

By all means be careful and if you're concerned, put a salt-lamp out of a cat's reach, but please don't treat them as though they are something that's definitely going to poison or kill your cat because in my experience, that's not true.

You could get a glass cylinder tube that's open at both ends to put over a salt lamp t-light, tall enough to keep a cat off it 24/7.

Thank you, this space has already become a wonderful sanctuary, I'm very grateful for the warm gentle welcome and kindred spirits here!

I am probably overly anxious about my cats but that's because I have one sensible one and one absolute troublemaker who will get into every scrape going my salt lamp and my aromatherapy diffuser both now live at my studio instead - but it's good to hear they're not a certain danger.

Troublemaking cat is currently curled up next to me making small happy noises and looking like butter wouldn't melt 😂

THat's reasurring BlankTimes, I always thought it had something to do with salt in the air. But then some cats live at the seaside and survive OK.
Like you hilariousnamehere I have one cat who is an absolute troublemaker. Totally adorable of course, but I have watched him jump ont a shelf and deliberately swipe or push objects onto the floor, just for the hell of it, then moving around looking for the next space he can clear.
I have to keep him in a room at night with nothing that can be knocked over or damaged. It;s like having a toddler that can climb up to high shelves.

Haha speakout he didn't come from an Essex rescue did he?! Sounds like they're brother and sister - she is the sweetest cat in the world but I often rescue her from some kind of mischief and then watch her looking around to see what she can get into next 😂 a lot like a toddler but I wouldn't swap either of them for the world!

hilariousnamehere

No, but he was born in the grounds of a brewery. His mother had always been a stray, and he, his mother and his litter mates were taken to a rescue centre when he was 6 weeks old.
I think his mother taught him tough ways for survival!

This talk of the troublemaking cats is making me smile- easy to smile indulgently from here I know! I love the feline spirit it’s tenacity and it’s curious, mischievous aspects. As I write my neighbour’s two sit nonchalantly staring through my patio doors, as far as they’re concerned my garden is part of their territory.

speakout your post to let us know about the lidl salt lamps made me reflective. I guess they must put them out by at a similar time each year as I remember BlankTimes gave a similar heads up last year. I remember it being around the time when there was panic buying and many essential items weren’t available in supermarkets. Remember us joking that there was no bread but salt lamps were a plenty..

And what a year it’s been since then. So many different challenges and changes for all of us yet we’ve supported each other and kept the magic going throughout. What powerful energy we’ve generated and sustained to achieve this. I’m
feeling very grateful for the connection and like minded solace. The future’s unknown but spring brings new growth, a new chapter awaits us and I know the roots work
we’ve done together here will serve us well as we step into it. I’m proud of our collective energy.

Happy Friday friends, thank you for being there ✨

@hilariousnamehere As @BlankTimes says, salt licks in the form of large lumps of Himalayan salt are used for horses - often they are hung up with a hole bored through them, but they often get left lying at ground level because eventually the horses lick it enough that it falls off! I’ve never known of any cats - and almost every yard/farm I’ve been on has cats in some form - come to harm because of them 🙂

They are the lights of my life but they do cause me some stress @speakout yours sounds epic, I love him already!

@BrightYellowDaffodil ridiculously I have had horses, and they had salt licks, and the yard had stable cats... and also never had the cats come to harm 🙈 unsure why this has only just occurred to me but thank you for the reminder!

I wish I'd found you ladies earlier on in lockdown but very glad I have now. And finding it so odd to think of a year ago and the panic buying and general feel of the apocalypse approaching...

@Aerwyna that is a beautiful image to accompany beautiful words - I feel very similarly :)

Have a wonderful, magical weekend!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend. Just wanted to share this online event, looks really interesting to me and I thought others may think so too

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/britains-traditional-spring-festivals-with-professor-ronald-hutton-tickets-142832703461

Thanks for sharing the link @Aerwyna - Professor Hutton is a really good speaker, I went to the Stenton Lecture on Pagan Survivals and Folk Beliefs that he did a couple of years ago, so I’d recommend him 🙂

Ive got a cat and have had a salt lamp for ages. She never shows the slightest interest in it.

That lecture you went to sounds really interesting Daffodil, I’d love to see him speak live. I love learning about folk traditions and ‘the old ways’, fascinating and I get such a sense of connection with it which I enjoy.

A day of shifting and clearing again here, I’ve been a bit stagnant this last week, everything seemed to drag so it’ll be good to achieve something in this way.

It’s a liminal time for me right now and it’s interesting to notice how change can feel like a whole mixture of things. Trepidation, weariness, hope, excitement all feature in the mix. Seemingly contradictory at times but life’s like that isn’t it, I’ve found it helpful to accept that in any moment I can experience varying emotions even when they seem to be at odds with each other. It helps me move away from the fixed stories of negativity I can sometimes tell myself because there’s usually something more positive I can focus on, even if it’s a small thing, it’s energy to work with.

The sun is shining where I am and the neighbours are out in force in their gardens, preparing for the growth season. I haven’t got round to much in that respect yet but am enjoying the blooming of primroses and daffodils, the first buds of blossom on the cherry tree.

I hope everyone’s day brings whatever magic they need

Hello all

I am trying to sort out some paperwork mess I didn't realise I had made. It's a bit of a downer, tbh. Following your star sign can be quite depressing - this week I've got "dark of the moon creates ups and downs". Hope not.

I just really want to get to the place the stale energy is gone but I struggle to find the energy to do such boring stuff.

It's a very liminal time for me too but I seem to be dragging myself through it.

Hi everyone. Hope everyone has nice weather this weekend, it's clear and bright here just now.

I'm really struggling to make sense of the Tarot cards. I really feel like I need some guidance just now, so I'm trying to learn to read them, but I'm just more confused than ever, and considering shelving the idea. I have been drawing a card each day (when I can get a few minutes alone), and then reading about it in the book I have, and on a couple of websites. Some of them seem to make sense, but others I struggle to apply to my life and situation. And sometimes they seem downright contradictory. The three of swords one day - sorrow, grief, heartache, not a good omen if having relationship issues. Followed by the two of cups the following day - unified love, partnership, attraction. Can anyone with more Tarot experience shed any light on this? Thank you.

Sonni, I'm far from an expert but when my cards do this and I really can't relate it to my own life, I often look around to see if they're trying to bring my attention to someone else in my life - not sure if that helps at all?

Luna erk I hear you on the dull paperwork front!

I'm actually having a proper day off today in advance of grief anniversary tomorrow - being gentle with myself and following my intuition is the best magic I can manage at the moment.

I am also really sorry for my phone's overenthusiastic autocorrect when I type usernames

@hilariousnamehere Yes, that's possible. I'm so new to it, it's hard to know.

Ooh thank you for the Ronald Hutton link, Aerwyna. I will book for that. I went to a Zoom lecture he gave on the Wheel of the Year a few weeks ago and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I hope tomorrow goes as well for you as it can, hilarious. It sounds tough but being gentle with yourself today is such a good idea.

Sonmi, you could try just meditating on the image and see what comes to mind, jotting down any words or phrases or drawing a picture. One of the most powerful techniques I've learned is to dialogue with the figure on the card. (Obviously not all cards include figures.) Or you could sleep with the card under your pillow.

I've been trying to catch up with the thread. The last couple of weeks have been busy and draining and I've neglected it a bit. I have been experimenting with a new app called Lumenate which accesses the torch on your phone to create 'stroboscopic light sequences' which are accompanied by meditative music. This apparently gets your brain into a 'semi-psychedelic' state. I'm not sure about that, but it's a very interesting experience and you can follow the shapes and colours that appear - you keep your eyes closed throughout but the images are kaleidoscopic. I don't think I've explained that very well but it's worth a look if you don't suffer from migraine or epilepsy.