Any Witches Here? Part 21

[speakout]

Just settling into the new place, plumping the cushions and opening the windows. Welcome to n everyone, newcomers, old friends, the curious.
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..

Hi Voilet.. i'm sorry for your loss, i lost my own spaniel earlier this year, so i get how you're feeling.. its taken quite a while for the house energy, and mine, to settle again after he left us, be kind to yourself.

@BlankTimes @speakout thank you both for the welcome! I have RL friends who class themselves as pagan, so we do talk, but i'm coming into my Crone era and wanting some peace and healing, and they're still very much in the younger 'angry with the world' era of their craft... so it can be quite a jarring conversation with them all!

VioletCharlotte, Sending spaniel hugs from a spaniel lover and from my current cocker who is ten, and has recently had a couple of fits. They are such special souls and do indeed leave a huge gaping hole. Have been there ten times, and it never gets easier 💐🐾. Wishing you many happy memories.

Oh VioletCharlotte big hugs and a lit candle here,

I too lost a 13 year old feline friend recently, the loss is so hard to bear.
Frankincense is very good for grief. It dissipates the devastation somehow. Some people like it with orange, but I prefer it solo.
Take Care Sister, we're here for you💗

I am sorry for those who have recently lost animal friends. We become so attached to our furry familiars, their lives are short compared to ours, goodbyes are sad.

I am trying to help my DS with a fraudulent payment from his bank account. Someone has set up a weekly direct debit without his knowledge, for 100s of pounds. These situations are so anxiety provoking. I also need to book my car into the garage today, it has been making some strange clunkety clunk noises. I do hope it isn't a costly repair!
I am having an early start today, I have slept so much this weekend, and fell asleep early last night too. I love getting up early because it means I can move through my day at a slow pace. Does anyone else follow this strange logic?

The woodland around me is slowly becoming tinged with an autumn gold shade, After a warm summer I am ready for autumn. Probably my favourite season of all, I am looking forward to cool weather and cosy evenings. That time feels so magical.

Oh no! That's awful speakout >.< I hope you get that sorted, no-one needs fraud/money stress.

Unfortunately, it isn't Autumn arriving early, the trees are literally shedding leaves because of drought/stress from the heat.. apparently some trees are also suffering 'branch drop' according to environmental sources reporting on the changes.. they'll literally throw a whole branch off because they're trying desperately to stay alive with so little water for them :/.

On that note - Alongside the heatwave, are we seeing an early autumn in the UK? - BBC News

They're saying we may have to give some extra care to the wildlife this coming winter because of the early berry harvests/early tree shutdown.

Kreepture that's so interesting, I was wondering whether this is an early autumn, or if we are not used to such a warm extended summer.
I have considered starting an almanac of all things nature related.
I would be good to record a weekly page of new happenings- the first snowdrops, the first blooming of my lilac, the first overnight frost, the first skein of migrating geese. I coukd then refer back over the years
As if I need another journal! After years of resisting a journal I am quite hooked!
I have a few different journals on the go at the moment. My grimoire of course, I have a healing/shadow work journal, a "First Aid for disregulation" journal, a Joy journal, and the biggest one is my day today. Those definitions are a little loose, so it's ok for my day today meanders into shadow work topics. But I am not fond of rules for such things.
I have bought a few good pens recently, makes the writing so much more enjoyable- writing on paper is a dying art it seems.

I am happy to report that the fraudulent payment issue has been sorted. Two phone calls to the bank fraud department- they looked at the case and within hours called again to let us know they have decided in our favour, and reversed the transaction, refunding the payment,also put in extra security to protect DS account. I am surprised it happened with such ease!

i have more journals than i care to count.. most end up being abandoned.. i have a thought one, a Tarot Reading one, one i track my health/pain levels in.. but i kind of like the idea of recording the gardens 'firsts'.

I did try bullet journaling for a bit, i used to do the whole months lay out all pretty, stickers, moon phase, months quote, season..etc. but it got buried under 'stuff' and then i forgot to do it xD

My inner magpie loves a bit of stationary, i have more pens and notepads than anything, but my adhd needs it right in front of me or i forget it exists.

I've been keeping a nature diary this year and its interesting to read back how the seasons have changed. Just noting what I see and hear on the wildlife front,what is growing and what I'm picking for herbal use. At the moment its all about plums rosehips,hawthorn berries....and wasps.

I keep a nature journal too, it's full of paintings and drawings throughout the year, mostly in the vicinity where I live.
also keep a wheel of the year book of paintings, mostly from the imagination, and folklore about plants and trees.
and a travel sketchbook for when we are away in the campervan.

Followed a link from the thread in chat so hello.

Old traditional witch here squeezing onto a cushion by the fire - nasty cold wind here today!

I'm also a failed journal keeper, it doesn't stop me buying more though. I find it's easier to keep the changes the craft makes inside me rather than attempting to get it down on paper. I do keep a herbal "recipe" book though.

Welcome sister. I look forward to swapping herbal recipes.

Hello lovely sisters. Hugs and thoughts to you @VioletCharlotte on your loss.

I also love stationary and coming back to studying has been good motivation to have lovely notebooks. I'm currently doing a Sadhana yoga journal for my upcoming teacher training (quite excited) so I want to evaluate my usual journal. The Unexpected Gypsy on YouTube has some lovely art journalling ideas.

I enjoy weight training too @speakout there's a lot of evidence it helps future proof your body. Our yoga studio has started doing calisthenics over the summer, which is hard work but fun. I'm really trying to get my fitness back now my hip tendonitis is feeling better. I'm back to vinyasa too. I've booked into the Feelgood Hub this Saturday, which has a drumming circle and hypnotherapy sessions.

Interesting about the trees @Kreepture we were just noticing it the last few days. A lot of the trees shedding leaves are horse chestnuts and I know they suffer from a fungus, but quite a few others are too..

Evening all! Good to read of nature journals and observations of the turning year. I used to keep a nature journal many moons ago as a teenager. Growing up in the countryside, nature felt closer than it sometimes does in the city where I now live. We are lucky to have a park nearby and to have a garden. Our apples have done very well this year (as have apples generally, by the looks of things). Having very recently got actively involved with the garden, growing things and just slowing down to notice the changes around me, I’ve been consoled.

A warm welcome TheWytch.
So interesting to hear about everyone's journals and nature diaries.
I started journalling just in the past year or two- I was going through some intense emotional healing at the time, and writing things down helped me make sense of the process.
I would notice that after even a very short entry on a page my mind would become very calm, writing for 15 minutes would leave me feeling very peaceful, almost as if I had done meditation.
I had resisted journaling in the past- it looked far too much like homework! It came as a surprise how much a journaling session left me centered and grounded. And it didn't seem to matter how comprehensive the words were,just a few snippits, random phrases that only made sense to me would induce this calm.
The scientist in me loves to look for meaning and pattern, it feels that there is something happens when we pass our feelings through our thinking brain, down our arm into the pen and out to the paper. Almost like the physical act is somehow giving us messages of ease, familiarity. I don't feel the same calm when writing on a keyboard, or if I write a shopping list- I have no idea how it all works. But it does- for me at least.

My car is in the garage at the moment, I hope to pick it today. Car repair bills are always so much more expensive than we hope, and this is no exception. Then a trip with Mr Speakout to my Body Balance class and a little shopping. I would like to swing by hobbycraft to have a look at beads and gems, and pick up some DAS clay. I am making a goblin door for my daughter's best friends birthday, and my rock painting project has developed a life of its own, lots of spirals, abstract work, and a series of portal tokens to allow passage into magical sovereign lands. I love the fact that none of it really makes sense, but feels important. A reminder that we don't need to have everything in life figured out to be at ease.

That’s a lovely message to go into the long weekend, @speakout - that we don’t have to have everything figured out to be at ease. I’m not good at not knowing why - my brain doesn’t like unanswered questions but, of course, life is full of them!

Craftycorvid I think it is very human to seek certainties, we need things to hold to feel safe and reassured. But life is messy and there is so much that we don't know. As humanity comes to understand more about our world and universe the process opens up yet more questions. We have moved from ancient geometry to Newtonian physics, relativity and quantum mechanics, each one refining and often contradicting our understanding.
My family is very religious, and I have had several conversations about the beginnings of the universe, life,and how things came to be.My family "know" with 100% accuracy that god is creator, and find it hard that I as an atheist am happy with not knowing. I am curious of course and there are theories about the big bang, how abiogenesis works, and although plausible may not have accurate pictures,
Life becomes quite freeing when we can sit happily with not knowing. We can find safety and comfort without having it all figured out.
Even when it comes to life challenges- we don't know how the chips will fall, we don't always know how things will be resolved, but that's OK. We only have this moment.

A few light rain showers today were welcome, the air feels so much fresher. I have been absorbed this afternoon by making my fairy door. The Works sell wooden ones for £2, and good quality for that price, metal hinges and a clasp in gold. Far from finished, bbut already decided to keep this one for myself. I have been making creepers and vines with the clay to frame the door, also made a batch of tiny toadstools, and a couple of snakes- this won't be a traditional fairy door with pink and sparkles, but a dark, maybe gothic vibe. So much fun!!! I hope everyone finds what they need over this weekend- however that looks to you.

I've been conversing with nature a lot this week: a red kite on the ground this morning in the field where I was walking the dogs, green woodpeckers aplenty too. I've picked kilos of wild plums and blackberries, made name from them and elderberry syrup. Next I am trying rosehip too.

Black new moon tonight I am hoping to get a glimpse though the cloud and sit with a glass of something and make some plans for the upcoming season.

The new moon seems particularly pertinent with new starts today, as I've started to get interest for my TEFL tutoring and have several trial sessions with students this week. I've gone from being scared of returning to work to quite excited.

One of our local yoga studios (a beautiful old Medieval building) does a Feelgood Hub with different workshops. I had a drumming circle today, which was really exhilarating - a bit like being a child again. We had to manifest a word as we were releasing something no longer serving us. I also had a group hypnotherapy workshop and met up with the therapist who I first met in January when she'd done a session on goal making. It was good to tell her how helpful it had been.

I also started journalling a couple of years ago when everything was difficult, I've kept it up for several years, now.

I'm loving the Merlin app - one of my friends has just started working for the RSPB and said she often sees more birds in her city garden than at the Nature Reserve.

Good morning sisters. Another warm day as this glorious summer slides into autumn. The hedges are just bursting with fruit at the moment round here. First batches of rosehip and blackberry syrup are done, and apple scrap vinegar beginning to bubble. I also have several oils infusing quietly. Bless the Goddess for her bounty.

@Hedjwitch the bounty of Mother Earth is truly wondrous. I have some blackberries in the freezer picked I picked last week. This is one of my favourite times of year, I love the feeling of change and how precious the last days of summer are. As a child it heralded the beginning of the excitement of bonfire night, Halloween, family birthdays and Christmas.

I must admit I will miss summer and the long hours in the garden or outside. I'm as brown as a nut! Autumn itself is lovely but I find winter a bit of a slog tbh.
Ah well, the Wheel must turn and it will be Solstice before we know it.

i must admit i'm struggling to find joy in the bounty at the moment, knowing its not the norm, and that the birds and smaller animals that rely on it in later months will struggle because the fruiting season will finish early.

Making plans to make sure i have more feeding stations and tables about.. while trying to make sure they're safe from my neighbours cats who are now brave enough to venture into our gardens since our dog passe away at easter.

Likewise. My sloes are beyond ripe and are in the freezer pretending to be frosted. I've never picked them so early.

I will be putting out seeds and nuts this year.

I rescued my lovely pottery goddess birdbath from under the wall this week. Idiot neighbour had knocked the dry stone wall between us onto it. How it wasn't smashed I don't know. We have bird baths front and back and they have both been well used this summer.

We have 2 bird baths for the birds, and a shallow solar fountain for our pleasure, we love the water sound. I let you imagine which the pigeons prefer to bathe in....