The Ancestors

Ancestor stuff is complicated, especially when one starts taking into account shadow sides, and recognizing them as whole, complex people.

On Death Rituals

We tend not to be an overly sentimental family.  We've waited months to bury cremated relatives, they aren't going anywhere, and we've had other things to attend to. Maybe sentimental isn't the right word.  There is a time and a place for all things, and while Death itself may be inconveniently timed, ritual around it unfolds as it needs to.

In the cases where we've waited, technology has made it possible for us to take care of the life stuff that continues until such time as we could make and hold appropriate space to recognize the passing.  It is more respectful, in some ways, than a rush to get the shell in the ground that sometimes happens.

Sometimes the ritual emphasizes the event of a life lived with a peaceful closure, often this is the case with those who have lived a full, long life.  Often for those who are cut short, while consciously attempting to emphasize the event of the life lived and peaceful closure, the unconscious impact is that of deepening the shock of life lost too soon. There is no way around this, and it can be handled better or worse, the processes will unfold as they do.

As part of this Graveyard Moon, M2 & I went and wandered about a cemetery. In order to get there, I drove past the one where my paternal grandparents are buried.  It was a moment of conflict for me, why?  My initial, impulse thought was, "They are not there."  Wait -- what?  What I gain from going and walking among the stones and the dead is more to re-ground, re-center.  Wandering out there, I can feel the hinkiness of the day-to-day miasma and cluttery energy drain out my heels.  The perspective that we are on this unlikely tiny blue planet for a blip in time and when it's done, only memories are carried by those you impact.

Ancestors

So we carry the memories of those who have impacted us forward. That which is remembered, lives.  I think it will take me some time to figure out how The Ancestors fit into my practice.  They are not where I turn for advice, or divination, or posthumous blessings, and yet it seems appropriate to remember the gifts they provided, through traits, experiences, etc, with gratitude and appreciation, while recognizing and acknowledging their potential shadow sides as well.

'... we therefore commit the body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust...'

Lolwhut

I got a small statue of Athena because she is totally my work bff. In the process of clearing off the shelf she needed to go on because she's a little taller than where I was going to put her, I put stuff on another shelf, looked at it and went, oh, ah, hi, what are You doing here? 

"Just hanging out. 'Sup?"
Not much really, I guess. And by what are you doing here, I mean reason? Thing I need to learn, etc? 
"Nah, not right now. Just, it was comfy, no big deal." 
So, uh, what's your name? 
"Srsly?"
Well, mmmm, it was nice to make your acquaintance again, Dionysus, and I guess, yeah, happy hanging out, lemme know if you need anything and I'm going to go back out into the living room now... Weirdo. 
"Lol."

...

Some days, being a Witch is strange. Like this, my iPad and iPhone have arbitrarily decided that Witch gets capitalized. Two days ago, not the case, now? Apparently it's a thing.

Witching Hour of the Graveyard Moon

And now it's The Witching Hour, my pretties!

Dammit, why is there no cackling Witch riding off into the night on a broom! Or at least a hair pin emoticon like the hilarious Witch Hazel on Bugs Bunny! I love Witch Hazel...

 

A key, it's a gift to us all from Hekate! May it unlock the secrets we need to hear tonight, and may she light our way through the darkness we encounter in the world with her torch! May she and her blessed dead and our blessed dead and her big black dog guard us and protect us. 

Burn, baby, burn, disco inferno! 🔥

Moon in my backyard!

All The Incense!

Happy Full Moon, my witchy friends!

Storms

Tonight is the first big Storm of the season. I love them for being big and furious and windy and rainy, but sometimes that love is in retrospect as in the moment I'm hearing what's landing on my roof and realizing that we are surrounded by trees many many times the height of our house.  It is occasionally of small comfort that the house and trees have lived together for the last 50ish years without incident, but having had a tree miss a house I was living in when I was young, but taking out the deck not five feet away left an impression! Though being me, I slept through the event...

Sipping a glass of whiskey and seltzer on the rocks, thinking it's probably time to do my refresher reading before we meet tomorrow. I have a tendency to read through things and by the time we're supposed to discuss, I've read so many other things in the meantime, I can't remember if the thing that comes to mind to discuss is from the reading our something else any more.

The other night I actually got out my incenses and burned a bunch of it. There's something about sitting and watching the incense smoke drift and curl and flicker in candle light. Easy to trance out on. Sometimes in those moments it becomes clear what is the work that must be done. In addition to some thank you offerings, I took care of some other stuff too. Am thinking what I did might be useful to repeat a few more times as well, though it's more involved than what I usually do.

The rain is coming down so hard it's steamy in here. Perhaps because the heat's on downstairs. And they're calling to me from down there, so perhaps I will take temporary leave from the immediacy of this storm and rejoin it later. Reading can wait, sort of like the henna I was going to do tonight... But mud and no power can be a problem and the lights have been flickering too.

Indra's (Ether)Net

I'm on the internet. I think folks are still figuring out what that means, me included. I have a calling to manage information and support the communities that form around information, and digitized info in particular. Sometimes I really wish I didn't but I'm here and not a physical therapist, I guess! I love the way the internet transcends geography. I just got pinged via the hangout by another distance aspirant who's up early (lol, and I'm up late!) talking about how amazing the moon is tonight and wishing everyone blissful awe. 

The ether, the internet, is new space and it's changing and getting better (and worse) ridiculously quickly as we explore its limits against our own. Perhaps someday there will be a priest/ess of Indra's (Ether) Net, and... Ok, I have Just Been Informed that I must tell you this is totally half baked  in order to actually share. So. This is totally half baked, and I have a lot of research to follow up on and deeply consider before proposing anything of the sort in a for reals sort of way, so totally hypothetically consider pretty much all of this. Also huge whoa, I see Indra's Net also tied to weaving, much like Athena, and not only have she and I been chatting about strategy and wisdom re work and "civilization" but weaving cards were some of the founding technology used in computers and thus she is connected via weaving to computer-related things and the resulting online communities as well. Again before iPad totally glitches out, covering my bases, totally half baked idea and I don't even really know quite what that means yet, but in the moment it is sort of an intense serendipitous connection to have found. 

So... That happened.

Elements of Style

j/k. If you're looking for Strunk and White, this is not that. At all.

The last class was about The Elements.  I love working with the elements.  We got our rain chains hung in time for the first good rainy day of the fall.  I love listening to the rain on the roof -- I miss it all summer.

I have been burning hot at work.  So much going on.  Today is 'development day' -- I will eventually settle into some work focused skills.  Or not as it turns out.

I need to find my ground again, time has been running away with me!

Refocus and direct my air qualities too.

All the directions and all the elements need balance.  Yes.  Yes, they do.

Such a haphazard post today.  As has life been lately...

Things I Can't Put Elsewhere

Recruitment coffee date to a place of employment other than my own presently, via a friend that works there -- she gave them my personal gmail rather than my professionalname@gmail account.  Very weird to be getting and managing a potential recruitment via the personal account!

Will be interesting to talk with them. I fit in a position that's half of one they have open, and half of a different one they have open.  My skills are super solid in the areas where I fit, but they'd still need folks to cover the other areas.  We'll see.  It's just coffee to gather more info about what exactly it is they're looking for to start with...