Water Prompt

Between my neighborhood and the next, there is a creek. As children, we would go down there to play. Sometimes we would cut through yards, sometimes we didn't have to. The area right at the bottom of our street was the best. There was a pebbly beach and a great tree growing just to the right of it. The water was slowly eating away at the underside of this tree that created an overhang. Sometimes, we would jump from this height onto the pebbly beach on the other side of the creek. Just near that was a rounded knoll. We dug a fire pit into the earth there; thankfully, it never got out of hand.

If we followed the creek east, against its flow, we would eventually come to a deep pool at the base of a huge metal and spider-infested tunnel under the highway. The creek on the other side of this tunnel felt cleaner, the shores more grassy and soft. We explored very little of this side. Following downstream to the west took us past some bees making their home in the clay. We would sometimes take the clay and make things out of it. I once made a crude bowl that was promptly destroyed by summer rain.

In the winter, the creek would freeze over and we could walk on the ice. Some parts were not very thick, and some could support us doing our best to break it. One time, one of us misjudged the ice and fell right through it. Thankfully, the creek was not very big and we were never far from either shore.

One spring, we followed the creek further west than we ever had before. The distance wasn't that far, but to a child, it was miles away. Our beloved play ground, our narrow, safe creek suddenly opened up into a vast lake. There were bigger minnows, taller hills, several beaver dams, and on occasion, a Great Blue Heron. Us kids dubbed this lake JABSSE, using the first initial of all of us who braved the distance and found it.

I sometimes miss those waters: filled with more pollutants than a child really cares about. I miss the serenity on the knoll by the fire pit where I first learned to meditate. I miss the excitement of finding new rocks on the pebbly beaches and seeing a Heron, spooked by my presence, taking flight. Where I could get away with walking as a child would be considered trespassing now. How very unfortunate.

I Nearly Forgot

But, I didn't forget! Really, it's not very exciting. I balanced my check book, paid some bills, and bought a doll I've been eyeing.

I don't have a picture yet, but I finished the first undine (water elemental), and she's really awesome. I'm working on another gnome right now, that I might finish tomorrow.

I also bought some supplies to make another set of prayer beads. Remember the little ones I made some time ago? I learned some tricks this past weekend, and I'm finding that the hemp cord I previously used isn't quite holding up. Two of the three I made have already broken in some way. So, I'll try again with my new knowledge. I also bought some books to help me out with history and all. Fun!

I wish I had time to just sit home and craft!

Of All I Could Say

I wish peace, hope, comfort, and relief to all the people of Myanmar as their tragedy continues to build.

Ritual Festival

This weekend's Beltane gathering was wonderful. I've worked a number of festivals: some were completely entertainment (like a Renaissance festival), some were glorified craft fairs, but I had never previously been to a gathering like this, where the purpose was ritual, celebration, learning, and fellowship.

We had positively perfect weather, even though the forecast was for rain on Saturday night. The temperature was perfect, and it didn't rain at all. The park we were in had several campsites, each with a number of clusters of cabins and a dining hall, bonfire pit, and infirmary. We had one such site that had four cabin clusters. I stayed with three staff members (one is a current co-worker and another a former co-worker of mine) in the infirmary. We ended up being perfectly situated in the middle of most things and closest to the dining hall where they did most of their work. It was also great because we had our own bathroom!

This is the altar for the opening ritual on Saturday morning. We cast our sacred circle to encompass the entirety of the campsite, and made it permeable so friends could enter and exit at will. Directly after, we crowned the king and queen of the May. Saturday also included the maypole dance.

I don't have any pictures of the actual dance because I was a part of it. I think one of my roomies may have a few. We got turned around once or twice, but otherwise it was one of the best coordinated maypole dances I've seen. It wasn't perfect (I've actually never seen one executed perfectly, though in theory, it's quite a sight) but we weren't there to be perfect anyway. After the maypole had been wrapped, it was left standing all weekend so people could come and get fertility blessings from the maypole. A fertility blessing applies to anything that involves creation; it could have been for a craft, starting something new, or a new life.

After the maypole dance, we held our main ritual. This involved the joining of soil from the sacred spaces of the people gathered. I provided soil from where a maple tree that was sacred to me once stood. We then mixed it together, and each participant took a cup of it and a single sunflower seed.

My workshop was after dinner. I had about eight people and a poor bird that was trapped in the building. I forgot to check if it had gotten out; I hope it did. I had written an extensive lesson that I managed to leave at home, but I did have my outline. I think I was able to talk about almost everything I wanted to talk about. I do intend to write up this lesson, and it will eventually find its way to the Arcanum (it's something I've been needing to do anyway!). I think my little class went well, and I hope those who attended agreed.

Saturday night ended with a bonfire and drum circle. A few of us without drums, including myself, spent much of that time dancing around the fire. No wonder my legs are so tired today! In the infirmary, we got to bed around 0130, which wasn't so bad considering we had to get up early to start breakfast.

My only workshop on Sunday was a mala crafting class. Mala, meaning "garter," are prayer beads. I've made a few small sets in the past of my own design and method, so I was excited to take this workshop and hopefully learn something new. I was not disappointed. In fact, it was quite wonderful, and I hope to make some more sets with my new knowledge.

The one hour time slot this workshop was allotted proved to be too little. We ended up taking almost two hours. That's really because knotting between each bead takes time when you are a beginner, but we all wanted to do it. That's some of the skill that I was really hoping to pick up with the class. I've been wearing and getting to know my mala all day today. For me, it's a comfort to have them around. The very first strand I made broke. The second one recently lost a bead. I have another (I made three that first time) that I haven't used yet, that's how recently the second one lost a bead. The mala I made yesterday is twice as long as my first sets; they're traditionally one hundred and eight beads, but can be made any length that is a multiple of nine (you will usually find fifty-four, which is what I made yesterday, or twenty-seven, which is what I had previously made).

We concluded our weekend with another ritual where we opened the circle we had cast on Saturday. It was a truly fabulous weekend.

I took off of work today so I could finish cleaning up my gear and conclude my part of the ritual. The seed needed to be planted, and I took a portion of our ritual offering (instead of cakes and ale, we had berries and tea) to offer in my own sacred space. I chose the base of the massive oak tree in my back yard to leave the offering. I planted the sunflower in a place that will get sun. I hope it grows.

The theme of this festival was "plant a seed of unity," meant to draw groups, small covens, and solitaries into a larger group: not a coven, but a community. By mixing soil and planting actual seeds, we can take the energy of the gathering and bring it to points all over the region. I've been solitary for a while, but I've also been in covens before. It's refreshing to be reminded that, even though I practice my spirituality alone, I never really am.

I would like to take this blog moment to thank Shadow Grove, the Northern Virginia Pagan Network, and MoonFire for putting on this really wonderful Beltane celebration.

Covered in Ticks

I spent the weekend with some friends at Prince William Forest Park. There were cabins and a bonfire pit and trails through the woods.


Each day was filled with quite a bit of hiking; it was a rather large area and we hardly saw any of it. There was a little creek that probably looks very neat after a good rain.

We also found a river (and I was told there was a lake, but we didn't actually find it). Somewhere, there was a waterfall. We could hear it from the fork in the river, but there was no crossing on either side for us to try to get to it.

The weather was just perfect all weekend. They had been calling for some rain on Saturday night, but there was none. It was beautiful.

I found a total of four ticks on me, and I'm still a little bug paranoid. I admit, I'm always bug paranoid. My friends kept laughing at me because I would scream in terror whenever a bug touched me. I was ok if they were just around, or even on my clothes but, if they're on my skin, I have a problem with them. Only one tick made it to my flesh, and none of them had bitten. Though, I'm still checking for ticks. If I missed any, they should be rather obvious in the next day or two. They said I reminded them of that bit from Goonies, "I like the dark, I love the dark. But I hate nature. I HATE nature!" I like nature! Just not the bugs, specifically the bugs that touch me!

My legs are really tired today!

I'm Home

It was great, but I'm way too tired to talk about it now. Maybe tomorrow!

Gone

I'll be camping this weekend. I got everything together that I need (I hope!). I'll tell you all about it later!

Nothing to Say Today Either

Work was bad. I should be packing for a camping trip this weekend.

Happy Beltane!

I hope everyone had a wonderful sabbat (and happy Samhain to my Southern Hemisphere friends!). I must admit that I thoroughly did not. I received a call from my grandmother at 0200, who was in a panic and bleeding. The family mobilized, summoned an ambulance, and took her to the hospital where we waited. After about four hours, my father and I were sent home to rest with the plan of coming back later so my mother and uncle could then get some rest. The source of the problem, we all believed, was an estrogen supplement that must be administered vaginally. Why a nearly ninety year old woman needs estrogen, and why her doctor would prescribe that kind, is beyond me. She was sent home and is mostly better, though the only good the hospital really did was to give her a much-needed IV and tell her to see the prescribing doctor as soon as possible. Needless to say, spending mornings in the ER waiting room is not the most spiritually conducive environment.

All is not lost! Beltane is one of the most widely celebrated of sabbats, second to Samhain. It is the other day when the veil between the world of the living and the world of the dead is most thin, and therefore a great time for communing with the faeries and for divination. As seems to be traditional in this day and age, since the holiday fell on a weekday, many people plan to do their major celebrating on the weekend. This plan ends up working out quite well for me, since a May Day ritual just wasn't going to happen on my own.

I will be attending a festival called Fertile Ground that is put on by a fairly local pagan fellowship. There are a few things they're doing that I don't exactly agree with (like encouraging the wearing of Renaissance festival-type clothing. I understand why they are doing this, and it's not required, but I don't prefer it. I shall have to go into detail about this at another time) but I know it will prove to be a fabulous weekend. There will be an opening ritual, a main ritual and maypole, and a nighttime drum circle on Saturday, a closing ritual on Sunday, and a decent amount of workshops, activities, and entertainment. I will be presenting an introduction to tarot workshop that I am rather excited about. My only regret here is that they gave me a time slot opposite another workshop I wanted to take.

In anticipation of my weekend, and because my Beltane day was so stressful, I did take a small bit of time to gather some of the things I will need. I have a set of Morris dancing bells that I often use in ritual. Unfortunately my first set of bells has gone missing (probably somewhere in my packing frenzy) and I needed to make some new ones. I stopped by the craft store and bought a pack of bells and some leather cord. Using scraps of leather that I had on hand, I strung my bells onto a strip of leather as a wide bracelet or anklet. I tied six silver bells (six has numerological significance to me) to a strip of grey leather with cords in spring colors of teal and rose. I was able to finish one last night, and I'll complete the other this evening. I actually like them better than my original bells, as they were made with a kit I purchased in a craft store and these are entirely my design.

I won't actually be performing a Morris dance; these bells are mostly for ritual use. It is said that we ring bells to keep the faeries away, as the fae are quite mischievous and we don't want them causing trouble as they wander about. Beltane is known as one of the major fertility festivals, but it is also one where the country dwellers would take time away from planting their fields simply to celebrate life and acts that create it. Whether you celebrated last night or are waiting for some more free time with the weekend, I hope you had a wondrous one.

I Don't Want to Talk About Today

It started at 0200 with a call from my grandmother that I never want to get again. Everything is as fine as it can be right now, but it did not make for a fun day.

How about some pictures instead? This first one is a fuzzy shot of the bear that Miss Luna cuddled up to and the second bear I made out of a sparkly mohair. Both of these were slightly altered patterns from one of my books. Each bear took about three hours to complete.



Next, we have a magpie. It's a kind of bird, if you don't know. It's not a penguin. I put of the really fuzzy side image so you can see this little bird has a bird-like tail that a penguin does not have. This was also from one of my books; while I know I followed the pattern right, my bird looks thoroughly unlike the one in the book. I like my magpie better. He was done in about two hours.

This kokeshi-style doll is one of my favorites. She took a lot of time, maybe five or six hours. She's also quite large compared to some of the other things I've done. This was from a pattern that I bought from a seller on Etsy. I added the bow in the back myself. It just didn't look right to have a Japanese style of doll without a properly tied obi. Part of what I was hoping to learn from this pattern was some hair tricks, which leads to...

...as promised, Happy Doctor Gnome (and today ended up being a good day to think well of doctors). She took me somewhere in the three to four hour ballpark to complete. Her little doctoress's cape is fastened with a wooden bead as a button and is removable. Hair tricks from the kokeshi doll easily translated to what I was trying to get with Happy Doctor Gnome. Unlike my first gnome, her head and body were made as one piece, so she should be a bit more sturdy (not that the first gnome was floppy or unstable, I just worry that I don't sew tight enough). I am extremely pleased with her.

And here is the latest five all neatly in a row. You can see the kokeshi doll is decently bigger than Happy Doctor Gnome. I used a smaller hook for that too! I'm currently working on another project from the same pattern designer who made the kokeshi doll pattern, and I have a ton of yarn waiting for me to get a move on undines and dragons and sylphs, too.

I had mentioned to some coworkers that all the crocheting I've been doing has been very hard on my hands. Particularly because the size of the hook is written right where it is most natural to grip them, causing quite a bit of rubbing that is compounded by all the tension I put on my yarn. I splurged today and bought a "soft touch" hook. The handle is made of soft plastic and it is a lot easier on my hands than the aluminum ones I've been using. I'm afraid wood or plastic will break under the strain of the yarn. Yes, I work with it that tight. I'll need to get a few more sizes with this new kind of hook. I don't have any pictures of them, but I also made some pretty stitch counters. Maybe next time.

It's been a long, annoying day on many levels. I hope everyone has a better tomorrow than what my today was. Sweet, soft yarn dreams!