Taken from the top of the Mount Davis Observation Tower, the highest point in Pennsylvania. Pretty :)
So I’m going to start some plants. Herbs. I figure it would be nice to harvest my own for my practices (and kitchen). Also I want to try making my own sage smudge sticks. I just hope it’s not too late to grow them :(
And no, the plant above isn’t one I’ll be growing. I don’t know what kind of plant it is, so I wouldn’t know what its uses are. It’s probably toxic or something lol. Does anybody know what this might be? Gold star to anyone who knows!
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A bit of a personal update, meet my kinda newish boyfriend as of today lol.
I seen this stuff months ago and was like no way, who would drink that!? That’s disgusting!
Well I ran into it again the other day and read the bottle a bit and decided it was worth a try. Gotta say, I love the stuff. Taste’s just like water, so it’s nothing special there. But I’m a health nut, so the pH of like 9 (Alkaline) and the 77 trace minerals have me sold lmao. Just wish it weren’t so ridiculously priced.
Fasting
I’m starting a fast here in a few days, so I thought it might be nice to write a quick bit about fasting.
Cleansing
Probably the first thing most people think of when they think of fasting. If you’re doing a fast for cleansing, consider a mono-food diet, a juice fast, a water-only fast, or perhaps a fast in which you only drink diluted herbal tea designed to help flush toxins out of your body and support organs such as the liver (think herbs like dandelion, burdock, etc). Also try to eliminate whatever else in your life is putting toxins in your body. Utilize light exercises such as yoga, dry skin brushing, hydrotherapy, saunas, etc.
Willpower
Being a witch involves a lot of intent and willpower. Fasting is probably one of the easiest ways to exercise willpower. This is because you’re using your willpower all day to keep something out of your life, for as many days as the fast lasts. If you’re fasting solely to strengthen willpower, food might not be the only thing you can use. What else would require willpower to cut out? Are you a smoker (like myself)? Cutting out smoking might be just as much of a challenge to your will, and is going to leave you far healthier. What other bad habits would require a lot of willpower to eliminate?
Dedication
Fasting has also been used throughout history to show dedication to the divine by showing one is willing to give up something. I haven’t really used fasting for this reason, but I’d think this could also involve eliminating something other than food, much like fasting for willpower. What are you willing to (safely) remove from your life to show your dedication to your higher power?
Before you start a fast, do your research. Find which method would be most beneficial to you individually. Plan ahead, and make sure you have everything you need ahead of time.
It’s also suggested by the numerous legally-required and painfully annoying disclaimers in the world that you consult a physician and see if you are able to safely complete a fast before you modify your diet or exercise in any way. So either consult a physician, or accept full responsibility should you be so unfortunate that it cause you any form of problem.
I’m doing a lot of work on self-transformation lately. Still studying Paganism, but at the moment I’m focusing on Kabbalah. Last night after reading a few books from The Kabbalah Centre, I had my best friend tie my red string for me.
For those unfamiliar, this is white wool (both the colour and material correspond with Mercy) dyed red (Red corresponds with Judgement). By adding red to the white wool, it’s like a vaccine in theory, since when combined, Judgement is automatically converted to Mercy. The book explains it as follows:
“Consider a dark room with an unlit lamp. The darkness corresponds to the force of judgement. The potential light from the lamp corresponds to the force of mercy. Whenever you combine light and darkness, by flipping on the light switch, something profound occurs: The darkness converts into light. But the reverse never takes place! Light is never converted into darkness.” - The Red String Book by Yehuda Berg
I other words, by dying this white wool, it retains it’s property of Mercy, but the red colour allows it to easier attract and absorb the negative energies (Judgement) and convert them. Further, it is tied with seven knots symbolizing white light (Mercy) which contains seven colours of the rainbow.
It’s a simple concept that probably even some Pagans would raise and eyebrow at, but it’s very similar to the basis of many Pagan practices. Think of the principles of symbolism, correspondence, and vibration; all of which are used in spells. This red string isn’t much different, especially when combined with intent.
The string also serves as a reminder to love unconditionally, take responsibility for your life, be grateful, acknowledge unity, and resist jealousy and judgement. This is because Kabbalah believes that neither your actions nor the universe can bring judgement upon you on their own. If you withhold judgement, especially when someone deserves it, you yourself cannot be judged. But once YOU judge others, it creates a weakness in your aura that allows the judgement you send out to return like a boomerang (think karma).
So before bed, I practiced gratitude, sent out pink light of compassion to those I previously considered enemies, acknowledged my own role in the “bad” things that have happened to me, and patted myself on the back for not judging others all day long. I then close my eyes and sleep soundlessly…
Or not. From about 3-7A, when I was in bed listening to the dogs smacking their tongues around, scratching and generally being noisy hogs, I judged them for hours. If they weren’t special to someone who was so important to me (and thus special to me by default), I would have thoroughly slapped the shit out of them.
Great way to end such a productive day. I’m assuming this means I still have a lot of work to do, as it probably isn’t effective to just withhold judgement from people, and still judge other life forms, is it? Lol.
Return of Productivity?
Ah-boo-ya!
Finally have convenient internet access again. I’ve had it at my house, but considering I haven’t really been at my house this year apart from like 5 times, it wasn’t really much use to me. Now that I have it where I been staying, perhaps I’ll be more inspired (and able) to get my shit together and get posting again :D. Crossed-fingers!!
Knowing vs Being
So the realization I came to today is that I’ve been focusing wrong for a while now when it comes to my spirituality. I’ve been focusing on learning new systems of divination, studying books, meditating etc. I’ve been getting pretty deep in my meditations, but I haven’t really been making use of it. And all the studying? Don’t really have a lot of need for any of the topics other than advancing my own skills. Which is only a want, not a need. What I’m saying is… this seems very pointless. It’s interesting no doubt, but pointless still.
What I really need right now is to focus less on learning and more on being. To focus on that unity and divine relationship again. That is the most rewarding aspect of spirituality, and while I haven’t been ignoring it, I haven’t really been acknowledging it much either. Time for change.
Pic of me this lovely afternoon haha. No the eye is not a tattoo. Besty got bored with a sharpie. Obviously the pentacle is a tattoo though.
Gauged my ears a while back! =D Only to size 8, but I love them (and they WILL be staying tiny!). Did this so I could start buying and wearing carved crystal plugs. Could wear different crystals for different metaphysical purposes! Also, not shown in this picture, I added purple back into my hair to honour Dionysus. Upload that later maybe.
