On the 26th day of Halloween....

The ghouls brought to me..... PUMPKIN CARVING!!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHA! It is a tradition for mum and I to carve a pumpkin every year. This is a little later in the month than we usually do it, but I'm still excited to get it done. The pumpkins are HUGE! :D Look at mom going to town!

We saved our pumpkin seeds this year. I'm going to save a few and try and cultivate them in the spring and the rest I'm going to bake/roast for mom to eat. The pumpkins were awesome this year. The didn't smell so rotten and gross. Usually the smell is so bad it makes me gag and I can't clean it out. But this year I was able to clean it our without a problem. We will have to buy this type of pumpkin from now on.

Mine is a Pirate!! ARGH!! Hers is just scary. lol. Well I hope your night was a pumpkin filled as mine!!! Pumpkins always make me happier. I'm working both jobs tomorrow so wish me luck. I now leave you with the action shot.

Magickal Monday- Dreamcatchers

Look who's on time today!! HA! For the first time in about a month. And I'm rather proud :D

Today I finished up a dreamcatcher for my cousin. He's been having some troubles at his new apartment and he asked if I could make him a dream catcher to help provide some ease. So I made him a manly version of my Goddess Dreamcatcher I made for a healing swap a few months ago. Here's the Goddess one:

It's has rose quartz, amethyst, and clear quartz in the web acting as the spider/bead. Combined together they help promote love, protection, and healing. Not too shabby for the first ones I've ever made. Now, my cousin is Christian and I didn't feel comfortable putting stones in his dreamcatcher because I know that they don't hold any meaning to him. So I stuck with the traditional bead types. Which works well since I took him to his first Powwow over the summer.

His is made with hawk or quail feathers (I never know the difference), a glass bead for the spider, and then I made clay beads to hold the feathers on. The picture is crap since it's night here (silly sun thinking it can take a vacation in the fall). But I think you get the idea. I was hoping to make it a bit more manly looking. I don't think it came out half bad. It was made with things completely from my stash. If I were to go out of the way and make a real legit dreamcatcher I would have used sinew for the web and made the circle out of leather lace. Instead I just used the leather lace to connect the feathers. I like the wrapped/twisted vine look for the circle. Makes it more earthy to me. Not to mention I'm not a fan of leather lace. And I used a really thin yarn/string mostly used for making lace and doilies for the web. And now we get to the magickal part of this. The story. I'm no Native American story teller, but from my research and what I have grown up knowing about dreamcatchers this is what I can tell you about them.

A dreamcatcher is given to a child upon birth in order to protect them. It is hung above the child's bed to allow the dreams and energies of life to flow through it like a filter. The good dreams and energies are allowed to pass through the web while the bad dreams and energies become tangled on the web and flow down to the feathers. The bad dream and energies are then taken away with the wind, casting them away. Any bad dream and energies that remain are then purified when sunlight hits them. Dreamcatchers can be used by adults for the same reasons. They help keep the good energies with in the room and help to rid the person of negative/bad energies. I think every person should have one! :) If you are giving the dreamcatcher to a child there are some nice stories about why they are shaped the way they are and how they came into existence. I've done some searching around and I think my favorite story is the one found here. I like it because it talks about how the four elements come into play as well. But you can find tons of stories through children's books and google. I ♥ dream catchers!

Well, that's all I have for now. See you tomorrow!

Sunday is happieness in a heart shaped bottle

No seriously, it really is. At least for the time being while I don't have either job to go to. That will change in the coming weeks. *sigh* But for the time being it's nice and I'm enjoying it. Today was rather productive. I managed to do a hard core blessing/cleansing/banishing what ever you prefer to call it. I actually have a spell for each that I do, because Thrice is nice. lol We've had some strange things going on this year and I've neglected my cleansings. So today I did my banishing spell to get rid of the negative forces that have been lingering around, then I cleansed and blessed the house with a smudging inside and did some protection work on the outside to seal everything together. I can already feel the air in the house lifting. This is the second time this month I did a smudging. Apparently the first time wasn't as effective as it needed to be. Strange moment of the day? My mom had some friends come by to check out her car since it wasn't working. And their car ended up dying in front of our house. So after I heard this I decided it was time to get the ball rolling. I started my ritual/spell work while they were outside. As soon as the tow truck got here for their car the car started right up with no problem! I like to think I had a little witchy something to do with it. ;) No promises though. Could just be my ego. lol

On another note, the kidney stone has subsided greatly. Hopefully it stays away. I'm aiming to set up a permanent healing altar, much like the ancestor altar. I'll work on that soon. I want to do a little more research on the art of healing first. I wish there were people around where I live that could give me a helping hand with teaching and learning these things. There might be I just need to socialize more and look harder.

I also started some candy for my friends for Halloween. We are all donning witch attire and taking my niece trick or treating. I've decided to sit out on the local Samhain ritual this year. While I loved it last year and it even made me a bit emotional (by a bit I mean I cried like a baby), I feel like I have ignored my friends long enough during my isolation and it would be nice to spend the end of the witches year in good, loving company while enjoying the wide eyed innocence of a child. I love that little one! Well, I have to head to job 2 and 1 tomorrow. I shall leave you with some pictures I've taken over the last week that I love!



These are the partial full moon. I think maybe a day or two before the actual full moon. I'm just impressed my camera could manage to get this close. My usual moon pictures consist of a random white dot.









These are some pictures from the park I go to and picnic at with the kiddo I watch. Nice right? I love it there. Hope you had a great Sunday too. See you tomorrow!

Do you know a good organ harvester?

No, seriously? Know anyone who could use a spare kidney? Mine is about to get ripped out if it doesn't get it's act together. Apparently I have ANOTHER kidney stone.... or it's the same one from last weekend. I'm not sure. I've had about 4 or 5 of them so far since last November. It's insane. I've never had them before in my life! Why body?! Why!? Hopefully I can get some health insurance quickly with this new job or my dad can possibly help cover me on his plan until then. Ugh. Hopefully it won't stay too long. On the full moon last night I bought 3 massive pumpkins! When I say massive, I mean I could fit a small child inside of them!

See look. Definitely small child worthy. I put a square pot holder next to them for size. :) I'm so excited. If I'm up to it and my kidney starts to act like it has some sense I shall carve one tonight with me mum. It's a tradition. And maybe even the step dad will take part. I know yall don't know much about my step father, but just know we shared a conversation last night for the first time in a very, very, very long time. Maybe my autumn moon and Mabon wishes are actually working. I shall have to partake in more full moon rituals. (kind of like I should have last night, but the kidney and I were having a fight.) I got an amazing spell written for me by a friend, Andréann, that I can't wait to try out for mending/fixing the heart/self. I will give it a go tonight, body permitting.

Onto a non-kideny topic. I'm in a Halloween swap on the best website ever, craftster, and I wanted to share a few things I made for my partner. I know you all have seen Dracula, from earlier this month, that was one of the first things I made for her. Here a few others I'm rather proud of. Sue, if you read this, you should probably advert your eyes!

Please meet Dracula's BFF! The mummy! Not too shabby right? He's made the same way as Dracula and then just wrapped in white felt strips. Ok, so, I'm not a felt master, or a stuffie master at all, but I still think he's rather cute. Next are some of the other things I've made.

That's all I have for now. There were a few other things I included but these are the things I'm more so proud of. The others are ok, but not brag worthy. Well, I'm going to give work a call and wait for me mum. She's going to take me to the doctor. Somebody hope they don't treat me like last time. You would be surprised at how much of a second rate citizen you are considered without insurance. Blah. See yall later!

Magickal ....ummm.. Wednesday?

So, on Monday I thought about what I wanted to do. I started Magickal Mondays to ease myself into bringing Magick into my everyday life slowly... very slowly. I don't do too much of it really. Every now and then I do a spell, I observe the seasons, change out the altar, do a ritual when need be, but on the everyday basis I honestly don't do too many things. And I think it's rather important to have a little Magick in our lives every day, to help connect us. When I do something in that nature it makes me feel accomplished, as well as it helps me clear away the cobwebs in this head of mine and get me thinking .....well.... like a witch. Doing something Magickal brings a little extra umph into things. At least that's what I believe.

So Monday, I was thinking about what is something Magickal that I could do that didn't require too much effort but allowed me to connect in that Magickal way. The family I work for during the days is Filipino. They are Catholics, but if you pay attention around their house there are subtle things that reflect a lot of the heritage of the islands and the older ways of life. In the living room above the fire place is a tiny section set up for the "ancestors." There are pictures of a man and woman whom I assume to perhaps be parents or grandparents. There is always a vase with some flowers from their yard, and a small bowl which usually holds a a Brigid cross and various other things. I've been working there for about 4 1/2 years and always thought about doing one myself. But it becomes hard to see the pictures of your loved ones. Ya know? Well, I decided Monday that I would set me up a small altar to my loved ones. So I spent Tuesday clearing off a shelf on my wall and finding pictures. Last week I went to the park and did some nature walking and picket up some leaves, acorns, and tiny pine cones. I also visited my grandfathers grave last week with my mom, which may have also brought on this trail of thinking. His body rests under a large Pecan tree. I was inspired to pick up a few pecans and take them home with me. They now sit on the altar. So here is what I came up with.

On the top I have some of the older, smaller pictures. Coincidentally, they are also the ones who have been gone the longest. Starting from the left I have my grandfather, great grand mother, uncle (dad's brother), and uncle (moms brother) all surrounding an orange pillar candle sitting on some acorn tree leaves. And yes my "shelf" happens to be a wooden CD rack from the craft store painted gold. They are so cheap and useful. I couldn't get a good picture to say a life. The pictures are just folded or cut down and then I took card stock and cut the little windows for them to show through.

On the bottom I have a small dish in which the offerings are put on. I stuck leaves around the corners and everywhere I could manage. The fabric is just some scrap tapestry fabric I found in my stash. not sure where I got it or where it came from but it works. It's very fall colored even though you can't see it in the pictures. On the left is my Nanny (grandmother) who just passed a few months ago. That was take last Christmas. :( And beside that is my best friend, her mother, and brother. I lost them all my junior year of high school. Coincidentally, these are the bigger pictures and they are the most recent ones to depart. I think this shrine/altar will be a good thing. I believe it will help with the healing and accepting part of letting go. I'm going to keep this up year round. I think I will decorate it with bits of nature from the seasons. Well, that's all for now. See you tomorrow!

Witch Hat Wednesday!

Today was a very productive Wednesday!! I found tulle laying around to decorate an old witch hat from two weeks ago and I drafted my own pattern for a smaller Victorian witch hat. Both are pretty epic.

First up, in case you don't remember I made this hat randomly on a Thursday and it was missing something. I finally found some awesome pink tulle I had bought ages ago to make a rainbow tutu. Unfortunately, the tutu never got made (I do that a lot, huh?), so I have a load of tulle stashed away I had forgot all about until tonight. So, now without further ado, I present Blink!

That's right it's blue and pink therefore making the most amazing color ever, Blink! Oh, and pay no mind to the fact that I take my pictures on my dishwasher. Here's the back.

Next, I am really really proud of this. I drafted the pattern in about 30 minutes or so and sewed the hat in another 30. So in one hour I had an amazing Victorian-style Witch Hat. I had seen some amazing ones online, but I'm too cheap to buy one. So I thought, why not make one! Genius right? So may I present, Vikki's Secret.

I absolutely love it. I don't know if you can see the little black slots on the first picture of it. Those are for bobby pins to fasten it to your head. I'm not very good with those. But they aren't too bad for the moment. Here it is next to Dreams of Eire for size comparison. It's so tiny and cute.

All in all, it's maybe my favorite witch hat I've made. Expect more of these to come! :D I feel like I need to make a dress or something to wear for it. Future Halloween outfit? Perhaps.

Where the Hell have I been??!!!

I KNOW I KNOW!!! Where on Earth have I been?! It's been a crazy weekend. On Friday, my mom got screwed over by our bank, so that set me back a few bucks (by a few I mean like $100, gah!). And then my best friend, Panther (totally his real name, btw), came down from upstate for a whole 24 hours. We haven't seen each other in about 2 1/2 years!!! Crazy right? But we manage to talk and text really often. So we spent Friday night at Busch Gardens for Howl-o-scream it was crazy fun. Neither of us had been. They dress up the entire park with amazing decorations and starting at night fall they have people hiding all over the park who will jump out at you randomly to scare you as you walk around. that's not to mention the crazy amount of people they have already dressed in character as mummies, zombies, witches, and shadow people. The have haunted houses and mazes placed all over the park. It was really fun. in the end we played some carnival games and he scored me a giant penguin that came up to our waist and we even scored some corny best friend pictures from the photo both. Best day ever? Yes, you could say that. He left the next morning, but we managed to catch some brunch at Waffle House. I've never eaten there before but they have the best waffles ever! MMmmmm, waffles.

On Sunday, I reconnected with my local best friends, Jenn and Shelby, and we hung out and played with my god daughter/niece. It was well needed since I have been in isolation for about three months! Afterwards Shelby and I visited a local farm that puts on an AMAZING Halloween Festival every year. The have a Village of the Dead, Haunted Hayride, and Field of Screams (aka corn field of DOOM!!!). It's was well worth going. All in all I had a very haunted and Halloween filled weekend. Sorry for the lack of pictures. They don't really allow pictures in these things. But their websites have some up.

Monday and Tuesday have been crazy as well. I'll keep it short and say that an epic battle ensued between myself and the 2nd jobs work computer, setting back me being hired until today. The force was with me and I emerged VICTORIOUS!! Hello extra bill money! And now here I am. I realize I have missed Food Freaky Friday, Magickal Monday, and today is supposed to be Witch Hat Wednesday. So here is the deal (more so to get my big butt in gear that for you). Tonight I will come home and Do my Magickal Monday and Witch Hat Wednesday. Tomorrow I will work on some Foodage/Freakyness. And starting Friday things will start to get more on track. Hopefully. I'm so terrible with time lines. UGH!My goal is to keep the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday activities up even after Halloween is over. But we shall see about that. lol. Any who, See you later for Magick and Witch Hats!!

I love surprises after a long weekend

Guess what...... I've been on hiatus the past weekend. I know..... SHAME ON ME! I came back to and these waiting for me.

Amazing right? This is the first award I've gotten and it's all thanks to Dragonfly over at Witchery Grove. Thanks so much Dragonfly!!!



So here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Pass this on to 15 other great bloggers you recently discovered.

4. Contact the selected bloggers and tell them about their awards.



Ok, so here we go. Seven things about me.

1. I love to write poetry. No not that crap I used to put before all my magickal posts, but actual full on poetry. I've been writing since I was a child.

2. My favorite shape has always been a star. Long before I discovered Wicca. Coincidence? I think not.

3. I collect four leaf clovers. I don't really look for them, they just pop up in my life. I have managed to save 7 so far.

4. There is nothing more exciting and relaxing then laying back under a pine tree.

5. The smell of fresh picked basil is exquisite! I just love to carry a piece around and sniff it all day ;)

6. Halloween/Samhain is the absolute best holiday/sabbat in the entire world. Next to my birthday which falls on Ostara this year ;)

7. I love the sound of Christmas bells, I keep some up all year.



For the next part. 15 blogs: Gosh that's a crazy amount! lol. Would it be disrespectful if I stuck to maybe a top 5? I hope not. A lot of blogs I read already have these awards. I wanted to stick to the ones that didn't.

1. Dancing with a Spatula Wand
Love this blog, it's so tasty!
2. Witchy Godmother
She has the best stories. I look forward to all her posts.
3. Aux Demilunes
She's very talented and has the cutest kids! She is always making something new.
4. Sew Misunderstood
She's a rocking chick who plays in a band, rocks old school fashions, and loves horror.
5. All Things Crafty
Amazingly wicked craft blog.


As for contacting. I'm lazy. lol. And shy. So I think I will just leave that up to them to figure out. Thanks again Dragonfly!

Witch Hat Wednesday!

Too bad it's not a Friday! It would be a knee slappin, toe tappin hellova day! (excuse me, my southern is showing) ;) Not much went on today, besides it being pleasantly cool, and perfect hoody weather...... mmmmm.... hoody... I love you! I live for the days where I can wear a hoody. The sky was a perfect overcast with tiny open spots allowing the sun to spit through every now and then. The kid I watch and I went to the park and enjoyed a nice picnic and then went leaf and acorn hunting. We didn't score too much. Seems the squirrels had eaten most of what had hit the ground :( But oh well, better luck this Saturday when we go to a different park.

So today I made my hat! One a Wednesday at the least, two a week is I'm feeling frisky. ;) So this week I used some material that has a vintage feel. I was excited to finally use some of it. I've had it for over a year and I bought a yard and a half of it because it was on super clearance at Joann's Fabrics. I was going to shoot for a romantic Victorian feel. But after making it and putting it on it really reminds me of a rustic farm girl. lol. Suits me I guess. So I present to you, Rustic Days.

I know, the name needs some work. But it's almost midnight, I'm tired, and I'm having a brain fart. As for the hat, it's not too bad. I might redo the ribbons with something a bit more rustic. But for the moment the point is to make the hats out of what I already have in my stash. And that's all the white ribbon I have. I have tulle but I don't think it's a tulle kind of hat. Oh, and I'm out of interfacing as well. So I had to use my SUPER interfacing. It's the really strong stuff used for really

heavy duty projects. I had bought it to use for interfacing in a pair of boots I was fixin to make. But I haven't got up the nerve to draft the pattern for them yet. Much like the bloomers I've been meaning to sit down and make all week. I really need to get off my bum, huh? lol. One of these days. I'm hoping tomorrow to take pictures of the hat's I've made so far during the day so that the lighting is better and not just my camera flash. Wish me luck!

On the 12th day of Halloween.......

Yes, I know, It's the 13th. I was going to post some crafty goodness last night when it decided to fall apart on me. Frigin polyclay, I loathe you!

I got bored while waiting for NCIS to come on last night. Oh Timothy McGee you are not as nerdy hot when you're skinny. I preferred you with some meat on your bones. Please eat a few more sandwiches! But I digress. So I being lazy I decided to dabble with polyclay. I say lazy because I keep my box of clay beside my bed and not in the craft room since it has proven throughout the summer that the temperatures in the craft room reach hot enough to actually bake my clay! Can you believe that?! Ridiculous! So last night I made a few pumpkins. I was originally going to make them into earrings, but my jewelry stuff was in the craft room and I was lazy, so they are just pumpkins. Not too shabby if I say so for myself. I lack mad clay skills. Actually, on the range of mediums I work with I put clay in the extreme hate category. Mostly because I've never been properly taught to work with it. The most instruction I've gotten is from an art teacher in the 5th or 6h grade while making an ash tray. I kid you not. From there I just randomly dabble in it and pray for the best. I think I did pretty ok last night. The muses were with me. Nooooo, not with the pumpkins. I'm not bragging on my mad pumpkin skills. I'm talking about this dude. Ok, So he's not a looker per se. But what Headless Horseman is? I mean, he's missing his head!! This is him pre-face lift. Mad poly skills I has not, however, I don't think he's too bad for the 3rd figure I've ever made. The problem with him is that his legs fell off after baking. I made them separate, stuck a piece of metal in the base added that polyclay glue that hardens into clay once it's baked and then connected them. The arms are done the same way, and they stayed on just fine. The legs? Not so much. Look at the poor guy. Breaks my heart, it does. Until I can buy him some super glue I have named him the Legless Horseman. ;) The Legend of the Headless Horseman is one of my all time favorites from childhood. You may know it from the movie The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci. Perhaps I love it so much for it's German roots, or perhaps I just thought it would be pretty damn cool to have a pumpkin for a head. Who knows. Either way, best Halloween story ever. And this is my ode to the Headless Horseman who is said to still haunt the little valley of Sleepy Hollow in New York to this day.

Magickal Monday - Herbal Candles

So, last week on Magickal Monday I talked about writing letters to the dead. I kind of wanted to keep the theme going. So today I made herbal candles, Jessica Version. I'm gonna be honest. I had heard about herbal candles in a witch magazine, can't remember the one off the top of my head, but it had talked about a shop in NYC that sold them. Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to go search out the shop while I was in NYC in April, but I made a promise I would find a way to make them myself. Well, after searching for ages, I have come up with absolutely NOTHING! I cannot find any tutorials or any kind of random information on them. Well last night, I got to thinking about the candles again. I thought it would be rather cool to have one of two for Samhain that had herbs for the sabbat and for spirit communication in it to help with the letters and with ritual. So I woke this morning and decided I was gonna make me some candles!! And I did. I did some research on what I wanted to use for the herbs and I set to work.

Look at my magickal cabinet, it's so well stocked and organized. I owe a good portion of it's ingredients to K.Michele who rocked my witchy socks in a Lammas swap. :D :D The rest is from my garden this year and s few odds and ends from the local magick shop. So I gathered my goodies, and went to work. I used Frankincense (protection and divination) and Myrrh (spirituality and the sacred) resin. I pounded those into a nice clumpy powder first. As I added an ingredient to the mortar I stated out loud it's purpose: Sage (protection), Patchouli(amplify the senses), Yarrow(divination, clairvoyance, and banishing negative energies), Calendula(prophetic dreams and workings), Cedar(workings with the dead, success, and workings with magick), Rosemary(remembrance), and Hops (divination). I stirred these together in my mortar and then added them to the melted wax on the stove (I had that melting while I was putting together the ingredients).

I added a few pinches of Dandelion (powerful protection and pure intentions) last to seal the "spell," I guess that's what you could call it. I stirred it all together in the wax and then put them into the candle molds. I happen to be fresh out of candle molds (or in other words I don't own any), so I took two cookie cutters and surrounded them TIGHTLY with aluminum foil and them filled those. I tied the wicks to a little skewer and let them sit. When they were cool I popped them out and BAM herbal spell candles! Cross your fingers that they work! Oh, and pay no mind to the broken one. It was supposed to be a heart and it took it breaking for me to finger out that I needed to slide a knife in between the wax and cookie cutter to pop it out. Oh well. I'll just remelt it and try it again.

I'm thinking the rather unattractive color is from using light yellow candles. I melted one and a half yellow tapers to yield two cookie cutter candles. I think white might have made it a bit more pretty, but I used yellow for spirit. In the sun though it looks a nice nature green almost. lol. Meh. Beggars can't be choosers right?

Witch Fit (WF)

That's right, I'm having a Witch Fit. Also known to most people as a bitch fit. Basically a period of ranting and bitching sparked by something that has made the person upset and angry. And this is the Witch Fit version. Enjoy.

OMFGs!!!!!!! So on the 10th day of Halloween, I spent tonight watching Paranormal State. I hope you Ugh and *sigh* as much as I do when people say they watch this show. Some of the shows just go overboard and leave me questioning the integrity of the show. Also, the extreme Christian view is a bit much for me. The current show that is on just made me yell at the TV. I know you're saying, "Jess, don't you do that anyways?" Yes. Yes, I do. However, this one made me angry. So this couple is having trouble with a shadow person in their house. Like all other shows, the paranormal team has deemed it to be some sort of demon. But this one, wait for it.... are you ready?.... This shadow person was conjured up by the couple's brother who at the time was practicing witchcraft. The dude had a pentacle tattooed on his arm and this caused the main host, Ryan, to ask about it what it meant. The guy was like "this was from when I used to practice witch craft." He admitted to casting a circle in the home with the the couple because they expressed curiosity in spirits. The brother decided... out of all the damn spirits to conjure or try and contact he decides, Oh, Let me conjure a shadow demon...... *FACEPALM* WTF?! And this, this is why witches have gotten terrible reps. So he conjures this demon, it appears, it scares the couple and they run out of the house breaking the circle. The brother, who knows why, apparently just left things as they were and never returned the demon and never closed the circle. So many moons later (a couple of years) they are still being tormented by this demon.

I'm pretty sure I don't need to say much at this point. If you're reading this your probably already saying inside your head (or out loud at your computer screen like me) "DUDE, WTF?!" I'm not sure where to start. One, why is it that every portrayal of Wicca, Witchcraft, or Paganism on TV always brought on by people who dabble in things that they are obviously never fully informed about. I would think that it is pretty much Witchcraft 101 for you not to mess with demons and spirits unless you are emotionally and mentally prepared for it. It's not something to ever take lightly. And a demon,dude? Really? Why a demon? Why not a spirit guide, an ancestor, or something else that on the lower side of the spectrum. No, you want to be a bad ass, you want to call up a demonic spirit. And on top of that you want to leave the damn circle open! I think I want to write this man a strongly worded letter of disappointment and outrage. If you have the knowledge to open a circle and call a demon then you had to at least do some research on what you were doing. I'm sure he crossed a few warnings. it's not like you were 12 playing with a Ouija Board. He was a grown ass man. And grow assness means when deciding to practice a religion or even to practice sorcery or magick that you owe it to yourself and the people who's well being you are infringing upon to be fully aware of your actions and the effects that are even remotely worst case possible. GAH! Pourquoi?!

Ok, I'm done. I've released as much energy on this as I'm willing to. As a quick side note, I didn't craft any today. I spent the whole day out and about with mom getting my car right and picking up decorations for the yard.... OH! and I cut and dyed my hair! Big changes to close this year!! WOOT! Happy Sunday yall!

Oh, 9th Day, I loathe you

Today has been a day that I would have rather left in bed when I woke up this morning. ARGH! I got a flat tire, broke a bolt changing the tire because the place that put on the tire put the lug nut on at an angle, which means it wasn't coming off peacefully any how. I went and got a quote from a place and for a tire and the bolt it's going to cost me almost $200. HELLO! Poor college grad here. I can't even pay student loans. *HUFF* In case you haven't guessed yet that means, once again, no Poe house visit tomorrow. This is two weekends in a row. I'm feeling a conspiracy here. And I don't appreciate it. So other than spending my one day off a week running around getting my car fixed, I think I will try and focus on some positive. WHOOSAH!!!!

Ok, so in an up mood, kitty is eating again! YAY! I went to the vet and got his pain meds this morn and when I came home from work he was in such a good mood! Either that or he could sense my distress. Whatever it be, he was extremely lovey and has been eating on and off all night. I'm so happy!! I was getting worried again about him not eating. It's amazing the difference I've seen in him tonight. :D

OH! And I came across these a week ago or so and decided I HAVE to have them!

Yep. That's right. THOSE ARE PUMPKIN BLOOMERS!!!!!! WHAT?!?!?!?! You can find them here. Unfortunately, as you have been reading, money is not in the pocket right now, so like all good crafters, I plan on making my own pair. That is my task for tomorrow. I have some scrap blue jersey fabric that I will use as a practice run since I fail at making pants (God I hate making pants!). If I succeed at the mark up pair then I will search the high seas for orange jersey, which of course will be followed by black for a skeleton pair (mais oui!). It's only natural in my opinion. I also think a nice green franky pair would be awesome. Who knows, I have to get past the original mark up. I'm having trouble about what face to put on the blue ones. It's a nice light blue. Maybe I'll do a winter theme. I found a few tutorials online that are kind of helpful for making your own bloomers. I just hate making patterns for myself. I can draw up a pattern for someone else in no time flat. For me, it's a terrible process that requires me measuring and I hate measuring. I mean, who doesn't. Blah. In case your wondering I'm a rather attractive figure... in my head. On the outside I tend to be quite square or rectangle like.... So goal tomorrow, make bloomers and maybe even another witch hat. Sewing always eases my whaos.

So my loves, I will leave you with this. Damh the Bard's Samhain Eve. He's one of my favorite Pagan artists and he's coming the Michigan for Beltaine!! I've already decided my new second job is going to fund my trip up there to see him perform. I know it's a good 17 hour drive from Virginia but he's from the UK and I don't know the next I will be flying over there to see the grands. Plus, who doesn't love a good road trip to a 4 day pagan festival? Enjoy Loves! See you tomorrow!

7th and 8th days of Halloween

So, I wouldn't say I've been busy per se, but I would say that I've been "cleaning out the broom closet." Well, kind of. I've cleaned and organized my "witches cupboard." Well, less than a cupboard and more of a hope chest that was my mothers as a child that she gave to me. It's served as many things throughout my childhood, and it has somehow turned into my my little hoard of altar supplies. It also serves as a the surface on which I construct my altar. So It probably looks a little cluttered to you but I assure you it's all organized and I was even able to make up a supplies list so that I know what I have. From there I am going to make a list of things I need. I know for certain I need to work up some sort of offering bowl. I also would like to etch a pentacle or something on the glass chalice I have (aka small wine glass) and also on the glass mortar and pestle I have. My goal is to have a small box for each sabbat that contains the main altar things like an altar cloths, colored candles, ornaments or pentacles for the season, incense, and maybe even little Goddess and God stuffies as well. Those are in the plans atleast. I defintely wouldn't have room in my current "cupboard for them though.

I have finally managed to get my altar ready for the season, well kind of. I changed the cloth (a few days ago actually, I decided to keep it, it seems proper), bought some new black and orange tapers, and placed a few things here and there. It's pretty minimal. I usually keep all the hard core tools like my athame, cauldron, and whatever else I use depending on the ritual inside the cupboard until I'm prepping for ritual. Mostly so that I don't have to worry about things being placed on the altar and messing with their energies (mom used to find it convenient to place clothes and other things on it until I asked and explained why I would prefer her to not). Oh the whoas of living at home with the rents. *sigh* Goddess and God send me a full time job so I can move the hell out of here!!! PLZ!?! Oh well, things will happen when I can make them happen and that's not anytime soon. I wouldn't mind finding a few other things to put on it. I think Maybe I'll make some stuffies this weekend. Maybe I'll put pumkins on them. I really need to learn how to embroider properly one of these days. For the moment I just wing it ;)

Yesterday I sewed another witch hat. It's missing the embelishments but I love the fabric.

I Heart thrift store bolt fabric! Thank you Chinese people who donate to the store by me! Most of it is pretty new and still has the price tags on it. I have a few more plaid type fabrics that you will be seing more of. Thrift store finds are the best. There is another store out by where I work that I got a bag of about 30 zippers (new adn used) for 99 cents! Best.Find.EVER!

I think tomorrow I will clean up my BOS and type up some of it to create a digital copy incase anything ever happens to one or the other I will have a back up. I've been thinking for a while about making a permanent BOS. I keep everything organized in binders. I have one binder for for spells and rituals, one for tarot readings, and another set aside just for general books notes and research. I think binders work for the latter two really well. But I think my BOS is losing some of it specialness in a plain binder. But I can't commit myself to buy a nice book and writing in it. I really need a nice book where I can remove the papers and reorganize them as it grows and as I see fit. I actually might have to craft one.... hmmmm. So many ideas. For the moment this one fits and works. Maybe I'll try decorating the out side to give a more special feel. Who knows. Well, I'm off for tonight. Sunday Mom and I are going up the Poe's house in Richmond. Rain or no rain!!! EXCITEMENT!!!!

<) Witch Hat Wednesday (>

Yep, you read right! Today is witch hat day! I've decided every Wednesday I will be making a new witch hat because.... well.... every witch should have one! or two... or three... or well, ok, let's just say that they are like shoes and purses. A girl can never have too many! Mom named this my Irish witch hat. I have no clue. I thought of it more like a school girl colors, but sure ok. So may I present to you, Dreams of Éire.
The lighting is terrible, it's night! But I think you get the gist! Happy Wednesday! See you tomorrow!

Grace Sherwood: The Witch of Pungo

(A street sign near Grace Sherwood's statue and near Witchduck Road, which leads to the river where she was ducked)

As promised, Mom and I went in search of some local history Tuesday. We set out to search and learn more about Grace Sherwood, "The Witch of Pungo." As I've said before she was the only person in Virginia tried for witch craft and she is the last documented trial in North America. Mom and I started our search at the place all people should start their searches. At the beginning. Or in this place that would be the place where she was tried for witch craft. That place is now a church (oh irony, I love thee). But across the street from it is a hospital and it is there that we find the statue to commemorate her memory.

One woman, Belinda Nash, took the initiative to campaign for 7 years to get Grace Sherwood's name cleared after 300 years of her being judge guilty of witch craft. Grace's story, at least the main version of it, is on a plaque at the base of her statue.

In case you can't read it the plaque says,

"The Trial of 1706

At Witchduck Point, 10 AM July 10th 1706 Grace Sherwood, the daughter of a carpenter and the wife of a planter in the county of Princess Anne, was accused by neighbors of the witchcraft. Grace was tried in the Second Princess Anne County Courthouse, found guilty, and consented to the traditional trial by water. Grace was tied cross bound and dropped into the water above man's depth. If she were to sink and drown she was innocent and could be buried on holy ground, Grace did float, thus was guilty as the pure water was casting out her evil spirit. She was incarcerated in the local jail beyond this statue. After her release, Grace paid the back taxes on her property in 1714, returned to her farm and worked the land until her death at age 80 in the Autumn of 1740. Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water, she lays claim to Witchduck Road. Her legend lives on as "THE INFAMOUS WITCH OF PUNGO"

From there Mom and I journeyed to two different historical houses. The first one called "The Lynnhaven House" which is about 5 minutes away from the statue. We thought we would get some information there. I had visited here once as a child in search of the "Witch of Pungo" and remembered the tour guide giving me some information about her. Unfortunately, this house has no connection to Grace Sherwood, but it did serve as a very pretty place and got Mom and I in the mood for more historical sleuthing. The wind was blowing in a crazy manor and it just felt like the world was a buzz with something. We walked the ground and looked around a bit. I took some nifty photos of random nature and artifacts and then we headed out.

After that we felt a little miffed though. WE honestly had NO IDEA of where to look next. There really isn't much information on the Internet about Grace Sherwood aside form her trial. We took a chance and road another 5 minutes away to a house known as "The Ferry Farm Plantation House." I'm not gonna lie, besides being a plantation built in the 1830's that is now just one lone house that resides in the back yards of about 6 different houses (when I say back yards I mean literally you could see into their houses from this houses front door), it really was a pretty fruitless place. Mom and I almost bailed and went home early, but Mom pushed on and decided since we haven't been into this house before to go ahead and take the tour. Maybe it would offer something, a clue, anything. So we took the tour, it was pretty fruitless. Interesting and very informative (you know I'm a history nerd, so I soak it all in like a sponge), but pretty fruitless. Then it happened. The tour lady mentioned Grace Sherwood. AHA! I thought. and I ran with it and Mom and I told her about our wanting to know more and our guide said that the other lady down stairs who does tours is the house expert on Grace and that after the tour she would introduce us to her. After the tour, we met the lady and she gave us an amazing history on Grace. Are you ready for it? This is my condensed version of our talk. Grace was born an only child to her father and mother. Her father was a carpenter and during the growing months he was a farmer and her mother was a healer. So Grace grew up with the best of both worlds. She grew up knowing about natural medicines and how to treat ailments from her mother and she grew up knowing the land and the sky from her father. She married a farmer and and they stayed local and lived directly across from her parents. Every two weeks Grace would go to church at the Lynnhaven Parish via a ferry and was actually in really good standing with the congregation. But something happened, Grace's parents died and left she and her husband over 100 acres of land. In case you're wondering, that's A LOT of land! Next her husband died. And this left all of that land to Grace. Grace had 3 sons and made the decision to not remarry, that was not how the tradition went. She was supposed to remarry and stay doing her wifely duties. She decided not to, for whatever reason, and this made her neighbors very jealous. Back in history land equaled your wealth and stature in society, and here was a woman breaking all the rules and refusing to do as society deemed fit. Grace was brought to court 12 times before she was convicted. Each time it was by a neighbor and each time it was for something bogus. Once she was a witch because she was a farmer and wore pants, another time it was because someones cow dried up and Grace put a hex on it, or another time someones cotton field withered and Grace hexed it. The final trial occurred because Grace was accused of causing a miscarriage of a woman. What people don't know is that a few months before she was accused, the woman and Grace got in an altercation and left Grace with bruises. Grace sued the woman and her husband for assault and battery and won the court case. Grace was tried and was taken to the higher courts in Williamsburg. The thing is that when "women cluttered the court with gossip," as it was put, then they were hung in the gallows. The courts said that there needed to be proof and that Grace's house was to be searched for talisman, charms, anything to prove her guilt. When her house was searched NOTHING could be found. So the next thing to be done was to examine graces body of marking for the devil. Two moles were found that didn't look like any other moles that the women examiners had seen before (or so they said). And so Grace was convicted of witch craft and she consented to be tried by water. Unfortunately, the people were unaware that Grace was an excellent swimmer. Before Grace was tossed the people of the town had camped out around the river banks to watch the night before and as she arrived the all started chanting, "Duck the witch! Duck the witch!" Before she was thrown into the water she said, "Before this day be through you will all get a worse ducking then I." Grace was tossed over board, she sunk to the bottom and swam back to the surface, proving her evil soul being rejected from the water. Next they strapped a 12 pound family Bible onto her neck tossed her into the water hoping to drown her once and for all. But Grace sank to the bottom untied the Bible and herself and swam to the surface. Then she continued to swim around the river laughing at everyone. Now you remember her final words.... go back, reread them...... I'll wait... ok you got it? The very moment they were pulling Grace from the river and back into the boat it started to rain. Everyone on the banks got scared and packed up and ran for cover. Epic right? All of this is true and can be found in the court records. Grace spent the next 7 years of her life in jail until she was finally released. After which, she reclaimed her land, got back her sons, and lived the rest of her days out on her land until she was 80. The only remainders of her house are just bricks. Not many people know where to find the ruins of her house, they are tucked away and hidden out in what here in the area we call the boons, or BFE ( meaning it's nothing but farm land and it's the middle of nowher, cell phone coverage is crap out there!) But now, I know where to find them! Wanna know how? The lady telling me story, she is Belinda Nash herself!

The women who fought for 7 years to exonerate Grace. Can you believe I actually met the lady and got to talk to her not only about all the side information she knows about Grace but also about Nash's struggle and fight for Grace. Yep, I had an amazingly lucky day! Coincidence? I think not. So we went on a search for the history of Grace Sherwood and after being thwarted actually ended the day meeting the incredible woman responsible for not only giving Grace her good name back but also all of her living descendants as well. You just don't realize the stigma that your ancestors convictions can have 300 years later. There are women, Sherwood's, The last of Grace's ties and to this day they still get talked about as being descended from witches. Now some of you might embrace that thought. What's wrong with being a witch?

Today, nothing. But to be a witch convicted in the 1700's meant to be malicious, devious, and that you were doing things to cause others harm. In my eyes Grace will always be a witch, but in the terms of today's world. She was a healer who was very close to the cycles of the Earth. She refused to live by anyone's standards but her own. She was a strong, independent woman who embraced life and what it threw out at her. She believed in the old ways and because of that it set her far beyond her time. She was a woman the future, even then. For this, Grace is a role model, even 300 years later. Witch? maybe. Woman? absolutely!

I hope this was informative to you. It was an eye opener to me. I was fascinated by Grace Sherwood because of the mystery of her being a witch. Now, I find myself fascinated by her because she was an incredible woman.