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!

Annie Mae vs Anna Virginia

I'm not sure what's going on with me lately. I've been so tired. The past three or four days all I wanted to do is sleep! That's not normal for me. And no matter how much I want to sleep I can't. It's like something is keeping me up. Who knows. My body needs to stop being so damn difficult.

ANYWAYS! So it's story time!! YAY!! For the past few years (actually more than a few years) I have had the need to find my missing great grandmother. She died when my grandfather was only about 8 or so (and he's been deceased for sometime now so we can't ask him about his mom unfortunately). She's never been mentioned in the family. All I have of her is a photo of her wedding day. And it's so interesting because she's really dark in the photo. I'm positive she's not Caucasian. It's like a mystery. Someone needs to call in Scooby Doo for this one!! But either way, I've had this feeling since before knowing any of this about her. This year, after about Samhain or so, the feeling has been really strong to the point where I had dreamed of where to find her or where her grave site may be. Finally, my mother talked to her mother and we figured out where she could be. We made a few calls and FINALLY found her grave site. So last week Mom and I went out to see her. We had the hardest time finding her, and we found out through talking to my grandmother what my great grandmothers legal name is. For quite sometime now my mother has always referred to her as Annie Mae Virginia Brickhouse. For some reason that is what she remembers her by. Well, apparently her real name is Anna Virginia Denson Brickhouse. SO we called the grounds keeper in the park that she's buried and went out to visit. When we got there we couldn't find her so we stopped by the grounds keeper's building to get a map and specific location to help us out. The odd thing is before we got there someone had called and asked for the location of an Annie Mae Brickhouse and he had her registry card out on the table. When we came in he thought we were asking about her and was giving us the location to her grave, when I had to stop him and tell him that it was an Anna Virginia Denson Brickhouse we were looking for. Now I'm not sure if anyone has caught on or not. But Annie Mae was what my Mom had always referred to my great grandmother as. Not her real name. And this is what I had always known her as, especially the last few years. And even when I have dreamed of things leading me to her it was always an Annie Mae. What are the odds that while we are looking for my great grandmother with her REAL name we come across another lady with the EXACT same name we have been searching for to start with. And what are the odds that someone called and had asked about her and the grounds keeper was trying to get us to her instead (never mind the fact that they are somehow in the SAME park). I know, you would say it's a coincidence, an odd one, but a coincidence all the same. LIES I SAY!!! I don't believe in coincidences. This is just too strange to pass off. I feel like we were supposed to find my great grandmother, and the mystery of her life is something that I do need to find out, but for the moment I need to know and understand this Annie Mae. It's like we were led right to her. What I know about ANNA is that she was born in 1906ish and died in 1945 from pneumonia. ANNIE MAE, was apparently the name of my great grandfather's technically 2nd wife, but they got the marriage annulled after a while so she has never been mentioned or known of until now. Now, the Annie Mae we found in the park is not the same one he married. She is a different woman altogether. This one died recently in 2003 and is buried in a family plot of Brickhouse's. Who is this mysterious woman. Is she meant for us to uncover and learn about or are we meant to uncover and learn about this mysterious annulled marriage. What's going on here? Ya know, I could really use a sign. Someone feel free to send me one. SERIOUSLY!! It's just so odd. I need to do some more research, I've about found all I could on the Internet, so I guess it's time to find out what the hall of records has down at city hall. So my quest begins right? Wish me luck.