A Blessed Imbolc here with someone getting older

While you're celebrating Lammas, we're here honoring Imbolc on Sunday. It's a good sabbath for me because it's all about cleansing and purifying, and letting go. What a perfect time to do so!

We'll probably have something more than simple in the evening (as usual!), because we are going to celebrate Lucas' birthday on the same day (his actual b-day is on Monday, but my relatives and his couple of school friends will be working or studying, so...), and the whole day will be busy! But Lucas will surely make his traditional paper God to fill it with rice and oat, and burn it in his cauldron - as a good Fire little witch, he loves rituals involving his element...



I will add a touch of paganism to his little Bakugan lunch party by spreading wheat stems at the decoration (maybe amongst the baloons). And Lucas asked me to make a big carrot cake filled with brigadeiro and with the same topping (his favorite cake in the world) and hot-dogs for lunch. So mote it be!

We'll have everything simple with our tight budget, but the fun is guaranteed with this crazy family of mine. The house will be full, and I'll be moved and feel blessed by watching my little witch growing older, healthy, strong and smart. He will be 7! Can anyone please stop the clock??

Wishin - in advance, got too much to do tomorrow preparing the goodies! - you all from the Northern Wheel of the Year a blessed and joyful Lughnasadh, and a great Sunday for those who don't follow the pagan path!

Always sweet to get one.

Mother Moon's Message just honored me with this lovely award. Thank you, sweetheart, loved it! You know how inspirational and touching your words always are, and that's why I keep comng back there!

Well, the rules:

1. Thank the one who sent it your way. (check)
2. Sum up your blogging motivation, philosophy, and experience using 5 words. (check)
3. Pass it on to 5 others who blogs who you feel have real substance. (check)

Hmm... Asking me to write about anything in only five words is asking a dog not to bark, lol! But let me try to...
"Comfort, fun, share, friendship, love". Because it's comforting to share my daily joys and troubles here. The friendship and love I get from you all make things easier to deal with, and it's fun to watch the world become a sweet nutshell.

Passing it on to (but remembering that all my blogroll truly deserves this award - I'm just following the rules, sigh), for these other reasons besides having real substance:
1. Gabby, from Bohemian Single Mom - because she inspires me to be a better mom every day;
2. Linda, from Olde Baggs 'n Stuft Shirts, because she's strong.
3. Jules, from MoonCat Farms Meanderings, because she knows to exact balance between fun and depth in her posts.
4. Kris, from Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom (don't know if you take awards, though!), because she rocks, and she was there when I needed.
5. Andréann, from Aux Demilunes, because she's this wise sweet mama soul into a 20-year old body.

*And remembering you girls are not obliged to accept this, I'll still love you! :o)

Brews & Baubles witcheries

Some time ago I ordered from my friend Kris's cool magical Etsy shop, Mrs. B.'s Brews and Baubles , a prosperity oil (because it's never too much to have it at home). To my surprise, the sweet witch added a couple of other products, that made my heart sing - some of my favorites there!

Okay, one at a time...


I used her prosperity oil this Waxing Moon (and OF COURSE, Lucas wanted to join me!). I regularly make this spell so I'm never completely broke, lol! This time I made one a bit more elaborated, meaning that it lasted the whole waxing moon phase, for my little witch's delight. The anointing oil has a subtle scent, always better for me, who can't stand any strong scents. It came in a cool little glass bottle and it will surely last long!



The other item was her Sleepy Time Bath Soak, made with lavender, chamomile and three different types of salts. Lately I've feeling restless at bedtime and can't properly relax to sleep fast, so it came in the best time.

Originally to be ued in a bathtube, it can be taken to showers too. I put a handful (there's a generous quantity for two batches) into an organza bag and hang it on the shower head, so the water would run through the bag, while I visualized negativity and stress being washed down my body, and out of the shower into the drain.

I can't tell how relaxing it was and how good was the scent - again, it was subtle and refreshing, and my shower time got to a higher level, really relaxing me enough to go sraight to bed and have a good night's sleep!



And there's her black salt, which I'm saving for my traditional Waning Moon's cleansing ritual. After using her other witchy stuff, I know it will be perfect to intensify the protection circle.

I highly recommend Mrs. B.'s shop if you're looking for made-with-care magickal products!


PS: I was not paid or even asked to do this "review", I did it freely just because I really loved the results!

Photographing the Dead's first Giveaway!

You guys may know my good friend Brian and his blog, Photographing the Dead (if you don't, you should!), where he talks about his cool, sweet Spawns, his life's points to ponders, and specially, his awesome urbane/nature photographies - the more touching, his cemetery photos. It was because of them that I started looking at cemeteries with gentler eyes. Now he's celebrating his more than 50 followers (that I'm sure are about to double pretty fast) by giving away an amazing book on cemetery symbolism, "Stories in Stone". Perfect for those who love going deeper on this subject, or love symbols in general. It a must have in any case. You'v got till August 2nd to join the fun, check it out!

A new Karpov... or Karparov... or any other chess genius

... Says the drooling mom. A couple of weeks ago, my brother got home with this old chessboard he found at his photography club that was forgotten at the bottom of a drawer. He lended it to Lucas and my 19-year-old nephew taught him the basic rules and pieces moving. He immediately fell in love with it and wanted to play with him - the game took two hours, a patience record for both players!

Since then, he has to play at least once a day with me, my brother or my nephew. It's super-funny to watch his frownings while planning the best moves. I think what mainly attracted him was the "battle" scene he's got in his mind from Harry Potter, and the different moves each piece is allowed to make, making things more dynamic - if this can be said about chess.

What I know is that I play with him and he beats me every time. You see what a great player I am, slooooooow... lol!

The chessboard never leaves the dinner table now, and hours fly while we are over it, eating peanuts or popcorn and trying to checkmate - we never got there yet, though!

The Full Moon at home

While I was away, I also took the time to go deeper in my pagan path, reading, writing on my bok of shadows - knowledge is never too much, as my uncle used to say.

I always like to keep things very simple about rituals and spells, no patience to make elaborated stuff, I tend to wander, seriously. So esbats are pretty simple here. I usually have two of everything because of Lucas. As he loves taking part of sabbaths and esbats (and every witchy else that he notices I'm about to do), I make the ludic part with him, and then, after he sleeps, I make my solitary rituals and prayers. Those with kids at home understand the reasons: there are always spontaneous interruptions and comments that may break the focus (I don't really mind, he's learning and playing after all)!

So at esbats, I light a white candle on his altar, place a glass bowl with water, and he pours some drops of blue guache on the water to see the images that comes up (he "sees" everything you can imagine, from dragons to mermaids). While he visualizes them, he focus on good, positive thoughts. I took this from Elsie & Pooka page a long time ago, and he loves it. We're also trying to restart making dreamboards for Jamie's Full Moon posts, but life's been busy lately, but soon I'll get the pace again.

After Lucas sleeps, I simply light my altar white candle and say a little thank you prayer to the Goddess after drawing a pentagram on my forehead with the water from my chalice. The candle takes its own time to end, and I sleep too. I'd love to know what you guys do at your esbats!

Back to tracks

Where to start? My emotional life has been a wild roller-coaster the past couple of months, but the ride is over and I finally jumped off the cart. Sometimes I put all my heart in something that it's just not meant to be, and sometimes it takes time for me to realize that - I dive in too deep to be rational. But as my motto says, "nothing happens by chance", and there's always something to learn from these experiences, they make us stronger and wiser, as well as give our protective armour a new thicker layer.

So in the initial phase I knew it would be better to be away from cyberworld, among other reasons, or you my friends would get crazy with me being a cry baby, whining all the time. I needed to step back to get a clearer perspective of things. I've been visiting some friends' blogs, commenting here and there, but without energy to post. The healing process is still in course and will surely take a bit longer to end - I'm a beast who licks wounds until they're completely closed - but I'm strong enough to be back. I do miss being around, where I've met wonderful, fun, creative and supportive friends who became part of my life. Those who have an active virtual life know what I mean. It's a vital part of me now, and I can't deny myself this pleasure and comfort - poor you guys!

In the meantime I've busy, with Lucas on his July vacation, with my witchycrafts, with products reviews, with staycations (thanks for the new word, Kris, lol!), with my spiritual path... And I'll post about it along the next days.
I hope everybody is enjoying your Summer time and life is being gentle!

Kisses and love from us.

Break time

Hello, friends. I'm giving this blog a break for a while. I want to thank for the wonderful support along this time, I'll be back in due time. Hope you all enjoy your Summer time.

Kisses and love from us.

The Weekend in Black and White

Something funny happened when Litha arrived on the Northest Hemisphere... Many of my blogger friends started talking about Autumn and Halloween! This is a very special sabbath and seems like you guys can hardly wait for it, when you Summer is so hot there!

So my post B&W today is this fun and cute spooky ice tray I won at Rue's cool giveaway some time ago, and Lucas loved:



Already in the mood for Samhain!

For more Mono photos, visit the new main page hosted now by Dragonstar, and join the fun.

Of innocence and the otherworld

Thursday were emotionally hard for me. My bother found this baby bird that fell at our house, and I took care of it, hoping it would soon be strong enough to fly away again. My neighbour lended me her wooden cage, whose bottom I covered wih newspaper and I placed the tiny and absolutely adorable baby bananaquit in there, feeding him with drops of sweet water and warming the covered cage with a lamp trhough the whole afternoon and early evening. Lucas got excited to have a litle life to help returning to the free world soon.

But latr in the evening, after I put my little witch to sleep, I lifted the cloth that was coverng the cage only to find ut the poor little thing was dead. He couldn't make it. The morning after Lucas looked for it and I explained what happened trying not to sound dramatic, and he wa so sweet he wanted to comfort me!

To worsen things, just hours later, our goldfish Nemo was also dead. He was weird all day long and gods know why died too, although I keep the bowl clean, feed him with small portions of fish food, etc. As I was talking ot my FB friends, this kind f fish doesn't live too long, alas. Now we only have Lancelot, but I plan to buy another one to keep him company asap.

I buried them both at our garden, after drawing a pentagram and a triple moon on the cloth that I wwrapped the tiny bodies, and Lucas want to plant a flower or herb on the place.

Sooooo... It was hard. I deal very badly with death. Human or not. I'm okay now and so is Lucas (he seems to deal better than me!)... But I don't like it! Technically, specialy being a pagan, I know it's part of the cycle of life and the Wheel of the Year, etc. But it breaks my heart anyway.