Mrs. Bradley is back... And she's got a giveaway!

Most of you know that Kris is an old and dear friend of mine here in the blogsphere. I simply admire and love her and I don't mind to say I'm her minion, along with Kallan Kennedy, lol! Hmm, that's an internal joke... *grin*

She's been pretty busy this year working on her first book on witchery, soon to be launched by Weiser books (keep your eyes opened, guys, you don't want to miss it!). So she's kept her acclaimed blog in a hiatus for what I consider a very long time in order to focus on her writings. Fair enough. But enough is enough, we couldn't wait any longer to read her cool posts... And she's back! :o)

She's back just in time for one of the best times for us witches: October! Samhain, Halloween month! Time for ghosts stories, time to connect with ancestral spirits, to share creepy tales, recipes and crafts. Okay, I know that here in the Southern Hemisphere we're heading to Beltane - another favorite sabbat of mine: Lucas is a Beltane child, after all... But I always love to follow up all the fun Halloween parties that many great blogs host during this month. And everybody knows that I can't resist a good giveaway, right? ;)

I'm talking too much, let's go for what really matters: Confession of a Pagan Soccer Mom is giving away a copy of this wonderful book: Old World Witchcraft, by the great pagan author Raven Grimassi. I've been drooling for this book since I first read about it at Facebook, and now we all have a chance to win it. And the best: the giveaway is open worldwide!

So what are you waiting for? Check it out, the contest goes until October 11. I'm already in! ;)

On how fragile we are

It's been a long time since I last blogged, and I wish I had a happier post to place here today, but I was devastated with the news on Gabby's death. For those not around it, this 5yold sweet little girl fought for months against a very aggressive brain tumor, suffered like hell, and lost her battle last Sunday. I was following up her story, in touch with them, and like so many others, tried to believe that this time something would happen and turn this sad time a happy one. Not happening. What hugely took off my balance was to see such a little kid facing what my big sister had. I just couldn't understand how strong her little body and soul were all this time, because I know well how awfully violent this kind of tumor is. Maybe it was masochistic to keep reading about her, like reliving the worst time of my life, but I just couldn't help, that's what a friend does. Again, I kinda wanted to believe it would be different this time, even though deep inside I knew how it would end.

Reading Gabby's dad's poignant post on her illness and death drained my strength and my energy, and brought that old fear we moms all have. What if it was my kid? How to endure this unbelievable, unbearable pain? I'm the kind of person who treasure every moment I have with my little witch. I was too lucky to have a son that, even after the end of my informal marriage, has never been less than awesome, and emotionally & physically healthy. He's never been a kid to throw tantrums, never been spoiled (very loved but never spoiled), always sweet, smart, funny - of course, full of energy and rarely able of standing still, thank the gods. A really good child. I just can't phantom the idea of losing him in any way. But worse, to go through what these parents have, to watch my child slowly lose his life, day after day. It's too terrifying just to allow a tiny thought about it cross my mind, so it's blocked.

When my sister was diagnosed with this aggressive brain tumor, the time between this and her death was too fast, and too slow. Too fast to see how invasive and hungry the cancer beast was, and too slow to watch her daily pain, to watch the daily little details that haunt me till today. I don't know how my mother survived that. For me, it was the worst, the most painful time I had to live, with too many memories before and after that, that are too hard to tell and to forget. She was my sister, and that time was a haunting tattoo in my soul. But with a kid? Your own blood? No way.

I deeply hope someday Gabby's parents can live with this pain without having it ruining their lives like it must be doing right now. I hope they can breathe again.

What we learn is the obvious and so easily forgotten, and that John reminded us:

"Hug your kids

Love your kids

Believe in your kids

Never take them for granted, they could be gone tomorrow or five minutes from now, never forget that. Even years after this, let gabby have taught you that, work , money, status. None of that is important family is. Go hug someone right now."

Never take anyone for granted, appreciate them, and give them the right attention and love, don't wait for tomorrow, for the next minute, do it now. Love, say it out loud to the ones you care about, express your love, your affection. Cherish the moments you have, be thankful for having your kids, your loved relatives and friends in good health. You never know. Life is too short for drama, and the small circle of love in life should be sensed at its fullest, with all your heart.

Sorry for this venting (I know I don't need to say sorry for writing what I want in my own blog, but all of you who follow this page know what I mean). It was stuck into my throat. Going right now to kiss my sleepy little witch's face.

A lovely Yule

We had a very sweet Yule here, and the weather wasn't so cold as I was expecting, which is always good!

Lucas' altar got a tropical touch with the branch we took from our garden. The little tree we usually use is inside a box, inside another huge box, ito my mom's bedroom's attic , with her Christmas ornaments. So it would be too messy to take it off the place, and we decided choosing something different this year. It became a cute thing, and I guess we'll start doing it from now on:

My altar followed the same pattern, with a funny branch chosen by my little witch. I decorated it with little drawings he made to replace the ones he used on his tree. I'll laminate them for future sabbaths, so cute they got! ;)

A couple of months ago, Lucas made a fun drawing representing a Fire Monster, and asked me to make it in felt. With the many Etsy orders to create, I ended up not making it, and when I was trying to figure out what to give him as a Yule gift, this Monster came to my mind, and I put my hands to work:

I tried to be as faithful to the original as possible, and filled it with calendula and lavender. The little buddy's trunk is a bit longer than it should, but the final "art" was okay. I put it in a cloth green bag and placed it at his altar. Of course, on Yule morning, he went straight to it, and he loved his new friend!

This year, I didn't make any special dinner, but to compensate, we got lots of dried branches and leaves, and made a little fire outside, into an old metal bowl. We drew sacred symbols on a small lumber as a Yule log, and put it on the fire, along with pieces of paper with our good wishes for the arriving season:

The night was wonderful, so starry and quiet... We spent a long time watching the fire, the stars, sharing an apple while focusing on good vibes, thanking the Goddess and the God for our lives and asking for protection during the dark months ahead. We also ran around the fire, greeting the sun that would get stronger and stronger now. (I bet the neighbours were open-mouthed at the sight of us jumping up and down and making funny dances, and thinking, "what the heck...?", lol).

We talked about the importance of always honoring these sacred dates, saluting the seasons so vital for us. I silently said an extra "Thank you" to the gods for another precious moment I was sharing with my little son. I feel really blessed to be able to have these special times with him, so full of meaning. I feel so humbly happy that I succeed to create a tradition as a pagan mom, to have open, sweet talks to him and have the chance of explaining how I perceive the spiritual world, something this close to us, on our daily lives, and to listen to his own ideas and thoughts about it. Lucas walks his path so naturally, and it's such a joy watching him living it, that I feel my heart getting warm to the point of melting...

I hope you all had a lovely time celebrating your Solstice too! :)

Happy Litha & Yule!

Wish you all a wonderful Summer or Winter Solstice, dependig on where you are right now! :) May the Gods bless your homes and fill them with joy and strenght for the new season arriving!

A recovering lady

My mother has always being a stay-at-home mom who worked hard to raise her six kids while my dad was working. With their super-tight budget, washing machines and electric mixer were luxuries they couldn't afford to get, so all clothings were washed by her at the washboard until mid 70's, and all cakes and breads vigorously mixed in the kitchen's bowl with a wooden spoon. 40 years ago she started baking her famous honey breads right before Christmas, to help dad give us a better Christmas night with more yummy food and better Santa Claus presents. Of course, she prepared the thick, heavy mixture manually, and only in the 80's we could give her a mixer, that was a helluva of a help! But all those extra physical effort had a price to pay (it's a surprise it took so long, in fact!), and this January she started feeling her arm aching when lifting it, and her problem began, as a tendon in her shoulder became worn to the point of needing replacement. To make a long story short, after dozens phisioteraphy sessions that lef to nowhere, her doctor finally decided to make the surgery last week, and a big anchor-shaped pin was placed.

Now she needs to be patient to go through the long recovery phase without-moving-that-arm in trhe process. Not an easy task for a woman used to be totally independent. and loving to do everything to everybody. It's the second time, recently, she needs to stay "quiet" (or as quite as possible for her restless soul) in bed - the first time last year, when she needed to go under surgery to fix her foot. So it's all a matter on working on her acceptance that sometimes, the world has to go on without her help, even knowing it will not work properly!

For me, it's again a wonderful chance to pay back to all her amazing love and good care for me and my little witch since we arrived almost two years ago. While she hates to be stuck in bed, thinking she's making me work too hard (as if I have never taken care of a house... Moms, lol!), I know she loves feeling the explicit love we are all throwing on our silly/goofy way, hugging and kissing her, making jokes all the time (specially about the anchor-shaped pin, and how we could throw her in the sea to keep a boat steady if we decided going to fishing someday) to make her laugh and forget that she's not in total control of her life for a while. And I just love being able to really cooking again, ahh... :)

Obviously, Lucas is adoring to be her guardian angel, reporting me every move she makes! ;) He's like a watch dog, and loves to be around to "see if she needs something". As all kids, everything ends up being a fun game to play!

He even wanted to create a special and cute "mojo paper bag",for her, filled with rosemary and healing intentions, with an Algiz on the top, which brought my poor mom to tears - she keeps it into her pocket all the time now.:

Tomorrow she'll have the stitches removed (her scar is healing very well, thank the gods), and the doctor will say what's the next step. A day at a time, and she will survive being in my hands these months! I made a healing candle spell & ritual during the last Full Moon, to be sure things will be okay - it's never too much to kindly ask the Gods to keep a close eye during her trial. ;)

Life has been challenging for this awesome lady, specially the past years, when she suffered devastating losses, but it's amazing to see how strong and brave she is when needed. She's the example I always try to follow, and it's my pleasure to help her this time.

And she won it!

I know, I know... You have already read about it a thousand times, I'm late on posting, but of course, I can't stay in silence, and it's always so good to talk about it again! ;)

My wonderful friend Kris, a.k.a. Mrs. B., won the Circle of Moms contest! Yay! What a delight, what a honor to see her getting as #1 to the end of the huge challenge that it turned out becoming, and with her, other awesome pagan pages, like The Pagan Mom Blog, The Witch Mom, Tales of a Kitchen Witch, to name a few, that ended among the 25 top blogs! It was very stressful during the voting time, watching every day the numbers going up, the good and bad comments coming up and down, while Kris was classy during all the Via Crucis (pardon the pun...) ... But it was all worthy. What was supposed to be a simple popularity contest, something fun and light, became a mission and a lesson for all parts involved (bloggers, voters and watchers).

A mission not to proselytize, but to explain - as politely as possible - to some souls that the contest was open to ALL faiths, paganism included. To explain, again, that pagans are not devil-worshippers, don't eat babies at breakfast, don't have green faces (only occasionally), and don't need to be saved, for the Goddess' sake!

A lesson to, if not to all involved, since some people will never open their minds and hearts enough to let some moonlight get in, to the point of sending cowardly threats to Mrs. B. - but a lesson to some generous souls who had the kindness and the maturity to stop, listen and to meditate on what that fuss was all about. Many pagan bloggers and some Christian bloggers in the contest left beautiful posts showing their support to Kris and aversion to the hate and venon that were being spread by other fellow Christians, which made me believe that this world is really not lost after all...

I'm proud to be part of this beautiful, powerful and supportive community that don't hesitate to speak up when it's needed!

Last day to vote!

Hey everybody! Today is the very last day (until 5pm) to vote at the Circle of Moms contest. You all must be more than aware about everything that's going on this. Honestly, I'm happy that this is so close to end, it became more stressful than I could ever imagine... So many ugly words being spread on both sides... But, thank the gods, there's also the good side: great blog posts have been published, specially by Christian moms, like this one. We really gave many people a huge shake in their opinions and values, this I know! ;) Of course, there will be always those who will never change their minds & attitude - and never bother to try, but at least, we had our flag proudly spread and visible, more than ever!

So let's give Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom and the other wonderful pagan bloggers our last support today!

Smeared and Smudged's Skull Appreciation Day Blog Hop

Yes! Today is the Skull Appreciation Day launched by Skull a Day, and Terra, the great soul behind Smeared and Smudged, decided to give a party to celebrate it! 37 amazing blogs will be sharing their skull projects for you to enjoy and try at home, and there are super cool prizes to win, including my Spooky Skull keychain:


Skulls are one of my favorite things (and the little witch's too, he's always drawing them around, lol!). They obviously remind me about my mortality, and how fragile life is - so that we need to have fun while we can! I do honor mine and take good care of it, because I want to keep it for a long time inside of me before getting to the next level, you know? ;)

And for artists, there are so many possibilities to work with! I was introduced me to Gary Rith, this wonderful artist who creats all types of pottery and who made a whole set for the Skull lovers:

How cool is that?!

Black Dragon is one of the skull projects' participants, and her art is awesome:

This is only one of the many great projects going on, you just can't miss it! Check them out, and join the fun!

Still on being a witch and raising a little witch

I know that since yesterday words have been spread like lightning on this subject - they will never be enough - but watching my son today I was thinking...

What's the best religion? Which is the right faith? Of course, there is no absolute truth about one's spiritual path - although the recent events tried to prove it wrong. For me, the best religion, the right faith, is the one you feel at home with. The faith you feel comforted, where you find, if not all the answers to this crazy world and how it works, at least some of them. The best religion is the one that makes yo put your head on your pillow at night, and feel covered by a mantle of inner peace, strenght and serenity face all the nonsense that is thrown at our faces everyday, no matter if you're Christian, Muslin, Jew, Hindu, Pagan... If it makes sense to you, it's your spiritual home, and if it's the right one for you, I'm happy for that.

I'm absolutely cozy and comfortable being pagan and I'm proud of raising my little son on my path - while teaching him about other faiths, and making sure he knows he's free to change his mind and go find another path that better suits his soul, if in the future he feels that paganism is not for him. I know that many parents choose to keep their kids on a neutral field, not wanting to influence them on their spirituality, but I think it's just natural that my son, while a kid, follows my religion. He's used to the scent of incenses and to the light of candle flames since he was in my belly. If I was Catholic, he would probably attend the Sunday mass with me. If I was a Jew, he would read the Torah with me, etc.

I never force him to celebrate sabbaths or to perform rituals/spells. He simply shows such interest and joy that it's a pleasure for me to answer his priceless, never-ending questions and to how him my point of view. He's such a precious little thing who's constantly challenging me to debate - almost like a grown-up - the many sides and possibilities of the spiritual world. He loves reading to me about deities' stories when I'm creating my Goddesses & Gods. He loves making his own potions and amulets, and performing his own rituals at his altar. He honors and respects the eldelry as they are the symbols of his ancestrals. He's taught to be graciously strong on his opinions, and to never bow down to anyone. "Question", I tell him, not to have a blind faith, and to understand that it's important to check facts before assuming.

Nature is sacred to us and he would never hurt or kill a living creature, because that's how I taught him, and he feels it's right. I try to keep my little witch's eyes open to the beauty surrounding him. To watch the lovely cloud patterns that are constantly changing in the sky, specially during these cold weather days. To enjoy watching and feeling the beautiful ancient trees along the streets and to pay attention to the little things that will make a difference in his mood when he's a grown-up man and hard days come and he'll need to feel centered somehow.

He reads about herbs, and is starting to be really interested on their magickal properties. He naturally worships the Goddess & the God, seeing them in every aspect of Nature, and in every aspect of himself.

One thing I tell him since tender ages is "Always respect others, to be respected as well." He even wrote about it in one of his school's compositions, so much I repeat it to him on a daily basis. Obviously we all know this is not so simple, but he will learn to deal with the complexities of my quote in the right time. If he truly understands and keeps it in his mind and heart for the future, I'm happy.

Never mock on anyone, never be arrogant to think your faith or your ideas are better than anyone else's, I tell him. Diversity is something to honor and respect. H's coming to an age that being different may have an extra weight on his or his little friends' shoulders, and I want to be sure he'll be prepared to stand up for what he think it's right without needing to be aggressive or mean. So far he's doing alright on his walk.

On a nutshell (a loooong nutshell, lol), this is how I how I share my spirituality with my son, and how I would really love to see him sharing his own chosen spirituality with his kids, someday. I hope to blessed enough to live to that day.


PS: Blame on my verborragy a super-late hours when I posted this. I forgot the most important! Let's keep voting for Kris and all the pagan blogs at Circle of Moms!! :)

Prejudice, ignorance and disrespect are SAD

No words are enough to express my indignation on this. But I tried on her Facebook post:

Sorry, I was in a rush and ended up writting this brief post above only to let you know about this new issue against pagans... Now that I'm back home, I can talk more calmly. ;P

If you read the link I posted here, you already know what's all about. If not, I'll let you know: There is this cool contest (that should be something fun) going on for the 25 Faith Blogs by Moms, where you can vote for your fvorite faith blog everyday, once a day. You'll find several lovely blogs, from Muslim, Jewish, Christian, pagans. The problem is that one of the nominated bloggers (who is now out the contest) decided to literally attack the whole pagan community by quoting Kris Bradley blog (who is also in the contest with her awesome page, as well as two other wonderful pagan bloggers) as reference to her hate and prejudice. Narrow-minded as she obviously is, she tried to link her sad opinions to the Bible to justify her awful words. What she didn't expect was to be replied back by many pagans (and even non-pagans) who could see the unfairness that was thrown in her page.

I don't like the word "tolerance". I'd rather use the word "respect". "Tolerance" always brings to my mind the image of someone on a higher place being magnanimous enough to allow someone who, in his/her opinion, is on a lower position, to be or say something not accordingly to his/er own opinions. That's why I think that in terms to prejudice, "Respect" is a better word. And all I could see in this lady's post was a total disrespect to the pagan community, a total lack of knowledge on what paganism is about, and a total lack of humbleness on the simple and obviuos fact that there is not an absolute truth when spiritual paths are concerned.

I strongly support you to speak up for your religion, ideas, sexuality, whatever, as long as you don't do it by attacking and being aggressive and disrespectful on those who don't follow your path. This is mean, sad and immature. Ironically quoting this lady (on a more righteous way, I hope): "I will not tolerate that kind of behavior."

To fight a cough

So the little witch was being annoyed by a persistent cough since he got a little cold by the end of March. I took him to the doctor and it's simply that cough which is always the last thing to go away... After taking allophatic syrups that didn't seem to work, my mom remembered an old recipe my grandmother used to give when she was coughing or with a sore throat. It took her a while to finally find the recipe among her belongins, still with my grandma's hand-writting, so sweet! It's quite simple and delicious. After two days, Lucas' cough got really better, and now it only comes in the morning, when he gets up to this "lovely" weather of ours.

So here it is, in case you guys want to try it - and it's already in my BOS, better safe than sorry...:

2 cups of sugar
3 cups of water
1 medium piece of ginger, washed and sliced
1 sliced lemon, without seeds
2 cinnamon sticks
A handful of cloves

Melt the sugar in a saucepan, placed over low heat, until it gets a golden color, add the water, the ginger, the lemon, the cinnamon and cloves. Let the mix boil up for ten minutes with the saucen pan covered. Turn off the heat, and rest it in infusion for 15 minutes. Filter and take it warm, up to 4 times a day. It can be kept in the fridge for two weeks. Adults: 1 tablespoon each time / Children: 1 dessertspoon each time.

Let me know if you tried it! ;)

Samhain 2011

I know we're already turning the Wheel once more, but bear with me, lol! I just wanted to share our Samhain altars' photos, as always.

This Sabbath became particularly special to me after my dad died in 2001, and even more after my big sister Dedê died in 2008, just a few days away from this sacred day. So it's a day full of meaning and when I miss them most... I always place their photos on my altar, and also my grandparents', a loved couple I also miss... Thank the gods I have beautiful, fun memories about them all:

Lucas' altar is where we make our little ritual, where we thanked the Gods for another new year to live, and where we wrote and burned little notes on everything we wanted to get rid the upcoming months in his cauldron, with rosemary and mugwort (that's one of the parts Lucas loves most, lol!). Actually I wrote the bad things, since Lucas said he's quite happy with his life rightnow and couldn't think of anything bad to write down - my sweet little witch...:

He got too close to the camera when I was taking the photo, and I made it even closer, just because I love his "Japanese" eyes:

Of course, I made the traditional apple pie everybody loves and which is made full of the best intentions for the sabbath:

Summoning it up, it was a good night, celebrated on our quiet way, into our shared bedroom, certainly blessed by the Gods.

I hope you all had a lovely Beltane at the Northern Hemisphere! :)

Pagans united!

Hello, everybody! It's been a very long time I don't post (it's becoming a pattern I do not want to keep!). I had some personal issues that prevented me to be online but they - seems like at least - are solved now. What a better way to restart my blog life than asking you guys to spend some minutes reading these pages, here and here? Even if you're not pagan, this subject may call your attention, because it' all about religion rights and about how some people can distort facts.

In a nutshell: David Barton was interviewed by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last week and used/wasted his time to, among other things, state that "“The true historic meaning of “religion” excludes paganism and witchcraft, and thus, does not compel a conclusion that McCollum has state taxpayer standing … paganism and witchcraft were never intended to receive the protections of the Religion Clauses.”

From this point you can take your own conclusions (oh, sorry for keeping the Italic font type, I can't remove it, arght)... What I know and agree with tons of other pagans is that, if a dumbass like Barton can spit his stupidities, it's fair enough to have Jason Pitzl-Waters on the same TV show to discuss this issue with him. Jason's intelligence level is obviously higher than Barton, and he doesn't distort words or facts to his favor, so it will be really interesting to watch this debate, if we're lucky to have him invited to the show.

If you, like me, feel that your word /vote can make a difference, "like" this FB page to take Jason to the Daily Show!

ABC Wednesday - L is for Laguz

Once again I'm late, arght... Sometimes it's hard to catch up with life.

SO this week the letter is L and I can't wait to see what everybody else is coming up with to this one! ;)

For me, L stands for Laguz, the Water rune. Water like in the sea, with its tides, full of waves and changing moods that can be terrifying at times, always changing and recreating itself. It's the rune that shows we need to take a good look at ourselves and accept that sometimes we need to make deep changes in our personality to finally mature and live on.

For more L posts, visit the ABC page, and join the fun!

ABC Wednesday - K is for Kenaz

Hello, my ABC friends! Today the letter is K and that stands for Kenaz, the rune for new lights.

Kenaz means "torch", the one that brings light to doubts and questions. Knowledge, wisdom, unveiling hidden aspects on the reader's life. A great positive rune, in general.

For more K posts, visit the ABC page, and join the fun!

Late Mabon news

One thing leads to another, and when I see, time slipped through my fingers, and Mabon passed without me posting about it. It was a cool day, coinciding with my favorite aunt's 69th birthday:

We had a barbecue in her nonor, got our closest friends and my siblings at home and had lots of fun, as usual.

We burned the Geen Man mask made at Litha, celebrating the turning of the season. It went from this:

... To this:

It was more impressive than in the photo, lol!

Lucas' altar was all set for the sabbath, with our traditional paper cornucopy full of grains and coins, and an apple as a natural candle holder (just carved the middle, removing the seeds and adding a pinch of rosemary in the hle before placing the red candle in it). In the evening, we made our ritual, lighting the candle, and burning his wishes & thanks in his cauldron:

And the Autumn is here again, bringing a bit of new colors to the trees, a different atmosphere and implacable rains, night and day.

I hope you guys on the Northern Hemisphere had a lovely and yummy Ostara!

ABC Wednesday - I and J

I missed last week when I got a tremendous rotavirus that kept me in bed for a couple of days. All is back to normal now.

So tonight I'll get two runes:


Ingwaz - the Earth God, Ing. It represents the inner growth, the time to move on, for all pending issues are set now, and you're free to breath again.


Jera - the good harvest. A lovely rune. Time of peace and success for everything that was so hard worked to achieve.


For more J posts, visit the ABC page, and join the fun!

Welcoming the God Blog Party's First Giveaway!

My friend Willow Silverhorse just launched her awesome blog party, and is hosting its first giveaway right now. Get a chance to win Sylvia Browne's book, Afterlives of the Rich and Famous!

Love of the Goddess Giveaway

Green Tara, from Love of the Goddess, is giving away my Persephone Goddess this week to celebrate the upcoming Spring! Check it out! :)

Thank you!

Thank you all for the awesome, lovely words of support on my venting post. It was not my intention, but it was great to be pampered by you when I needed.
Event digested, and deleted from my inbox - both virtual and mental. :)

Venting

... So I just received an anonymous email... Summoning it up, this anonymous was complaining that my blog is very "childish", and that I shouldn't be so shallow on my posts. Simply like that. o_O

So okay. Let's see if I understand. Someone - wh doesn't have the guts to show his/her face and uses the lazy anonymous ID - takes his/her precious time to email me, to say that he/she doesn't like my page. And so what?

To start with, this is my page. I can post about whatever I want. From the fart that the dog on the street uses to poison the air to my notorious boring migraines, from the sweet things my son says to his cute drawings he makes for me, I can post whatever I want to. My ruuuules... No one needs to come and visit my page, no one is under torture to stop by here and read my posts.

When I started this blog, I never had any intentions of sounding smart, intellectual, sophisticated, whatever. I am what I am, I'm simple, I'm not smarter that anyone else, I'm too clumsy to be sophisticated, and intellectual, pffft... I can't pretend to be who I am not.

I could blog about politics, since Brazil is a cradle of incredibly dirty politicians that stain our papers everyday, and it's a subject we learn to talk and discuss and argue about since almost childhood. We do have it at breakfast here. But as the blog title very obviously displays, here is all about "my days and nights as a Brazilian wiccan mom". I like to keep it simple. To come here and show my little witch's last adventures, last discoveries and challenges on our solitary path. I like to post about my witchcrafts, about the deities that are literally born everyday on my lap.

I do like to keep - except on rare occasions - these deep, "grown up" issues out of my blog garden... Although I love to read about them at my friends' pages, and to give my opinion when I feel it's worthy sharing my thoughts. Here this is my place to relax, to eventually vent - like now - and to read my beloved faithful insane readers's lovely words. Oh but don't you think that I expect to only read positive words, like a spoiled child who can't get a no as an answer, or can't stand the fact that I will not please everybody unanimously. I can bear healthy critiques. What I don't bear and I really don't deal well with is to open my email box and find a short, rude, pointless message, gods know from whom, saying that my page is not good enough for this soul. Frankly, pardon my language, but as I said on the second paragraph, instead of taking such precious time to type those miserable lines, simply fuck off my page, and get a life.

ABC Wednesday - H is for Hagalaz

Another week at the ABC fun, and the letter is H.

H is for Hagalaz, the rune of radical changes in life, the forces challenging us to change what's stablished for too long. Hagalaz means "hail"/"hailstone". A rune to be taken in account - we need to be strong and not to fear the "bad weather" we sometimes get caught into in life. Patterns are sometimes needed to be broken.

For more H posts, visit the ABC page, and join the fun!

Giveaways & their priceless goodies

I'm a lucky witch who is often winning great giveaways... I'll try to catch up and post here all the cool prizes I became the proud owner of lately.



To start with, this couple of delightful writting pieces. In two different giveaways, I had the chance of getting unique short stories from my friend Kristen Eaton, the fantastic writer behind the Looseleaf Handcrafted Stories. Using a tarot reading, she created the first story; and using five phrases given by me, the other one.




The stories per se are amazingly creative. Kristen is so gifted as a writer, and caught the perfect spirit in both tales taking me with her flow with grace.

And the physical booklets are a chapter apart. Absolutely gorgeous and neatly made. You can see how careful she is and how much love she puts in every bit on the making. The cover, the bounding itself, all carefully chosen with lovely details.


This is such an unique, surprising gift that would please even those who already have everything, you know?

Thank you, Kristen, I'm honored to have two of your creations at home! :)

ABC Wednesday - G is for Gebo

I think it will be fun to post about each rune symbol, as there is one for almost each letter of the alphabet.

So today is Gebo. It means "gift". It's a rune to remind us that the balance is necessary. When you give something, you get something in return. If the Gebo rune is showing that this balance is already here, or if it is lacking, only knowing which are the other runes next to it to make a correct interpretation. It is also related to agreements, relationships, forgiveness...

For more ABC posts, visit the page.

The Country Witch hosts the 15 Days of Welcoming the God Blog Party!

My dear friend Willow Silverhorse will host an awesome blog party at her page starting March 15th. It'll be all about welcoming the Spring and the God. In her words:

"This blog party is about welcoming Spring and the God. Remember this is the time that the God is reborn and I want to welcome him back this year and for many years to come. If you want to participate I need guest posts about anything to do with Spring (spells, memories, your garden, stories about the God, etc.) so contact me through my contact page with your contribution and I'll get a date to you. If you want to sponsor a giveaway please contact me asap so we can work out the details. If you're a sponsor I'm giving you full control of how you want the giveaway ran, basically you can boss me around and I'll gladly do what you ask ;). Let's start organizing this party guys! I think we're going to have so much fun this year!!!"

So what are you waiting for?? I'll surely have one of my Gods to be given away, and maybe one or two extra goodies... ;)

Let's party! :)

The Weekend in Black & White

... Another weekly meme I was missing. Love to see how differently things can get when we see the world in Black and white sometimes!

This is the sky viewed through my window, a couple of weeks ago. A beautiful storm was coming:



For more B&W posts, visit here and join the fun. See you next week!

Priceless

"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." ~Frederick Douglass


"Many things we need can wait. The child cannot. Now is the time his bones are formed, his mind developed. To him we cannot say tomorrow, his name is today."~Gabriela Mistral


"There are many little ways to enlarge your child's world. Love of books is the best of all."~Jacqueline Kennedy


"To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark."~Victor Hugo, Les Miserables


"The good of a book lies in its being read. A book is made up of signs that speak of other signs, which in their turn speak of things."~Umberto Eco, The Name of the Rose


Books are lighthouses erected in the great sea of time.~E.P. Whipple