Thursday, June 23, 2011

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! :)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

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.

Monday, June 13, 2011

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!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

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!

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Smeared and Smudged's Skull Appreciation Day Blog Hop

Smeared Ink Skull 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!