LongTooth's Journey/Blog

[LongTooth]

I'm starting this blog because I'd like to meet like-minded people. This is a place where people can get to know me better. I'm beginning it tonight, on the new moon, a new beginning.

It's also a place I can record my journey with the spirits, and a record of my attempt to build a stronger connection to that magical spiritual energy. I don't consider myself Wicca, though lately I've been exploring witchcraft...I don't know, maybe I fit the definition of Pagan? I try not to get hung up on the label and remember it's the spiritual connection I want to be focusing on.

I learned a long time ago to just feel my way through this stuff. So please know that I am in no way suggesting anyone follow my lead here. Thanks for reading.

[LongTooth]

Recently I had my first waning moon ceremony. Some thoughts on lights, or the lack of all light.

Prior to this I had an outdoor ceremony in the full moon, where I made offerings to the spirits. I did not cast a circle, but I did use stones as four corners (with a 5th in center to signify the moon goddess) and I prayed/talked to the spirits. I wasn't scared at all that night, and felt really good about everything afterwards.

This time, I tried to time it so that I had the ceremony just before the dark of the moon. My purpose was to try a protective circle and cleanse/purify all of the tools I have collected so far.

I probably should have known better... but, in the country where I live... it gets really dark outside during the week of the new moon. It's also quite bright outside during the week of the full moon, and since my last ceremony happened during a full moon, I hadn't anticipated that I'd be trying to do some complicated tasks in deep blackness, by candlelight.

To make matters worse, I was scared this time. I could hear rustling in the woods near me...and I kept thinking a skunk was going to surprise me at any minute.

But something wonderful still happened, and I feel it was that deep blackness that helped me to see it. When I set my lamp down in the middle of the four corners, I had no problem actually seeing the halo of light/dome of protection that I would be trying to create. This really helped me alot. I didn't have to imagine it was there...it was there, and my own eyes could clearly see it. It was very reassuring, especially when the woods would rustle in that deep blackness. I could see nothing but that bubble halo of light, and it was not hard at all for me to imagine it being protective. I felt I was able to actually see that halo because the spirits were aiding me. I felt the whole thing was a good lesson in self-confidence and faith.

However, it left me thinking about using light in future new moon ceremonies, how visual aids, like small key lights with a narrow beam of light, might help me in drawing the circle or attached to my wand for other energy transferring ceremonies... Just some thoughts on lights to help me see what I need to imagine/feel. I like the new moon energy. It definatly feels different from the full moon energy... but I can still see many opportunities for ritual in that incredibly pure dense heavenly blackness.

[LongTooth]

I look at the cards as a simple but very effective communication device with the spirits. Some thoughts on the cards, and this morning's reading.

I drew two cards this morning, from two different decks.

When I read the cards, I always take them in visually first, and interpret/feel them "at a glance", without research. Later I'll 1) read the info from the booklet that comes with the cards first, 2) look elsewhere as I meditate through-out the day on their message (if needed).

As soon as I saw Brigit I saw myself, holding a flame, and being encapsulated in that protective dome. When I looked at my 2nd card (from my Fairy deck), I could see a spirit, in a garden, in the darkness, and she is listening.



Turning to the booklet's information (which I think is a very important interpretation) I see that Brigit is about intention. The first thing you read is "be quite clear on your intentions". Words of guidance from the spirits? Further down I read "...light a candle in the darkness..." and further down " I will guide and protect you." Brigit is also about the coming of spring.

The booklet from the Fairy deck tells me this card is also about saying good-bye to old ways and embracing a new beginning. "...your present situation is teaching you many valuable lessons..." and you are experiencing "a period of noticable transition".

How am I to interpret this? Are the spirits speaking to me of a new moon ceremony, do they want me to have a ritual tonight? Are they simply reassuring me they heard me the other night? Though I am not sure, the feeling in my heart is one of happiness, reassurance, and mild excitement for what is about to come.

[LongTooth]

In my last blog entry I wrote about not taking the cards literally, and instead intuitively "feeling" for a message when the card is first over-turned. Today I had an experience that seems to make me want to eat those words.

Today's cards were goddess Mawu (Mother Earth) and the Fairy card for assertiveness.



When I first turned them over I just felt confused. Mother Earth? Calling me to defend/heal the planet? Surely the spirits know I'm new at this magic stuff... and what do they mean "be assertive"? Sounds like I needed to take action somehow, though kindly. I already do a lot for the planet, but nobodies perfect, and there is always room for improvement... so I wondered if this would mean I'd meet someone today who would upset me by not recycling?

I went about my day, left the house to run some errands, and when I returned, weighed down by grocery bags, I found DIRT all over my kitchen floor. Earth. Mother Earth. Removed from a large potted grape ivy and heaped high in the corner below the plant, and lightly scattered everywhere...



Who would do such a thing? The Red Squirrel (a Fire Spirit if I have ever known one). She comes inside my back porch all the time to drink from my cat's water bowl. Today she used the pet door to try to save a cache of birdseed under my potted grape ivy. Guess she's planning on moving in with us this winter. Yes, this would call for assertiveness.



The moral of this story: Sometimes the cards are very literal, and you don't have to look hard for a meaning at all. The Spirits will spell it out to you, loud and clear. You just need to read it, that's all.

[LongTooth]

Lately I've become interested in crystals....

Making the corners for my new moon ritual involved finding quartz, which I pulled from my own garden... It was that research that lead me to find info about stone spells, and healing with crystals thru reiki techniques... and this little collection began to develop:

Doing all the research on these little stones lead me to find more stones and crystals I was interested in... and I began searching for the perfect stone... And then I received this card reading:

It seemed to be reminding me that my powers were within me... not in any stone, talisman, tool...but within me...and that power was love. So I didn't buy any stones that day, but I wanted to all day. The next day I received these cards:

These cards reminded me that simply standing on the earth outside was good enough, I needed nothing I didn't already have, and of that I would always have an infinite supply. But to lift up my spirits, I should repeat positive affirmations. So, instead of spending my time researching crystals, I made a list of positive affirmations, and arranged them in a rythmic chant that I used off and on all day. The next day my cards read:

That's probably all I really need. The earth and all it's magic is right outside the door.