Quick update ......

Hellooooooooooo - yes tis me - and no I haven't fallen off a high cliff ....

I've had a manic couple of weeks at work and have been so tired in the evening and blind from computer work, so I've stayed off line and done some other stuff instead!

So, what has happened since we last spoke - well - the candle that got dressed in the dark has been brilliant and has burnt so well, that I now have to do another one!

We (Kitchen Witch Coven of Natural Witchery) held our first offline ritual at QEP and I am still totally amazed and humbled by the turnout and we couldn't have asked for better weather or company - if I had one complaint it was against lazy dog owners who hadn't picked up after their dogs prior to our arrival ...eww!

Now, that last photo, brings me to something else I have been doing - well will be doing - I am now the proud owner of a Bodhran drum - so I am going to learn how to play that so that I can join Tansy in the centre and drum up some energy!

Ohhh - and have to show you these - my ROCKING the day boots!

They make me smile and make me feel awesome!!!! and they go wonderfully with my ritual cloak !!!!!

Keep on Rocking!

love Raven x x x

Candle dressing in the dark!

As many of you will know, when it comes to crafts I am not the handiest of people - my brain can conceive things that my hands just have no idea how to make them - but for all that - I like to 'have a go'!

So, last night I decided that I was going to 'dress' a candle to become my Healing Candle... so, in typical fashion - google is my friend (or in this case I headed for YouTube) just to get an idea for what I needed to do... I knew what I wanted to do - just not how to implement it .... however the t'internet didn't want to play ball ..........

Basically, I wanted to put a herb blend on top of the candle, add some oil and a ribbon ...... so far so good - then I got a bit stuck ..... how would I get the herbs to stay on top of the candle - would I light the candle and leave it for an hour or so and then sprinkle the herbs on and then blow the candle out or should I sprinkle the herbs on the candle and then melt the wax from a second candle over it...........

Strangely, I couldn't find any information on this - didn't matter what book I picked up or what I googled - so, I went with my gut..... and voila .............

One Healing candle later ..............

Today I picked up a book and it fell open at a page explaining to me how to 'dress' a candle! - don't you love it when that happens :)

Love and light to you all

Raven x x x

Rune Draw - 16th September

Kano ~ Opening, Fire, Torch (Reversed)

Ohh, this is so apt for me right now, Kano is all light and the way being illuminated - but I've been in a dark place, I've struggled to see the way forward and have really resisted hiding away in my cave and I've been closed to opportunities and friends and loved ones - I haven't been wallowing in self-pity - but working my way through grief - and now Kano has come to tell me that there is light at the end of the tunnel, there is a way forward and I will achieve all that I have set out to achieve!  I just have to resist falling back on past habits to get me through!

Love it!

Love to all

Raven x x x

Rune draw - 13th September

Jera ~ Harvest, One Season, Fertile

This Rune has no reverse to it, this is the Rune of patience - you have planted the seeds now it is time to let them grow, some seeds will grow straight and true and will stand the test of time, others will be weedy and weak and will wither and die - all you can do is wait and know that no matter what happens the seeds will grow.  Take your time now, for you have plenty of it....to cultivate your seeds to make them strong and sure!

Musings, Meditations, Grief and Tears

Yep, I'm still here despite not blogging or doing much of anything for the last week or so ..... life took an unexpected twist for me and I'll admit to being left floundering like a fish out of water - I didn't know if I was right, wrong, yellow, blue or black ..... so, with the infinite wisdom of the Divine - my Goddess sent me a 'bug/virus' that forced me to do what I'd been resisting - that was to stop and take stock!

One of the things the cards, my Runes, the Daily Ohm kept banging on about was to meditate and that I would find the answer I seeked within - and today, finally came the breakthrough - whilst listening to a meditation I started to cry ..........

I don't mean the hollywood cry where one single tear falls gracefully ...... I mean howling, snot bubble inducing bawls of tears, one because I miss my Mum, I miss her every single day and I need to acknowledge that and to stop being 'strong' - secondly, because my Mum never, ever, told me that she was proud of me or that she loved me (without being prompted) ...... I know she loved me, but I never heard it from her lips!

I am now on a journey where love plays a massive part - my affirmations are I am a source of infinite love, I give love freely and receive love in abundance............

The younger child in me, still wants my Mum to love me, to say she is proud of me, to acknowledge the brightness I brought to her life.... when I was a child I was told to stay upstairs and 'amuse' myself whilst my Mum had her friends round.  It was a part of her life I wasn't 'privy' too until I was working and a 'adult' ...

Anyway, that was a huge release for me - to allow myself to get 'angry' and be 'hurt' for the child that still lives within me ... to allow that child to kick her heels, cry and feel scared .... then to cuddle her and assure her that she was safe and wouldn't be hurt again!

And that brought me to another realisation (told ya it was a breakthrough!!) and that is that I was STILL relying on others to validate me, I was STILL looking to my peers to tell me what a good job I was doing - and when they 'failed' to do that it left me hurt, angry and not knowing what to do .....

Today, I realised that they are human too, they have their own pasts full of hurt, anger, betrayal to deal with - I can't make anyone love me (goes against the free will clause!!) and trust is not a given, it is earned and respect is earned by actions not by words .......... so, I will be me - and as long as I can look myself in the mirror (and the me I meet in meditation) squarely in the eyes and know that I did the best I could ........ well, then I'm due all the love, respect and trust in the world!

love to all

Raven x x x