Beltane Blessing 2015

I've been celebrating Beltane for...a good long while now and this year has, by far, the most tumultuous energy I've ever felt on May Day.  With everything that's going on in the world it seems appropriate to turn the traditional blessings of fertility and personal prosperity into blessings for understanding and fruitful communication between all people.

A brief aside for Seattle area folks - I've got two events going this weekend. I'm facilitating a Beltane Ritual tomorrow at 3pm in Carkeek Park.  It's going to be fun and low key, so come on by :) On Sunday I'll be teaching a workshop on Psychic Self-Defense for Ghost Hunters at Spooked in Seattle's Metaphysical Market at 4pm.

Beltane Blessing for 2015

As I reach down to feel the earth beneath my feet I feel it pulsing with the energy of new growth.  The seeds we have sown are awakening and burgeoning with new life; changing the landscape with bursts of energy.  I shall ride these currents of growth and change and harness them to my will.  With them I birth a shift of consciousness in my self. The vast and unfathomable energies of the Sabbat flow through me and change me from within.   

The bright fires of Beltane burn within and purify me.  Beltane fire burns away prejudice and privilege so that I may grow true, unburdened by the mistakes and misconceptions of my past. 

The seeds of expression bear the fruit of clear and effective communication.  The seeds of listening grow into true hearing. The seeds of knowledge within me blossom into real comprehension.  The seeds of compassion I've sown flower into true empathy. 

I manifest this growth through right action in my life.  I know that all change begins within but must be brought without in order to take hold.  I walk through the world enacting comprehension and empathy with all those around me.  I model the behavior I would see.  I inspire others to manifest positive change through right action.

Beltane blessings take hold within me and through me move into the world.

Beltane Ritual 5/2 at Carkeek Park

If you are in the Seattle area come join me on May 2nd to celebrate Beltane!  We'll be doing a fun, informal ritual in the always lovely Carkeek Park.  We'll be meeting in the parking area next to the playground at 3pm.

This relaxed and informal ritual is open to all ages, traditions/practices, and levels of experience. Come as you are.  Just bring an open mind, a willingness to participate, and a small offering of flowers or birdseed if you can. 

I hope to see you there!

For full details check out our event listing on Witchvox:
http://www.witchvox.com/vn/vn_detail/dt_ev.html?a=uswa&id=94369

Pop Culture Magick: Con Edition - Part I

The weekend before last I attended the ever glorious Emerald City Comicon (ECCC).  There is no better place for a pop culture magick (PCM) practitioner can go to fuel their practice than a convention.  In this post I'll talk a bit about how you can work a comic/pop-culture convention to better your PCM practices.  In my next post I'll talk a bit about what you can do magickally to improve your convention experience. 

So...many...toys!

One of the best things about doing PCM is the availability of magickal tools.  You can take toys, t-shirts, art, and swag of all kinds from your favorite fandom and turn them into magickal tools (see an earlier post for more info).

There is no greater concentration of potential magickal items than on a convention show floor.  There were hundreds of amazing vendors of every possible description at ECCC.  You could get everything from custom artwork, plushies, action figures, swords, clothing, armor, jewelry, and more.  I saw things that I didn't even know existed being sold on that show floor. Come prepared with a solid budget or you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.

I made two fun purchases this year.  I found the booth for one of my favorite comics, Kill Shakespeare, quite by accident while trying to escape the crush of the Friday afternoon crowd.  They had some incredibly fun t-shirts available, including one of Shakespearean villains.  If you're a fan of this blog you know that I love both Shakespeare and working with villains in my magick.  Next time I need to do a spell that requires the potency and scale of a Shakespearean villain I know what my ritual garb will be ;)

My most exciting (and priciest) find was a licensed replica of Harry Dresden's original shield bracelet.  If you haven't read any of the Dresden Files (oh for shame!), they are an urban fantasy series about a wizard-for-hire living in Chicago who battles baddies of all shapes and sizes.  One of his most important tools is a charm bracelet where each charm is fully imbued with a potent protection spell.  I plan to charge each of the charms on my bracelet to do exactly that.  Not only will it have the power of the intent that I put into it, but also the power of the belief of all the readers of this 15 year (and counting) series - talk about taking advantage of power that's already sitting there ripe for use.

Another incredibly useful PCM tool that you can often only get at conventions is custom artwork.  Many artists will take commissions for custom work at or before conventions.  If one of your favorite artists is available take advantage of that and have them make a piece whose components you can use in your magickal works.  Imagine the prosperity spell you could craft using a piece of custom art as a focus.  As a bonus, art purchased directly from the artist almost always has stronger energy than art that's gone through an intermediary - less energy dilution good!

The options are just about endless in for this sort of thing and it's a great way to both improve the potency of your magick and support your favorite artists.

Energy, energy everywhere! As far as the mind's eye can see!

The energy at a convention is utterly unlike anything else.  The closest thing to it would be a major concert or sporting event, but sustained over several days rather than just a few hours.  There are so many overwhelming emotions pouring everywhere: excitement for all that can be done, joy at seeing your favorite writers/artists/actors, frustration from waiting in lines, etc.  That nearly unlimited energy can be harnessed if you take care.

In most ritual magick you set up sacred space, call on helpful energies and entities, raise energy, and then direct that energy towards your goal.  At a convention you can kind of skip all that and just scoop up the copious energy around you and send it off to wherever it needs to go.

Of course, just because energy is strong and available doesn't necessarily mean it's in tune with your goals.  The energy of a bunch of squeevy dudes drooling over pinups probably won't help you ace your feminist theory class and the energy of a vendor arguing with convention staff won't help your prosperity spell.  Take your time to walk the floor to feel out the energies.  Find the energy that feels most sympathetic to your goals and take a bit from that area.  If you're doing a spell on the fly just be sure to walk through that area when you need to gather energy.  If you're setting up for a larger rite you can always charge a stone, sigil, or talisman while walking through that area.

You can also utilize the energy in panels in pretty much the same way.  Most actors and audiences put off a tremendous amount of energy during convention panels - the more exciting and dynamic the panel, the more energy gets thrown about the room.  You can either come in with a plan to use the type of energy you expect to be generated in the panel, or you can do something on the fly if particularly juicy energy starts flowing.  

I had the pleasure of seeing many panels featuring truly kick-ass women at ECCC.  If I had wanted to so a spell to enhance my self-confidence or assertiveness I would have been absolutely spoiled for choices with so much empowering energy around.  Of course I didn't think about it at the time because I was too busy fangirling.  I'm ok with that.

Sweet Tesla is that...?

Conventions are also filled to the brim with major and minor celebrities.  They're one of the few places where you actually have the chance to interact with your idols - be they artists, writers, actors, etc.  Getting to meet a beloved celebrity (however briefly) is thrilling and at a con you almost always have either an autograph or a photo to take away from that meeting.  That little token can be used (mindfully) as a focus for sympathetic magick. I had the great please of having photo's taken with John Barrowman and Clark Gregg this year.  If I ever need to do a spell for confidence or accepting who I am I've got the perfect focus.

There is on SUPER-HUGE caveat to any magick involving living human beings as symbols - don't mess with the people themselves!  Similes are your friends in this type of magick.  By all means do a spell to "have strength and poise like Haley Atwell when she played Agent Carter."  Do not do a spell to "have Haley Atwell's strength and poise."  Do not suck energy out of your idols; they have enough demands on them already and do not need you making things worse.  Also be careful not to project your expectations onto a celebrity.  Just because they created your favorite character does not mean they act like or have the values of that character.  Celebrities are just people, often charismatic and brilliant people, but still just people.

Part II - Con Survival

For similar info check out:
Pop Culture Magick Index
Magick at Concerts

Seattle Event - Ostara Saturday 3/21

If you're in the area come and celebrate Ostara with me in Discovery Park! We'll be meeting in the north parking lot at 3:45pm tomorrow.

The ritual will be very informal and will largely improvised (so what happens will depend on who shows up). Bring a small offering of nuts, seeds, or flowers.

The park can be wet and muddy, so wear sturdy shoes that can stand a bit of muck. It's Seattle, so rain gear is always a good idea (and it's supposed to be damp tomorrow). We may take a small hike around the park depending on the weather, so bring a water bottle.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1561648907450444/

Urban Offerings

Here in the States it's almost Thanksgiving; that wonderful time of family "togetherness" and gorging yourself until you pass out.  I'm not always as grateful for my family as I feel like I should be, so I like to look at Thanksgiving more as a time for making offerings - particularly to the spirits of the place where I live.  It's fairly easy to remember to make offerings to the beings that we ask for help, but it can be quite difficult to remember to also make offerings to the spirits that just happen to be where we spend our time.  The spirits inherent to the places where we live and work can make our lives easy or difficult, almost without being noticed. 

I live in the suburbs and work downtown, so I like to make three special offerings around Thanksgiving: to the spirits of the area where I live, the spirits of downtown Seattle, and the spirits of I-5 (on which I travel every day). 

The easiest offering for me to do is always the one to the area where I live (a slightly betwixt and between bit of Snohomish County). The spirits of the place where I live are used to me and I don't really have to go out of my way to get their attention (doing magick in any place for a prolonged period of time draws spirits like moths to a flame).  It's also easy because I can give the same kind of offerings that I usually do, since I have an altar on which I can burn incense, place sacred objects, etc.  I also have the good fortune to have a yard so if I want to make offerings of food or flowers outside I can very easily. 

However, I do like to make a little extra effort when giving special offerings by trying to make them more relevant to the spirits I'm making the offerings to.  I try to think about what spirits are in the area and what they'd like.  The area where I live used to be quite rural (it was chicken farms when it was first settled and forest before that).  There aren't a lot of ghosts that live near me (fields and forest don't exactly hold on to human energy), but there are some nature spirits and the spirit of the land itself is fairly strong.  One of the things I've done as a sort of permanent offering to the land is to promise not to use chemical pesticides or fertilizer in my yard, making it more hospitable to nature spirits, as well as slowly replacing the plantings with native species. 

For Thanksgiving I like to put out a small offering of organic, local fertilizer in the part of my yard where I do workings.  It's a large clear space under some big cedar trees and I put the fertilizer right in-between them.  I'm always careful not to put it right on the trees as some fertilizers can actually burn plants in high concentrations.  I also try never to user too much, since I don't want to encourage weed growth - they do that well enough on their own thank-you.  Although it would make sense to make an offering of food (like home baked bread) I have to be careful not to put out too many offerings of food because my area has a bit of a rodent problem that I don't want to encourage.  I also tend not to make offerings of bird seed because I have an outdoor cat that is a ferocious hunter - the birds do not need to be brought to her.

Making an offering to my city is always a bit more challenging.  I do a fair bit of work with the spirits of my city's founders, so I like to go up to Lakeview where most of them are buried and give them some attention.  Most of them are fond of offerings of whiskey and the rest enjoy a good cup of coffee, so they're easy to appease.  I also like to make an offering to the spirit of the city itself, which is a little more complicated.  Sure, I could do a symbolic offering of incense or flowers on my altar but that doesn't really do much to help the city itself (it's spirit is well fed and doesn't really need it).  I prefer a more direct approach for offerings to my city.  If I were less lazy going out and doing charity work in the city would be an ideal offering, alas I am not less lazy.  So I like to give donations to the local food banks.  Many food banks get the majority of their donations during the holiday season, so I make sure whatever I give has a really long shelf life (I tend to go with canned fruit and big bags of rice - lots of nutritional value and very shelf stable).

Offerings to the spirits of I-5 is also a little funtastic.  The interstate is an interesting beast because it's energy is so fluid, influenced by the people constantly moving on it - never staying in one place for more than an instant (unless there's gridlock).  There's also a fair amount of negativity on I-5 from road rage and accidents.  Although I take the bus for my commute, I do drive on I-5 several times a week.  The best offering I've been able to come up with is to make a drive where I'm particularly attentive to being a polite driver and where I have a good time on the drive.  Putting out a little positive energy on the road is really the best thing I can do, so that's what I go with. 

Magickal Community - I Want It

A few weeks ago I attended a local Pagan Pride Day planning meeting down in Tacoma.  The current group running PPD are a hard working and incredibly welcoming group.  It was so nice to walk into a group of people I barely know and instantly feel welcomed and respected.  I knew it was a group where I could make suggestions and give my opinion, and that they’d form their opinions on the quality of what I said, rather than what group I was a part of or who I studied with.  It made me realize just how much I miss being a part of an open-minded local community group.  

When I first started practicing magick, back at Wellesley, I was blessed by being part of an incredible group.  We were all beginners struggling to learn together.  Everyone was pretty much equal and everyone pitched in and helped the group to learn and grow.  In retrospect I realize how incredible that group was.  I found a second family in that group and some of us will be sisters forever, even though we’re spread across the globe now.  The most remarkable thing was that because none of us had any “lineage” in the craft, we could only judge each other on what we actually said and did.  We had no past to be judged on.  

When I came back to Seattle I expected to be able to find local groups that would be as open and welcoming as the group I left.  To say that I was disappointed by what I really found would be a gross understatement.  What I found was a community shattered by politics.  I found people who didn’t care who you were unless you were introduced by someone with status,  I found “open” groups with no interest in even saying hello to new people (let alone welcoming them), and I found it almost impossible to even find the community without an “in.”  My friend and I once went to an open sabbat and spent 30 minutes in a dark room while the group hosting the event came in, late, and one by one passed us by without even saying hello.  When we asked if we were in the right place we received looks that clearly stated we weren’t welcome - even though the event was advertised as open to all.  Gotta love the Seattle freeze.  I’ve found people that wouldn’t give me the time of day because I wasn’t 50; I’ve had others that wouldn’t talk to me because I wasn’t under 25; and goddess help me if I mention that I don’t “embrace the warmth and light of the great mother.”  I once had a fellow practitioner tell me to my face that I was evil for working with Kali - way to be understanding lady.  

I had almost lost hope that there were, in fact, decent groups out here.  Then I started hosting Grey School info booths at the local PPD events.  The thing about PPD events is that their entire purpose is to foster community strength and understanding.  The folks that take the time and trouble to come out to them are, generally, friendly people who genuinely want to talk to new people.  At this point PPD is pretty much the one day a year I spend out in my local community (other than supporting local magickal merchants).  Through PPD I’ve met several local community leaders that don’t make me want to pull my hair out.  (There’s a really terrific Dianic group here - too bad I’m not Dianic.)  

I’ve met some amazing people in the local area, so what on earth is stopping us from coming together?  Terrible inertia? A lack of leadership?  Fear? Come on people, getting together in a coffee shop once a month isn’t exactly rocket science.  I suppose if I want local community I’m going to have to put on my big girl pants and make it happen.  *sigh*

Seattle Workshop - Urban Magickal Self-Defense

Saturday April 6th, 2013 3pm-5pm

Learn magickal methods to increase your awareness, prevent being hassled in a crowd, improve your work area, and safeguard your home. We’ll be looking at auric control, magickal camoflauge, wards, witch bottles and more. This workshop is appropriate for people of all levels of skill and experience, from any path. All you’ll need is an open mind.

Join me afterwards for dinner and an informal chat at a local eatery, or take the fabulous Spooked in Seattle ghost tour.

$20 per person, Cash or Credit Card

    102 Cherry St.
    Seattle, Washington 98104

Phone    (425) 954-7701
Email    reservations@spookedinseattle.com
Website    http://www.spookedinseattle.com

Faeriecon West

Tonight I'm headed to Faeriecon West, right here in grey and damp Seattle.  It looks to be quite an interesting event.  They seem to be trying to attract a very broad audience, with presenters from the worlds of art, literature, fantasy, and magick all together.  It will be really interesting to see how well the different folks can mesh together. 

They've also got a great mix of musicians performing, including one of my favorites Adam Hurst.  I haven't heard him play since the last time he did the Portland Vampire Ball, so I'm hoping to make at least one of his performances.

Also quite squee worthy, one of my favorite illustrators, Stephanie Pui-Mun Law,will be there.  This is the gal that does the exquisite Shadowscape Tarot deck that I love so much.

The con is all weekend, the 22-24th.  I'll definitely be there tonight, and may be back for bits and pieces on Saturday and Sunday.

RENAISSANCE SEATTLE HOTEL
515 Madison Street
Seattle, WA 98104
http://faeriecon.com/west/

Haunted Seattle - Spirits of Seattle Ghost Tour

Last Friday I had the great pleasure of going on the Spirits of Seattle Ghost Tour with some good friends of mine.  Unlike a lot of the other ghost tours in town, this tour was done by van rather than on foot.  On the plus side van tours can cover a lot of ground and are climate controlled; on the minus side a tour in a vehicle doesn’t have the same visceral feel of a walking tour where you get to hear the stories while being immersed in the energy of a place (although there were a few stops on the tour where we could get out and really get a feel for things).  The tour was about 2 ½ hours long and ranged all over town, going from Lake Union, through downtown, up to Capitol Hill, and then back downtown again.

The van picked us up at the South end of Lake Union, near the new park, and the tour began with a bit of local history as we drove towards downtown.  Our guide, Jake, was really knew her history and told a decent story.  We were shown several haunted buildings, such as an old public hall turned bar turned recital hall, and told of the various activity reported there.  I must admit, that these were mostly such common haunts that they weren’t particularly engrossing (the activities were the typical shadowy figures, cold spots, odd noises, and residuals of any haunt).  I was much more interested in the activity we’d hear about up on Capitol Hill, as I knew less about that area.  I was not disappointed.’

The first stop of the tour was at a former church up on 16^th and E John (now home to a marketing firm).  We got out of the van and heard how the main church area is haunted by the spirit of a former minster, while the top floors of the rectory are haunted by the spirit of his wife.  We got to walk around the building and enjoy the beautiful stone construction and stained glass.  For anyone with energetic sense, this building was a trip!  You could actually feel the presence of spirits from outside the building.  It was obvious that the former minister was not happy that his beautiful church had been desecrated and turned into something else.  I could also feel the presence of his wife looking out at us from the top floor of the former rectory, but she felt very sad rather than angry.

From there we moved on to Volunteer Park, one of my favorite places on the Hill.  I had known that what is now Lake View Cemetery had been moved from the park over to the lot next door but I hadn’t realized that it was specifically the land that is now the reservoir.  You learn something every day.

The real surprise of the tour was seeing the GAR Cemetery that’s just on the other side of Lake View.  How had I not known that existed?  There’s a whole extra cemetery just North of Lakeview that is the home to the Civil War veterans that settled here in Seattle.  It’s a pretty little cemetery that was alive with energy on the night of the Equinox.  It’s not as big or as impressive as Lake View, but I think this little plot has a lot more ghostly activity, perhaps because everyone buried there was a man of action.

Then we drove back down the hill to downtown.  We passed the Moore Theater and the adjoining building The Josephnian.  Having been there a time or two, I knew the Moore had some ooky energy, but I hadn’t realized that it was haunted (though I should have, as just about all theaters are). 

From there we went past the old Butterworth’s Mortuary (now Kells and a few vacant floors).  I’ve discussed Kells pretty thoroughly in a previous entry so I won’t now.

Overall it was good fun.  This tour covered a lot of ground that I hadn’t known much about and the guide was very knowledgeable and fun.  I must admit that it wasn’t the spookiest tour I’ve been on, being a bit heavier on facts and phenomena than personal accounts and storytelling.  It didn’t help that the other group of friends on the tour with us was a gaggle of giggling drunk girls that pretty much destroyed any hint of atmosphere Jake managed to create.  The company the runs this also does a true crime tour that I definitely want to go on – without the drunk girls in the back.

Seattle Zombie Walk 2011

On Saturday the 2nd I participated in the Red, White and Dead - the 2011 Seattle Zombie Walk.  My friend Rae and I got all gorey and joined a few thousand other shambling undead down in Fremont.  It was a beautiful day to be undead.  Here are some picture for you to enjoy.


Here's me with a nasty arm wound.

 

Here's Rae and I together.  She did our fabulous make-up.

Undead falafels were unexpected, but rather nifty.

This gal definetly had the creepiest make-up I saw all day.

This poor corpse got munched on all day by the horde.

And of course, the massive Thriller dance :)

It was so much fun to enjoy tasty brains with a bunch of crazed undead.  I'm already planning my outfit for next year ;)

Haunted Seattle – Pike Place Market

As you’ve probably figured out by now, I love spooky stories.  One of my favorite things to do when I’m travelling and have the time is take ghost and haunted history tours.  (If you ever get the chance to take the New Orleans Vampire Tour, do it!)  However, I’ve never taken any of the haunted tours here in Seattle.  I mean to remedy that, so on Saturday I went with some friends and did a ghost tour of Pike Place Market.

Over the years I’ve been to the market hundreds of times and it’s always packed to the gills with people.  One of the coolest things about taking the ghost tour was that it ran after the market closed for the day.  It was really neat to be able to see the bones of the market without the usual crush of bodies.  The market is beautiful even when it’s empty, but I’m rather partial.

The tour began at the gum wall.  For those of you who haven’t been, there’s a wall in Post Alley where people stick used gum.  It’s disgusting.  Really, really disgusting.  For some reason, that is incomprehensible to me, people think it’s really cool and it’s become a tourist attraction.

At the gum wall the guide told us some interesting stories about the Market Theater and The Alibi Room (supposedly haunted by the market’s founder).  From there we went up to the market proper and heard stories about the ghosts of Princess Angeline, old sailors murdered by “seamstresses,” an eccentric dubbed “Mae West,” and a murderess named Linda Hazard.  We also heard stories about the Post Alley former home of E.R. Butterworths, the city’s first mortuary.  To read these stories in detail I highly recommend reading the book put out by the founder of this tour, Seattle' Market Ghost Stories.

It was a fun and informative tour, not terribly spooky, but fun.  I’d recommend it to anyone coming into town that didn’t already know a lot about the city’s history.  If you’ve got limited time here in town, skip this one and take the Underground Tour, the energy is a lot darker and you’re much more likely to see or experience the paranormal.

I enjoyed this tour because I’ve actually seen ghosts in the market and its surrounding areas.  When I was a teen going down to the market was one of my favorite things to do, and when I was about 14 I saw the ghost of Princess Angeline (daughter of Chief Seattle).  I was down in the bowels of the market, near the magic shop, and saw an old native woman wearing an Indian blanket with piercing blue eyes.  She creeped me out, but I didn’t think much of it until I passed her and turned around only to find she’d disappeared.  My other encounter happened in Kells (an Irish pub/restaurant in the basement of the old mortuary).  I was having lunch with a friend late in the afternoon and we were the only patrons there.  My friend had gotten up and I was alone in a dark corner when I saw a little girl, maybe five or six years old, in an old fashioned dress skip down the center of the room and disappear into a wall.  I’ve eaten there many times since and have never seen her again, though I hope to again someday.