October is here!

Shout it from the rooftops! October is here! October is here!

I Love October by D. Sharon Pruitt
This is my favourite month out of the twelve. There's fall fairs, our cat rescue's big yard sale where we make lots of money to pay our rising vet bills, Thanksgiving, the Toronto Zombie Walk, and of course Hallowe'en. And anything in-between! This year, October is even better with my best friend flying in on the 20th.

My altar is decorated for autumn and Samhain. It's a bit cluttered still, but I feel everything on it is supposed to be there.

We have everything from my sweet bag of crystals, to my Rumi oracle deck, to my mini book of shadows, to my Samhain mini besom that I won in last year's Samhain Sirens giveaways, to my goddess spirit doll that my mother made me, to elemental representations and even a dream catcher hanging just out of sight. I'd like to hang some prayer flags above the dream catcher. I want to add a nice box to store my incense, something with a sacred triquetra, a decorated athame, and a little mortar & pestle (Kensington Market has all but the athame!). I'd also like various bird feathers and an abalone shell to conduct smudging with. I absolutely love my altar!

I'm working on a small ancestral altar that will honour my adoptive parents through the Samhain season. My dad passed in December 2009, and my mom in late November of last year. I will likely post an entry about it, along with lots of info on making your own ancestral altar, on Friday.

I'm also about to start working on some adorable cross-stitch patterns to hang on the wall this month. I just have to get to Michaels to get the floss and Aida cloth!

The amazing Samhain's Sirens is up and running again for a full month of witchy loveliness. Be sure to go check them out, learn something new, and enter all the giveaways! :-)

See you lovelies tomorrow for this week's gratitudes! :)

Love and light,
Mary

In regards to my spiritual path...

I have realized that my spiritual path has offended people I love, even angered them. Not that I wasn't expecting this to happen, but I guess I hadn't really prepared myself for it.

And I know it shouldn't, but it upsets me. I thought of censoring myself completely to halt any negativity, to force myself into being the same woman I was months, if not years, ago, to once again fit into everyone's expectations of me; a religiously acceptable mould. And then I mentally smacked myself upside the head and thought, 'That's stupid, Mary!' Do you know why?

Because my spiritual journey is very, very important to me. It is my driving force, my joy, my strength. It makes me feel incredibly happy and at peace. I'm growing and learning every day of my life and I love it wildly. I am very quiet about my journey except to my biomom, who shares a similar path, but sometimes I just want to shout it from the rooftops! And as a sufferer of severe depression, being able to feel joy about anything must be pretty darn special.

And that, my friends, is what truly matters here.

I can't expect anyone to agree with my views, to understand me, or even to remain being friends with me if they are strongly opposed to it all. I honestly won't be surprised if I lose and/or gain followers of this magical little blog over time because of how I believe.

And I get it. I really do.

You have every right to hate how I believe, to disagree, to say it's wrong, to be angry with me, to choose to not be friends or blog followers, to think I'm stupid for believing in anything at all. Know why? Because those are your thoughts and your opinions, and I respect them all because they come from you! I may not agree with all viewpoints and beliefs, but I respect them all greatly and the people who believe them. I only have a problem with beliefs when someone uses them to threaten, harm or kill other people.

And so I ask you all to please respect me and what I have chosen, even if how I believe upsets you in any way.

Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart.


Blessings,
Mary

Dios de los Muertos and Another Samhain's Sirens Giveaway!

Today is the day that Hurricane Sandy is going to hit us. Tonight, actually. The past few days have been very grey and rainy, and they will continue to be through Thursday. I was hoping for a clear night tonight so I could charge my crystals under a full moon, but no such luck. Instead, we will have 60-100km/h winds that will tear all the remaining leaves off the trees and knock things around. I hope that everyone in the path of this storm is staying safe.

It's hard to believe that Halloween/Samhain is in just two days. And then Dios de los Muertos. This is my first time celebrating both Samhain and Dios de los Muertos. Both hold great importance to me, and here's what I will be doing to honour them.

On Samhain, I will be making a small altar on our antique sideboard. It will include a picture of my father, incense to guide him home, flowers to remind us how fragile life is, and a glass of water to represent purity and to satisfy his thirst. Although, as my dad owned a liquor store for many years, I wonder if a good shot of tequila would be better suited! I will also include a candle to light his way and to represent faith and hope. I will be praying there and remembering him, burning notes and even speaking to him, as I am wont to do, in the hopes that he hears me. I feel his presence nearly all the time, and while this could be my wishful imagination, I believe that his presence will be that much stronger and easier to communicate to when the veil is thinnest.

I will be using Dios de los Muertos, chiefly a Spanish holiday full of festivity and respect for the dead, as a sort of guideline for my celebration. It takes place November 1st and 2nd to coincide with the Catholic holidays of All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day.

I also love sugar skulls, which began as a sweet vividly decorated in spiderwebs, flowers, hearts or swirls, designed as altar decor. Over the years, they have evolved into something much more, and nowadays are more likely to be seen as art rather than sweets. The image of the sugar skull has really become a representation of the Day of the Dead. I love face paint and makeup looks where people's faces are beautifully decked out as festive sugar skulls. I think it's a beautiful thing to accept death, to respect it and see it full of colourful life.


Day of the Dead Catrina with Roses glicee print by Greg Colligan
Also, on Samhain, I will be doing a version of an animal-honouring rite. :)

I'm sharing another Samhain's Sirens giveaway with you guys today! It comes from Deb Garnett of Twysted Thystle, a small herbal and aromatherapy company specializing in wildcrafted and homegrown herbs. This set includes 1 Cinnamon Skin Sugar Scrub, 1 Cinnamon Skin Body Oil, and 1 Cinnamon Lip Balm.


Check out the awesome artwork, all hand-drawn by one of the Twysted Thystle ladies!
I was looking around their site, and it's DEFINITELY worth checking out. I would love to have some of their loose teas, especially Chick Weeds PMS Relief and Frostbyte!

That's all for today :) I still have those Beauty from the Earth mineral eyeshadow swatches to show you, so hopefully I will be posting that tomorrow.

My altar, my tiny besom, & thoughts on my spirituality.

Look what arrived in the mail on Friday! My winning prize from Elegantly Enchanting flew in! I had such a busy weekend and week that I never found time to post about this, and I wanted my little lovely to settle into home on my altar.

It's kind of funny. I've always been a believer in good and bad energies that can be transmitted from people to things and back again, and the good vibes coming from this mini besom were just awesome! I've never felt anything like that before. It's like I could sense how much love and passion goes into Eliora's creations :)

Here it is in comparison to my hand. As stated on Elegantly Enchanting, not only are these tiny besoms decorative, but they are also real altar tools and may be consecrated for ritual use.

Check out the pattern the wrapped ribbons make! The ribbons are tied in three knots (Rule of Three). And I love the little charm. Eliora's got a mini besom for almost every Sabbat, all of them fabulously themed to their respective seasons. I NEED to get them all! :)

Ostara

Yule

Beltane

I showed you the awesome elemental-themed altar set before, which unfortunately doesn't ship to Canada. Sometimes I really miss living in the US! :) Eliora's got some really gorgeous athames too. I would love to have this one:

Pink and Silver Hearts Athame

Here's a look at my altar. This is where I pray, meditate, banish negativity, and more. I'm just a newborn in my spiritual journey. I'm sure this doesn't look like a classic altar, but every piece is there because I felt drawn to it esthetically or soulfully.

The fabric I bought at Value Village because the colours really drew me in and seemed joyous to me. There are candles in white, black, red, dark blue, light blue, and pink. The black candle is a taper and is on the far right, out of frame.

The little glow-in-the-dark celestial things are sitting there awaiting being stuck to the wall above :)

The soft satin bag gently carries all the crystals I have acquired here (as most of mine I forgot to pack in my suitcase when I flew back here, so they're still in Virginia!), and they have been cleansed in fresh clean soil and will be charged under the full moon on the 29th.

The branch and the little leaf tart are part of autumn and nature, the former of which I love and the latter of which I can't go a day without.

The tiny green cabinet I picked up at our cat rescue's yard sale last month. It has a shelf inside, and I'm using it to place special trinkets or crystals in. Right now there are four very wee glass vials with cork lids in there, just waiting to be filled with just about anything. Same thing with the neat brown glass bottle to the left, beside my blue celestial candle holder!

My leatherbound journal with cotton paper is for writing down inspiration, prayers, or just about anything. The little butterfly signifies freedom and positive change, and I have my box of medicine balls there as well. There's my besom, sage incense for cleansing, little affirmations that I had printed out from Kind Over Matter. There's the wee wooden drawers to the right that I painted in dark purple and black and with a full moon and lavender-leafed tree.

And yes, there is my "Hope" cross.

I'm sure that I will get a lot of flack through my spiritual journey for crossing two entirely different worlds that have despised one another for endless centuries. Christianity and Paganism are really not remotely compatible, and is a Christian-Pagan even a legit position of faith? I'm sure that many Christians will tell me I'm going to hell, and I'm sure that many folks of the old religions will tell me that I'm sullying Paganism. I'm sure that both sides will tell me that I'm a phony. And that's okay. I'm doing this because it's what feels right at this time. Not because Paganism is "cool" or "trendy" to me. In my heart and my soul, it's what I feel is right for me.

Right now, I mainly describe myself as a Christian Spiritualist who participates in the Unity and Brethren of Christ fellowships, which are very simple and are not devoted to religion, but faith and spirituality. And Unity is very special in its own right and is what inspired me to step onto this path without fear.

And now, so that this whole post isn't about a subject that makes a lot of folks uncomfortable, here are some autumn photos from the past couple of days! :)

The last two pictures were taken on Tuesday, which was a very rainy, chilly day. I was walking back from my doctor's office when I decided to go to Canadian Tire. My MIL had passed through there recently and said the Christmas stuff was starting to go up, so I thought I'd peep in.

AAAAHHHHHH!!!!

AAAAAHHHHH!!!!

LOL. That's all for now! I've got some Beauty from the Earth eyeshadows to swatch for you makeup lovers, and more Samhain's Sirens giveaways to share! I can't believe Hallowe'en is in less than a week!

Samhain's Sirens giveaways (and I won one!!!!)

Silly Blogger would NOT let me post yesterday, no matter what I did! Argh! So I missed blogging about the giveaway that ended last night on Samhain's Sirens, but it's okay, because I get to share another one this day :)

I wanted to share some neat haunted places across southern Ontario. I would love to visit them some day!

Haunted Places, including the Ancaster Pet Cemetery, Blue Ghost Tunnel, Dundas Elementary, and Magnetic Hill

I can't forget about a more local place that seems to be haunted. Thornhill's own Heintzman House!

Our friend Christine has managed the house for the last twenty-odd years, and she has lots of stories! I worked there to help her out last winter, and let me tell you, that big old gorgeous house is a little creepy when you're in it by yourself! I always felt as if there were eyes on me, but not necessarily unhappy ones :)

Do you have any legendary haunted places where you live? What are they? Have you ever visited them?

- - -

The latest Samhain's Sirens giveaways I'm blogging about are both courtesy of Sabrina from The Ink Witch. She is giving away these fantastic witchy prints:

October 9th Giveaway

October 10th Giveaway

Sabrina does tons of other gorgeous, Old World style drawings that are full of detail and passion. She also has coloured work that is truly fabulous. I am really inspired by her!

And HOLY COW, you guys, I won the last giveaway I blogged about!!! Remember this?

Mini Altar Besom/Broom from Elegantly Enchanting

I'm so excited! I have an altar-type spot set up for meditation, prayer, inspiration and serenity. It's covered by a beautiful piece of orange Indian fabric that I picked up from Value Village last weekend, so my little besom will match perfectly :)

What I would really love to own is this:

Complete Elemental Altar Set

But since I'm not truly Wiccan or Pagan, I feel it would be disrespectful to the old religions if I were to own and use these fantastic pieces. Maybe it's disrespectful of me to own my tiny besom or have an altar. But it's part of me, part of who I am. I'm still on this winding path of faith and spirituality, and I always will be. Right now I think it's safe to say that I consider myself a Christian Pagan, which just sounds like one big contradiction, doesn't it? :)

That's it for today, if Blogger will be so kind as to let me post. If my bruised tailbone cooperates, I may go on a little nature walk and revel in autumn's beauty this afternoon. There's nothing quite as rejuvenating and inspiring!