New candlesticks

Yesterday I went on a trawl of my local charity shops trying to find a new pair of candlesticks for my altar. I was looking for a matched pair, with reasonably wide bases, able to take dinner/taper candles, and that were somewhere around a hand-span high, give or take an inch or so. Something like …

I haven’t abandoned my blog, honest

Although it probably feels like it if you follow Church and Circle, what with me not posting anything for four months. Whole mix of reasons why, but mostly to do with me doing things I then want to write fairly in-depth posts about, knowing that said posts will take a long time to write, and …

Happy Vanadis Day!

Oh 14th of February, how I have mixed feelings about you... Last year I wrote about why I quite like the idea of Valentine's Day (commercialisation aside), and why I celebrate it as Vanadis Day these days. More so now, as over the last year I've had even more experiences to make me not want …

A surprising new tarot deck

On my way home from work today I picked up the Amazon parcel containing my new deck - the Tattoo Tarot with art by Megamunden and the LWB by Diana McMahon-Collis. I wasn't expecting to buy this deck. Hell, I wasn't planning on buying any more tarot decks full stop, let alone a Tarot de …

Ok, Christmas is definitely over now.

Today I took down the last of my Christmas decorations. I know I said in my last post that all the decorations came down on Epiphany, the 6th, and I thought they had done. However, I forgot to take the pictures off my front door and take down my Christmas/Birthday cards. Oops. In my defence …

New year, attempt at new start

Well, the new year has definitely begun, unless you're counting it from Lady Day. I've had my ritual New Year at Yule, my personal New Year on my birthday, and the civil/calendar New Year on the 31st/1st. (My liturgical New Year has long since passed - that starts at the beginning of Advent, well over …

Any loose change down the back of the sofa?

Marietta, amazing author of the wonderful and very useful blog Witchy Words, is currently running a GoFundMe campaign to help pay for emergency sewer-pipe work needed at her house. This has hit the household (Marietta, her husband, their three cats, dog, and new bird) completely out of the blue - it didn't show up on …

Broken pots

Freyja does turn up in unexpected places sometimes. Or rather, more accurately, Freyja turns up when I'm not expecting Her. So far She's shown up in an unknown-to-me tarot deck I was perusing, and on my Facebook feed, and most recently in a post by one of the bloggers I follow. The tarot deck I'm …

Rosary achievement unlocked!

Last Sunday I finally finished praying the 54-day Rosary Novena I was working through, and therefore I am feeling quite pleased with myself. When I got my iPhone in 2011 one of the apps I installed was called uRosary, which gave you a choice of virtual rosary beads along with allowing you to track how …

Review: Crash Course World Mythology

WARNING! Enjoyment of these videos will cause you to lose hours/days of your life - the mantra of 'I'll just watch one more, it's only twelve minutes long after all' will become very familiar. The 'World Mythology' series from Crash Course is, as far as I'm concerned, a must-see for everyone (along with everything else …

Valentine’s Day/Vanadis’ Day

Wednesday was the 14th of February, a day often referred to by my friends (especially the ones in relationships) as 'Obligatory Romance Day', and I can kinda see why. Valentine's is over-commercialised, like Christmas, and, also like Christmas, comes with the message from society that you should do certain things, and must feel a certain …

I have had an Epiphany!

As you can see, my tree and all the decorations are packed up and ready to go back in the hall cupboard for next year. The remainder of my Advent candle is in the box with the rest of my Sabbat gear waiting until the 1st December when it will be used to light my …

So, I might be joining a coven. Part I

Might be. Might possibly be. Partly for the reasons I'm about to write below, and partly because this was supposed to be written and published in mid-October of last year. Not an ideal amount of time to pass really, considering writing a blog post involves waaay less time, effort, and energy than the duties of …

Using my Freyja witches’ ladder

This was supposed to be a write-up of the tarot card I drew yesterday, but seeing as I didn't manage to even get a deck out of my box-o'-cards I used my Freyja ladder again instead. I've been trying (mostly unsuccessfully) for the last couple of years to get my spiritual life, and frankly my …

Sermon review: Different perspectives, and the Kindom of God

So, yesterday I went to church. Kind of an obvious statement to make, what with me being semi-Christian and all, but the truth is I very rarely go these days. There are many reasons for my lapse in religious observances, ranging from not being at home at weekends (visiting friends, attending a LARP event, at …

I’ve got my sewing machine back!

She's been over at the parents' since I moved, mostly because Mum's 70s vintage Husqvarna is still broken so she used mine, and partly because I hadn't worked out where she was going to live in my flat. I still haven't figured that out yet, so I'll be stepping round her in my bedroom for …

Fighting apathy

I've reached the stage of 'not having to go to work' where all my 'free time to do things' enthusiasm has waned. Granted, I'm still getting fatigued a lot easier than I used to and the breathlessness isn't helping any, but I had enough energy to tidy my bedroom floor so I should have enough …

I am in a state of shock

Aeclectic Tarot Forum is shutting down. This news has shocked me, and made me sad and upset as well. I've been a member of this forum since May 2007, and for ten years it's helped me learn and grow as a tarot reader. It's one of my internet homes, and now I won't be able …

Midsummer already?

I know this particular Sabbat always sneaks up on me, but after losing two months of my life in hospital the longest day has appeared even faster than it usually does. I haven't done much to celebrate this year, despite the fact that being signed off from work means I've had time to plan, organise, …

Convalescing sucks

So, I was discharged from hospital Wednesday last week, much to my relief. Yes, I needed the rehab, but after I spent last weekend at home on weekend leave I realised I was seriously suffering from cabin fever - I spent a lot of each day walking up and down the ward and corridors, couldn't …