Thursday 29 May 2014

Mixing it up...

If you read my last blog you will know that I am working with Lord Ganesha at the moment and it looks like he might be with me to stay (which I am of course delighted about) so I have re-dressed my altar, well one of them...

I am only touching on the beginnings of how a good Hindu would set up an altar, there are all sorts of lovely rituals to 'awaken' my Ganesha statue and beautiful prayers to say...it may take me some time but I am going to investigate this all and do it properly.  Not that I am going to convert, but I just think that if I am to work with a Hindu deity then I need to be respectful and do some research.

I know some of you will be horrified that one of my altars not only now has a statue of Lord Ganesha on one side, a nod to The Cailleach on the other side (she has her own altar in the other room) but also candles and offerings to the goddess Sulis that I am working with at the moment on it too.   A long story short...The Cailleach is my Matron goddess but she works best in the cooler months so usually during the summer she gives me another goddess to work with...enter Sulis...

Will the deities argue with each other?  I am pretty sure they are tolerant of each other as long as I try and keep them all happy...at least I haven't been struck down by thunderbolts or lightening ... yet...

Lord Ganesha is strong and powerful as is The Cailleach, both of them suit me down to the ground so I think this will be a long and fruitful, and not uneventful relationship.

Have I mixed up Celtic with Hindu?  Yep I sure have and you know what? I don't give a flying flipflop as to whether it goes against 'the rules' or not - it works for me.    Both The Cailleach and Lord Ganesha were very insistent that I work with them.  The Cailleach has been with me for about 8 years now and Lord Ganesha for just over a year...it would have been rude to ignore them.

So I have followed my intuition, been guided by my instinct and so far it has worked out perfectly fine, I would go as far as to say it has worked incredibly well for me.

So I say...go with the flow, always listen to your instinct and if it means mixing it up and going against the rules (who wrote those rules anyway?) DO IT!


Friday 23 May 2014

At Ganapati's Feet ♥

I read a LOT of books and occasionally one of them makes me say "WOW"...this book is one of those:

Lord Ganesha came into my life early summer last year, everywhere I went I saw elephants...not real ones obviously it would be a bit strange seeing elephants in the middle of a city...or my house...but images of elephants everywhere until I got the message.  So I obtained a small Ganesh statue for my altar, made offerings to him and even created an incense blend to use whilst meditating and he helped and guided me brilliantly.  But once his work with me was done he kind of faded into the background...until now.

Reading David Dillard-Wright's book At Ganapati's Feet yesterday had my brain whirring, my heart bursting and all kinds of epithany moments.
David takes you on his own personal journey with Lord Ganesha and it is moving, beautiful and down right inspirational.

The book not only gives you information on who Lord Ganesha is and how he works with you but also includes guidance on how you can work with him in return and takes you through some of the daily spiritual practices you can use.  This book for me personally is a bit of a life changer.

I read this on the Kindle but I will be pre-ordering a paperback copy as I think this one will be in my 'well thumbed' collection.

http://www.mantra-books.net/books/at-ganapatis-feet

Thursday 22 May 2014

And relax...but only for a moment!

It's done...it's finished...it has been submitted to the publisher for them to copy edit...PHEW!

The manuscript for my fifth book with Moon Books - A Kitchen Witch's World of Magical Herbs and Plants is finished...well finished as in now the publisher does all the stuff to it that they need to do in order to make it happen as a paperback and an ebook.

Estimated publication date is October 2014 but you can follow the progress on a dedicated facebook page www.facebook.com/kitchenwitchmagicalherbs

This journey started back in January and it has involved an awful lot of research, procrastination, doubts and aha moments - as any book writer will tell you, that's a normal process.

So...what do I do now?

Well the Kitchen Witch 'to do' list is miles long but the most exciting thing is our new venture Goddess Pathways:

Pathways that will take you on many journeys of discovery and enlightenment working with the knowledge and guidance of initially the Celtic Goddesses but eventually a whole host of different pantheons.  We will be offering workshops, online courses, talks, oracle cards, handcrafted items and hopefully even a retreat at some point.

To say we are excited about this new project is an understatement to say the least.

Join us on the journey with our facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/goddesspathways

And take a peek at the website (much more to be added as we progress) www.goddesspathways.com



Tuesday 6 May 2014

A 'Witch of All Trades'

I can't believe it is May already, the time has flown past but I have been incredibly busy and packed quite a lot into this year already.

Within the past month for instance I have worked my Craft, am writing a book on magical herbs (nearly finished), attended a Shamanic workshop, learnt an Apache smudge ceremony, given messages at a mediumship evening, been on a ghost bust, talked about faeries & elementals at a fair, taught about faeries & elementals at a workshop, run a Moon Circle, attended an online Beltane ritual, talked at a workshop about Ostara and Beltane and written articles about witchcraft at this time of the year and recipes for Lughnasadh and Mabon...all a bit of a 'pick n mix' really - I do use the title 'Jack of all trades' to describe myself - and that same title has been used against me as an insult too...

My journey on this pathway has been a very windy, twisty one with lots of unexpected turns but isn't that part of the fun?

I have studied lots of different areas, I incorporate a lot of different 'bits and pieces' into my Craft but that is what makes it MY Craft surely?

I have a huge amount of books on all sorts of spiritual subjects and pathways - druidry, shamanism, Avalon, Atlantis, Hoodoo, psychic skills, Hawaiian traditions, animal totems, the Fae, deity and any number of different witchcraft books along with all the various courses and workshops I have attended (Reiki, crystal healing, progressive magic, herbalism, Druidry etc) - all have been read, digested and processed - I take what works for me, use the bits that I like and ignore the rest.

I work with the Goddess - any number of goddesses actually and a few gods, and over the years a few orishas and loas as well - I work with those that present themselves to me - they come to me for a reason, a life lesson or just for guidance and support.

Yes I work with Hoodoo, but I work with the folk magic practical side of it, more from the European folk magic history of it - that causes a few raised eyebrows I can tell you - because I don't say Christian prayers when I work with it - no I don't - so sue me.   We could get into a huge debate here about where it all originates from and whether you need to say the Lords Prayer for each petition or not, but I don't want to do that - I work it into MY pathway the way that is right for me, as many other people do.

My base of training is Wiccan - but I am not a Wiccan.  I do work some Wiccan practises into what I do but I lean more towards hedge witchery and kitchen witchery.

I have also had Druidry training, but I am not a Druid, I just work a few bits of that into my pathway too.

I work with Reiki, crystal healing, animal totems, the spirit world, the underworld, the Fae, Gods, Goddesses, Loas, Orishas, herbs, candle magic, shamanic practises, hedgeriding, meditation and I read the tarot - in fact any dang thing that I like to work with that gets the job done.

Just because I do things my way does not make it the wrong way or come to that - the right way.  Just because someone else does things differently to me does not make it right or wrong - it makes it individual.

One thing that struck me this weekend as we finished our day at a faery fair was that at the heart of it all, the real base, the structure and foundation of it all is witchcraft.  I am a witch and I think sometimes that can be forgotten a little with all the other wonderful and exciting things that present themselves.

But at the end of the day do we need labels?  Do we need to be pigeon holed into some sort of category system?   If we do then I am a 'Witch of All Trades' and very proud of it.