If you want a warm and fuzzy feeling inside watch this...

Celestial Elf posted this beautiful Ostara video in the comments section on the blog and I felt I just had to share it with all, in case you didn't get to see it. If you can resist falling into a state of peaceful tranquility then there must be something wrong with you ;)

Valentine's hot passion free spell!

A lot about Valentine's day is meant to be secretive; you hold back on your name and affections for the frisson of excitement of knowing your loved one has recieved a token of your desire for them. This is all hopeful and charming but what about when you want to unleash the passion!? As it happens I have a little spell to give it a nudge in the right direction.

You will need:
2 red candles
Dried, crushed chillies

Place the 2 candles on a large plate or even in your cauldron if it's big enough. This is mainly to create a safe enough environment for a little fire based spell so give this some consideration when setting everything up. Light your candles and say:

Let my love roam free
And may passion ignite
May your love be with me
And our union see light

Then take the chillies and sprinkle over the candle flame to spark off the romance!

The fresher the chillies, by the way, the more I find that they light up. If you find they don't, then you can consider putting the flakes in a bowl and lighting them this way. Personally, there's something about the smell that I find genuinely comforting.

Pagan Festivals 2011

It's occured to me that I have not yet posted a list of the Pagan festivals of 2011 so thought I best rectify this! So here's when to plan for fun in your diaries:

Imbolc (been and gone) - 2nd February

Ostara - 20th March

Beltane - 1st May

Litha - 21st June

Lammas/Lughnasadh - 1st August

Mabon - 23rd September

Samhain - 31st October

Yule - 21st December

Now THAT's got me motivated!

Happy Imbolc

Last year I didn't have much time to do anything for Imbolc and chastised myself for always letting this festival slide. I guess I'm going to have to chastise myself again this year too! I don't know what it is about the beginnings of February but it seems so hectic. I suppose we spend a lot of January getting over the shock of Christmas and build up momentum again by the end of the month. Who knows, but I have had hardly any time to prepare anything and for that I am truly sorry.

However, in honour of the Goddess of Brigid (the Goddess associated with Imbolc) I have plans to focus this evening on some sketching and some tarot reading. The sketching comes from her association with creativity and the arts - letting inspiration come forth. Divination is also one of her strengths and so I want to focus on a tarot reading to take me into spring and guide me towards the best choices and options for me.

If you have anyone that you feel is a little weakened in any way at this time, don't forget that Brigid is also a Goddess of healing and so you can meditate for however long you can spare and send some thoughts of love and kindness their way. It's surprising how often they can feel lifted without ever knowing you have thought of them :)

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing for this special day, have the happiest and most blessed Imbolc! Love and hugs xxx

Fran

Yule Spell - Day 3 Very Delayed!!

Thanks to a combination of terrible weather, lack of internet and plunging into a very busy 2011, to my huge disappointment I didn't get to post my final installment of the yule spell! So just because I was determined to do it at some point, here it is:

God and Goddess
Perfect in balance
I bid you to bless
My life with your talents

Your wisdom and serenity
The strength in your identity
I seek to imitate
With total humility

I am content where I am
And for now I shall stay
To suspend growth for now
And to embrace today

It seems that I suspended growth for a little too long though! Hopefully will get back to more blogging now so catch you later!

Blessings to you. xx

Yule Preparations - Day 2

In my last post, I mentioned that I was going to represent the God and Goddess in my Yule celebrations. Now, I am a solitary witch and so do not subscribe to a particular Wiccan tradition - if you do then you are likely to already have close associations with particular deities and the associated names. But I enjoy the ecclectic nature of being solitary in this instance, that I can choose what I feel most drawn to and what I feel would most suit my spell or ritual. As long as I give thanks and am humble, I see all is well with this.

For this particular Yule, I am choosing the Triple Goddess and the horned God.

To represent the Triple Goddess I am going to use an altar cloth with her/their symbol on it. I am also going to use a display that features something else I talked of yesterday - the crystal ball. This will placed at the centre as it's to represent the full moon, the mother - full and abundant. On either side, to represent maiden and crone, I will have an acorn and an owl. Potential and vitality balanced by wisdom and a psychic eye.

Now for the horned God - I am going to use the guise of the Holly King for this. Plenty around and this represents perfectly a rich, deepness in character (in the dark green) and the scary edge (in the prickles)! Holly is something that I'm so happy to use in my Yule rituals and spells as not only does it have its Pagan traditions but it's one of the many things that remains with us today and so brings with it all the happy memories of childhood memories.

Now need to get cracking on putting some structure together for al these ideas!

Fran xxx

Yule Preparations - Day 1

It's funny that at this time of year, Yule represents the earth going to sleep or dying before its rebirth. And yet we are all running around like crazy trying to get everything done!

That said, it's time to start thinking about Yule traditions and making plans for my festive celebrations. In terms of renewal, I'm actually quite happy with the way that most of the important aspects of my life are going at the moment so I'm going to aim for stability - to keep up the good work and keep everything ticking over so that I am then ready for another spurt of enthusiasm and progress come Ostara. It's been a very chaotic time and so I am happy to see some calm and balance come in, it will be grounding for me.

I'm happy to throw in a bit of giving thanks for the opportunities I've had lately though - I don't plan to make it too sensible a party!

Anyhoo, here are some of my ideas so far:

• Red and green candles, for the sake of being tradionalist. And lots of them too being a celebration of light.
  
• Plenty of holly and mistletoe, for the same traditionalist reasons as above!
• Almonds, cloves and cinnamon
• Snow quartz
• Thyme - a great herb for this time of year.
  
• Last year I went for divination with a tarot reading. Plan to fit in crystal ball work this year.
• Symbolism for the God and Goddess, for which I have some ideas already but will let you know the details a bit nearer the time.

Can't wait for the next wave of ideas!

Fran x