Meditation Monday

Meditation Monday

Most Sunday's I swim, which means I have to try and rouse everyone early (ish) and get organized and then swim before or around lunch time. Then we eat a light lunch, I might nap afterwards and then I teach, make things and if I can stay awake listen and chat on CJMars excellent pagan show The Blackthorn Path. Gayla and Mumsy B are really great.

Sunday for me if a day of doing which tends to mean that Monday, Moonday, I don't want to. Monday is cool and blue day. Monday wants me to dwell in that dreaming place. That quiet between space of meditation and breath.

It isn't a sad place, just quiet. Were I not to be in this place I would want to eat Monday sundae's and watch films or read fantasy books.

I have already done some deep meditation work this morning. Already whispered the song of harmony with the world and all in it.

I believe Monday is a day we should be gentle on ourselves and each other. We feel things more keenly. We are more sensitive and in some cases fragile. As some people grouch and snap, forgive them. Monday, Moonday has them in her sway. Some people are sleepy or not awake, forgive them too, the dreaming calls them.

Don't forget to forgive yourself too. 

Some amethyst might help, or if you really have to focus some fiery carnelian. Be soft and don't fight against it. Nap if you can, or just be aware of that thin layer of moon dust covering everyone's eyes. Making you yawn, making you want to dream.

If you get the chance sit and meditate with water and moonstone. Allow yourself to fall deeply into yourself and find what is hidden there. Monday is a day for treasure found deep, deeper, down inside your self. 

If you feel like crying, take some time and let the tears flow. The moon moves the salty depths far bigger than you. It's okay. It is not the end of the world. It's just Monday. Tomorrow will be different, brighter, sharper and with an edge. 

Until then, forgive, accept and let it flow.

Bright Blessings xxx  

If you like what I do and want to know more you can buy my book The Key Opening the Doorway to Magickal Practice here and buy and order bespoke witchy wares here at our glorious little shop  LucyDrake&Co.

For Free

For Free

As an artist, a writer and a teacher and witch, you would be suprised how often people want to take from me, for free. 

"You will get good press." says someone.

"You make it out of natural stuff any way!" Says another.

"You might be a fraud/pervert/weirdo." Says another. 

Yeah, my degree cost me nothing but fresh air, and my tools, and time, oh I kind of need to eat and pay for my broadband...

"Uh, money for magick is wrong and dirty..."

But poverty is fine?

Is my work beautiful? Artful, full of magick and wisdom and light? 

Then I deserve to be paid for it. As it stands it is far cheaper than some, and if I factored in my hours of work (at say the minimum wage) you would not be able to afford it.

You want what I have, then be fair. Be polite. If you have to save up, ask me to reserve something, I will. 

If you want to do a course or workshop and money is an issue, send me a message and we can try and work something out.

I value what I do.You seem to too but being able to have a living wage is important to me.

So buy my books, (good luck asking Amazon to give it to you for free), buy my incense and wands, my charms and TK's runes. Please note that my Goddesses cost what £8.50 and I have seen similar items on sale for £60. 

My blog is free. It gives me space for my writer's voice, allows me to speak to folks all over the world. Keeps the juices flowing, acts like a journal.

If I can help someone, someone in dire need I will. A healing charm, or I'll write a ritual or the like. You are not going to die from lack of runes. Or incense. 

No I don't do free samples. Everything is handmade, mostly to order. I use the best I can because I feel that values my Craft and the forces I work with while I make.

When I visit my friend who makes soap and perfume and moisturizer (Oh it is Divine) I pay for it, happily, because I am showing her I value what she does. If on occasion I am a guinea pig for new stuff, I'm fine with that (mostly) I would never expect her as a small business to give me free things. 

I know the smaller the business the higher the cost on everything. It might be free for me, but it still cost her a lot to make.

So no, no you can't have what I do for for free. 

No I don't care if you don't like it.

Bright Blessings xxx

Accepting the Good

Accepting The Good

So my little blog about self acceptance kind of trigger a load of awesome weirdness. Firstly I was worried would people would be rude or dismissive or even angry I dared accept my amazing-ness. The complete reverse and all the pouring out of positive has been wonderful and overwhelming. 

Yesterday I had a STAGGERING number of people read my blog. Not just the one I wrote yesterday but really old ones too. It was nuts! That hundreds of people were reading my words was...well amazing.

More good news this morning. I was on GoodReads forum (bibliophile) reviewing the last two books I read (The Red Tent and Shaman's Crossing) and I searched for my book and THEY WERE THERE! Granted they were not reviewed and it is only the first edition but I was so pleased!

Even my book of poetry was there!

Speaking of I noticed I often (back in the day) write poetry onto the blog and didn't write it up or keep it anywhere else, I should collect those together sometime soon!

The number of you guys reading this from all over the world touches me greatly. I can't wait to meet you. To maybe teach you. To share my words and ideas with you. I didn't realize how proud I was of this second edition until I got an underwhelming or flat response and I was so... no, it is so good, so much better than the first edition, it has new stuff and diagrams and this... It really does do all it says it will, if you do it!

You can heal, you can forgive, you can learn and grow. Even if you think it is not possible, it is. 

You can.

Some folks have told me that I survived all my pain and sorrow by being strong.

I shake my head, no, I am strong because I survived. That some part of my heart or soul wanted to live, really live through sheer stubbornness and sometimes out of spite of those who kept pushing me down.

Maybe some of that is also down to my work ethic, "sorry I can't die/cry/shrivel I'm far too busy".

I can't remember who it was who told me (I always had an eye) to find something beautiful every day. 

At the time I was sick, miserable and struggling. It helped me a lot. It stuck with me. A sunrise (even from a cold bus) a flower just perfect, what ever it was it made me look for the beautiful. It is in the searching we find ourselves.

It was my times of agony and abandonment I found out myself, I was mine. In owning myself and accepting me, and stopping trying to be like anyone else I created a path of knowing and love that sustained me in even in the deepest darkness.

So if you are hurting, broken, thinking it will never happen for you, right now you are in the fire. A forge that while is unmaking you, is creating the new you. Let go of the impurities given to you by life and family and where you are from. Let go of it all. Be a mess for a while. Don't hold it together. 

Let go. Find out who want to be. Embrace your amazing. Embrace your skills and qualities. Hold onto your good and let go of everything else.

This might upset people. People only like us when we are _____ are not worth having around.

Also people change and grow. People who want you to stay the same will change on you and you will have lost for no reason.

You are amazing. If you don't see it, keep searching. Look for the beautiful. The beautiful is as often found in the imperfect and the perfect. Keep searching. You will find.

It won't be what I found, but then it could never be the same. We all dance differently.

Bright Blessings xxx

If you want to know about what and how I teach my book The Key Opening the Doorway to Magickal Practice. My Etsy shop LucyDrakeandCo is here and I can make bespoke items for you.

 

Amazing!

Amazing!

I am amazing! It took a good poke from a wonderful friend and an amazing healer to remind me and this is uncomfortable for me but here goes.

I am amazing. In a family and situations that would have broken a lot of people (it hurt and injured very deeply and I will always bear the scars) I remain.

I am amazing because I have forgiven crimes against my body, spirit and soul. This was not easy for me, nor was it something I was taught to do, but rather something I strive to learn and work at often.

I am amazing because I have a disability that makes reading, writing and maths (especially maths) really hard to learn, but I pushed myself to learn and to write with no support or help all the way up to degree level.

I am amazing because I have such a strong work ethic, to the point of stupidity almost, but I am learning to be, to dwell, as well as do.

I am amazing because I study the world and continue to learn as much as I can about all I can from herbs and mushrooms to dance and anthropology. I study and learn every day. I have a gift for anatomy and would have gone into nursing (I read nursing degree books for pleasure) had my illness not floor me.

I am amazing because after all the pain and struggles I take a gleeful delight in the beautiful magickal ordinary. From bubbles (who can be angry at the world that has bubbles?) and the tiny flowers, spiders webs in the morning light, the sensual world of smell and taste.

I am amazing because I write. I am really good.

I am amazing because I have a wide field of knowledge and skills. I learned wildcraft and foraging, birthing of animals, how to use a shovel, how to spot wield, mix concrete and cement. This do not exclude as a wealth of academic knowledge from history and anthropology, to anatomy and medical diagnosis. Then there is theology, meditation, healing, spiritual concepts and understandings. Then things like cooking, dancing, martial arts, gardening, massage of many many kinds. Then my artist training from poetry to photography, painting to writing plays.

I am amazing because I can take these separate skills and weave them together to create new. I see common threads those who do one, or another might miss.

I am amazing because I don't want to horde my knowledge (okay my cornbread recipe maybe) but delight in sharing and teaching others. I love to watch someone grasp something not only in their minds but in their bodies.

I am amazing because when I feared that the world was too large for me to change, I instead decided to change myself and help the world and people and animals in it every day the best way I knew how; one cup of tea and slice of cake at a time.

I am amazing because after all the pain and heart break all I want to do is love and cherish. To offer kindness even when it is perceived as something manipulative or grubby.

I am amazing because my instinct is to heal the hurts. Help those in need and protect those who can not protect themselves. It is who I am.

I am amazing because in a world that wants me silent and obedient I stand and sing and I teach my daughter to stand too.

I am amazing because I talk to dead people, faery's, diva, Goddesses, Gods, angels and all manner of unseen things without really thinking about being special, or better than anyone else.

I am amazing because I temper irritation of other people's ignorance with kindness and compassion instead of rage.

I am amazing because I accept the good I am given, revealing in simple things.

I am amazing because I have a wonderful relationship with my daughter, even though I had no model. My mothering is a core strength and integral part of who I am as a person without resorting "playing Mummy". It is expanding all my being and gave me gifts and love I could never imagine.

I am amazing because I understand everyone is. Everyone can be amazing and for the life of me I will never understand why they choose not to be.

Bright Blessings xxx

To workshop?

To workshop?

So...

               Do I run some workshops based on The Key? I have been quiet because I have been either writing handfastings (aw lovely) or off my face on cocodamol in bed with pain in my knee.

I am much better now due to rest and some amazing healing from my friend Lucy.

Anyway the subject of running a "school" or course that follows my book came up over the weekend and it has been rattling around my brain like a pea in a bucket. That and weird dreams about fishing (never fished in my life).

I have run workshops before. I have found them rather fun but struggled to find reliable venues (in my area).

I figured before I did a "whole course" that maybe a series of workshops would ease me in gently.

I wrote about teachers quite passionately in a pagan studies group who felt that pagan teachers should not earn money from teaching and I got really cross.

In so doing all my arguments against evaporated, because I am seasoned teacher. I know what I am doing. Being paid to share that is not wrong or beneath me, or creepy. Like for like (bartering with students) is wonderful in theory but most don't even wash their own coffee cup. In the modern age, a lot of people only respect money. 

The question then becomes, do I do them on-line, a mix of mediums, where, when, and the dreaded...how much? 

A lot of that will come down to the number of people interested of course. The cost of travel and venue prices.

In my mind I already have 3 days worth of workshops (do I run them back to back or separately) Focusing on Mind, the Body and Spirit. Rather than splitting the groups into Novice, Acolyte and Priest/ess and teaching them separately I thought it would be cool to mix them as groups to give some nice cross pollination of experience in each group.

Well I am off to gently (super gently) putter about in the garden while TK cuts runes and sands wands and Witchling plants my pumpkins. 

Bright Blessings xxx

Moonlight, Star shine and Weddings!

Moonlight, Star shine and Weddings!

So my teacher (CW) and his wife (MB) came up to visit this weekend (for a long weekend) and it has been crazy but good.

We did a simple ritual on Friday evening and did a lot of healing for all of us (including witchling and TK). It was moving and beautiful.
I used quite a formal cleansing, and casting as well as call the Watchtowers as well as the elements themselves). I read the full Charge and TK read the full Charge of the God I have written for their handfasting. We drummed and sang, we chanted and span the room right round it was wonderful. Then up to Manchester Saturday to the pagan/alt/gamer shops. It was a lovely day and TK was a hero and he helped a girl who fainted while we were there!

I did a lot of cooking. I did a lot of eating! They brought the sun with them and the weather has been lovely (ie not shitting it down).

I got the green light about the handfasting I had written and I got a poke today about the other couple and I am busy (well not this second) writing theirs. It is slightly more fraught with folks I don't know as well.

I was surprised to be asked how much I charge...not ever having charged a damn thing!

I managed to not win a single card game we played all weekend, got a book I've wanted for a while (for 50p) found out I can knock out an amazing cornbread in around 25 minutes!

It was quite blissful!

I've eaten a little chocolate but it has been a cornbread/gumbo/pulled pork weekend for me!

I am looking forward to being in Hastings for May day!

Weddings!

Weddings!

I am supposed to be resting after some vigorous martial arts last night, but I am writing, not one, but two weddings! It is always a joy to be part of someone's big day.
Both parties are already legally married and older and are head over heels in love. That is the best. I won't do handfasting with folks taking it to the dark place.
I have lost friends for a time when I have refused to handfast when I knew violence was already in the relationship. (Yet when it ended they saw I was right not to tie them together) and the friendship continues and grows.
It is still a challenge but it is a good one, and I think being more mature helps. That doesn't always have anything to do with age mind you.
I am lucky enough to have many old handfastings around to draw on, especially one my teacher performed. Nothing quite like old books, from Books of Shadows and old notes, as well as years of research.
So today I will remember fondly, maybe rub the odd tear from my face as I sit and write surrounded by books on my bed.

For love is peace, as well as passion. It is faith and surrender to something greater than ourselves. It is the joining of people and families. Love is sacred and Divine.

Bright Blessings xxx