Eye Strain & Urine

Now, who knew that it would take so long to catch up on reading my fav blogs and the new ones I've been recommended to read?? Whew! My poor eyeballs are tired these past few weeks of reading. Between reading & listening to my fav podcasts, this witchy is still wanting more!!

Been busy too with my work, being a mom and crafting new oil blends. I think my 2 favs are Van Van and Crown of Success. I've also been doing some major housecleaning with floorwashes I made. Who knew urine would be such a great ingredient to use in placing a barrier around my place for protection? I know, that probably made a few of you a little squeamish, but it's free, does the job you want it to & it will never run out. I use it on the outside of my place, diluted with a little water, around the windows & doors. Inside, my place smells good with the essential oils I use in the floorwashes. Each month I use a different oil, like this month was Calendula.

One of my fav podcasts is taking a hiatus for the summer. I'm so going to miss Velma Nightshade this summer. Hopefully she'll still get together with Fire Lyte to do their "Inciting A BrewHaHa" podcast. If you haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend it. But not to worry, Velma started up a blog called, "Witches BrewHaHa-The Blog" to keep her loyal listeners happy while she gets down to things in her mundane life. I'm still wondering whatever happened to the Pagan Hooligans. They haven't put out a podcast since Feb. They were a newbie couple to the craft & they were a refreshing, funny, new view to this crazy path we're on called Paganism. It was great listening to them explore new things, Jasmine's Tarot card draw, Isaac's use of the word, "Excellent". Go check them out, too to see what I'm talking about. They're not just for newbies to the craft, even experienced witches enjoy their fresh outlook on things.

Anyway, I know this is a short posting, but I am getting ready to head off to work. I need to use my glamour on clients to make them look good when they come in to get their hair done. As always, have a Blessed day.

~Rowan
)O(

Springtime!!!

Well, the snow is melting and the air is starting to get warmer and next weekend the time moves forward an hour. That must mean spring must be around the corner. Now, as much as I love winter with all the snow, I think I'm finally ready to put away the snowboots & heavy coats and bring out the rainboots & lighter coats. When out shopping this weeeknd past, the stores were all full of new spring merchandise, from lawnmowers, to backyard furniture and gardening supplies. I came home and weeded my old planters that were out during the winter and pulling out the old dead plant roots, to get them ready for when I get new plants this spring. I also did the same for my poor neglected indoor planters that used to house my herbs. I am very guilty of letting them go this winter as I was pre-occupied with other things.

So, in honour of the coming season, I changed up my gloomy old blog with a fresh new background. I'm not used to 3 column layouts and I had to adjust some of my widgets to accommodate this change. I searched the land of Google for something that was bright, colorful and pretty. Et Voila!! This is what I found. I like it, I can see little Pagan things in the little window (a hare, eggs, etc)

New Blog Awards

Thanks to Dragonfly over at Witchery Grove for these awards!! This brightens my day, when I have limited internet use & want to update my blog. There are rules for this, like thanking the one who gave these to you (I did) and now to find 15 blogs to send these to...ok, if you want these wards for your blog, just grab them and say that you saw them here (I know, that's a cheat, but when the library internet has a time limit, I do what I have to) and I have to say 7 things about me. Ok, here goes:

1. I love the color purple
2. I am a hair-witch (hairstylist)
3. My guilty pleasure is the Twilight Saga
4. I love to read
5. I have a cat named Callie
6. Chocolate is just as good as sex, in my opinion, but both sex & chocolate together is great!!
7. I have a few close friends, but a lot of acquaintances that I talk to.
8. I love being outdoors, in nature feeling the love of the Goddess in everything around me
9. I am a Solitary witch & that's perfectly fine with me.
10. I am the mom to the GREATEST little boy in the world!!!!!!!!!
    

A Leave of Absence

Ok, I know that I haven't posted in a long time. There is a reason for this. As the recession hits the hair industry, I got behind on some bills and since internet is a luxury in my household, I lost it about 3 wks ago. I went through withdrawals, but now I am ok without not having it. I think I was spending too much time on it anyway.

There have been a lot of changes to my life in recent weeks with losing employment, to hunting for a new position to myself working on my spellcrafting. I have been preparing myself for a job-hunting spell, as well as getting things ready for my self-dedicating ritual I plan on doing very soon. I have been making new friends and connecting with old friends and whittling down my Facebook. I've been out & about with enthusiasm and learning new things/hobbies in my craft.

I will be posting as soon as I get the internet bill paid & start working. For now, I'll be utilizing the neighbourhood library for my internet fix.

Blessings to you all,

Rowan
)O(

New Look!!

Ok, I've been fiddling around with new layouts and I think I found one that I am happy with. This is called Gothic Irish (??) and I like how it resonates with me & my blog.

Been really busy with things in my personal life, school started for my son & work is really busy. I did manage to get some new Hallowe'en magazines today. I have a few ideas to make for my Samhain altar using smaller gourds as candle holders (thanks, Martha Stewart) and I will be getting things ready to sew a new altar cloth with my new sewing machine (yay!!) I just have to pick which fabric to use.

As the veil starts to get thinner again, I will be posting pix of the crafts I will be making, as well as any recipes I'll be making.

~Rowan
)O(

New Award!!

The rules for the award are (borrowed from Greenwheel):

1. Thank the blogger that gave you the award - Thank you GreenWheel for validating my parking my winding pagan path as seen in my hemisphere of the pagan blogosphere.

2. Sum up your blogging philosophy, motivation, experience, using 10 words. - I don't like the number 10 so I'm changing this to 5. Although if side comments count, I have 24 :-)
• honest
• refreshing (from time to time)
• imaginative/creative
• insightful
•fun

3. Pass the award on to 10 other blogs you feel have substance. Again, number 10 sucks it so here's 5 fabulous bloggers with substance. In no particular order and without further ado:

1) Rue, over at Rue and Hyssop
2) Bella Foxglove at Memoirs of a Crazy Witch
3) Witchy Mama at Pagan Parenting
4) Jen at Ramblings of a Newbie Pagan
5) One Pink Fish at Perfectly Pagan

A Year Of Reflection

So, I'm sitting here looking at my calendar and thinking that is was a year ago that I started this blog. In that year, so many wonderful things have happened to me on my journey. I found my focus of where I want to go and I am on my way of getting there. Even my blog has gone through some changes as I do. I'm not just talking about my monthly background changes, either. I started this blog, doing pretty much copying & pasting info I found off the net, it wasn't really personal. Then, slowly, it started changing to reflect what was going on with me. I stared writing about things that were relevant to me, I added 2 extra pages as references. I don't really update my deities page unless I have an amazing encounter I feel I have to share, that is my personal page saved for them. My BOS page is getting there with things I have made, spell workings that are (somewhat) harmless, meditations, chants. This, my main page is me. It is my way of showing you who I am, where I've been, & where I'm going. This is what brings me peace when things get hectic in life. I enjoy adding widgets, slideshows, musings. I also love switching up backgrounds to reflect the seasons.

In the last year, I found out what it is to be Pagan. I learned this the hard way be letting myself be swayed to what another wanted me to be. I learned that you don't deceive people in the Ways of the Goddess, to do workings on those you dislike just for the hell of it or cuz they pissed you off. I learned that the way you have your altar set up is a reflection of your relationship to your Deities, there is no wrong way to set it up, so don't go fix things on my altar. I learned what a real mentor is as oppossed to someone who likes having a power trip over someone who may not know as much.

In this past year, I have met & made connections in my local Pagan community. I have also made some new friendships with some of these connections. I attend public rituals, as a compliment to my own solitary rites at home. I have also just started a Pagan social group that is in its infancy. We have lots of ideas to work out and hopefully things will be good. It is not your traditional type group, this is meant to be a group where we can get together and have a good time, a few laughs, etc. As this group progresses, I'll keep you posted about it. With my new Pagan friends, we go on what we like to call "mini Pagan roadtrips" to different Pagan shops in our area and beyond. We go to the crafts stores to get supplies to decorate our altars, tools for the Sabbats and sometimes we just hang out. This is what gave me the idea of starting my own Pagan group, as well as one of the groups I am involved with in the city always bitching that no one goes to their meetings.

This has been definitely a year of experiences.. From meeting new friends, to letting go of those who weren't in my best interest, to finding love then letting it go when it wasn't becoming conducive to my growth. To being exposed to different Pagan music that I never thought I would listen to. Best of all, is seeing how many people follow my blog. I looked the other night on Facebook, through their blog app, I have 140 followers and through Google I have 54...that's not incl those who follow the other 2 pages I have. That's a total of 194 people following my musings. For that I say "THANK YOU!!" You are what makes me want to blog.

Brightest Blessings to you all,
Rowan
)O(

Facebook Fan Page

Yes, I did it. I started a fan page on Facebook. There will be discussions, photos, links, etc, all relating to this blog. I have a Facebook badge that will take you right to it. If you get the chance to become a fan of Candles & Wicks.

Blessings,
Rowan
)O(

Doing Some Cleaning Before the New Year Starts

So, I'm catching up on the blogs I follow yesterday. I love reading what others post, I learn a great deal of good info about things, get some new recipes and sometimes I see a link to another good blog. I follow so many great blogs out there and I am in the process of trying to get them listed and deleting the blogs that I hardly read....you know, the blogs that haven't had a recent posting since, let's say, Ostara.

I also saw the numbers of who follow this blog...not including my BOS & Deities pages. I have approx 145 followers who follow me via Google or Networked Blogs on Facebook. That's a lot of followers for a blog that I've been writing on for such a short time. I did start blogging back in March, but I let things dwindle & didn't post very often. I probably was deleted off other's lists because of lack of postings. Then, back in early autumn, I felt as though I had to get back into the swing of things. I thank you all with my whole heart for following me & leaving such great comments. I do try to respond to them.. This means so much to me that people out there like my blog.

Now, as I said before I was reading some great blogs yesterday when I came across a really good idea from Mother Moon. She does a daily blog entry...isn't that a pip?? <--stole that phrase from my son's "In the Night Garden" DVD. I may try to do that, but if I have nothing important to write about, then I may skip a day (or 2). I'll try to tell you about books that I'm reading, the Pagan shops I go to (with links) and whatever comes to my mind. I'm also working on having a giveaway very soon. I've been making Spell Candle Boxes. Mine that is the guinea pig of them. I did post a few pix a couple of weeks back. I have about 50+ candles in mine, as well as my 6 holders. I'm a little anal about the designs & how they turn out. I want them to be amazing for the giveaway.

Anyway, I have to get going, my son wants to come on to play his games. Have a wonderful day today. Love & Light!!

Rowan
)O(

Some New Changes

As you may see, I have taken down the Yule theme to my blog and put up a New Year's theme. I chose a blue theme, as a calming & refreshing way to come down after all the holiday craziness. I know that the Julian Calendar doesn't celebrate it til this upcoming weekend and we Pagans already had our New Year's with Samhain. I have a little montage of New Year's pix off to the upper right.

This is a busy time for me as well. First, there was Yule/Solstice, then came Christmas and now, next week I will be celebrating my birthday (as well as my son's father, too, the day after) School stars back on the 4th for my little guy. Busy, busy, busy!!

I managed to get my 2010 Witches Datebook (Llewellyn) and the Sabbats Almanac & the Witches Almanac (not published by Llewellyn) all before the New Year arrives. I just have to get out to the calendar kiosk in the mall to pick up the Witches Calendar & a mother's calendar for the kitchen. They're starting to go on sale, now that Christmas is done. They're even cheaper after Jan 1st, but the pickins are slim.

Well, that's about all that I have for now. I've been cleaning a lot around the house, since I was away last week for the holidays. I spent 4 lovely nights with my family and I am glad to be back home with my 2 kitties, who missed their mommy a lot.

Love & Light!! )O(
Rowan

Busy Yuletide!!

Hey, I just wanted you to know that it's been a very busy Yule season so far in my household this year. Between looking for a job and raising my son, I haven't been on here as often as I would like.

An update to what's going on with me. I've been making Pomanders tonight. What are Pomanders, you ask?? They're a very fragrant smelling holiday thingie that I make each year. You take an orange and poke whole cloves in a pattern into the skin of the orange. I make about 9 of these (3x3x3) and place them in a basket in my livingroom. The combination of the orange & cloves is to die for!! They smell so yummy!! I would take pix, but the batteries are dead in my camera & I'm broke til Friday when I get my CCTB (that's a monthly cheque I receive in Canada for being a mom) to get more batteries.


(My son standing in front of the tree)

The tree is up & decorated, as well as my apt is getting more festive as the days go on. I set up a Yule log again this year, adorning it with gold & silver candles. It sits in the place of honour on my coffee table. Lights are eveywhere!! In the windows, around my entertainment center, the window between my diningroom & kitchen. It's so well lit, that would think the sun is out shining on these long cold nights.

(This was taken last Yule)

We had our 1st snowstorm the other night, but since I live near the ocean, we didn't get as much as I thought we would. But, never fear, there is a Nor'Easter on its way for tomorrow. I love winter & everything about it. I'm very lucky to live on the Atlantic coast of Canada.

There is a Yule dinner & ritual coming up on the 19th of this month that I am thinking about attending. It's a Potluck feast. I'm looking forward to going & celebrating the season with my fellow Pagans in Halifax. I hope I get to see some familiar faces that I met at the Witches' Ball last month.

So, that's an update from me. I thank everyone who follows my blogs & leaves me feedback & comments. Your words mean a lot to me. I've only been on this journey with the Goddess for 3 yrs & I've learned so much. I enjoy sharing with you all what I've learned. I am on Facebook if you want to add me: Rowan Silverstar

Love & Light to you all!!
)O(

Rowan

A History of Yule

A Festival of Light:

Many cultures have winter festivals that are in fact celebrations of light. In addition to Christmas, there's Hanukkah with its brightly lit menorahs, Kwanzaa candles, and any number of other holidays. The Pagan holiday called Yule takes place on the day of the winter solstice, around December 21. On that day (or close to it), an amazing thing happens in the sky. The earth's axis tilts away from the sun in the Northern Hemisphere, and the sun reaches at its greatest distance from the equatorial plane. As a festival of the Sun, the most important part of any Yule celebration is light -- candles, bonfires, and more.

Origins of Yule:

In the Northern hemisphere, the winter solstice has been celebrated for millenia. The Norse peoples viewed it as a time for much feasting, merrymaking, and, if the Icelandic sagas are to be believed, a time of sacrifice as well. Traditional customs such as the Yule log, the decorated tree, and wassailing can all be traced back to Norse origins.

Celtic Celebrations of Winter:

The Celts of the British Isles celebrated midwinter as well. Although little is known about the specifics of what they did, many traditions persist. According to the writings of Pliny the Elder, this is the time of year in which Druid priests sacrificed a white bull and gathered mistletoe in celebration.

Roman Saturnalia:

Few cultures knew how to party like the Romans. Saturnalia was a festival of general merrymaking and debauchery held around the time of the winter solstice. This week-long party was held in honor of the god Saturn, and involved sacrifices, gift-giving, special privileges for slaves, and a lot of feasting. Although this holiday was partly about giving presents, more importantly, it was to honor an agricultural god.

Welcoming the Sun Through the Ages:

Four thousand years ago, the Ancient Egyptians took the time to celebrate the daily rebirth of Horus - the god of the Sun. As their culture flourished and spread throughout Mesopotamia, other civilizations decided to get in on the sun-welcoming action. They found that things went really well... until the weather got cooler, and crops began to die. Each year, this cycle of birth, death and rebirth took place, and they began to realize that every year after a period of cold and darkness, the Sun did indeed return.

Winter festivals were also common in Greece and Rome, as well as in the British Isles. When a new religion called Christianity popped up, the new hierarchy had trouble converting the Pagans, and as such, folks didn't want to give up their old holidays. Christian churches were built on old Pagan worship sites, and Pagan symbols were incorporated into the symbolism of Christianity. Within a few centuries, the Christians had everyone worshipping a new holiday celebrated on December 25.

In some traditions of Wicca and Paganism, the Yule celebration comes from the Celtic legend of the battle between the young Oak King and the Holly King. The Oak King, representing the light of the new year, tries each year to usurp the old Holly King, who is the symbol of darkness. Re-enactment of the battle is popular in some Wiccan rituals.

~~Courtesy of About.com: Paganism/Wicca

Check this out!!

Ok, been over at my other blog, the mundane one. I created it back in the spring, but it got neglected these past few months. If you are a fan of Twilight, Robert Pattinson, etc. then head on over. The name of it is Rob Pattinson & Twilight Saga. I just spent the day re-doing it. I added a new background, new widgets, pix, videos. It is still a work in progress. I have a lot more to add to it.

Looking over the older posts, I saw pix from last spring when they were shooting New Moon and Rob's new movie, Remember Me (Mar 12, 2010). It seems like it was last week when I posted those, not 5-6 months ago.

I hope you like it. Follow it, if you want, either through Facebook or on the blog. Leave me some feedback there, too. :-)

Blessings,
Rowan

My So-Called Life

Well, I haven't been blogging that much this week. There's been a lot of things going on. At work, I got my notice yesterday that I will be getting laid-off. Saturday will be last day at the salon. It hasn't been busy, so I haven't been making commission, so they're letting me go. I should be upset, losing at job this time of the year when I have a little boy to think about for Christmas, but I feel confident in whatever the Goddess has in store for me. I know what I learned from this job and I take that knowledge with me when I move onto my next job. Mark's all boughten for Christmas, so he's covered in terms of gifts...I'm one of those anal-retentive people who hates shopping during the holidays, so I do it throughout the year.

In other news, I had a stressful weekend. My 2nd set of house keys went missing. I suspected my neighbour's roommate, Jeff, of taking them. He came by on Saturday for a chat. He smokes, so he went out on the patio but kept the door open so we could still talk. He asked for a glass of water, so I went into the kitchen & got him one. That was the perfect time for him to take them.
Back Story: his roommate has been selling drugs out of his townhouse next door, as well as pimping out prostitutes. All this came to light to me on Sunday when I reported my missing keys to the Super. I knew about the drugs, but not the girls. He's being evicted at the end of the month, he hasn't paid rent for 3 months.
So, I had thought that the roommate who came by, took my keys so they could break into my place & make off with my stuff. I told the Super about what happened, he called a locksmith to come by 1st thing Monday morning. When I came home from work on Monday at suppertime, the Super came by with my lost keys. He found them on the way to the laundry room. I had done laundry on Sunday, forgot my keys, got Mark to get them for me. He got them, but he also got the 2nd set and dropped them, not knowingly, on the way to the laundry room. I was so relieved!! So Jeff didn't take my keys at all.

On a positive note, I have my tix to go see the Twilight Saga: New Moon on Thursday night at the midnight showing of it. I can't wait!! I've been waiting since March for this movie when they started filming it (Mar 23). I pre-bought them, so I will get to the movie theatre really early to wait in line with everybody else. It's going to be a mad-house with a bunch of excited teenage girls (& their mothers, probably) They are also screening the 1st Twilight movie before New Moon, I may see that, as I didn't see it last year when it was in theatres, but sitting for 4 hours will be rough on my butt, not to mention my bladder.

Anyway, that's what's been going on this past weekend with me. Oh, I almost forgot...I'm now a member of the Black Hat Society. Thanks for accepting me into your online hearth. I'm still getting my page together, adding photos, joining groups, adding new friends. I think I will have a great time with them.

Blessings to you all,
Rowan
)O(

Busy, Busy, Busy!!

Well, so far November is going by without a hitch. I went to the Witch's Ball last weekend, met a lot of great folks there. See posting below about it. Had a really great time!!

Found a few more blogs to follow, as if I need to follow anymore, but I can't resist. I hope to be adding more Buttons to my new Button scroll thingie **Thanks, Bella** So, if you have a button,let me know, I'll add it. Speaking of Blog Buttons, I think it's time for me to update mine. Now that I have a more fitting picture up top, I should have a button that reflects that, right??


I found a new (to me) online Pagan shop. It's called Sacred Mists Shoppe. They have a ton of wonderful goodies for sale. From altar supplies, to clothing to bath & body, even mineral makeup. I want one of everything they have...no, seriously, I do. I ordered some silver & gold mini candles, as I find them hard to find at a good price, and I also ordered a Yule altar basket. They take PayPal, which is great. I also found while surfing on eBay, 2 Celestial mini candle holders and a purple & black Pentacle altar cloth. These are my Yule gifts to myself.

I've also been doing some major housecleaning in my BOS. You see, a while back I was given a lot of pages (a couple hundred, approx.) that my so-called "mentor" printed off for me. All she did was Google a ton of stuff and did it up in a 3-ring binder. I knew what she did, but being a nice person, I didn't call her out on it when I should have. So, for the past day, I've been going through what she gave me (what a waste of good paper, not very Pagan of such wastage to deceive) and tossing most of it in the recycling bin. A lot of it repeated itself, repeatedly. Recycle. Since I received this "gift" around Imbolc last year, there was a lot of Imbolc stuff that, again, repeated itself. With all that repeating, she should've been more careful proof-reading what she was passing off to me, right?? That was how I knew she was Googling. So about 80% of what she gave me is now going to be recycled & made into new products that would serve a better purpose than what she intended for me.

I found a great book over the summer that I'm finally getting a chance to read now. I got behind with my reading when I was momentarily caught up in an "eMance" with a guy I met online. I should've listened to my gut about him, but nooooo, I had to lose myself over a wee bit of testosterone. Anyway, I digress. This book is called "Faery Magick" by Sirona Knight. I love it so far, and I just started it last night. I'm about 1/2 way through it already. It has some really great ways to build a faery circle, spells, rituals to attract different faeries to you, as well as tales about the Wee Folk. If you're into the Fae, I do recommend this book.

Anyhoo, I have to get going, I have witchy things to do around the house, things to pick up at Little Mysteries and finish my errands I have to get done on my day off. No rest for the "wicked", huh??


)O( Blessed Be,
Rowan

A History of Samhain

The other day, I received a email from an author asking me to remove "A History of Samhain" from this blog. Apparently I didn't give the author credit to her work, as I forgot where I had gotten the info. I emailed the author back apologizing and told her I knew who reported me, 'cause she likes to copy things from other blogs and passes it off as her own, even though I am noticing that she is now giving credit to those she "borrows" from. I'm not naming names because that only causes negative energy.


I can't say I'm not a I'm a little put off, that I had to remove a item from my blog. It had a lot of great information, but I have left a link to site and article.

Thanks, Lady Spring Wolf, as I did see my name on her list of infringements. At least I wasn't nasty like some who have copied her stuff without permission.

Here's the link: http://www.paganspath.com/magik/samhain-history.htm

Another Blog Award

Ok, I got another blog award and you know what?? I read what Celia had written on her blog (Secret Dairy of a Mountain Witch) about how these blog awards are like blogging chain letters. I never thought of it until I read her blog...if I'm going to be awarded something, I shouldn't have to follow rules, state 30 things about myself & nominate other blogs. So, after receiving this my 4th blog award, I will no longer follow the rules. If you want to nominate me, that's fine, but I will not be spamming other's comments letting them know I have a blog award for them. Awards should be given on merit & not because you feel the need to follow a stupid rule. Thanks & Blessed Be, )O( Rowan