Parentalia!

I posted about this holiday last year and I thought I'd pretty much summed it up nicely, so here is a recap with more below:

This is a festival for honoring one's dead parents. Families gathered among the tombs of loved ones and made offerings or sacrifices of grain and wine to their souls. The Parentalia was the first of three festivals in February for appeasing the dead which started on the Ides and lasted until the 22nd. It typically fell on February 13 or 15, and was followed by the Feralia and Caristia. During this time all temples were closed, marriages were forbidden, and public officials suspended business for the duration of the festivals.

There were a few things mentioned in there, all of them having to do with Family. Parentalia: Honoring of Parents who have crossed over. Feralia: Honor spirits of the dead in general, including the restless dead who need to be driven out of a home or tricked out. The Caristia was a time to honor your family, like a family reunion. So there it is: Departed parents, all souls, living family.

Notice that the time to honor and gather with family comes right around the time the weather is once again good enough to travel. This was likely the first time extended family got together since the winter holidays.

Lupercalia has nothing really to do with this, it happens to fall during this time. In the original post, I spoke of retconing it, but it's less of a retcon and more Rome-specific whereas the Parentalia was celebrated by the Etruscans and predates Rome.








More from Nova Roma:

The Parentalia is the Roman festival for honoring one's dead parents. Families gathered amongst the tombs of loved ones and made offerings or sacrifices of grain and wine to their souls. Although the Parentalia always began with the performance of ceremonies in honor of dead parents by a Vestal Virgin, Romans basically celebrated the Parentalia at the family level. Families walked outside the city to visit the family tombs and performed private sacrifices in honor of dead kin (especially parents). The sacrifices were simple, a little wine, a little corn or bread, perhaps some votive garlands. It was a quiet, personal, reflective day, followed by a quiet reflective week or so to think about loved ones and the importance of the family.
The long name for this festival is the Parentalia Novindalia. the nine days feast. It went from the 13th through the 21st. Nine days, as I've said before, is important. Nine is the number of Mars and action. During this week I will be working a novena in memory of my family. 

It's time to clean (or start!) your ancestor altar. It's time to visit the graves of loved ones in person, if possible, in thought otherwise. Whatever offerings you would bring to the grave, bring to a crossroad if you can't go to the site. And have some fun with your loved ones this week!

A Vow of Prosperity

I've seen complaints rolling around the internet lately: How come, as Witches, we aren't all rich, healthy, famous, thin and gorgeous?

The short answer: These things are temporary states in a multiverse which is always in flux.

The longer answer? Because there are challenges and temptations each of us must deal with. Because we are part of the world and not everyone else in it makes decisions with that in mind.


I was recently thinking about my husband's aunt, the nun, and our last trip to see her. She, and all of her fellow nuns, have made a vow of poverty. They depend entirely on the church to provide for their needs. The facility where she lives is nicer than what most people have. I've been told and read different reasons for this vow: Jesus had no money so the point is to be like him; Money and property decisions distract from spiritual life, so let the church make the money decisions. (So much for the spiritual life of the decision maker, huh?).
As I've said in previous blogs, I admire, and relate to, her commitment to her deity/deities and to her vows.

So why not make a vow of Prosperity? Of Health? A vow, moreso than a petition or spell, is about taking matters into your own hands. It's being active rather than passive. Yes, candle magic is passive. You put together the ingredients, you "charge" it with your "energy" but really what you're doing is making an offering and hoping it is accepted. A vow to accomplish something in the name of your Patrons is a much more involved matter. It is on you to arrange the details to make it happen. Yes, you can still work your work to nudge the universe in your direction, but if I vow to make curtains for my mother's window as a gift, I'm not going to ask her to buy the material and take the measurements for me. 

"Prayer indeed is good, but while calling on the Gods a man should himself lend a hand."

- Hippocrates

What did our Ancestors do? They didn't have the same challenges we face today. There wasn't the same emphasis on fame and beauty and wealth. Sure, these things are nice (maybe except for the fame part lol), but it was more basic: You honor your Gods and Ancestors and the Land and the Sea and Sky. The work done was practical: Glamour to improve your looks/find a good mate, health for the family, a good harvest, protection from the elements, and so on.

Are there vows you have made in haste? Are there vows you have kept/are keeping? Are there vows you would like to get out of? There are ways to do that as well, but that is for another time. Is there a vow you plan to make? Something you have been contemplating?

The Ancestor Effect

I'm in tech for my show this week, so blog topics will likely be short and to the point, so thanks to Rev. Vinnie Russo for sharing this link today! It's a quick read and not bogged down with lots of jargon.




The article, "The Ancestor Effect: Thinking about our roots boosts intellect and confidence,"  is about a series of studies done to determine the effects of meditating on ancestors. Turns out it gives us superpowerz! Not really, but it did improve the group's scores on IQ tests. The group also scored higher on "perceived life control" tests. It didn't have to be a far distant relative or even one who had passed: Pondering living ancestors worked as well.


My conclusion after reading this article: I'M A GENIUS!!!!!!!!!!! Well, yeah, but back to the topic:

This article doesn't say WHY it works that way. Does it activate a part of our brain that helps with problem solving functions? I think that we're tuning into our blood. We're waking up that connection to our source.

When I wake up in the morning one of the first things I do is a brief meditation on, and prayers of gratitude to my Patrons and Ancestors. This is also one of the last things I do before bed. Almost daily I light a candle from the hearth for an Ancestor or Patron. At least three times a day I am meditating on them. I'd say it's more than that because they are always given a thought when I blog at night or tune into the neutral channel during the day.

Again, the group that meditated upon their roots performed better on the test scores. They also scored higher on a test of “perceived life control.” In other words, those who considered their pasts said they felt more control over their life, career, and ability to best adversaries than those who did not.

Hear that, MENSA? Bring it! ;)

Path of the Hearth-Fire

In her book, The Training and Work of an Initiate, Dion Fortune discusses what she calls the Path of the Hearth-Fire. She didn't walk this particular path herself but manages to understand it, as much as is possible for an outsider to understand. The Loyal Hoard knows that I believe if you haven't walked the labyrinth yourself, you cannot guide others through it. Here, however, she isn't guiding, she's discussing, but have the salt grains handy anyway.


She's schitzophrenic in her treatment of this idea, and I think it's because it was revealed knowledge colored by her personal point of view instead of shared plainly. This just seems to be her style.  She was married, she had no children, and there is nothing written about her having to care for anyone except herself and somehow that means she is "free from karma." I'd say that's "bad karma." She got to "combat spiritual wickedness in high places" but that's a lonely life, not the comfortable, happy life of someone who sits at the center of a circle of family they care for and who cares for them. The whole thing reads as judgmental, especially the part where she suggests that this path is sometimes chosen because someone who is "advanced" turns back to help others who are "progressing more slowly."

I don't like that she calls family obligations "bonds" in a negative way and treats them as delays to initiation, that somehow "karma" has put loved ones "in the way" of becoming an initiate or that the person isn't ready to be the Special Ops of the Inner Planes because they have others to care for.

"Again, it sometimes happens that souls which have advanced far into the Mysteries turn back at the call
of human love and forge anew the chains of karmic ties. In subsequent lives the debts thus incurred must be discharged. Sometimes the turning aside is motivated by the passions and the senses; sometimes a higher motive determines the choice, and out of pure pity a soul that is traveling fast may turn back to hold out a hand to a beloved one who is progressing more slowly."

"... if the choice of pity and patience has been made, it must be abided by cheerfully and willingly if its good karma is to be reaped. "

Objection! Must be discharged? Love is not one of Jacob Marley's chains which needs to be cast off in order to "progress." Love is the reason for progress. My bonds strengthen me. My roots are responsible for my growth. If you have no one to care for, what is the point of being Magic-leet? What does your magic matter? Having no bonds isn't "good karma" or even a laudable goal. Willingly sharing the bond of love is the best "karma" you may reap. I wonder what Nemesis thinks of this abuse of the word "karma!"

We are born to each other again and again for a reason. She calls it pity and patience. I prefer Love and learning. I completely disagree that the reason for this is some kind of "failure" to learn the lessons in a previous life. I think of it as rereading a book: I love to go back and read books I haven't picked up in a long time- I always find something that I missed before, or something I didn't understand previously now clicks thanks to the experiences I've had since last I read it. Have you ever watched a movie more than once? Bet you have ;) Bet you appreciated the movie more the second time and got more out of it.

Let's turn to a few examples that I appreciate (actually, I do appreciate most of what she says about the path itself, just not the why of walking it).

"Which is the higher duty, the service of the Masters or the service of the family and home?
This is a big question, and one that is constantly recurring, and its answer is not as simple as some would have us think. "

Agreed. Mostly. In previous posts about working with deity, I've talked a but about how negotiation isn't just ok, it's necessary because They don't live in this day to day world. Most of us are not free to drop everything to heed Their call so we need to make our limits clear, and be willing to push our own boundaries as well.

Another disagreeable objection: Keep your house clean and enjoy doing it or you will "fail to initiate?" Well then I'm fucked. And so is everyone else I know who can't afford a cleaning service. I will dust and I will do laundry, but I don't have to like it! Funny that within a few pages she says cheerfully accept things and don't whine, then says you have to like it. Not complaining isn't the same thing as liking it.

But back to the parts I do like:

"If our home problems prove very difficult, let us, in imagination, always put a chair at the fireside and lay a place at table for the Unseen Guest, and live our life and do our work in the light of that Invisible Presence."

We already do this, but Strega don't just do it in imagination: Offerings at the hearth, sharing with our ancestors at their altar/mantle, offerings at the Lare shrine, including the Ancestors in daily life and special celebrations, honoring the Goddess of the Hearth. This is a daily part of life for us and not a separate magical practice we have to put on like donning on a starchy robe.

"If we rule our homes in a spirit of selfless love and serenity of heart, asking no return, but doing our duty for the sake of the need of those to whom we minister, our house will be a true Temple of the Hearth- Fire in which we can receive our initiation."

What she said.

Trick or treat!

The actual cross-quarter, the exact midpoint between Fall and Winter, occurs just after midnight on November 8th. So why is everyone freaking out about a randomly fixed date as the thin veil point? I'd say that's when it STARTS is thinnest phase, much the same the way the moon is full for 3 days. So why is no one taking advantage of this time of year? Why blow your wad on one single day? We have several weeks of "best reception" on the line with the Ancestors.

If you've been too busy noming candy to do any work, you still have plenty of time. The pendulum swings both ways, so by my estimate, we have about two more weeks before things start to thicken up again.

Suggestions for the next two weeks:
Use whatever form of divination you are comfortable with to contact your dearly departed. Ask them questions. Ask them what they want or need.
Dream work! This is the perfect time to practice lucid dreaming
Weaving, sewing and other crafty-crafting is particularly effective at this time, especially if you call on crafty ancestors for help in your task.
Learn more about the Cthonic deities. This time of year is perfect for working with the Cthonic deities, especially deities with many aspects where one is cthonic.
Work on creating thought forms or a fetch.
Journey.

Speaking of which, I'm going to take my own advice and get to that now. I haven't journeyed in some time and I feel like I've been slacking! They call to me daily and I have been so busy with the mundane world that I have not ventured as often as I would like. Time to prep and get to it!

Big Jim

Today is the 14th anniversary of my Grandfather's passing.

My Grandfather taught me how to bake. He taught me how to cook without a recipe. He was a soldier in WWII, like many Italian men of the era. He was there at the Battle of the Bulge. He helped liberate one of the concentration camps. He worked for the VA Hospital and after he retired, volunteered there. He was also a major blood donor. He had a rare blood type and donated as often as possible, something I need to do again. 


I would have liked to go to the cemetery today, but didn't get there, so I lit a special candle for him, said a prayer for him too, and later sorted through my Grandmother's pictures. I found pictures of my Grandfather that I've never come across before, including pictures of the whole family at the feast of Saint Rosalia, the patron Saint of Palermo, where my Grandfather and his family are from. The pictures are from the 1950s and it looks like the entirety of Brooklyn was walking the streets in the procession!

A bit about this saint:

According to legend, Rosalia was born in 1130 of a Norman noble family that claimed descent from Charlemagne. She retired to live as a hermit in a cave on Mount Pellegrino, where she died in 1166. No one knew anything about her demise.

In 1624, a horrible plague haunted Palermo, and during this hardship St. Rosalia appeared first to a sick woman, then to a hunter named Vincenzo Bonello to whom she indicated where her remains were to be found. She ordered him to bring her bones to Palermo and have them carried in procession through the city. He did what she had asked in the apparition, and after the procession the plague ceased. After this St. Rosalia would be venerated as the patron saint of Palermo, and a sanctuary was built in the cave where her remains were discovered.
She has two festival dates, July 15th when her bones are processed around the city of Palermo, and September 4th, the festino.

I know of another Saint whose main sanctuary was a mountain cave and whose fest processed to the sea... Our Lady of Mount Carmel. One and the same? I don't know. I do know that Saint Rosalia has the most interesting iconography: She is typically depicted wearing brown or black, wearing a crown of roses and holding a cross and carrying a skull, book, and scourge. She is also the Saint to pray to when praying for the dead. Skulls are an ancient tool of communicating with the dead. More on that another time, I'm off to toast my Grandfather!

The Veil! The Veil!

There's always talk at this time of year about "the veil between the worlds" and how it's now at it's thinnest. Eh... sure, but it ebbs and flows. It's never static. It's also just as thin at this time in April/May, but at that point most Pagans are thinking about fertility. Truth is, you can reach across "the veil" at any point during the year. It might be easier during April and October, but it's never that hard the rest of the year, you just need to know how to get (and stay) in touch. Here are a few tips and trick. Nothing earth shattering, but add them all together and you have the start of an Ancestor practice:

Ancestor Altar
This is your base of communication, especially when starting out. Once your practice is in full swing you'll find you don't need to be at your altar to get in touch with your ancestors.

This should be on the west side of your abode (house apartment, room, etc) and include pictures and tokens of your family members who have passed and things they liked. The best offerings are the little things. Grandma liked gardenias? Leave one on the altar, or burn a gardenia scented candle. Don't forget to add family patrons to the altar. Grandpa had an affinity for Saint Anthony? It won't hurt you to put his prayer card on the altar too.

I like to keep water on my altar as a means of communication. I've blogged about this previously- it's an offering of willingness to keep in touch, especially through dreams.

Commit to a time frame of offerings: Every night from new to full moon, or once a week for 9 weeks, or once a day for 9 days, or during a certain moon phase, etc. And stick to it!

Meditation
This cannot be overrated. Meditation isn't only about tuning into the neutral channel. You can have a directed, focused meditation: Contemplate your literal blood and how far back it reaches. Focus on a specific family member you would like to communicate with and recall every detail you knew about them. Alternately, you can set an intention to contact an ancestor you don't know, as in the case of adoption, and once you do reach the neutral channel in your meditation, have that person fill the proverbial airwaves. This isn't the kind of thing you do when you first begin a meditation practice, it's 202 not 101. For the 101 crowd, meditate on your ancestors before you go to sleep, especially as you are falling asleep. I recommend this only be done with those you knew in life who were loyal to you and loved you. No inviting strangers into your dream world!

Journey
I have a wonderful Ancestral Temple Journey I will be teaching and recording. Here is another 202: If you have an astral temple, an astral workspace, a dreamscape you return to: Build a place for your ancestors. This is a wonderful way to reach them outside of dreaming and reinforces the intent of contact and communication.

Divination
Tarot especially is a wonderful way to communicate with your ancestors. When in sacred space, you can ask ancestors to join you and interview them. Pendulums also work for this purpose.

And don't forget offerings to cthonic deities like... you guessed it! Mercury and Hecate! Mercury is a psychopomp and opener of the ways and deity of communication. Why not call on Him in this work? Yeah, I'm biased, and spreading the love. Whichever pantheon you work with, don't forget to include appropriate prayers and generally building a relationship with those deities which facilitate communication with ancestors. They can be wonderful allies on this type of journey.

Thanks :)

Thank you to Diana. Thank you to Apollo. Thank you to Mercury. Thank you to Hecate. Thank you to Ganesh. Thank you to My Ancestors. Thank you to The Spirits of the Land. Thank you to Ra. Thank you to everyone who worked weather magic to make NYC Pagan Pride Day happen.

It went by so fast! Almost a year of planning and now it's done. Tonight is partly a brain dump and that's because my brain is fried. I was up at 6 am and at the park before 8 to get everything set up. The vendors and info groups were amazing- the old hands knew just what to do and the new folks were pretty on the ball as well. The belly dancers were SO AWESOME! I need to find video of the Isis snake dance they did. Jihan Arts and the Belly Dance Raks Stars.. Wow... I need to post about belly dance and Middle Eastern Goddesses at some point. There were raves about the workshops and the opening ritual and the closing ritual that Society of Diana hosted with our sister group, Hounds of Artemis. We invoked the Statue of Liberty and reclaimed her as a talisman for, well, liberty lol And protection.

I made an offering to my Patrons for their help and I'm gonna get to that now then go pass out. Back to our regularly scheduled epic posts tomorrow!

Sounds Good

From bells to white noise to sirens to speech, sound directly effects our brain and body. Sound can move you both literally and metaphorically. It comes in waves, like the ocean. It stirs the emotions almost instantly. It can transport you back in time. So how do you ignore it? How do you get it quiet enough to selectively tune in? How do you quiet the cacophony long enough to hear the whispers of your Ancestors?

Start with the breath. Regulate that and you will have natural white noise, a focal point of your own making, under your own control. Breath work, I think, is completely underestimated as a magical foundation. We're told by so many different magical groups to work on meditation, but not so much with controlling and using the breath.

When I say "tune into your blood" I mean that literally. I use it interchangeably with Ancestors. I've posted on dna and ancestors and blood connections several times over the course of this blog adventure. From the breath, you can easily shift your awareness to your heartbeat. Your pulse is the beat of the blood moving through your body.  It might not happen the first time, it might not happen the tenth time. Everyone works at a different pace, but once you can feel your body pulsing, you are ready. You are practically there. Recall the sound of a family occasion- the chatter, the laughter, the glasses and plates clinking, drinks pouring, water running, food cooking... The more you can call up the sounds of these physical things the easier it becomes to root the experience in your present physical reality.

Choose a specific occasion as the focus- one where you enjoyed yourself, not the one where your crazy aunt aired the family's dirty laundry and had a fight with your cousin! Use the same occasion for practice. The people who were present should be ones you were close with and who loved you and were loyal to you.

When you're practiced enough that you can recall this occasion with clarity, you let the edges go soft, like gazing at a picture where you stare so long you lose focus. Instead of recalling what was said, feel for the energy of the person whose voice you want to hear. It wouldn't hurt to light candles for them, have their picture on hand, leave an offering of something they enjoyed. Have a few questions ready. I suggest a question that you don't know the answer to but could easily find out along with a questions whose answer only you two know. Both serve as tests that it is the one you intended to speak with and that you're not just making this up in your own head. Some people need that kind of test to feel certain, some don't.

The more you practice tuning in, the easier it gets and the further you can go, including tuning in to those relatives you didn't know, and contacting family Patrons in a way that you can't access otherwise. I've posted recently about my theory that devotees of a deity share certain characteristics the way members of a family do. Patronage runs through the blood as well. It is part of the covenant we have with the Gods. We pass the ways to our children and the Patrons protect the family line.

We are connected to our family through blood, but we are also connected to the Gods through our blood. When your ancestor made a covenant with their Patrons, that changed hir, which in turn set up your future dna. Studies have shown that traumatic incidents literally change DNA. Funny, no one has looked at the opposite: Incredible and joyous experiences, communion with the gods, henosis, changes our dna too, presumably for the better. It's one of the reasons why it's said we are reborn into our family over and over again, to work with the family patrons. I'm not sure I believe that 100% but it came through tonight and I have no reason to doubt it.

I didn't know what to post tonight so I tuned in and this is what came through. Apologies if the above instructions aren't terribly clear or read like a stereo manual from the 1980s. It's something that's best taught in person, and in a way that it doesn't feel like teaching/learning/work at all. This should be a joyous process. I didn't say easy, I said joyous ;)

Signing off to listen in private.

True Blood (the ties, not the show)

Is it important? Is it necessary? I've been asked these questions often lately. Yes it is important. No, it's not necessary. How can both be correct?

Generally speaking, and never speaking for everyone,  a magical family is exactly that- a family. No matter what issues come between family members, blood is blood. You are literally tied together through your dna despite how you feel about each other. This is also true for in-laws to a lesser extent; It's easier to ignore your in-laws because you don't directly share dna, but you can share descendants. Two grandmothers can't stand each other? Too bad- they still have to deal with each other because of their combined dna, embodied in their grandchild. In adoptive families, you share everything but direct dna. You still share the family obligations and the family "karma" by virtue of having the Ancestors and Patrons of the family conferred upon them. You still share the family ties. Even if you can't stand Aunt So-n-so, you still have an obligation to deal with her, at least minimally. 

When working with la famiglia, you've known them your whole life- you know what you can trust them with, you know what they bring to the table and you know that no matter how you feel about each other, if some straniero comes along and starts something, your annoying ball-breaker of a cousin has your back in both the mundane and magical realms.

There are politics in every group and families are no exception. Family politics can last through generations, and get deeper and dirtier than the backrooms of the US Capitol. It's up to us as descendants to untangle what we can. I've talked before about "the black book" I've inherited- it's not just the accounting of who gave what gift and showed up where, it's also everyone who has ever called vendetta and who responded to the call, who slighted whom and in what way, and so on. Sometimes it feels like the burden of what it really is- the family karma- decisions and their consequences. But I don't have to carry all of them out. Some of it is obligation, but you can discern between the petty bullshit which has outlasted its use/relevance and the grudges which rightfully need to be upheld.


In a magical group that is not family based, it is the work, or the path, which brings people together and the social and emotional ties that keep them together. If you don't enjoy each other's company, why be there? If you don't trust each other outside of sacred space, how can you trust each other inside of it? What happens when the social ties lead to petty politics and the emotional ties are merely cliques of people jockeying for position? There's nothing to fall back on, nothing to tie the group together. It's a risk to take. Is it worth it? Ask the creators of the Golden Dawn. These people came together to work, something came between them, and it imploded (exploded?). Was that a bad thing? I'm sure for them it wasn't fun to go through, but as a forest fire releases new seeds, the end of the Golden Dawn (as it was first formed) planted the seeds of several other organizations which are still around today. Of course it's worth the risk. It won't always be fun, but it will surely be memorable.

When I look at bringing someone into my magical family, it isn't just about folks I'd like to work with, tho that's definitely part of the equation. It's as serious as who I want to adopt into my family with all of the rite and obligations thereof. Many of us have those friends who are so close that they're considered family; That is the kind of relationship I'm talking about and it doesn't develop overnight (unless They tell you it's a nownownow imperative, which has happened too! lol)

I've rambled a bit and I'm going to leave it here and call this a part 1. I'm sure you'll forgive me since Mercury will be stationing direct soon! We're in a mercury storm and I want to save part 2 until after we're back in the swing of things.

Dress you up in my love

Tonight I was sewing by hand. Actually, I prefer hand sewing to machine sewing. Tho I do remember Grandma sitting at her Singer table (the machine flips down into it when you're done) and watching her foot hit the pedal as she moved the fabric through. I was fascinated by how she coordinated her hands, the fabric, the pins and her foot!

This came up because earlier I was sewing a tabard for a group I belong to. Tomorrow is the group's anniversary and I wanted to have a spiffy frock for the celebration. Unfortunately (or not, depending on how you look at it), the needle on my mini machine broke and I didn't have a replacement, or a way to get one. I decided to practice my hidden hem stitch. It took a while, and it's almost done, but I still have to finish the neckline, hem it proper and put in a few darts. It's kinda hard to pin yourself for alterations!!

Working by hand gives you a more intimate relationship with the piece; More of your energy is going into it. You take more time because you have to. Each stitch can carry an intention or a mantra whereby you enchant the piece for a specific purpose. And let's not forget the role of weaving as an act/symbol of parthenogenetic Goddesses like Athena and Neith and their Priestesses or Nymphs.

Back in the day, one of my favorite tops to wear out to a party or club was something I had made myself. I was in a good mood when I made it, and in the right frame of mind and I had unconsciously enchanted it for that purpose. The top was a favorite because it worked ;) You don't have to be adept at making your own garments, you can enchant them the same way you might consecrate a sword even though you didn't forge it yourself. I suspect most people have a favorite hook-up outfit, or the infamous power-tie, or a favorite pair of pants that make you feel a certain level of confidence. It's a piece of clothing you wear when you want to invoke, or evoke something specific. Lucky socks? First date underwear? Do you have a garment that does something for you?

Drunk on Moon Shine!

Not the Dukes of Hazzard revenuers-are-comin' kind of moonshine! I did some work tonight, on a technically not-eclipsed-to-me barely waning moon, at sunset. I started in the hour of Mercury and concluded during the hour of the moon. Here's a fun site where you can calculate planetary hours and read more about them.

I didn't write a script. I rarely do unless others are involved and required to do and say certain things at certain times. You learn by doing. When you learn it well enough, you start taking on roles. When you have taken on enough roles enough times, you take the lead. It's like music theory: when you know the notes and the chords, you can create a sweet sounding tune.

I had work to do tonight and wanted to take advantage of the waning moon, the waning sun, and other releasing, removing influences. I opened the space, I called in Guardians, Patrons, Ancestors and the Land Itself. I made offerings of incense, water, and wine. The birds squawked, the dogs barked and the lucciolas lit my way. I was well attended and supported and it rocked. My words were from the heart. My gestures were a mix of old keys and the flow of the moment. I didn't have to plan what to do, I just brought out the ingredients I needed and was guided. When I saw the moon rise over the trees I was awe-struck. I felt like a little child standing there swinging my cauldron of incense. I felt how large the moon is, and the energy and how great She is, how all-encompassing. I felt connected to the core of our practice and I knew there were others out there honoring Her in all of Her forms. ::waves:: I saw you, and you, and.... you were there too! lol

I forgot to eat something afterward because I was so moonstruck that I dashed inside at the last possible minute to get kiddo to bed. Once he was prepped for bed, I took him to look at the moon rising above the trees. He loved it, but it was bad timing because he couldn't fall asleep for a long while after! I'm still bouncing around. I need to ground and to sleep! As fun an adventure as it might be, I don't want to go to sleep this buzzed!

Before I go, I wanted to share part of a fun chat I had with a friend tonight. We were discussing The Foletti and the work of RJ Stewart and Orion Foxwood. I mused that someone should write faery work from the Italian perspective since everything out there seems to be Celtic or Scottish. His reply:

"Other than the folletti, the nymphs and the satyrs, we Italians really don't have fey per se.  Well, we do... they are just the Dead."

I half agree and 1/4 disagree. But that's its own post!

He also waxed eloquent on a few definitions for his readers so I thought to share them with mine:

"Guided meditation: An exercise utilizing the imagination to program the subconcious mind & train the mind in preparation for REAL astral journeys.
Pathworking: Originally, a journey along the paths upon the Tree of Life. Broadened to include journeys centered upon core concepts & set imagery to help students internalize a teaching.

Journeywork: REAL astral work. Journeying is NOT scripted, though it may revolve upon a theme OR a particular area of focus.

Likewise, anyone who says (like Llewelyn books tend to do) that astral work leaves you feeling refreshed when you come to... is a fucking moron. You don't feel perky and happy go lucky! You feel like you are recovering from a jagermeister shot (at least 8) induced hangover AFTER being run over by an SUV."

Word! It's called work for a reason! Unlike the cacasetenze I spoke of the other night, Nemesis is a weaver of words and wise beyond his years. I'm glad to know him and glad to point you to his books. Maybe, if I ask real nice, he might guest blog?


I've repeated myself enough tonight! I'm off! Time to ground! Here's some Moon Love!

Famiglia

So last night I found a new family member. We might be related by marriage more than DNA, but having talked for a good long while about how and where we both grew up, I realized that we're related by something incredibly important: We're related by Brooklyn.

Why Brooklyn and not "The Italian American experience?" Maybe because, despite Boston being an arrival destination, most Italians arrive in New York and settled in Brooklyn.

So what did we have in common? We both have one side of our family from Naples and the other from Sicily. Big deal, right? Well, yeah. It led to a conversation about teaching styles: In both cases our Napoletan relatives taught methods that were painted with a catholic veneer: saint intercession, novenas, The Eye, witches are bad, but we do the good magic so it's ok, here's what you do for protection, to bless your house, here is how animals give us info, etc etc. Everything is what we come to understand as "catholic" as opposed to just plain christian. However, with the Sicilian sides of our families, things were more open. Not public, mind you, but more honest about what was being done, even admitting it's magic that's being done, that it is indeed Witchcraft and the tales about bad witches are church grown bullshit.

So why the huge difference? Sicily is a whole other world than Naples. Naples is Rome's next door neighbor. They had to hide what they did moreso than the Sicilians, who were hundreds of miles away by land or sea. Hopefully we'll have a post soon about the corruption of Sicily after its annexation by Rome from Dusio. Maybe we have to cheer him on? ;)

Anyway, back to the topic: My Family, once they came to America, had such a desire to fit in that they felt the need to hide who they were. I don't mean as practitioners of Magic. I mean the old world customs. They'd be kept in the house, or in the community, but now, surrounded by outsiders, as opposed to living in proximity of your extended family, it became important to distinguish what could and could not be talk about to outsiders. It's only in the past few years that I've been able to publicly speak about my family practices and traditions and invite others into them. 125 years since my Great-Grandparents arrived here. What can I say, they're patient lol

 Are you? One of the themes of the NYPL event this weekend was to have both the Patience and Fortitude to rise up to the challenge of completing the quest. The two lions outside of the NYPL were named Patience and Fortitude by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. A Paisan ;)

As I've been writing this, I've been going through more genealogy records and info I have stored here and on line. Some of my family arrived before Ellis Island and aren't so well documented, but the search continues, and not just here, also on the other planes. If you reach out, they will reach back. Have you tried? What have you done to reach out to family, both past and present?

I'm leaving it here tonight and hope to have something especially interesting tomorrow night. I'm working on it!

Gestures

Why do we Italians talk with our hands? No idea. I think it's ingrained in our DNA. Some of the gestures are mundane, some are not. Applied correctly and with intent, gestures can have as much of an effect as an entire spellworking. You can claim a space, you can direct the force of your energy toward a specific goal depending on the emotion behind it. Italians are so concerned with "the eyes" because they know it can happen by accident, with gesture as well as a look (we are a passionate and gesticulating people).

Other traditions have their common, ritual and secret hand signs too. But this isn't a blog about BTW offshoots. Some gestures have concrete evidence, er, well bronze evidence at least, as with the Roman hand of Power that I've blogged about in the past. Statues, artwork, mirrors and even some games give us clues as to hand gestures of yore. I know Wiccans who study Hindu and Egyptian Mudras which have been passed down virtually in tact. Again, if there's a system out there which will give you access to what you need, go for it. Are these the only "power gestures" out there? Of course not; However, there are the secret handshakes with the Gods that our Ancestors used. If you meditate on it, if you're in tune with your Patrons, or Ancestors, you can divine, or recover gestures your family used as keys to the Mysteries as they knew them. Or, start your own handshake with your Patrons. Many pick a "magickal name" so why not a magickal gesture?

Do you really think Christians invented crossing themselves? Hahano. They didn't even invent the cross as a symbol. I don't mean the equal arm cross either. From the Cyprus exhibit at the National Museum in D.C.:

The oldest form of worship on Cyprus was veneration of the Mother Goddess, source of life and fertility. A number of figurines from Chalcolithic villages, depicting seated or squatting women in the act of giving birth, may be an expression of that devotion.

Small cross-shaped figures also seem to represent women giving birth. These were often worn as pendants, especially in death. Great numbers of the stone pendants have been unearthed from cemeteries at Souskiou.

Taking up the mantle of your Ancestors can be like walking an old footpath in an overgrown forest: Sometimes the path is well-worn, sometimes there is barely a trace, and sometimes you're the one who has to clear away the brush or even forge the path yourself. We might find map clues in the folk traditions of our family, but you have to want it and you have to work for it. Desire is a lot but it isn't enough. Even as I look for the metaphorical path of my Ancestors, I know that I am forging new relationships with our Patrons.

I was about to post something about how I use gestures but was told to not make that public. I'll talk about it more in person. Sometimes, certain things require you to look into the eyes of another to impart information. Sometimes it's about the vibration of your voice imparting the information that makes it stick. I suppose if it's not the kind if thing you would mail in a letter, it's not the kind of thing you should put on the internet. Even though I feel like I'm "talking" to all of you, I'm technically not. I'm writing a love letter ;)

Speaking of love... Buon Mercuralia! Tomorrow I'll be posting my thoughts on the birth and the Parentage of Mercury and how the lore informs us of his true nature.

Deep Thoughts

Someone, whose name rhymes with Pon, complained that my posts have all been quickies lately. It's true. I've found that I've been moving from research to practice in the past month. If I'm working in the practical, I'm too busy to sit at the computer. It could just be the timing; Now that we're halfway through Spring, the weather has been warm enough to be outside. Experiential learning is as important as research. But since much of it is so personal, I'm limited on what I'm comfortable posting.

Here's something I am comfortable post about, especially since today is Mother's Day: From my experience the other night during my waining moon astral meetup:

I went to the Southern area of the astral temple space and there I saw a desert/beach and a large white brick fireplace that you can see through to the other side (The kind that would be in a fancy backyard). In it was a large black cauldron and under the cauldron were logs/a fire. There was also a fire in the cauldron/flames coming out of the top, burning red and yellow.

I didn't sense anything for a moment other than the heat so I walked around the fireplace looking for salamanders (I saw one, but it kinda looked up at me as if to say "Yeah, what? You're not really looking for me"). Then I felt a presence and called out to Hestia. She answered me and came over, first as a young child in brown tunic type clothes. She immediately morphed into wise women, women from my family. She changed into several of them, none of whom I had ever met before. It was wonderful and a little disconcerting how the faces and bodies morphed into each other so seamlessly.

I talked with Her about a few personal matters and asked what I could offer in return for Her guidance and wisdom. She said to light a candle by the hearth because lighting one relights all others that have ever been lit. There was suddenly a mantel on the fireplace and I lit a tealight from the cauldron flames and set it on the mantel. As soon as I did that, hundreds and thousands of picture frames and candles appeared, spiraling upwards into the sky. The longer I looked, the higher the spiral. I wanted to stay and marvel at it, but She told me I had to move along to the West.

Lighting one candle in honor of your Ancestors relights all others that have ever been lit for that purpose.

I walked away from this experience with a deeper connection to those who I didn't know personally, but who were honored by those I honor.

More Spring Cleaning

I'm so effing excited for Spring that I may just barf glitter and sunshine.

I apologize for the slew of fluff posts. My commitment is to post, not to post a magnum opus every night. Many times I refer to posts-in-progress. Some of these will remain private. I'm not exactly going to post on the specifics of Mysteries. Hello, they wouldn't be Mysteries otherwise! Since this is a public blog, I'm not exactly going to get into oathbound stuff. I've been sorting through my notes, and my brain, and there are things that I do want to post about but they're a long time in coming. They deserve proper attention, I learn something new whenever I investigate the topic, and I have to edit myself for public posting. There are things about tarantella that lead into Women's Mysteries that I'm not at liberty to post, and have to find a way around that while still being as complete as possible.

Here is a list of what I've been working on as well as brief descriptions:

Tarantella: It's a wedding dance, it's a carnivale celebration, it's a women's mystery. It's Italian trance dancing and has roots common to the entire Mediterranean as well as Africa. I've posted on this a bit, but as I explore the topic and update my workshop, I've delved further into it than before. Doesn't hurt that I've taken up the tamburello. The drumming side is a whole other aspect!

Leland/Aradia: I've been asked my opinion on his books and his "informant" Madelena. While he didn't get anything that was secret (ie: he talks about them doing the eyes, but has no idea what was said or how it was done), that doesn't mean what he received was made up. I'm tired of those who aren't in the know harshing on the info he did get. I've said it before: My Grandmother never read Leland but I still knew almost everything in that book before I picked it up at age 20. I like the work Mario Pazzaglini did in translating the original Italian. It shows the mistakes Leland made and takes some of the christianization out of it too. There's another retranslation coming out by a different author. I look forward to reading her thoughts too. That said, there's a difference between common folk healing, spells, and a religious practice.

Grimassi: Can't swing a black cat without bumping into a question about Raven Grimassi when someone hears I practice Italian Witchcraft. My opinion on him? He gets props for putting La Vecchia on the modern Pagan map. Not so much for mixing Italian folklore with Golden Dawn and calling it Italian Witchcraft. I put him in the category with Leland: Publishing common folk healing and spells and adding ceremonial magick doesn't mean this was the Old practice. However, each Family has their own ways. What the ways of his family were are beyond me as is why he mixed his book with things straight out of Golden Dawn. Perhaps he was protecting family secrets or told as much as he was prepared to in a few books. Anyway, props for bringing it into the light and for continuing research and for taking the brunt of the skeptics re: showing that it is possible to have an unbroken lineage.

Martello: I only wish I'd met him in person before he passed. He is a hero of mine. And an anti hero all at once! He organized the first "legal" gathering of Witches in NYC and fought for the rights of Witches to gather and be treated as any other group. NYC Pagan Pride wouldn't happen without his efforts so long ago. I wonder what he'd think about the NYC Parks Department calling me up to tell me they were holding our date even before our application was in. Thank you, Leo Martello!

Aeneid: Who cares? Virgil wrote it for his pal, Caesar, to hep promote him as prophesied heir of the Gods. Virgil travelled the Republic, gathering stories of the Gods, weaving long standing folklore into his tale. I find it interesting that he wanted it burned when he died and didn't get to edit it. I wonder what he'd think of it. I still prefer The Odyssey and Ovid.

Oracle at Delphi: I've been to Delphi and it's effing amazing. Yes, there's a fissure of gasses coming up from the ground. The pythia sat over it. Skeptics claim that she inhaled the stuff and her prophecies were just chemical induced ramblings. I say they were fucking brilliant for setting her over the smoke before they understood such things and the natural gasses were like the other drugs used to achieve gnosis or oneness with deity.

Labyrinths: The snow is off my lawn and it's nearly time to resume digging and lay in the bricks. So effing excited to work on it!

Ancestor work: I don't do enough of it. I want to do it nightly, but you have to strike a balance between the magickal and mundane aspects of life as well as living for the present and living for the past. We stand on the foundation our Ancestors laid, but we must continue to discover and create and integrate and grow.

That's what I have for tonight. Thanks for following along with my ramblings. If there's a topic or question you'd like me to address, go ahead n let me know :)

Blo0o0o0o0o0o0o0od!!! Part 1

Thanks to Dusio for the inspiration for tonight's post. Maybe one day he'll post here too since this can be a "team blog." That enough of a hint? :-D I apologize in advance for the all over the map post. I'm very tired tonight after a long day and am having trouble organizing my thoughts. At least I refrained from posting the lyrics to "Bloodletting!"

A real, in-depth treatment about what blood meant in the ancient world is beyond the scope of a blog. I'd like to see a book dedicated to it. Are there any good resources on this topic? In the meanwhile, I'm going to throw a few ideas, facts, opinions and quotes out there regarding blood and it's awesome powerz:

Opinion: Blood is blood is blood. Menstrual blood isn't any more special than any other blood except that you don't have to cut yourself to get it. On what do I base this opinion? I have been on both sides of having menstruated and no longer menstruate. My blood is just as potent now as it was then. First-hand experience.

Facts: Blood sacrifice was practiced in the ancient world and is still practiced today, both literally and figuratively. Magic words are said to turn wine and bread into blood and flesh. Then they're eaten.

Gladiator tournaments were held to celebrate festivals and to appease deities with the blood sport.

Ideas:

From The Odyssey: "I made a drink-offering to all the dead, first with honey and milk, then with wine, and thirdly with water, and I sprinkled white barley meal over the whole, praying earnestly to the poor feckless ghosts, and promising them that when I got back to Ithaca I would sacrifice a barren heifer for them, the best I had, and would load the pyre with good things. I also particularly promised that Teiresias should have a black sheep to himself, the best in all my flocks.

When I had prayed sufficiently to the dead, I cut the throats of the two sheep and let the blood run into the trench, whereon the ghosts came trooping up from Erebus... they came from every quarter and flitted round the trench with a strange kind of screaming sound that made me turn pale with fear. When I saw them coming I told the men to be quick and flay the carcasses of the two dead sheep and make burnt offerings of them, and at the same time to repeat prayers to Hades and to Proserpine; but I sat where I was with my sword drawn and would not let the poor feckless ghosts come near the blood till Teiresias should have answered my questions."

"...I see my poor mother's ghost close by us; she is sitting by the blood without saying a word, and though I am her own son she does not remember me and speak to me; tell me, Sir, how I can make her know me.'

"'That,' said he, 'I can soon do Any ghost that you let taste of the blood will talk with you like a reasonable being, but if you do not let them have any blood they will go away again.'

"I sat still where I was until my mother came up and tasted the blood. Then she knew me at once and spoke fondly to me..."

Book 11 is my favorite. Perhaps because it talks about Proserpina as queen of the underworld and mentions Minos as a Magician and Diana killing another woman, Ariadne.

"Then I saw Phaedra, and Procris, and fair Ariadne daughter of the magician Minos, whom Theseus was carrying off from Crete to Athens, but he did not enjoy her, for before he could do so Diana killed her in the island of Dia on account of what Bacchus had said against her"

It's an excellent look at an ancient concept of life after death.

Moving away from The Odyssey... In Greek lore, there are the Empusae, the Mormo and the Lamia. They are said to drink blood, and are either daughters of, or companions to Hekate.

Back to more opinion again: It's the life-force, itself. To give your life for something, even if that life is easily renewed, is a huge gesture, an actual sacrifice. Back in the ancient day, no one knew about DNA or how much blood you had or where it came from. They knew that without it, you would cease to be. Speaking of DNA, I was asked about the importance of being "of the blood." Yes, it's important to a degree. At this point in history, most of us are pretty well mixed, if we know it or not. In addition to several different lines of Italians, I've traced my family to Greece, France, Africa, Russia and Poland. I'm a child of the world. I believe more of us are than not. So what's the big deal about DNA? It is an actual, literal connection with all of your predecessors and successors going back to the beginning of human-kind.

More fact: Girls are born with fully loaded ovaries. Therefore, my child has always been a part of me. I have always been a part of my mother. She has always been a part of her mother and so on back to the beginning. We have always existed, even if just in a microscopic way on a physical level.

What about adopted families? When you're adopted it's not just into a circle of people you live with, it's also into a lineage. Ancestors are conferred upon you. If you are made part of a family, you are part of that entire family, the ones who went before as well as the ones who are your immediate family. My biological Grandfather passed when my Mother was still a child. My Grandmother remarried a few years later. For all intents and purposes, he was my Grandfather. He made my mother, and me, part of his family. I loved who he loved, I venerated who he venerated.

Is there a difference when invoking one or the other? Kind of. It's more a matter of technique and level of relationship. Something things cannot be explained, only experienced.

Have you ever used your own blood in your work? If not: What do you think the effect would be? If yes, how have you done so? Did it help your work?
 
Part 2 of this (maybe in March?) will look more at specific uses of blood, and I don't just mean animal sacrifice, I mean personal blood letting to bind, seal, or amp up spells.