Have a Joyous Yule!

It's the Winter Solstice today. In the Northern Hemisphere, this is the time that the wheel of the year turns and we move toward the light. In honor of that, I often do a Yule log. I tie my wishes for the coming year to the log before I light it to offer them up to the universe. I pull some Tarot cards tonight and contemplate which chapters of my life should be closed and which should be opened.

Do you have a Yule tradition that you enjoy? Any recipes, like mulled cider or favorite wreaths? For me, Yule has usually been a fairly solitary holiday, but I'm looking forward to expanding my traditions. I'm thinking orange pomanders? I've never made those, but oranges always remind me of the sun.

Colette Baron-Reid's Wisdom of the Oracle Cards

Have you ever had a card deck follow you around? Well, this one has. Last week, I ran across it twice online among friends, and figured that I should pick it up quickly before it whomped me over the head a third time. Once was a general reading, and the other was a specific reading. I got the same card in each. So...it became mine. It arrived this morning, and it's really, really lovely. I have a couple of Colette Baron-Reid's other oracle decks, and this did not disappoint!

The art is whimsical, glowy, with a really lovely quality of light. The cards don't follow a traditional Tarot structure, but follow the lead of many oracle decks in which each card represents a self-contained idea. The deck feels gentle and positive. I decided to draw a card to start my morning, and this is the one I got: Treasure Island!

Well, hello, turtle! Hello, jackpot! According to the guidebook, this card is all about the manifestation of positive thinking and faith in abundance. The guidebook is really neat - there are interpretations of the cards for general purposes, relationships, prosperity, and protection concerns.

I think this will be my new morning ritual - drawing a card to start the day and leaving it on my desk. Do you have any card rituals that you use to get your day going?

Essential Oil Bath Fizzies

I love bath fizzies. But they're expensive, and I'm very, very cheap. I've been trying to figure out a way to make them, and I think I've succeeded. The recipe I ultimately used included ingredients I had around the house, which is the best way to do hedgewitching on a budget!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/2 cup salt (I had Epsom handy, but I think you could also use Himalayan or sea salt)
• 1/2 cup citric acid
• 2 tablespoons of fractionated coconut oil (I think you could also use grapeseed or almond)
• Around fifteen drops of essential oil, depending on your tolerance for the scent
• Soap or food coloring

Gear needed:

• Large bowl
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Cupcake molds or tin
• Tablespoon

I mixed the baking soda, salt, citric acid, and coconut oil together in a large bowl until clumps started to form. I added the essential oil and soap coloring in last. I used soap coloring, because I have some that I've been trying to use up FOREVER. For essential oil, I used ylang ylang and lemon with a couple drops of jasmine, because I wanted something sunny and cheerful.

I mixed thoroughly, then spooned the mixture into my silicone baking cups. I packed the mixture in tight with the back of a tablespoon. Warning: do not fill your cupcake molds up to the brim! This mixture expands, and you'll have an unholy mess on your hands in a few hours that looks like it came from Mount Vesuvius. I learned this the hard way. You can see in the picture how my acceptable batch still has a lot of expansion bubbles on the surface.

Instead, pack your cupcake molds about half to two-thirds full. Put the molds to dry in a place they won't be disturbed for a day and ta-da! Bath fizzies!

Dragon Stones!

I went on a road trip last week to the lovely Serpent Mound in Ohio...more details on that, later! But I wanted to share with you a couple of lovely septarian spheres I picked up in the gift shop. Gorgeous, aren't they?

I haven't had septaria before, so I was curious to learn about them. They're old, very old...like 50 million years old. They're made up of a variety of minerals, like calcite, aragonite, quartz, chalcedony, and limestone. In these specimens, the brown stripes are aragonite. The yellow parts are probably calcite.

Metaphysically, septaria are stones for shamanic journeying, for privacy, and invisibility. They're called Dragon Stones...and they look exactly like the scales of a dragon. They're excellent protective stones for shielding.

I've put these two in a little nest in my altar...maybe someday, dragons will hatch!

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 30: Make a Commitment to Yourself

I think my takeaway from this past month of magic is a need for structure. I need to commit to getting outdoors daily, to setting aside time for reading and goal-chasing, for making adequate containers for the structures I want to build in my life. I tend to spend a lot of time on auto-pilot, and it's time to interrupt that with some intentional activity.

Thank you for joining me during this month of magic. 

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 29: Astrology

Today's challenge is to find one's moon sign. Mine's Libra. In my spiritual tradition, the moon sign is all about the tools that one has used in the past to accomplish one's goals...and these tools need to be set aside in order to grow and learn new ones. My takeaway from a moon in Libra is a need to be more decisive and not agonize endlessly over choices. Libra has a lot of positive qualities, but endless vacillation isn't one of them.

Plentiful Earth's #30DaysMagicalRoots Challenge Day 28: Magical Podcasts

I read Elizabeth Gilbert's BIG MAGIC last year. I enjoyed it a lot, particularly the exercises designed to push us beyond fear and redefine it. I was thrilled to find that there are podcasts for the book:
https://www.elizabethgilbert.com/magic-lessons/

Do you have suggestions for other fun podcasts?