Featured Favorites Friday: New Year's Balanced Chakras

Ok, so I tried to come up with some reason that chakras and balance related in any way to the new year... and I've got nuthin!  Truth be told, I was wandering around etsy and the rainbows and deeper spiritual meanings really touched me and I wanted to share them with you.

Chakra Colors Faerie Ribbon Starts - Set of 7
from: GreenOwlCuriosities
also owner of: SquidsInc
more pretties here: GreenOwlShop Flickr

Circles of Life Pendant

from: GibsonWireCreations

Also found on Facebook

 

Natural Sealing/Stamp Wax - Set of 7

from: GreenCrafts

also on the web here

Align Those Chakras Journal

from: AltarSpace

who blogs here: AJ's Peaceful Spot

Featured Favorites Friday: Toys for Pagan Tots

I hope everyone enjoyed the Solstice, is enjoying Hanukkah, will enjoy Christmas or is simply enjoying the Winter.  Please take a moment to swing through and enter my giveaway (hint: scroll to the way bottom of the post).

Felt Royal Purple Goddess

Hanging out with my munchkin has reminded me that I have wanted to do this Feature for awhile now.  As a pagan mom sometimes I wish for appropriate mini-pagan accouterments.  I had a chance to turn to etsy and Viola - Pagan Toys of AWESOME!

Thor's Hammer Felt Toy

My munchkin is personified in this amazing shop!  Treegold and Beegold is a company with a goal to, in their own words "fill a void for infant/toddler items that showcase common symbology, imagery or themes of earth-based faiths."  Velody, the owner and crafter, is a woman after my own heart, also trying to raise small people in an earth-based faith, not an easy task.

Heathen Runic Blocks Patch

You can find Velody all over the place:
Blog: http://www.treegoldandbeegold.blogspot.com
Google +: http://plus.google.com/116203113214006832289
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TreegoldandBeegold
Twitter: http://twitter.com/treegoldbeegold

Magic Butterfly Play Wand

So after finding this awesome shop I was inspired to find more handmade pagan toys and found more beautiful felt creations!  Sharon from Butterfly Cove is also a crafting mom.  One statement in her profile really piqued my curiosity, her crafts are a 'direct result of the passions in my life' Could you perhaps let me know just a bit more about what those passions are?  She was kind enough to answer me:

Seasonal Gnomes in Sleep Sacs

"Well the beauty of nature has always inspired me to create, as on my business cards, it is written 'the metamorphosis of nature into Art'. I am inspired by nature and I use materials from nature (my most widely used source of material is wool) to create Art. I am so grateful to live on this beautiful earth, to witness the amazing change of seasons, and to be a part of the rhythm of life. That, combined with the imagination and ideas coming from my children are what inspires my creative side.

Paper Window Stars

What I meant by 'My crafts are a direct result of the passions of my life', is my first passion, which is the sheer simple untouched amazing beauty of nature, and secondly, my children to whom the shop and all of its contents is dedicated. I created my etsy shop after the birth of my 3rd child, whose middle name being 'Butterfly' became the inspiration for the shops name."


It's an amazing set of inspirations and I love them!  I can really relate to using nature as an inspiration and appreciate her Whimsy!


Ladies, thank you so much!

Capital Witch: Win Tickets to Community Center Launch Party

For those of you in the DC area, check out a great community resource AND party with the witchy people for New Years!

Capital Witch: Win Tickets to Community Center Launch Party: Please share with love Happy Solstice from your friends at PNC-DC! We have a great gift in store for you today. Our friends at The Open Hearth Foundation...

Yule Magic Blog Party

Welcome Blog Party People!  Many blessings to you and yours through this season and many thanks to Sally of The Village Witch for hosting.

My favorite part of Yule is what we, as modern pagans, rarely get to do... just sit and enjoy the silence of the season.  Yule is the quiet time of the growing earth and, for me, a time to sit in silence and breath before I have to come to life again, just as the earth does.

So my gift to you all is permission to STOP, go outside, look around you and just breath in the stillness.

Blessed Yule and all Hail the re-birth of the Sun.

WINTER WONDER by Esther Remmington

** Much thanks to Ms. Remmington for agreeing to share this beautiful image with all of us!.

My Stuff Monday: OOAK Faerie Spell

Welcome to a new feature, My Stuff Mondays.  I realize that I enjoy promoting other people but may be missing an opportunity to promote my self as well.  I love reading and spell crafting for all the wonderful people who turn into clients.  I use what I make in my shop to do crazy things like Christmas shop handmade and pay for Esoteric/Spiritual conferences, and a little more paypal towards those things is always welcome.

I'd also LOVE feedback from y'all about the items that get posted here... Whatcha think?

I love this kit:

Deluxe Faerie Spell and mini Altar kit with travel tin - OOAK - $15.00

I have put together a set of spells and travel altar pieces to invite the help of the Faeries into one's life.  Included in a sky blue travel tin are:
- Package of Faerie Wishing Powder, hand blended herbs and glitter formulated to attract helpful faeries
- Mini Altar Cloth bedecked with beautiful butterflies to claim and decorate the faerie's space
- Set of five paper flowers to represent the elements on the altar
- Set of three ribbons for a knot spell
- Dragonfly charm of semi-precious stones to focus and keep the energies of the spell with you
- Pink scented tea-light (not pictured) for the fire of the spell
- Faerie Wishes mini Spell Bottle (not pictured) for a second spell
- Full page ritual and spell instructions for everything included in the kit

I would love for this travel kit to go home to someone who welcomes the energy of faeries into their lives!

Yuletide Blessings 2011 Blog Party

Welcome Blog Party People!  Many blessings to you and yours through this season and many thanks to Astraea for hosting.

My favorite set of Family holiday Traditions starts about a week before Christmas and a day full of cookie baking is involved.  When I was younger my two sisters and I helped my dad make tray after tray of different cookies so we could give away cookie plates to people in our neighborhood, at work and at school.  Now I'm older and out of the house so my 5 year-old Valkyrie gets to make cookies with her awesome AuntRose and Grandpa and I get an afternoon off :)

My Aunt Betty in USCG uniform

The one Christmas Eve arrives the tradition I miss most is dinner with my Great Aunt.  She passed Samhain a few years ago and I still miss her.  She was an amazing lady and I hope to be 1/3 as amazing by the time I get to year 70.

Next comes Midnight Mass.  This may seem a bit weird until you think about how much ritual is in a Catholic Mass and think about how it's a celebration of the return of the Son, not all that different than the Sun.  The church is always SO packed, Dad is typically a lector and Mom's busy singing in the choir so my sisters and I get to sit together, just us three, and then two of us sneak into the soprano section to sing the Hallelujah Chorus to end the night.  It's moving and powerful and comforting in the winter night.

Christmas itself is rife with more tradition.  My sisters come down stairs and wake me up, now they wake my Valkyrie up too.  We hang out till 7am, make coffee and send the cute one up to wake up Mom and Dad (now Grandma and Grandpa).  Stockings can be opened while coffee is made with Irish cream and then presents are opened in age order, youngest to oldest.  Breakfast is french Texas toast wrapped in bacon and dinner is roast beef.  The day is ended with Irish Coffee, friends and family and much warmth.

Blessings to you and yours!.

Winner - Natural Crafting Beauty

Congradulations to comment #73 (chosen using Random.org)...

 Clenna!!!  Please check your email!

Featured Favorites Friday: It's almost Yule

'Favorites of the Season' by ReadingsByKat

Beautiful seasonal offerings from my favorites

God's Gift Card JanetAndersonA... $3.00	Chainmail Candle Holder... SerenityInChai... $25.00	Tatted Christmas Tree D... TataniaRosa $5.00	Lunar Alchemy Witches M... WhiteMagickAlc... $12.95
Yule Spoon Wand thewhimsicalco... $24.00	Frosted White Bells Flo... fringeandflour... $8.00	NEW Bracelet, Arm Cuff,... thecuriouscupc... $10.00	Christmas Ornaments Sab... PaperMeJewels $14.00
Holly Berries Christmas... chuckhljal $32.00	3 Small Twists goodclayworks $27.00	Red Hot Beaded Guitar S... Stringcycle $30.00	Pressed Glass and Snowm... nitebyrd $6.00
Holly King Yule winter... Cronesmagicalc... $31.00	Embroidered Black Chris... gualtiem $7.50	Vintage Christmas Table... mulberrypatchw... $21.95	ON SALE Cascade Earring... Surori $16.20

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.

The Secret Life of the American Working Witch: Rant Alert: A Merry Christmas Eviction Notice

Again I say "Peach on, sistah witch, preach on!"

The Secret Life of the American Working Witch: Rant Alert: A Merry Christmas Eviction Notice- My Response

Miniature Yule Logs by WoodAndFire on etsy.com

The Witches Yuletide Ball Blog Party

*** Don't forget to enter the giveaway.  1 week left! ***

Welcome Blog Party People!  Many blessings to you and yours through this season and many thanks to Dana & Tenae for hosting.

My offering for you all this Solstice is as ritual: Winter's Night and Re-Birth of the Sun

Yule Elements Enchanted Witchery Candles

I take my time setting up the altar, making sure I have all four elements represented as well as the Divine Feminine and Masculine.  It's important to me to keep the spirit of the season so I will probably bring in some evergreens to scent the air.

The longest night begins and it with it, my ritual.

Featured Favorites Friday: Sylvan Crafter's Hearth

*** Don't forget to enter the giveaway.  1 week left! ***

Goddess Symbol Box

 So... in my wanderings around the witchy-world-of etsy I ran across this LOVELY box (at a way more than reasonable price) which brought me into contact with a group of people working towards bettering their local and regional Pagan Community.  Since I actually am a Pagan Community Organizer (PCO), I asked if I could feature them here!

Me: First, tell me just a bit about your organization, including your location and mission in the Pagan Community.

The Sylvan Hearth Pagan Temple is located in Sylva, NC about an hour west of Asheville. We offer a safe place for Pagan worship, socializing, study, Initiation, networking and peer support.

Tarot Wednesday - Death (13)

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!

So now we've worked out way back to one of the most intimidating cards in the deck, Death.

Rider Waite Tarot

The thirteenth card of the Major Arcana is an interesting place on the journey of the Fool, the point of no return.  To me this card signifies great and sudden change and a transition of some sort into a new phase of life.  For the most part variations of this card picture a skeleton wielding a scythe with the subtext being “he’s coming to get you”.  Personally the skeleton symbolizes seeing down to the bare bones of a situation, stripped of all other options and the scythe is a forced separation from one’s previous status.  In the Rider-Waite symbolism death is riding a pale horse (whom we shall call Mortis) and his conveyance and the look on the bishops face leads one to feel that this change, transition, separation is inescapable. 

Shadowscapes Tarot

I very much agree with this as, in order to move forward, change MUST happen.  I’m reminded of something a Muslim scholar once told me, “Death is very important to the concept of eternal life.”  I think the Phoenix really represents this well as death and decay are necessary to new growth. 

I’m not afraid of Death showing up in my readings, I’m just concerned that I’m never ready for the bone deep change he represents.

How do you see Death?

Sunday Intentional: One day Late and Lame

So... I put up Christmas this weekend and hung out with AWESOME witches.  I have a real post in the works, but you will have to wait until next weekend.  In the meantime here are some interesting facts that none of you know.  And don't forget to swing by my giveaway. 

#1. What's a nickname only your family calls you?
My actual blood sisters and ONLY my actual blood sisters can get away with calling me "Meggy".

#2. What's a weird habit of yours?
Um, don't know really...

#3. Do you have any weird phobias?
Yes.  I cannot use the bathroom at someone's house if the shower curtain is closed.  I mean, what if there's a crazy person with a knife in there and they wait for me to sit down before they jump out and try to kill me?!  For a similar reason, all closet doors must be kept closed, especially before I go to bed.

#4. What's a song you secretly LOVE to blast & belt out when you're alone?
A Boyz-II-Men album or Michael Jackson... any of them.

#5. What's one of your biggest pet peeves?
Pagan-Standard-Time and Monotheism-Bashing.  I just feel like it's a lack of respect.

#6. What's one of your nervous habits?
I chew on my fingernails.

#7. What side of the bed do you sleep on?
The right.

#8. What was your first stuffed animal & it's name?
I still have my lion named Leo.  He's in rough shape, but my daughter loves him too!

#9. What's the drink you ALWAYS order at Starbucks?
Blech... I like boring coffee and therefore dis-like Starbucks.  When I get dragged there I typically get something iced.

#10. What's a phrase or exclamation you always say?
Depends on who I'm with, LOL.  Typically "Damn-it" or "Wait, let me pretend to be surprised".

CLOSED - Giveaway! Featured Favorites Friday: Natural Crafting Beauty

Update 12/17/2011:  This giveaway is now closed.

So I was wandering around the Trade Teams on Etsy and was struck with the awesomeness of these:

Silver Star with Lapis Center

Only in the EXTRA awesomeness of Tiger's Eye centers.  I had to own them and the amazing creative goddess behind these lovelies agreed.  I can honestly say they're even more pretty in person.  Jessica Hoeye from Jewelry By Jesse was a lovely trading partner and a maven of natural materials.  Using stones, metals, pearls and shells she uses instead of plastic, really bring her creations to life in a way that is as refreshing as it is beautiful.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jesse and am happy to share with you!  Read down to the bottom for a chance to win your very own pair of Silver Star Semi-Precious Stone earrings.

Dragon Vein Pendant

Me: Is there a special place your creative inspirations comes from?
Jesse: When I first read the question my answer was No. But that's silly since everyone gets inspiration from somewhere. Honestly I get inspiration from every where. The environment, my family even what's going on during that day, but really I think a majority of my inspiration comes from the stones and beads themselves. They speak to me at the shops I buy them at or I get this feeling like I NEED them. After that, it's not unusual for them to lay around on my desk for a week or a month by my computer, or on the dining room table, a shelf or somewhere that is inconvenient to my husband :) Finally I'll look at them and say, I need to take your downstairs. Once they have made it to the dark and dank pit that is my 110 year old basement I separate them into their little storage containers and stare at them for awhile longer. Finally something in my head clicks and I go "AH HA!" and I start laying out different beads in a design that just popped into my head. Some are great successes, others have a life of about a year as a piece of jewelry and then end up back in the basement, torn apart and made into something else.

Bracelet - Freshwater pearls and rubies

Me: How does your religion impact your creativity?

Jesse: About 40% of the time I'd say that my pagan beliefs drive me to make jewelry that has a purpose behind it. I make pendants with stones to promote clarity, or prosperity or what ever property the stones have. I think today I'm going to make a bracelet, necklace so on that has properties of "X" and I do that.  Then 30% of the time my western/horse riding background kicks in and I make large chunky jewelry for horse people that want a lot of bling, either for the show ring or for going out. The other 30% of the time my eclectic, artist side says... "oooo, this is pretty and this color goes with this color and I think I'll toss in some silver or maybe copper... Yeah... I like that." and voila! I have a piece of jewelry.

Chunky Yellow Howlite necklace

Me: What's your favorite part of the etsy selling experience?

Jesse:  Ha ha ha, This one made me laugh because the first answer that popped into my head was simple. I don't have to set up or tear down at a craft show. I don't have to leave my house, my jammies, anything. I can sit at my computer and no one cares if I've showered yet that morning, or if I smell a bit like the barn that night. I don't have to do my hair or put on make-up to sell on etsy. It's awesome! Not to mention the fact that I can sell my jewelry to people all over the world. I just made my first international order this week to Finland. I was SO excited that my site is reaching that far.

Take a moment to visit Jesse and learn more about this vivacious and spirited artisan here:
Etsy Shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/jewelrybyjesse
Blog:  http://jewelrybyjesse.blogspot.com/
Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/119465081469152/

GIVEAWAY: How to Enter to win your very own pair of AWESOME adventurine star earrings...

Mandatory Entry:  Visit Jesse’s shop at http://www.etsy.com/shop/jewelrybyjesse and browse around then come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.  Please note you must be or become a follower of this blog to be eligible to win.  Please make sure you include a way to contact you if you win. 
Extra Entries: Please leave one separate comment for each entry:

• +1 entry – follow Jesse’s blog These are the Random Days of My Life publicly through GFC
• +1 entry – Add JewelryByJesse to your favorites on Etsy (include user-name in your comment)
• +1 entry (once per day) – mention this giveaway on twitter or facebook (comment with the link, and tag @EmKatCreations)
• +3 entry – blog about this giveaway (please comment with the link)
• +5 entry – make a purchase from JewerlyByJesse (include transaction link in your comment)
• +1 entry – follow me (EmKatCreations) on twitter (include user-name in your comment)

This giveaway ends in two weeks at midnight on 16th Dec. 2011 .  Open to followers WorldWide!
Winner will be chosen by online random generator.  The Winner will be notified by email and has three days to reply or another winner will be chosen.

Good Luck everyone!!