This weekend, I did a craft fair. It was a really small affair, in the crop room of a local scrapbooking shop. Only a few vendors came, but I had a great time with the other women. I made jewelry while we waited for customers. I ended up making $45, but better than that, I went by myself, and was actually very happy with how I felt about it. I was a happy camper last night.
Then, today! The red fairy visited, and I felt like poo all day. So, I babied myself. Went to my moms, and visited my sister and niece (and BIL, of course), My sis had an awful reaction to H1N1- she's asthmatic and was scarily sick. SCARY. Lots of prayers went up for her this week. So, other than sleeping late (slept like shit last night) and resting I just babied myself all day. I just got out of a candlelit shower and feel relaxed.
I popped my deep fryer cherry today and made fried mushrooms (and zucchini 'cause I had leftover batter). It was a great red wine and garlic butter. It smelled like The Melting Pot to me. They will forever be known as "Melting Pot Mushrooms" from now on.
The end is coming!
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At least, the end of my online classes! And not too soon, as Wicca 101 classes start up at the end of November. I love the Wicca 101 classes, and its great having sisters who will volunteer to teach, so I don’t get burned out. The online classes sometimes end up feeling like a chore. I think, if I got paid, rather than doing it out of the “goodness of my heart” I might feel better about it. It’s just that the students move on afterwards, and I end up feeling empty. Maybe it’s because with my regular classes, the students are working toward initiation, and at the end of the day, I receive feedback and continued interaction with them. They (usually) integrate into my coven family, and we all become sisters. And then I feel like my hard work and energy actually influenced someone, rather than being a 12 week blip on their calendar.
I’m wrestling with whether or not I should continue to be the manager of the Circle of Teaching. I don’t know that I’ll be able to give it the time I feel it deserves in 2010, as I have some new projects that I have launching, including trying to turn my crafting into a business, and a Pagan networking project I’d like to give some time to. I’d also like to focus on my personal studies, something that I have totally flaked out on. I do MUCH better with structure, and support- though it didn’t always used to be the case. I need to focus on tarot more, and work on a daily devotional. I just need to figure out a way to structure that so I actually FOLLOW through with it.
I’m wrestling with whether or not I should continue to be the manager of the Circle of Teaching. I don’t know that I’ll be able to give it the time I feel it deserves in 2010, as I have some new projects that I have launching, including trying to turn my crafting into a business, and a Pagan networking project I’d like to give some time to. I’d also like to focus on my personal studies, something that I have totally flaked out on. I do MUCH better with structure, and support- though it didn’t always used to be the case. I need to focus on tarot more, and work on a daily devotional. I just need to figure out a way to structure that so I actually FOLLOW through with it.
Samhain!
Samhain night was wonderful! Here are a few photos of our altar!
Pork Empanada/Pasty Things
Makes 16-20
Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
pork chop seasoning packet
small can of sliced new potatos
dried chopped onions
garlic powder
salt/ pepper to taste
olive oil
Package of 2 refrigerated pie shells
Directions:
1. Take out the pie shells to thaw a bit.
2. Get out a medium sized skillet with raised sides. Drizzle the bottom with olive oil, and turn the burner on medium heat. Put the ground pork in the skillet, and break up with a spoon or spatula. Brown the pork, about halfway through sprinkle half the seasoning packet over the meat, as well as some of the dried chopped onion (to your taste).
3. Open the can of potatoes and dice them. Once the pork is pretty much cooked through, add the potatoes, and shake some garlic powder over the whole pan, stir lightly to get everything seasoned. If it looks a little dry, add more olive oil. Turn off heat.
4. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Roll out a pie crust on parchment paper. Use a wide mouth glass or circle cookie cutter to cut circles (at least 4") out of the pie crust. Repeat with other pie crust. Ball up the rest of it, and roll out to get as many circles as you can.
6. Take each circle and use a rolling pin to flatten into an oval. Spoon a bit of the pork mixture onto the pastry and fold over. Crimp edges with a fork.
7. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
This is good for potlucks, just refridgerate afterwards, and then warm up in an oven before serving.
And what Sabbat blog post would be complete without a recipe! And as Samhain is the third harvest festival, the meat harvest, a traditional food to eat is pork. Below is my recipe for Pork pastries.
Pork Empanada/Pasty Things
Makes 16-20
Ingredients:
1 pound ground pork
pork chop seasoning packet
small can of sliced new potatos
dried chopped onions
garlic powder
salt/ pepper to taste
olive oil
Package of 2 refrigerated pie shells
Directions:
1. Take out the pie shells to thaw a bit.
2. Get out a medium sized skillet with raised sides. Drizzle the bottom with olive oil, and turn the burner on medium heat. Put the ground pork in the skillet, and break up with a spoon or spatula. Brown the pork, about halfway through sprinkle half the seasoning packet over the meat, as well as some of the dried chopped onion (to your taste).
3. Open the can of potatoes and dice them. Once the pork is pretty much cooked through, add the potatoes, and shake some garlic powder over the whole pan, stir lightly to get everything seasoned. If it looks a little dry, add more olive oil. Turn off heat.
4. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
5. Roll out a pie crust on parchment paper. Use a wide mouth glass or circle cookie cutter to cut circles (at least 4") out of the pie crust. Repeat with other pie crust. Ball up the rest of it, and roll out to get as many circles as you can.
6. Take each circle and use a rolling pin to flatten into an oval. Spoon a bit of the pork mixture onto the pastry and fold over. Crimp edges with a fork.
7. Place on a baking sheet and cook for 15-20 minutes at 400 degrees.
This is good for potlucks, just refridgerate afterwards, and then warm up in an oven before serving.
Just for fun...
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In the spirit of Samhain, I saw this posted as a "serious spell," on a discussion site. This spell, from Charmed, has a really great feel to it, and I don't know why it couldn't be adapted and utilized IRL.
Hear my voice, hear my cry, spirit(s) from the other side,
Come to me, I conjure thee, cross now the great divide.
Hear my voice, hear my cry, spirit(s) from the other side,
Come to me, I conjure thee, cross now the great divide.
On Being the High and Mighty Priestess. Or Not?
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Labels:
Covencrafting,
Life
After priestessing my group for about five and a half years, I’m still waiting to feel like the high priestess.
Upon the formation of the group, I was sure that at some point, I’d start feeling powerful. Or at least that I was smarter/better/wiser than the other people in my group. Or that I would always know what was best for the group, and that I’d always be supremely confident in every single decision that I’d make. I would share my wisdom to people who would love and respect me. I’d be the one that everyone always came to for everything. I’d get used to a more dramatic ritual style. My evocations would be flawless. I’d have a structured daily practice and be completely comfortable with speaking in front of people. I’d magically be able to memorize everything super easily. I would become this image of a high priestess that I had in my head. Not that I wanted to be high and mighty, I just felt that if I was able to do all these things, I’d be a better witch!
Riiiiiiight.
Almost six years later. Shocker- I’m the same person. I’ve been told that I’m a triple virgo (sun, moon and rising signs- though I’ve also been told that my moon is in Taurus). My ruling planet, Mercury is also in Virgo. I have almost NO air in my chart. Barely any fire at all. In high school, my straight A (even in honors) report card was besmirched by my B in drama. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in that class that got a B in drama. And I did lame extra credit, even! I can joke around and be dramatic, but when I try to act dramatic, it comes out weird (at least in my mind- its rare that I attempt any sort of acting in front of other people). I can read dramatically, but evidently I self-criticize too much and get really embarrassed about acting- always afraid I’ll overact. I’m usually very guarded about my actions.
I do share my wisdom with people who love and respect me, and they do so as well. I don’t want to be the one that everyone comes to for everything- who wants that, really? It’s not practical at all. It’s better that I work within a group of sisters who come from diverse enough backgrounds that we all can contribute to the collective knowledge of the group. I still have issues with memorization (I used to be stellar at it in junior high- what happened?!) and I’m getting better at spontaneous ritual. At the last Night of a Thousand Goddesses event, I had NO idea how we were going to finish the ritual. But it came to me, and we finished it and all was well- not nearly as scary as I had expected.
I’m not infallible, nor am I always super confident. I have insecurities, as does everyone else. The older I get, I find that I struggle more with my social anxiety- moreso with people I don’t know, and meeting new people. But that’s how it is, and I manage it the best I can. I’m a person, and there are things about me, that –try as I might- I probably won’t be able to change as drastically as I’d like. But then if I changed so dramatically, would I even recognize myself? There are things that I can change. I need to let go more often, relax more, stop stressing about things, and stop putting pressure on myself for things that don’t really matter in the long run. And there are things I probably won’t. I’m always going to be more practical than dreamy. I’m going to let that go.
No one is perfect. I need to stop trying. I know I’ve written posts about that before, but maybe the more I write about it, the easier it will be to accept and act in accordance to the statement.
So, I still haven’t found myself as feeling like a ‘high’ priestess. I figured I would, but instead I still find myself feeling like me. A coven leader, one of a circle of wise, loving, intelligent, awesome sisters. Coordinator of rituals, events, meetings, and rules. Not the high and mighty, all-knowing, infallible priestess I had expected to feel like.
I like this me better than the person who I had hoped to become.
Upon the formation of the group, I was sure that at some point, I’d start feeling powerful. Or at least that I was smarter/better/wiser than the other people in my group. Or that I would always know what was best for the group, and that I’d always be supremely confident in every single decision that I’d make. I would share my wisdom to people who would love and respect me. I’d be the one that everyone always came to for everything. I’d get used to a more dramatic ritual style. My evocations would be flawless. I’d have a structured daily practice and be completely comfortable with speaking in front of people. I’d magically be able to memorize everything super easily. I would become this image of a high priestess that I had in my head. Not that I wanted to be high and mighty, I just felt that if I was able to do all these things, I’d be a better witch!
Riiiiiiight.
Almost six years later. Shocker- I’m the same person. I’ve been told that I’m a triple virgo (sun, moon and rising signs- though I’ve also been told that my moon is in Taurus). My ruling planet, Mercury is also in Virgo. I have almost NO air in my chart. Barely any fire at all. In high school, my straight A (even in honors) report card was besmirched by my B in drama. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in that class that got a B in drama. And I did lame extra credit, even! I can joke around and be dramatic, but when I try to act dramatic, it comes out weird (at least in my mind- its rare that I attempt any sort of acting in front of other people). I can read dramatically, but evidently I self-criticize too much and get really embarrassed about acting- always afraid I’ll overact. I’m usually very guarded about my actions.
I do share my wisdom with people who love and respect me, and they do so as well. I don’t want to be the one that everyone comes to for everything- who wants that, really? It’s not practical at all. It’s better that I work within a group of sisters who come from diverse enough backgrounds that we all can contribute to the collective knowledge of the group. I still have issues with memorization (I used to be stellar at it in junior high- what happened?!) and I’m getting better at spontaneous ritual. At the last Night of a Thousand Goddesses event, I had NO idea how we were going to finish the ritual. But it came to me, and we finished it and all was well- not nearly as scary as I had expected.
I’m not infallible, nor am I always super confident. I have insecurities, as does everyone else. The older I get, I find that I struggle more with my social anxiety- moreso with people I don’t know, and meeting new people. But that’s how it is, and I manage it the best I can. I’m a person, and there are things about me, that –try as I might- I probably won’t be able to change as drastically as I’d like. But then if I changed so dramatically, would I even recognize myself? There are things that I can change. I need to let go more often, relax more, stop stressing about things, and stop putting pressure on myself for things that don’t really matter in the long run. And there are things I probably won’t. I’m always going to be more practical than dreamy. I’m going to let that go.
No one is perfect. I need to stop trying. I know I’ve written posts about that before, but maybe the more I write about it, the easier it will be to accept and act in accordance to the statement.
So, I still haven’t found myself as feeling like a ‘high’ priestess. I figured I would, but instead I still find myself feeling like me. A coven leader, one of a circle of wise, loving, intelligent, awesome sisters. Coordinator of rituals, events, meetings, and rules. Not the high and mighty, all-knowing, infallible priestess I had expected to feel like.
I like this me better than the person who I had hoped to become.
My Pillow is NOT Your Bed
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Labels:
Animals
Ok. I know Cindy thinks I?m turning into the cat lady, but since I?ve never really been around cats before, it?s really not surprising that this cat kind of fascinates me. So the cat has been sleeping at my feet, on the floor or on her kitty bed by the bedroom door for ages now. If she?s kicked out of the room, she usually just lays in front of the door until I get up, then she?ll follow me around all morning and try to convince me to stay home from work.
Well, lately, she?s decided that she should sleep on my pillow. Seriously? Like I want cat hair on my pillow? Or a tail thwapping me in the face- she thwaps her tail a lot, even when she?s happy. Weird bird. Anyway, so she?ll start down by my feet, the floor ,or her bed, and the minute I fall asleep, she?ll creep up and lay down on my pillow, above my head. If I wake up, I block and send her down to the end of the bed, but she?s getting fairly sneaky about it. So I wake up to a tail thwapping. Or sometimes she?ll pat my head with her paw. The other night, I reached up and she bit me. Not hard at all, mind you, but I?m training her not to bite. She KNOWS it too. When she bites, she gets forced off of wherever she is, or gets kicked out of the room. I think she thought I wouldn?t notice if I was asleep. So I kicked her out. I hope she learns soon, I?m trying to use cat treats to help. Hubby is a pushover and will feed her cat treats non-stop. I?m going to have to hide them from him. LOL!
Well, lately, she?s decided that she should sleep on my pillow. Seriously? Like I want cat hair on my pillow? Or a tail thwapping me in the face- she thwaps her tail a lot, even when she?s happy. Weird bird. Anyway, so she?ll start down by my feet, the floor ,or her bed, and the minute I fall asleep, she?ll creep up and lay down on my pillow, above my head. If I wake up, I block and send her down to the end of the bed, but she?s getting fairly sneaky about it. So I wake up to a tail thwapping. Or sometimes she?ll pat my head with her paw. The other night, I reached up and she bit me. Not hard at all, mind you, but I?m training her not to bite. She KNOWS it too. When she bites, she gets forced off of wherever she is, or gets kicked out of the room. I think she thought I wouldn?t notice if I was asleep. So I kicked her out. I hope she learns soon, I?m trying to use cat treats to help. Hubby is a pushover and will feed her cat treats non-stop. I?m going to have to hide them from him. LOL!
The Changing of the Seasons
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I don’t have a favorite season. My favorite time of the year is the time between seasons. It’s like there is literally change in the air, something coming right around the corner. It’s like twilight, or shadows- places between the worlds. There’s power in that.
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