Magic and stories in photos

Photographs are stories in light and air. Every photo has a story, some you will never know, some you may not want to know but they all have tales to tell. So I thought I’d tell some visual tales.

I used to enter a lot of my jewelry that I made in the LA County Fair. I won ribbons on just about everything I ever entered and this gave me my only blue ribbon. I got red/second and white/ thirds and a bunch of pink fourths. I’m still proud of it.

This is my first camera and the start of my joining the family obsession with picture taking. I think I was 6 or 7 when  I got it and it went with me every where and hardly still has a scratch on it. It lives with my Nikon FM who no longer works in the tiny hope chest my Great Uncle Winn made my cousin and I one Christmas where my treasures live.

This is a plant I always dreamed of seeing. It was in my first wildflower field guide by Golden Books. I had a full collection of their field guides by the time I was 5 and was allowed to lecture grownups for some reason on what they contained. I used to stare at the picture for hours because I thought it was so cool. It doesn’t grow in Southern California so I never thought I would see one. The first time I went up to see Mary and Denise in Oregon, Denise and I went to the Leach Botanical Gardens for a few hours as it was already too hard for Mary and her purple chariot to move around. This was the first plant I saw getting out of the car and I’m sure Denise thought I was nuts. It was just a wildflower that was on the driveway but for me it was a long time dream to see one and it was just as pretty as I hoped.

This was a bit of serendipity at the Self Realization Fellowship Shrine in Palos Verdes. A mushroom in a mini Stonehenge lintel surrounded by shamrocks. You just know there is a faery close by.

 

Attracting plant devas

Plants to attract the Fae to your garden.

If you feel the need to have a garden that attracts the plant devas and to start a relationships with them there are certain things you need to do. 

One make a place that has water in it. You need to have a bird bath or fountain or some way for the devas to access water. 

Certain plants attract them but truly all plants will attract some one. If you look up lists of plants that attract butterflies or hummingbirds you will attract active plant spirits. 

So plant things that smell good or have bright colours, things attract the child in you.

You can start with rosemary, sage, columbine, osmanthus, roses, abutilons, lantana, morning glory, ivy, coleus and coral bells all work. 

Vines and Lianas are great, like solanacea, moonflower, bignonia.

Trees that bear fruit and flower like citrus and the stone fruits, acacia. 

Think about planting something and letting it go wild in one corner, you never know who might move in.

If you find you are attracting the neighborhood wildlife you will know you are on the right track especially if it is animals you wouldn’t normally find in an urban yard like large hawks or other raptors. 

Start spending time sitting in your garden. Learn who the regular visitors are. The corbie family of birds recognize people and will communicate with you. Hummingbirds will buzz you and let you know they are there. Never put a hummingbird feeder up. They kill more hummers than they help. The sugar syrup goes bad quickly and breeds harmful bacteria which kill the hummers. It also makes them dependent on human and if you aren’t there to fill it they can starve. A hummer can starve in 4 hours if not feedindg. They hibernate in cold rainy weather and are the only birds known to do that. 

Plant plants they can get sustenance from. Don’t plant double flowers unless you are also going to plant plants that are singles. Double plants are difficult if not impossible for insects and birds to drink from. 

If your yard is wet enough for it put a toad house in and see if you can get one to move in. Difficult in Southern California but not other places.

Put a bat box up. A single small bat can eat 1000 mosquitos an hour and some larger ones can eat more. They are very good for the environment and you. And don’t be discouraged if you only get squirrels at first. Squirrels are the vanguard. If they are happy the others will come too.

Oh, and use no pesticides or harmful products is a given.

Anyway, those are some helpful hints to start you out.

BunniHoTep and the Nature of Magic

Once upon a time the gods and goddesses were sitting around the veranda at Isis’s and Hathor’s summer palace having tea and a grand discussion on MAGIC. BunniHotep could see the capital letters float in the air and she listened intently as one after another they spoke.

Thoth talked about the grand magic of creating something from nothing with much ceremony and about how much he liked the priests parading about saying grand words before he would grant their requests.

Osiris and Set both talked about how much they liked the offerings that came their way when people had requests.

Hathor and Isis both spoke about how much love they felt for the people who came to their temples in such dire need and how they felt about granting the requests and how they decided who to help.

And BunniHotep kept listening and thinking crouched down on the floor. No one really noticed she was there as she was sitting very quietly and because she was quite small compared to the rest of the deities and quite frankly, being around Sekmet always made her a wee bit nervous at these gatherings.

One after the other the gods and goddesses spoke about the nature of what they saw as magic and how it changed the world in their view and what it did to the people of the world. Soon it was late and time for all the deities to head back to their temples for evening worship and it grew quiet. All that were left sitting on the porch were Isis and Hathor and BunniHoTep.

“Bunni,” Isis said, “You haven’t said anything all afternoon. Don’t you have any opinions on magic? I know you see it everyday so why were you so quiet?”

BunniHotep thought for a moment. “I wasn’t sure they would want to hear my opinion and I didn’t want to be impolite because I think so differently from some of them.”

Hathor thought and then spoke, “I know you are small but we still like to hear what you have to say so… what do you think magic is?”

BunniHotep put her thoughts in order. “Well, I just think magic is the simple things. Magic is the colours of a sunset and a baby’s laugh. It is a seed that grows into a beautiful lotus flower. It is the rainbows in the dew on a spring morning and the miracle of having enough to eat. It is healing after a long sickness and knowing you are loved by others. It is in the spider’s web and the swan’s flight. How can you not see magic in all of those things? I don’t think of the big things that happen as magic but the small things we see everyday and would miss horribly if they were gone. That’s what I think magic is, that and sitting here with you drinking tea on a late summer afternoon.”

Isis and Hathor nodded. “Maybe you’re right, BunniHotep, maybe you’re right.

And they sat on the temple veranda and watched the sun set in a blaze of beauty and quiet.

Today’s reading

Dedication

Nine of Arrows 

The spiritual warrior dedicates their arrows of inspiration by playing the bow as an instrument. The inner oath helps keep one on a balanced footing by dedicating skills to a greater good. 

…playing a bow (it can be used as a shamanic instrument). 

…spiritual dedication and musical skill generating healing energy. 

Being at one with your inner heart.

Weather, emotions and responsibility for one’s actions

One of the things we earth based pagans need to be careful of is ascribing all that happens to our deities. That can really send you down a rabbit hole and it can get you out of taking responsibility for things you have done. We can do a version of Flip Wilson’s old routine of “The devil made me do it,” sometimes. Nope, sometimes it’s little old you.

If one gets angry particularly at a family member or friemd or even just on an emotional high, one can and will affect the weather. I know I’ve done it. I’ve blown street lights after big rituals that I didn’t ground after because it can feel so good to do but we can also raise wind and make storms. We can also stop them when someone else makes them.

One Hallows many years ago, a good friend who was a florist and worked out of a fairly large warehouse went to enormous trouble to create an amazing ritual space. It was just a magical place, some of it was outside leading to the door. Huge cornstalks and scarecrows and other decorations that were definitely not windproof were standing there and the wind came up and I saw one of my other friends encouraging the wind because what is more magical than a Halloween wind? But I saw all her hard work start to come apart because of his playing and I stopped the wind. I stopped it because I was angry. And I have to admit it was pretty funny to see him try and push against me and it took him about 5 minutes or more to figure out it was me. Luckily he started laughing and stopped what he was doing because it was making me tired to hold it. He couldn’t believe I could do it. I’m afraid I gave him a good scolding for trying to ruin J’s hard work and he took it with good nature because he was just having fun and he didn’t want to hurt J.

But yes, if you are pissed you can bring the wind and the rain and other nasties out and it’s really not okay. Manipulation of anything isn’t necessarily a good thing and if you aren’t in control you can wind up causing fires and other things you can’t stop. We have a responsibility to control ourselves and our emotions. It’s one of things that can make being a magic worker hard but it’s the truth. If you want to be a witch you must take responsibility for your actions and your thoughts, words and deeds. It’s part of the deal.

 

PS, The mind is enormously powerful especially when not grounded. We can do anything if we will it.

How the Fire learned her magic

Once upon a time Fire thought she had no magic. She knew Earth had magic. Earth held the seeds that sprouted in the soils both rich and poor. Earth could make more land, she could move it around. But Fire didn’t know what her magic was.

She knew Water had magic. Water could make things disappear and float things. She was the fluid that made life in all living beings. Fire thought Water had amazing magic.

Air had magic. She made the wind blow and the clouds move. She could shape trees and rocks. She could make things spin and move things from place to place. But what was Fire’s magic?

Fire was getting depressed when finally the other Elements decided they had to tell Fire what her magic was.

They went to see Fire who was hiding in a volcano in Southern Italy. “Why are you hiding, Fire?” They all asked.

“You all have magic and I don’t.” Fire said morosely. She was having quite the pity party.

“You silly thing,” the Elements said, “Of course you have magic, we all have magic. Don’t you know what magic is?”

Fire shook her head no.

“Magic is Change and you do it all the time. Don’t you cook people’s food and keep them warm when it’s cold? Don’t you change plain old rock to shiny sparkly metal? Sometimes you get out of control but we all do. It can’t be helped. Sometimes major change is needed to heal things. When you burn forests it’s the only way native plants can come back where they belong. Fire! You have always had magic, you just didn’t see it.”

Fire flickered quietly as she thought. “I do have magic. Why did I ever think I didn’t? Shall we go change the world, sisters?”

And they went off to shape the world and to help it grow.

BunniHoTep and the Butterfly

Once upon a time there was a small rabbit goddess, she was the Goddess of Lost Objects and Simple Joys but today she was simply the goddess with a big headache. BunniHoTep never had headaches. Isis had headaches. Hathor had headaches. Osiris had headaches. BunniHotep never had headaches. She was usually the one that solved the small problems that gave people headaches.

She had woken up with this one. It started up the back of her neck and climbed around the side of her skull and if it didn’t go away soon she was going tear one of her long ears off. She’d tried the dark of the temple and the coolness of the stone floor. She’d tried the a nasty tasting potion that one of her priestesses had made from the bark of tree that grew near the Nile. The Priestesses had played her soothing music and read softly to her but she still had a headache. What was causing this stupid pain? She hoped it wasn’t anything like the headache poor Zeus had had when he gave birth to Athena. That was a colossal headache and she wasn’t big enough to give birth to a goddess from her skull. Although at the moment it felt like she could. She wondered vaguely what would come out, a hedgehog?

The sun was finally setting on this long day and she decided to take a walk in the gardens along the Temple Row. The colours of the garden were always pleasant and soothing. The lavender of the lilies in the pond and the soft pinks and yellows of the lotus were easy on her eyes and seemed to lessen the pain a little as she walked. She sat down on the stone rim of the largest pool in the shade of a large papyrus plant. She sat quietly dangling a limp paw at the edge of the pool and gently sniffed the twilight air. She sat day dreaming for a bit when she saw a flash of colour out of the corner of her eye. There was something emerging like a thought from her head. She saw a broad line of colours start from the direction of the Nile and arc overhead in the evening mist. It had been raining earlier and had started to clear up when she went out into the sunset.

“What was that? She’d never seen this before. It had bright colours and covered a wide band of the whole sky. It seemed to start at the Nile and arch over the whole temple row and at the moment she seemed to be the only one around who was watching it. And as she watched she felt her headache slip away and she gave a great sigh. The colours were slowly fading with the withdrawal of the sun and as they faded something new appeared. A small winged being was coming toward her. The being landed lightly on the edge of the pool and slowly opened and closed its wings.

It was striped in black over a coat of beautiful butter yellow. “Who are you?” BunniHoTep asked. “Or better yet, what are you?”

The being slowly fanned its wings open and spoke, “I’m what comes when you’re in pain?” It laughed lightly.

“No, really, what are you?” BunniHoTep asked again.

“I’m what comes sometimes when the world or a goddess needs healing. I’m the spirit of that arch. It’s called a rainbow. It will come now after rain when the sun calls it. Ra was sad that you had a headache and he thought I might help.”

“You did help. The headache is gone but you’re separate from the rainbow. What are you?”

“I’m a butterfly. I was born from the rainbow. When you see me, remember that sometimes healing comes in unexpected ways and unexpected places you just have to be open to it. Healing the pain is what I do and then I’m gone.”

“What do you mean you’re gone?”

“I only live a day. I have my purpose and then I go.”

“How is death healing?”

“Death is only the next step and sometimes the ultimate healing. There is no pain in death.”

The Butterfly lifted her wings and glided into the air and disappeared around the clump of papyrus.

BunniHoTep got up and slowly walked back to her Temple thinking about the Butterfly and what she had said.

Today’s reading

 

  The Shaman
Now you may hear the beat of a drum or the song of the wind. It may be the dancing of light on water or the midnight barking of the fox, but whatever awakens your desire to return to the wild, The Shaman within you is ready for initiation into the mysteries.

It may manifest itself in the form of a desire to study an esoteric science or philosophy and apply what you learn to the world. It may involve travel or even a personal sojourn for the sake of gaining confidence and experience. But however the desire to begin a new spiritual chapter emerges, you are now in an emotional and intellectual position to bring forth real change in your life for the benefit of everyone.

This process of focusing, mediating and applying wisdom and knowledge from the Otherworld to bring physical effects to everyday reality is the work of The Shaman.

Being a shaman, able to see the complexities of life and death, and acting on this knowledge for the benefit of all, can be a heavy burden to carry. (Responsibility, ten of wands).

The Shaman has a deep rooted balance within themselves, and can assume a place of status within society without compromising their integrity and losing sight of the higher purpose they are working for.

Knot it

When is a good time?

Of course if you need to, any time will work