Witchy Wednesday - Home Decor

Happy Witchy Wednesday! 

I'm still working from home, but being home more does give me more time to get some things done.  One of the things I've been focused on is home improvement and decor.  Since I'm spending more time here, I want the surroundings to be fun and to reflect my witchy personality.  So today I thought we'd look at some very cool and inspiring witchy ideas for home decor.

My most recent home improvement project was installing some screened glass window film over a couple of the windows in my bay window.  It was super easy to do, in fact, easier than I expected it was going to be.  I used the Gila brand window film which you can get from Ace Hardware or on Amazon.  I'm really proud of the result, so here are a couple pictures. 

The cats love the windows, too.

I put these candlesticks with battery operated pillar candles in front of each of the covered windows and it creates a really cool gothic effect. 
















These window coverings were the easiest way to make a change in my surroundings.  I absolutely love my windows now.  They also look very cool from the outside at night.  I had enough film left over after doing those two windows to also do our bathroom window. 

I also put in a new kitchen floor earlier in the pandemic quarantine.  I used some vinyl laminate planks and it was fairly easy to install.  I did it entirely by myself.  The hardest thing was using the tile cutter.  I have a small kitchen, but do my best to make it look witchy.  Here is my kitchen with the new flooring, and also with our old dog, Princess, sporting a snazzy sweater.

Now, let's look at some other witchy house decorating ideas for inspiration.

Here is a beautiful living area.  I absolutely love the purple walls with the black accents. 

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Maybe your witchy style is more green.  How inviting is this beautiful room with the swing and all the beautiful green plants?  

Boho is always very witchy, too.  I always think of Stevie Nicks or "Misty Day" when I look at Boho styles.  I remember about 25 or so years ago when we first moved into the house I'm still living in now, when people would come over, they'd end up sitting on the floor.  At the time I thought I should just get rid of the chairs and couches and just get floor pillows and cushions.  Zulily recently had some great floor cushions on sale and I admit I ordered one.  This little nook looks so cozy and comforting and like it would be a great place to curl up with a good book.  

Witchy decor doesn't always have to be gothic and dark.  Think blue cosmic prints with lots of moons and stars.  I love this next room.  Very modern and sleek, yet with a subtle witchy celestial touch.  

Let's not forget about bathrooms.  There's nothing quite like taking a nice hot herbal bath and it's even better with a little witchy ambience.  Candles are key here.  Not to mention that awesome view.

So, what do you think?  Are you inspired?  Is it time to do something new in your space?  Or do you already have a totally awesome witchy area?  If you would like, we would love to see some pictures.  Feel free to post them in the comments section here, or on the Cedar Valley Witch Society page.  I love show and tell.  Stay witchy, my friends, and check back Friday for my Freaky Friday post.

Tarot Tuesday - 4/28/20

Today's card drawn is the Eight of Swords. 

What an appropriate card for the times we are living in.  The Eight of Swords represents feeling trapped, bound, confined, restricted, or backed into a corner.  It can represent living in fear and having anxiety and hopeless feelings.  You may feel trapped with no way out.  This card can represent psychological issues you may be having.  Have you experienced some despair?  Have you had some anxiety over the current state of things?  This card has made an appearance today to remind you not to ignore these feelings.  You need to acknowledge them, deal with them, and then let them go. 

It is important to remember that when you feel trapped, you are usually trapped in a prison of your own making.  While some of us are quite literally trapped at home, only leaving for essentials, we have to remember that this only refers to being "trapped" on the physical plane.  It is also important to remember that this won't last forever and is only a temporary situation.  How can you use this time to free yourself in other ways?  How can you free your spirit or your mind?  What can you do now to liberate yourself on the spiritual plane? 

Being trapped might not just refer to us following stay at home orders during the pandemic.  There are so many ways a person can feel trapped.  Are you trapped in a belief system that is hard to break free of?  Are you trapped in expectations that you or others have imposed upon you that are not true to your soul?  Are you feeling trapped in a relationship that is no longer serving you?  The Eight of Swords is reminding you that you have the power to break free.  You no longer have to live in whatever prison you are living in.  Free yourself. 

Sometimes in order to break free you have to destroy something.  Calling upon Kali, the great destroyer, can help you tear down your prison so that you can start building your empire.  Sometimes we get so comfortable in our prisons that breaking free is terrifying and full of "what ifs".  Muster your courage.  Break free.  That's the only way you can truly start creating what is really yours.  I'm absolutely certain that what will emerge from the ruins will be stunningly beautiful. 

Have a terrific Tuesday, friends.  Do something "freeing" and check back tomorrow for fun witchy styles,art, and accessories. 

Monday Musings - Randonauting

Here we are at the beginning of another week.  Today's topic?  RANDONAUTING.

On Saturday, my daughter, Angelle, texted me asking me if I knew what randonauting is.  I did not.  She then went on to explain a little bit.  Randonauting is basically using bot to generate a random location for you to go visit and explore.  There is also this idea that one's consciousness can affect the randomness and interact with the numbers being generated.  This means that you can set an intention or two (or more) for what you want to find, discover, or see on your journey, and that intention will affect the outcome. There is a lot more to it, such as voids and attractors.  This has to do with the type of location you go to and how many randomizer points it has.  This is where it gets a bit complicated for me, and I admit, I don't fully understand it.  But basically voids are supposed to be a bit creepier and attractors are more chaotic.  That's what I understand about it in a nutshell.

To try randonauting, you first download the "Telegram" texting app.  In that app, you add @shangrila.  Then you have a conversation with shangrila (which is the Fatum-Bot), give it your location, and tell it what kind of location you want to visit, how many intention driven quantum points to include, and stuff like that.  The fatum-bot will then generate a location for you and you can then navigate to that spot.

I was all over this idea, so Sunday afternoon I set out randonauting.  I set my mental intention to be "whimsy".  I like creepy, so I started out with a void.  It took me to a highly residential area and to get to the location, which looked like it was out in the middle of a cornfield, I would have had to go through someone's back yard.  I decided it was better not to go.  It's important to not break laws or trespass while randonauting.  I then drove to a church on the other side of the cornfield and thought about getting to the location from there, but I hadn't quite figured out the maps feature of the app yet.  It turns out, I actually could have gotten there from the church parking lot by walking.  Maybe I'll find that one another time, but then again, since it's very random, maybe not.

I chained my locations this day, meaning that instead of going home and then to another one, I just entered the location I was at at that point to find the next location.  There were a couple more spots I just couldn't get to.  It appears cornfields are popular random spots with the fatum-bot.  So, then I tried an attractor.  Much more successful!  It took me out to our industrial park area, to a farm equipment business.  Since it was Sunday, and of course, Covid-19, there was nobody out there.  So, I parked across the street and walked to the exact location, which was a particular piece of farm machinery.  Other things I noticed there were birds, including a couple of Canadian geese which were observing me curiously, and numbers on the piece of equipment.  You're supposed to take note of numbers you see in case there are any meanings in any of them for you.  I took pictures of the numbers I saw and a picture of the piece of equipment as well.  From there I tried just a couple more locations with the same result of them being in an inaccessible place.

Let's look at the location that was successful.  I did not know what the machinery was or what it did.  I will also note that I noticed a couple of grain elevators there, and when I was a child, it was a lot of fun for me to walk up the older style grain elevators that were sitting around on my farm.  I remember doing that on one once and when I got to the high end, it started to tip which really freaked me out.  It scared me a bit, so I hurried back to the low end to get it back on the ground.  I don't know if this is relevant or not, but it's just a detail to include.

Once home, I posted pictures of the equipment to find out what it was.  Many people were able to answer, saying it was a part of an auger system.  So, from there I went to google it to see exactly what that piece of equipment does. However, when I googled it, I spelled it "augur" instead of "auger", so the definition I got was this.  verb. portend a good or bad outcome.  noun. (in ancient Rome) a religious official who observed natural signs, especially the behavior of birds, interpreting these as an indication of divine approval or disapproval of a proposed action.

They say that often randonauts will find something personally relevant or meaningful on their randonauting journeys.  Me misspelling auger when googling it certainly seemed meaningful to me.  Since I practice divination using cards, bones, and now also coffee beans, I really appreciated the nod to divination in the definition of "augur".  I also was quite drawn to birds on my randonauting journey, and remember I said two Canadian Geese were observing me curiously at that location.  I will probably pay even more attention to birds and their behavior now.

So, what do you think?  Are you going to try randonauting?  I had a lot of fun doing it.  Even the locations that didn't work out were fun to drive to.  There's a bit of excitement in not knowing where you're going.  If this interests you, I encourage you to research it a bit more.  There are concepts known as memes, such as the despair meme and the void meme.  The despair meme is just a feeling of dread before you go.  Yes, I think I definitely experienced a little of this.  Sometimes they say the despair meme can actually manifest things happening to prevent you from going, like a phone call or something you need to tend to.  The idea is to keep a positive emotional tone as you visit the point, and work to overcome the fear, anxiety and anger that may arise within as you go on your journey.

This was a very fascinating and fun adventure.  I definitely will do it again.  Did the random location purposely have meaning for me, or did I assign meaning to the randomness?  I encourage you to try it, but please be safe when you do.  Do not break the law or trespass and if you feel uneasy about your safety in a particular location, don't explore it alone.  That reminds me, a lot of people do this with another person or even with a group of people. I can see where this would be a lot of fun to do with other people.  Sometimes they even find artifacts.  I watched a you tube video of some girls who did this and found old vinyl classical music albums which they took home and played on their turntable.  Very interesting stuff.  If you do try randonauting, please report back!!  You can comment on this post or leave me a message or post at Cedar Valley Witch Society on facebook!  I would love to hear about your experiences.

Check back tomorrow for Tarot Tuesday.  Have a marvelous Monday!

Freaky Friday - 4/24/20

We made it to another Friday during Coronavirus Lockdown.  Are you keeping track of days?  Fridays are actually kind of busy for me right now.  I've already had two Zoom meetings and in about 45 minutes I will participate in a ukulele jam via Zoom as well. 

So, what's freaky today?  First of all, don't go drinking disinfectant or worse, injecting it!  I know you know what I'm talking about unless you just don't listen to the news or do any social media at all.  Just don't.  It might kill the Covid-19 virus, but I daresay, it will also kill you!!  So don't.  Okay, so that in itself is freaky enough, but that's not all I'm going to talk about today!

This is great.  There is a Coronavirus museum challenge for museums to post images of their creepiest items in their collection.  You can see them all here:  Creepy Museum Challenge.  I do want to post a few highlights from this challenge. 

This is from the Yorkshire Museum.  It's the hair bun from the 3/4th century burial of a Roman lady with the hairpins still in place.  This is the museum that started the challenge.

This is a sheep's heart with nails stuck in it. It's from around 1911 and was used to "break evil curses".  It was sent into the challenge by Dan Hicks. 

This Donald Duck plague mask was sent in by the Deutsches Historisches Museum.  It's from 1650/1750.  That is a super creepy plague mask.  Can you imagine someone walking around with one of those on?












For more creepy goodness, check out the link I posted above to see the whole article.  What a freaky idea. 

What else is freaky?  How about some freaky Instagram accounts.  I happen to know this person pretty well, but check out her Instagram.  She posts a lot of freaky stuff.   Little Satan Child

Here's another freaky Instagram account.  Secrets of The Occult

Last night I went on a virtual ghost hunt with "Matthew's Haunted Pub Crawl" on facebook.  He did a facebook live tour through a Galena cemetery.  He had dowsing rods, EMF, and we had a lot of fun with the spirit box (one of my favorite ghost hunting tools).  It made me realize how much I miss ghost hunting and a couple of us are planning on doing something similar sometime in the near future.  Don't worry.  I'll keep you posted. 

I'll leave you freaky readers with this today.  A 30 year old woman in Canada was walking along when she was shot in the chest.  She suffered only a fractured rib.  What saved her?  Her breast implant.  Seriously.  It deflected the bullet which otherwise would have likely killed her.  I'm sure she's thankful for having made that decision!  Don't judge people for their choices.  You never know how those choices might save them in the end.  That's freaky. 

Enjoy your Freaky Friday, freaks.  If you'd like to listen to a couple fun and freaky true ghost stories from Iowa, check out Ghoulsass Podcast's latest episode on Spotify or Anchor. Ghoulsass Podcast Check back here Monday for my Monday Musings and have a great weekend.

 

Witchy Wednesday 4/22/20

Happy Witchy Wednesday, Darklings.  So, let's be honest.  How many of you are dressing up in witchy attire to check the mail?  Take out the trash?  Walk your dog?  It's a great time to shop online and there are some great sites out there.  I've been wanting a cloak, and I finally ordered one from a wonderful site that has beautiful Renaissance, Boho, and other cool threads.  Check out Holy Clothing to see the very cool cloaks, dresses, tops, and more.  Here are a few highlights.

Tunic with hood - check out this beautiful tunic with hood.  I would love to wear this one walking my dog.

Cloak - remember I said I ordered a cloak?  This is the one.  But definitely check out this extremely witchy one they have.  NYX Cloak - isn't that just divine?  Have fun browsing all the rest of the cool stuff on their site.

Plague Doctor Masks - do you have a Plague Doctor Mask yet?  I confess that I don't, but I really want one.  I can just imagine walking my dog through the neighborhood wearing the full Plague Doctor garb.  Well, if you click on the link, this site is specifically for Plague Doctor Masks.  They might be a bit expensive, but I'm a firm believer in quality.  They also sell a pattern in case you want to make your own for all you crafty witches out there.

Let's talk about masks and gloves.  If you have to go out in public right now, you definitely should be wearing a mask that covers your nose and mouth and gloves.  It's a great time to be creatively stylish.  I ordered some super cute, screen sensitive, summer gloves from Amazon.  I've also ordered a couple different witchy face masks.  Calaveras Coffin Company is one of my favorite go to places for witchy stuff.  She sells some of the cutest spooky things.  She recently came across a Ouija mask that says "Go Away", and a Jackolantern mask.  I have pre-ordered the Ouija print one.  I also ordered a couple of cool masks on Etsy.  One with spiders and another with some mystical print.

Being safety conscious and following recommendations during the pandemic doesn't have to be boring.  I also ordered a cool witchy hat from Etsy to complete the look. 

So, if you see this incredibly stylish witch walking her dog in the evening, with a witchy facemask, cute summer gloves, and this amazing hat, be sure to wave.  From at least 6 feet away, please. 

Speaking of gloves, if you use cloth gloves like me, make sure you wash them regularly.  I also spray them with disinfectant or use hand sanitizer on them when I'm not able to wash them right away.  My daughter has vintage gloves we managed to buy from my favorite local vintage shop, Mohair Pear, the day they closed for the pandemic.  Keep an eye on them, though, as this pandemic can't last forever, and I will be right back shopping from them once they re-open.  If you don't want to mess with washing gloves, you can always go with disposable, and that doesn't have to be boring, either. 

So may possibilities, especially for you creative witches.  I hope today's Witchy Wednesday post finds you healthy, happy, and doing things that make your heart and soul soar.  If you aren't already, be sure to follow the Cedar Valley Witch Society page on Facebook.  We are having a Zoom meet up tonight!  Would love to have you join us.  Find the link on the facebook page.  Stay witchy and check back here Friday for "Freaky Friday".  

Tarot Tuesday - The Fool

Yesterday I had a fabulous reading done by my dear online friend, Ginger (thanks, Ginger).  The prominent card that really stuck with me was "The Fool".  In fact, Ginger has this beautiful deck called "Starman Tarot", in which "The Fool" is called "The Sacred Clown".  I'll include both the image from my own "Dark Tarot XIII" and from "Starman Tarot" because it's quite a beautiful deck.  I may have to look into getting this one for myself sometime. 

The Fool Meaning - The Fool is a great card.  It represents new beginnings, having faith in the future, a childlike perception and portends that important events are coming up, some with a possible element of risk.  When you pull this card, it means that you are at the outset of your journey.  You are ready to take off to something new and step into the unknown.  You don't know exactly where you are going, but you are being called to blindly forge ahead, even if this leap of faith may seem crazy to you.  This is definitely a time to trust the universe. 

The Fool is encouraging you to have an open, curious mind and to boldly go forth with an open mind and an adventurous spirit.  Leave behind fear and trepidation.  Shrug off fear, worry, and anxiety.  Trust that any challenges along the way are just stepping stones in your journey.  Challenges are not bad things, they are how you grow.  This is a time to throw caution to the wind and take a chance. 

What a fabulous card for a strange time we are living in.  What new ventures do you have coming up?  Have you been thinking of starting a new venture or project?  Now is the time! 

Be sure to check back tomorrow for my Witchy Wednesday blog post.  It's a great time to get dressed up all witchy just to check the mail, take out the trash, walk your dog, or just join in on a Zoom meeting.  Have a wonderful Tarot Tuesday. 

Mama Mage is BACK!!!

Heyyyyyy!!!!  It's me!!!  I'm baaaaaaack!! 

And super excited to be blogging again.  If you remember, some years ago, I kept a regular blog going.  Then life got busy and crazy and I found I didn't have time to keep up with it.  Then a couple years ago a certain fundamentalist pastor decided to write posts against witchcraft, so I blogged some rebuttals.  Those are the last posts I've done. 

Times have changed and, maybe like you, I'm finding I have a lot more time on my hands right now.  So, it occurred to me I should start up my blog again.  It was so much fun and it was a great way to express what I'm thinking and talk about what I've been doing.  For today's blog, I'm just going to catch you up on what the last few years have brought me.

I started the Cedar Valley Witch Society.  For awhile we had something called "Witchy Wednesday" where we would meet up at a local establishment, dressed in our witchy finest, and talk about witchy stuff.  Then it stopped for awhile.  Then I started it back up.  Then Covid-19 happened.  That's the way things go, though, and maybe we will do some virtual Witchy Wednesday hangouts.  That could be fun.  Stay tuned on the Cedar Valley Witch Society facebook page for details.  I plan to have a virtual Beltane celebration as well. 

I attended the Midwest Witches Conference a couple years ago, which was a FABULOUS experience.  Then I was asked to be a speaker at the next one.  This year at the conference I was able to do a few sessions about pathworking, which is my favorite method of magickal practice.  I've been asked back to speak again (provided this nasty virus isn't still keeping us social distancing in October) and this year I will speak about "Time/Space Magick".  Good stuff.  They are having a witches ball this year after the conference and I am definitely planning on attending that.  Interested in the conference or ball?  Look up "Midwest Witches Conference" on facebook.  I'd love to see you there. 

A few of us had a ghost hunting team for awhile.  We were (and still are) called GHOULSASS.  That stands for Ghost Hunts of the Underappreciated Loser Squad and Adventures in Spectral Sightings.  Whew.  In fact, if you haven't yet, you NEED to go see the ghost hunts we did on youtube, and you absolutely HAVE TO listen to Ghoulsass Podcast on Spotify, Anchor, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.  Even though we have quit going on ghost hunts, two of us still do a podcast every other week in which we discuss something paranormal, ghostly, or just plain weird.  GHOULSASS PODCAST.  Go listen.  Right now!!  You can read this later, but you have a lot of episodes to catch up on.  Hopefully someday the social distancing restrictions won't be needed anymore and we can get back to ghost hunting as a team again.  Until then, I'll still be podcasting.  Be sure to check it out!!

Speaking of social distancing, I hope that you are.  Stay home as much as possible and interact only with those you live with in person.  Do as much as you can virtually to stay sane and have some fun.  This virus is something to take seriously.  I've been doing my best to stay home.  I went to grocery delivery this week.  It was a great experience!  I walk my dog in the evenings after supper and when it gets dark and the weather permits, I start a fire and sit outside listening to "Scared to Death", a great and very scary podcast.  I highly recommend it.  It's like sitting around a campfire listening to ghost stories.  I hope you are all well and staying healthy. 

I'm so incredibly happy to be back blogging.  Tomorrow check back for Tarot Tuesday.  I have a new deck I'll be using and I'll pull a card each Tuesday and talk about it's meaning.  And of course, there will be Witchy Wednesdays and Freaky Fridays!!  Oh, I'm so excited!  See you tomorrow! 

Mama Mage

Let's talk about......

Let's talk about.......fear.

I recently read once again a blog post put out by a Baptist Church.  This one was not written by Pastor Sam Jones, but rather, by Patrick "No Compromise With Evil" Wyett.  Yes, I roll my eyes every time I type that.  I've also had recent conversations regarding these blog posts (since the good pastor decided to post them again) and whether or not Harry Potter contains "REAL" spells (insert another eye roll) with a very nice member of this congregation.  This particular member feels it was "no accident" that we began a dialogue about the real spells or lack thereof in the Harry Potter series.  I believe he feels that he is now meant to save my soul, so to speak, or at least "bring me back into the fold" of  Christianity.  Honestly, I just wanted to make sure they all knew that banning the Harry Potter series because they contain "real" spells is a bunch of poppycock.  J.K. Rowling may have done her homework and based some of the spells in her book on things she found in real grimoires, but they are hardly real spells at all.  If you don't believe me, go ahead and try one.  "Wingardium Leviosa".....did you fly?  Did you make something levitate?  No?  Maybe you didn't put the accent in the right place.

When I read the thread about this topic and about witchcraft, these people get so far into superstition, hearsay and dread, that I sometimes feel I must set them straight.  So, I try.  Usually in vain.  These people are full of fear.  Fear of that which they do not understand.  Fear of the unknown.  Fear of those who believe differently than they do.  Fear of learning more than their pastor teaches them.  Fear of people who are different than they are.  So, let's talk about it.  Let's talk about fear.

Fear is not always a bad thing.  It's good to have a healthy fear of some things.  Sometimes that fear can save your life.  However, there are things we sometimes fear just because we don't understand it and fear can be our downfall.  I was taught to be afraid of bees by my mother.  She had an irrational fear of bumblebees, bees, and wasps.  Eventually I learned that bees really were not to be feared.  They were good for the environment and had a job to do and really didn't want to sting me as that would insure their death as well.  Wasps, on the other hand, are to be feared.  Maybe they serve some purpose, but I have yet to know what it is.  But, that's another topic.  My fear of bees was a learned fear.  My mother was afraid, so I was afraid.  But I managed to unlearn that fear.  I have learned that if a bumblebee is on a flower, sometimes you can actually pet that bumblebee very gently.  What fears do you have that are learned?

One of my first houses as an adult had a slight bat problem.  At first I was absolutely terrified of them.  I'd never really been around bats before.  As time went on, I read about bats and learned more about them, eventually turning my fear into fascination.  I learned how to catch them with a plastic bag and then release them outside so they can continue doing all the good that they do.  This fear was a fear of the unknown.  I didn't know much about bats so I didn't understand them.  The more I learned about them, the less I feared them.  Is there something you are afraid of simply because you don't understand it?

These real world examples show one main way that fear can be conquered.  The main strategy for conquering fear is EDUCATION.  Learn about that which you fear.  If you refuse to learn about it then your fear becomes irrational.  The members of this particular Baptist congregation are fearing that which they don't understand.  They gossip about the "spells" in Harry Potter.  It's truly gossip.  One of them heard the spells are real, then they go and tell someone else, and so on and son on and the next thing you know the entire congregation is banning the books.  Talking about it gives them a thrill of some sort, just like the local gossip loves talking about all the scandalous things his neighbors have been up to.

Look, I pretty much know when a spell is a spell.  I pretty much know what goes into making a particular spell a spell.  And I can guarantee that just saying any of the spells in Harry Potter isn't going to do anything.  Words alone are not a spell.  The main ingredient in a good spell is intention.  A spell without intention isn't going to do anything.  So, even though I might be the expert on spells in this particular case, one of the responses I got was to read a book about "Harry Potter and the Bible, the Menace Behind the Magic".  So, I looked into the book and read the reviews.  Nope.  This particular book is not going to convince me that the spells in the series are real.  It's still not true.  I am 100% sure.

So, the next topic is why do these people fear pagans?  Why do they fear those who practice magick?  Why do they fear occultists?  Because they don't understand them.  Patrick Wyett's blog post makes that clear.  He seems to think all occultists are participating in human sacrifices.  He thinks all occult practice is going to lead to this.  This is NOT TRUE.  He is lying to people in order to instill fear.  Why does the church want to instill fear?  Why  has the church instilled fear throughout the centuries?  Control.  That's what it all comes down to.  Let's make everyone afraid of anyone who isn't like us, then we will have more control.  There are Christians who do horrible things in the name of Christianity.  This doesn't mean they all do it.