The Scribe

Some years ago, before I knew what Paganism was, I started to visualize aspects of my psyche as locations. Unsurprisingly, the place where my memories are stored became a library. And since I am continually thinking about and reacting to my environment, I created a figure to record this information and archive it. I called her The Scribe. Basically, she is a bookish version of myself, with the long single braid I used to wear, glasses (of course), and wearing comfortable robes. You Chaos Magic people might call her a construct, from what I understand: I "created" her, or she is a part of me. She is the steward of my history -- even the things I have repressed or forgotten. As such, she is something of an intermediary between my conscious and unconscious mind. Once, I asked her about recovering past life memories, if I had any. She led me down to a neglected area. Badly damaged books littered the room. Then "she" said, more or less:

"Every time you die, this library floods, or burns, or is ruined some other way. You can try to piece together stories from the scraps that remain. Maybe they will trigger something deep within you. But it would be a long and frustrating journey. Are you certain you want to begin?"

I still haven't answered. Of course, this was a staged conversation between me and myself, instead of an outside entity, and therefore was (almost) entirely under my control. But it helps, to visualize my mind thus. Plus it's a good mental exercise. Maybe someday I'll describe the library itself, and other locations.

Another way to get to know your tools

It's pretty obvious that I will not complete the Pagan Blog Project this year. I've heard there will be  one for 2013, though, and I intend to sign up right away for that.

Not much new in my spiritual life. The other day I improvised a Tarot/Oracle card spread to ask about the nature of my wands, because I have trouble "hearing" them. I got the idea from Dusken's post "A Wicked Pack of Cards: Learning to Love Your Deck-Spirits," in which she suggests a
spread for getting to know your deck. This one is asking your deck to describe another object.

It may help to set the deck near the object you want to ask about for several minutes beforehand, and/or have the object nearby as you work. Shuffle, and ask, "Please describe [Object X]. What's it good at? What is it not good at?" and lay out the cards as numbered above. (More may be required, in particular in the Description section -- I felt like my answers were rather brief. Feel free to modify as needed.) Be warned: depending on the nature of your deck, your answer may be biased.

Pagan Blog Project 2012 Master List

It was high time to make a master list for the Pagan Blog Project 2012, because I found myself forgetting what I had and had not done. Plus, it'll be good for archiving purposes.

A
Altar Overhaul
(Otherworldly) Awareness, or the Lack Thereof

B
Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab
Blackberry Season

C
Stone Impressions: Carnelian
Crafting As Spellcraft

EDIT: ...And then I ran out of energy to catch up.

A Calm Autumn Day

Today is a beautiful autumn day, a no-work Saturday, a day to get things done. This is the view from my kitchen window.

From left to right: basil plant, candy corn-infused vodka (in progress), an autumn harvest scented candle in kitty-shaped holder, and a dwarf rosemary bush. Not quite in frame: abalone shell from the (cramped) water altar, and a dead & dried sage plant that seemed grumpy when I first moved it off the sill to make room for the candle, so I put it back. Maybe it isn't as dead as I thought...



Speaking of dead:

I found this little charmer at the drugstore yesterday, on sale. There is just enough abstraction to give it (him?...I'll go with "him") character. Right now he is sitting in Hekate's territory on the altar. Not sure who/what he is for, yet, but I am confident I will find out in due time.

In closing, here is a picture of the feline roommate also enjoying the day, if not the camera. Say hi to Issy (retraction of "Missy"), and kindly overlook the state of the floor.

Back to work.

Sistrum

So I may have made my partner Sunlitgarden a sistrum/sesheshet this summer in a jewelry-making class.

For the curious, here is how I made it:

First, I cut a small sheet of copper into strips, and drilled holes for where it would attach to the handle, and where I wanted to put the wires that held the jingles. I bent the frame pieces into shape, then soldered them together with a silver-zinc alloy. Since I had to anneal (heat to soften) the metal to work with it, it was still too bendy afterward -- it could barely hold its shape! My instructor showed me a device called a tumbler: basically, a bucket full of ceramic pellets with a little water added, with a lid, attached to a motor that gently shook the contents. Working (hammering, bending) metal hardens it, and this machine does it gently, without distorting the shape. I put the sistrum frame in for about an hour. Meanwhile, I worked on my favorite part: the jingles!

I cut squares of about 3/4 inches (using a jeweler's saw) and drilled a hole in the middle of each. It wasn't important that they be perfect, because I would be distorting them. Many of the pieces were scraps from other students' projects, anyway. Once I had made enough, I hit each piece on a sand-filled leather pad with a round plastic hammer until I was satisfied with their shape, and they were completely hardened. I then strung them on wire and put them into the frame, securing the wire by putting loops on each end.

For the handle, I already had a suitable wood dowel (I forget what kind) from a failed wand-making attempt; all I had to do was saw off the extra and sand it...and sand, and sand some more. I finished it with a clear one-step oil and finishing product. Turns out I cut it too long, but better too long than too short, eh? I drilled a pilot hole and fastened the base of the instrument to the handle with a single all-purpose screw: not the prettiest, but I couldn't find a copper-plated one at my hardware store and it needed to be sturdy.

And there you have it! My explanation makes it sound simpler than it was. I made a plan, but I had to modify it a little as I went along. My instructor suggested that I could make more of these sistrums outside of class in the future, using cold-setting (rivets), but I haven't been brave enough and/or willing. Sunlitgarden is the Kemetic, not I. :) I hope Bast approves.

An Experiment

Since I am fond of drawing elaborate medallions, I thought I'd try my hand at sigil-making. In the attempt I realized I had to par down the designs, make them simpler and more easily understood. So, please tell me if these symbols "say" anything to you, even if it's nothing at all! Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

 

Fig. 1

 Fig. 2

 Fig. 3

 Fig. 4

Still Around

Sorry I've been so absent. My Deep Thoughts(TM) are slow to emerge at best, and absent at worst. But today I picked up some brain fodder: "The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries" by W.Y. Evans-Wentz (1911), and "The Magus: A Complete System of Occult Philosophy" by F. Barrett (1801), both provided by the publisher The Lost Library.

The former seems to be a report on The Fair Folk of the British Isles, primarily. The author, a curious American, did a lot of information gathering at ground-level, so to speak: he traveled the countryside and talked to people.

"I have set forth in the first section in detail and as clearly as possible the testimony communicated to me by living Celts who either believe in fairies, or else say that they have seen fairies; and throughout other sections I have preferred to draw as much as possible of the material from men and women rather than from books. Books too often are written out of other books. [...] For us it is much less important to know what scholars think of fairies than to know what the Celtic people think of fairies. This is especially true in considering the Fairy-Faith as it exists now." -- Introduction, Section IV

I like this guy.

The second, which I have only flipped through, appears to be a summary of ceremonial magic, alchemy, and Kabbalah (The Kaballah?), with a dose of history and the author's own techniques. This paperback printing is faithful to the original, so all the Ss look like italic fs, which makes the words have a kind of lisp in my head. Though it may be dated, it looks fascinating.

I have a Pagan Blog Project post coalescing in my mind on my personal definition of deity. These books may give me more ideas, or at least better ways to word them.