Here is my altar…

Here is a closer pic…my God statue and candle and deer antler, sage and shell, incense, candle snuffer, chakra wand, other wand, athame, pentale offering plate, my large BoS (covered in black cloth) and my travel BoS on top, a little box with some consecration oils etc…

Cauldron, SM Sigil candle, a jar of stones that have been purified and will be consecrated under the next full moon, a jar of offering I made for my Goddess Oshun (in the back consisting of honey and other herbs), crystal ball, bell, SM Sigil tile, healing cup with little healing spirits to place in it when doing a healing for someone in specific, a bowl of cowry shells with the runes on them in honor of Goddess Oshun, chalice, other stones, reiki stones, pendulum, tarot cards that I am consecrating, and some amulets and adornments that I use/wear.

Under my altar is my meditation pad and pillow and a basket of candles and altar cloths. Next to it is my closet that houses my herbs, oils, incense, etc.

My book shelf with all the books that I use or reference a lot…

Work area/Computer space next to the book shelf…

This was my first altar I built.  It has now been retired and is happily being used to provide protection to all my divination tools such as my cards, runes, stones, pendulums and such.  I use this to give readings on…

Some Witches Dice that I just made for divination (thanks to sweet Moonie from Sacred Mists)…

I have a cedar chest along with a few other drawers and shelves that house all my additional supplies, ones that aren’t used on a regular basis.

I thought I would share.  It’s nice to have everything all in one area, one sacred space.  It used to be spread here and there, scattered and I would run around collecting what I needed.  The minute I decided to move it all around and make my own space it was like magick!  It all seemed to connect and give off a beautiful energy.  My kids even like hanging out when I am working at my computer, they feel very at ease and like the gaze at the things mom has placed in its spots.

With Light & Love,

Oshuyn

You may question why I choose to take each unknown step,
I don’t question, I just move towards secrets that are kept

by those who tread before my feet and lived a life like mine,
Who smiled upon the Elements and Spirit and all Divine.

Who embraced their child-like spirit and held firmly true to their heart,
Who walked their path, each unknown step, never from their path depart.

My path my appear to be different, to some it may seem absurd,
but it is mine, I’m not alone, my questions all are heard.

The answers lie in every step, in every embrace that’s made,
between my feet and Mother Earth, the foundation is being laid.

Our energies all merge and meld, the spells are being cast,
this lends me aid and support and wisdom that will last.

My steps are comfortable yet unknown to me, but not for long,
the gifts of those who passed before bless me with their song.

The words they sing surround my soul and allow me to feel free,
I’m blessed I walk a path so pure, my journey, So Mote It Be!

by Oshuyn

01/19/2010

How much of yourself can you give up before you compromise your true self or essence?

That’s what my thoughts on things have boiled down to recently.  No matter what is happening, it all comes back to a question that is something along those lines, just how much of myself can I give up.  Is there an answer?  Does that answer vary depending on situations or circumstances?  What if answering that question meant that your life would change considerably?  Is there a happy medium?  What if those things that you gave up aren’t “serious” things such as your spiritual beliefs but more along the lines of the little things that make ‘you’, ‘you’?

We are days away from Samhain, a time of death, which as the wheel turns, brings rebirth.  It’s a time of prophecy and omens, clear messages from those who dwell on another plane.  A good time for me to ask this question of myself and find an answer.  Just how much of myself can I give up before I compromise who I am?  Hmmmm…

I haven’t had a purchase there that I have had issues with.  One of the reasons I continue to shop with Sacred Mists Shoppe is for the quality of their items.  It’s as if they are hand picked with beauty, thought, and intent in mind.  I have been completely amazed with the runes and crystals/stones that I have purchased there.  Sometimes you can find stores that the pics look beautiful so you order them and when you get them they don’t even seem like the item that you thought you were purchasing.  The opposite seems to be for the runes/stones that I have ordered so far.  Every set I get seem even more magickal than I had seen online making my connection with them seem even more magickal.

I have purchased a huge variety of items from altar supplies, incense, clothing, bags, stones, tarot decks, pendulums, and books all with perfect happiness after receiving them.  And the jewelry is AMAZING!  Sometimes it does take a little time for you to get your items, but when the wait is for something so perfectly beautiful and of such great quality it is completely worth it.

Customer service at the shoppe is great oo!  You’re not just another order, your a person who’s needs are important.  But, what else could you expect from the Sacred Mists Shoppe!

Don’t forget that the new year is upon us and to get your 2010 Llewellyn datebooks, almanacs, calendars and such!

www.sacredmists.com

So my good deed today seemed like it was going to be the beginning of a horror show or something.  I was putting my things in my vehicle and took my cart back to the cart return, YES completely pushed into the cart return like it should be and not floating around the parking lot because someone lacks the energy or morals to return it.  There may be some that have a good reason not to return the cart to the proper place, but there are several peeps that don’t.  I had a discussion with this little old man one day in the parking lot while returning our carts, we were pushing them all in, the ones that never were replaced.  He said it was like what Jesus said in the Bible, that we should do the right thing.  I nodded and gave him a smile, it made his day.  Or when the cart boy who is out there everyday and smiles and chats with people and no one gives him the time of day because he is noticeably mentally challenged, just needed someone to say ‘hi’ back so walked with him in and listened to him tell me he asked his girlfriend to marry him.  The lady who stands at the door chewed his butt and told him not to bother me, it looked like he was going to cry.  I told him I was very happy for him and his fiance and wished them all the happiness in the world, and I smiled at the lady.  His face lit up, as did my heart.  Or helping unload the cart in front of me because one lady was too fragile to lift her items out of it.  She told me ‘God Bless You Child’, and I returned the blessing.

So today there was a lady in a wheel chair and she had a huge dog, astronomically large dog who’s leash was hooked on to her chair.  She had hardly any function in her extremities from what I could see.   I could hear ‘Miss, Miss” as I was walking back to my vehicle from returning my cart.  So I turn,excited because I knew that this was my doing-a-deed time.  She asked if I could help her, she had dropped her keys in the van, way in the van and wanted to know if I could get them for her.  The ramp was down and her and the dog were outside of the van.

I take a step towards the ramp and my mind start to ramble, as always.  All the horror shows that I’ve hid under the blankets too are telling me that this is not a good idea.  DON’T GO IN THERE LADY, IT’S A TRAP!  Those words that I have yelled at the TV before are now dancing in my head.  But, this is supposed to be my good-deed, so go ahead, go in the van.  As the voices inside my head are arguing the monster dog starts barking wildly at me.  I’m sure it’s protective of her and not too sure of a stranger entering it’s vehicle, but then again…maybe it’s used to push or scare the captive, the pray, ME into the vehicle.  Not sure, but that dog was barking loudly and trying to come closer to me.  As I am backing up into the van more hitting my head as I go in.  I look around wildly without trying to look too scared for anyone else hiding in there or some signs of ‘foul-play’ in the works.  I watch CSI regularly, I know what I’m supposed to look for.

As I’m looking around for keys, which I almost forgot what keys looked like because my head was too busy trying to fight out the outcome of this deed, the lady keeps saying ‘they are way in there, further somewhere’ which I can barely hear because monster dog was still sounding out his barks.  As the voice that’s saying ‘you didn’t listen, you went into the van, and now you’re going to be kidnapped, dummy’ is winning the fight, I see a sparkle on the floor.  It’s been raining here all day but at that one moment a ray of light seemed to shine out and light up the keys, making my heart skip a beat in excitement.  Grabbing for them with lightening fast reflexes I snatch them up and eagerly make my way to the van door.  ‘I can do this’ I’m telling myself.  Then that little voice says ‘but what are you going to do if the bad dude is standing outside the door and now he’s gonna shut it on you?’.  Hmmm, run like h***/kick/scream, I was raised a tough farm kid, my dad didn’t raise no sissy girl!

The lady is trying to shush up the dog, which wouldn’t listen, I’m trying to hand her the keys but her hands really didn’t function in such a way…and all I wanted to do was get to my vehicle and it just wasn’t happening fast enough.  I did an excellent job of keeping a calm face the entire time, not matter what was going through my head.  I smiled and wished her a good day and told her it was no problem at all helping her, all with a pleasant tone.

Will this stop my good-deed-doing’s at wally world?  No, I love to help people so I can’t do that.  But, maybe I should go into acting…

She scrambled around this morning like a frantic mess looking through my things for more red/white/blue stuff.  Heaven forbid if we actually get the items we need found and ready prior to a few minutes before we have to walk out the door.  Then maybe we wouldn’t miss the bus (my son) or forget the doctors note that the school needs (my daughter).  Thank the Goddess for giving me the patience and serenity needed to be a good mommy.

My son comes up in a blue t-shirt with red in it and a red tie.  He has to break out his knot book that shows him how to tie it because we as parents just might be a little stupid when it comes to knowing things when your kids turn the age of 14.  I offer my help, but of course, “mom, I can get it”.  As his sister calls because the bus has traffic backed up on the road…holding my breathe I tell her to just have the bus leave.  I finally get to tie a knot, which he takes out and redoes himself, which is fine.  It’s quiet for a moment while I start going through my emails and seeing what I have for a work load so far…until I hear “mom, do you still have your shiny red pants?”.

Ah, the memories of the shiny red pants and my wilder days.  Of course I still have those!  Yes, they have retired but still sit out in eyesight, a reminder that although my hubby is an old fashioned cowboy who’s wife doesn’t wear shiny mirror-like fire red tight pants anymore…I once did and still have it in me to put them on and parade around the house just for fun.  The wild inner child never dies, it just needs to take a nap sometimes.

I grab them, he tries them on, we hop in the truck and to school we head with the doctor note in hand, my work once again pushed to the side for a moment.  In the few blocks we have on our little journey to school my thoughts are “oh my gods, what would his dad (cowboy) think of his son in his mom’s shiny red pants!”.  My son giggles and says “I bet when you bought these you never thought your son would be wearing them”, we both giggle.

A mom’s love is true and limitless, full of patience and understanding, encouragement and strength, openness and flexibility.  I am thankful and blessed that my Goddess has shared with me her ways and her encouragement that love isn’t perfect, it’s filled with the twists and turns and breaks in the road and sometimes about giving in and laying down the laws…and my Goddess has also shared with me the simple joys of a giggle that makes all the patient-trying-times worth it.

I call my hubby and told him, he didn’t giggle like my son and I did, which made me giggle even more.

Spell to Ease Life’s Path

I ask the gods my path to smooth

My psyche calm, my spirit sooth

Send me comfort through the day

As I walk the Blessing Way

Ease my way when money’s needed

Ease the road to heart’s desire

Ease the troubles life can bring us

With the power of Air and Fire

Ease the making of life’s choices

Ease the deaths and ease the births

Ease the problems of the body

With the power of Water and Earth

Keep me wise and keep my happy

Keep me healthy night and day

Keep me strong and keep me grateful

As I walk the Blessing Way

So Mote It Be!

May your path be blessed!

On the drive home from the lake this past Monday I noticed the beans starting to turn.  I realized that my dad will be scurrying to get all the tractors and augers and bins ready for this years harvest and we’ll not see him much since he will be in a race against nature and what it brings for weather.  All the creatures are scurry about making preparations and gathering supplies.  I look out into the yard and see the green leaves hang on the trees, still as can be.  It’s almost as if they know what is to come, that they will be flashing their beautiful colors except for green.  They lay there resting in stillness just waiting to see which little leave will be brave enough to make the move first.  Then they all join in and do their magickal dance to the ground, floating and fluttering about until they land.

The changing of the season is at hand.  I pulled a Rune and a Tarot card this morning to see what it is I should be aware of for today.  They were both about change and slumber and turning inward for answers, facing demons and fighting fears.  I feel it is time to do this, it is needed, I need it.  There are things, old habits and ways, old feelings and thoughts, that I am ready to shed, ready to have die off.    It seems to all point to the right time, with Initiation being right around the corner.  Of course, a decision of my own done with much thought and contemplation.

It’s a time for change in all things.  No matter how much I would love to spend my time on the lake, near the warm waters, I can’t.  And even though this makes me sad, it is needed.  A time of death for rebirth.

We are frequent boaters.  This works out well because I am completely at home on the water, as so many Empaths and Witches are.  This is such a calming and inward experience for me.  This past Friday as we were heading to our usual cove to anchor for the night I just felt that I needed to take a picture of the sunset that evening.  I used to take pictures all the time, never left home without my camera and as the kids have gotten older it seems like I don’t take them much anymore.  Or just technology has taken over and carrying a cell phone with a camera, an iPod, and a camera is just a little more than I’d like to carry.  Anyways, I just needed to take some pictures at this moment.

This place is a truely magickal place for me, I feel at home.  It speaks to me in ways that others with gifts don’t hear.  They hear busy noise and so many spirits trying to talk to me, I hear a soft comforting song.  The Fae are happy here and there are so many spirits that live in these hills still, South Dakota Native American hills.

I took this pic and was almost in tears, I felt such a connection with the something while crossing the water that night.  I took a few of them, trying to make sure the front of the boat was out of the picture and trying to get the sunset on the water.  I uploaded them today to my computer and saw this orb with an aura or something on only this picture and none of the others that I took at that moment.   Makes me wonder what I was connecting with at that moment or who, or if it’s just a spot of something.  Hmmm…