Goddess and God - Earth and Sky

Once again, I am turning to Mom's a Witch for a blog prompt.  The truth is, I am a bit exhausted and out of touch these days.  In our new location I am spending more time out doors, but with two very small people both are mobile now it is not a time for spiritual tuning.  Yes, I passingly notice the sun on my face...the wind in my hair...the cool earth beneath me, but it all flutters by before I can fully soak it in.  I suppose it's no different for any mama of little ones, I just don't remember being so worn out when the big kids were young.

Ok, back to this blog topic.  Since I missed April lets forget for a moment that May is almost gone as well I am mashing up a pair of topics from April and May: Who is your patron Goddess and God?

When I first started exploring Paganism, I thought that I had to choose patron deities.  Everything I read talked about finding your patrons, learning to work with them, growing your spiritual strength through them.  There really wasn't much room for negotiation.  I needed to find a Goddess and a God. Yet, no matter how deeply I delved I could not come to grips with the concept of embracing a deity.  So I focused on Earth Magick and just kept learning and studying while skirting the whole higher being issue.

Somewhere along the way, my attention turned toward Shamanism maybe because I play a Shammy on WOW and I started finding answers that suited my natural bents.  Going back, way back to the first family groups living in mud huts, people did not seek answers from sacred personalities, but from nature.  Shamans spent a life time learning to communicate with the Elementals and the spirits of nature and the ancestors: they spoke to trees and read the clouds and received messages on the wind.  This made sense to me.  This is what I had been tinkering with my entire life, but had never been able to put a name on.  My deeper primitive self connects to the energy of The Universe through raw nature. 

I am a Animistic Witch. As recently as last fall, I would have labeled myself an pantheistic witch, but that was simply because it was the only label I knew that somewhat fit.  My magick comes from fostering a close relationship with the Universal Power and the Elementals.  I am "A child of the Earth and the Sky: kindred of the Elementals."  My allegiance is to the natural world around me.

Meanwhile Across the State

If I start writing about this past month, things are going to get ugly.  Like really long and boring.  So, I decided to do this update with as many photos and as few words as possible. 

 

Dread update first, since I am a month behind.  These are just freshly washed and dried and just over two months old.  Superman still isn't sure he likes them.  I adore them. 

 

 

Now for the really important business...

We are here!  The beautiful Gallatin Valley, where even the parking lots have a view. 

Our living room window has a great view of the mountains, even if it is a bit dirty.  BTW...we are now in a second story apartment great excuse not to wash the windows.  Should I change the name of my blog? 

 

 

We've had snow twice since we got here April 9th.  I am looking forward to gardening, but we only have 92 frost free days here.  It's going to be a garden sprint. 

 

 

 

 

Our apartment overlooks a nice common area with a full playground and sandbox.  The girls are loving the outdoor space.  This picture was taken just a few days after one snow storm and a few days before another.  Hopefully, we are heading into the warm weather for good now. 

 

 

 

 

This "I Love Montana" mural is a downtown center piece.  It was painted by a local artist with the assistance of a group of elementary school children.  I hope to take more photographs when the sun is not casting shadows over the artwork. 

 

 

Yarnbomb Bozeman! 

 

So far, I am absolutely in love with this place!  Of the many places I've called home, this one is by far my favorite. 

 

 

 



A Witch is Free

The move and all the business that comes with the seasons changing has had me feeling a bit uninspired in the blogging realm.  Thankfully, this morning I saw a post from Nar's Witchy Kitchen in which she used a blog prompt from Mom's a Witch.  Just what I need!  This is a new project that was started in February and like Nar, I am going to go back to the original post and choose one of those prompts.  Next week I will visit the March prompts and post from them.  Then I will be all caught up and try to make the monthly post with in the first seven days of the new calendar. No promises though, I have toddler. 

Pagan Blog Prompts: February 2015

 
My favourite thing about being a Witch/Pagan is... the confidence I now have that comes from the ability to take control of my own life and situation.  No matter how much talk goes around about free will, as part of a mono-theist religion, one is completely at the whim of a fickle and somewhat sadistic higher power.  The effects of this is a feeling of immense helplessness and the sensation of being tossed around like a straw hat loose in a cold wind.  As a witch, I no longer make pleading petitions and then hold on to the edge of my seat hoping that the world goes my way.  I don't have to leave it all up to "god" and hope he doesn't pull the rug out from under me once again.  These days, I make life happen.  I bring positive changes to my family and cushion us from the inevitable ups and downs of life.  I fall asleep quickly and sleep soundly because I know that my home and family are warded and we have nothing to fear.  Being a witch is being free. 

**The image for this weeks post is borrowed and I honestly have no idea where it came from.  I pulled it out of my tattoo inspiration file.  It is certainly lovely and I thank whoever shared it originally.  If it belongs to you, please let me know and I will gladly give you credit. 

Hiding Behind the Boxes

The smoke wafting from my altar not yet dressed for Ostara seemed particularly beautiful this morning while I did a bit of spell work and then puttered around putting the house in order.  I always get more done to the smell of incense and the flicker of altar candles. 

I really can't tell you where the last week and a half has gone. We are looking at yet another big change in our little world and it is turning things upside down. For the past year, Superman has been playing around with the idea of going back to school.  Two months ago, he started working with MSU on the enrollment process.  Then last Monday, we made the trip across the state for him to meet with his advisor and get everything in line to enroll for the summer semester.  Now I am looking at organizing another move.  Just the thought makes me tired! 

I may fuss about making the move, but there are so many good things that I can see coming from this relocation. 

• The area around MSU is breath takingly beautiful and has a plethora of public lands for outdoor recreation. 
• We will be living in married student housing with a family neighborhood, many playgrounds, two community gardens, and free onsite laundry.
• There is a metaphysical store and a large natural foods co-op with in two miles of the school.
• It is a much more diverse area and I am feel it will be much easier for us to find a place with in that community.

So...that is where I have been hiding. Plotting a move and trying to get all my fun artsy projects done in the meantime. 

Sourdough and More Sourdough

A few years ago, I had a little homemaking blog that never took off.  It was a bit random and I didn't know how to do the networking involved in being a successful blogger.  That said, there were a few good posts.  The two I want to share with you today are my favorites.  I just recently got my sourdough starter up and going again, so this topic has been on my mind lately.  The witch is in the kitchen this week! 

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Just Like Grandpa's...

My kitchen is starting to smell like sourdough!

 

Sourdough flap jacks were the comfort food of my childhood.  My grandpa made them every morning for over 50 years and even when he traveled his crock of starter rode along with him in a red Coleman cooler.  I have kept a starter myself off and on most of my adult life and now that I am once again settled in to a domestic existence, I just had to get one going again. 

Growing a starter is a process that to initiate takes 5-7 days.  It also requires adhering to a few simple rules.

1. Use clean, preferably seamless, metal utensils.  The spoon in the photo is NOT ideal because of the rivets and seam that can collect bacteria you wont want added to your starter. 
2. Keep loosely covered.  I use a square of clean, light weight cotton secured with a  rubber band.
3. Don't neglect it.  Feed your starter every evening and stir it down every morning.  If you are not going to be using it at least every other day, store in the refrigerator and remove 12 hours prior to planned use. 
4. Keep the sides of your sourdough crock clean. 

With those few things in mind, the only materials required to get started are a glass jar or crock with a loose covering, a clean metal spoon, flour, and water.  Any kind of flour can be used in a starter, but for the initial week I prefer rye since it is less likely to mold than other varieties.  After the bacteria has taken hold and my starter is going well, I switch over to all purpose white flour. 

Day 1:  Mix 1 cup of rye flour with 1 cup water in your very clean container.  Cover loosely and set aside for 24 hours.

Day 2-6:  Stir down and feed your starter 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup water every evening.  Over the course of this week you will start to notice first a sour smell coming from your starter and then see some bubbling activity.  The consistency of the starter should be like thick pancake batter and the ratio of flour/water can be adjusted to obtain this. 

Day 7: Use 1-2 cups of your starter today!  Stir it down early in the day and remove what you want to use. Good first uses for sourdough include biscuits and bread.  I usually give two weeks before attempting flap jacks. 
Tonight feed your starter as usual, but switch to white flour if you have been using rye. 

 

 

A well cared for starter can live indefinitely and with all the fun recipes to try there is little chance you will grow tired of it's use. 

 

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

More on Sourdough

After posting what I thought was a fairly thorough article on sourdough starter, I started thinking about all the little details I take as a simple matter of course when working my "doughs."  Since I want the best out come possible for anybody who attempts a starter, I decided to expand this topic a bit and add a few more tips. 

-When feeding the starter, use room temperature to lukewarm water.  Hot water can kill the culture and cold will slow down its activity. 

-To keep the sides of the sourdough crock clean, use a sharp knife to scrape the sides when you stir it down in the morning.  The dried scraping will fall into the crock and be incorporated back into the starter. These dried bits end up on the side of the crock because after feeding the bacteria works on the added ingredients and will raise the content level slightly before settling back down. 

-Always stir the starter gently.  It is a living thing and does not like to be radically disturbed.  One thing I always remember about my Grandpa was how slowly and methodically he maintained his starter.  Everything was done carefully, properly, and with love. 

-A forgotten feeding or stirring down is not the end of the world.  It's not a good habit to get into, but on occasion it will do little to harm the starter.  Just resume regular care as soon as possible.

-Any sign of mold or black scum on the starter is a red light.   Throw it away, sterilize the crock, and start over.  Between workings the starter will separate with the ticker starter below and a light brown liquid on top, this is normal.  Any nasty growth is fairly unmistakable and is usually accompanied by an unpleasant odor. 

-After spooning out the starter required for cooking, use a just laundered dish rag moistened in hot water to clean any starter that may have dripped on the rim of the crock.  Do not let the rag come in contact with the remaining starter. 

Grandpa and I, the last time I saw him. 

 

 

 

***Please note: since my last post on sourdough starter, my sweet hubby bought me a proper sourdough spoon. 

Changes and Making Progress: 3 Month Dread Update

Let me just come out and say it.  I gave up on free form dreading.  Although the messiness and uncertainty didn't bother me at all I actually kind of liked looking like a hot mess all the time, it did bother Superman.  He's quite OCD about things being neat and tidy and the extended messy, in between stage of my hairstyle drove him bonkers.  So, in the name of love I decided to step in and make locs happen. 

What I have now is a head full of twist and rip baby locs.  As one friend pointed out, anything that involves hair and ripping sounds horrendous, but it's really not.  In the spectrum of dread installation, twist and rip is one of the most gentle methods.  Since my hair is quite short, I do have bands on the bottom of my little creations that I will leave on for a few weeks.  I am still going natural in the sense that I am not using any product besides Dr. Bronner's soap, baking soda, and vinegar. 

Overall, the look is neater and I like it.  My little sprouts of hair sticking out in amazing randomness make me smile one is particularly naughty and doesn't know which direction he wants to go.  There are a few of these little guys that are barely holding their own and will need reworking after all there is a learning curve, but since I started at working the underside of my hair in the back they are not noticeable.  I also should have viewed this particular video before I started the one I watched was not nearly as good because I did a bit too much twisting at the onset and my locs are quite loose at the root.  Fortunately, they will tighten up in time. 

I am completely loving my new look and am once again putting my massive collection of scarves to good use. 

Smell My Breath

Like most girls growing up in the 90's I read Teen Magazine, YM, and Seventeen.  As silly as they seem now, the advice they gave was imperative to a successful social life for girls of my generation.  Where else were we going to learn to NEVER eat garlic on a date?! Fast forward twenty years and garlic is my stand herb for cooking and health.  Who cares if I smell like garlic?  Not me and Superman doesn't complain either. 

Since garlic is such an easy herb to obtain, it is usually the first thing I recommend for individuals wanting to try natural healing.  It is cheap, versatile, and effective.  As a detoxifying herb and natures anti-biotic it's uses are immeasurable and has been used for disease control as far back as the bubonic plague.  In Russia, garlic is actually referred to as "Russian Penicillin."  Contemporary medical studies have also found that it is effective for controlling glucose tolerance and lowering negative cholesterol while increasing the positive.  Just adding a clove or two during meal preparation on a regular basis can help maintain good health. 

Being in the middle of cold season, garlic is at the height of it's glory in my home right now.  I honestly can't seem to keep it in the house.  My favorite use for garlic this time of year is as a tea.  I slightly crush, peel, and then slice three large cloves before dropping them into my favorite mug and covering them with boiling water.  When the water is cool enough to drink, it is nicely infused with garlic I find it quite pleasantly flavored.  It has the immediate effect of relieving cold symptoms (headache, stuffiness, sore throat) and in the long run works to detoxify the body and actually send the cold packing.  Having caught a cold this past weekend, I am drinking this tea continually.  Just adding more garlic and boiling water to my cup though out the day. 

Another of my favorite applications of the herb is in the form of an infused oil.  I make it a pint at a time and use it for everything from cleaning cuts, to treating ear infections, to slathering on congested chests.  The concoction of this highly useful oil is ridiculously simple.  Start by pouring a pint of good olive oil into the top of a double boiler and adding a head of crushed, peeled, and chopped garlic.  Cover and simmer for 4 hours, making sure that the bottom pan does not boil dry.  After four hours, remove the oil from heat and allow to cool.  Strain out the garlic chunks and return the oil to the double boiler with yet another head of crushed, peeled, and chopped garlic.  Boil for another four hours.  At the end of this second cooking period, cool, strain, and store in an air tight container. I simply return it to the bottle I purchased the oil in.  It stores in a cool, dark cupboard for about six months. 

Magickaly, garlic is used for protection and exorcism.  Hence the traditional garlic rope hung in country kitchens.  According to the trustworthy Mr. Cunningham, in the old days Italians would bite a clove of garlic to ward of evil spirits and sailors would carry cloves with them on voyages to prevent shipwreck.