Equinox

Equinox already and the year is flying by fast.

Seems only yesterday it was Spring Equinox and now Autumn is here

 Everywhere I look the colours have changed. The food available on the market has also changed.there is far more home grown fruit and veg to be seen. It is far easier to eat locally not globally. There are lots of different apples and plums.

 The last of the summer's tomatoes at a bargain price. We have turned 12 pounds of local tomatoes into soup this past week and frozen it to give us a taste of Summer throughout Winter's dark days.

 An easy recipe that doesn't tax brain or strength. Roast tomatoes with garlic cloves still in the skin. Add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar or syrup and a slug of oil. When they start to caramelise and release their juice they are ready. Gently cook a diced onion, stick of celery and a carrot with a little oil or butter. When they are softened combine everything in a liquidiser with a couple of jar peppers from Lidl and a handful of basil leaves.Removing the garlic skin first. When cool freeze. The peppers from Lidl have a sweet/sour taste and lift the soup.

We also have blackberries sitting in the freezer ready to turn into fools or crumble. Will they fool us when we are eating Autumn harvest at midwinter? Probably not but sweet none the less.

At times like these I am glad that I am pagan. Not witch or shaman or heathen even.
But Pagan. Pagan for me means living the wheel of the year.Its highs and lows and  turns from dark to light and back once more. Not just giving it lip service.
I am glad of the moons influence on my moods and emotions, the suns also.
Some people seem to play at Paganism. I'm a witch, a shaman or this that and the other. They love the trappings, the spells, the rituals.the candles and incense. The trappings are all to them.
But, Know thyself. This is part of my belief, my creed if you like.
My path is a journey through who and what I am. Making sense of it, working with my strengths and weaknesses.
Yes there is ritual, candles and smells. But as part of honouring the wheel, the Lord and Lady in all their aspects. It isn't something I can pick up and drop as the mood takes me.
It is who and what I am every day, all day.
The first time I realised the path I was on I didn't think of where it would take me or that it is a lifetimes work. Even beyond.
When I accepted this road I accepted all of it. Not snippets or moments of it.
I can't turn off the path I chose and most of the time I wouldn't want to.
But we are human after all and sometimes I rail at what befalls.
Sometimes I think there is no easy answer.
We can't pick and chose the bits to enjoy or to live. A spell here, a potion there.
Its all or nothing, warts and all.
And I am glad for all its meanderings.
It is who and what I am, who I want to be.
I do this for me, not to make friends or influence people.
Not to get rich or any such foolishness
But to be me

Days of magical intent

Not just for knitters this post so read on:)

Why are some days a sock day yet others a shawl or elemental figure day?
What makes you pick up a certain object as opposed to another? Not just in knitting but any other craft or art you enjoy.
For me its not a consious decision. It is just what feels right at that particular time. Sometimes its an itch that needs scratching:)
I'll HAVE to create an elemental. Invariably I can't just make one. My muse won't let me. When she calls I dance to her tune. All the fabrics come out, the ones I dyed when she last came calling. I hear no one and yes I will have music playing because she demands it. It allows her to dance across my imagination creating patterns and spirals that wind ever outwards taking me with them.
When she lets me go I get chance to see what we have created.
I know that the elementals in particular will bring something to the person they are gifted to. I always feel a pang letting them go, but that is right. True artwork that comes from within carries with it a piece of the artist always.
It works with my knitting also, though not to quite the same extent. Where my figures care whimsy, magic and mystery my shawls are comfort and warmth. More physical than spiritual.
They all carry within them my heart, my healing. Woven into every stitch and every fold.
As I work I weave in magic, the magic that comes from visualising good things for whom ever the recipient is.
That for me is magic, faith, belief and spirituality.
Weave your beauty within your art. As your hands work on the physical plane, let your mind work on other levels.
Meditation and visualisation come easier if the hands and brain are distracted.
Ask me how I found that out?
There are no short cuts on the spiritual path it is a lifetime's journey. However, there are some ways of practising that are pleasant. My art is that. Not a means to an end, but an enjoyable diversion on the road.
As it is is written "search not for what you will find within" My art helps focus on that.

I've often been asked what are you? Witch, pagan, heathen or?
I always tell people I am an eclectic shaman. Why? Because I use what works for me. Bits from here, parts from there. If it feels right then it is - for me.
Might not be your path, may not work for you. But for me ,in this place at this time, it does.
We all have the ability to weave a little magic into the world.
How many of us do?