Of moons and magpies

I love magpies  and they are one of my totems or that's how I think of them.

I used to be afraid of seeing them when I was much younger. I thought it was bad luck. If I saw one I searched for ages to find a second to neutralise the bad luck. Then I did a lot of meditating on my fears around magpies and decided perhaps my fears were telling me something. That maybe magpie was telling me to face my fears, rather than run away. Also magpies are brightly plumaged , I love a spot of colour in my own outfits. They use that colour and I too use my colours to shield , to lift my spirits when I feel low.

Once I thought it through I knew magpies were part of my life and as such I always greet them whenever one is to be seen.

We have always had lots around chez Moggie and at this time of year we normally see three together on the roof, in the garden and quite often tapping hallo on the conservatory roof as they did this morning. Mr Mog took these pictures for me when the magpies landed on the aerial over the road

Aren't they stunning birds? And yes I know they eat a lot of young birds but nature isn't always sweetness and light sadly.

Last night was the super moon and the lunar eclipse as I am sure most people were aware of. These pictures were taken before the eclipse. Around midnight . I did get up at 3-30 but couldn't see anything from front or back of the house and to have gone outside would have woken Mr Mog. He isn't sleeping very well with this sore back and to be honest neither am I. I think I am worrying a little more than normal and night time, or early morning, is when it is at its worst. So I didn't go out to watch the eclipse but could feel the energies waxing and waning all through the night. 

It feels almost as though a weight has been lifted today. I have felt almost giddy with the lack of pressure on my head. I am hoping that the energies have changed and that we have a better dark half of the year. I hope you do too.

I've been looking at all the incredible pictures around the web of the eclipse, truly magical and awe inspiring.

How was it with you?

Today I have been painting 2 small canvases with gesso ready to collage things on them to creat an underwater scene. I haven't felt like spinning for a few days and my knitting has been on a shawl for a swap I am in.

Once it's finished and the receiver has opened her parcel I will post pictures. I am quite pleased with progress but getting a little worried that my handspun may run out before the pattern is completed. It will be a close run thing.

Magpies and balance.

Today has been a Magpie day. Everywhere I looked magpies were flying or sitting. At one stage 7 of them. They were on our roof, across the ways roof, in our tree and in the park when we went to catch up on the progress of Autumn in the woods.
This was in the park, there were many more but this was the one who wanted to be photographed.
At one time I was quite bothered if I saw magpies around. The old fables and tales were uppermost in my mind. Bad luck, evil all the old superstitious tales.

Then I started to rethink,what if?
What if -
Magpie was there to help me?
What if-
Magpie could teach me something?
Food for thought so I started to read up on the old lore about these birds.

Some of their other names were Two tone ambler, Pioden, Snag Break.
They are associated with Hermes, The Pleides. Allied with Hawthorn and the elements of fire and air.
Their festival is reputed to be Beltaine. That would be right if you think that the year starts to grow at Beltaine and this in turn initiates it's death at Samhain.
These birds were once important in augury, just think of the old rhymes.
One for sorrow
two for joy
three for a girl
four for a boy
five for silver
six for gold
seven for a secret never to be told
eights a wish
nine is a kiss
10? a bird you must not miss (Magpie song from children's program that used to be on here in UK)
There are many versions of this rhyme across the UK.

So going back to magpies, for me I found that they taught the secret of balance, you have to have the dark and light sides to balance each other. Nothing is grey after all. It made me realise I was off balance. I was seeing only what I wanted to see, avoiding the dark side that was also possible in my situation or with people and events.

I've had magpie in my life for a long long time, from my fears as a child and into adulthood. I always had to see a second if I saw one. One was bad and struck fear in me. I always said good morning or hello when I saw one. Actually I still do that:)
So what did magpie say to me?
Fear , trickery, thief, bright bird, worry, evil, pain.
BUT
What if?
Trickery, all is not what it seems.
Black and white? A magpies plumage has many other colours in it.
So it isn't always cut and dried, right or wrong.
There is a middle ground, a balance.
I started to explore my knowledge of magpie.


FEAR. In old days Magpies were supposed to bring or foretell death. If you saw them around the roof woe betide you or your family.

THIEF. They love bright glittery things. Silver paper, jewels, glass. But also all that glitters is not gold as the saying goes. They are attracted to bright things, they take them to their nests. Do they do this when they are mating? Is it a display ritual? Maybe.

Bright Bird. They are easy to see, they stand out. Does that help them or is it a disadvantage in hunting? No, they can devastate the small bird population.
So colourful is not necessarily a bad thing(Note to self, there is a reason for your bright colours)
It doesn't stop them surviving and very well at that.
So could it be that my fear of magpies was a test?
Do I acknowledge it and them?
Yes I do and welcome their presence in my life.

So for me Magpie is a teacher. I just need to listen to the lesson he brings. Am I learning it yet? I do hope so. Can I embrace Magpies lesson? Can I then use it to move on to the next part of the wheel and the spiral?
Magpie brings me courage and a warrior spirit. How will I use this?
Will I be able to?
YES. I will use it to grow, to open myself, to take down the invisible shields. I will still shield when necessary but with the knowledge I am doing so.
Not with a rebuff built in.
MAGPIE, black and white carries all the colours of the spectrum between. So a rainbow between black and white? All the colours but we only see those two.
Is that because they are stronger, brighter, more dominant?
At this dark half of the year magpie gives me hope. It gives me a sense of the balance of life. No I don't like the way it decimates small bird populations but that is its way of life and I can't change it. I can only look on and accept that Nature isn't all fluffy bunnies and love and light. She has a darker clawed side and that balances the light.

We have our dark and light sides, for me being a witch means trying to balance those to the best of my ability. Do you?
What will you take into this dark half of the year and what will you discard? What have you grown and what has failed for you?
One of the prompts on an artist board I was on was My Hat.
I wrote this:-
My hat has feathers several.
A magpie, a rook, an owl and a fun feather.
My hat has a brim, it has charisma.
My hat is black.
It has ribbons dangling and a cat on it.
My hat is me.
What is your hat?