Happy Monday! I am combining my two entries in a single post to prevent clogging up the forum and to make it easier on @BryWisteria. 
Entry #1: Freedom in Forgiveness
For this challenge entry, I performed a release and forgiveness ritual. I combined the Forgiveness Ritual from Llewellyn with the Full Moon Forgiveness Ritual from Moonology (Moon Lite Collective, join for free).
I needed a pink candle, lavender oil and incense, my cauldron, my Book of Mirrors, a piece of paper and a pen.
I cleared my space of any negative and unwanted energy with sound (used my bell) as well as the lavender incense. I cast a circle as I normally do. I annoit the pink candle with the lavender oil, drawing it towards me to bring me peace and calmness. I light the candle and settled in to answer the following questions in my BoM.
- HAVE I BEEN DREAMY TO THE POINT OF NOT GETTING ENOUGH DONE AND MAKING SILLY ERRORS?
- HAVE I BEEN OVERLY SENSITIVE AND TOO EASILY HURT?
- HAVE I BEEN ACTING LIKE A MARTYR? OR TOO EASILY LED?
- HAVE I BEEN MEDITATING EVERY DAY, AND IF NOT, WHY NOT?
- HAVE I BEEN IN TOUCH WITH MY INTUTIVE SIDE? AM I FOLLOWING MY DREAMS AND HUNCHES?
My Answers
- I am the opposite of dreamy. I am practical and lead with my mind rather than my heart. I have not made silly mistakes since I am pragmatic and iron out all the details before starting. I need to work on going with the flow more (not all the time).
- My sensitivity has been fluxing since the new moon. With my husand, I am being overly sensitive and jealous. With others, I have a hard shell so what they say/do doesnât really affect me.
- I donât think Iâve been acting like a martyr as Iâm not usually a âpoor meâ person. I focus on othersâ needs before my own and do not let people know if I am struggling. I have a pretty good lie-detector built in to my intution so I can generally tell when someone is lying to me. However, I usually just let it go as itâs not worth arguing.
- I have not been meditating daily. This is a habit that I built then lost and am trying to build again. My main reason is that I normally meditate before bed but my husband and I are going to bed at the same time now (he used to come to bed later than me so I had some alone time). I will likely move my mediation sessions to the morning and see how that goes.
- I am not following my dreams/hunches. I tend to second guess myself.l Learning to trust my intuition/gut feelings is something that both of my deities are trying to get me to work on.
Once I am done journeling, I create a list of people, events, and emotions that I need to forgive and release. I write down everything that I can think of on the piece of paper. I then fold it away from me in thirds. I turn it counter-clockwise and fold it away from me in thirds again. I then light the paper on fire and place it in my cauldron to let it burn. As the embers to turn ash, I say the following chant:
Under the glorious Full Moon,
After loss, there is gain.
After pain, there is healing.
Let the anger I hold be healed
From within and without
I forgive everything, everyone,
every experience,
every memory of the past or present that needs forgiveness.
I forgive positively everyone.
I also forgive myself of past mistakes.
Anger has no place in my life or power over my heart
All ills are healed, all wrongs forgiven.
The Universe is love,
and I am forgiven and governed by love alone.
Love is now adjusting my life.
Realizing this, I abide in peace.
Let there be peace for now and all time.
So mote it be.
I bury the ashes outside and let everything go.
This ritual is always so refreshing. As I do it, each month my list gets smaller as I learn to forgive at the time of the event/feeling rather than hold it in (which is saying a lot since Iâm a Scorpio, lol).
Entry #2: Dual-Weilding Opposite Forces
For this entry, I decided to work with Hel as she is embodied as part alive and part dead. During my research on Hel, I found this prayer to use with prayer beads. Use any kind of beads you want - bone, stone, glass, painted wood, ceramic. My set has wooden beads and crystal beads. There should be one bead for every non-italicized line, except for the Nine Gates of Death and Her Ladyships Prayers, which have one bead per verse. (43 total).
I. Elemental Deaths
Hail to the funeral pyre that lights the shadows,
Hail to the ocean that devours all flesh,
Hail to the open grave in the earth,
Hail to the carrion birds that feed and fly.
II. Opening the Nine Gates of Death
Open before me the gate of sorrow,
For I come with a song of joy
To bring light into the darkness.
Open before me the gate of grieving,
For I come on the wheel of time
To begin a new yearâs turning.
Open before me the gate of silence,
For I come with the trumpets of daylight
To shatter the pressing glass.
Open before me the gate of drudgery,
For I come with willing hands
To find sanctity in the thawing earth.
Open before me the gate of fear,
For I come with a will unbroken
To brave the summer storms.
Open before me the gate of madness
For I come with the blade of clarity
To rend the veil in two.
Open before me the gate of weeping
For I come with the strongest heart
To endure the pangs of living.
Open before me the gate of hunger
For I come with words of hope
To fill the cup to the brim.
Open before me the gate of Death,
For I come with the breath of the future
To bring the dead back to living.
III. Elemental Deaths
Hail to the funeral pyre that lights the shadows,
Hail to the ocean that devours all flesh,
Hail to the open grave in the earth,
Hail to the carrion birds that feed and fly.
IV. Her Ladyshipâs Prayers
O Lady Death who guards my ancestors in your autumn peace,
Teach me to find the stillness within.
O Hela of the Skeletal Hand, whose standards are unyielding,
Teach me serenity in the face of dire necessity.
O Hela born of foreboding and fire,
Help me to find my way through the shadows of mourning.
O Hela whose realm is oasis in the ice,
Teach me compassion for others that does not squander my self.
O Lady who speaks only truth,
May all my illusions be stripped away.
O Hela Half-Rotted,
Teach me never to flinch at any part of Death.
O Lady who sees far and clear,
Teach me to make decisions beyond the bounds of my heart.
O Lady of the darkest Depths,
I pray you ease my transition from life to death to life.
O Lady of the Straw Endings,
Teach me to praise loss, death,
And the passing of all things,
For from this flux
I know your blessings flow.
V. Elemental Deaths
Hail to the funeral pyre that lights the shadows,
Hail to the ocean that devours all flesh,
Hail to the open grave in the earth,
Hail to the carrion birds that feed and fly.
VI. Ninefold Death Prayer
Hail to the ashes of the cremation grounds,
Hail to the silence of the tomb,
Hail to the gleam of the white bone,
Hail to the stones of the barrow-mound,
Hail to the whispering wind that mourns,
Hail to the opening of the empty hands,
Hail to the work of the carrion beetles,
Hail to all that rots to feed Life anew,
Hail to the end that is the beginning.
VII. Elemental Deaths
Hail to the funeral pyre that lights the shadows,
Hail to the ocean that devours all flesh,
Hail to the open grave in the earth,
Hail to the carrion birds that feed and fly
(Source: Northern Paganism Hela Rituals)
I did this prayer on the night of the full moon, although doing it on the dark or new moon would be better when working with the Dark Goddess. After saying the prayer, I then meditated to connect with Hel. She came to me and gave me the message that life is about balance. You know that death is coming and you canât change it. So donât live in fear of dying, live as if you are dying (i.e., live as if today is your last day). Find the balance between the light and the dark, work and life, family and personal time.
I will continue to use this prayer to Hel each month on the Dark Moon as it does bring me comfort.
You worked on some very thoughtful prompts and answered honestly and openly- sometimes the hardest person to talk straight with is ourselves, but I think itâs a skill that youâve mastered 
Thank you so much for sharing!
Perfect â the prayer and the prayer beads â everything is so great. I mean, 
