That looks like an awesome book @Kasandra! Right up your alley!
For whatever reason I just had a thought of Sully the monster from the Monters Inc movie pop into my mind. He has a very lovely shade of blue fur with purple polka dots. Well you never know auras can be more than one colour canāt they?
My catch up entry: Dragon Magic
I picked up a book called āYear of the Magickal Dragonā by Virginia Chandler. Itās about a wheel of the year invoking different dragons and their energies. I like the idea but the writing style for the rituals isnāt all that inspiring. So Iāve started reworking some of it to more suit my tastes.
The first thing Iāve redone was calling the quarters. The invocation given in the book is kind of dry, I like my rites to have a more dramatic feel. For inspiration I turned to a song by Lisa Thiel called āInvocationā from her album āCircle of the Seasons.ā So I used the song as a basis but changed the lyrics from āpowers ofā to ādragon ofā and then put in some my own words and some of the original from the book.
Hereās what I came up with
I call upon the Dragon of east and air,
And all of the energies pure and fair.
Dragon of wisdom and of clarity,
Protector of winged ones and of faerie.
Dragon of thought and of the mind,
Bring forth ideas to inspire human kind.
Dragon of hope and the eternal dawn,
The power to begin anew and then to carry on.
Guardian of the sacred breath of life,
I, _____, ask you to be with me tonight,
Bring your blessing to this rite.
I turn now to the quarter of south,
And the living flame of the dragons mouth.
Creativity, action, desire,
I call upon the dragon of fire.
Dragon of passion and of the heart,
The fires of poetry, music and art.
Dragon of the serpent flame ascending,
Blazing snake of the soul unending.
Guardian of the divine flame of spirit,
I,_____, ask you to be with me tonight,
Bring your blessings to this rite.
I turn now to the quarter of west,
The place where the sacred waters rest.
Dragon of the ocean, dragon of the flow,
Essence of the sea and itās fierce undertow.
Dragon of the rivers and of the streams,
Delivering visions and the tides of dreams.
Dragon of cleansing and of healing,
Blood of being, and the source of feeling.
Guardian of the holy wellspring of love,
I,_____, ask you to be with me tonight,
Bring your blessings to this rite.
I turn now to the quarter of north,
And call upon the dragon of earth to come forth.
Dragon of crystal, mountain and stone,
Strength of stability, foundation and bone.
Dragon to manifest and to attain,
Power on the physical plane.
Dragon of abundance and prosperity,
Stand fast in practical integrity.
Guardian of the blessed body,
I,_____, ask you to be with me tonight
Bring your blessing to this rite.
The book
The song
OOH, that would be a nice combo! I wouldnāt mind if I had purple polka dots! LOL!
Purple has always been my favourite colour!
My first novel was Dracula ā in the 4th gradeā I remember climbing in the elementary library castle to read it; cuz I thought I had to hide to read itā lol
But Iāve loved so many booksā first fiction than fiction became real. The Information that turned into knowledgeā has made me who I am , and Iām willing to read and become even more . One Book In particular
Has made me feel every emotion possibleā
Has In Deed Awaken this Women from her slumber
I hope this opens for You
Thank you! I copied for my BOS and canāt wait to do this at Yule I love the Yule Cat reference!
I love how creative you are! Everything ws so beautiful. That wreath is incredible. Is it just me or does that altar stone have a face?
That is an interesting magical animal. I read in one of my sonās books that crows are quite smart. They can recognize human faces. If one of their flock dies, they other crows will gather and appear to say goodbye to it.
That is totally amazing! I have never seen a painting on a jacket before and I just love it. The eclipsing, blood moon! So very, very cool
For the tarot challenge, I decided to go with the date. As itās the 22nd, I chose the 22nd card of the Major Arcana, The World. For those unfamiliar with the tarot, The Worldās number is card 21 (XXI) because The Fool (the first card of the Major Arcana) is card zero. The Major Arcana tells the story of the foolās journey- from the innocent, young-at-heart soul at the beginning of their quest to the seasoned veteran who completes the journey, wiser, grateful, and more experienced. The soul becomes the master only to begin a new journey and become The Fool once again. Iāve been reading and studying the tarot for nearly 23 years now, and I relate to The World card as she is me. I was the young (maybe not so innocent-ha) soul who went on a journey to find herself, and damn, she went through hell. As I sit here writing this now, older and so much wiser, my heart is overflowing with gratitude for surviving a harrowing journey that I just narrowly escaped. And now, I am ready to dive into unchartered territory and take a leap of faith as the fool once more.
Nothing like waiting until the 11th hour to finish wrapping up the weekly challenges! This is my entry for the āA healthy dose of crystalsā challenge. All of my friends know that at any given time I will have at least one crystal on me. When I travel, I carry no less than 7. I was named āmost likely to heal you with a crystalā of my class when I became a registered yoga teacher. And while I have used crystals in my reiki sessions for years, I am actually in the process of becoming a certified Crystal Reiki master/teacher now. I am also taking a course to become a professional crystal reader. I am loving all that Iām learning now because itās making it new again and reigniting my passion and joy!
This challenge is now CLOSED
So much creativity and diverse magick on display this week- thank you to everyone for joining in the Catch-Up Challenge!
A Props and Presents post will soon appear with shout-outs and prize details. Please keep an eye on the main page of the forums.
Note : This post will remain open for continued discussion for a few more days, but no additional prizes will be given after today.
Blessed be!
@BryWisteria thank you for the chance of a catch up. I hope you arenāt going to be too swamped with sea of badge giving. I hope you donāt mind me picking 2 challenges this week. I just couldnāt decide so many amazing challenges to choose from.
A Witch in the closet still!
I am not sure which challenge this would fall in, over, or under? Butā¦
Here I am typing because I want to share the full beaver moon partial eclipse magic I experienced BUT!.. Honestly! I am still that weirdo in the closet! I cant because I am not real!?
My husband loves me no matter what! He showed this one year in for me(now in for going on 8yrs) when I realized he knew but didnāt care because it is me and I am me and thatās what he loves whether he likes it or not! (his words! = āwhether I like it or not I love you! and I accept you no matter what! I am with youā) He is not my issue nor is he the reason I need a tissue! (haha not funny) (sorry)
It is me and my issues! I for some reason cannot come out and admit to everyone that I craft stuff and perform spells and conduct rituals! I am a witch! I have always been a witch! (I am not sorry!)
I am not the green old hag that people picture when the word āwitchā is spokenā¦- yet! I choose to have very few friends and I can not help but have a lot of acquaintances due to the fact of tending some shady bars for the last 25 years of my lifeā¦
I am a Witch! I live it! I breathe it! I taste it and all my life - I try not to look like it!!.. I practice a craft that I am scared still to this day to admit to anyone! My husband knows because it is what it is!
I had an opportunity to come clean with my husbandās best friend tonight when he (my adorable husband)invited me to admit my craft!
Well, now me being me I am terrified!!! ! I instinctively laugh and play like my husband is crazy! So we all laugh and its a great time until we get home and my rock(husband) asks me why I donāt like myself? ugghh! So within our conversation, he points out to me that no one will accept me if I donāt first! again!..ugghhh!
Does anyone else struggle in sharing their craft/magic/belief/true self? and if so how do you deal with it? or how did you come out?
I do apologize for all the questions and I do appreciate any feed back ahead of time
-much love and so many more blessings!
Hahaha thatās a good tip, @Amethyst I definitely think staring at people to study their auras might get some funny looks in return if they didnāt know what you were doing
That sounds like a really good book, @Kasandra- from the way you describe it, it seems like it is well written! Iād love to hear what you think as you continue to read it- now Iām wondering if dragons have wishbones too
Thanks for sharing your experience, @RyuWyn! Although the name of the challenge wasnāt mentioned, I think itās safe to assume you were working on the Dragon Magick challenge, yes? Great work!
This is a beautiful exploration of Crows in your magickal practice, @Artemisia- it sounds like they call to you and take an important role in your spirituality. That is a lovely silver pendant- may the Crow watch over, guide, and protect you on your journey Nicely done!
Your collection around Persephone continues to grow, @IrisW- it sounds like She has taken on a very treasured role in your practice! Thanks for sharing the list of books on Her and your thoughts on them. A really love invocation for Her as well! And ohhhh I am always in awe of your amazing craft talents- you deserve the title of being a very talented Thrifty Witch! Thank you for sharing!
The Year of the Magickal Dragon sounds like a fascinating book, @Valen- and it looks like it led you to some beautiful inspiration, you made such a lovely dragon chant! Thanks for sharing the music too- itās neat to be able to listen along with the tune while reading your words. Thanks so much, great job!
Thanks for sharing the books that helped you become who you are today, @steph- itās true that we often take on and use things we find in books. Reading is a powerful aspect of the Craft!
The World is one of my favorite cards as well, @BrightBear- thereās something experienced and wise about it, but what really draws me in is how it represents the connections between everything and the completion of a wonderful journey. A really great card- thanks so much for exploring it for the challenge! And congrats on your crystal studies- it sounds like you are in an amazing program! Wishing you all the best on your healing crystals journey
No worries at all, @jessica72! Hahaha Catch Up challenges are always a process of giving out badges, but 2 challenges each is manageable, and itās a fun task- I really love seeing everyoneās thoughtful entries Thank you for your kind consideration, and once again thanks for joining in!
Thanks for sharing your experience, @moonshadow! As there wasnāt a challenge specified and the Catch-Up Challenge itself has closed, Iām afraid I canāt count this as an entry, but I do thank you for sharing your thoughts- and I want to say that I donāt think you need to come out and tell everyone you are a witch if that doesnāt feel right to you! You know in your heart and that is the most important thingā¦ not to mention that everyone here recognizes and supports you in your magickal Craft For more support about coming out of the broom closet (or staying subtle), I recommend checking out the following discussions:
Thanks again, everyone- itās been a delight seeing everyoneās creative magick (so many different types and themes explored) this week!
Iāll have the Props and Presents post ready in just a spell- please keep an eye out on the main page of the forum!
Oh no it absolutely has a face in that lighting! Canāt really see it in daylight which is why I like working out there at night
Thanks Mary!!
Mine too!