From Women Who Run with the Wolves

"Creativity is a shapechanger. One moment it takes this form, the next that. It is like a dazzling spirit who appears to us all, yet is hard to describe for no one agrees on what they saw in that brilliant flash. Are the wielding of pigments and canvas, or paint chips and wallpaper, evidence of its existence? How about pen and paper, flower borders on the garden path, building a university? Yes, yes. Ironing a collar well, cooking up a revolution? Yes. Touching with love the leaves of a plant, pulling down "the big deal," tying off the loom, finding one's voice, loving someone well? Yes. Catching the hot body of the newborn, raising a child to adulthood, helping raise a nation from its knees? Yes. Tending to a marriage like the orchard it is, digging for psychic gold, finding the shapely word, sewing a blue curtain? All are of the creative life.
~Clarissa Pinkola Estes

And, I would say, of creative witchery. What daily activity do you infuse with magic? I think this proves that you are creative.

Cartoon by hugh mcleod!

From Dianne Sylvan

A Vegan Pagan's Prayer

Lord of the forest and field, Lady of the starlit night,
I acknowledge the truth that for me to live, something must die.
I give thanks for the gift of free will,
And I acknowledge the responsibility that comes with the freedom of choice.

I choose then to abstain from the cycle of unnecessary suffering.
I pledge to be an agent of healing, not a bystander to slaughter.
I say to the animals:
You do not have to suffer and die for me.
I say to the workers:
You do not have to kill for me.
I say to the corporate death machine:
You will no longer profit from my blindness.
I say to the Earth, and to all that is holy,
That though we are taught to feast upon war,
I choose to lay down the sword
And take in peace instead.
I ally myself with Nature, not as her master, but as her child.
I will not claim dominion over that which is wiser than I.

Lord of the forest and field, Lady of the starlit night,
May compassion fulfill and transform me
May I give as You give, may I love as You love
And may my choices bring grace to my life
As You bring grace to the world.

So mote it be.

As far as I can tell, this perfect prayer is by Dianne Sylvan. Check her out.

I promise not to do too much vegan preaching, even though I have the zeal of a new convert. The above prayer hits almost of the reasons that converged to make me a new vegan. Maybe I'll add a few lines about the devastating effects of raising so many animals on the environment.

And this is what vegan food looks like:

MmmmmmMidSummer

A fun, relaxing, nourishing MidSummer celebration:

Beans & Greens - bitter dandelion greens cooked with creamy white beans

Sauteed Summer Squash - phallic baby zukes & yellow squash suns

Balcony Herb Salad - cilantro, basil, chives, thyme, tossed with pea shoots, with a dollop of Veganaise

Coconut milk ice cream filled mochi - flavored with mango

Sparkling water

We cooked it, we ate it, it was vegan, it was delectable!

While we watched 7 Dwarves or 7 Zwerge. Get ahold of this one. It is a lovely re-telling of Snow White with dollops of other fairy tales thrown in. In German with English subtitles, but they are easy to follow. It is just a lovable, pretty, silly movie with fantastic sets & lots of weiner jokes. Do see!

Feeling MidSummery?

I don't like Litha as a holiday name. To me, it's MidSummer!

Are you feeling it? I think it's going to be a good day.

Jung

"Whether invoked or not, God will be present." ~ Carl Jung

Or, one might say, the Goddess.

Yow! Check out these Fairy Steps!

Ooooohhhh...got to earn some money for bespoke vegan faerie shoes!

Go look! Go look! Such cool stuff!

What's Paulina Cassidy up to?

You may remember that I read Tarot with the Paulina Cassidy deck published in 2009. I like to check Paulina's site every now & again to see what's new. Jackpot! Paulina is working on a Witchling Deck: 40 cards with a book of 150 spells. Here are 2 example cards:

They are cheerful & sweet. Might be a great gift for a young witch. No release date yet for them.

Then there is her Faerie Guidance Deck, a 40 card deck that will be published by Llewellyn in September 2012. A preview is coming, but it's not on her site yet. Can't wait to see!

Paulina's Joie de Vivre Tarot is finished, but no release date yet. You can buy the originals on her site. When she started this deck, I didn't think I'd like it nearly as well as the first deck. However, I have been won over. The whole deck has a completely different vibe...which I bet is the intention. I love these example cards:

When your Knight of Wands is a dancing alligator, how can you go wrong?

It's a Name Day.

Baby Kitty has been named: Kitsune!

Yep, she likes it. Once she went crazy over dried bonito flakes (a key Japanese cooking ingredient) as a little snack, I knew this name was it. Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, but it indicates a fox faerie...a shapeshifter, a trickster, a power animal with a sense of humor.
]You may say, she doesn't look that foxy, she's a beautiful baby kitty. It's more her spirit/attitude that gets it: the kitsune or fox maiden may trick people or teach them a lesson, but she never physically or permanently injures anyone.

That's my little Kitsune!