PaganSquare.com - WitchesAndPagans.com

There are a LOT of different crystal configurations from which to choose. I'm not talking about different KINDS of crystals (such as amethyst, rose quartz, etc) I'm talking about only the different TYPES of clear quartz crystal here. Specifically, the different shapes in which it presents, each with slightly different metaphysical and healing energetic properties. Shapes, such as Barnacle, Bridge, Double Terminated, Extra-Terrestrial, Faden and Growth Interference, just to name a few. I've written a series of 4 books with drawings of each type, and in those, I covered forty-six different types. FORTY SIX! And those are just the most commonly found... there are actually a few more!

With that in mind, let’s talk again about how these metaphysical characteristics work. I've written about this before, but it bears repeating in case you missed the earlier blog posts.

At Summer Solstice, we celebrate the fullness of life and of promise: She Who Creates. Then in July, we recognize The Amazon, She Who Protects That Which Has Been Created.
At Summer Solstice, we honor our lineage as creatrixes. We may look to birthing and mothering as metaphors, but take care to not be lulled into the trance of equating creation with reproduction. We are constantly creating and maintaining tangible and intangible aspects of our lives: jobs, careers, vocations, relationships, health, mental and emotional states, everything.

Being daughter of two fathers (gods, being gods, can do that sort of thing), it makes sense that she should be patron of same-sex love.*

Rainbow was a goddess known to the ancestors, but in our day she takes on new meaning and new importance.

As Lady of Many Colors, she protects the times and places when peoples of different kinds, of different colors, come harmoniously together.

She gathers beneath her wings the gender-nonconforming.

And of course, the men for men, the women for women, and those who move creatively between, are her special people, hers to her.

When her namesake flowers bloom, during the month of June, we see her banner prominently displayed.

Interestingly, for meteorological reasons, during this same month we often see her standing, in her own person, there between Earth and Heaven.

Today, he's almost entirely forgotten.

But he was one of the pioneers of the Horned God revival in the 20^th century.

Hans Holzer's 1969 book The Truth About Witchcraft was my second book about modern witchery. (The first was Sybil Leek's Diary of a Witch.) In it, he treats mostly with witchcraft of the Gardnerian and Gardnerian-derived varieties.

But A. Damon was different.

Damon lives with his wife upriver, writes Holzer, “within the frame-work of witch law,” as he put it when he invited me to drop in for a visit, and his “logo” or symbol is an interesting combination of the Horned God's horns and sex organs within a triangle (150).

My 14-year old's ears pricked up immediately.

Even wise women need wise women. Life likes to mix things up. Including messages. People are complex critters. If only they could be as straightforward as taming feral cats! To navigate life I have my council of crones.

I am that most fortunate of women who has collected and maintained connections with smart, savvy, talentd, empathic and compassionate women who are scattered across many continents. They come from varied life and professional experience.  Not all have grey hair yet. But what they share is the wisdom of the cailleach. Each has been to the brink, eyeballed the abyss, didn't blink, and come back to tell the tale.

I don't have what many would call a devotional relationship with many of the deities I paint, but that doesn't mean there isn't a divine connection or other kind of relationship.  Often I tap into other people's devotions for those deities, or have an interesting conversation with those gods for a short time. 

Over the weekend, I just finished a series of 5 small goddess paintings, and wanted to share with you all a little behind the process of making them.

First a little background:
Friday (June 16th) is the opening for the Goddess show at Gargoyles Statuary in Seattle. I think it may be the 4th year I've participated in this show, and this one's a little extra special as I'll also be doing an author talk and signing for my new book, The Witch's Cauldron. However, I'm leaving the very next day for a 6 week long book/workshop/performance tour, so I was concerned about getting art done in time.  I had planned to get one new painting done for it - which I managed to finish last week.  But it's a large and highly detailed painting with a very high price point (if I make it available at all for sale at this time.)

Waste Not, Want Not
I was contemplated how to create a few more pieces at a friendly price-point when I spied the small stack of pine pieces I had cut off a recent batch of panels for shrine prints. Under 5"x8" and lightweight, they were a great size.  Even though I was going to be at an event all weekend, I knew from past experiences that this event tends to have slow periods.  So I painted gesso on 5 pieces, sanded them, then did some color washes on each from the leftover paint sitting in my palette from the big painting I just finished. (It's acrylic, so it would have gone to waste.) 

Once dry, I tucked the panels, a couple bottles of paint, some brushes, and pens - to take with me to the event. 

Calling All Goddesses
The next step was figuring out who to paint.  So I put a call out on my Facebook page, asking folks for suggestions on deities that I haven't painted yet, or haven't done in a long while.  From that list, I wrote down about a dozen of the suggestions that stood out for me.  I did some light research on the backgrounds of the goddesses and historical art made for them. 

Once I was situated in my booth, I pulled out the panels.  Because I had done random color washes on them before I left, each one had a different "mood" to it.  I looked at the list, and the panel in my hand, and one name jumped off: Anahita.  And so she was the first painting, emerging out of a wash of deep Prussian blue and navy pen work. 

The next panel I picked up was a mixture of greens and browns, and Pachamama's name leaped off the page.  In the wash, I could see her peeking out at the viewer with a full pregnant body of earth and greens. 

As I was working on that piece, a third panel nudged its way out - the wash looking like a powerful swirl of deep waters.  Yemaya leaped off the list and on to the panel. 

Two panels left.  A warm purple/earthy panel was chosen by Pele. I started work on her before I had to finish for the day - 3.5 paintings is pretty good for one day's work while tending to a booth!

Next Day
In the morning, I finished up Pele, adding a little bronze paint into her skin, and trails of flowers.  I thought 4 was good enough - in fact, I would have been happy with finishing 3.  But then the 5th panel fell to the floor from where it was sitting under the table.  Well, I still had a few hours....

The panel was mainly a light blue wash and didn't speak yet to any of the names on the list, but I still had purples, yellows, and rust left over from Pele. So I did another layer of color washes.  Suddenly, Ereshkigal leaped off the list - I could see her body in a lamia-esque form swirling out of the colors.  

So in the end, I got 5 of these little paintings done, and made contact with 5 very different deities from all over the world. 

Like many people, I have fallen in love with the new Wonder Woman movie.  Also like many people, I am in need of getting myself into better physical shape.  I’ve decided that a great way to support my fitness goals is to have a pop culture character to work with as a trainer to help motivate and guide me: thus enter General Antiope.
 
***This post will contain some minor spoilers for the beginning of Wonder Woman.  If you haven’t seen it you, go do so!***
 
If you haven’t seen Wonder Woman yet, General Antiope is the fiercest of all the Amazons and the one who teaches Diana her skills.  Antiope has several characteristics that make her an ideal trainer. 

First is her genuine desire to prepare those under her supervision to overcome any obstacles the world throws at them.  Antiope decides to train Diana, against Diana’s mother’s  wishes, because she knows that someday Diana will have to go up against Ares and that Diana needs to be prepared.  Antiope does not train Amazons for reasons of honor or prestige, but out of a genuine desire to keep them safe.  I’m not looking to “lose weight” or have a “beach body,” I’m looking to improve my physical health for the sake of having the stamina to actually do everything I need to do.