Things have been building up over these past few weeks and I have been very much enjoying the process! Wyrd is officially released, and I got the chance to visit some little free libraries around town to stow away some copies for the lucky people who find them! It sure has been a start to spring, but we stay silly despite the horrors.
Graveyard Work is something I've been doing for a while now, and it is considered a cornerstone of my practice. I believe everyone should get to know their own local dead, and in doing so, learn about local spirits and history as well. I've visited this graveyard twice now, it's an old one with graves from the early 1800s and even some modern ones! There is quite the mixture of dead here, and the hallmark of this graveyard is the amount of graves for the young.
During my adventure here today, I did some work to tidy up the space - I hate when people leave their garbage around these types of spaces, it feels so disrespectful, so we always make it a point to clean it up when we go.
The graveyard always has a subtle energy about it, and it pulses with life, strangely enough. There is a buzz in the air, the spirits here are quiet but active and watch us do our work. There is a strong sense of calm in this particular graveyard, and that is when I found this lovely lady seen above. The expression on her face is so unclear, she seems deep in thought and pensive at the same time. She is nearby several of the younger inhabitants of this graveyard and I feel like she watches over them.
Also within this graveyard is a particular spirit I've been getting to know over the course of my visits - his name was Eby, and he was known to be a practitioner of Braucherei, or Pow Wow, a German/Dutch magical tradition steeped in folklore - its opposite being Hexerei, or Witchcraft/Sorcery. People who practice Braucherei are said to call upon the holy spirit of God to heal, to help with livestock, and to provide protection against bewitchment. Hex signs are a form of art that traditionally comes from the German/Dutch folk belief in protection staves.
I plan on tending to the graves here and getting to know everyone better over the course of my workings here. In part of my workings with Our Lady Beneath, she is revered in her aspect of Hekate Khthonia. In this aspect she is a Guardian of the Restless Dead, and she has an affinity for guiding souls of her Horde. One of my traditional offerings to the dead is tobacco, so I always bring a few cigarettes to give as libation. Witches are known to gather in graveyards, and the folklore surrounding necromancy and workings around the dead are vast. When going to a graveyard for the first time, it is super important to bring some coins to appease the Gatekeeper of the Graveyard.
Appeasing the Gatekeeper is important as you want to build a positive reputation with the spirits within. Like Hekate herself, as you traverse through the graveyard you will attract the attention of shades of all sorts. Allow yourself to wander until you feel drawn to a certain grave, and ask the spirit if they will help you in your practices. Do not do this until you feel comfortable with the spirits around you, however.
When you come home from the cemetery, something important to remember is to prevent any lingering energy from clinging to you. You can simply wash your hands to cleanse yourself afterward.
Enspirited Oil & Our Lady of the Depths
I've also started working on an Enspirited Oil for Our Lady Beneath, and it's got some lovely herbals in it so far, as well as some dirts from various crossroads, some bones of crow, coyote, and snake shed, among countless other things left unsaid. Working this oil has been very different than my other oils, and I've been loving the process of praying over it daily, working it like it was a spirit vessel in hopes that it becomes enlivened with the energy of Our Lady Beneath.
Not gonna lie, this year has been a difficult one so far, and in it I am learning that I need to lean on others more, so this is my attempt at doing so in a space where I feel safe. Our Lady Beneath has been really challenging me to look at myself and my life and what I want to do with it, and how I am going to get there.
Honestly, it's terrifying to consider stepping outside my shell and into the realm of the living. It's been a challenge to navigate and I am surrendering. I am letting the Universe wash over me and events to play out with the hope that it will be worth it in the end. This is a lot for me to process, and Our Lady has been there for us every step of the way - We have been giving our emotions to her, Lady of Depths.
Letting the ocean wash over me and process the water rushing and flowing, the holy well of the tradition being the one thing keeping me going at the moment - the routine, the contemplation. It brings me a sense of comfort that I can only assume is a good thing from here on out. I trust in my Lady to bring me where I need to go. May I know when to cut and be cut, and the lessons it teaches me in turn. She is the Lady of the Deep, and she rules over emotion - love, and longing; melancholy, and mourning.
It is through my workings with this specific Epithet of Our Lady, that I am able to conceptualize the beauty that is found in challenge, and pain. The growth that comes after a wildfire is something that is voracious, even if it leaves a scar. I am learning how to bear my scars with pride. It is she whom rules over sovereignty and the great plain of life. And as I sit under her magnificent grove, I too look up at the Oak above me, the Yew below me.
Blessed with Hawthorn, Juniper, and Poplar their buds sticky in the chill spring air. This is what it means to be alive. This is the cauldron of my own making, and I will fight for the life I am owed after all the heartache. This is how we move onward.
She embodies all, the Earth, Sea, and Sky. And she came to me in the realm of dreams. The Great Crow of Air, The Dog of Earth, and the Serpent of the Ocean, she is known as Triformis, and through that her aspects are revealed. There are Three in Three in Three, being exponential in her nature. Red as Ether, Black as Earth, and White as Air, she rises through to the liminal - the Crossroads they call home.
Our Lady Beneath is the intersection between worlds and realms, as is Queen of the Liminal. Part of this means being part of the Court of the Otherworld in my own cosmology. She represents part of the Court of Deities, along with the Trickster. There are many different clades of spirits that I will get into eventually as they form a lot of how I interact with the world. Our Lady Beneath is a terrifying force, and comforter all at once - she is the hand that aids in Birth, and the scythe that reaps us in Death.
She looks over the Threshold with grace. She is the chill of battle, and the holy washing of peace. Through this I also acknowledge her role as the Washer-in-the-Ford, the Celtic myth associated with the Morrigan predicting who lives and who dies. She rides into battle and leads the rallying cry, and heals and comforts those needing healing, and the dying. She is the dirt of a grave, and the life of water, she tends to all as the Giver, the Nurturer, and the Healer.
On the contrary, Our Lady Beneath represents both life and death, as life springs from the earth as much as the dead feed it in turn. She is the crossing of cycles, and the seasons as they change. She is both life and decay, and therefore I associate her with mushrooms, dead leaves, and lichen, as much as I associate her with the fertility of animals, birth, and healing. In this duality we find a lot of what I call the liminal - the intersection of threshold, the space in between that rules over change.
In her form as a Prophetess, she is a Seer, a Poet, and a Diviner. A lot of my prayers to her are inspired by Bardic poetry, and I pray to her before throwing the bones, or drawing a card. When I get inspiration she is there, and I often write to them in honour of that. I scry in pools of water, swirling with herbs and oil making out the meanings of each. My hand is often guided by Our Lady, especially in workings of divination.
The Arte Wortcunning is also one of her spheres, and she knows a lot about the Greenwood and it's allies. Part of the understand of plants is learning to communicate with their spirits and learning how they function. It is not just about correspondence lists and guides - dig deep into the roots of the work, get your hands dirty, and let the plants guide you themselves. This is the Arte of Wortcunning. I make several elixirs to Our Lady Beneath quite often, using Hawthorn, Apple, Elderflower, Rosehip, and others to craft teas, tinctures, and oils. Our Lady Beneath is considered both separate from the goddesses that make her up, and inseparable from the forces of the universe at play.
She is everything and nothing, she stands in all directions looking everywhere, always. Our Lady is cunning, she is bright, and she knows when to cut, and be cut. She is guile, and grace, and she is the primal force of being in the universe.
Hekate. Morrigu, Freyja. Queen of Elphame, hear my battle cry, Lead me to where I am going, and hold me when I am bound.