Every couple of years I go through what I like to call my Phoenix Fire Phase - it is when I take all that I have learned, assessed, collected, and gathered and I process it into a Black Book that I use as reference for the upcoming seasons. It is something I've been doing since I was young to supplement my usual art magic and meditative grimoire practices as a way of holding onto the foundations of my Witchcraft practice.
This year has been more intense than usual - I've dipped my toes into star worship, as well as deepening my practice with the Green Mysteries. Ophelia was born in oil to help ease the suffering caused by a deficit of water in the natal chart, as well as to guide creative water cycles. Saturn turned retrograde, and with its transition into Aries, my Saturn return has begun in full swing - I am feeling every ounce of that right now and it is both relief and fire.
We are heading into the harvest seasons proper now, and I've been reaping the abundance that has flowed in through my continued work and practice. My work with my Familiars has deepened considerably, and I even met the acquaintance of a new spirit into my retinue.
This coincided with the creation of two zines - A Journey to the Grove, the underlying cosmology that threads through my magical practice, and Threshold & Hedge - a Grimoire of Threshold Cunning that was the result of this seasons' Phoenix Fire. I've been practicing for a while now as a Witch and my practice has grown considerably since I first started as a youngin' - growing and processing and learning has been an ongoing thing I have dedicated myself to throughout the years and I continue to hold that promise to myself.
I smell of wild mint,
and the tamarack swamps.
The juice of alder-berries is on my lips, and the
brown stain of hazel on my fingers.
I am flecked with the dust of moth-wings, and
powdered with the pollen from the hearts of
calla-lilies.
I am wind-tawned and sun-browned.
Wearing the marks of the open.
I reek of freedom.
- Muriel Strode
Ophelia guides me to those waters where I can ebb and flow with the creative water cycle. The surrender and resurrection and the flow that does not consume. In my mythology, Ophelia is not the drowned girl of Shakespeare’s tragedy – though she is that too – She is the one who sits on the riverbank with her feet in the current, letting the water flow through her, not over her. She is the poet who speaks in flowers – who even in grief reaches for beauty and finds it growing along the waters edge.
My workings with Alphecca, as well as the Seven Sisters has been deepening as I reach for Ariadne's Crown - there is more stuff brewing and I hope to learn more as I experiment with my star worship practice.
A Journey to the Grove turned out marvelous, however I am thinking of combining it and Threshold & Hedge together to form a more accurate view of my practice. Back to the drawing board with me on the Phoenix Fire and gnosis that comes with it. I have a couple upcoming projects that I am very much looking forward to as we shift into the autumnal months of the year.
Also born was my first recipe book - collated from 17 years of practice, these recipes represent my retinue of magic and stardust. From my earliest workings to my more recent brews and explorations, the Recipe Book will probably never see a full release due to the nature of its contents - but I might share a recipe every now and then as a treat.
It's been a deeply fruitful time in my practice as I go through the Phoenix Fire - the trance states it induces are rare but treasured for recording the most important parts of my witchcraft practice, and I am grateful to be able to experience the world the way I do.
In this Phoenix Fire, I have birthed 3 new works built upon the information I've gathered throughout the years and it's been so, so fulfilling to be able to let the energy and creativity flow as I grow with it.
Working on it now, I am building a personal Herbarium on plants that I use the most in my practice as well as their folklore and uses! it's currently turning out marvelous and I'm so excited about all the work I've been achieving lately.
I've been super busy lately with everything so there was no blog post for the month of August, but that's okay because September is flowing nicely and I'm feeling pretty great about that!
I have a couple of events coming up that I'm really looking forward to! you will be able to find me at Zineography in London, Ontario this upcoming September 26th from 12 to 4 pm!
Also coming up is Booktoberfest, created by the KW Writers Alliance, that will be happening on October 3rd from 1 to 6 pm at the Gaukel Block in Downtown Kitchener, Ontario!
I'm super excited for these events and I hope to see everyone there! Yippee!
Anyways I think that is all I have for now - I'm gonna go back to working on the Herbarium because I'd love to have it ready by October. Thank you everyone whose been supporting me, it's been everything to me and I honestly wouldn't be where I am today without all the lovely people who've reached out to me.
I love you all, Happy Autumn!