Memorial Day Weekend

Enjoy your Memorial Day U.S.A. !!

This Memorial Day, we light a candle and express our gratitude for those who served and gave all for our country. Freedom has not been free.

We have a little memorial altar here. We light a candle and take a min of reflection. 

We engage in some seriously American activities today - we drink Coke's and eat BBQ. We'll play some hockey and later we sure hope to see some fireworks!

~Alette

Wednesdays For Peace

Something is new around here! Welcome to "Wednesdays for Peace" 

______________________________________________________

I am a pacifist. I deeply believe in peaceful living. I believe in equality of all humans. 

I will be burning a candle every Wednesday for peace.

I invite you to join me. 

Light a candle and contemplate and visualize peace and equality - commit to that ideal.

Full Moon and Mercury

I wanted to view Mercury in its glory. I was all jazzed. There was a light cool breeze and due to the full moon the area was lit naturally like a dim morning. The energy around us was palpable! How exciting!

I headed out to my usual viewing area with my beloved - and, and, and..... clouds. Lots, and lots of big marshmallowy clouds. Although the clouds were back-lit nicely we could not view a single light in the sky. No visible moon, or stars, and no Mercury. Herrrumph!

So, that's it. Lots of energy, and no viewing.

However - the end of the retrograde is awesome! I have had terrible almost debilitating head aches for several days, which is completely abnormal for me. All of my household's sleep has been 'off'. Also one of my children has been ill. Today, finally - no one in my home is ill and I have no head ache! I think I just need a good nap! Truth.

Wishing you all well my 'circle kittys'!
~Alette )0(

Box of Shadows for May

Hey Circle Cats! (...that means you...)

I received my May Box of Shadows this week! I am still excited about finding that package in the mailbox. Yup! I especially enjoy the adventure of this surprise treat box. 

This remains true:
The facts: $40 per month, renews automatically, communication via email. Simple. 

What's inside this month?

This month I received five chime candles (pink, red, white, blue, yellow), a green "abundance" candle with glass cup holder and tip sheet, a sage smudge bundle, Jasmine incense, a garnet stone, a vile of anointing oil, a soapstone pentagram altar tile, and a carved sheesham wood spoon! 

I am jazzed about everything in the box. My two favorite things in this box are the wooden spoon with a carved pentagram and the pentagram tile! As you can see in the photo, these two things are really beautiful. I have a special affinity for the protection of the star! I wear them, have them, and draw them pretty much everywhere! So having these two pieces in the box are especially exciting for me. 

This months empty box has already been reused in a school project by my youngest child. It is now an artful part of a "Reading Robot".  I have likely mentioned this before - but the eco friendly packaging really floats my crunchy little boat! 

I will post about the June BoS surprise next month. C'mon, You know you are curious! X)

~Alette )0(

Mandalas for Peace!

*EYEROLL*! Yes, it is 2016, and no I will not sugar coat this. I have a problem with willful ignorance, but not with art. Never with art.

This is my answer to the uneducated shitstorm of anti-mandala sentiment introduced by a Christian blogger.

((Origional Xtian post found here: Last Hiker))

Dear Last Hiker - Take a long hike off of a short dock! - Mother Nature

I am not a "crunchy new-ager", but that's a great thing to be! I do happen to be a "crunchy" Pagan though - also a great way to be! (However - I guess this is meant to be an insult? Hum... I thought Christians were above that.... guess not...)

This post hit a nerve. It hit a nerve in myself and appeared to also hit a nerve in the spiritually aware community of Paganism. The ignorance and misinformation (from a Christian Theological perspective) in the post is woefully astounding. Many of the comments are dreadfully ignorant as well.

First (I believe) all art is good art. Art is not just for children. It is for humans. Self expression that harms none, is an excellent part of being a human. Art can help us to recognize the common struggles we face. It can serve as a medium for discussion where disagreement has been tough. It can shed light on things we could not quite put our personal 'finger on'. (Yes, in my art of writing - I did end that sentence with a preposition - the imagery and whimsy would not otherwise have been the same.)

Art can be various things including writing, dancing, music, sculpture, recycling, gardening, fashion, paint, tattoo (I know sooo subversive), make up..... the list could go on and on and on.... every person can be drawn to express art in their own way. This. is. GOOD!

So, I challenge you to ask yourself how artwork, or participating in artistic expression could *possibly* lead one 'religiously' astray. If I choose to color a picture of a rood, it does not make me a Christian. If I focus on the life of the tree while doing so, I have aligned my mind with the trees life cycle. (If you are curious what else I am talking about - see "Dream of the Rood" it's classic lit and being well read is a good thing, so look it up dude. Also, the irony here, I mean really!)

Similarly, having a coloring book with mandalas, coloring them, or creating a mandala will NOT invoke (or evoke) some scary deity - unless of course you believe in that deity and focus your energy on said deity as you color. Therefore, lets say one is a Christian and therefor does not believe in any deity existing besides Jesus Christ. Therefor it is literally impossible to be lead to any other form of deity while coloring a mandala. This is basic Christian theology people. Yes. Really.

One should never take these random bloggers ideas as gospel. Yes, I said it.

Ask yourself -

*IF one truly believes a deity (In this case Jesus) to be all powerful, then how could coloring a picture thwart that deity's power? You do believe your soul to be his, right?

*IF one truly believes they have been 'saved', then how could art possibly thwart that?

Truth:

*What is inside your own heart is the only thing you will discover while coloring a repetitive pattern of a mandala.

*The only demons you will encounter through the door of coloring are those in your own head. So, if sneaky- "spiritual hosts of wickedness" are already in your subconscious mind.... the mandala is not your problem!

(Remember my comment about art? "It can shed light on things we could not quite put our personal 'finger on'.")?

I can promise you that the thought police are needlessly keeping you from self expression if you buy into "thou shall not color mandalas" - which by the way I am pretty certain is not expressly listed as a commandment in any Christian or Mormon scriptures. (Yes, I separate the two out because Evangelicals do not consider Mormons to be Christians due to scriptural and doctrinal differences, and Mormons don't understand the difference. Kind of like thinking mandalas will somehow cause one to become Buddhist, accidentally- or you know conjure an accidental demon. However, I digress...)

The Last Hiker quotes-

“When completed, a mandala becomes a sacred area that serves as a receptacle for deities and a collection point of universal forces. By mentally entering a mandala and proceeding to its center, a person is symbolically guided through the cosmos to the essence of reality. By constructing a mandala, a monk ritually participates in the Buddha’s teachings.”(ReligionFacts.com)

As a Christian you would not believe in any other deities - so how could some mysterious entity be collecting there? The Last Hiker states that demons can enter through a mandala - really? So now demons are Christian deities? Perhaps your 'saving' didn't stick?

Also, allow me to draw your attention to churches and cathedrals throughout the world, constructed at various points in history. (Note the links to click for examples) They very often contain stained glass mandalas. They also very often contain stonework or mosaic mandalas. I suppose if we follow the 'logic' of Last Hiker, that accidently makes those structures Buddhist or Hindu and has opened the door to demons. So, "sweet Christian friends" beware because if those mandalas don't get you , the ancient architecture or sheer ignorance will!

Go get a mandala and focus on world peace while you color. Focus on treating others with love (you know the sum of the whole law, per Jesus?). Focus on banashing ignorence, poverty, bigotry, violence.... Color Mandalas for peace! That is what Jesus would do.


Yes, I am blunt. Not sorry. Educated. Now, go read something that some religious authority (or blogger) told you not to read. Think for yourself. You will be glad you did.

I will light a candle for the illumination of your mind.

(AKA: I will pray for your enlightenment of thought.)

~Alette )0(

Church photos are not mine, but belong to the publishers at the websites provided. (Please note that there are many examples of church mandalas around the world, these are just a few for the sake of example.)


The related structures referenced in my essay include:


Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Strasbourg, FR
Bordeaux Cathedral, FR
St. Vitus, Czech Christ Church, Dublin IRL
Monastery of Tatev ,9th century Armenian

Beltane - AKA May Day

Hope ya'll had a Blessed Beltane peeps!

As luck would have it, our family had many non-faith activities on the calendar for May 1 this year. We did spend a lot of time outdoors - which is pretty typical for us. I had planned several fun activities (a craft and bonfire) that frankly just did not pan out with all the other things we had going on that day. I am not one to push kids to miss other fun things for most holidays. 

I had planned to make friendship bracelets with lovely colorful floss. I was thinking they would be a lovely creative and magickal activity. Alas, they are time consuming and we simply did not get to them. I did however take a photo as part of my planning.

I like to associate rose pink and wode blue with Beltane. I tend to think of roses too. I find the imagery of denim and flowers quite nice for this holiday. I particularly like to wear blue jeans, go barefoot outside wearing either flowers or a flower pattern or a pastel. (If you aren't from the south you may not be aware that the right blue jeans can be formal wear. True story. Promise!) This time, We just wore casual every day clothes. That's just how it is sometimes. We go with the flow. 

Our whole little family went outside and used one of our beloved mature trees as a Maypole. I lit some rose incense in the grove, which was really nice. The smoke kind of wound around us and smelled so nice! We had a good time and lots of laughter as we tried to weave a lovely pattern. In the end it was kinda wonky but just filled with love. While we were out there we blew some bubbles and enjoyed a nice spring breeze. We also took a minute to check on the little plants that have sprung up from the seeds we planted from our eggs at the Spring Equinox.


Inside the house we lit a rose colored candle complete with a white stripe spiraling around it representing the May Pole. We dedicated it to renewed creativity and abundance of Beltane and allowed it to burn all the way down. 

I enjoyed reading this article from the BBC. It would be so nice to have an inclusive town celebration such as those described in the article. Can you imagine this in the south? HA! 

I would love to read about how you observed Beltane! 
I wish you renewed creativity and abundance!

~Alette  )0(