Happy Mabon/Ostara

Happy Mabon to all those in the Northern Hemisphere! And happy Ostara to my friends in the Southern Hem.
Today is a beuatiful day here in Northern Az. I am loving what the weather is. It is still a little hot but I cannot wait for Samhain.
I feel like my life is crazy right now. I need to be more focused. I am hoping that Samhain will help to ground me and get me going back on the narrow again. Now what to do till then???? HMMM........
I have lots to focus on for the next month and hopefully will be able to do it. School just seems so unimportant when I am doing my spiritual stuff. ( Not sure if I like using stuff, but that is what came out) When I am out in nature, soaking up the goddess and all her splendor I feel whole. One day that will be what I can do.
Sorry for the randomness of the post but my mind is so scattered now. Maybe Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween that is starting in 4 DAYS will distract you all and me included.
Blessed be all,
Ponderosa

Busy Busy Busy

I am busy as a bee this week. It started out on Monday with an amazing Neo-Pagan Alliance meeting! It was the first of the semester and the turn out was amazing! We had about 12 people show up to the first meeting, which is double that of our first meeting last semester so I couldn't be happier. I think there are about 6-8 people that seem very interested and I hope they keep coming back. The exciting thing is that there are people who cannot make it to our meeting time and are still very interested. I am not sure if we Will be able to change our meeting time but who knows. I just feel like the goddess sent some of her positive energy to start the week off right!
I really think that there was a good mix of people at the meeting and am very hopeful for the upcoming year. We are hoping to do a henna tattoo event next week as an event to get to know each other and to get our clubs name out to the students. We are really hoping to put on an event for the school this year whether it is a May Day celebration or a pagan pride festival. I am putting it out into the universe that if it is going to work out I need someone to help out with the planning so I can make sure I still graduate on time.
In other news, I recently purchased some books and many of them came from an interview that Mrs. B had with Judika Illes.
After reading the interview Mrs B had with her I really was inspired to go purchase some nice books to expand my reading. I ended up getting Pure Magic, Encyclopedia of Spirits, and Dictionary of angels. It was really great to get them in the mail. I felt like I was getting presents everyday.
I also received Mother Moon's giveaway gift for me! I am so grateful that she was kind enough to send me something even though I missed the giveaway I actually won. Thank you again so much. I have just one question though, what is in the perfume bottle?
I was so happy to see inside of it incense, candles and a 2011 Herbal Almanac! I am super excited to use this in the up coming year and I think it will be perfect for the Neo-Pagan Alliance for our herbal candle making.

I am about as happy as a pagan running in the forest sky clad. HAHHAHA I tried the pagan humor I am not sure if it worked though.
Anyway, today is a day of cleaning for me. I am cleaning my room and saging immediately. I need a fresh start. My apartment still doesn't really feel like mine. I am also going to use a garlic protection spell that my friend Caitlin made. I am really super excited. My altar needs to be cleaned and rearranged so I figured I would so a ritual cleansing of it. I am working on a altar cleansing spell, as well as designing a little ritual around it. Wish me luck.
When I get it all done I will post pics here! And my writings.

Hope you all have a witchy weekend!!! And get ready for the Equinox/Ostara and full moon!
Blessed be!

Giveaway arrivals!

Today I got my amazing giveaway prize in the mail! They are amazing and I cannot wait to cook with them. As soon as I do I will take some pictures and post them here.
I think my first step will be to clean my kitchen and do a blessing from Mrs. B's blog and then use a recipe from the Hubble Bubble book.

The other cook book I received was Peace Recipes and I find this so fasicnating because my partner is a buddhist, It appears the goddess had destined me to win this giveaway, one book for a witch and one for a buddhist and in this family we have both!
Thank you to A Nu(de) Motivation for holding the giveaway and trust that all meals will be made with full love to foster personal growth and to positive body image of all!
Blessed be!

Blog Giveaway time

Nydia over at Bringing up Salamanders is having an amazing giveaway that ends September 1st.
Nydia is a wonderful mom, witch, and creatrice. Check out her Etsy shop and tell her what you like!
I am hoping to get the Stag god if I win. You can definitely tell that she puts so much love and effort into her creations.

A post is soon to come if anyone still reads them anymore.

Blessings!

Saving the Peaks

There has been a long fought battle since the begining of this country and many people on both sides have felt upset and betrayed. What I am speaking of is the struggle of sacred space vs public space and expressions of religious freedom. Too many people religious freedom means that they get to express their form of christianity and their personal beliefs, but we all know that many christians want to have religious freedom for those who only worship Jesus.
Well sad news for them but we live in a place that prides itself on religious freedom and it is time that "christians" and the country live up to the freedom of religion.
One issue I discovered more in depth this summer is the struggle of many native americans to be respected for their religious choices. Living in Flagstaff always brings up touchy issues with the respect for nature and the respect for the need of the town to grow. Many people in the town moved here because it is small and nestled into the beautiful landscape of the San Franscico Peaks. Those who truely know about the peaks know that they are sacred to over 13 Native American tribes and for decades Snowbowl, a ski resort on the peaks, has been trying to create more and more ski runs and now Snowbowl wants to create fake snow.
The fake snow is created from reclaimed water. Few studies about reclaimed water point in a positive direction but still Snowbowl wants to create fake snow.The fake snow will disrupt the flow of mother nature and in my opinion it could be as bad on the environment as dumping sewage and even oil on the earth. I have full confidence that whatever we throw at mother nature she will be able to handle and will far out last us. But until then we have to make sure that those around remember the importance of the earth and remember to respect all religions.
Bobby and I went to a rally in Phoenix for the Save the Peaks coalition to help support those who are not for fake snow and support religious freedom. In my opinion if this were a church no one would even dream of doing something so potentially harmful to the people who worship there.
It felt good to join with those who were fighting for something this country says has no meaning. I do not live my life that way and hope that adding my energy to this cause will help.
I would love if anyone cna send their energy and thoughts and prayers to this cause. We all seemed to help with the oil spill in the gulf so hopefully we can help send some positive healing vibes to the Peaks.

For more information check out truesnow.org for more information on reclaimed snow!
Blessed be,
Ponderosa

Giveaway Time

Over a A Nu(de) Motivation they are having a wonderful giveaway that ends July 25th.
Go check it out. Looks like there are some great cook books up for grabs. While you are there entering check out the message of the blog. I think they have created a positive environment so gead over and give some more positivity.

First God Workings!

With Solstice came a breath of fresh new air. For the first time I felt the god around me. I am used to working with the goddess and have wanted to experience god work but have been to shy. Also, being an ex catholic I feel like I still have some resentment to the term god. I am working on this because I believe in the balance of energies and that I should not allow my catholic upbringing to hinder me in anyway on my new spiritual path. So when solstice came and I felt the new presence I decided to create a god figure. Early this month I was at my partner’s property that he wants to develop into an eco-village and I decided to collect some cactus skeletons and other various supplies to create something to symbolize the spirit and idea of the eco-village.
I started with the simple idea of making a god figure and I knew right away what was going to be the body and what was going to be the head. When I started I didn’t think there was going to be an actual face on the head, but after my partner mentioned the idea I thought it would look great with one. The first step was to glue the cactus skeleton to the branch like body. To me the cactus skeleton reminds me of armor of a warrior (very fitting for the god). I happened to pick two pieces that fit quite nicely around the branch and make a solid circle. Next I glued the yucca dried fruit to the tip of the branch. I then placed the garnet on the future face side. The glue took a very long time to dry and I don’t want to use non-natural products so if you have any other suggestions please let me know!!!
Next I constructed the bow and air like contraption on his back. It is a made from a pod of a velvet mesquite tree. The pod had a wonderful shape and since I had to knock it off with a pinecone. I took a Palo Verde needle and yucca fibers from the exterior of the plant to make the strap for the bow. Bobby helped me with the yucca fibers. He told me to put them in warm water to help bind the separate fibers into one. I then twisted them and Bobby used the Palo Verde needle to poke a hole in the pod and string the strap through. In my opinion it turned out amazingly!
Then came the arms. It was very hard to find the right size branch that I was going to cut to use. It had to have the right angles for an elbow and to look like a hand. And since there is spikes on the joints they had to face the right way and look like fierce shoulder pads. Loved the way they turned out.

Finally the face came and I just glued some pebbles and cactus skeleton to form the ferocious mask I made. Then I glued the whole figure to a crystal like stone that I found on the property and let it sit. The process took almost a whole day to dry. It was not an easy dry either, many time the statue fell over and I really had a freak out. This is also why I hope to find a natural alternative to glue.
It took an entire day in the sun and working with the male power was intense but so worth it. I really was happy with the way my solstice went and can’t wait to create more.