Frances Nanabees: Modern Witch

  So a big part of this spiritual journey for me is actually about crafting...well getting in touch with my creative side. I think it's important that whatever outlet you find for your creativity; painting, music, gardening, building, cooking, baking, quilting, writing, photography, etc. needs to be a part of your spiritual practice. Something to help you unplug and have fun. To "make" in whatever capacity may be for you, is to me, the heart of magic and living a more present life. To finish a project and say - I made a thing! This did not exist before, and it was my consciousness and skill that crafted this.  Even if it's crap, I did it! So with that, I am going to try to make myself a Witches Clock. I'm not sure that's what it's called, but that's what I am calling mine. I see people with beautiful wooden alter plates, usually engraved with a wheel of the year motif. Well, that is well outside my wheelhouse - (HA! Witch PuN!) - but I can craft ok.  I...

Full Moon January 27, 2021   Wolf Moon /Cold Moon The name for the full moon in January seems pretty aptly named if you're in the Northern Hemisphere. In Minnesota, January is typically when winter reminds us that, "oh no, dear, winter has actually just started." According to the Farmer's Almanac it's also known as a wolf moon, apparently because wolves could be active in January howling, they aren't real specific? In December, my husband and I made a trip to a nearby nature preserve to go take in an astrological event.  To call us amature astronomers is too generous, but out we went into the cold none the less; it's been a pandemic so what else have we got going on?  We wanted to get out of town and away from the light pollution to have the best chance possible of seeing everything. We pulled over into a trailhead parking lot, flipped off our car lights and coo-ed over the amount of stars visible. It happened to be a full moon that night too. While we sto...

                               A couple Christmases ago my husband bought me  this book  on making ice sculptures. I had seen the author on a local morning tv news show and I decided right then and there, I too needed to be an ice wrangler.  I'll be honest, I was pretty much only interested in making ice globes. You don't need to buy the book. There are other projects in it, but globes are so easy and I love them. I did try one failed experiment to make like panes of ice glass, with oranges and pine needles in them. I was going to prop them up like four squares and put a candle in the middle like a lantern, but yeah - they didn't work out so hot. So back to globes! You don't need the "fancy" items she sells on her website (i.e the plastic trays to hold your globes), however, they do make the process pretty easy. The jist for ice globes is you need balloons, and a tray, possibly some styrofoam....

Imbolc Imbolc is the season of winter turning into spring.  Our days are visibly getting warmer and longer and thus the long winter is finally becoming less frightening.  I love reading about the old pagan ways and seeing how they have transformed over the years, how they were co-opted by Christianity in many cases, and how these old roots still find their ways into our present day. When I first started learning about this holiday it didn't really resonate with me. Much of the festivals/traditions are derived from Celtic traditions which talk about spring is finally coming and as a Minnesotan, I am just like, "nuh-uh". But I have to remind myself, like with all of this new spirituality stuff I get to carve my own path. I plan on doing a series of posts over the season (when the mood strikes and time allows) exploring some of the different aspects of this holiday as a way to meditate on this season. Here are the core concepts/themes of the holiday as I see them. Winter tip...