I think I’m an addict. I’m knitting more socks! This will be my third pair this /year/. Yes. Pics soon. As soon as A. gets over to get pictures taken of the socks I knit her. Or maybe I should just take some pictures of them flat on a table. But it’s harder to see the pattern that way, being as it’s a lace pattern (Embossed Leaves) and multicolor yarn…

These new socks are also lace and multicolor yarn, and I’m not fond of the combination. But they’re pretty. I think. A. thinks the yarn is ugly. Whatever. ;-) It’s my first BMFA Rockin’ Sock Club package, yarn and pattern both. I’m highly impressed.

I had a really long rant posted yesterday, about a certain word a friend of mine has been using, but it just totally disappeared. WTF? Ah well. Nobody really needed to read it anyway, I guess.

So, what’s up with that New Moon Tarot reading, anyway? *shifty eyes* I did do a reading. I just never got around to posting it here. Like everything else. Next time, I swear!

Thirteen Things About Midsummer

1. The summer solstice, in the Northern Hemisphere, anyway, is on June 21st this year. It’s the longest day of the year, and has the shortest night. (Though actually, that can vary somewhat - there’s actually several nights of the same length.) In the States, anyway, we call it the beginning of summer.
2. The ancient Celts, among other people, however, called it Midsummer - and regarded this time as the midpoint of the summer season. Going by this theory, summer would’ve begun on May 1st, and lasted until about August first, at which point, autumn commences. Of course, the ancient people didn’t go by our calendar - their only guide was observing the seasons and living naturally with them. Summer began when it was green and lush and warm. Summer ended when it was time to begin the harvests.
3. Wiccans, and possibly some other groups, term Midsummer ‘Litha’. It’s a fairly modern term, and its roots are somewhat hazy - some authors attribute it to Greco-Roman roots, and others insist it means ‘the opposite of Yule’. Roots aside, the two refer to the same holiday.
4. Midsummer is celebrated all over, and not just by modern neopagans. There are several large midsummer festivals held every year in the US alone. One in Seattle has drawn controversy over some painted naked cyclists.
5. The evening before Midsummer is termed (…drumroll…) Midsummer’s Eve. It’s said to be a time of great magic.
6. Midsummer was honored by Shakespeare in his play A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
7. Primarily, Midsummer was a Celtic fire festival, and midsummer fires were lit all around the countryside. People would jump over the fires for luck, fertility, and harvest blessings, and bless their beasts with fire by walking them around the fire. Fires were still being lit well into the 18th century, especially in rural areas.
8. Later, the Church decreed the day St. John’s Day, as St. John (The Baptist) was said to have been born 6 months before Christ, and Christ’s birth was set in December. The ancient pagans adopted it readily. St. John’s Eve was a time when fairies were thought to be at their most powerful (hence, Shakespeare’s play).
9. Along the same lines, St. John’s Wort was typically gathered at this time, along with many other flowers now at their most potent. Harvest herbs from your garden at this time (if they’re ready to be harvested! Mine are definitely not.)
10. In some Wiccan lore, the two gods - the Oak King and the Holly King, battle it out for dominance, and this time, the Holly King wins - meaning the light will slowly begin to fade for the next six months. In other Wiccan lore, the god is at his most powerful, and the goddess is ripely pregnant with his son.
11. Colors: red, gold, orange, yellow, green, blue, white.
12. Themes: faeries, first harvest, crop fertility, magic, honoring the sun, fire scrying, summertime, affirmations & dedications.
13. Activities: herbal activities (harvesting, planting, drying, making things with them), balefire jumping, dreamwork, leave offerings for the fae (milk & honey is wonderful), handfastings and weddings (traditionally popular in June, the time between planting and harvest), feasting.

1. Shannon

2. Mom of the birthday girl 3. You're next!

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Scott C. Vasel, age 32.
Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of Park Ridge, N.J. (USA).

I found this at Crochet All Day. Thanks! I’ve done more of these than I first thought, but I’m still rather dull, it seems. Need to work on that.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said ‘I love you’ and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game - In Japan!
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg — how about a glacier???
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 10 provinces
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your cds (didn’t last long, but I did it!)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason (does it count if you buy them for yourself?)
84. Performed on stage (it was a short play… and in Japan…)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror.
96. Raised children.
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Created and named your own constellation of stars
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an illness that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane Kinda. I steered! I think it counts. So there!
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol - All three!
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet - but always temporary. We’d catch them, keep for a couple days, and release.
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper - in Japan! And home…
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream - briefly. In Japan.
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146: Dyed your hair
147: Been a DJ
148: Shaved your head
149: Caused a car accident
150: Saved someone’s life

I got two packages today in the mail! Hurrah! I first got my little hummingbird stitch markers - which /are/ far prettier than the picture shows, though I can’t get a decent picture of them to save my arse - and my second Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell book! Though I had a surprise with that one. Namely, it turned out to be a softcover, not a hardcover book. Like… wtf? I specifically ordered a hardcover. But oh well. For something like $5.50, I’m not complaining. Even the softcover is priced at $15.95 - and the softcover’s in near-perfect condition, except for the tiniest wrinkles at the corners. Anyway, I caught my cat admiring it, so I snapped this photo.

So I’m a bad witch. A terrible one, really. In the 5 months since Yule, I have done…. nothing - absolutely nothing - even remotely magical. Well, I planted some herbs, but I didn’t even do that right. I mean, sure, they’re growing… kinda… but it’s not like I did any spells over them, and I didn’t even plant them at the right phase of the moon. I don’t think. I’m so bad, I didn’t even record when I planted them. I don’t think. Maybe I did, but nowhere I see. So yeah. Bad me. No tarot. No runes. No ritual. No candles, no incense, no prayer, no… anything. My “altar” is covered in junk, my house isn’t clean, I never got the spring clean/house blessing bit done.

Gahhh! I’m awful.

So tomorrow night on the night of the last quarter moon, I’m gonna do some ritual. Lightweight ritual, mind you. And a little banishing magic on my debt situation. My debt’s getting better, but who couldn’t use a little help, ne? Oh yes, and maybe a financial-trouble-banishing add-on for my parents, who are heading for desperate times. I’ve never worked any waning moon magic before. In fact, the only magic I’ve ever worked has either been on the full moon, or on a major sabbat, so… Well, how hard can it be, ne?

And then I gotta kick-start my witchy studies. Truly. I need to do tarot. See where I stand these days. I’m feeling pretty good, but I’d like a little spiritual feedback, you know? Next Saturday, on the new moon, would probably be good for that. I think I even have that day/night off. Well, actually, I just checked, and I don’t. Whatever. Tarot doesn’t take long. *laugh*

I need to start pulling a card every day and taking notes. But that seems like so much /work/. You know, a whole two minutes a day of it. *gasp* Right. Can you tell I’m not only a bad witch, but a lazy one?

Note to self: Enough laziness!

Later today when I wake up, I’m gonna drag that A. person of mine up to start more herbs. And my carrots in a bucket. Yes. I’m growing carrots in a bucket. Hopefully.

Then Saturday, I wanna drag her to Havre as soon as she gets off work to, uh… shop. Yes. Shop. Not for much. I have a whopping total of $30 to my name, and $16 of that goes to cat food. So yeah, my shopping will be, uh, limited.

Another reason I need to do spellwork. Banish those poor finances, bring in something better!

I really want to buy this: Summer Magic Course. Oh yes, yes I do. But gugh… pricey for this broke dog.

The next two months are so short on finances I’m considering not putting any money into savings. Or at least cutting my savings contributions by half. I have nearly $500 in there, and no plans to spend it. Whereas, in June, I’ll only have a whopping $60ish to spend on misc stuff that isn’t allocated to specific bills or groceries. That’s not much, considering I have exactly 1 pair of shorts, 2-3 summery shirts, no face toner, moisturizer, q-tips, etc. and a shopping fetish.

Hoi.

I figure if I cut my savings contributions, I’ll be less likely to bust into the savings account to buy things I “need”. I guess it’s really the same thing, but I feel guiltier about taking money I’ve already set aside for savings. *lol*

Yeah. I need a bit more income, somehow. Hopefully, me and my magic will find some. We’ll see how it goes.