Humble thyself in the sight of....
the Ogham, your friends, other witches, your family, THE LORD, THE LADY


So the past few days have been significant to say the least. I have been taught many lessons and I am working on taking them.
It started with money issues. Cash flow issues to be exact and a bank error. No really the bank actually admitted it was their error and credited my account accordingly! Unity National Bank is a great local bank and they have stepped up and owned their mistake. I am grateful.

Anyway, money issues started around the 14th of this month and have persisted. The jeep has been broken most of the month and I have had the air of blue funk all around me. Yesterday morning I finally came to the conclusion that I had been hexed. I based this on the finding of a thistle. I am a Scotch Celtic witch and therefore the thistle is pretty important to me. I have NEVER seen a thistle growing where this one was AND if I had walked by it any later, it would have been mowed down. Besides, thistles in this area have bloomed and died already, so this one is out of season to say the least. I harvested it, put it in water and put it on my altar. This morning it had grown an inch taller and a bud on the side was beginning to bloom!

Thistles are used to break hexes and I began to reminisce about all the problems I have been having and my frustration at not having received any feedback from a publisher in my genre. I added it up and decided I was hexed.

While this was going on, my friend Yannu had asked me for some information on a goddess. I decided I wanted to give her the notes I made on a ritual I performed to that goddess in 2001 and started looking for that information for her on the computer. Finding it, I was reminded of an incident that happened the day after that ritual where I found a book in the library that was cataloged as DIA. I checked the book out and copied it. So I started looking for the copy and couldn't find it. I spent a large part of yesterday looking for it and finally found it filed away in my filing cabinate.

The book itself is a folk tale and it began my quest to discover my "purpose" in life and in the craft. Six years later, I still have not deciphered the book. I start reading the book again and thinking about it.

I got another request that lead me to get out my Ogham cards. I have used these cards extensively for the past few years; however, they are a divinatory system and I have never used them as such because the reading layout and use of the cards is complicated, seriously. Well, I am sitting looking at the book and thinking about the fact I have never tried the divinatory aspect of these cards and decide that I would read the section on the divinatory section. I find a reference in the final card you draw to the castle of jewels. The place the main character in my folk tale ends up. The final destination for the quest is in the castle of jewels. I realize the time to try the divinatory aspect of these cards was now. I wanted to know what was in my castle of jewels.

Yesterday I start trying to do this layout. In the meantime my money issues are escalating and my negativity and frustration are growing with it. A friend calls and I spew negativity all over her regarding my money issues. She tells me that surely I know that my own negativity is not helping to resolve the problem. She then proceeded to give me a spell to get my money back. I blew her off completely.

When I finally got around to deciphering the layout I had done, I get the message that I found for myself in the castle of jewels: "Your negativity is hurting you." The conversation with my friend floods back to me and suddenly I am humbled. I am negative. I replay all the contacts I had in the day with people. Counted up the number of times I spewed negativity out of my own frustration and feelings of helplessness. My friend tried to tell me. I owe her an apology.

That wasn't the only revelation made through this reading; however, it is complicated even for me so I won't bore you. Except to say that as I was laying in bed this morning contemplating staying there verses going to the bank to work on the bank issue I was having, I saw the thistle flash in my minds eye. I thought about some parts of the story and realized that my thistle was trying to break the hex I had placed upon myself. I immediately got up, got dressed nicely and started cleaning house. I got a lot of phone calls as a minister today and they were all productive. I took Connla to the library for a program there and he and I had lots of fun.

I don't know if someone else is attempting to hex me or not. Maybe, however, the universe is using there malice to my benefit so I am ok with it. The only hex I am going to concentrate on is the one I put on myself. I trust my wards, my God and Goddess to deal with any other comers. So mote it be.

REJECTED AGAIN!
Connla is Home; Sickies; Family Moon & Witches' Rune; Lady Yannu


Writing news first, I was rejected by Quest Books. Yet again, however, this rejection goes in the positive pile. I got a personal letter, made out to me. That's right, not some generic you don't meet our publishing needs rejection card. The query letter got a "excellent" comment. Fact is, Quest Books does not publish books on witchcraft. So once again, I take this as a good sign.

I went and did a reading of Southern Stories at a poetry open mic thing. I feel kind of lack luster about the whole thing and didn't find it very beneficial. I got out there, though. I risked.

The current query letter count is:
6 Original Query Letters Sent 1 Sent later on recommendation
1 Proposal Requested and Sent - still outstanding
1 Query Letter Returned and resent
2 Rejections based on not being suitable for the publisher;
1 rejection recommended me to another publisher
1 rejection gave a personal rejection with "excellent" as a comment on my idea and query letter

Connla only spent four days with his father this past week and has returned to us. He is sick. I have an appointment for him later today; however, in the meantime he is pretty miserable. I have been having little passing spells - a sure sign that I am sick. Last week I spent the day with Sarah and on that day she discovered that two of her children have strep. Sarah was mortified that I had been exposed. My appointment is in about an hour.

At the request of a new witch I have recently met through a friend, I hosted an open Family [Full] Moon on the Blue Moon in June. I prepared for the event not really knowing what the ritual was going to be about. Twenty four hours before I decided to focus on death and rebirth. After talking with all the participants, it was the only theme that really emerged. Four hours before the actual ritual, I was still clueless.

I called Sarah and we ended up coming up together with something that was really great. I decided that I need to change the energy from death to rebirth and picked the Witches' Rune to help me do that. I memorized it and then with a hot cauldron, raised energy to change the theme from death to rebirth and poured herbal water into the cauldron. Steam rose up and the entire thing was truly other worldly.

I learned something - The Witches' Rune ROCKS. Seriously. I have put it into my Priestess Book and not much gets in there. I just found it to be so important. I have had positive feedback from the participants. It is certainly a ritual that I would not mind doing again at Samhein or any Family or Lone [New] Moon. It was really powerful.

It also highlighted for me the importance of working with another Priestess. Sarah and I have really grown closer and without her confirmation of my own thinking, I don't know that I could have come up with the ritual. It was a collaborative effort.

Speaking of Sarah....Yannu [Sarah] enter into the solemn oaths of clergy recently. She is now earned the title Lady Yannu.

All Hail - Maiden Mother Crone, Father Warrior Sage, I send up my welcome and praise in all the names which you have been known throughout time and space. I give praise for your High Priestess, Lady Yannu, my equal and better in many things, the maiden and mother to my crone, the wand to my athame, the sweet wine in the chalice, my sister, my friend. Great Guardians of the Watchtowers and infinite manifestations of Deity, welcome her, protect her and guide her. Empower her and fill her up with your wisdom, beauty and love, for she is to me more precious than my own blood.
I, Lady Adialawyddan Dragonstone, High Priestess and Co-Founder of Family Wiccan Tradition International, do recognize and honor the path Lady Yannu traveled to receive this burden and responsibility. Family Wiccan Tradition International does hereby declare that Lady Yannu has meet all the requirements of our tradition and if at any time she chooses to affiliate with us, she will be accepted as Lady, High Priestess, Clergy. Lady Yannu is the first High Priestess of her own Family Coven's tradition and was given the rite of power by her husband, Lord NiteTiger.

Lady Yannu, you are what I strive to be as a High Priestess and friend. Condolences and congratulations.