Hekate's Hearth - Puerto Rico

Dear Blacky,

My sister, Rosie, and I sent 3 bags of food to Puerto Rico in the wake of the hurricane.  Below is a picture of the bags of food, along with my toes and the bottom third of our spinning stripper pole.

Giving away food.

No, I don't mean "dance pole, used for exercising".  I mean my sister was a stripper and it's for stripping exercises.  I've used it too.  It's for stripping.  Some dancing is involved.  Mostly the removal of clothing in a slow and sensual manner.  Stripping.

We also sent 5 bags of clothing.

We're generous, right?  Yes, we are.

Sort of.

You see, we had these clothes already in the hall ready to give away.  They don't fit or, in my sister's case, are stained and she no longer wanted them.  In my case, they were old hat from a time when I had just moved into this state, having fled the oppression of the South, and was finally allowed to buy clothing for myself.  I've come to not really like what I bought.  Back then it was fine, but now not so much.

As for the food, it was mostly leftover cans of stuff from the food bank that we have had sitting around for well over a year and had not eaten.  A holy f*ck ton of kidney beans, cranberry sauce, tomatoes of all kinds, and boxes of pasta that a co-worker gave me but that I will honestly never eat now that I know how to make it from scratch.

I'd have sent bags and bags of pasta too if I had not already opened them and resealed them into jars and mylar bags.

You see, this was the remains of my emergency backstock.  Herein lies the giving part, at least on my end:

I had been keeping this food around for emergencies.  It's been sitting on my shelf waiting to be made into gooey baked pasta dishes, or hearty chilies, or as a random dressed up side.  Eventually, it would all have been eaten.  I collected and kept it all from a food bank in town that I stopped going to when I wound up with way more canned and jarred goods than I had room for on the shelves.

The problem arose when I moved into a place that was too small to hold all of this excess food AND store all of my other items.  So I stopped going to the food bank and started just eating it.  My grocery trips have been short and small on the budget because of how much flour, rice, beans, and canned meats I still had at home.  I didn't eat a lot of fresh vegetables, but I almost always got fresh fruits.

Then it turns out I still wasn't going through it fast enough.  My sister moved back in and took half the space that was already too small.  So the food wound up in the drawers of my captain's bed, and on the shelves of my closet.  Originally it had all been on the shelves of the guest closet (her room now) so it all had to move.

Going to sleep with 10 tins of tomatoe paste, 3 jars of cranberry sauce and 23 cans of kidney beans smiling down on you is as weird as having a toilet located 10 feet from your bed.

En suit bathrooms are a no-go for me in the future.  It's too strange that the steam can only vent into your bedroom after you leave the shower.  That much water has no business being that close to my bed, and the toilet (as mentioned) is far-far too close to me at all times.

Anyway.

I started planning to just get rid of the food by regifting it to co-workers.  Occasionally someone brings some things, like the boxes of Roni in the pictures, and gives it away.  My plan was to take a bag full of food to work and leave it there till it's all gone, and then bring another bag once it's empty.

The part of this that has anything to do with being a Hearth Witch is my connection to Hekate.  Hekate is a Titan, not a Goddess, and She is the matron of the downtrodden.  Those on the fringes of society who need help and usually arn't getting it.  Homeless.  Wanderers.  Vagabonds.  Oftentimes Me.

Years ago, after recieving a dream from Hekate, I came to an understanding that I should help those who need help more.  I played around with the idea of a charity that I'd call 'Hekate's Hearth' where those exact people who live on the edges of society could come and get some help.  Sometimes it would be a bed, sometimes food, sometimes an ear to listen.  Nothing formal.  Nothing official.  Just a helping hand.  Maybe even some repair work.

The idea is that there are not enough Pagan charities out there.  Not ones that are actively pagan, who have a Matron they honor, and whose community and recipients know it's in honor of a non-patriarchal deity.  Not in the same way as some charities are just named after or in honor of a deity, but who actually honor a deity, with an altar where people can leave offerings and everything.

Hekate is a deity who rules in the dark half of the year.  Yes, She can rule anytime and is in all times, but She and Her dog like to be out when it's dark and thus They are associated with the dark half.  That being said, this is the time of the year when people are instructed to be given anyway.  I've never thought of pseudo-Christian holidays as instilling a sense of giving in anyone as they tend to be all about receiving, receiving, receiving.

Yet since the year of that dream, I am having more and more urges to donate and give to charity in the name of Hekate.  To honor Her.  To in some way make Her Hearth a thing that brings any type of warmth to those seeking light and shelter or any type from any type of cold.  To spread the love and light around a bit.

To polish my corner of the world.

Or in this case Puerto Rico.

So while my sister may have been giving these bags of food to her office to put with the rest being shipped down, they were actually all from me and all in the name of Hekate and to honor Her as matron of those who are destitute and in need.  The clothing was half hers, but the half that was mine was all in very wearable condition and most only 2-3 years old.

Today I honored Hekate by spreading the light and love of Her heart out around the world.  May every can of beans light a will to rise above in all who consume it and may every skirt be worn to dance the joy of seeing the situation inprove every day.

In Hekate's honor,
Sesh
Priestess of the Hearth

Storing Medicinal Herbs (The Halfway Homestead)

Dear Neophyte,

I've been collecting herbs for years.  The first batch of real healing herbs I ever received was from my sister.  It was back when I had no money and my Bible Belt town somehow thought that herbs were the devil so we couldn't even keep a natural shop open, let alone would anyone have taken me there to get herbs for healing.  Devil's magic.

Well, there are devils in every religion and mine is kinda cute. Even better, He's willing to cooperate in exchange for chocolate and whiskey.

Since moving to Portland I've regularly visited the Herb Shoppe.  Now they call themselves "Fettle", which I don't like.  I still call them "The Herb Shoppe".  No matter how pretentious it is to add extra letters to a word that is only four letters long.  What's that extra "e" even doing in there anyway?

I don't have pictures at hand, but I spent quite a lot of time cleaning wax out of old candle jars.  I then send them through the dishwasher and let them dry out thoroughly after stripping off the labels.

Candle jars, with plastic rings detached from the lids.

The inner plastic rings come out of the glass tops, btw.  Forgot that, and some of them still had strong wax smells so I had to scrub at them with a hot towel to get them good and soot free.

This is my collection of loose herbs.  You'll notice the writing on some of the bags looks very old and faded.  That's because they are probably 10 years or older at this point.  Yes, they still work.  I recently made cough syrup out of them and it went off spectacularly.

You may notice two different labels.  They are from the same shop, just renamed. 

This is the current herbal storage system.  This is by no means air tight but it is really nostalgic looking and I go in for that.  They're actually plastic ornament bottles I got at a craft store for really cheap.  Glass bottles this size are so much more expensive.  I got these last Yule-ish and put my smaller quantities of herbs in them.

Yule ornament bottles repurposed for herbs.

Last time I was at the herb shop I was there to pick up more cough syrup ingredients.  I couldn't remember if I was out of licorice or not.  Turns out I was not.  So here you can see ground licorice that is over 10 years old next to roughly chopped licorice that is only a few months old.  

Ground licorice and chopped licorice.

I put them into the same jar, with the older on top so that it gets used first.  I am so, SO very glad to finally be done with small plastic baggies (twist tied, no less!) for herbs.  No matter how careful you are some of it will always filter out and get into stuff after the second or third time you have to open it.

Ground licorice on top and ground on the bottom.  First in, first out.

I had hoped I'd have enough candle jars, but I did not.  I resorted to having to use mason jars, as you can see above.  The great thing about this is that it's vacuum sealable.  The bad thing is that it annoys me having them in mason jars.  Yes, it's practical, but I don't like the way they look.  Mason jars are for canning, imho.  Not for storing pretty things that I want to look at. It wouldn't be so bad if the rings were more decorative or the jars themselves didn't always have some kind of design or marking on them.  This obscures a clear view of the herbs, which I greatly value.  Again, aesthetics is 90% of why I buy a storage container for herbs.

I started with the herbs in largest quantity and started jarring them up.  What I don't like about bags is they will lay all over the place if you let them.  And you have to dig through them to find what you want.

Clean jar and a bag of raspberry ready to marry.

A brick of raspberry leaves. 

Raspberry and jar, married.

I repeated this for each of the others till I ran out of large candle jars.  I'll have to invest in some smaller candles.  They regularly go on clearance at my work place.  I melt the wax out and make briquets out of them and use them in my candle warmer.  That way I don't have to babysit a flame and I get my jar that much faster.  I know I could just buy jars online, but the shipping would make it cost the same as the candles, and then I miss out on getting the wax smally-good-ness.

Herbs rehoused in former candle jars.

After I ran out of large jars I resorted to the canning jars, as described above.

Herbs in mason jars.  At least till I can find better jars.

I had four different kinds of ginger.  Dried ginger chips, ground ginger, ginger flakes I had dehydrated myself, and whole pieces of dried out ginger.  I kept the ground ginger in my spice cabinet but moved the rest into one jar.  

It doesn't really matter how your herbs come if you plan to make inctures or syrups out of them.  I think it only really matters if you plan to make tea or something like that.  Maybe even for bath soaks, as it all soaks the same in a muslin bag.  

As for bath soaks:  Do what I do and toss them directly into the bag and pin some muslin over the drain when you get out.  I like the herbs floating loose in the water.  They change color when the vitality is washed out and you know your bath is at peak performance then.

There is my herb shelf before and after.  I have to keep it on the bottom shelf else my roomie will take too much notice of them and want to borrow borrow borrow.

Before

After

No matter if you use your herbs for medicine or for magic (these are for both) be sure to store them properly.  Less than airtight jars are fine if you use them quickly enough, but only vacuum sealing or freezing will work to preserve herbs you don't use that often.  

Salutations,

Sesh

The Halfway Homestead

Living with a Shield Maiden

Dear Neophyte,

Living with a Shield Maiden:

Comes into bathroom in middle of night. Stubs toe.
"Holy hell, that hurts! What the f*ck? Feels like I just kicked a... Gods on High, Bonzoo! You left your axe in the bathroom floor again!"

Salutations,

Sesh

Facebook Spirit Guide Meme

Dear Blacky,

I don't often find a spiritual meme on facebook that isn't some hippy "love everything" B.S., but this one really applies to me!



It should say, "Anubis is tired of being your everything, and the hummingbird is getting depressed!"

Sorry guys: I'm not a great shaman.  I'm not even a really dedicated witch.  Like, I do things, but not often and usually as a last resort.  I let my last offerings MOLD for Gods' sake!

I am ashamed and "at some point" I'll get better.  After I get used to my new job, and the new schedule, and get back on track with my New Year's Dissolutions, and then start eating healthy again...  Because the most important thing comes last.  Right?

RIGHT??

Salutations,
Sesh

A rant about Discrimination of Christians

Dear Neophyte,

This is not a nice thing I'm about to say, so if you're flabby of emotions, then go away.

A meme I pulled off facebook.

Yes, I seriously wonder how any woman could follow religions that CURRENTLY tout rape, murder, forced marriage, forced impregnation, lack of control of one's own body, unrealistic expectations of gender, subjugation, slavery, war over pride and materialism, war “for god”, lack of self-worth, degradation of pride in oneself, segregation, unrealistic expectations of family and marriage, and a “god” that's literally full of every excuse in the book: Hint: It's always YOUR fault, never because THEY dropped the ball or just didn't care at the moment.

All of this in the form of poorly translated, deliberately mistranslated, and incomplete archaic mythology from a culture that is not only NOT YOURS, but died out hundreds of years ago. Entire sections of some of these books have been removed deliberately and hidden from the masses. Masses who were subjected to rape, murder, and being conquered “for their own good” so these works could be shoved down their throats. Lets not get started on the loss of culture and lack of respect for Natives everywhere. Not to mention the destruction and loss of Native religions around the world.

Lets start with how cute it is when these religions, used to being entitled to force otehrs to convert, are not legally allowed to rape and murder anymore. Then add to that laws protecting others from being forced to conversion. Continue on with laws protecting minority religions. Now you have an entire generation who are no longer threatened with murder, protected from forced conversion, and living in a society which accepts diversity. This generation is ending the tyranny by not simply ignoring these mass religions, but fighting back with their own rights to be LEFT ALONE.

No, being told to leave someone ALONE is NOT the same thing as someone persecuting you for being Christian. You had a nice terrorism streak, and now it's over. We're not afraid of your bullying anymore, and I know you're having to grow up now. Stop throwing a temper tantrum and face it: No one is denying your right to your beliefs, place of worship, or voting for your hatefull politicians. THAT is what you did to others for the last two thousand years. THAT was persecution.  

Salutations,

Sesh

Happy Ostara 2016

Dear Neophyte,

Happy Ostara everyone. Today is the first day of spring so throw down a picnic blanket, get some fresh flowers and drink some good wine in celebration!

Here are some pictures I pulled off google image search which captures what I like, love, and feel about this holy day.



You see a cute plate of chicks and I see food.  What I love about Ostara is that it means the delicious food is coming back!  All the fresh fruits and vegetables that aren't available during the colder months.  Putting it together on a cute plate it just bonus.



Today is a day to reaffirm our beliefs in our Gods, our way of life, and to reconnect with the changing seasons.  If you don't feel like a priestess of your Gods then the holy days are a time to make it right.



It's still chilly outside, but the Goddess of the Green is coming, already kissing the land awake in some areas.  Hail Ostara!



Music is always a big part of my holy day celebrations.  Here are a few Ostara songs that made it into my playlist this year:

Lisa Thiel - "Ostara (Spring Song)"

"Autumn in Asheville" by Emerald rose

Generic Ostara Music Combination

Decorations are of course important to every holy day.  In my house we change them out seasonally.  That is, four sets of decorations.  Some might think that's too much, but consider that we only decorate the living room by changing out the picture above the fireplace and some hangings on the wall.  It's not more than will fit in one rubbermaid tote and most of us have plenty of room for it in our garage or under the bed.  I go the extra step of also changing out my sheets and curtains to reflect the theme of the seasons.  The old stuff gets stored in the drawers of my 'captain's bed'.

Your inner light also gets honored at this time.  It's growing stronger and should be shared with the world.  This picture also represents the gardens all of us are planning, even if it's only in flower pots in the windows.  The third thing I love about this picture is that it her dress looks very comfortable.  Ostara is the day I begin packing away my winter clothing and bringing out my summer ware.  It's the time I also go through my winter clothing and either give away what I didn't wear that much, reuse the fabric to make something else, or repair it before stowing it away.  Trust me on that last bit: you do NOT want to pull a pair of pants out of storage and find out the front button STILL has not been replaced.

Lastly this is an inspiring and artistic season.  Paintings like this, utilizing symbology of your choice, would be easy to make even using crayons.  As mentioned earlier, the picture hanging over the fireplace gets changed every season and usually to one we've created ourselves.  I painted half the pictures in my house so I very much enjoy the process of creative expression through canvas and acrylic.  No, I didn't paint this one, but it really wouldn't be that difficult if I wanted too.  It's quite beautiful and peaceful. 

I'm so very glad I'm keeping diaries of all the things I do for the holy days.  It's helping me create my own traditions.  Find out what I did and didn't like and dig up deeper meanings in the symbols and acts.

It helps me actually be a Priestess of my Gods.

Salutations,

Sesh

Pagan Gift Giving

Dear Neophyte,

I don't know a person who doesn't like books.  This being said, I also don't know many people who aren't Pagan and don't want to add to their already considerable collection.  With this in mind I've decided to start a new tradition this year: giving books as gifts.  

This meme on facebook inspired the idea:

                                      

Now giving books is not exactly new to the whole Yule thing.  It's just not a special gift to get a book; it's one of the many, many ideas of possible gifts.  What's behind my idea of Yule book giving is to make it a special thing to receive a book.  

Of the three families I knew growing up each one of them had a tradition of giving out one gift on Christmas Eve.  Usually which gift gets to be opened is not selected by the opener, but by the giftee.  That is, it won't be the biggest and best of the gifts (which it would be if the gifted got to pick).  It's something small like a music CD, doll clothes for a doll they already have, or a set of napkin rings which would look good on the table the next day.  The gold jewelry and mongoose bike were the big gifts of the next day.  These gifts usually are enough to hold over the enthusiasm of the holiday participants and give them something to fiddle with between Yule Eve and Yule Day.

My idea is to replace these random gifts with a book which is actually chosen by the gifted, purchased by the giftee, and actually given to the gifted on Yule Eve.  They can then spend the time diving into a world of book rather than sweating the anticipation of having new things the next day.

While conservative Christians are taught that Christmas is not about the anticipation of gifts, that is just not how humans phychology works.  We want things to help ensure our survival and berating ourselves for anticipating having our very real physical needs met just seems anti-Spiritual to me.  I don't follow any logic that says you're not suppose to look forward to getting gifts on Christmas.  

That being said, Yule is different for Pagans the same way Christmas is suppose to be different for Christians.  Christians give each other illogical gifts from department stores and gift cards to places people wouldn't shop on their own.  I've noticed Pagans tend to give practical gifts like books on edible mushroom identification, knitted shawls, and pressure canners.  Things that are creative, immensely personal, and often hand made.  Oftentimes Pagans will exchange magical supplies and statuary.  Yule tends to have a heavily religious theme for Pagans whereas most who claim to be Christian don't even sing happy birthday to Jesus, let alone exchange images of Him for their altars.  Assuming they even have altars to their Gods.

Pagans are deeply spiritual and open with each other about our spirituality.  We care about and lean on each other's stories and information even if it's not from our God/desses.  We reach across the veils that separate the different pantheons and often reach out to each other's God/deses when reaching out to our Pagan friends.  For example I have three different deity images given to my by three different people, and they are currently on my altars.  I didn't have to put them there; they did seem to fit.  These people don't follow my pantheons and don't worship my deities; they saw something they thought I would like and got it for me.

Pagans are also extremely practical.  We're earth-centric, most of us, and understand that the limited resources of the Earth are being used up at an alarming rate.  To combat this most of  us are some kind of environmentalist and deeply care about our impact on the environment.  This directly correlates with how self-sufficient we become in order not lesson said impact on the environment.  Which leads to our love of giving and receiving practical non-dust-collecting gifts, handmade gifts, and books.

Things to consider for your Pagan friends:

Books, of course!

In Portland Oregon or Online

Such topics as Kemetic Paganism, Spellwork for Children, Kitchen Witchery, Book of Oven Dehydration, Seasonal Cookbooks, Gardening, Knitting, Home Disaster Preparation, Dog Training Manuals, Herbalism, etc.    

I deliberately did not post links to specific books.  Books are incredibly personal and there are so many out there that cover just aspects of a specific subject that it would do me no good to link you books which work for me (Women's Herbal Handbook) but may not work for you (if you're male).  

You want to avoid giving them a book on Yule Eve that goes along with a present they won't get until Yule Day.  If you get them a knitting book, but they don't own knitting supplies then that not only gives away what else you may have gotten them, but defeats the purpose of a book to hold them over till they got to open other gifts.  This is why I like the idea of letting the giftee pick out the book and tell you what they want (or give you a list such as provided above).  If you can't do that then use common sense.  The book should stand alone or compliment something (a dog?) which they already own and have access to.

Crafting Supplies

We LOVE arts and crafts!

Clay

They can make their own altar bowls, pentacle, jewelry, statuary, and more!

Craft Paper

My sister does watercolor and is perpetually out of paper.

Depending on what kind of crafting they do you could give them drawing paper, watercolor paper (pictured), cardstock, calligraphy paper, and on.

Fabric

The seamstress, Etsy owner, fabric hoarder in us all.

This works best when they are in love with a particular type of fabric (brocade is pictured) and don't mind getting random amounts of it, and they have the room to store fabric they are not currently using.

Knitting Looms

Expect to get a hat and scarf from this person on your birthday.

For Pagan children and adults who don't fancy moving yarn around with sticks.

Remember: When shopping for anyone who is crafty to focus on crafts you know they already love.  Try not to get someone started in a new craft if you don't know they've been wanting to do it for a long time.  This could mean wasted money for you and disappointment for them.  A safe bet would be to avoid things like Chinese Calligraphy Kits if you know they don't enjoy handwriting letters or even drawing.  Use your common sense!

Practical Gifts!

Pressure Canner

Taking kitchen witchery to the next level!

Owning a canner is like some sort of Pagan membership requirement.  If you know a Pagan who doesn't own a canner they must be new.  Help initiate them this Yule!

Recurve Bow

This image is Artemis approved.

Nothing says "I love you!" like dangerous weapons.  Better if they can bring down a deer and fold up for easy carrying in a tote case.

Non-GMO Seed Kit

Earth-centric religion followers are all about the heirloom seeds.

Practical sense indicates don't get your friend a selection of goard and corn seeds if they live on the second level of an appartment complex.  Stick with a variety of herbs instead.  I have purchased from this company and they are wonderful.

Soap Making Kit

The gift that keeps on giving.

Soap is a fun and personal gift, as a lot of people have skin allergies and you also need special equipment (not provided in kits) to cook it at home.  Make sure the person wants to make soap and is willing to forfeit a pan forever to use for just making soap.

Practical gifts means anything which will help make a person more self-sufficient and less dependent on "The System" to provide.  Pagans are each and every one practical people who go out of their way to develope skills to make life easier, simpler, slower, deeper and more fulfilling.  Being able to bring down a deer and then can the meat are two skills which make you independent.  To say the least these activities bring us i line with our Gods, who hunt and farm the land the same as us.

Handmade Gifts!

Recipe Box

Especially for folks finally in their own place.

Craft stores abound with wooden boxes.  You can varnish plain wood, or paint, burn or stamp designs on the outside.  A clear topcoat keeps the box looking nice.  Use blank index cards inside, print out your own, or buy special recipe cards.

Drop Spindle

Almost no chance of pricking a finger!

Craft stores sell wooden wagon wheels and wood dowels.  Most of them also sell hooks that screw into walls.  Glue the wheel in place 2" from the top of the dowel.  Screw the hook into the top.  Measure down 18" from the top and cut it off.  A kitchen knife can work for this as most dowel rods sold at craft stores are extremely soft wood.  Technically you're finished now.  You can paint, stain, varnish or oil the wood.  I sharpened the bottom tip of the one I made so it would spin on a chair easier.

Coloring Book

Any theme they enjoy will work.

Google search "Pagan coloring pages" (or any other theme).  Print them out.  Either put them in a binder or tie them together with ribbons.  Make a cover page and a back cover and you'r finished.  If they don't also cave pencils or markers you should provide some of those too.

Tea Blends

Tiny potion bottles of tea herbs.

Everyone I know owns a tea ball so I really love the idea of loose tea in small jars.  These jars are available from craft stores like Joann's and have cork tops.  Tea recipes are available online, or you can portion out some loose tea you already own.  

Religious Supplies

Selection of Herbs

For Magic, Cooking, Healing.

I love the idea of putting some of the herbs you already own into small glass jars, adding antiqued labels (instructions online) and giving them as gifts.  Don't forget to write the correspondences on the back of the bottle.  If you don't have enough to share you can order them online as sampler kits and transfer them to bottles when they arrive. 

Statuary

Go for authentic, not artistic.

Sexualized statues only venerate the divine as recipients of sex and so I really don't like these modern takes on statuary.  It seems almost all of the modern statues are huge-breasted, slim waist, rippling abdominal muscles, and violent.  As if the gods were never anything more than ideal beauty standard contest winners.  For that reason I would never give one of these statues as a gift unless the person said they wanted that one specifically.   Those images have places on altars while that particular aspect of a deity is being invoked, but not all the time.

Spell Kits

Purifying detox bath salts.

Is your friend going through a hard times?  Do they need money?  Do they need peace of mind?  Do they need serenity?  Make them a spell kit!  It's not hard to find the ingredients around your house and recipes online.  Bath salts are my number 1 make-ahead-spell-kit which has already been primed.  Breaking the seal activates the spell and your recipient just needs to pour and soak.  Other spell kits involve candles, cord, felt, and a variety of things.  You can get supply lists and ideas online.

Magazine Subscription

Circle Magazine

Pagan publications have been around for decades.  Some of them are a hundred or more years older at this point.  If your friend likes the idea of new ideas, networking, being able to unplug from the internet to read new information, and taking their reading with them (without buying a new book) then give them the gift of a Pagan Magazine subscription!  A goodle search pulls up half a dozen well-known and reputable publishers.  Be sure to get one that your friend would like even if it's not your own personal taste.

So there you have it.  My Pagan gift giving ideas.  I'm going to get a book for my sister for Yule Eve (a self-help book), and I'm almost done getting the rest.  What I really want to get her is an 18" doll and dress it up to look like Lagetha from Vikings.  I also want to get her a shirt that says, "The Gods Smile on Brave Women" that I saw on Etsy.  I'll probably just make the shirt, if I wind up having enough time and money to do that (along with everything else).  

She's getting me tea and dishes.  I <3 my practical, Pagan sister!

Salutations,

Sesh