Giving thanks

 After a stormy Wednesday and flickering power that eventually went out as heavy snow fell across the region we woke to lights. Thankful for a warm home, good food to eat and spending this day with the one person I love most.

 Making homemade cranberry sauce, trying to keep my darling Pixie out of the cranberries is not easy.  This year's sauce is made with two bags of local organic cranberries, the rind and juice of two tangerines, a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup, a pinch of cloves and a decent grating of nutmeg.  Cooking this down until it thickens and let cool. 

The aroma of the cranberries, tangerines and spices are tantalizing and the sound of the cranberries popping and bubbling is such a comforting sound.  Over the years my Pixie and I have resorted to standing at the oven picking turkey off and dipping it right in the cranberries, devouring half our meal before it even reaches the table.

Giving thanks this day for every blessing that I have, have had and will have.  For all the past pain and struggle I have had I have been blessed with a healthy, beautiful daughter and a wonderful family of friends who have always been there for us and that outweighs our past struggles.

So today is spent enjoying a wonderful meal with my girl, snuggling up with our cats and watching the parade, movies while knitting and having plenty of hot tea.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Two Broomsticks Photography

If I would get paid for taking photos of nature all day I would be so incredibly and blissfully happy.  The peacefulness of being out amongst the flora and fauna is so soothing and I find I lose hours when I get out with my camera. I've not sold any of my prints in several years due to many factors, one of which is finding a cost effective way to print them.  I once had access to a fantastic photo printer but that is no longer an option.  I've looked over websites and haven't found anything I like.  I basically don't want someone else making money off of my art.  I want to be able to offer it at a fair price that brings me income and compensation for my work but isn't exorbitant to cover other costs.  I've been working on my website (slowly), The Passionate Heart. The readings are up and running and I am getting clients ordering up (thank you!) their readings however I haven't done the Two Broomsticks section for my photos.  Whilst you can have a look at the photos there is no ordering option until I find a good printing resource that provides me with prints I love and would feel comfortable selling.  In the meantime, there is my Facebook page-Two Broomsticks Photography, stop by and say hi and enjoy the photos I share there.

as my heart weighs heavily tonight....

O Captain! My Captain!
by Walt Whitman

O Captain! my Captain! our fearful trip is done,
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we sought is won,
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel grim and daring;
                         But O heart! heart! heart!
                            O the bleeding drops of red,
                               Where on the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.

O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the bugle trills,
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you the shores a-crowding,
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager faces turning;
                         Here Captain! dear father!
                            The arm beneath your head!
                               It is some dream that on the deck,
                                 You’ve fallen cold and dead.

My Captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will,
The ship is anchor’d safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;
                         Exult O shores, and ring O bells!
                            But I with mournful tread,
                               Walk the deck my Captain lies,
                                  Fallen cold and dead.

Source: Leaves of Grass (David McKay, 1891)

sea-water in my veins

We are seafolk, long lost from the sea.

Though our feet may now trod and root into Earth

It is the briny liquid that courses through our veins

It is the siren song of the tides that makes our souls sing

We return to the sea each year, to Manannan mac Lir

We tempt the fierceness of the womb from which we sprung.

Our bodies cradle by ocean, warmed by the Sun and sung to by the wind

We rest our bodies to the gentle evening lullabye and are reborn on the new day.

We sit once again rooted, staring out over the undulating waves

At peace, connected and one with the Goddess.

~Stephanie Lowell-Libby, 2007

Wanted.....writers and contributors for new digital pagan magazine

September should be bringing the first issue of a new online magazine. This has been seven years in the making and I am VERY excited to see it materializing!

This is clearly a labor of love, for now there is no money made off of it.  Much like my old, rather neglected, site Hearth and Home Witchery, I love to share knowledge with the masses, and not profit off of it.  That being said I am a single mother whose child went through cancer treatment for 2 1/2 years and is in follow up for 5 years so that was a huge hit on my finances so if I can make a few bucks here and there, I won't say now.  However, as of right now this magazine will be an 8 issues a year publication, free for digital viewing.  I plan to purchase software to make magazine creation easier in the near future so I will consider ad space for sale to offset that cost.  But that is down the road and the purpose of this post is to put out feelers for any writers wanting to contribute.  This magazine is to reflect living an earth centred, magical life...not just practicing your path here and there but living it.  I am looking for pagans, heathens, etc of varied paths to write of their practices and how they incorporate it into every day life. Original craft ideas, recipes, writings of topics relevant to our paths...Also looking for teens who are interested in sharing their paths.

Also book reviews!  With so many pagan-targeted books out there we need honest feedback!  Have books you love or hate?  please consider reviewing them for the magazine!

If you are interested please email me at mutableblue(at)yahoo(dot)com and we can talk it over

Faery Messages

So much has changed since I last wrote, I've moved back to an area I adore.  I am rebuilding my magical life with my beautiful girl Pixie alongside.  The creative process is churning and swirling and I have so many ideas I am trying organize and implement; it's rather like herding cats!  This evening as I sat in a swirling of creative brainstorming I happened to look up and glance out the window and across the backyard was the most beautiful doe peeking back at me.  It was such an exhilarating and magical moment for me, I was so happy and excited.  I have been looking out the windows along the back of the house for the last month since we moved, expecting to see a deer out there because I could *feel* the deer energy.

Deer, for me, speak to my Celtic soul (and ancestry).  When I see them an electric charge of excitement surges through me, it is such a profound and magical moment for me.  I find them to vibe strongly with faery energy and magic, I love it.

Seeing this beautiful girl has given me the energetic shove to move forward in the creative pursuits I have been thinking a lot about this year.  The first project has been the creation of my new photography page, Two Broomsticks Photography, on FB.  I am returning once again to my photography and selling some of my prints.  The next project is currently in the early stages, I am hoping to reveal it by the Autumn Equinox, so stay tuned! ;)

oh dear blog,

How I miss my time to write and ponder publicly....