second day into Samhain

Happy 4th July!!

Love this...

http://youtu.be/SdFHGFkyew4

Happy Litha

This is how I feel right now...

Happy Beltane!

Flower Power

Pruning my kumquat tree, planting three new varieties of clematis plants (they're a vine like plant that have these incredible, enormous flowers that people think are fake! I recommend them to everyone!), weeding some of my flower beds, feeling really better right now.
Next month I'll be working on my firepit. I've already made a mental list of things I need to get: gravel, sand, bricks and coloured pebbles to place around the pit like sun rays. Then I need some mulch and larger coloured rocks to define flower and plant beds. I bought three evergreen shrubs that will look nice on one side. The last things I'll get are the lanterns and benches (I haven't decided the material of the benches yet, maybe boulders or stone?). Can't wait!
What projects have you got in mind for the summer?
Blessed be.

Tired

I guess we all go through busy moments in our lives, but I feel completely drained and with little or no inspiration. It could be that I'm concentrating and directing all my power to my job right now. However, I also know that I need to get back to nature to feel better and recharge myself. Been missing it a lot.

Happy Earth Day!

Thanks to the Goddess

Well, it's been a scary week. On Monday my younger brother was rushed into the operating room because of a ruptured appendix that turned out to be peritonitis. The operation took a lot longer than estimated, but he finally made it out. The next few days there were some complications as well so he still wasn't out of life-threatening danger. Finally on Thursday the doctors said he would be alright and was recovering. He should be back home tomorrow.
During the operation and the following days my mum, being a Catholic, prayed to the Virgin Mary. I prayed to Hecate. This just goes to show that whatever the name given to the Goddess, she answers our prayers.

Thank you Hecate/Mary! Blessed be.

Happy Spring!

Need to get back to my witchy ways...

Green for Luck!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!



I know, I know...what has it got to do with witches, right? Well, probably nothing, but I've always celebrated it and my first name is actually Patricia so...
Anyways, sorry for being away so long. I was away to England for over a week and swamped with work before and after the trip. Plus when I got back I discovered that my car had broken down while I was away (which will cost me a little fortune to have fixed, should try a money spell) and I seem to have caught a cold!  Hmmmm....looks like I really could use (desperately need!!!!) a little luck!

Plans, plans, and more plans..

                                                               



Oh, this weekeend has been just wonderful. I spent all yesterday afternoon planting bulbs and just enjoying being out and sticking my hands in the soil again. I took a look at the damage all the snow caused. I hope the snow hasn't taken a definite toll on some of my plants (bummer).
I was out and about today as well. I assessed some more damage, stacked some firewood and started planning again. And had to go chase after my dogs after they managed to get through a hole in the fence (I've gotta get a new fence!!!) and run off on the mountain (gosh, I'm really out of shape..).
Anyways, it's amazing how much being out and close to nature again recharges you. Maybe for witches even more so. We seem to indulge in it all. Spring is the perfect time, well, guess its the whole rebirth process and all. Not to mention that the days are definitely longer (a whole hour!).
Had so much energy that I even started baking, a pound cake for my aunt and one for my mom.

Whew! Thing is I'm just plain happy. I've started buying the tiles (had no idea small tiles cost so much!) I need for my new bathroom renovation project and ordered some more for my new country kitchen.                                           
 These two projects alone will (if I have enough funds) be finished by Yule. I also want to finish my upper garden project (the firepit and pond one). Geesh, I have so much to do. Thank the Goddess my energy is back!

Enjoy the rest of your merry weekend!

Carnevale-Carnival

Before moving to Italy the only inkling I had about Carnevale was Mardi Gras celebrated in New Orleans, Louisiana. I had no clue that it all started in Italy centuries before and that it gradually spread to other European countries and then overseas.              

Carnival is a big deal for Italians. Carnevale in Italy is a huge winter festival celebrated with parades, masquerade balls, entertainment, music, and parties. Children throw confetti at each other, as do adults. Mischief and pranks are also common during Carnevale, hence the saying A Carnevale Ogni Scherzo Vale, anything goes at carnival. I think it's also a mysterious time.

Carnevale has roots in pagan festivals and traditions, more specifically the ancient Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Bacchanalia and as is often the case with traditional festivals was adapted to fit into the Catholic rituals. Saturnalia was in honour of the god Saturn and was characterized by role reversing and behavioural license. Everyone, including slaves who were freed for the occasion,would wear masks so that they could be free to be and do what they wanted.  

Although carnival is actually one date, in Venice and some other places in Italy the carnival celebrations and parties may begin a couple weeks before.
                             

Hai fatto +1 pubblicamente su questo elemento. Annulla

Venice, Viareggio, and Ivrea carnevale festivals are the biggest carnival celebrations in Italy, even though all towns and villages have their own personal  and particular type of celebration. However, I think that as orginal as they all are, the most fascinating and magical (and sometimes spinetingling and a bit eerie and sinister too) is the Carnival of Venice.
                                   

The Venetian Carnival starts 58 days before Easter and ends on Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday, which opens the period of Lent. Martedi Grasso, or Fat Tuesday as it is also known, is the last day in which you can eat richer foods before the fasting period. Most Italian families gather together to devour lasagna, cannelloni or other dishes of baked pasta and of meat dishes consisting of pork or roast. There are also a whole array of traditional sweets associated to Carnevale such as chiacchiere, frappe, crespelle and castagnole with each region having their own distinctive version.

The allure of the city and its masks is what makes Venice, the Serenissima, the Floating City, the City of Masks so enticing (at least for me). Once a powerful and dominant maritime republic, today it is considered one of the most romantic cities in the world. No wonder Casanova lived here.


I've been to Venice twice, but never at Carnevale. The grand palazzi, the lagoon, the gondolas, the canals, the bridges and all the shops full of masks and blown-glass art. It's an incredible place to visit. The Doge's Palace is quite imposing but richly adorned. Saint Marco's Basilica is breathtaking. The golden mosaic inside is unbelievable as is the solemnity of the place. You wonder while walking through the streets what goes on in the sumptuous buildings afterhours. What intrigues are being carried out, what plots are being planned, what mysteries are hidden from the common citizen ( ok, maybe my imagination is running amuk and I've read too many novels, Cry to Heaven, The Rossetti Letter, for example, that are set in Venice when it was a mighty republic... sorry).
I hope to eventually take part in the celebrations and get a taste of the old, intriguing atmosphere that reigned here once and that in part still does.

Carnival Masks

                                                 

 
CARNIVAL
Venice robes her for the ball;
Decked with spangles bright,
Multi-coloured Carnival
Teems with laughter light.
Harlequin with negro mask,
Tights of serpent hue,
Beateth with a note fantasque
His Cassander true.
Flapping loose his long, white sleeve,
Like a penguin spread,
Through a subtle semibreve
Pierrot thrusts his head.
Sleek Bologna's doctor goes
Maundering on a bass.
Punchinello finds for nose
Quaver on his face.
Hurtling Trivellino fine,
On a trill intent,
Scaramouch to Columbine
Gives the fan she lent.
Gliding to the tune, I mark
One veiled figure rise,
While through satin lashes dark
Luring gleam her eyes.
Tender little edge of lace,
Heaving with her breath!
"Under is her own dear face!"
An arpeggio saith.
And beneath the mask I know
Bloom of rosy lips,
And the patch on chin of snow,
As she by me trips!     
                                     

Best Valentine's Day Surprise

After exactly fourteen days of worrying and waiting, my kitty finally was able to find his way home. He appeared magically out of nowhere shortly after I got home in the evening yesterday.
He rushed over to the food bowls and pushed the other two cats out of the way. I guess he was starving. Needless to say that we were both  happy to see each other and were both relieved. He's currently sleeping all his past troubles away.
                                          

Thanks to all of you that helped out. I'm sure your contribution helped him find his way home.

"I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!"

                                          
The Wizard of Oz is the first film I remember watching as a child. I was visiting my aunt's and uncle's along with my family and I went looking for one of my older "grown-up" cousins leaving my folks in the kitchen with the other adults. She was in her room upstairs. I remember her bed, her guitar, and her TV switched on broadcasting the film. I sat down on her bed Indian style and watched the whole film. It was unbelievable. I think my attachment to Tv began right then and there.

Pretty soon after this episode my cousin's younger sister, whom we all endearingly call "Nannina", started baby-sitting me and another younger cousin (we were 4 girl cousins. The female streak was interrupted when my baby brother was born). She taught me how to read and write, she indroduced us to  pumpkin seeds, bit'o honey, and bubble gum. She taught us how to blow bubbles, dye Easter eggs, dance to disco music and to John Denver. She taught us about Halloween and took us Trick or Treating. And she would have us re-enact The Wizard of Oz. Of course, she was the Wicked Witch of the West, the Great and Powerful Wizard of Oz and Glinda, the Witch of the North, whom she liked best. She was reaallllly good as the wicked witch. I was usually Dorothy and our other cousin would take turns being the other characters, but then we would exchange roles just to be fair.

My childhood was just so much richer thanks to Nannina. She was only a young teen herself, but to us she knew everything. We loved her company and were often enthralled when she was baby-sitting (oh, which I learnt later she didn't particularly like doing!!!! And all this time I thought I had been an angel!! go figure...). She had a significant impact on my following childhood years because I was constantly curious about everything. I was naturally inclined to learning and it was quite easy.

When she went away off to college, TV took her place. However, during one of her visits back home she lent me a book. It awakened something inside me. It was a book on witchcraft. I was still too young to really understand much about it, but it had left its mark and I believe that since then I have been searching for the right moment to regain that knowledge and get my life back. Funny that almost 20 years later, she had given up on Catholicism and had preferred Wicca and had once again been the one to start me off on the right path.

Thanks Nannina.

                                              

                                             

In need of a little witchy help!!!

Fellow witches, I am in need of your help. It's been almost three days since my oldest cat Jinx hasn't come home.
The weather conditions are quite harsh and it hasn't stopped snowing for two days now. Jinx always comes home to eat, but no sign of him. I've asked Bast to keep him safe, but frankly I'm worried.
Could you please, please, please, please visualize that he's alright and will come home.
Thank you for your help in this kitty emergency!

My snow-covered town.

 

More snow? Let's ask Phil.

Groundhog Day is awaited by many to find out if winter will leave early or late. By the looks of things if winter leaves early it's giving us it's best shot right now!
                                        

Blasted with snow...what a way to start Spring!

However, a snow covered landscape is sooooo magical. So maybe it was the right thing...

Imbolc blessings...

Happy Imbolc

I'll light a candle when I wake up tomorrow to last a couple of days as a tribute to Imbolc, Brigid and Spring and maybe an offering of thanks along with a tarot spread reading. What will you do to celebrate?
There's something very sacred for me regarding this sabbat. Maybe it's the candle representing the fire of this first fire festival. Or it could be that it's a time of initiations and the Goddess Brigid and a festival for us female witches (no, I am not being a feminist here. Can I help it if it's more of a women's holy day than a man's?!!). My relationship to Earth and Mother Nature is closest during this sabbat.
Anyway, what I just wanted to say is:
                                                            REJOICE!!!

February comes...

February Twilight

I stood beside a hill

Smooth with new-laid snow,

A single star looked out

From the cold evening glow.

There was no other creature

That saw what I could see--

I stood and watched the evening star

As long as it watched me.

Sara Teasdale

Don't forget to light a candle

 Imbolc is upon us. New life awaits us.

I always feel like somebody's watching me...

Who is your spirit guide?

Happy Year of the Dragon!!!

The year of the water dragon. I heard that Dog people, me (why am I not surprised!!), and dragon people don't get along. However, I've always had a personal fascination with dragons and think that history and legends have treated them unjustly. I live on an extinct volcano, surrounded by a lot of chestnut trees. I like to think that deep down inside the heart of the volcano lies a dormant Earth Dragon whom I can call upon for protection, even though I know that summoning a dragon is risky business.
I consider myself a forest and mountain witch, akin to animals, trees and to the earth (the element of both the capricorn and the dog in the Chinese zodiac). I have always been drawn to magick, but being born into a Catholic family didn't help me find out a lot as a child. I seriously started learning and practising in my late 20s. Haven't left witchcraft since then.
Anyway, this new year of the dragon has delivered its oomph my way and has infused me with new vitality and daring ideas. I'm thinking about opening a business and I'm planning new renovations inside my home too, not only in my garden. All in all, it definitely feels like a very promising year. Hope it'll be the same for all my witchy friends!!!

Happy Chinese New Year

Firecrackers explode and bang.
Cymbals and temple bells have rang.
Dragons parade through the street.
Chinese New Year, a yearly treat.

Fireworks explode in the skies,
a special treat for children's eyes.
Celebrations are all we hear,
For the animal of the year.

This year, however, is the best.
Dragons are kings o'er all the rest.
Sixty years passed reaching her own,
Golden dragon is on her throne.

Lair 2000

Please, please don't eat the daisies...

I discovered the joys of gardening fairly recently and reading Ellen Dugan's book on Garden Witchery made my initial experience even better. Eventually I'd like to create a magical atmosphere in every corner of my outdoor space (my entire garden is a work in progress). A kind of sanctuary for my animal friends and me. I'd like for it to be harmonious, full of different colourful, sweet-scented flowers, ornamental trees as well as juicy fruit trees. When I was reading book 3 of Nora Roberts The Three Sisters Island Trilogy - Face the Fire the description of Mia Devlin's magical garden created a precise picture in my head and I'd like mine to be similar. 

I'm even considering keeping a beehive, but maybe that's wondering a bit too far into the future.
I also need to fence in the perimeter as I've been receiving noctural visits from wild boar and am somewhat afraid for my dogs.
In Spring I fill the two flower pots on either side of my gate entrance with red geraniums (got that one from Ellen Dugan too!)and petunias; in Winter with red cyclamens. I was also thinking of adding permanent flower beds, but I'm still not sure if I want and can add spiral topiaries too.
I've been trying to put in garden lights and water fountains on various terraced plots, but those projects are also on hold till Spring-Summer. Too cold to work now!! Where's my cup of hot mint cocoa?!!

Back to the real world

After a week of being home sick with the flu, I have been yanked back to reality and have returned to my full blown job routine, which gets pretty hectic after the Christmas holidays, as, besides teaching in the morning, I am full of afternoon courses and private tutoring sessions. I don't dislike working, I just disdain getting up early (augh! If you read my piece on nighttime, you'll understand perfectly.).

Winter has been pretty mild so far and most of my bulbs were coming back to life, but we've been hit with some extremely frigid air coming from an Arctic cold front that has blasted the Mediterranean with temperatures falling below zero degrees. In other words, it's freezing! In a way I'm glad as I was feeling a bit deprived of a proper winter.

I have ordered various seeds hoping that I'll be able to grow new additions to my veggie garden. New herbs, some mini decorative pumpkins and some roots for vegetable soup. However, what I really hope is that the rhubarb will  sprout. I'm definitely looking forward to making rhubarb pie, which I tasted for the first time at my aunt's house in Blackpool, England. The most delicious  thing I've ever eaten in my life to this day! (I'll have to get the crust recipe from her too. ;-) ).

I'm also planning to add a firepit and some stone slab benches (just one in a long list of renovation projects.) where I can meditate and get closer to nature during warmer months. Moreover, I wouldn't mind finding room for a fish and frog pond (to add the element of water). I'll have to figure that one out, though.

Just love seeing ideas come to life. I feel like a better witch!!

Sunday's Tarot card

Tonight's Tarot for the next 24 hrs...

Winter

Wintertime is my favourite time of the year. Not that I don't enjoy the other seasons, it's just such a magical time for me, even though I don't get all the snow (sigh) I was used to getting when I was living in the States. The silence of the snow, the calming effect...love it. The season of the imagination. Snow transforms familiar landscapes into something completely unfamiliar, but intriguing. It's kind of like being in a Norman Rockwell drawing or in a snowglobe. The world seems smaller.

Cooking hearty meals, the smell of freshly baked bread and biscuits. A fire always lit in the hearth; snuggling on the couch with the pooches, drinking mint cocoa (what?!! it's actually good!!) and reading a good book or watching an old film (maybe Bing or Doris Day)...heaven. It's also a time to get  into closer contact with my subconscious and  my dreams. I reconnect with the earth. Things take on aura of mystery that is tantalizing.  

 I'm very attached to the earth and seasonal changes fascinate me and make me happy.  Autumn is my second favourite with the coloured foliage, the first chill anticipating winter's arrival, the beautiful landscapes, the harvests and the celebrations, not to mention Samhain! All delightful.

I feel closer to the elements during these two seasons than with the other two. And I have to admit that one hell of an element spell blasted my town with snow in the middle of April a few years ago, which I had specifically asked for (ok, I'll admit I was pretty angry at the time and asked for it only if I had just reason to do so, however, it was pretty impressive! I have calmed down since then    ;-)). So this actually goes to show NEVER to piss off a witch!!!

Good night to you all and happy dreaming!

Tonight's quote

"How lonely is the night without the howl of a wolf." -Unknown