I have been absent from writing my usual blog posts for a while. And been doing a lot of reblogging instead. This is because of how busy I have been in my normal day to day life. Unfortunately, my normal day to day life isn’t quite so normal. I was asked to help a child.
Another sick child, very much like the case I worked on a few years ago. And wrote about in my blog. About a child who was being killed by a demonic entity in her family tree. A Generational Demon. This child had the same issue.
Different Demon though.
I was successful at driving out the entity. And helping the family involved. I will write a more extensive post about it soon. Since I catalogue my cases on here to see if they are of help to others. In the meantime, remember I am retired now.
Fully retired. Not semi retired anymore.
I did this because a child was involved and it was a close friend of the family. This entity was the most powerful I have faced to date. I am done. I am outta here. I see no benefit in poking bears with sticks.
Rain in the night
Also Hurricane Season has begone in Florida. And I have to prepare for it now. Not to mention help members of my community out. We’re getting plywood and some other stuff ready for when it happens. As I am resting, I can hear the gentle rains outside my room.
It makes the night more beautiful. And I have decided to start enjoying the simpler pleasures in life. I have done enough. It’s time for me to let everything go. Leave all the burdens of the world behind me.
Beauty of the night
That might seem selfish. But I have no more to give. I need something for myself at least. Catch you later everyone.
I’m on my Earth and Air shrine which I use for meditation and Astrology. And the view of the moon is good here. I’m waiting for it to be 12:34 am my time to get a good sight of the moon. So I figured I would show you my pictures so far.
Yesterday before I went with my Mom to her church. For a witch, going to holy ground before a ritual is both good in the sense of grounding, and also good for soaking up spiritual powers.When I came back
I’m just here on my balcony, praying to the Gods (which includes Jesus). Enjoying the night breeze with my plants. And listening to advice from my spirit guides. Grounding with the Earth, because one does not need to be on a tree or dirt to ground. You can ground from anywhere.
If you’re on planet Earth, then you could be a thousand feet in the air and still access it.
Even while one looks up at the Moon. Here, let me entertain you with some of the links on the moon sent to me today.
I saw a herd of animal shaped clouds from my shrine. Weird eh? You wouldn’t see it very well from this picture. But in real life it looked like the Fiji Mermaid.
Part way through I realized I would not be able to see the moon from my shrine. As it moved, it got into place above my roof. So I had to go downstairs just to see it get to it’s peak. But I waited until the appropriate time so that I could enjoy being with my plants and spirits. Just a little while longer.
A cloud cover started to come in at the last minute.
So I decided to hurry my ass down and hope for a good image.
Mother FuckerAs predicted the cloud cover showed upBut eventually it all cleared upLook at how it shines like a beacon in the darknessBlazing like the sun
So I took out my wallet as is the custom among the old witches of England and I opened it up. And I prayed to the man in the moon to fill it up with money. And any and other forms of prosperity. I already had my Moon water prepared when the Moon began to show how big it was on Tuesday. This time I prayed also for my other charms to be blessed as well.
I also uttered a secret wish.
And I left. Oh by the way the ritual I did for protection worked. For those who are wondering. I will write that post up soon enough. But for now, I’m going to take my moon bath.
Happy First Day of Spring! Today is officially the first day of Spring. And for me it’s the second day of Ostara. Normally, Ostara’s day for me is the first Sunday after the full moon in March. And per her instructions, I celebrate at sunset Sunday until sunset Monday. But it also makes sense to me that Ostara would be the first official day of Spring.
So I celebrate this day as Ostara 2.
On this random links of the day, I give you Spring articles and stuff about Ostara. I hope you like them. Also for those who don’t know, Ostara Germanic Goddess of Dawn and Nature. But it’s very hard to find more than that on her. We know that she is the origin of the word “Easter”, and that a month bares her name in the ancient German Calendar.
And we also know that Easter Eggs and Hares are associated with her as well. Legend has it that when Spring came, Ostara saw a small dove with frozen wings. Even if the frost had been taken off, the poor creature would have lost her wings. And most likely died on the spot.
So Ostara transformed the female dove into a female hare. And this hare was the only one in the world to lay eggs like a bird. As opposed to having live young.
The Hare became so associated with Ostara, that her symbol became a triquetra formed by hares running after one another. Eventually, Germanic peoples created stories about a a talking hare named the Osterhase (Easter Hare).
In 1993 for example, the BBC television show Wildlife On One had an episode called “Shadow of the Hare“. In which they claimed Ostara had a hare as her traveling familiar. And this is where the origin of the Osterhase. The Osterhase is sort of like a spring version of the Yule Goat. A sacred animal known for bringing gifts of some sort.
On paper I haven’t seen evidence of that. But I have seen these animals with her in visions. So I believe it’s true. If only because this Goddess is so associated with them. You can’t think of this animal without thinking of Ostara also.
In this case, eggs to be eaten. Festive eggs were cooked and given vinegar and salt for children and adults to eat them as treats. With the coming of Christianity, things changed a bit. The egg treats of Ostara became the eggs of Jesus (I’m trying not to make a joke here). This is kind of weird since eggs are a symbol of feminine spirituality.
Within the egg is the fetus of an animal soon to be born. Something a man and a male Deity can’t do. So how did they explain that to the people they were trying to convert? They didn’t. Not really. For them, it became about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.
Symbolizing a spiritual spring. And the color red which is a traditional color for Ostara became the blood of Christ spilled on the cross.But, the blood of Ostara has always been the menstrual blood of the Goddess herself. Far from a painful death on a torture device, it was symbolic of the power of women to create life.
The Blood of Ostara
German communities brought these traditions to North America and even England. And eventually they were turned into chocolate eggs to market them to children. And of course over time the hare became a rabbit. And then the hare went from female to male. And sometimes wore gentlemanly clothes.
He looks so pissed here
But a male animal can’t give birth. So there’s that. Granted, no one 100% agrees on any of this. Some don’t even think that Ostara is a real Goddess. I have heard smartasses try and claim she is a “modern invention”. Because the Venerable Bede, the Christian monk who mentions the feast of Ostara doesn’t go too much into detail.
The man didn’t go too much into detail about anything. Christian scholars refused to document ancient pre Christian religions. For fear that they would accidentally create a manual for future Pagans to reconstruct their religions. Even Bede doesn’t actually say how Ostara was worshipped or how the feast was celebrated. All he says is “practices done according to the heathen rituals of the time”.
Ostara of the Dawn
And by Heathen they mean anyone who isn’t Christian. Not just actual Heathens. In conclusion I can tell you Ostara is very real and an actual Goddess. She’s answered prayers before and granted me prosperity in exchange for worship at dawn. I won’t go into the actual practice, but shes brought me wealth.
A “fake” God can’t do that.
I have seen not one, but several Hare spirits that accompany her. I don’t know if this means they are descended from the dove turned hare. Or if hares were her animal from ancient times. I’ve never asked. Mainly because no one would ever believe me.
When people ask for evidence, they’re not going to take a witch who claims to have magical powers. And who saw Ostara in a ritual when asking for help. Because to an atheist or any non believer or secular person, there’s no difference between me, and a schizophrenic. Therefore it’s useless. I know what I know. I have experienced what I experienced.
I receive answers to every prayer. Sometimes only too soon, and I know it’s real. I was borderline atheist years ago. The paranormal opened my eyes to what’s on the other side. So I don’t care if anyone believes she’s real or not.
Just like she doesn’t care. Why would a being, who can make the sun rise, transform one animal into another, bring forth spring, regenerate and heal others, is immortal and beyond our universe, care about what someone who is trapped in a flesh suit with an expiration date believes? Time for the links.
👆I’m disappointed with the time article. They use the lower case “p” for “pagan” which is pretty much any non-Christian religion. And it was kind of a lazy article to be honest. This blog post was written better.
Taken by me when looking out the window, I was surprised at how much lighter and greyer the night was. Usually it’s black mixed in with light pollution. This night was different. Probably due to the Wolf Moon.
Today, I saw yet another great post from one of WordPress’ amazing Druid Writers. This Druid had written about the beauty of the Willow Tree. In fact the post was so nice, it actually inspired me to accidentally write a blog post. This post was originally a comment on the blog. They had mentioned how the Willow and it’s wonderful color was a welcome site in winter.
How the grey cold of winter made them felt less than enthused.
I couldn’t help but think about how fascinating it is that a person can react differently to every situation. For me, the lack of color on a grey and rainy day makes me feel calm and relaxed. It reminds me of my childhood. Florida is always sunny all year round and that crap gets annoying real fast. We don’t have any real seasons.
The Wolf Moon on a rainy night. Also taken by me.
What passes for “winter” here would be considered spring in other places. For me the rain brings the cool weather. It’s a day for sleeping in, reading books, listening to radio mysteries and horror podcasts, watching my favorite creepy shows and movies (with a particular fondness for found footage movies). As a child, I used to wear my pajamas on a rainy day and pretend I was Captain Nemo. Riding in the nautilus.
I got the idea because it rained so heavily one day, that the waters were drizzling down the windows. It made it seem that my grandmother and I were under the sea. When it does actually get cold here, it’s nice to put clothes on rather than off. To try to be warm instead of melting like ice on a road of endless black tar and heat. To trade the ice cream for hot chocolate.
To spend extra time in the warmth of the bed. These are the things I often think about.
Monday, on Martin Luther King day, as I was finishing the funerary rituals for my departed neighbor, my mother suggested something. That we visit my great aunt. It’s been years since I saw her. My great aunt lives in this nice, low income retirement community. I enjoyed spending time with her and seeing her apartment.
Including her decorations. But Goddamn that places is small as hell. It was slightly bigger than my efficiency from 2020-2021 but even even then not by much. It was still nice though. I snapped a few pictures for the blog.
We brought her flowers
Here we are in one part of her common room
On the right side, the living room
I was loving the lights in this house
Titanic, eat your heart outHer piano, with the window facing her small garden. I hadn’t thought to take pictures of the garden at the time
Watching her soaps
What’s the name of that novela again?
I loved this bad ass jade Buddha and the Chinese Guardian Lions. People often mistake these for “dogs”. And people in the West call them “foo dogs” which is a Western invention. I commented on how much I loved them and she gave them to me. Apparently, she never wanted them (she’s a non-denominational Christian).
Left to her by a loving neighbor
She only kept them because her elderly neighbor died and bequeathed them to her. She doesn’t like non Christian faiths. But I love that she showed respect. That she’s so loving that despite her beliefs, she set hers aside. And not only kept it in that neighbor’s memory, but gave them a place of honor.
Even years after that neighbor had died.
I can count the number of Christians who would do that on one hand. When she found out my spirituality is different, and saw my interest, she just gave them to me. She knew it would be better with me than with anyone else. There was an issue with it though. But I will talk about that in my next blog.
I will say this though : for years I have been trying to get a Buddha and two Guardian Lions. But everytime I tried, I kept seemingly getting shut down. Either I didn’t have the money or there just wasn’t any place to get them. I tried for the regular metal and wood versions. But these jade versions are awesome.
As my former mentor once told me : things happen when they are meant to.
We spent hours talking with my great aunt and catching up. Far from being bored like I am with some other relatives, we told stories. We talked about everything and anything.
I could just imagine Goldilocks taking a nap on this bed
We admired her decorations
So badass
And of course she made some Café Cubano. Besides my mother’s it was the best damn coffee I have ever had. I only like Spanish coffee. I drank American coffee maybe twice and almost choked.
(No offense everyone)
Her kitchen and dining room on the other side of the living area
I can’t remember the last time I felt so stress free. You could feel the love that permeates this home. We were told by a neighbor that she was sad and depressed in the morning. Her siblings (including my grandma) are all dead. And almost no one from among her children and grandchildren visit her.
Besides us, only my uncle visits her and brings her food. He showed up with me, my mother, and my sister. She invited us all to dinner as the daylight hours started to die away into the evening. We went to Denny’s and had ourselves some good food. I actually couldn’t finish eating.
Which is rare for me. I love food. I wanted to get desert but I have to lose weight. And this was already a deviation from my diet. Then we took her home.
The Dining Area
I was actually celebrating several holidays before we went to her. And one of them was my weekly road opener ritual with Elegua. The others were a small offering for the Goddess Concordia. A celebration of Martin Luther King as a divine spirit and protector of all people. The Zuuruku Nichi (Ancestors at the New Year).
And it was also the end of the Hōonkō of the Jodo Shinsu Buddhist sect. Celebrating its founding member Shinran Shonin. And finally it was my monthly feast of the Noumenia. Specifically the feast of Agathos Daimon. Most of these celebrations have to do with ancestors.
Or divine protectors of people or of places.
I had not started the Agathos Daimon ritual yet. So I began the ritual in her home. I cleansed my hands with Lustral water I made on the spot. And gave a simple libation to Hestia in her kitchen. This was so Hestia could watch over her home and protect her.
And from that moment on my rituals and offerings would be to help her as well. This was to extend protection and blessings to her. There’s a reason I did this. But I will write about that in my next blog. Before we came home, I took all of left overs from everyone’s plate at Denny’s.
My sister’s left over eggs, bacon, and hash browns. My mother’s last pieces of stake and vegetables. My onion rings left and over piece of sandwich. And my great aunt’s last piece of chocolate chip cookie skillet. I just put all of them together.
I actually have two separate shrines for the Agathos Daimon ritual. A shrine for the dead that I have outside for my ancestors. And another shrine for the God Agathos Daimon and the other Gods. Plus the heroes and all non human spirit guides, and the common dead. I separated the large mass of food which I re-heated into two portions.
Even in half, it was a huge mass of food. I felt their satisfaction when the food touched the large flat stones I use for as their plates. I had charged the food with prayers first. For the Gods to give us their blessings. But as always, I pray for them to charge the food with their own pure divinity.
They eat the prayers and the dead and other spirits feed on the positive energy of the Gods. So the spirits can feed and become stronger, better, more enlightened. I came back inside my house. And I washed with Lustral Water (as you should always do when working with the dead). And then I burnt a candle to Hestia and did a final prayer my Temple does.
Final prayer to Hestia
Before coming home, she gave us more gifts. A solar powered night lantern. A traditional lantern for a candle with a half burnt candle already. She even gave my mother a vase for her own flowers at home. We were supposed to leave quickly.
My Hindu and Buddhist shrines
But after my sister and uncle left, my mother and I stayed for a few minutes longer. We told some more funny stories about my grandmother. And our trip around Florida when I was younger. Over all it was a good day. And I came home with some extra friends,
Adventures of A Mage In Miami 