Persephone Dark Moon Bath

"To she who glides the silver crescent moon boat through the dark still waters of our becoming"
~Demetrius George"

 

I recently attended the Waking Persephone Dance Festival in Seattle. It was a wonderful weekend full of dance, spirituality and change. You can read all about my experience here. I am thrilled to have Persephone’s presence back in my life. I have worked with her before, but she had been silent for several years. She first began to whisper to me again when my friend first told me about the Waking Persephone festival during lunch about a year ago. I had looked at the website, but realized that there was little chance that I would make it all the way to the Pacific North West. I thought,  “perhaps I will apply to teach next year too and then I will end up there.” I dismissed this first call back into her embrace. Weeks later I began reading Village Witch by Cassandra Latham. I absolutely love Cassandra Latham! I love how she is grumpy, real and strong. I love how she has been through so much, yet has so much to offer! I loved every page of her book; it really helped me see that all the trials, abuses and traumas of my life were for a reason. In her book she speaks of Persephone’s Children, which she referenced came from the book “Mysteries of the Dark Moon” This was the second call and I ignored it again. Well the Spirits do have mysterious ways about them and when they want you to go in a direction they open doors! Time went on and in a strange turn of events we suddenly moved from Arizona to Portland Oregon, just 3 hours away from the Waking Persephone festival. I waited and procrastinated until I couldn’t anymore! I broke down, I registered for 4 witchy based dance classes. Then in an even stranger turn of events I was revisiting the Village Witch book and I decided to finally break down and get Mysteries of the Dark Moon. No coincidence it arrived right around the time of Waking Persephone! 

I opened the book and, like I always do, I flipped around devouring the information I craved before starting at the beginning and reading the whole book. I got to the section on Persephone and I began to read, it spoke of her sexual trauma which I know all too well and as I read through the book. I began to see patterns and key words appear on the page. I then slipped into trance through bibliomancy. I saw myself naked, being cleansed with water, rose and the blood red juice of the pomegranate. The scene changed as if I was now getting instructions. I saw myself in my sacred bath, filled with black salts, roses and juicy pomegranate seeds and red blood like juice covering my body. I understood that this was the healing I had been asking for. She was back in my life and that this was the dedication to her and to heal through her ways. I did not hesitate, I grabbed the pomegranate in my fridge and went to the bathroom, I cleansed myself in warm waters and rose and then without care for my hair or where the seeds popped and sprayed I covered myself in blood red juice covering the walls of the shower with red and the floor with pulp…


This is just the beginning. During the Dark Moons she has asked that I worship her in this way; with her sacred fruit and a journey to the underworld. So just in time for Samhain and of course on each dark moon I look forward to spending time in her death like embrace… 

Here is my recipe, feel free to tweak it how you feel fit. Working with Persephone can be incredibly rewarding and powerful for those that have suffered through traumatic events in their lives. Will you join me in by honoring this powerful Goddess with a healing bath in honor of the dark goddess Persephone?

You will need...
·         ½ cup pomegranate juice
·         1 apple sliced so the pentagram shows
·         1 pomegranate cut into quarters
·         1 cup Epsom or black lava salt
·         Red Rose petals

Winter Crafting and Crystals

During the holidays I have a hard time focusing on writing, mostly because there are so many distractions. So I like to take advantage of these times, the times I'm not writing, grading, etc etc to feed my soul with a little Witchy crafting!

First! There was a little gem show here at the Community college. The prices were pretty reasonable, and there was a great selection. I did a little shopping for a friend, as well as picked up some of my own things.
Here are the Spoils of Annwyn ( Preiddeu Annwn) (Sorry for the little joke there I couldn't help it!)
 
I gathered some tumbled stones. I found that I actually have given most of mine away and used them in mojo bags, poppets etc. So I stocked up on some basics, Sodalite, Amethyst, Rose Quartz, Orange Calcite, and Snowflake Obsidian. They had LOVELY Amethyst clusters untreated and ALL natural! I found a nice piece of Chalcedony a bunch of Loadstone (which I had also used most of). Blue and Orange Calcite, Ruby in Fuchsite, Merlinite (Dendritic Agate) Amber and a new little stone that comes from a lake in California called Hanksite.

I picked up a nice little Fluorite Necklace as well

Now I saved the 2 best for last! I couldnt believe the prices on these little gems. Before you look at the photos I want to say a few things. I see so many listings, and people selling "Lemurian Quartz" Usually they look like your regular quartz points. This is very frustrating for me because that is just Quartz with a fancy name. "Real" and what I call vintage Lemurian Quartz is not a pretty clear stone. They often times are covered in sand, or have a tan translucent or opaqueness to parts to them. The other things that makes them remarkable is that if you find GOOD "Vintage Lemurian Quartz" you will find that it has a phantom. These stones are record keepers! They are very hard to find, and usually quite expensive. Well I found 2 that were $5 each. They are both pretty special but one is VERY special! The first photo you can see the little phantom up at the top! This particular one doesnt have much sandiness to it, but you can see the tint at the point.

The stone below is the special one! Can you see the Double phantom? I have never seen one like this before so you can imagine how excited I was! Something that you can not see is that there is a little red fleck inside towards the bottom. It looks like a drop of blood. The 2nd phantom is hard to see but its about 1/3-1/2 the way up the crystal, and was in the very beginning stages. If you look at the moon decal and trace your finger over to the right and move it down just slightly (1/4 of an inch) you can see where the crystal is even darker and that is the top of the 2nd phantom.

So after the gem show, I felt recharged after being around the high vibrations! I made 2 little talisman with hazel nuts. The first is 5 little mini apples and hazel nuts. This in an ancestor talisman. The apples are sacred to Avalon and are associated with love, death and the underworld. the Hazel is also associated with death and the underworld in some cultures. (for more info on the Hazel read - Witchcraft Medicine: Healing Arts, Shamanic Practices, and Forbidden Plants)
The 2nd one is also associated with death, and the underworld. It consists of a black cat vertebrate (always, always cruelty free, I was given this animal several days after it had passed) The hematite is associated with grounding and will help bring you down into the earth. It is good for underworld work, shape-shifting, and the like. ( If you are interested in it let me know!) The Apple/Hazel is not for sale sorry.......
 Lastly! The Rain Walker came over yesterday and we crafted ointments! My box of newly ordered bottles had JUST arrived! We crafted Mandrake/Chamomile/Lavender ointment for joint pain! So far the Rain Walker has reported that it works! This ointment was crafted with Mandrake and Chamomile infused (in almond) oil, and Lavender essential oil, Duck fat and Bees wax. The 2nd batch was an Anti-anxiety, Stress relief ointment. Which was crafted with Duck Fat, Bees wax, and infused Oil (in almond) Peppermint, Lavender, Camomile, Eucalyptus and Yarrow....... 



Look at those empty jars! Im not telling what those are for!.... Yet ;)