Spirituality Level: Zero

How do I want to put this? Well, it's best to just confess my sins and get it over with. Rip off the band-aid, so to speak. Since my last post, my spirituality level has been next to nothing.

My altar was nice in the corner of my bedroom, the zafu I purchased to sit on not too far away. It's been collecting dust. My journal is still sitting on the bookshelf next to the half-read biography on Doreen Valiente. To its right is a book on Irish Mythology. In essence, I've been disconnected from all things spiritual for 3 months. This is not okay.

We all know that lulls like this happen, but that doesn't mean they are acceptable. Not honoring the altar and the items placed upon it may not be a direct smack to the Gods, but it's still pretty bad. I wish I could say it was just laziness, but I think it had more roots in ambivalence and questioning how I was going to fit everything into the day.

In an ideal situation, I'd have meditation time in the mornings and evenings. That's in addition to working full time, cooking for myself, going to art therapy appointments because those things are freaking useful, and visiting with friends and family. My life doesn't look like that now and I think I'm in a battle between wanting things to be that way even if they aren't necessary, and wanting to ball up in the fetal position and hide under a rock.

How sweet life is, eh?

I know that I could mull all of this over for three more months, journal about it intermittently, and tell myself I'm doing everything I can while pretending that I'm doing just that. Or, I could make a plan and stick to it. Part of the reason I'm sharing it is due to accountability.

These are my 3 spiritual rules for the time being:

1) Make weekly offerings to Lugh and Danu. Use this time to commune with them.
2) An oracle reading at least once a week, though daily is preferred.
3) Respecting myself enough to recognize that I'm a work in progress.

They sound so simple, right? I think that I can do these 3 things, and I'm sure I'll be back to post on my progress.

Etsy Haul - Offering Bowls + Pentacle Tile

I know a lot of people are upset with Etsy over some of their recent decisions to feature some religious products/items and not others. I think those opinions are valid, but Etsy is still a great way to support like-minded folks in the community, or even those that are accepting of other faiths.

I stumbled upon De Baun Fine Ceramics on accident and browsed on a whim. I was in awe at the craftsmanship I saw and the reasonable prices that went along with each item. I received my items today and I couldn't wait to show them off.

I was actually searching for offering bowls but, while I saw many great options, none of them seemed quite personal enough. I was happy to see that the seller accepted commissions for projects. I sent Diane De Baun a message and asked if she would be willing to do a custom order of two offering bowls, one for Lugh and one for Danu. She accepted my challenge.

We spent weeks going back and forth discussing my choices. She answered my questions and shared her knowledge of her craft, advising me on details such as size, design, and glaze and paint colors. These are the finished products:

 


In addition, I found a Pentacle Tile that was already for sale and knew it would be perfect.

 


My initial idea was for Danu's offering bowl to have a silver rim in contrast to the copper rim of Lugh's offering bowl. Diane painted it in copper on accident because I confused her with my many messages about color choices. She offered to correct it with silver paint, but I requested a photo to see how it looked. I actually like the copper much better than I thought I would and, since all three pieces have the copper, it ties them together.

Please visit Diane's shop and consider purchasing a couple of items, whether for yourself or as a gift. You won't be disappointed.

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(*I was not encouraged by Diane to create this post. I purchased the items at full price and this post is to share my experience with a great online business.)

Devotional Incense Cones

I've been reworking my morning and evening devotional rites and wanted to get some incense that would better set the mood and experience, as well as be able to be used as an offering to the Gods. An incense stick would take too much time to burn for this process while loose incense would require heating a charcoal disc or setting up a Makko trail. What's a guy to do? Make your own!

I opted to make incense cones with a small amount of herbs that I have on hand. I've turned up my heater a few extra degrees in the hope that it will help to shorten the drying time. Since I haven't made this recipe before, I was cautious about going too far by making too much product. Cones seemed like a good option because of their small size and I found the entire process really easy.

I started out by grinding my herbs into a fine powder (I cheated because some of my ingredients were bought in powdered form). Only the rosemary gave me a bit of trouble but I don't think full strands of rosemary will do any harm to the finished product. Once wet with some blessed water specifically for incense making, I set out to knead the dough and them form it into cones. I'm pleased with how they turned out.

I still had a little left over so I opted to try a large and small cylinder shape to help me gauge which size will best work. 

The hardest part in this process is waiting for the drying time, which I estimate to take about two full weeks. If they dry sooner then I'll consider it good luck and get to experimenting. I'll post an update and let you know how they turn out. If they work for my needs and the scent is pleasant then I will share the recipe.