Blue Moon Meets Altar
I was delightfully surprised when Rachel wrote up that I'd be in a room alone. Like lavishly surprised. Because even if I'm a prickly, hard to sleep, person, I've sort of adjusted into the idea that I'll end up in a room with people. Especially if the group is huge, like I did last time, when I was room and bed sharing.
Because at the end of the day I will always take more people over a room alone. Every time. Every single time. Bring me the awesome people, I can figure out the rest. But I got my own room, and my own set of two windows, and like I always do I ended up making an altar out of my Blue Moon Meets weekend and the window across from my bed, where the sun rose every morning.
These pictures are from the last morning of it.
This is the front on view of it. You can't really see the part of it on the floor, taking up the floor and wall, but that will come later. This is what I woke up to on my last morning and felt such reticence at needing to put away, because it was made of so much beauty. The endless fall and sunlight, the magic of growth, friends, surprises, love and laughter and learning.
The Window itself
The blue-green pentacle that was the first gift from The Cauldron of Mystery Gift-ery (which was a large black cauldron with gifts left for everyone all week. They were each in black velvet bags and the bell would ring and we'd all run for our new surprises).
The pink & orange flowers were more Mystery Giftery. They read You glow and You are magnificent. The multi-color cord was from a cording class offered by one of the women there, where everyone picked a cord and got to give it to everyone else, saying whatever they felt called to, and then we corded them together to keep.
Picture Ledge, Left Side
As a comment, the entire front ledge happened first going left to right, and then the back ledge going left to right if linear-ness matters to you at all.
The front ledge
The first is a tiny "Divin-knit-y" (spl girls?) made by two of the girls who came, for the Navajo Goddess Estsanatlehi. This was the first one I absolutely had to have, who was all about new beginnings, evolution, growth. I knew it was for my work desk and those new beginnings, and it ended up on our group altars and carried in my pocket all weekend, too.
A piece of blue-green see glass from evening one, my first hero card, and then a piece of purple glass. I went walking on morning two looking for a blue piece, asking the universe to give me a blue piece if 'everything was going to be okay', instead I found an even rarer color - lavender. Which I spent the day running my thumd over feeling like the universe was saying 'it's going to be so much better and unexpectedly good than "okay"'.
Another hero card, with in front of it my silver "ohm" I made at the jewelry class our hostess lovingly surprised us all with. Next a rose quartz that was another surprise from Mystery Giftery, the tag for my first/green knit doll, which might be when I got her. Next to that a gorgeous sea color dyed skien of yarn from Mystery Giftery.
The last is a small piece of rough citrine that comes to every one of these. It's my altar item for the main altar every time, on top of whatever I'm asked to bring for the altar. It's the stone mailed to me from the first Midsummer Faeriie Festival, and it sits on my main altar every day of every year as a symbol of my family and sisters of heart and magic everywhere, a reminder I'm never alone, and never forgotten.
I brought it to the first one I could attend and I have every time since.
Back Ledge
Another mystery giftery, a gorgeous quote and drawing: "And I see you are fire -- sacrificed fire on a jade altar, spear tognue of white, ceremonial fire". Another Hero card. Three more Mystery Giftery gifts. Two stores and a art card reading there's magic in you.
Picture Ledge, Right Side
The front ledge
Skipping the ones you know there first, always taken so you can see where it connects/overlaps. The first of my Mystery Giftery things -- a biodegradable fairy offering made of clay and herbs/flower petals/glitter. Hero card. Two more Mystery Giftery gifts, a pearl and a pendant with sand and a shell on it.
Another hero card, and the second pendant made during the jewelry class. I'm not as happy with this one, but it's still loved. A mystery oil with a fairy sticker in blue glass, a silver pentacle tea ball, and a second Divin-Knit-y bought from the Magic Market. This one was for the Yoruban Goddess of the sea, generosity, love, fidelity, and tolerance.
Back Ledge
skipping already covered a second time, same reason. Another beautiful Mystery Giftery stone. A Hero card, and the quote that came with my Pearl: A Pearl of Wisdom Just for You: Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitations. Look with your understanding. Find what you already know and you will see the way to fly. Another Mystery Giftery card with a drawing of a flower and the quote: "Flower with surfaces of ice, with shadows faintly crimson". The last thing on this ledge is the vial of water from the final ritual we did.
The very bottom of the altar
The cards from the Runes class we did, where we picked three art pieces to do a Past, Present, Future rune reading for ourselves. Past: Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss;" The Rune Nauthiz (meaning resistance leading to strength. Innovation. Endurance. Survival. Determination. Exercise. Patience. Major self-initiated change. Facing your fears.
Present: Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa;" The Run Fehu (meaning possession won or earned, abundance, financial strength, social success, Hope, Plenty, Energy, Foresight, Fertility).
Future: Edward Hopper's "People in the Sun;" The Rune Ehwaz (meaning movement & change for the better. Gradual development, steady progress, harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty, an ideal partnership, confirmation beyond doubt).
The pink salt heart is what I brought for the main altar of the weekend, as my thing representing myself. Next to it is the bottle of water I brought, as requested, too, for our early ritual (which came from another collaborative RCG water/goddess ritual in the spring, too).
The big framed picture was the gift I got in the gift exchange and I love it madly. The girl and her cat and her pomegranate. Hilariously I remember having an odd moment of thinking she looked just like me when I opened it, before I even got to her being Persephone, or evocative of. But I love it madly for both. The pink envelope and red heart with my name is how we drew from the caldron for exchange these gifts, too.
The book is the work of our weekend, too. Made during ritual, written in by our friends and sisters during ritual and the days following. These were the messages the universe needed to give us and that we needed to hear, and it was an amazing process making them, writing in other people's books, and then getting our books back in the last evening ritual.
Last is my drum that never gets enough love, and I brought it "in case" which turned into using it a lot during the last evening ritual and made me happy to get in some time with it finally.
(Tune in soon for the the rest, where I will tell you of Hero Cards and why they matter so.)
[This entry was originally posted at http://wanderlustlover.dreamwidth.org/2263950.html. Comment on either at your leisure.]
Because at the end of the day I will always take more people over a room alone. Every time. Every single time. Bring me the awesome people, I can figure out the rest. But I got my own room, and my own set of two windows, and like I always do I ended up making an altar out of my Blue Moon Meets weekend and the window across from my bed, where the sun rose every morning.
These pictures are from the last morning of it.
This is the front on view of it. You can't really see the part of it on the floor, taking up the floor and wall, but that will come later. This is what I woke up to on my last morning and felt such reticence at needing to put away, because it was made of so much beauty. The endless fall and sunlight, the magic of growth, friends, surprises, love and laughter and learning.
The Window itself
The blue-green pentacle that was the first gift from The Cauldron of Mystery Gift-ery (which was a large black cauldron with gifts left for everyone all week. They were each in black velvet bags and the bell would ring and we'd all run for our new surprises).
The pink & orange flowers were more Mystery Giftery. They read You glow and You are magnificent. The multi-color cord was from a cording class offered by one of the women there, where everyone picked a cord and got to give it to everyone else, saying whatever they felt called to, and then we corded them together to keep.
Picture Ledge, Left Side
As a comment, the entire front ledge happened first going left to right, and then the back ledge going left to right if linear-ness matters to you at all.
The front ledge
The first is a tiny "Divin-knit-y" (spl girls?) made by two of the girls who came, for the Navajo Goddess Estsanatlehi. This was the first one I absolutely had to have, who was all about new beginnings, evolution, growth. I knew it was for my work desk and those new beginnings, and it ended up on our group altars and carried in my pocket all weekend, too.
A piece of blue-green see glass from evening one, my first hero card, and then a piece of purple glass. I went walking on morning two looking for a blue piece, asking the universe to give me a blue piece if 'everything was going to be okay', instead I found an even rarer color - lavender. Which I spent the day running my thumd over feeling like the universe was saying 'it's going to be so much better and unexpectedly good than "okay"'.
Another hero card, with in front of it my silver "ohm" I made at the jewelry class our hostess lovingly surprised us all with. Next a rose quartz that was another surprise from Mystery Giftery, the tag for my first/green knit doll, which might be when I got her. Next to that a gorgeous sea color dyed skien of yarn from Mystery Giftery.
The last is a small piece of rough citrine that comes to every one of these. It's my altar item for the main altar every time, on top of whatever I'm asked to bring for the altar. It's the stone mailed to me from the first Midsummer Faeriie Festival, and it sits on my main altar every day of every year as a symbol of my family and sisters of heart and magic everywhere, a reminder I'm never alone, and never forgotten.
I brought it to the first one I could attend and I have every time since.
Back Ledge
Another mystery giftery, a gorgeous quote and drawing: "And I see you are fire -- sacrificed fire on a jade altar, spear tognue of white, ceremonial fire". Another Hero card. Three more Mystery Giftery gifts. Two stores and a art card reading there's magic in you.
Picture Ledge, Right Side
The front ledge
Skipping the ones you know there first, always taken so you can see where it connects/overlaps. The first of my Mystery Giftery things -- a biodegradable fairy offering made of clay and herbs/flower petals/glitter. Hero card. Two more Mystery Giftery gifts, a pearl and a pendant with sand and a shell on it.
Another hero card, and the second pendant made during the jewelry class. I'm not as happy with this one, but it's still loved. A mystery oil with a fairy sticker in blue glass, a silver pentacle tea ball, and a second Divin-Knit-y bought from the Magic Market. This one was for the Yoruban Goddess of the sea, generosity, love, fidelity, and tolerance.
Back Ledge
skipping already covered a second time, same reason. Another beautiful Mystery Giftery stone. A Hero card, and the quote that came with my Pearl: A Pearl of Wisdom Just for You: Don't believe what your eyes are telling you. All they show is limitations. Look with your understanding. Find what you already know and you will see the way to fly. Another Mystery Giftery card with a drawing of a flower and the quote: "Flower with surfaces of ice, with shadows faintly crimson". The last thing on this ledge is the vial of water from the final ritual we did.
The very bottom of the altar
The cards from the Runes class we did, where we picked three art pieces to do a Past, Present, Future rune reading for ourselves. Past: Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss;" The Rune Nauthiz (meaning resistance leading to strength. Innovation. Endurance. Survival. Determination. Exercise. Patience. Major self-initiated change. Facing your fears.
Present: Leonardo da Vinci's "Mona Lisa;" The Run Fehu (meaning possession won or earned, abundance, financial strength, social success, Hope, Plenty, Energy, Foresight, Fertility).
Future: Edward Hopper's "People in the Sun;" The Rune Ehwaz (meaning movement & change for the better. Gradual development, steady progress, harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty, an ideal partnership, confirmation beyond doubt).
The pink salt heart is what I brought for the main altar of the weekend, as my thing representing myself. Next to it is the bottle of water I brought, as requested, too, for our early ritual (which came from another collaborative RCG water/goddess ritual in the spring, too).
The big framed picture was the gift I got in the gift exchange and I love it madly. The girl and her cat and her pomegranate. Hilariously I remember having an odd moment of thinking she looked just like me when I opened it, before I even got to her being Persephone, or evocative of. But I love it madly for both. The pink envelope and red heart with my name is how we drew from the caldron for exchange these gifts, too.
The book is the work of our weekend, too. Made during ritual, written in by our friends and sisters during ritual and the days following. These were the messages the universe needed to give us and that we needed to hear, and it was an amazing process making them, writing in other people's books, and then getting our books back in the last evening ritual.
Last is my drum that never gets enough love, and I brought it "in case" which turned into using it a lot during the last evening ritual and made me happy to get in some time with it finally.
(Tune in soon for the the rest, where I will tell you of Hero Cards and why they matter so.)
[This entry was originally posted at http://wanderlustlover.dreamwidth.org/2263950.html. Comment on either at your leisure.]