THE ARTIST'S WAY

Good morning and Merry Meet.

We've had a beautiful start to the turn of the wheel here in the Ozarks. I've been busy catching up on projects and prepping the house for the Yule/ Holiday decorations that I love to play with.

Last week I talked about Miss Deborah's book. So far, I'm keeping up - which is far better than I did the first time around. There is a time for everything or as Amber McCue says, you're right on time - whenever that time may be.

My plan is to use the A Year and a Day of Everyday Witchcraft  as part of my morning pages/ meditation. If you don't knnow about morning pages, I encourage you to check out The Artists Way by Julia Cameron  Even if you've done the book before (as I have) this is the perfect year to walk back through the book. Marisa Mohi inspired me to do that this year. She is sharing her journey on her YouTube channel. She has a PLAYLIST for the series. 

If you're joining me for the A Year and a Day of Everyday Witchcraft and/ or The Artist's Way journaling please, let me know in the comments below. Let's share this journey.

Blessings!

~Rain

EVERYDAY WITCHCRAFT - 366 Ways to Witchify Your Life

 

AMAZON

This book came out in 2018. Like many projects, this became something I started but followed a squirrel down a different woodland path and a new project.

I decided the turn of the wheel was the perfect time to begin the journey of following through on forgotten items.

For starters, if you're new to my channel, please check out my original post of February 2018.

My challenge wasn't just a 'new project' that had me following another forest path but my OCD. I'm one of those that has to have everything in place before I can actually 'do'. As you'll read in the original post I wanted to use the Artist Loft 5x7 sketch books as my journal. I started stamping/ dating the pages then realized there were not enough pages in one book. I needed FOUR of the books. Basically, one per quarter. My project for this week is to finish dating the pages, stamping the black rose (mostly so I can put my stamps/ washi tape back where they belong). I've already started the journaling process and so far, things are going well.

If you're joining me for the A Year and a Day of Everyday Witchcraft journaling please, let me know in the comments below. Let's share this journey.

Blessings

~Rain

What Do I Write About?

What do I write in my journal?

So what do we write about? As you can see, dreams and the messages they carry are great. Some things you might include:

1) Listing areas you want to target in your Spiritual Growth.

2) Journal a Tarot or Rune reading

3) How did I honor Mother Earth today?

4) Bits and pieces of new spells or rituals as they come to you.

5) Books you’ve read – both recreational and on the Path.

6) What did I learn about myself today?

And you can expand on any of these such as exploring the individual areas you want to target, or list ways you can honor Mother Earth.

Maybe you have Goals you want to accomplish on your journey. List them. Then as you take the steps towards those Goals, you’ll have additional things to write about.

GOALS are the important key to any successful trip. Determine what you expect from your Spiritual Journey. Your Goals might include:

1) Regular Altar Time

2) Participating in or attending a Circle Sanctuary gathering

3) Contributing to a Pagan publication or writing your own book.

4) Creating/ updating your BOS

5) Showing respect for the God and Goddess through Service to Others

6) Planting a Healing Garden

7) Writing your first spell or ritual

8) Start a blog about your journey – We’ll link up!

Remember –

Your GOALS are NOT set in stone. They will change as you grow.

Blessings on your journey

Rain

My First Entry

The talk about beginning our Spiritual Journal and tracking our journey, I believe, sparked a dream I had on Sunday night.

In the dream, I received a message from author and Wiccan high priestess Deborah Blake (see her link to the right. You’ll love her books!) I won’t go through the entire dream but the last words she spoke to me were –

‘You possess the tools for this journey’.

I was so taken with the profoundness of Deborah’s words, the first thing I did upon waking was to grab my journal and write the whole dream down.

And now, I pass those words to you.

You possess the tools.

Whatever you want from this journey is yours. Take it one step at a time and watch for signs.

Many Blessings

Rain

TIME

On Monday, I told you we’d talk about Time to Write on Tuesday. Here it is Wednesday. I guess that makes this topic appropriate.

Time just got away from me yesterday. I did update a couple other blogs, did some laundry and worked in the yard. I also got the first ten pages of one of my novels-in-progress ready for a contest. A productive day. But ahead of it all, I did put the first entry in my Spiritual Journal. I’ll talk about that in the next post. For now, it’s all about TIME.

As you can tell, I can relate to the lack of time. But it is important to make a space in our day, or even week, to talk to our journal. Nothing says writing has to be a daily event.

You might designate a couple of hours one day a week. Not sure where you’d find the time- regardless of the frequency? Try this little exercise.

For one week, access how you spend your time. Mentally, you may THINK you know where your day goes, but you might be surprised how many ‘black holes’ of time you have.

Keep a time card of your activities. Business executives don’t just keep some form of day planner to look important. They are effective in showing the ‘give and take’, allowing them to see where they can fit something else in.

After your week, look to see what ‘black holes’ you discovered. Too much TV time? Too much Social Network? In today’s society those are the top two ‘time leaches’. I ask you to step away from ‘scripted’ reality shows. Create your own reality. Limit your social network time. Let family and friends know you’re alive – then move on with your day.

Another idea is to keep your journal handy and jot a few notes as things come to you. doesn't have to be a long thought process written all at once. Remember, it’s about the things you notice on your journey – not the volume.

We always have time for what we feel is important. Your Spiritual growth IS important. Try a contract with yourself. Write WHY you want to keep a journal. Then PLEDGE to yourself and the Goddess that you WILL spend time with it. Write the pledge in the beginning of your journal. Or create a bookmark with your pledge written on it and move it through your journal as you travel as a constant reminder of why you’re here.

Keep in mind – A balanced life holds time for both Reality and Recreation. Find the balance and be happy.

Blessings

Rain

Choosing Our Journal

Metta Winter says –

“The personal journal is a private space of quiet solitude.”

Your Spiritual journal is the place you will discover yourself – the deepest part of you.

So how do we begin on this magical journey?

First – you’ll need a journal. This can be anything from loose-leaf paper in a 3-ring binder to a beautiful bound, hardback book. I have samples of some of mine in the photo below.

What you choose is entirely up to you. If you’ve never kept a journal before – or it’s been awhile – finding one that fits you may be trial and error. Settling on the perfect one can be the first clue to who you are.

I use all styles, depending on its purpose. For my Spiritual Journal I’ve chosen a beautiful bound item I found at of all places, SAM’s Club several years ago. I’ve started it in the past and included things such as 13 GOALS OF A WITCH and The Law of Power. These items were printed on a parchment-type paper, torn around the edges and inked for an aged/ distressed look. They look lovely in my journal. Past these two items the only things I ever entered were my ‘intentions’ and a first entry – September 26th, 2007. That’s as far as I traveled. Short trip.

Until I discovered this book on my magical shelf, I intended to use a 5-Subject spiral notebook. I love them for being able to turn the pages back, always having a flat surface. But the journal I’d already started can’t be cast aside. It’s too beautiful and I had a purpose for it once.

It was to be my Mirror Book. A mirror of my spiritual journey so that I might see the path more clearly. A magical record of my progress and education in Wicca. A place to record my thoughts and feelings on the Path, results of readings, magical successes and failures, doubts and fears about my journey. Yet after that very first entry on my birthday of 2007, it got put aside, as did the serious attempt at my journey.

So with it rescued from the shelf, it becomes a part of my journey once more.

Tomorrow we’ll talk about the difficulty in finding time to write amongst every day life, and the importance of the process within our grasp.

Many Blessings

Rain