The Honeybee, lover of flora, giver of life. Will she return, as she must if we are to live under the summer’s sun once more?
Summer Solstice – WIP
20 Friday Jul 2012
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Following Delight, Magic
Category Archives: Magic
A Pilgrimage to The Well and Waves
15 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in Creative Process, Following Delight, Magic
Tags
Commitment, Devotion, Faery Queen, Feyhearted path, Heart, Imperfection, inspirations, Intent, Journey, musings, Pilgrimage, process, Queenship, Strangeness of Life
I was called to travel with my friends on a pilgrimage, in search of my direction, my crown?
On the South West coast of Wales stands a cathedral where a flame of peace was to be lit, at a shrine behind which stood the Mother of Saint David, St. Non.
The Mother blesses those who ask it…
The cathedral was filled with light and pretty things, but empty for us. No magic danced in the colours which streamed from the windows. No nourishment in the food that lunchtime. This was not a place for us, though others were clearly blessed.
From the hidden icon of the Mother, however, peace and love flowed.
We travelled further towards the sea, to St. Non’s Chapel, her Well, her Ruins, upon the windswept cliffs of Wales.
The sea rises into the air…
Processing down the slope, greeted by the Well and a choice. Do you choose the chapel, or the ruins? Civilisation or the wilds of the wind and waves?
We each presented ourselves to the well, blessed by her healing waters.
Here she lives…
We chose the sea path.
Passing through the stone circle of the ruins we separated, lead by the magic to where we belonged. I found myself above the waves, breathing the sea-mist, buffeted by winds.
I asked; what must I do to reach my dreams? How do I do what you have asked me to?
A seal appeared, carrying the song of the sea…
The Mother held me, rocked me, washed me clean until I walked, entranced, along the cliff to the chapel where I was crowned, unasked for, in buttercups.
A candle lit, a prayer spoken, respects paid. We explored the ruins. A place of power. And then, we returned, passing the Well with thanks. Washed clean and each transformed into more of who we are.
I wonder; what pilgrimage are you making, or would you choose to make, this year?
Musings on Queenship
12 Tuesday Jun 2012
Posted in Faery, Following Delight, Magic, Philosophy, Queenship, Reflections
Tags
Beginnings, challenge, Commitment, creativity, Determination, Faery, Faery Queen, Feyhearted path, Heart, inspirations, Journalling, Journey, musings, Queenship, Strangeness of Life
I was challenged, given a quest, to become Queen of my life. First I want to know what that means… so I asked. What does it mean to be queen? A Queen, but not to hold power over other people… to be sovereign in one’s own life, I suppose…
My studio. My temple. My Throne? Where I make magic, where life is understood, where change begins. Art allows me to be fully myself. When I paint, I come home. If being Queen is having sovereignty over one’s life, then this must be the heart of my realm.
What would it mean to be Queen?
Queen of my life? My heart, my art?
A Queen rules her realm
My realm is my self
A self, a realm, a life.
To rule
To lead
To protect
To hold within all that belongs to one…
I rule my self.
Queen of my life, my heart, my art.
There is space for what I love
And I am responsible for making what I wish come true.
No waiting for another.
I am Queen of my life.
Whatever I wish
I must command it so.
No other may
No other can
In my realm
I am the sun, the moon, the stars
And each who I encounter is sovereign in their realm,
As I am in mine.
I rule my self.
Queen of my life, my heart, my art.
I hold the power of my realm
Only I
I choose
I cause
I create
My Beltane Quest
08 Friday Jun 2012
Posted in Following Delight, Magic, Reflections
Tags
Beginnings, challenge, Devotion, Faery, Faery Queen, Feyhearted path, Honesty, Intent, Journey, Living Life, Magic, musings, process, Strangeness of Life
The thread of fate weaves through the tapestry of life… like Ariadne’s thread leading you to your centre, to the heart of your life.
Beltane. The turning of the year from darkness to light.
A time of transformation, of beginnings, of springing into the future.
A time where that which you have dreamt over the long winter nights can enter the world…
It has been a magical month, Beltane coincides with May Day and this year May itself became the day on which the year turned!
It began with the full moon’s growing before May itself. A birthday party. Divination by the river… a call to sovereignty. My question was; how can I make a living doing what I love?
The answer; first you must be Queen.
Well, what do you do with an answer like that?
I committed to finding Sovereignty in my life, trusting that it would become clear. And so began my Beltane quest.
I wonder; what is the quest you are on right now? What is the quest waiting for you?
(Watch this space for the unfolding of the story…)
The Story of the Rabbit
31 Thursday May 2012
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty, Faery, Magic
Tags
Art Craft and Beauty, Artwork, Faery, Feyhearted path, Goddess, Hare, Magic, musings, Painting, process, Rabbit
A butterfly enjoys the artwork which captures the spirit of a being who travels between the worlds and brings magic and love into our lives.
When I finished writing my Faery Heart book I had a dream for the artwork on the cover – a gateway between two trees through which the magic of Faery would shine. I took up my brush and painted the first of my Faery Gates series, pouring magic into each brush-stroke as a prayer in pigment to bridge the worlds and allow enchantment to pour through for each person that gazed upon it.
My flat is now full of these gates, they flow from my brush and feel like coming home. But the second that I began… it remained formless for two years. I painted the faery-light but there was something missing. So I painted others and waited.
And then my bunny died.
She reappeared in the painting. Finally, it was complete.
Domino was a rabbit, but in the picture she also becomes a moongazing hare, carrying the magic of the ability to burrow into the dark places for healing and the sacred swiftness and stillness which is twinned in each of the long-eared Goddess-beasts across the neo-pagan world.
The hare has long been seen as a familiar, or a form, of the witch, wise-woman, magic-worker, the one who crosses the gap between the worlds beneath the full moon’s light to bring back knowledge and power into our realm. This picture is one of reflection, of becoming aware of other worlds and other possibilities deep within ourselves and within the heart of the world. It is an image of love and the peace before action. As a painting it holds all that I poured into it and all that you find within it. As a prayer, a spell, it carries the magic of the otherworlds and the blessings of the spirit-world into our lives. And it honours the hare, the rabbit, the Goddess and those that we have loved and lost who are never far away…
I am producing a limited run of 50 canvas prints, hand-made, mounted, numbered and signed by me. When they’re gone I won’t be printing any more like this!
Diary of a Sorceress
16 Wednesday May 2012
Posted in Following Delight, Magic
Tags
Completion, documentary, Faery, Feyhearted path, musings, neo-paganism, offering, Strangeness of Life, witchcraft
This is a beautifully crafted, evocative piece of art which both clearly explains the foundation of neo-pagan witchcraft and conjures up the feelings which embody it’s essence.
And, well, I’m in a documentary!!! For a couple of bits only, mind 🙂
Diary of a Sorceress follows the journey of a lady who goes on a pilgrimage, finds a community and is healed by magic. A true story.
Little of this information was new to me and I still found it fascinating and very well worth watching. You can watch the trailer and then choose to download or stream it by clicking on the image below. I may be biased but I truly do think this is a wonderful film and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.
Click through for a beautiful evocative expression of the essence of neo-pagan witchcraft by a good friend of mine! (I don’t look this serious the whole time either!)
I love the way it flows, the imagery and how it clearly expresses the essence and mythological history of a path very dear to my heart. If this is a part of your life, a part of the life of someone you love or something you’ve been even a little interested in ever… go watch it 🙂
(PS: This is an affiliate link and I am in it, AND every word I say above is truly my opinion 🙂 )
A Painted Adventure
04 Friday May 2012
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Faery, Following Delight, Magic
Tags
Art Craft and Beauty, creativity, Devotion, Faery, Feyhearted path, Land, Living Life, Magic, Painting, process, Studio, Wales
Through the studio inspiration flows as a river from faery. Painting – my prayer, my ritual, my magic – brings me to the power in the land.
I’ve been painting more now, when I have to travel to my studio, than I ever expected. Having a dedicated space encourages me to set aside time for painting and encourages focus. I’ve got at least five paintings in progress now, including ones I’ve not worked on for almost a year which are suddenly talking to me again!
The more I paint the more truth I find in the thought that painting is prayer and prayer is conversation with the divine. I’m finding my magic leading me deeper into art and further into working with the magic of the land I live upon and the people I am descended from. The stories of Y Mabinogi resonate in this landscape and the Norse tales echo in my bones. I find myself painting Blodeuwedd and Freya side by side.
My own work with the Faeries is still central to all that I do and it is becoming clear that my path is taking me deeper into exploring the magic of this land. As I open to listening, the responses come back clearer and clearer…
I find myself stepping back magically from other traditions (though they still inform my practice) and deepening the connections within my heart, working directly with the spirits and gods who are walking with me. Its an exciting time and I do not know quite where this path is heading but I know it is enchanted!
It is wonderful, the magic that occurs when you make space for it.
How are you making space for the things you love? And what path opens up to you when you do so?
Religious Art, Spiritual Art
28 Saturday Apr 2012
Posted in All Posts, Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Magic, Philosophy
Tags
Perhaps painting is a prayer.
A prayer as a conversation with the divine… sometimes one-sided, sometimes where understanding flows thick and tangible between those present.
Once released into the world it becomes an invocation… invoking into those that view it the feelings found by the artist in dialogue with the divine.
A blessing or a curse.
Through what do you pray?
And what do you invoke into the world?
Dream to reality…
08 Sunday Apr 2012
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Following Delight, Magic
Tags
Art Craft and Beauty, Beginnings, Commitment, creativity, Determination, Feyhearted path, gratitude, Intent, Living Life, musings, process, Strangeness of Life
A month ago I posted about my longing for room to paint… since then I have cleared a corner in my living room where I can prop a large canvas and give my wings space to stretch and it worked! I made space and the expanses of colour I’ve been dreaming of became possible!
- A work in progress filling the space…
Suddenly it felt easier to breathe into my art-making, to relax into it without a sense of constricting and confining what I make. Working on a small scale became easier too. I created the final three cards for the Faery oracle deck I’ve been working on directly onto the cards as I travelled.
Tiny pictures completing the set...
And then, this Full Moon, I had an unexpected phonecall.
An offer of a space in a shared studio, in the centre of the town I work in!
A collective of artists, a light, airy space, a new project with room to grow…
How could I say no to the perfect opportunity?!
I am so excited to see where this leads next…
As I learn again and again; when I say yes to what I truly want, it comes to me.
What do you need to say yes to today?
You cannot run from what you hold inside…
27 Tuesday Dec 2011
Posted in All Posts, Magic, Reflections
Tags
challenge, Fear, Living Life, Magic, Ocean, Power, process, Strangeness of Life
I’m learning what it means to hold an ocean inside me.
Light shines from the depths
For so long I ran from water – fearing the depths of the ocean which engulfs, the river which sweeps away, the floods which drown. I knew its power, this water, I turned from it not because I thought it held no power but because I feared it because I knew its power.
Now I come to learn that I hold an Ocean within me. How can you hold an ocean within you and not break?
Trying to keep it contained lead to cracks through which it seeped.
I tried to build a relationship with Water outside of myself. This did not work. What I’ve come to realise is that what I ran from was what I carried within me. You cannot run from what you hold inside.
I feared that it would break me. If I had not begun the process of accepting it… it would have done.
Slowly I feel my way through holding an ocean within my self. Slowly, like the turning of the tides, I come to find the depths within my core, the power and the freedom there. Simply acknowledging that Water is so much a part of Me relaxed something clenched so tightly. Relaxing into my own nature, a source of perhaps my greatest power, allows me to hold it without breaking.
I will not be washed away as long as I remember that I AM the Water.
I have run from the things that hold power for me so often.
What do you run from? Which of those things hold power for you?
Halo Quin 