Tags
choice, Faery, Feyhearted path, gratitude, Heart, Intent, Living Life, Magic, Suggestions
Feyhearted – Pixie Kiss #12 – Gratitude and intention
18 Friday Feb 2011
Tag Archives: gratitude
Feyhearted – Pixie Kiss 11.5 – The Festival of Love
13 Sunday Feb 2011
Tags
Devotion, Faery, Feyhearted path, gratitude, Living Life, Magic, Suggestions
In honour of the modern Festival of Love, I offer here a bonus post in a series of suggestions for re-enchanting your life, one pixie kiss at a time. The introduction is here, and you can watch the path unfold here.
Isn’t it lovely to have a day devoted to love? A day set aside specifically for connecting to loved ones, for being romantic?
Tomorrow is Valentine’s day.
Don’t forget, you too are worthy of love.
Snowy Solstice
21 Tuesday Dec 2010
Posted in Magic
Tags
Beginnings, Completion, Festival, gratitude, Growing, Honesty, Intent, Journalling, life, light, Magic, moment, Moon, musings, process, Solstice, Sun
Standing in the snow in my pyjamas as the clouds lining the sky lightened with dawn, I breathed in the beauty of the Solstice morn.
I gazed at the orange sky above, lit by streetlamps, and smiled at the branches, dark under the snow. I used to climb this tree with a book, just to spend time in its branches.
The sun is beginning its yearly return today, and though its cold and dark now, I know that each night will be shorter, each day longer… much as I love the night, I appreciate being able to walk home from work in daylight!
I’m thinking about goals, desires, choices.
I’m thinking about the movement from the dark into the light…
I understand now how thoughts slowly germinate in the dark, projects and understandings mull over in the depths of my mind until they rise into the light and a decision is made…
Its a slow process, knowing deep down what must be done, and waiting for that deep knowing to become strong enough to grow into choice and action.
It took five years of knowing that I would become vegetarian to actually doing it, because that knowing had to seep into my bones, had to become right on every level, had to become so ingrained in me that my conscious mind accepted it. There are ways to speed this process up, magic, spellworking, NLP, the ‘One Command’… and there is also space for this process to slowly unfold within me. Sometimes, this is the right way.
I am often impatient, and I am finally coming to know, in my bones, that its ok for things to take time, to become strong before they are exposed to the light. If that choice to become vegetarian hadn’t rooted in my bones, I’d have crumbled in the first week when I had to face family and travel and a funeral. If I don’t nurture that hope, that I express but cannot yet state, until it is so strong I cannot deny it, then it will fade in the harsh light of day.
Sometimes things can be acted on right away. Sometimes they need to germinate. And sometimes they germinate for too long and never grow.
Its a fine balance.
I hope I get it right.
How do you do it?
Always enough…
15 Wednesday Dec 2010
Posted in Magic
I learnt from Mum that there is always enough money.
Enough.
No more. And no less.
Funnily enough thats always been the case… at the points I think I might finally have managed my finances for long enough to start saving, or an unexpected bit of cash comes in, then something happens, and that little bit of extra money I was hoping for goes on that.
And conversely, when I set my heart on something, I say ‘this is what I’m doing, even though it’ll take me over what I’ve got coming in’, then just enough extra cash comes in to cover whats needed.
I’m currently living in my overdraft, over by a month each month. I’m doing better than several people I know, and many people country-wide. Though there is no real reason I should be living a month behind my wages, spending what I’ve earnt in the month I earn it. This is how it is, though I was previously spending all of what I earnt after I’d been paid it, its only been the past year that my overdraft has begun feeling like money – coincidentally this happened alongside my having to live out of it on a regular basis, so I’m not sure which came first!
So I always have enough. And I’m grateful, very very grateful… it’d be nice to shift this thinking though, to something with more of a safety net, and to see if my finances follow my thoughts.
I’m curious about how many other people have noticed this kind of thing in their own lives? What are your patterns of thought around money (or something else) and how does that match what happens… and, if you’ve tried it, has shifting your thinking helped?
Time for some spellworking, for sure! Time to shift how I think, and invite some money in…
Faery Book Update 1 – I am happily overwhelmed
17 Tuesday Aug 2010
Posted in Faery
Tags
book, creativity, Devotion, Faery, Fey, gratitude, Joy, Love, The Faery Heart, Update
The last 24 hours have been amazing.
I thank every one of you that has commented, looked and asked me for a copy of my book.
Especially those of you who want to own a copy.
I am, as I say, overwhelmed.
I am overflowing with gratitude. Gratitude for my friends, for the people around me who have and continue to support me, for the people who give me funny looks when I talk about Faeries and love me anyway (or even because of it). Gratitude for the excitement other people are sharing with me over this.
It is a wonderful thing to build bridges of joy, and I can see them growing up with every digital connection we make.
The worlds we build online are as real as those that we walk in, sleep in, love in. The worlds we can touch and feel and hear and see and smell, extend through our bodies, through the wires of the interconnecting-web, through our hearts and our words.
We build worlds of love and joy, we weave the worlds of Fey closer with every choice made in love and in alignment with our hearts.
I have seven people who have ordered one of the 13.
6 remain to find homes.
Email me if you would like to be part of this adventure as it takes to the skies!
Haloquin at googlemail dot com
And thank you. Thank you all very very much.
Watch here for further posts keeping you updated and sharing the joy!
The FeyHearted Book
16 Monday Aug 2010
Posted in Faery
Tags
beauty, book, challenge, Completion, creativity, Devotional, Faery, Feyhearted path, gratitude, Magic, project, writing
With absolute pleasure I can now share that my book is completely and utterly finished!
I’ve spent most of the past year working on it and now that it is done it feels like I am full of the softest clouds, all gently and unstoppably rising. I have had a copy printed for myself, and I am incredibly excited to see how it looks when it arrives!
Here is the cover:
Finding the Fey within and without, the
heart of our hearts, and the Beginning
of the FeyHearted Path.
Here is the description I’ve inscribed on the dust jacket inside the front cover:
Fey Ones!
You of the wildest
hearts!
You of the sacred
glades!
You dancers,
enchanters,
lovers!
Fey ones!
May we dance through
the world together!
Are you Enchanted?
Have you been touched by the heart of the wild
and wonderous world?
Those that are feykissed feel it in their
bones… tell me, is your heart Fey?
The Faery Heart outlines the beginnings
of the path to knowing, accepting and expressing your Fey
heart, for those who are enchanted by the heart
of nature, by The Fey themselves, those who
are both Enchanted and
Enchanting.
And now it is time to let my book fly into the world… to take on a life of its own in other’s hands, and minds, and hearts. A book is a living thing, and a book on something as untamed as the Fey and our own deep hearts is liable to take on a life of its own. With that in mind, and in honour of the Faery Queen, who has guided my hands as I crafted this small fey creature, containing hopes and dreams, words from other worlds, the story of how the world became, glimpses of the Fey realms and the beginnings of a map to guide you into your own Fey-Heartedness, I will have printed 13 hardback copies which I will sign and number just for you.
13 special copies of this magical book… because I would like the people who give it a home to treasure it, and to treasure their own path.
13 special copies of this treasure trove.
If you would like a signed, numbered, very, very limited edition hardback copy of this Fey book, please contact me.
EDITED: Thank you for all your support. You can now buy paperback or PDF copies in my Etsy shop 🙂
The high cost of printing means that I will only have them printed once I have payment for all 13 copies, and I ask, please, for £25 per book, which includes shipping the book to you. £25 is close to cost price for these books, so if you would like to sponsor this project and you can afford to give more for your copy, then by all means, please do. Each person who buys one of these thirteen will get a special mention in any further editions (though there will be no more hardcovers) and every person that can offer a little more will have an extra gift with their book, as a thank you for your support.
If you would like to preorder a limited edition, signed and numbered hardback copy of The Faery Heart please email me at: Haloquin (at) googlemail (dot) com. Once I have payment for 13 copies I will contact all those who have preordered one and let you know how long your Fey-Book will take to find its way into your loving arms!
This is both the end of a long project, and the beginning of an adventure, thank you for being here with me!
Knitting Socks
22 Thursday Jul 2010
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty, Creative Process, Following Delight
Tags
Determination, Friends, gratitude, Imperfection, learning, Play, Pride, process
and lacey things…
I decided to teach myself to knit. I had somewhat of a headstart because relatives had shown me the basics when I was small, but having forgotten most of the details (apart from that it involved looping string through other loops until the long, thin, twisted fibres magically transformed themselves into something wide and flat and warm) I figured that it counted as teaching myself.
The basics were easy, though I was grateful for the fluffiness of the wool which hid some of the early inconsistencies (i.e.: holes and unintended increasing and decreasing).
I knitted bags full of squares using one stitch; knit. Knit knit knit. Turn. Knit knit knit.
I chose the most beautiful balls of colourful wool and knitted each whole ball into a colourful patch, though I had little clue what I would do with them. It was still fun. (These are now half a blanket, it needs resewing properly, but is really funky.)
I knitted scarves, similar principle, knit knit knit, turn, knit knit knit… until you have something long enough to wrap around you and fluffy enough to look pretty. (And done when you’ve made something longer than it is wide, an easily finished project is always a good place to start for me!)
And then I began to wonder what else I could do.
I bought a book. Stitch and Bitch.
Really rather useful. This taught me how to pearl! A new stitch! And it had instructions for picking up dropped stitches, and shared details on how this alchemical process of knitting works. I chose two patterns, bought some wool and spent 18 months knitting a rucksack and a hoody (without a hood, so I guess its just a jumper.)
And then…
I saw a friend knitting socks. I’d heard that they were difficult, she made them look easy. I imagined wearing warm, colourful creations on my feet… and I asked her how she made the heel work.
And then I forgot everything she’d told me. Darn.
Still determined, I found a heelless sock pattern, some chunky red wool, and I made my very own pair of socks!!!
My first Sock! Heelless!
They are too big, and the pattern makes them uncomfortable to wear in shoes… but they’re mine, and they make wonderful slippers! And, to top it off, they remind me of how inspiring my friends can be. Thanks WD!
I’ve learnt that the best way to learn something is just to do it, to pick a pattern and try it out. If it turns out wonky, then I’ve still learnt something!
What have you been putting off? What could you just have a go at?
Now, I’m learning how to make knitting lacey. I undid the first inch five times before it started to make sense (under the patient guidance of the same sock-knitting friend) There are less mistakes with every inch I do, and at the end I’ll have a pretty blue top… even if it is three sizes too small!!!
Oh, and one last thing, every time I look over how far I’ve come with these things, I can see how much I’ve learnt, how much my skills have improved (before I started this pattern I’d never knitted holes on purpose before!) I am filled with pride. I know it won’t be perfect, and the mistakes and visible improvement and clear markers of what I am proud of: the fact that I’ve set out to learn something, and I have! Mixed with the pride is profound gratitude; gratitude that I have these opportunities, gratitude for friends that help, gratitude for time to learn, gratitude for everything that gives me the opportunity to learn almost any skill I choose to.
Pride and gratitude. A really good feeling.
What are you proud of? What do you wish you were proud of?
Charcoal Sketching
29 Tuesday Dec 2009
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty
Tags
Art Craft and Beauty, beauty, Completion, gratitude, learning, musings, practice, process, reasons
I’ve had a brown papered sketchbook since the summer, and charcoal for about forever… and yet neither have been used.
I’ve been drawing from my imagination for ages… and often avoid faces because they just never look right.
Putting these two thoughts together and deciding to do something about it, I spent this evening doing these:
Wonder
Thoughtfulness
And they’re ok. Or rather, they’re pretty good, really. I’m just having trouble not seeing all the slightly wrong bits that make them not quite right. Its the old problem of seeing all the faults that most people really won’t notice at all. I’m quite proud of my efforts, especially when I remind myself that its an unfamiliar medium, and an unfamiliar kind of drawing… I just wish I was better already!
Gotta laugh at myself really.
In fact, that warm feeling of finally having tried both charcoal and faces… I might do another one! The longer its been since I did it, the less I feel like its something I’ve done, which is a feeling I get with other artworks too. I look at things I’ve made a month ago and its like someone else made them, which is great because it means I’m happier with them! Does anyone else get that, or is it just me?
Sketches drawn from photos found through Flickr’s interestingness, find them here and here.
Book Review: The Artist’s Way
05 Saturday Dec 2009
Posted in Art Craft and Beauty
About this time last year I bought myself a copy of The Artist’s Way, almost on a whim. This is basically a book for “Blocked Creatives” based on the Twelve Step program, and I’m probably one of the least creatively blocked people I know. Or at least, thats how I see myself.
But then again, don’t we all have things to learn!
In the introduction the author, Julia Cameron, sets out two key practices. Morning Pages, to do every morning, and The Artist’s Date, to do once a week or more.I’ll start with these:
Morning Pages basically involve splurging your brain onto paper longhand, for three pages, and then not looking at it for at least a month. It lets you empty your head of worries, and helps you notice patterns. In my case it also highlighted my tendency to plan and allowed me to get the lists of plans out of my head before the day started. You end up with a clean slate for the day, and, if you do look at it again, a reflective bit of writing which can highlight patterns.
And yes, they really are helpful. I managed to keep them up for the whole 3 months I was working through the book (only missing a few days sometimes) and almost 6 months after that. The best part for me was learning that I can keep up a daily practice, I can show up for something every day. Before this I hadn’t considered myself very well disciplined. Now I know I can be, if I choose to.
The Artist’s Date, pretty much what it sounds like. Taking a few hours, or a whole weekend, out to go on a date with your inner artist. Find something that inspires you, nurtures your creative impulses, makes you feel happy and relaxed, and make time for it. Especially if its fun.
I found this harder to do every week, but when I did it always lead to good things. For one I found a commercial art gallery… in which were paintings in the similar pure tube colours that I love to use! I saw this and felt a part of me verified: art with pure colours can be great! Since then I’ve noticed more of these… but that image has stayed with me and still makes me smile! For others I’ve set aside time to play with materials, or treated myself with water-soluble crayons (which are really really fun) and been inspired by the process of simply creating. Making time to be inspired, nourished and creative: very shiny.
The rest of the book is divided into 12 chapters, each one designed to be read at the beginning of the week, and then mused on during that week. They all have exercises, suggestions, quotes and stories to help inspire and explain the concepts they talk about.
For once, I started a self-led course and actually made it to the end. Each week I read the chapter and worked through most of the exercises.
Each week highlighted something new, and built on what had come before.
Each week was well explained, interesting and helpful.
Over the full 12 weeks I explored my emotional situation, the state of my life, my past, my dreams, my beliefs… every element of life was covered. And I found myself guided in exploring what I really want my life to look like, and developing a plan for how to get there. I bought two roses, and they’ve lived, and flourished for a year despite my firm belief that I cannot keep plants! I’ve completed more projects than I’ve managed to before, including my Faery cards, and I’ve learnt about myself in more general ways too.
The only complaint I’ve seen about this book is when people have objected to her use of the word ‘God’, but to me it felt like she explained it well, and left you the possibility of choosing your own way of understanding the term, or substituting it for something else if you prefer, including ‘Good Orderly Direction’. I didn’t have a problem with this myself, and it certainly didn’t feel preachy, but if you have a knee jerk reaction when you read the word ‘God’, then perhaps you might give the last couple of weeks a miss.
All in all, an inspiring book which helps you to illuminate your life, and your own potential. Good even for people who don’t feel blocked!
Here Be Dragons…
04 Friday Sep 2009
Posted in Magic, Storytelling
Every day the sun rises.
Every day the sun sets.
This year the sun rose and set on the very first Sunrise Camp. A beautiful new venture in magic… a rising of dragons.
A camp which held itself together through sheer determination, and not a little magic. It took a dragon-hearted commitment from the organising team to pull the dragon out of the hat, but we did it. And I’m proud of this fledgling camp.
This was my first year teaching at a Witchcamp, and I’m so grateful Sunrise was my first time.
Let me tell you a story, a story of campers who chose to be dragons.
A story of magic and wonder and strength.
Once upon a time that was, is and shall be, two new campers came away from a Witchcamp in the heart of South West England so inspired that they plotted another camp, one a little different to the gorgeous and luxurious Camp which filled them with such magic.
The years passed and the inspiration became a dream, and the two campers grew a little older (though not much) and a little wiser (and a little more foolish, although who can truly say which is which?) Time danced circles with them, and new relationships grew like flowers in fertile soil.
And one day the dream was planted, like a seed, in the same soil that nurtured the friendships, and so an organising team came together.
Plans hatched and grew and died, and soon, one plan stood out from the rest as yeilding a harvest.
But now Time danced smaller circles, and the dates chosen were so close, with so much to do! But magic has a wondrous way of bringing everything together, and the organisers chose, like the dragons that they are, to make the Sun Rise.
And, of course, it had to.
Sunrise began and the campers came. A new place, a new adventure, new faces, and some that had been around since before the camp-dream was a twinkle of inspiration. Every individual brought something beautiful to the mix, themselves.
They made perfectly imperfect offerings to the Spirit of Dragon, nurturing that force within themselves. They wove a nest of starlight and wonder and love and community and everything that they had to offer. And the egg hatched, and the dragon took flight!
And on wings of magic, the dragon-hearts of the campers also spread their wings, they were challenged, and met the challenges, and received gifts.
They learnt to read the world around them for directions, and to see their own desires in their deepest of dragon hearts.
And each one made a choice, to be themselves, in a world which shies from shining-dragon-hearted people.
We all made a choice to step into the world under our own terms, to shine with our own colours, knowing a little more about ourselves, and claiming our power to shape the world a little to our own designs, so that dragons can fly free and wild again!
Halo Quin 