I don't remember buying this book...

but I'm glad I did.

While reading through some of my other books for my last blog, I found this neat little book. The Witch's Journal (currently out of stock there sorry.) (Don't buy it from amazon its listed as like $64.00 WTF rapist!)  This is a great review of the book :D

So, basically, I pulled all my books off the shelf and checked for the word hand-fasting in the index. Those are the books I kept off for the blog. Now, out of the 7 or so I used 2 for the blog. The reason for this is sometimes in the index it just shows the word hand-fasting is used on a page. For example, one book mentions hand-fasting in a small piece on Lammas. The two I chose to use had small pieces on hand-fasting. This book mentions it on a page about brooms which is what I'm about to share with you! :D I heart brooms.

Jumping the Broom:
This custom, originating from both Wales and Africa, is continued in Wiccan weddings (hand-fastings) today. Following the ceremony, the couple step over the broom to bless their fertility and their union. The broom is typically decorated with flowers and ribbons, and hung in a prominent place in the couple's home after the wedding.

Brooms and Protection:
According to folklore, a broom hung over or near a doorway with the bristles pointed up will protect the home from negative energy.

How to Make a Broom:
You can find decorative twig brooms in craft and home-decorating stores during the fall, but you can also make your own.

1. Soak the bristle material in water overnight. let it dry for a few hours until it is supple but not waterlogged. 
2. Arrange a layer of bristles around the base of the branch and tie tightly with twine
3. Add another layer, building outward until the bristles reach the desired fullness and shape.
4. Add a final layer, with 6 inches (15 cm) of bristle covering the broom handle. Wrap the twine securely around the top layer 3 inches (7.5 cm) from the base of the handle. Fold the bristles over the twine to hide it. Tie a length of twine tightly near the top of the bundle. Tie a second length about 2 inches (5 cm) down. 
5. If you wish, decorate the handle or the top of the bristle bundle with crystals, paint, or carvings. 

Handle Woods: 

The broom handle can be made from a variety of sturdy branches. The following are the most common:

• Birch
• Hazel
• Ash
• Oak

Bristle Materials:

• Straw
• Wheat
• Twigs, such as Willow
• Lavender
• Mugwort
• Thyme

Hand-fastings. Something I haven't blogged on about before.

For those of you curious, the last royal wedding was a hand-fasting. (Did you see that gold ribbon around the hands of Will and Kate?

Hand-fasting is a timeless Celtic tradition. Something so lovely and real about ribbons for the pretty show; and rope to remind you that you now have another responsibility.

Grimiore for the Apprentice Wizard cite hand-fasting as marriage, for as long as the love shall last. And if they should someday decide to part, a ceremony of hand-parting will allow them to do so with honor and good will.

To Light a Sacred Flame lists that there are three types of hand-fastings.

1. Ceremonial: A ceremony performed for a year and a day
2. Legal: A legal ceremony performed for life under the rules and regulations of state law
3. Spiritual: A ceremony performed for this lifetime and beyond. 

You will also find a step by step ceremony for a hand-fasting in To Light a Sacred Flame, along with this list of herbs for marriage: 

• Aconite
• Apple
• Basil
• Broom
• Caraway
• Coriander
• Elderflower
• Ginger
• Holly
• Ivy
• Jasmine
• Lavender
• Lemon Verbena
• Licorice
• Lotus
• Maple
• marjoram
• Mistletoe
• Orchid
• Rose
• Rosemary
• Skullcap
• Yarrow

If you're planning to tie your life to another's and you want a traditional ceremony, but you aren't by any means looking to do it in a church or a court house here is a list of officiants by state. 

I recommend a cat if your just feeling lonely and you have no partner or if your partner is an asshat.  

That is all! 

 

The Dogs are holding me hostage.

Athena, my baby beagle or the mountain cur or my favorite rescue mutt, has gotten herself into a frenzy over car rides recently. So much of a frenzy that she now chases all the way down our driveway and into the main highway to catch a ride. She never used to do this. It's a recent behavior. Great lengths have been taken to keep her out of traffic while I leave for work or errands that dogs can't tag a long with. Goddess forbid someone break my window, because the dog is closed inside. As recent dream has revealed I kill over my Jeep. I'd more than likely cause severe torture and then death over my dog. Back to great lengths, she now not only knows how to open the sliding glass door, but she can unlock the lock on the door, AND she can lift the bar that blocks it from sliding! Dogs are smart. It's been so muddy recently and so cold that I don't want her in the Jeep. I just spent the weekend cleaning the mud and rocks out of it. I'd like it to remain smelly nice for a little while. While you might think this behavior is a "she misses me behavior," its not. When I'm home, she tucks herself away in a hole and sleeps the day away so she can torment me and keep me up all night with the let the doggy out to bark at the darkness, let the doggy in to lay on your extremities til they are numb and you can't walk to let the doggy out dance. She's so mean to me. I'm not allowed to leave and I'm not allowed to sleep.

Much to my displeasure, I'm being held hostage.

So here's a picture of my dogs last car ride. I took her a mile down the road to the dollar store and bought her a bag of her favorite "beefys."

April Magick Mail :D

So, this is the stuff words are made of!