I'm going a bit mad with these blog hops, I've just signed up to another Yule themed one! After the Witches Tea Party Under A Halloween Moon one I'm hooked! I mean, who doesn't love looking forward to a party, even if it is virtual?
My newest join is Yule Magic Blog Party on Dec. 21st, hosted by The Village Witch. While the post is based on Yule (obviously) there's a sweet little requirement to post a virtual gift to the people of blog land, how cute! I better get thinking on what my gift shall be. Be sure to check out all the other participants of these blog hops and share the love!
Regarding the other Yule blog parties, I think I've decided what each post will be on:
The Witches Yuletide Ball, Dec. 10th - scrummy kitchen gifts & Yule baking ideas
Yuletide Blessings, Dec. 18th - Yule decorations
Yule Magic , Dec. 21st - Yule & Winter time celebrations
P.S. if I ever get my camera back I'll be showing my first Amarya Beauty Box, it contains all natural and organic products and I have kept everything in the box for photos. I'm quite proud of myself for that!)
Thursday, 10 November 2011
Sunday, 6 November 2011
Another Turn Of The Wheel
I could have swore last week was only the beginning of October, but alas November is here! I really love the autumn-to-winter transition period; the warm clothes, cozy fire, chill air and morning frost... what's not to love!
I didn't get anywhere near as many posts as I would have liked last month due to illness and school work but as they sill tie in with the theme of the dark half of the year I'm sure I can still post them in the coming weeks. I'm also getting involved in two Yule Themed Blog Parties; The Witches Yuletide Ball on Dec. 10th hosted by On The Broomstick & Witch Of Howling Creek, and Yuletide Blessings 2011 Blog Party on Dec. 18th hosted by Astraea Sapphire's Almanac. Blog parties are so much fun and a great way to find other bloggers with similar interests, I encourage you all to join in with the fun, even if it's something small. Who knows, maybe one day you might host your own blog party (I know I want to.)
For now I'm going to be working on the posts for the blog parties as well as trying out some recipes and crafts for yule. I didn't have much time for Samhain preparations but I want to have everything well underway for Yule before December even starts. Blessings to you all, Hannah xx
I didn't get anywhere near as many posts as I would have liked last month due to illness and school work but as they sill tie in with the theme of the dark half of the year I'm sure I can still post them in the coming weeks. I'm also getting involved in two Yule Themed Blog Parties; The Witches Yuletide Ball on Dec. 10th hosted by On The Broomstick & Witch Of Howling Creek, and Yuletide Blessings 2011 Blog Party on Dec. 18th hosted by Astraea Sapphire's Almanac. Blog parties are so much fun and a great way to find other bloggers with similar interests, I encourage you all to join in with the fun, even if it's something small. Who knows, maybe one day you might host your own blog party (I know I want to.)
For now I'm going to be working on the posts for the blog parties as well as trying out some recipes and crafts for yule. I didn't have much time for Samhain preparations but I want to have everything well underway for Yule before December even starts. Blessings to you all, Hannah xx
Monday, 31 October 2011
Witches Tea Party Under A Halloween Moon 2011
I know, I know! I'm a day late, eeeeeek! But my brother forgot to bring my camera home from uni so I had to have my party today instead (Samhain.) It's good in a way as I won't have to go mad baking on two days, although I did start my baking preparations on Sunday. I've been up since the crack of dawn whizzing around the kitchen, decorating and sorting out my ritual but it's all been worth it :) Check out the other bloggers who joined in with the party hosted by Frosted Petunias here: Witches Tea Party Under A Halloween Moon.
Come in, come in and sit for a spell, I promise that I will treat you well!
Willow is here to join in with the fun... watch she doesn't try to steal your bun!
The table is set with an arrays of delights, I hope you have a fantastic night!
Oh dear, oh dear I can't see what is going on! Perhaps somebody should turn a light on?
Ah that's better, now what would you like? A red velvet cupcake? It might give you a fright!
I see you eyeing up the chocolate chunk pecan pie, if you want to sneak a piece off you'll just have to try!
Maybe you were hoping to get some cheesecake? From all the photos it managed to escape!
There's sticky apple gingerbread and pecan loaf too, with melted butter it turns into goo!
The party this evening has been so much fun, I am sorry to say that for this year it is done!
I had a great time baking for my first blogger party & hope to join in with more in the future!
Have a Blessed Samhain :)
Come in, come in and sit for a spell, I promise that I will treat you well!
Willow is here to join in with the fun... watch she doesn't try to steal your bun!
The table is set with an arrays of delights, I hope you have a fantastic night!
Oh dear, oh dear I can't see what is going on! Perhaps somebody should turn a light on?
Ah that's better, now what would you like? A red velvet cupcake? It might give you a fright!
I see you eyeing up the chocolate chunk pecan pie, if you want to sneak a piece off you'll just have to try!
Maybe you were hoping to get some cheesecake? From all the photos it managed to escape!
There's sticky apple gingerbread and pecan loaf too, with melted butter it turns into goo!
The party this evening has been so much fun, I am sorry to say that for this year it is done!
I had a great time baking for my first blogger party & hope to join in with more in the future!
Have a Blessed Samhain :)
Saturday, 8 October 2011
My Path So Far
I didn't think I'd have this up as soon as this but this is what you get when you just go for it...
Well saying as I'm pagan and enjoy learning about how other people found this path I thought it was about time I shared my story. It's been almost a year since I began practising and letting people know what path I follow so I guess I should share! (Pre warning it's gonna be long and there'll be a lot of rambling but I'll try to just get the stuff I feel is important in.)
I guess my story begins at quite a young age. From I can remember I was always obsessed with ancient Egypt, their rituals, pantheon, symbols, everything ( I wanted to be an Egyptologist & could even write and understand hieroglyphs!) I would often pretend I was in an Egyptian temple, honouring the gods and goddesses, and holding my own little rituals. Growing up with two brothers meant I spent a lot of my play time on my own, but I let my imagination run free.
I was brought up Christian and was made to go to Sunday school every week but my parents weren't overly religious. I didn't mind it but I found it hard to connect in a church full of people, I didn't feel like I belonged. I then went with my cousin one week when I was ten to a Christian camp and I loved it! Afterwards I decided that I was a Christian, but my decision was based purely off the fact that I enjoyed the experience of the camp so much. My relationship with the Christian God/Jesus then started to take a turn. I found myself praying out of fear that if I wasn't thankful for all I had the people and things I held most dear in life would be taken from me and I wouldn't be accepted into heaven. I felt guilty that when I prayed my mind would wonder and I wasn't focusing on God or Jesus.
Soon after I declared myself atheist. I couldn't accept a religion that made me feel guilt, shame and fear. Where I'm from there is a religious divide between sects of Christianity, and I've seen the devastation it has caused. I remember when I was a child being asked my some other children if I was "a cup or a plate" or a "cat or puppy" I had no idea what they were taking about, but they meant was I Catholic or Protestant. If I was the opposite to them they didn't know how to react except "oh... I guess we can still play with you." It wasn't something I wanted to be associated with.
I spent live happily as an atheist for a few years, I'm a keen science enthusiast and trusted it for the answers to most things but I still felt like there was something missing. I had a connection with earth the whole time, particularly stormy weather and the moon but didn't think much on it, I was just thankful that for whatever reason it existed. Then when I was fifteen everything went downhill.
I don't want to make a sob story but it helped me to be where I am now. One day my parents busted me for going to a house party and I just burst into tears and couldn't stop crying, I even cried myself to sleep. The next day when they tried to talk to me about it I started bawling again but this time I couldn't stop, I don't even know why! My mum grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me go until I told her what was wrong but I couldn't stop to tell her because I didn't even know, I was crying for hours. They thought something bad had happened to me at the party but it hadn't. Being an Aquarius means I rarely express my feelings as I'm used to being the one everyone come to with their problems but no ones knows what to do when I have any because they're so used to me giving the advice. When I was asked a whole array of problems which might have caused me to act this way I finally had to think about it myself. I was bullied for five years and I'd never talked about it. I was always the one a joke was put on or any snide thing said would end in "...yeah, like Hannah." Even my friends were putting me down and treating me like a doormat, only hanging around with me because they knew I was always there for them or choosing me as a second option. I guess I was silly letting it go on for so long, but I never said anything because I was afraid to hurt the other people's feelings, even if they didn't care about mine. My mum had also been ill for two years so I was worried about her so pretty much a lot of bottled up emotion came out that no one had any idea about.
So it was out and that was fine but then at the beginning of my fifth year at secondary school (the big year for GCSEs) I got sick. It started as I cold and I was coughing a lot, but when my cold went away my cough was still there and it wasn't just a normal cough, it was a high pitched barking cough of someone who had been smoking 60 a day for 40 years. I started missing school more and more and eventually I had to resort to home schooling as it was disrupting my whole life. I couldn't concentrate, was getting migraines and has some serious chest and back pain which wasn't helped by the fact that I had all my vertebrae and my hip out of place and a nerve in my leg trapped with my spine and my hip after falling off a horse the previous year which I was unaware of. The muscles on my back were covered with scar tissue and were in constant spasm, not to mention my vocal chords. I saw countless specialists but no one could find out what was causing my cough. I was housebound for 8 months, only leaving to attend hospital appointments. (I looked like a corpse and I'll be afraid to show a photo of how I looked at the time but I'll add it once I get my camera back.) Eventually I saw a speech & language therapist and was given exercises to help me to relax. I never did anything to relax. I previously relaxed by doing word searches or researching things but never gave my brain or my body a rest. But while I was off I had the chance to do a lot of research and lots of online quizzes which I enjoy.
I managed to find one about what religion are you and I got the result wiccan/pagan. I read the description and I thought that sounds just like me! I was intrigued to learn more so started looking into the different paths and the more I read the more I felt like this is where I belonged. Many people say it feels like "coming home" when they find the religion that works for them, for me, I think I was always at home but never had to curtains open to see what else was out there.
When I began getting more and more into paganism I was all for the idea of the existence of magick and the energies of the earth. I found it hard to grasp the concept of both male and female as separate entities, which is understandable for someone raised in a monotheistic religion but the longer I pondered on it the more it made sense. I always found it hard to connect to a religion based around men, there had to be a feminine divinity somewhere, which I viewed as earth. I believed in a life force that was both masculine and feminine and that the divine lived in everything, that all things, including people had the divine within themselves. As my path has progressed I have come to view god and goddess as both one and entities in their own right, as well as believing that ancient pantheons are both mythical and actual. Each God/Goddess is just a manifestation of one higher being but people find it easier to connect with particular deities. In the words of Albert Einstein, "All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree." That pretty much sums up my beliefs.
A year on I haven't looked back. Although I went through a lot I'm glad I did, I might not have been where I am now if I hadn't. I had to repeat a year of school because of illness but I didn't really mind. The person that bullied me never got punished because there was no proof of them doing anything (did they want me to record it?!) but I've never wished anything bad on them. I let go of the "friends" that took me for granted and for once I'm completely content in my life. Finding this path has helped me in so many ways, to appreciate life, health, and the people that truly love me no matter what. (I was shown who really cared and who didn't while I was ill.) I've also came to appreciate myself as someone who loves and is deserving of love, we all have a god/goddess inside us and we should always remind ourselves that we are special in the eyes of the Gods. I pray everyday now but not out of fear, it is as though the Gods/Goddesses and I are friends rather than they are my masters and I am their servant. There is more to this life than living in fear of what may or may not exist, life is to be enjoyed and my spirituality plays a big part in my happiness and how I cope with the hardships of life. If it weren't for the Gods & Goddesses I don't think I'd even be here today so I am truly thankful for all that they have given me and continue to give. My journey is only beginning and I will have more to learn both in life and in this path and I'm ready to let that happen!
Well saying as I'm pagan and enjoy learning about how other people found this path I thought it was about time I shared my story. It's been almost a year since I began practising and letting people know what path I follow so I guess I should share! (Pre warning it's gonna be long and there'll be a lot of rambling but I'll try to just get the stuff I feel is important in.)
I guess my story begins at quite a young age. From I can remember I was always obsessed with ancient Egypt, their rituals, pantheon, symbols, everything ( I wanted to be an Egyptologist & could even write and understand hieroglyphs!) I would often pretend I was in an Egyptian temple, honouring the gods and goddesses, and holding my own little rituals. Growing up with two brothers meant I spent a lot of my play time on my own, but I let my imagination run free.
I was brought up Christian and was made to go to Sunday school every week but my parents weren't overly religious. I didn't mind it but I found it hard to connect in a church full of people, I didn't feel like I belonged. I then went with my cousin one week when I was ten to a Christian camp and I loved it! Afterwards I decided that I was a Christian, but my decision was based purely off the fact that I enjoyed the experience of the camp so much. My relationship with the Christian God/Jesus then started to take a turn. I found myself praying out of fear that if I wasn't thankful for all I had the people and things I held most dear in life would be taken from me and I wouldn't be accepted into heaven. I felt guilty that when I prayed my mind would wonder and I wasn't focusing on God or Jesus.
Soon after I declared myself atheist. I couldn't accept a religion that made me feel guilt, shame and fear. Where I'm from there is a religious divide between sects of Christianity, and I've seen the devastation it has caused. I remember when I was a child being asked my some other children if I was "a cup or a plate" or a "cat or puppy" I had no idea what they were taking about, but they meant was I Catholic or Protestant. If I was the opposite to them they didn't know how to react except "oh... I guess we can still play with you." It wasn't something I wanted to be associated with.
I spent live happily as an atheist for a few years, I'm a keen science enthusiast and trusted it for the answers to most things but I still felt like there was something missing. I had a connection with earth the whole time, particularly stormy weather and the moon but didn't think much on it, I was just thankful that for whatever reason it existed. Then when I was fifteen everything went downhill.
I don't want to make a sob story but it helped me to be where I am now. One day my parents busted me for going to a house party and I just burst into tears and couldn't stop crying, I even cried myself to sleep. The next day when they tried to talk to me about it I started bawling again but this time I couldn't stop, I don't even know why! My mum grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me go until I told her what was wrong but I couldn't stop to tell her because I didn't even know, I was crying for hours. They thought something bad had happened to me at the party but it hadn't. Being an Aquarius means I rarely express my feelings as I'm used to being the one everyone come to with their problems but no ones knows what to do when I have any because they're so used to me giving the advice. When I was asked a whole array of problems which might have caused me to act this way I finally had to think about it myself. I was bullied for five years and I'd never talked about it. I was always the one a joke was put on or any snide thing said would end in "...yeah, like Hannah." Even my friends were putting me down and treating me like a doormat, only hanging around with me because they knew I was always there for them or choosing me as a second option. I guess I was silly letting it go on for so long, but I never said anything because I was afraid to hurt the other people's feelings, even if they didn't care about mine. My mum had also been ill for two years so I was worried about her so pretty much a lot of bottled up emotion came out that no one had any idea about.
So it was out and that was fine but then at the beginning of my fifth year at secondary school (the big year for GCSEs) I got sick. It started as I cold and I was coughing a lot, but when my cold went away my cough was still there and it wasn't just a normal cough, it was a high pitched barking cough of someone who had been smoking 60 a day for 40 years. I started missing school more and more and eventually I had to resort to home schooling as it was disrupting my whole life. I couldn't concentrate, was getting migraines and has some serious chest and back pain which wasn't helped by the fact that I had all my vertebrae and my hip out of place and a nerve in my leg trapped with my spine and my hip after falling off a horse the previous year which I was unaware of. The muscles on my back were covered with scar tissue and were in constant spasm, not to mention my vocal chords. I saw countless specialists but no one could find out what was causing my cough. I was housebound for 8 months, only leaving to attend hospital appointments. (I looked like a corpse and I'll be afraid to show a photo of how I looked at the time but I'll add it once I get my camera back.) Eventually I saw a speech & language therapist and was given exercises to help me to relax. I never did anything to relax. I previously relaxed by doing word searches or researching things but never gave my brain or my body a rest. But while I was off I had the chance to do a lot of research and lots of online quizzes which I enjoy.
I managed to find one about what religion are you and I got the result wiccan/pagan. I read the description and I thought that sounds just like me! I was intrigued to learn more so started looking into the different paths and the more I read the more I felt like this is where I belonged. Many people say it feels like "coming home" when they find the religion that works for them, for me, I think I was always at home but never had to curtains open to see what else was out there.
When I began getting more and more into paganism I was all for the idea of the existence of magick and the energies of the earth. I found it hard to grasp the concept of both male and female as separate entities, which is understandable for someone raised in a monotheistic religion but the longer I pondered on it the more it made sense. I always found it hard to connect to a religion based around men, there had to be a feminine divinity somewhere, which I viewed as earth. I believed in a life force that was both masculine and feminine and that the divine lived in everything, that all things, including people had the divine within themselves. As my path has progressed I have come to view god and goddess as both one and entities in their own right, as well as believing that ancient pantheons are both mythical and actual. Each God/Goddess is just a manifestation of one higher being but people find it easier to connect with particular deities. In the words of Albert Einstein, "All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree." That pretty much sums up my beliefs.
A year on I haven't looked back. Although I went through a lot I'm glad I did, I might not have been where I am now if I hadn't. I had to repeat a year of school because of illness but I didn't really mind. The person that bullied me never got punished because there was no proof of them doing anything (did they want me to record it?!) but I've never wished anything bad on them. I let go of the "friends" that took me for granted and for once I'm completely content in my life. Finding this path has helped me in so many ways, to appreciate life, health, and the people that truly love me no matter what. (I was shown who really cared and who didn't while I was ill.) I've also came to appreciate myself as someone who loves and is deserving of love, we all have a god/goddess inside us and we should always remind ourselves that we are special in the eyes of the Gods. I pray everyday now but not out of fear, it is as though the Gods/Goddesses and I are friends rather than they are my masters and I am their servant. There is more to this life than living in fear of what may or may not exist, life is to be enjoyed and my spirituality plays a big part in my happiness and how I cope with the hardships of life. If it weren't for the Gods & Goddesses I don't think I'd even be here today so I am truly thankful for all that they have given me and continue to give. My journey is only beginning and I will have more to learn both in life and in this path and I'm ready to let that happen!
Monday, 3 October 2011
What's That?
If you've had a look over to the right you may have noticed that I'm joining in with the Witches Tea Party Under A Halloween Moon blog party, hosted by the lovely Frosted Petunias. This will be my first time participating in a blog party, so, naturally, I'm really excited! I intend to have a real tea party, well I'll be making lots of tasty treats that weekend anyway which will tie in nicely :) Is anyone else taking part? You really should!
P.S. A little sneak preview for next month, I'll be receiving my first Amarya Beauty Box, you've seen them all but this one is all natural & organic, how lovely! Also check out the up and coming Carmine Beauty Box that's yet to launch. I hope your October has got off to a wonderfully wicked start!
P.S. A little sneak preview for next month, I'll be receiving my first Amarya Beauty Box, you've seen them all but this one is all natural & organic, how lovely! Also check out the up and coming Carmine Beauty Box that's yet to launch. I hope your October has got off to a wonderfully wicked start!
Friday, 30 September 2011
It's October?!
(Technically it's still September but I won't have time to post this tomorrow!)
I really don't know where the time has gone this past month, it seems that everyone thinks the same. However, I am totally ready for one of my favourite months! So, I'll give you a round up of some things I'm hoping to talk about.
Last Samhain was when I properly dedicated myself to the pagan path, none in particular, but just to recognise the God & Goddess and all the other energies that exist. I thought it was fitting then to do a post on how I landed into paganism and why I even started looking into it in the first place. It will probably take me a while to write this post up, it's quite a long story (I went through a lot to get here) so I might not have it up until nearer the end of the month. There will most likely be quite a bit of Samhain related posts; recipes, rituals, how death has affected me etc. the usual things associated with this time of year.
Depending on how my school work and health goes I might not get to post as many things as I want, or I may post some random things that have nothing to do with this month at all (such as reviews or random thoughts that pop into my head which I find interesting enough to post.) Anyhow, I hope everyone's September was great and you have a fabulous weekend! xx
I really don't know where the time has gone this past month, it seems that everyone thinks the same. However, I am totally ready for one of my favourite months! So, I'll give you a round up of some things I'm hoping to talk about.
Last Samhain was when I properly dedicated myself to the pagan path, none in particular, but just to recognise the God & Goddess and all the other energies that exist. I thought it was fitting then to do a post on how I landed into paganism and why I even started looking into it in the first place. It will probably take me a while to write this post up, it's quite a long story (I went through a lot to get here) so I might not have it up until nearer the end of the month. There will most likely be quite a bit of Samhain related posts; recipes, rituals, how death has affected me etc. the usual things associated with this time of year.
Depending on how my school work and health goes I might not get to post as many things as I want, or I may post some random things that have nothing to do with this month at all (such as reviews or random thoughts that pop into my head which I find interesting enough to post.) Anyhow, I hope everyone's September was great and you have a fabulous weekend! xx
Wednesday, 28 September 2011
OPI Shimmer Swatches
Lena White has a section on their site called "Last Chance To Buy" with polishes that have been either just reduced or reduced to clear so I, of course, had to get some nail polishes I've had my eye on before they're gone! (The swatches are taken indoors under sunlight.)
If you've seen any of my latest swatches which I've done you'll notice how bad the condition of the skin around my nails is lately with me starting my habit of biting it (& a leighton denny nail polish not wanting to come off which resulted it me ripping off a chunk of skin!) So I've decided just to show the swatches on nail art display wheels, it also makes it easier to take pictures.
I've wanted this polish for agesssssss! I kept putting it off as it wasn't included in the "Huge Savings when you create your own collection" but when I saw it was going I knew this was my last chance. It's a beautiful coppery-wine shade packed with shimmer that screams autumn. As with most of OPI's shimmery polishes the sparkle is only visible in sunlight, however unlike these polishes it looks metallic in dim lighting instead of a flat block colour. A favourite already!
This is a gorgeous caramel-brown colour packed with gold shimmer and possibly very fine glitter which is actually visible in dim light. A summer-to-autumn transition colour if you're not quite ready to say bye bye to the sun.
I'm usually not drawn to pinks but I liked this shade as it's quite similar to Copper Mountain Copper except more berry toned (obviously.) It reminds me of Conquistadorable Color but it's darker and less bright yet has lots of shimmer. I think my mummy will like this for her toes :)
As it's a sunny day I thought I should add in the other shimmery OPI polishes I own as previous photos in ambient lighting doesn't show their full potential!
I hope you are having a wonderful day! Hannah xx
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| L-R: Copper Mountain Copper, Bronzed To Perfection & Berry Berry Broadway. |
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| Copper Mountain Copper |
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| Bronzed To Perfection |
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| Berry Berry Broadway |
As it's a sunny day I thought I should add in the other shimmery OPI polishes I own as previous photos in ambient lighting doesn't show their full potential!
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| Black Cherry Chutney |
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| OPI Ink / Nevermore |
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| Royal Rajah Ruby / Sanguine |
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| Unripened |
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