Pagan

See the truth

~ marjolijnmakes ~ Leave a comment
A soft coloured photo of a pair of glasses. The frame is oval shaped and the lenses are a soft pink. The background is soft pink and yellow
Photo by Dids on Pexels

Sometimes our own perception of people can be (rose)coloured because of nostalgia, or the expectations that we have wrongfully placed upon them. This poppet spell helps take off those rose tinted glasses and let go of the person we built in our heads, to instead see and accept the real them.

You need:
– paper and scissors
– pen
– pink coloured pen (optional)
– string or twine

Fold your paper in half and cut out a gingerbread person shape, so you have two separate poppets. On one poppet, write (with rose tinted ink if you wish) your coloured view of this person. On the other, write what you know to be the truth. Make sure these line up on both poppets. So, for example, on your one poppet you write “kindhearted” in pink ink on their left arm. On you other poppet you write “mean” on their left arm.

Lay the poppets on top of each other, writing facing up. Your coloured view will be the top one. With the string, tie their wrist, ankles, waist, and neck together. Take a moment to look at the things you’ve written and see this person in your mind as you see them now.

Over the course of however long it takes (do not rush this!) take the poppet and read one of the qualities you’ve written. Focus on this, why did you think this? Let any thoughts or memories come to you and sit with them for a moment. When you’re ready, cut the thread and fold the limb over until your top writing is no longer visible. Look at the truth you’ve revealed. Why is this the truth? Reflect on what it makes you feel and whatever memories or thoughts come up.

At the end you’re left with a crumpled up poppet. Toss that one out in the trash, you no longer need this twisted view of this person. The other poppet you can keep as a reminder, or simply toss it away as well. Whatever feels right for you.

Be aware that this can be a pretty emotional spell, so really take your time, and let whatever emotions come up sit with you for however long you need. Take your time and take care of yourself.

Nemetona

~ marjolijnmakes ~ Leave a comment

Okay, typing this out with possibly a second covid infection on top of my long covid, so the brainfog is real. Hope it makes sense, lol

Some thoughts on Nemetona and sacred space

an areal view of a piece of open field with trees on the left and bottom. Slightly to the right is a labyrinth in the grass.
Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

Basic intro from Wikipedia: “Nemetona, or ‘she of the sacred grove’, is a Celtic goddess with roots in northeastern Gaul. She is thought to have been the eponymous deity of the Germano–Celtic people known as the Nemetes;[2][3] evidence of her veneration is found in their former territory along the Middle Rhine[1][4] as well in the Altbachtal sanctuary in present-day Trier, Germany.[3][2][5] She is also attested in Bath, England, where an altar to her was dedicated by a man of the Gallic Treveri people.[2][6]“

So Nemetona is the Goddess of the Sacred Grove, which is what the Gaul and British people possibly used to venerate their deities. A lot of what you find about modern veneration of Nemetona is how she is the Goddess of the Grove, the Goddess of the sacred places deep within the woods. And I have absolutely felt her presence there. So I didn’t bother to look further to be honest.

Then, at the beginning of the week, I felt the call to look deeper into her, and perhaps reconnect with her on a deeper level. I came across the book Dancing with Nemetona by Joanna van der Hoeven. It’s not a great book, and it is not a long book, but it had some pretty good points about where to find Nemetona outside of the Grove:

Your personal space. We all have this bubble of space which we consider “ours”, an invisible border that people can invade when they get too close. This is *your* space, *your* body and therefore it is/can be sacred.

Your home and hearth. Another example of *your* space that hopefully is a safe environment. A place where you can relax and be your true self. Take care to keep it that way, or to create a small bit of safe and comforting space within your home if you share it with others. One room, the showerstall, whatever you need. This can also be sacred space, dedicated to Nemetona.

Ritual space. Joanne is a druid, so they very much still work with casting circles, which is a pretty obvious example of making sacred space. However, your altar/shrine space, your kitchen while creating kitchen magic, your art studio, all can be made sacred if/when you need it.

Sanctuary. We talked about safe space before, so anything that is a sanctuary can also be a sacred space to Nemetona. Wildlife reserves, (women’s) shelters, even churches.

It gave me a lot to think about and new ways to connect with Nemetona without “just” needing to see her as a Goddess of Sacred Groves. So hail the Lady of Sanctuary, hail the Lady of Boundaries and Edges, hail Nemetona!

Floral Pentagram

~ marjolijnmakes ~ 2 Comments

And it’s finally done! This took months, but I am very proud. My first time drawing botanicles in this way, which was a journey. I’m hoping to get this laserprinted (burned?) onto a ringbinder to serve as a Book of Shadows/Grimoire.

Magic: the Gathering, the oracle

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Magic: the Gathering is known for it’s amazing artworks. Did you know that they now have art cards? Did you know these are amazing for making your own oracle deck? Did you know these are cheap????

I mean look at this? Discover the Impossible by Ryan Pancoast. When I saw this card I immediately had several meanings: dreams, imagination, other world, and yeah; discover the impossible.

Introduction to Prophesy by Micah Epstein. Time, divination, visions, discovery of your power.

Crackle with Power by Micah Epstein again! Know your own power, stand your ground, let them see what they are dealing with

I could go on and on but I won’t. So the good: many different styles of art, including watercolour, digital, stained glass, traditional japanese, manga, and black and white lineart. Cheap: I paid €0,50 per card. Fully customizable. With new sets coming out there will be new cards, so you can keep adding things as you like. Beautiful and evocative art. You have signed and unsigned versions, so you can choose. (the website shows the signed versions with the signature in yellow, on the unsigned version there is no signature at all.)

So the… not bad per se, but things to keep in mind: they have no backs. The backs are white and include the M:tG logo, the title of the artwork and the artist. You can always back the cards yourself if you wish to. The cardstock of earlier cards seems lesser. A bit more thin and flimsy, I don’t care, but some might. So far it’s the Zendikar and Kaldheim. The cards come in horizontal and vertical, making readings look a bit more messy. I found that I do not care, the cards are amazing

Stardew Shrines

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A thing I’ve been looking into lately is pop culture paganism/witchcraft. There are so many interesting ideas and ways of working to be found, and it’s really been a huge source of inspiration for my own path. One of the things I’ve done is made some shrines in a game! Stardew Valley was my game of choice, and I made some sheds to serve as shrines/temples. Take a look!

Shrine for Cernunnos
Shrine for Nehalennia
Shrine for Baduhenna
Shrine for Liyesa, pop-culture goddess of beauty
Shrine for the Gilded Three, pop-culture triple deity of fate, creativity, and stories

Prayer Beads

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A set of prayer beads laying in a spiral. A crystal drop is the first bead, laying on the outside of the spiral. Following are all round beads of the same size. First the colours of the Gilbert Baker pride flag, a pentagram charm, white an grey beads, a triple moon charm with a pentagram in the centre, a string of different coloured beads representing the wheel of the year. Those are shimmery white, soft pink, red, yellow and white striped, green with copper glitter, brown with copper glitter, dark red and black, and crackled transparent. The beads end with a silver key charm.

I’ve been getting back into prayer beads lately, so I thought I would share my latest set! This set is meant to symbolize the Gilbert Baker pride flag and the meaning of each colour, the phases of the moon, and the wheel of the year. A more generalized witchy set, instead of one specific to a deity.

Baduhenna Moodboard

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I’ve been taking the time to delve deeper into Baduhenna , and what she stands for beyond the battle aspect. It’s been pretty illuminating for me, although I’m still searching and researching if the UPG that comes up has some bases in history or not. For now, a moodboard on Baduhenna in her aspects of Goddess of the Wetland Forest and Witchcraft (UPG)

A moodboard of nine pictures, all in even squares. The pictures are: a fern, a misty forest edge, a forest from above, bundles of herbs drying on a string, a woman hiding in green ferns with only her eye and part of her face visible, a hand holding a large crystal point, dew on lady's-mantle plant, three tarot cards on a table with a candle and crystals, a river surrounded by trees.

All pictures through Unsplash: [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X] [X]

Full Moon powder

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A small row of four glass vials with a cork stopper. Inside the vials is a white and cream powder. The vials are standing on a blue and yellow background: Starry night on the Rhone by Vincent van Gogh.

Grind the ingredients up as fine as you’re able. (The shells took me three days! 😭)

  • One part ground sea shell
  • One part elder flower
  • Two parts jasmine flower
  • Two parts sea salt

Use to sprinkle onto your workspace during spellwork, on or around the items you want to charge with the moon’s energy, onto your deck for a full moon reading, or wherever else you wish to!

Home filled with love

~ marjolijnmakes ~ 1 Comment

Sometimes I think that my house is boring and bland. But then I look around, and on top of the closet we have the wooden cat that my mother in law gave us, my mom’s old typewriter, my partner’s grandfather’s antique radio, the rainbow ampersand that we used in our wedding, and an entire row of jars with dice in them because they’re colourful and they make me happy when I look at them.

We don’t have a lot on our walls, but two were a gift from me to my partner, one was a gift from him to me. We have a wedding gift given by my grandparents which is an artpiece we both love, a poster of our favourite poem which was a birthday gift, and an amazing papyrus print that my mother in law got us in Egypt.

In front of the TV part of my seashell collection that I’ve been collecting since I was a young kid is displayed together with a beautiful ceramic tealight holder that my dad and second mom got us. In the bookcase is a crocheted dinomonster that a friend designed made based of my drawings.

Our house might not be decorated in any way that would pass muster, but it is filled with love.