INKwitchery – Page 46 – art & life • beauty & style • words & witchery

Arianrhod : Goddess of the Wheel

11.28.12 No Comments

Alternate spellings: Aranrhod, Arianrod.
Pronunciation: ahr-ee-AHN-hrod

Arianrhod (“Silver Wheel”, or “Queen of the Wheel”), is the Welsh Goddess of the Wheeling Stars, and one of the Children of Dôn, the Welsh mother goddess and counterpart to Danu. Arianrhod is the virgin mother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, hero of light, and Dylan, child of the sea.

She is a celestial goddess, and Her realm is called Caer Sidi, which likely means “Revolving Castle”; Caer Sidi is depicted as a great turning island surrounded by Sea and located in the North. It is also one of the names for the realm of Annwn, the Otherworld or land of the dead, and is described as a wonderful place, with no sickness or old age and sweet music always playing. Both the spinning of the castle and its location in the North connect it with the Pole Star, around which the heavens swirl. Her castle, Caer Arianrhod, is said to be the constellation of Corona Borealis, also called Ariadne’s Crown. Ariadne appears to be a distant relative; she shares with Arianrhod the imagery of spiral movement and a central star, in the turnings of the labyrinth and in its inhabitant–on Crete, the Minotaur was sometimes called Asterios, “Star”.

Witchery

Pagan Meme : Getting to Know You

11.27.12 No Comments

This meme has been going around Tumblr and the web for ages now and I’ve always wanted to do it, so here goes! 😉

BASICS
Do you have a magical/Pagan name? No. However, my nickname is Star, and it has been for years now. I think it’s fitting given the fact that I love stars (the night sky, astrology etc….)
What does it mean? See above.
How did you find Paganism? My first exposure to it was in high school while memorizing the script for Shakespeare’s Macbeth (I was one of the witches!). After that, it was always something I had an interest in though I didn’t get very far in my reading/research then due to other distractions.
How long have you been practicing? I’ve been actively practicing for about a year now, though I’ve dabbled on and off since my early 20s.
Solitary or group practitioner? Solitary. I’m open to meeting/learning from others though!
What is your path? Eclectic would probably be the best way to describe it. I choose to call myself a witch, with an emphasis on sea witchery.
Are you out of the broom closet? Somewhat.

General

La Mer, Le Etoiles & La Lune

11.26.12 2 Comments

I cannot tell you how long I’ve been searching for the perfect wrap bracelet/talisman that incorporates all the things I love. I even went so far as to source the items/tools to make it myself, but was discouraged as I hadn’t the jewelry making abilities, the tools, nor time to devote to it.

I came across The Gypsy Rebel shop on Etsy, and immediately gravitated to Lindsay’s creations. Her shop is full of unique and magically delicious pieces. I couldn’t resist. So, with her talent and knowledge we co-created a custom piece to represent the stars, the sea, and the moon – the three things that inspire me – and this is what she made for me.

Witchery

Sea Witchery & Learning Tarot

11.23.12 No Comments

Since rediscovering my path a little more than a year ago, I’ve read various books, websites, articles and whatever else I’m able to get my witchy hands on. (Btw, you can view the list of books I’ve read this year here. I hope to add on to that list for 2013.) Thankfully, the Internet has a wealth of information, websites, and knowledgeable people one can seek and learn from. Of course, you do have to keep an open mind, and more often than not, have to take things with a grain of salt.

I’ve been able to narrow down my research, and I’m focusing more on setting up a guidelines/structure for myself. I’ve followed the Wheel of the Year ever since I was in my 20s, so certain things I came across in my research weren’t all that new to me. This past year was more of a refresher course. Also, I’ve become much more comfortable acknowledging and celebrating the Sabbats/Esbats out in the open. Meaning, around close friends and certain family members.

General

Some Updates

11.22.12 No Comments

First of all, you don’t want to know how long it took me to find a WordPress theme I can live with. I’m quite particular with website layouts/themes as I used to create them for my personal sites. I like things to be minimalistic, and font sizes to be a nice, normal, readable size – not too big, not too small. I haven’t updated here in a few days due to me not liking the look of my site, thus not wanting to write or update at all. I’m sure I’m not alone in this mindset. In any case, I like this current theme very much and I hope it won’t give me problems down the line.

Secondly, since moving from Tumblr to my own server, I feel so much more… well, comfortable with sharing my thoughts. I will miss the constant information/reblogs that Tumblr provides, but my main objective with creating this blog is to get in tune with my spirituality, and be better organized about it. Having Bewitchery on my domain allows me to freely organize, categorize and add on to my blog as I see fit. I feel Tumblr is very limiting especially for the long term.

Thirdly, 2013 is fast approaching and I plan to participate in a couple projects, the Pagan Blog Project and the Pagan Insights Project. I’m looking forward to writing more, learning from others and meeting new and like-minded people through these projects. If you plan to join PBP and/or PIP, do let me know so we can motivate each other to write/learn/share! 🙂

The Divine

A Guide to Arianrhod

11.16.12 No Comments

Alternative spellings :
Aranrhod and Arianrod.

Her name has been translated as silver-wheel, a symbol that represents the ever-turning wheel of the year. The wheel may also refers to the oar wheel upon which she carried the dead back to her heavenly northern land the Corona Borealis. Here according to some Welsh traditions the dead souls waited for the Goddess and her female attendants to decide their fate before being reincarnated.