Pre-Holiday Reflections

I almost called this post "Pre-Holiday Musings" but I settled on "Reflections" because mirrors have been big lately. Not in an obvious way, just in that I realized I have a lot of mirrors. I started noticing the abundance of mirrors when I took down the big one on the porch so the house could be painted. I have mirrors on the doors, reflecting my dinning table, shinning down the hallway, I just got a new one for the bathroom, and of course, there is one facing my bed. A while back I did a post wondering whether or not that was a good placement. (Don't ask me to post a link, I'm feeling lazy. Just take my word for it.) I have discovered the mirror makes no difference what so ever because all I see is Will. I don't look at anything but him. I forget every thing else in the world.

I love mirrors and I have been thinking of expanding my magickal use of them. I'd really like to have more in my garden. I've been noticing many altars online with crystals and candles on mirrors. The effect is beautiful. For someone who so loves mirrors, it might surprise you to know I hate looking in them. I know that's a paradox. There's a good bit of psychology, but I don't want to delve into it.

To me, mirrors fall under the element of water. I suppose they could just as easily be air given that they are glass, or fire given that fire (and air) makes glass. Of course, sand (earth) is also needed. But I think of mirrors as watery and at the beginning of August, the time of blazing heat, the fiery end of summer, I begin to long for water. I love the coolness of the Tallapoosa River, I love the way the wind sighes over the water, gathering up moisture to make the air thick and chilly. There are few people on the River at this time of the year. Memorial Day and the Fourth are over. Everybody went home to start school. There'll be a sudden rush on Labor Day Weekend, but this will mainly be people who own cabins on the lake looking for one last hurrah before they close the lake house for fall.

One reason I became dissatisfied with Wicca is that for all its trappings, Goddesses, and correspondences, none of it actually applied to where I live. I truly believe a Witch lives her magick, and that magick is based in Nature. Not just any Nature, but the intimate knowledge of the Witch's personal time and space. I don't even know what to call Lammas because there is no word for scorched-land-yearning-for-rain-and-swelling-river. I don't even like to call it a harvest festival because my garden is always spent at this time. There is no food left for me to gather. I thought about making bread, but as I don't grow wheat that seems just a tad silly. This is the time of year when I start thinking about fall planting and that's a beginning, not an end.

This is the time of year when I become aware of the closure that is to come. I love fall. I love how everything winds down, becomes slower, sleepier, colder. Fall is the only season where I actually live in the moment rather than being hyped-up and rushing madly for what might come. Sadly, what I usually prepare for either doesn't happen or is a let-down when I do get it. I think one of New Year's Resolutions will be to accept what each season has to offer.

Part of being a Witch in this Time and Place is learning to do what this land wants. The land will speak if you will listen and it will very plainly state what it needs. And I think if I am to be a good Witch, I must learn to serve those needs. I'm not lighting candles or casting circles or calling Higher Beings. I'm going outside to ground myself into my bit of earth. I'm going to tell this place what plans I have, and then I will listen so I can know if the land agrees. That's my whole ritual from beginning to end. What are you doing?