April Fool/ All Fool's Day.

We've all fallen victim to pranksters on this day at some point in our lives.  The general consensus is that once midday hits then the joking is over, thankfully.  But have you ever wondered where April Fool's Day originated?

The earliest recorded evidence of this date and the joking comes from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales from 1392, but there have been numerous links to it throughout time and history.  Some claim it is the first day of spring in many cultures and some sources claim it dates back to when the Gregoriam calender was introduced.  The new year was celebrated for eight days from March 25th with the celebrations coming to an end on April 1st.  But, during those times it took quite a long time for the news to reach everyone about how the calender had been chaged, and thus changing certain dates, and therefore those who still celebrated the new year at this time were considered fools.  They were made the butt of practical jokes by some people, hence how the day may have got it's name and reputation.

 

© 2011 Susan Park.  All Rights Reserved.

Which Goddess am I?

Which Goddess lurks in your soul?
Demeter
You are a true earth warrior! Demeter is the Greek Goddess of the fields, grain and harvest and inhabits those souls who long to be a part of the green. You have a special connection with plants and care deeply for the Earth. You tend to be motherly and protective of those that are in your care and are not above severe aggression when one of your charges is harmed or threatened.
 
Well this sounds very like me!

Magpies.

I've always been a tad superstitious and mutter the usual rhyme to myself whenever I see a magpie;

"One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four a boy.
Five for silver.
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told......."
And so on.

I always say "Good Morning/Afternoon Mr. Magpie, how's the wife and kids?" whenever I see a lone magpie too. And if I can I look about as usually the partner is not too far behind. A while back I talked about Magpies and learning more about the superstitions surrounding them and to be perfectly honest with you what I found was nothing I didn't already know.
I was quite disappointed by this because I was certain I was seeing far more magpies than anyone else. After a while I gave up my research, deciding I had learned all I needed to about the birds.

But a couple of months back a friend of mine lost her baby - he was stillborn. On the day of his funeral I was leaving my house and a lone magpie flew over - quite apt I thought. Then four together flew over. Now this really spooked me as I have never seen more than two magpies together. I am not saying that it is unheard of - think about the rhyme, it must happen sometimes. I took it as a sign for the day.
Then a few weeks later I was reading a well known Occult magazine and I came across the horoscope section. I do love reading my stars but in this particular magazine they have a lengthy section for each star sign; it gives an in depth reading and says things about colour, gemstone, flower and so on for each sign. This particular time in the list for each sign they were saying what bird was associated with that sign and for Taurus it was the magpie.

I told my husband and he smiled and said - "Well now you know why you see more than everyone else." which was a lovely surprise as he "isn't in to this sort of thing". Now whenever I see magpies I don't feel angry or expect bad news, I just accept that they are "my" bird.



© 2011 Susan Park.  All Rights Reserved.

Renewing my spirit.

Witchcraft, occultism, alternative beliefs, they all fascinate me.  I was brought up as a Christian, I went to church with my family and attended the Sunday school regularly.  By the time I had reached the age of around ten the whole concept of Christianity felt wrong.  Something that I couldn't put my finger on at the time felt wrong about it all.
By the time I was 14 I had discovered a book of spells in my parent's bedroom.  It belonged to my Dad - this surprised me as he seemed to be into the whole church thing and had even considered becoming a vicar, had looked into becoming a catholic and obviously had looked into the occult. 
I had a crush on someone and felt the right thing to do was to cast a spell as he had never even noticed me.  It didn't work - or not how had hoped anyway.  He was seven years older than me and there was no way the 21 year old him was going to get involved with the 14 year old me.  Fast forward two years and we find that the spell has worked - sort of.  He propositioned me for a one night stand, but I found him to be smelly and unwashed and I certainly had no pyhsical feelings for him anymore.  Funnily enough, the following year his friend and I began dating and now, 23 years later, we have been married for coming on 21 years and have 3 kids.
I left magick alone until my late teens, where I began to read up about stuff.  During my early twenties I began practicing witchcraft, and now at almost 40, I am comfortable with my spirituality.
I am what you might call an "in the closet witch", due to the fact my family would be less than understanding about my beliefs (well, actually my MIL).  I'm happy with this decision and see no need for me to be blurting it out to people not in the know.

The idea behind this blog is for me to keep abreast of my ponderings in the occult world.  I ponder lots of different things and never really record my findings, so I think it might be wise to have some record - I'm not talking a Book Of Shadows here, or a Grimoire, but just my stuff on the spiritual, witchy front.


© 2011 Susan Park.  All Rights Reserved.