Kathleen Borealis

Helping humankind live with the earth not against it

Category: pagan (Page 2 of 4)

dual purpose everything.

February 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Now, I have no citations for this post, this is all opinion. Disclaimer over, here I go!

Dual purpose tools. It is my opinion that the modern witchcrafting tools are derived from common everyday tools, herbs, and supplies. Things that were common to the area the witch lived, and common around the house. Everyone had a cauldron or some sort of large vesicle in the hearth, because that is how things were cooked. Mortar and pestle and knives were common place objects in the kitchen. Even the herbs and curios were plants, animals and things found in the environment. Witches were not rich, they were thrifty! They used the tools already around them! That is how I choose to view things, and how I run my practice. Use what you have, find what you need, no need to break the bank.
I would like to then talk to you about my latest project. Coconut bowls. I have been updating on twitter about the progress of my beauties but I wanted to run through some of the rational and uses for them.
I am currently finishing the inside with a food safe butcher block oil and finish. Why? Because it is important to me that they be dual purpose! These bowls can be used as, bowls, cups (as is done at the Kava bar), decor for the house, and offering bowls for my alter (their original purpose). So while I did not need to make them food safe to use them as offering bowls, since I would also like them to be water safe and food safe I took a few extra steps in finishing them.
My alter in fact is more of the garden window. My God and Goddess candles moonlight as either decor for the mantle or for the dining room table. My mortar and pestle while used for craft workings live in my kitchen, and my incense burner moves around the house. As a geologists I always have rocks out so they just sort of rotate through. My garden window is my favorite nook in my place, and yes I do move things around and pull out some special items when I do any workings… but, it is dual purpose. I currently have herbs and vegetable starts in the window soaking up the sun.
I would love to hear your thoughts on dual purpose tools!

Local Lore: Meteorites

April 5, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I stumbled upon some arctic lore about a specific rock that is believed to be a meteorite but the Inuit in northern Alaska. I thought you guys might enjoy it!

Unusual powers are similarly attributed to a large black rock in the
Point Barrow area, thought by Inuit to be of meteoric origin. Rochfort
Maguire’s journal (Bockstoce, 1988:541) gives the following account:

Among the few remarkable features of this dreary coast is a large
stone, about four sleeps from Point Barrow, near Point Tangent… The
natives assert it is a “fire stone,” and fell from the sky within the
memory of people now living. No one saw it fall; but one woman, about
sixty years of age, said she traveled that way yearly as a girl, when
there was no such stone there, and that in returning one summer, her
people were much surprised to see it, and believed it had fallen from
the sky….

It is said to enlarge and present a full rounded appearance
at times, where deer are plentiful in the neighborhood, as it feeds
upon them, killing and devouring a great many at a time.

Borealis Meditation episode 11: Earthquakes, fossils and earth

March 31, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Borealis Meditation Episode 11:
Listen here
download slides here
(I had trouble getting the IRIS and USGS slides to upload)
Download IRIS slides here
Download USGS slides here

Geology 101: Earthquakes, Japan Earthquake and Fossilization
(Pagan Community Fundraising Page – for Doctors Without Borders)
(Red Cross)
Music: none this time sorry 🙁
Weekly Update: earthquakes & volcanoes
Feature Mineral: not a mineral, fossils!
Elements: Earth
associations lists post

New contest for episode 12 & 13 post

Links for the Japan Earthquake:
USGS earthquake page technical information:

NOAA:
Tsunami warning page of the pacific current and past
March 11, 2011 Honshu tsunami propagation model video

IRIS:
Teachable moments

Technical information (sent out to the scientific community)with links to more

Harvard Seismology
Preliminary Rupture Modeling of the March 11, 2011 Tohoku-Chiho Taiheiyo-Oki Earthquake and Sequence of Events using the USArray Transportable Array

Science Insider: seismic waves in the US animation and article

Because I like good news even in the midst of bad:
The New York Times: Japan’s Strict Building Codes Saved Lives

The AGU Blogosphere
Blogs written by scientists about science hosted by one of the larger professional organizations. A good place to look around

Badass of the week:
Hideaki Akaiwa

Plus a more serious article about him from Forbes

Fire Contest!

March 31, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Contest for episode 12 and 13 FIRE
What you win: a piece of pumice I collected on Montserrat!

What does the word fire mean to you?
What images dose the word fire bring up? Does it matter what mind set you are in?
what stones do you associate with fire?
What else do you associate with fire?
How do you experience the element of fire?
WHAT IS FIRE TO YOU!?

These questions are good for the next two episodes, we are talking about fire so any comments, questions let me know. We are going to talk about volcanoes so if you have any specific questions about specific volcanoes or eruptions let me know!

Email me answers or comment on this post!

Earth Associations

March 31, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Association lists From my google search
first site

EARTH
Direction: North.
Rules: The body, growth, nature, sustenance, material gain, money, creativity, birth, death, silence, chasms, caves, caverns, groves, fields, rocks, standing stones, mountains, crystal, jewels, metal.
Time: Midnight.
Season: Winter.
Colors: Black, brown, green, white.
Zodiac: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn.
Tools: Pentacle/Pentagram, Salt, Images, Stones, Gems, Trees, Boline, Crystal and gem Magick.
Spirits: Gnomes, Dwarfs and Trolls who inhabit the interior of the Earth and are the consciousness of precious gems, minerals and the Earth herself. Ruled by King Ghob, Gob, or Ghom.
Angel: Gabriel.
Wind: Boreas, Ophion.
Sense: Touch.
Jewel: Rock crystal, salt.
Incense: Frankinsense, Storax.
Plants: Comfrey, ivy, grains: barley, oats, corn, rice, rye, wheat.
Tree: Oak.
Animals: Cow or bull, bison, snakes (earth-dwelling), stag.
Goddesses: Ceres, Demeter, Geae, Mah, Nephthys, Persephone, Prithivi, Rhea, Rhiannon, Macha, Innana, Epona.
Gods: Adonis, Athos, Arawn, Cernunnos, Dionysus, Marduk, Pan, Tammuz, Mabon.
Ritual Work: Night, Midnight, Winter, Riches, Treasures, Surrendering of self-will, Touch, Empathy, Incorporation, Business, Prosperity, Employment, Stability, Success, Fertility, Money

Second site

Earth
SANSKRIT/IRISH/LATIN: Prithivi/Talamh/
DIRECTION: North
ASSOCIATIONS: Stability, food, wealth, crops, animals, home, mountains, strength, grounding, protecting, nature, death/rebirth,
QUALITIES: dry, cold, heavy, passive
GENDER: feminine, receptive
MAGICAL POWER: To be silent
COLORS: brown, black, green
ARCHANGEL: Uriel/Auriel
ELEMENTAL BEING: Gnomes
ELEMENTAL KING: Ghobe
ANIMALS: most four-legged, animals that go by night
PLANTS: Celtic trees – Ash, Dwarf Elm, Hawthorn. Herbs – Patchouli, Vetiver, Wheat Natives – Bald Cypress, Inland Sea-Oats, Texas Persimmon, Elbow-bush, Indiangrass
STONES: Amazonite, Emerald, Hematite/Hematine, Jade, Jet, Lodestone, Malachite, Peridot, Serpentine, Turquoise
METALS: (Iron), Lead, Mercury
MYTHOLOGICAL BEINGS: Giants, Leprechauns, Trolls
KERUB: Bull
TAROT SUIT: Pentacles/Coins/Discs
TAROT TRUMPS: Devil, Empress, Emperor, World
RUNES: Fehu, Wunjo, Jera, Berkano, Mannaz, Othala
ZODIAC SIGNS: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
PLANETS: (Jupiter, Saturn)
HOUR: Midnight
DAY(S): (Thursday, Saturday)
SEASON: Winter
LIFE CYCLE: Old Age
ALCHEMICAL SYMBOL: downward pointing triangle bisected by horizontal line
TATTWA SYMBOL: Yellow Square
QABALISTIC SEPHIROT: Malkuth/Kingdom
MAGICAL TOOLS: Pentacle, Rock, Hammer, Salt, Shield, Drum
CHAKRA(S): Root
TYPES OF MAGIC: Household, Prosperity, Ancestors, Fertility, Grounding, Protection, Eco-Magic
POSITIVE CHARACTERISTICS: Reliable, punctual, stable, perservering, wise
NEGATIVE CHARACTERISTICS: Greedy, sensualist, materialistic, stodgy, narrow-minded
OVERBALANCE: Boring, tunnel-vision, materialistic
UNDERBALANCE: Unreliable, careless, tasteless

Third Site

EARTH:
Represents: Physical, Force that holds atoms together, practical application, consolidation
Direction: North
Days: Friday, Saturday
Zodiac Signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn
Dragon: Grael (Grail)
Gender: Feminine
Colors: Greens, Browns, Earth Tones
Season: Winter
Time of Day: Midnight
Magickal Tools: Pentacle, Dish , salt, wood, powders, dirt, stones, gems
Elemental Beings: Gnomes , dwarves, trolls
Earth Locales: Farms, Caves, Fields
Animals: Large Animals, Docile or Domestic Animals
Body Parts: Muscles, Bones, Other Tissues
Human Qualities: Body, Strength
Herbs: Alfalfa, Barley, Buckwheat, Corn, Cotton, Cypress, Fern, Honeysuckle, Magnolia, Mugwort, Oats, Patchouli, Pea, Potato, Rye, Sage, Salt, Tulip, Vervain, Wheat
Foods: Starchy, heavy, plain
Music: Drums, spirited and rhythmic chanting, the blues, deliberate and earthy music, down-home country
Clothing: Practical, comfortable, timeless, earthy and uncreative, browns and greens, natural fabric, corduroy, roomy, chunky and natural accessories (like wood beads)
Rituals: night, midnight, winter, riches, treasures, surrendering self-will, empathy, incorporation, business, prosperity, employment, stability, success, fertility, money.


Forth site

Element of Earth.
Traditional tool or weapon is the altar pentacle. Tarot suit is pentacles or coins and in a deck of cards diamonds. Compass point is north. Colour in the Western Tradition is green (or brown) although the Airt colour is black. Earth represents understanding and is related to growth, material gain, employment and the home, prosperity, stability and fertility! Power: to be silent. Season: Winter.

School magic

March 23, 2011 / / 1 Comment

I have been cleaning my office today and I noticed something I guess I have noticed before but not given voice to. The energies of my different classes. Before every class starts I buy a notebook to take notes. Binders come later when I get a feel for the paper load and therefore size of binder required for the class. These notebooks I have only ever used for 1 class. Occasionally, I will pick one up for some random notes but it just feels wrong. I also stopped taking the note pages out and putting them in the binders because that also feels wrong.

So I started thinking about this. Why is there such a repulsion of other notes by these notebooks? I think its because of the energy I put into my studies. I am a lifelong student. I love my classes. I pour my heart and soul into my work. So these notebooks embody the energies of the class I took them too. When I pick up the volcanology notebook for my undergrad it is still filled with the energy of that specific class.

So I guess you could say I have charged notebooks. I change them with energy specific to the class I used them in. Does anyone else have a similar experience?

Kathleen
Student

Back from the ocean!

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

It feels like the next episode should be on water since that’s what I spent my week in… but its not, it is the second “earth” episode! My life should take on a semi-regular rhythm for the next few months so hopefully I can crank some episodes out! I have a large to do list for the next one though!

First up please look back at the contest for this episode: here

We are going to be discussing earthquakes in the geology 101 and I am going to go over some of the new information that has come out about the Japan earthquake. I was only sort of in touch with the world this last week so I need to catch up before I write that segment.

For the earth segment: please send me lists of correspondences and associations for the element earth! I am going to take all the ideas from the two earth episodes and write something up for the blog so its all in one place!

Spring may have come to Alaska finally! I can hear the snow melt and it’s a wonderful time of mud and sun! I am going to collect a last batch of snow water from north of me and it should be for sale on the etsy shop soon! 🙂

I am looking forward to some regular blogging and podcasting so keep your eyes and ears open!

I will leave you with the signature from my work email, a quote that has rung true this last week.

“Civilization exists by geologic consent, subject to change without notice.”
– William James Durant (1885–1981)
American philosopher, historian, and writer

Oh my!

February 18, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Job interviews, thesis defense and weekend training trip. I wont be recording again until March!

I’ll get one episode out before my Spring break (then I am gone again) and should be more regular after that!

Sorry about that!

In the next episode we are going to talk about the Earth again, this time as a element and what the associations are. Kai brought up a good point: you can think of the elements as states of matter: Solid (earth), liquid (water), gas (air), energy/plasma (fire and spirit)

I liked that so much I am going to start with that idea!

I think I am going to talk about fossils this next time (another organic living -> rock thing) and talk about the fossilization process, so fossils and petrified wood! as usual if you have any associates, or magical uses please let me know! If you want more in the metaphysical section you have to contribute! I’ve said many times that my path took a sharp right at earth science and I am just now pulling the metaphysical stuff back up and studying it again.

Also don’t forget the contest! I have tons of stuff so as soon as I can get rid of these, there are more. And I might give some rocks away next time if you like that more… I have some I am saving for when I talk about them… but there are a few more!

Blessed Be and Rock On! (new punny ending next time! 😉 )

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