Zentangle Challenge #2

Ok, so I have stumbled upon this Zentangle Weekly Challenge put out by The Diva, she started for 2011 so I went back to the beginning of the challenges.... they are supposed to be weekly, but I'm playing catch up, and well, if I want to do more than one or skip around, that's a benefit of starting late! 

The challenge for Week 2 can be found HERE and the task was to use two pencils together to make the string, kind of cool is a really easy way to get a Ribbon Effect. I chose a ZigZag. Well I bought the book The Art of Zentangle: 50 Inspiring drawings, designs & ideas for the meditative Artist  and seriously, there are some great things in there!!! Even how to do Fae with Zentangle. Anyway love the book. And I got to this part of my Tangle and got stuck, I couldn't decide what to do with the empty space, I knew I wanted spirals on the ribbon, but had this gap to fill.  Which was frustrating, so I took a break and then came back to it. 

 

About 30 minutes after my break I sat back down and flipped through my book, and thought the arcs are a great way to fill in this space, it would have a yin/yang effect by having half the grid dark and half the grid light, and I knew what I was going to do with the Ribbon, though the double circles between was a surprise!

Other Tangles I've done are this Brighids Cross for Imbolc:

And here you can see some practicing in my notebook with the ideas from the wonderful Art of Zentangle book, but most important the Toadstool, an experiment in color, feels very Wonderland to me, and I think a Toadstool series for the notecards I'm making would be fabulous!!

I actually did the 3rd Challenge already too, but I'm being good and only one Challenge "tile" per post so I can directly link them to the linky machine on The Divas Site. 

I'm really enjoying the Zen Tangle, and the many options available by delving into this. It makes me look artistic when I'm really not, lol. 

Zentangle Challenge #1 Simplicity

Well I need to get on the laptop and link back to the Challenge Website, but first the pictures. I've been learning about Zentangle, it is so much fun! I came across a blog by a Certified Zentangle Teacher and she has been doing a weekly ZT challenge since 2011. Well I went back to the beginning and I am going to slowly work through the challenges. I'm using mine as notecards, I think it will be a great personalized way to write to people.

Here is my image for the first challenge, which was Simplicity. What I did was only work with squares, not sure how simple it is, but I think it counts.

Update: Here is the web-site where I found the Challenge.....Click Here

Crocheting and Dreams..... You can join me!

I will be getting back to the 44 Days of Witchery soon, I have been pretty horribly sick the last bit here, and just have zero energy for anything.

I'd like to talk a bit about another aspect of who I am though. The me that crochets and creates things. There was a time when I crocheted for 40+ hours a week, those days are long gone, I am at about 10 or so these days. Sometimes more, sometimes less, just depends. However, regardless of how much, or little, time I have for the activity, it remains one of my very favorite things to do. 

I have a dream to this end, one I've had for many years, one that I pulled off briefly for a time about 5 years ago, and would love to build up and do again now that I'm settled in our new home. I would love to assemble lapghans to distribute to people who need them, those who are facing a hard time and need some encouragement. I'd call them Goddessghans, and use the squares that I make, as well as squares sent to me by others and make small blankets to distribute as needed. The Goddessghans would be rouhgly 36"x 48", using 48 6" squares for each ghan. 

I have begun making squares again, for me and my tension and how I crochet a 6" square is made with 5 rounds and a size "I" hook, basic granny square pattern. I'm using the colors Midnight Blue, Silver, and Black. I will post a picture of my first completed Goddessghan when I have it finished. If you would like to send some 6" squares toward a Goddessghan for someone going through a rough time, email me for the address, or if you would like to request a Goddessghan for someone shoot me an email and let me know! 

You can email me at: zaira.connolly@gmail.com

Blessed Be,

Wynter Willow

44 Days of Witchery..... Day 5

Task: Talk about a favorite Goddess

I'm going to talk about Arianhrod. 

She is a Welsh Goddess and one of the Five Goddesses of Avalon. 

Arianrhod represents the Mother Aspect of the Triple Goddess formed with Bloudewedd and Cerridwen.

In the book Magic of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses by Carl McColman and Kathryn Hinds the authors point to Arianhrod as a Goddess of initiation, to be called upon when great transformations are called for, and more specifically for the initiator of warriors and leaders. The authors say “she sets ordeals to test the candidate and makes sure the circumstances are right from crossing from one state of life into the next.”

I'm going to share a story, this is taken from Magic of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses by Carl McColman and Kathryn Hinds, I do not claim what comes next as my own, it is theirs. 

Arianrhod is one of the children of the goddess Don, along with her brothers Gwydion, Amaethon, and Gofannon. Her uncle, Math the Ancient, is the ruler of Gwynedd in north Wales. As a condition of his kingship, he must rest his feet in a maiden’s lap whenever he is sitting in judgment. A time comes when he has need of a new footholder, so Gwydion suggests Arianhrod for the job. Math summons her and asks her if she is indeed a maiden. Her answer “I do not know other than that I am” is hardly conclusive, so Math puts her to a test. He stretches out his magickal staff close to the ground and tells Arianhrod to step over it. As she does, she “drops” a yellow haired boy, whom Math later names Dylan and who goes to live in the sea. (in a fuller version I read, he was thrown into the sea and happened to turn into a fish of some kind, but this version says it nicer then they tried to drown the boy and failed.)

Arianhrod keeps walking, but as she is about to go out the door, she drops something else. Only Gwydion sees it. He scoops it up and hides it in a chest at the foot of his bed. Time passes until, one morning, he is awakened by the noise coming from the chest. Opening it, he finds a baby boy. The child grows twice as fast, in body and mind, as ordinary boys. When he is 4 years old, Gwydion takes him to Arianhrod’s seaside fortress to meet his mother.

It isn’t a particularly happy reunion. First, Arianhrod scolds Gwydion for disgracing her by keeping the boy for so long. Then, when she asks what his name is, Gwydion tells her that he has not yet got a name. “Well” says Arianhrod, “and he will not have a name unless he gets it from me.” Gwydion and the boy leave, but the next day Gwydion uses his magickal arts to disguise the two of them as shoemakers. He conjures a ship out of seaweed, and they sail into the harbor below Arianhrod’s fortress. There they set about making shoes of beautiful gilded leather. Arianhrod goes down to the ship to have a pair of shoes made for herself. While Gwydion is measuring her foot, a wren, the smallest of birds, alights on the deck. In a flash, the boy casts his shoemaker’s awl at it, hitting its leg. Arianhrod smiles and declares, “Lleu llaw gyffes!”- “A bright one with a skillful hand!” From his mother’s words, the boy’s name becomes Lleu Llaw Gyffes.

Then Arianhrod says “Now I swear, he will never take arms till I arm him myself.” Gwydion takes Lleu home and continues to raise him. The years pass; Lleu grows and matures. At last it is time that a youth of his age and station should take arms, so Gwydion disguises the two of them as bards, and they head for Arianhrods fortress, where they are welcomed eagerly and shown great hospitality.

After feasting, Gwydion and Arianhrod tell tales and recite lore. Later, while all the court sleeps, Gydion works his magic so that , when dawn comes, a huge fleet of ships appears to be anchored just off the coast, with warrior’s pouring ashore. Arianhrod comes to Gwydion and Lleu’s room to ask for their help in defending the castle. They agree, but because neither of the “bards” has arms or weapons, Arianhrod and two maidens fetch what is needed from the castle stores.

“Lady,” says Gwydion, “let the maidens help me arm, and you assist the young man.” She does this gladly, and when Lleu is fully armed, weapons in hand, Gwydion lifts all his enchantments.

“So, he has his name and his arms.” Says Arianhrod. “But I swear this destiny: He will never find a wife among the people now on this earth”. Gwydion declares that he will get Lleu a wife all the same. 

As a result, Bloudewedd is made with the nine flowers and presented to Lleu as his wife. 

44 Days of Witchery.....Day 4

Task: A photo of the Element of Water

I'm going to share a picture from a recent hike. I was out with one of my daughters and we came across this stream during five hours of hiking. It isn't much but it is a memory from a beautiful day.

44 Days of Witchery.....Day 3

Topic: Witchy Tools - Athame

So the task today is to talk about the Athame, a ritual tool used by Witches.

There is some debate among witches about which element the Athame belongs to, does it represent Fire or does it represent Air. I associate it with Air, because (and I have covered that I am into Tarot) in a Tarot deck the Suit of Swords is the Suit of Air, it represents our thoughts on the matter and deals with how we handle things through internal dialogue and how we perceive situations. An athame is a more refined personal form of the Sword for ritual purposes, so I'm sticking with it represent Air. You are free to disagree with me and say Wands are Air and Athames are Fire. But that isn't how I see it.

Anyway, what is an Athame for? Well it directs  and channels energy. I have seen them used interchangeably with a wand to cast a ritual circle. For myself being involved with a Circle that is on-line, I prefer the Athame for casting the circle, I feel it keeps the thoughts of those involved in the ritual together, and being that we can be thousands of miles away from each other that is easier for me to maintain than the thought of a fire stream connecting us. Something about shooting fire around the country or across the Atlantic to England doesn't sit right with me.

Anyway, online rituals I use the Athame for circle casting, personal rituals I like the wand, and the imagery of a wall of fire blocking anything that might wish me ill while I am doing ritual. Right, back to Athame.

An Athame is a double edged blade with a pointed tip, though some people dull their tip. It is not horribly sharp on the edges, as it isn't used to physically cut anything. And often has a black handle. Mine does not have a black handle, it has a beautiful wooden handle, and an energy within that vibrates when I hold it. It feels right to me and works beautifully, I have considered altering the handle, but don't see why I should fix something that isn't broken.

I would like one day to have an athame with an Obsidian handle, I have dreamed of an entirely obsidian athame before, Nit sure why and I have yet to take the time to look into the significance.

I have heard it said that a Witches tools are crutches and that with the acquisition of true power they are no longer needed. Personally, I think that is crap. I believe that tools have a Spirit of their own, and while you can most certainly do Magick without them, they have a inherent power of their own that they can lend to your workings. I also believe that with each tool representing different elements, that we honor the elements and the elemental spirits as well as the elemental Kings by humbling ourself, and recognizing that we can connect more strongly with them, when we come before them with the tools and symbols of the trade. The last thing I want to do is cast a circle and call on help from Watchtowers that I have offended by being so arrogant as to think I don't need magickal tools because I can do it all myself. I see is as trying to boil water without a pot to put it in.... The use of the pot isn't a crutch to the cook, it is necessary for the perfect end result. That is how is see my Magickal Tools.

44 Days of Witchery .....Day 2

Task: Share a story from myth or folklore

This is a great challenge, and the story I'm going to share is one of my favorites, and I am going to share it from memory without looking it up.

It is the story of Demeter and Persephone.

The overbearing mother and the rebellious daughter, and the bad boy that set her free.

What? That isn't how you remember the story?

Well my blog, we get to look at it how I see it.

Demeter was a loving mom, but she had a flaw, she was so into the role of Mother, she lost herself. She became the helicopter mom, and all her own hopes and dreams were wrapped up in her daughter.

Her daughter felt the pressure, she knew how much her mother depended on her, but she really wanted independence, she wanted freedom, she wanted to discover who she was beyond Demeter's Daughter.

Well one day the opportunity presennted itself, the bad boy Hades wanted Persephone and when he offered himself to her she jumped at the chance to join him in the Underworld.

Well, Demeter, the great mother couldn't find her daughter and she searched and searched forgetting about her role as Earth Mother. Nothing grew in her great sadness, once she learned of Persephones whereabouts she was inconsolable. The people of Earth were on the brink of starvation. Zeus had to intervene and arranged for Persephone to come home.

Persephone ate some pomegranate seeds, just three little juice filled goodness seeds. By partaking of the food of the Underwood it assured that Persephone could never leave the Underworld, not permanently and there was nothing to be done about it. Zeus himself could do nothing about it, except compromise. Persephone would be allowed to go to the surface but had to return to the Underworld for part of the year, every year.

Depending on the version the split was 50/50, some say 6 months top side, 3 months under side to account for Winter. After all of these years Demeter is inconsolable when her beloved daughter is in the arms of Hades, and there are no harvests and growth during this time.

There are lessons to be learned from this Story. One, it is important to protect but not suffocate your children. You have to let your children find their own way. You also can't lose yourself in being a mother, you must keep that part of you that answers to your first name, develop your own interests, and you will be better equipped to live a life after your children have grown and gone.

Also, don't make Demeter inconsolable if you ever want to eat again.

Many Blessings,

Wynter