I love to create.  I’m very happy writing or drawing or stitching or photographing or cooking or magicking… anything really as long as I’m expressing myself creatively.

But, you know, the Muse doesn’t always come visiting.  Or she stays for a while and then leaves in a blink of an eye.  The dry spells without your Muse can be frustrating because the more you try to entice her to stay, the more evasive she becomes.  It can lead to a sense of deep frustration and sometimes depression.

So what can we do to bring our sense of inspiration back?

Astarte Anointing

Astarte is a good goddess to have on your side when you need inspiration – both to find it and to keep it.  She’s a goddess strongly linked to fertility, which is exactly what you need, as a fertile mind is where the seeds of inspiration can easily be planted and grown.

Burn candles anointed with Astarte oil in the location where you would normally be creative.  You can increase the effects of the oil by combining it with Van Van oil.  These oil combinations can also be used to bless the tools of your trade to help entice creativity back into your life.

Lighting Brigid’s flame

If your creativity flame is flickering then borrow some Brigid power to help bring inspiration back.  You have a choice of either deciding to work with Brigid the goddess or petition Saint Brigid – whichever way works best for you.

If you have a tarot deck, select the Empress card or a card from another oracle that depicts Brigid.  If you want to go the saint route, you can use a holy card of Saint Brigid of Kildare.  Place the card on your altar or working desk then light a red or white candle in her honour.  While the flame is alight, ask Brigid to ignite your creative spark again.

Keeping a representation of Brigid and a candle burning as you embark on creative projects can help to ensure your muse doesn’t leave you again.

Muse mojo

If you’ve lost your mojo, make a mojo.

A mojo bag, traditionally made from red flannel, can be filled with any of the following items to help bring your muse back to you:

• Acacia
• Angelica
• Aventurine
• Beans (not cooked, obviously)
• Cinnamon
• Clove
• Dragon’s blood
• Horehound
• Images of butterflies
• Liquorice
• Moonstone
• Nuts
• Orris root
• Rose
• Sunflower seeds

Your mojo bag can be anointed with a drop or two of Astarte oil too, just be aware that it might stain the material.

Brigid’s Brew

There’s no point stressing over your missing Muse.  If you’ve tried some spells and charms, the best thing you can do is to relax and get a good night’s sleep.  This brew can help bring your creative spark back and it’s a lovely way to end the evening too.  Make a mug of hot milk or make hot chocolate with milk (it must be with milk and not just water), sweeten with sugar if you like and then add a healthy pinch of cinnamon.  Raise your mug to Brigid and enjoy!

Do you have any spells or charms to bring your Muse back into your life?

This post was originally published at Spells and charms to find your Muse on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is The Selkie from the Fairy Ring Oracle.

Sometimes we forget just how wonderful we really are, and how adaptable we can be to any situation thrown at us.  The selkie appearing today is a reminder that when things get tough, you can work around any problem just as long as you remain flexible.

It’s a day where all your skills could come into play, and you might need to pull everything together to get through either small or seemingly huge hurdles.  Don’t panic, keep emotions in balance, develop a thick skin, and learn to bob with the tides – do this and you’ll be home dry in no time.

Need a tarot reading? Check out my shop.

Moon:

Waning

Planet:

Jupiter

Good day for:

Prosperity, luck, business, expansion, generosity.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 9th February 2012 on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is Guardian Angel: Blessings of Abundance  from the Saints and Angels oracle.

It’s lovely to think of a guardian angel hovering above us and throwing down money, food, clothes, books, and gadgets (an iPhone is still on my wishlist) in our path.  But, the current worldwide economical climate might mean that we’ve assumed our abundance angel has taken a vacation.  Well, today your guardian angel is making it known that you still have abundance in your life.

It can be difficult to have an ‘attitude of gratitude’ but try to adopt this approach today because you really do have much to be thankful.  There is abundance in your life: think food on the table, clothes on your back, books on the shelves, healthy kids etc .  Write a list of 3 things in which you do have abundance then smile.  The Universe loves to be full of smiley, grateful people,  who then, as if by magic, seem to jump to the front of the queue when it’s time for more abundance blessings!

Need a tarot or oracle personal reading? Check out my shop.

Moon:

Waning

Planet:

Mercury

Good day for:

Communication, business, jobs, travelling, journeys.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 8th February 2012 on Witch Blog.

It’s the second full moon of the year, and she is quite aptly named the snow moon (at least it’s appropriate for us in the Northern hemisphere).

Last month I wished for motivation.  I wobbled along the way but it’s returned just in time for the full moon tonight, and I’m now motivated to push forward with 2012.

My full moon wish for this month is for courage.  I want to have the courage to take on opportunities (or create my own) that rest outside my comfort zone.

What is it that you wish for to manifest between this full moon and the next?

Did your full moon wish come true from last month?

Now for the spell crafting part.  Leave a comment so we can wish together and for each other, then say the following

“For everyone who wishes on the full moon, let the lunar power turn our dreams into reality and make all doubts, fears and obstacles disappear”

Or you can print out the words below, and place your candle on top of them (obviously in some suitable candle holder).  If you click the image it will open in a new window in a bigger size, making it easier to print.

Let’s see what wonders we can manifest in the space of a lunar month.

Want to know when the next full moon is happening? Download my free 2012 moon calendar.

This post was originally published at Full Moon Wishes on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is The Star from the Sacred Circle tarot. My keywords for this card are hope, inspiration and generosity.

Even in the darkest of nights, there are always the stars shining brightly in the sky.  They might not be visible because either it’s overcast or we don’t actually look up to notice.

The Star card is letting you know that whatever your situation, there is a bright light on the horizon.  You might no be able to see it, or even believe it’s there, but hope is shining down on you.  It might take a while for that light to reach you, but it will.  So today look forward and look up.

Need a tarot  reading? Check out my shop.

Moon:

Full Moon

Planet:

Mars

Good day for:

Power, courage, conflict, enemies,  protection.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 7th February 2012 on Witch Blog.

My craft project over the weekend was to make a cover for my Kindle.  I’m quite happy with the result, especially as it involved no sewing (my sewing machine and I are not currently on speaking terms).

What you need:

• Hardback notebook, pages removed.  In the UK, an A5 notebook is the perfect size (8.3 x 5.8 in).  Carefully remove the pages with a craft knife or a Stanley knife.
• Fabric. I used taffeta but probably the easiest choice would be a cotton fabric.
• Double sided sticky tape.
• PVA glue
• Super glue
• Craft foam
• Elastic, about 1 cm/half inch wide

What to do:

Start with your empty hardback notebook shell and make sure your Kindle (or any other tablet/e-reader device) will fit inside it with a little room to spare too.  My book doesn’t look pretty but it really doesn’t matter at this stage.

Place your fabric underneath your naked notebook and cut around it, leaving about an inch extra.  Keep your notebook flat as you do this.

Turn your notebook over so you can see the cover and put double-sided sticky tape down the spine and along the edge.

Make sure you have your fabric with the ‘right’ side facing down on your table, then take the now sticky notebook and place it on the fabric.  It’s really important that you keep the notebook as flat as possible, so it might mean applying pressure along the spine (it has a tendency to try to rise up).

Put some double sided sticky tape in the corners of the inside of the notebook.

Then fold the corners of the material over, keeping it in place with the double sided sticky tape.

Spread PVA glue along the edge of the notebook.  I used tacky PVA glue first but then switched to normal PVA glue as it really didn’t make any difference.

Fold the fabric edges onto the inside of your notebook.  Keep the fabric tight and you might want to keep it in place with clips until the glue dries.  I find it really useful to keep a pile of washing pegs just for such emergencies.

Cut two pieces of craft foam to each fit on one side of your notebook.  They should be slightly smaller than a page from the notebook – your Kindle needs to be able to fit on this foam so don’t cut too small.  My measurements for the foam were about 20cm x 13cm.

Put each piece of foam on top of some more fabric (right side down on the table) and cut the fabric leaving about an inch margin again.

Put some double sided sticky tape in the corners of the craft foam.

Fold over the corners of the fabric onto the sticky tape and put PVA glue along the edges.  Fold the edges of the  fabric onto the glue and press down (or use washing pegs). Do this on each piece of cut foam  - when you’re finished each one will have one side covered in fabric and the other with the edges glued down.

While your foam is drying, cut a piece of fabric (the same design as your front cover if you’re using different fabrics) the width of your notebook spine plus an inch either side  and the same length as the foam with a margin of half inch.  Put a strip of double-sided sticky tape on the wrong side of your fabric strip, along the width of your material.  Fold the fabric edge upwards on the wrong side so you have a straight, neat edge on the right side of the fabric.  Try and get it the same size as your now covered piece of foam.  This material will cover the inside of the spine.

With yet more double-sided sticky tape, put some strips down the spine of your notebook.  Place your strip of material along this inside spine, making sure you keep the right side facing you.  You might like to add some more PVA glue too on the edges (be careful though as, although it dries clear, it might mark the fabric).

I didn’t take a photo of this completed step but you should have a notebook with a fabric outer cover and a neat strip down the inside spine.

Take one piece of covered foam and superglue elastic strips to the corners.  The image above shows the back of the foam – you might want to use the pegs again to keep elastic in place while the glue sets (or whatever superglue does).  The front side looks like the photo below:

Now, you have two covered foam pieces: one with elastic strips and one without.

Using the superglue again, glue the untidy side of one piece of foam to one of the untidy insides of your notebook. Repeat with the other piece of covered foam.  You might find the pegs come  in handy again.

When dry, your Kindle cover should look something like this:

Here it is with Kindle:

And when shut, it looks like a covered book:

Here’s the side view.

Just a couple of things.

• You might want to add a button, or ribbon, to the cover to keep it shut.
• I used two pieces of foam because I wanted protection for the Kindle (because I drop things) but depending on the size of your notebook, you might want to cover a thin piece of card instead.

This post was originally published at How to Make a No-Sew Fabric Kindle Cover on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is Lazarus from the Saints Oracle.  According to the oracle, Lazarus is the protector of  the homeless, hospitals and the unemployed.  He is often depicted as a leper, surrounded by dogs that lick his wounds in an attempt to heal him, and in Santeria he is syncretized as Babalú-Ayé.

The phrase associated with this card is ‘recovering situation’.  Today is full of hope and of the promise that thing are beginning to move in a positive direction.   Lazarus is very much associated with the sick so if you’ve been experiencing ill-health then you might notice an improvement, even if just slightly, today.  In fact, you should just expect an improvement!

Lazarus is also petitioned in money matters – another life situation that could always use some recovery.  A popular money spell is to write the following on notes or bills in your purse, ‘Saint Lazarus, the one who finds this bill/note will be blessed with a lot of money’.  This is a good one for the karma bank (although I think it’s illegal to write on money here in the UK).

Need a personal tarot reading? Check out my shop.

Moon:

Waxing

Planet:

Moon

Good day for:

Psychic work, healing, Goddess rituals, home & hearth, sleep, dreams, friends, fertility and compassion.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 6th February 2012 on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is the Sage from the Psy cards oracle.  The keywords associated with this card are detachment, prudence and knowledge.

People. situations, events and concerns can keep your mind busy 24/7, and you can think about them too much.  So much so that you can never resolve the things that are bothering you because you don’t have a gap in your busy-mind to let solutions flow to you.  There comes a time when you have to admit that things are driving you insane and you take your problems to someone else.

If you’ve been plagued by a hectic mind lately, find someone who will listen to your concerns.  You might want to confide in a friend or relative, a spiritual advisor, a spiritual being or even just write it all down on a piece of paper.  The act of sharing will bring you a sense of peace and of perspective.  Today, it’s good to share.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 5th February 2012 on Witch Blog.

The background….

Two agents have been randomly chosen from the secret association MIFFED, Modern International Federation of (almost) Forgotten and Extinct Deities, to save the world from the 2012 end of the world.  Can Cinxia, a once worshipped Roman goddess with an obsession of dressing brides, and Topia, a Finnish forest god now relocated to Michigan, USA, save the day?

The Adventures so far….

Austria – Week 1 | Spain – Week 2 | Brazil – Week 3 | China – Week 4 |

Postcard from France

* Dames Blanches are ‘white women’ who guard passageways, usually a bridge or ravine, in France.  They require payment to pass, often in the form of a dance by the traveller, and then they’ll let you go onward with your travel if you perform well enough.  If you refuse their request or you don’t meet their standards then you could find yourself pushed in the brambles and tormented by her animal and spirit helpers.  The Dames Blanches have been associated in folklore with lutins, which are hobgoblin-like spirit creatures.

This post was originally published at Postcard from France on Witch Blog.

The card of the day is the Devil from the Housewives tarot deck.  My keywords for this card are constraint, bondage and power.

The Devil is one of the cards that can leave us feeling quite helpless.  We’re slaves to our whims, desires and vices, and we let them control us.  We can’t possibly say no to that lovely piece of chocolate fudge cake, one drink or several never really hurt anybody, and one more cigarette won’t kill us, right?

The best thing about this card is realizing that it’s just an illusion and a power-struggle that you can win. You do have control over the things that tempt you and you can say no.  A little of what you fancy does you good, but do ask yourself, with hand on heart, whether you really do fancy it or it’s become a habit.  Be strong today because temptation might be  put in your path but remember you have a choice whether you control it or it controls you.

Need a personal tarot reading? Check out my shop.

Moon:

Waning

Planet:

Saturn

Good day for:

Banishing, binding, hexing, defence, endings, obstacles, spirit communication.

This post was originally published at Witch’s Forecast – 4th February 2012 on Witch Blog.