Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Her royal weeds of the alley ways

I found myself going through some old books on the Arts and herbology the last few days as I am working on a poppet.  Sow Weeds danced on the brain and I had a field of large queens in back just begging to be harvested. I loosened the earth and thought about the darkening moon and the moving wheel. The roots mostly gave me no issue coming free as they were promised a place of honor. I cropped them, soaked them and they sit on Hecate's Altar in a star shaped basket drying under Her watchful eye. All but one that is.

Soak the root in Hecate's liquid fire of vision. Living bone, dead bone, powdered bone and ashen bone, tincture, elixir! Come now enspirited one! Fire of illumination enliven this earthen flesh from the plot!

I have done this before. At least the living bone/ dead bone thing. I knew exactly what was being asked.  I also knew what the liquid fire was, I just didn't know that spirit had its own name for it. Soaking the root thing was not exactly new, it was something I attributed to a different sort of spirit work: alrauns. I went back into a piece of reference and found what was being spoken of : it was a nod to Viridarium work as written by Mr. Schulke. The roots are different, the concept the same. I felt a new dimension being added to the working I was currently obsessing over. All the piece I had gather fell into place and others immediately fell away because it was no longer compatible. 

This whole spark of madness, I guess you could call it, was initiated literally by a sow weed guarded gate on the outside bounds of suburban kosherness. . . the alley. Yes, I was walking around in the alley this morning and I liked it.


The weeds I am after, like Lady's Mantle, Plantain, and Sow Weed grow there like royalty and without regard for urban lawn manners. The alley ways here are literally their throne rooms. It also the haunt of the feral clan of kitties that patrol my borders. Every once in a while a dead bird will appear in my yard and to avoid having my dog torment the poor carcass, I place it in the grasses just outside my back fence where I know the kitties will find it. The bird is given funerary rites and an offering and then laid to rest in sweet alyssum. The feral kitties always appreciate an easy meal and the bird's spirit is honored through the completion of the life cycle. 

The alley ways are becoming a strange sort of magic place for me. I actually have my dog to thank for that. On occasion, she takes herself for an unauthorized walk through the neighborhood. It's actually quite annoying. She suddenly develops this I can't hear you so I'm not gonna obey you mentality. Sit becomes a run command and she absolutely, positively must see you see her defying you from a good few paces away just to taunt you. I've learned she gets tired fast and it's only gonna get worse when the heat comes on so I'll have the upper hand. It was in the alley ways  chasing my dog, that I noticed that the weeds were exceptionally healthy and large. I was actually on the look out for glass, screw, nails and other sharp pokies that could be bad on dog pads. I was pleasantly surprised to see only a little of that. 

I will be continuing my poking around in the alley in the daylight until I get to know the alley better. Night time work may reveal a whole different world that might share the daytime properties. . . however it is more likely that a new magic may emerge as the sun leaves its face. Better to walk it with one aspect firmly in hand and maybe something kerplunkish in the other. Trolls you know.

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