Forging my own path

It's been one year since my big witch initiation, and as luck (or Mystery) would have it, I had jury duty one day before the equinox. I was done at 10:30 and went home, instead of back to work, and decided to honor the one year mark.

I took a bath with herbs from initiation day, and I lined the way to the tub with stones given to me by my initiators.

After inviting all the Mysterious Ones, they released me from a number of obligations that I had been doing for the past year (saying my Queer Medicine Wheel prayers daily, going to bellydancing once each week, etc.), and they asked me what I wanted.

It's amazing to me that shortly before the one-year mark I connected to all this work with the tarantati and Cyebele, things that bring my spiritual path into clearer focus with an incredible intensity.

I made my declarations and entered the room and the tub, allowing the magick to do its work.

On the Equinox itself, I greeted the sun with a traditional Italian chant for the sun to rise and send its healing rays to the Earth.

Yesterday, I practiced my drum rhythms in a park, enjoying the sunlight, the sound of rushing water from a nearby creek and the power of the drum to connect me with my ancestors, the Earth Mother, Cybele, the ancestral tarantati and Galli and the fey of the land where I was playing.

In a couple of weeks, I'll be attending an all-day workshop with Alessandra Belloni, which covers various rhythms and dances from Southern Italy. I've done shorter sessions, and I'm very much looking forward to trying this longer one. Until then, it's more practice and experiementation!

(The photo above is one that I took yesterday of my drum in the grass. On top of it is a necklace of Cybele - at least that's who I see it as being - that my dear heart sister Molly got for me for my birthday this year. There's also a bracelet of Virign Mothers there. Cybele became synchronous with the Black Madonna for many Italians as Christianity took hold. There's also a beaded piece that I wear on my belt - it's a reminder of impermanence and also a connection to the spider magick that I do.)