Bullet shell casing wind chime

 So, I come from a "Wild West" republican family. And we love guns, and shooting things, and sometimes eating those things that we have shot. (Elk is a very salty meat, by the way)

Anyway, my dad, little brother and I go shooting down at an old quarry every now and then, and my dad re-loads the spent shell casings of the bullets-he says each shell can be used about 10 times.

So, we collect the spent casings of a certain calibre, and I noticed that the casings made a lovely tinkling noise. I decided to use the casings

 that my dad doesn't reload - 22 calibre.

The smallest ones are 22's and the bigger ones are made of steel, which my dad doesn't like to use either. So I collected a bunch, cleaned them up and used fishing line to tie them to a wooden dowel.

 It took me about two hours, and then about another 30 minutes after they decided to lose balance and slide off...making have to redo the whole right half. They got all tangled, so I had to cut off and retie 14 shells! Ugh!

 Up-close, but kind of blurry.

 Action shot! Outside! You can't really see the shell casings, but you can see a bit of my apple tree.

A slightly better view? (not really. I'm not a photographer.)

Finding friendship spell

Goal: To gain friends that are kind, loyal and true to me and themselves.
Tools: 1 white candle, 1-2 large bay leaves, 1 felt tip pen, 1 cauldron

On the leaves, write down what you want in your new friends, burn the leaf on the candle, let i burn down on your cauldron, say:

Goddesses and Gods hear my plea
Bring some faithful friends to me
Kind, true and loyal they'll be
As I ask it, so make it be.

Bury the ashes of the leaves, after you've finished your works.

A Spell for Harmonious Living (Roomate Spell)

So, I'm moving to Utah next month for college, and I keep worrying about how my room mates will be. So I've decided on a preemptive strike. I wrote this spell yesterday, and I plan on doing it next full moon.

Goal: To create harmonious living conditions with room/house mates.
Tools: 1 white candle, 1 quartz crystal to amplify energy (it's not necessary, but I like quartz), peppermint, clove and allspice (a pinch each burned in the cauldron or sprinkled round the circle), Draw on three small pieces of paper in brown or pink crayon or pencil; a hedgehog, an elk, and a snail.

Light the candle and have the drawings near by and say:

I call upon Concordia, to bring harmony between myself and the ones I live with.
I offer an elk (burn the drawing of the elk in the cauldron)
    So that we can observe each others energy and respond in kindness.
I offer a snail (burn drawing of snail)
    So that we can be patient with each other.
I offer a hedgehog (burn drawing of hedgehog)
    So that we can avoid any chaos that night come from anger, fear or misunderstandings.
Grant me this wish of harmony, so that we might live in peace together.
As I ask it, so mote it be.

(Finish your works, open the circle, then bury the ashes of the pictures outside.)

Letting go, and getting rid of

My family has moved to a new place every year or two since I was ten, so I've become an expert at cleaning a house well enough in order to get the deposit back. But, I have yet to learn how to get rid of things I don't need. Eventually, I have to have my mom or sister come into my room and get rid of a lot of things that I would rather keep.
Now, I'm not a hoarder, but it's gotten pretty close a few times. My biggest weakness is my books. I would rather go naked than not have my books! But, all of my books probably weigh a couple hundred pounds!
I also have several things with sentimental value, but no real purpose or use. For example, I have an awesome turtle shaped lamp that my grandma gave me...but I never use it, and it doesn't give off much light, and I'm sure my grandma couldn't care less if I got rid of it (she probably doesn't even remember giving it to me!)
I also have an eight piece music box collection, which is totally worthless to anyone but myself, and I don't even wind them up anymore.
My trouble lies in that I love my stuff. And I hate that I love my stuff. I don't like being attached to things that I probably bought at the dollar store!
Since I'm moving to Utah soon, I have to leave a lot of stuff with my family, which they will have to get rid of or keep when they move. Even worse, I have to leave my pagan stuff with my non-pagan family!
You see my predicament, I either have to get rid of my stuff, or risk exposure to my family.

I think I will have to ask my little brother to be my room cleaner when the time comes for them to move. My brother knows about me, so maybe he won't throw out the wrong things.
Or hopefully, I will learn to let go of THINGS, and just remember the memories and feelings that went with them.

...Sorry for venting, but I feel like I understand stuff better.
(or maybe I'll just keep my books and have my parents sell everything else.)

Blessed Be.

The White Tree of Gondor

 I made this wrist cuff in about 3 hours. I'm not very good at hand sewing, so it looks kind of ragged. I wanted to have a watch that will cover my future wrist tattoo, when I'm around my non-pagan family.

 I've recently watched all of the Lord of The Rings movies in one day! And I saw a cute embroidered hoop of the White Tree of Gondor.

 Buttons to hold it together.

  Watch face on top.

The tree on top of my wrist, with the watch on the bottom.
Tell me what you think. :P

Brave: a review

 

I just came back from seeing "Brave."
I don't know about you guys, but I loved it; and FINALLY a female lead in an animated picture! After all these years!

I love watching and reading movie reviews, so I watched a review by JesuOtaku on Thatguywiththeglasses.com.
I normally love JesuOtaku reviews for anime and manga, but I totally disagree with her Brave review. (She compared it to Brother Bear for goodness sake!? The only good thing about that movie was the two moose brothers.)

While I agree with her that the trailers where a bit misleading, I wasn't expecting a whole "Princess actually fighting the villain" film; the world isn't ready for a completely female awesome action film for kids.

I was upset upon learning that Pixar didn't expect Brave to rake in the cash like Cars and Finding Nemo. Before today, I've heard nothing but hype about this movie, and it delivered everything it promised!

The movie has quite a bit of "low brow" kind of humor, but it's hilarious and it works, considering the  characters are supposed to be the stereotypical Scottish warrior (don't get pissed at me, I'm from Celtic/Viking stock, and I know perfectly well how they acted :P); I was literally slapping my knees and laughing out loud! The humor does not disappoint, and the final scenes are so epic and heart rending, I cried! Tears were falling down my face! It's a lovely ending to a great film and everything works out just like you want it to.

It's a fun movie, with a good message about familial communication and connection.

Plus, one of the best soundtracks I've heard in a few years.
And even if you don't like the whole film, it's very pretty to look at and it has one of the best soundtracks I've heard in years.
5/5 gold stars from me.


*****Beware, here there be spoilers!!!!*****




The movie starts out as the tried and true, Princess doesn't want to get married (which I'll admit  has become a movie staple.)So, Princess Merida pretty much says "No." to all of her suitors (which isn't the least surprising), and this pisses off her mom, Queen Elinor. After a fight, Princess Merida runs away into the woods and gets a spell from an old witch, that turns her mother into a bear. In order to turn her mother back, they have to be able to forgive and understand each other.

Another Book Of Shadows

 I decided to do another BOS, mainly re-writing information from my first Book, into this one, because I have a lot of taped in pages; and I don't like how it looks.
I had an unused art journal, so I glued on a piece of paper that looked old, and I glued those little gem things on the page.
I painted little swirls of hot glue, I think it looks fancy. The strap holding it closed is a Velcro strap from a fleece blanket.



A close up. I titled this one, "To Know." One of the Four Powers of The Magus.
To Know: Audacity is no use, without the knowledge and will to see magick done. I glued on a little key, to symbolize the Unlocking of hidden knowledge.