Thoughts

What the heck is Oomancy?

Well, let’s start at the beginning. Was it the chicken or the egg that came first? And what does “mancy” have to do with it?

Mancy come from the word-forming element of Greek origin meaning “divination by means of,” from Old French -mancie, from Late Latin -mantia, from Greek manteia “oracle, divination,” from mantis “one who divines, a seer, prophet.

Hence the suffix “Mancy” means – To Divine.

Some examples that you may know or heard of are:-

Tasseomancy – which is a divination or fortune-telling method that interprets patterns in tea leaves, coffee grounds, or wine sediments. It’s amazing to do and gives you a fabulous reason to have a huge collection of different teas! (And who doesn’t love a nice cuppa!)

Chiromancy – which is divination by examination of the hand. So in other words palmistry. In Medieval times, those hunting witches using chiromancy looked for pigmentation spots on the hands, which signaled a pact with the Devil. I have had my palm read a few times and thankfully no pigmentation spots!

Lithomancy – which is divination with stones. So if you have a set of runes that are carved into crystals, or beach rocks, that’s what you’re doing.

Oneiromancy – which is where you use your dreams, the symbols and messages that come through to understand what is happening around you.

Cartomancy – divining the future with cards, whether they be oracle or tarot. In the 18th century, young women would apparently use cartomancy to learn the details of their own nuptials—including whom their future husband would be.

The cart in cartomancy of course means “card,” and as the modern phrase tells us, if it’s in the cards, it’s inevitable.

There are so many various divination tools available to us at any moment, you just have to know how to read them.

For goodness sake, there is one called Spatulamancy. What do you think that one is?

Spatulamancy – is divination by means of an animal’s shoulder blade, Spatulamancy involves examining the shoulder blade of an animal that has been cooked over a fire. Although we think of the word spatula as referring to a kitchen implement, the Late Latin word it comes from means both “shoulder blade” and “spoon.” (This is one I have no desire to try at all!)

But let’s get back to talking about Oomancy.

Oomancy is the divination by means of eggs. Yup, I said eggs. Now I know you may be rolling your eyes, but stay with me.

Eggs have been associated with spring and the birth of new life since long before Easter.

In fact, in many mythologies, the egg is the primordial symbol.

More than one mythology has explained the creation of the universe by saying that either it or the god who created it hatched out of an egg. (Where the egg came from originally is perhaps the first “chicken or egg” question.)

Perhaps because of these stories of everything coming from a primal egg, eggs have been used as fertility magic in many cultures. German farmers used to smear eggs on their plough blades to ensure a good crop.

In France in the 1600s, it was the custom for a bride to break an egg when she first entered her marital home to ensure lots of children. And the Ainu women of Japan would collect eggs from wild bird nests and mix them with the seed to be planted in the fields.

Eggs have been used for divination by being broken into water. The shape the white takes in the water is used to predict the future. And believe me, there are books on all the symbols you will see.

However, my favourite Egg Divination method for Spring Equinox or Easter is the amazing Egg Rolling Divination. It is so much fun, you can do it with your kids, on your own, with friends.

So come on over and give it a try. Post pictures if it is your first Oomancy experience!

And let’s be honest. Who doesn’t like playing with eggs! (Think about egg on spoon races, decorating for Easter, or if you were a rebellious teen – egging someone’s house!)

Enjoy

Self Love Candle Ritual

Jenny Heston · 11:26 am ·

Love spells are two-fold spells, first you must love yourself, and then you share that love with the world. This short spell is the start of that process.

Please feel inspired to carve runes into the wax. Sandalwood incense, apples, cinnamon, roses, honey, and copper coins are also good additions to the ritual space.

Take a moment to think of 3 or 7 words that clearly state your intent and insert them in the blanks below. Examples: “attracting a partner who I can be open and trusting with” “loving myself completely ” “strengthening my relationship with ___” “protecting against harmful relationships.”

Speak these words to your candle. I think saying these words out loud is the most important part, even if it feels goofy, or you need to whisper them. Speak your magic.

“Creature of wax and wick please aid me in ____”

“Creature of earth and herb please aid me in ____”

“Creature of stone and bone please aid me in ____”

And then as you light it “Creature of fire, please kindle this flame and aid me in ____”

Visualize all your good qualities (kindness, sense of humor, etc.) becoming a visible and tangible part of your aura. See them as a bright light that seeps from your skin and dances in the space around your body.

Sit with the candle and meditate for 15 to 20 minutes. I like to stare into the flame and watch it dance. Use this time to connect and see your candle as a living creature. Continue to hold the visualization in your head as you sit. Note any stray thoughts that come up, acknowledge them, then let them drift away

After I’m finished meditating and visualizing, I like to let the candle burn for another hour or two in the room I am in. I imagine the candle filling the space with magic and the magic seeping into every fiber of my being, into my clothes, my skin, my hair.

Perform this ritual as often as needed until the candle is gone.

Thanks to Tip of the Moon.

Ritual of Release

Jenny Heston · 5:01 pm ·

Another way to honour the ancestors at Samhain is to pay respects to everything in your past that has led you to this place, physically and metaphorically, spiritually and emotionally.

Take a handful of drive leaves, or incense with charcoal bricks, along with a fireproof bowl (unless you have a hearth or wood burner) and some matches.

Extinguish all the lights in your household and spend a few moments sitting in silence, in darkness.

Open the windows to let in the night and feel the breath of the underworld around you, the raven wings of the goddess as crone, the Cailleach upon your cheek.

Hold the leaves, and using your imagination, pour all the deaths you have felt over the year, all sorrow, pain, anything negative, into them.

Face the darkness, not as something to fear, but as an ancient friend that you have met many times before.

Then when you are ready, light a single candle and feel the brightness that this brings.

Throw the leaves or incense, into your bowl or onto the fire, and watch them burn.

Relight every candle in your home from the flames.

For more rituals, crystal magick and kitchen witchery – treat yourself to The Magickal Book of Samhain.

Blessings.

What is the Creatrix Circle?

Jenny Heston · 4:47 am ·

Massive Greetings and Welcome!

The doors are now open to the Creatrix Circle!

As many of you know, I have been on a Spirit guided journey for the last while where I was being told to take the years of learning, knowledge, experience and bring to life the Creatrix Circle. Which is exactly what I’ve done (not that I had a choice lol!)

This past year has brought huge changes to most everyone in all different shapes and forms, and it is has become more evident on a global scale that connection, community and support are sorely needed.

Thus it’s even more vital and more pressing than ever to come together with each other in community, in circle and to really reconnect with the deep, true, ancient piece of ourselves. The wise one, wild one, witch one, Goddess!

To grow and expand, walk in the light and the dark, to embrace the deep inner knowing and build community, embody our power and magic. To help the healing that needs to happen.

As the quote says:

Now is the time
This is the hour,
Ours is the magic
Ours is the power.

If you’re curious about what Creatrix Circle looks like and what’s available, or you want to deepen your connection to the seasons and walk the path of the Wheel of the Year. Today the doors open and we welcome all who wish to join us inside.

Threshold

Jenny Heston · 10:33 am ·

What if a Threshold isn’t a place that you cross, but a place that you pause? A place that transforms you?

With everything that has happened in the past few months, we are at a place of Threshold. I don’t know about you, but you can feel it in the air, in the energy of the people around you and in the collective consciousness. As the old “normal” crumbles (but is certainly fighting to stay), there is a sense of fear filled with expectation.

A Threshold. And one that is going to last months, not be crossed in a day.

But what the heck is a threshold?

I don’t know about you, but I grew up with the idea of Threshold being something that you crossed. For example “the husband carried his new wife across the threshold”, or on New Years Eve it was all about who would cross the threshold first?

According to Mirriam Webster dictionary:

A threshold is:

a) a plank, stone or piece of timber that lies under a door sill.

b) a gate or door.

c) the place or point of entering or beginning.

Often, when encountering thresholds, we talk as if our work is that of successfully “passing through” them. We speak of “making healthy transitions.” We seek out advice and support as we decide which thresholds to lean into and which to resist. The goal, it would seem, is figuring out how to travel forward in the right way. But what if we looked at it a different way?

“A threshold is a space to imagine a new way, and a new self. Not moving or pushing but sitting and cultivating… The goal is to allow you space and time to reflect on your past, present, and future. To imagine a new beginning…” Rev. Sara LaWall

Our Jewish siblings live with a heightened sense of threshold every day. Their practice of hanging mezuzahs at their doorways calls them to pause and be more intentional about what they want to bring with them and what they leave behind as they cross between their home and the world.

Imagine how your days might be different if you took a sacred pause at the doorway to your home and asked yourself, “What do I want to bring with me and what do I want to leave behind (or keep out) as I cross over?” How does my home, myself and my family need to be protected from the energy I picked up from the world today? How might my day be better if I bring some treasured value of mine with me to work or school today?”

The Celts have a tradition of having a bowl of water next to the door (and in my case a spell under the door sill), and before you enter your home, cross your threshold, you dip your hands in the water and shake off anything that is not needed.

Also, within the Celtic traditions, a threshold is a thin place. It’s a term that is used to draw our attention to those spaces and moments when “the veil” between the ordinary and the sacred grows porous and we encounter the world and ourselves in a new way, even a transformative way.

I personally feel those spaces almost daily when I’m out in nature, or sitting in a 400 year old church. It’s the place and space where you rest into the threshold between worlds.

And that is the energy that is swirling now. An invitation to pause, to relax into the space and embrace ourselves and the world in a new way, a transformative way. This is the place of the ineffable: the stuff we can’t express because it’s beyond the power of language to do so. Explanations aren’t merely useless; they threaten to get in the way. The experience of a thin place feels special because words fail, leaving stunned silence.

Think about the moments you have experienced where thought floats away and the feelings that rise inside you are so powerful and so life changing, but to try to describe them to a friend is impossible.

If you are willing to stay in this place of Threshold, you will change, your life will change, the world around you will change. Are you willing? Are you willing to open yourself up to an unknowing, leaning into something that is ineffable and allow it to transform you?

A super simple exercise to remind you of your willingness is to live it:

Alter something physical near the entrance of your home so you are reminded to pause as you go out and come in. Don’t worry about literally hanging something on your doorway, although you can if you want.

Maybe just change the location of your key bowl or key rack. Maybe move the place where you put on and take off your shoes, locating it instead by a chair that reminds you to physically sit down for 20 seconds longer and reflect rather than rush out or in the door. Whatever it is, use your “doorway change” for at least a month to make you pause and answer the all-important threshold question:

What do I want to bring with me and what do I want to leave behind (or keep out) as I cross over?

Big Blessings as you play in this liminal space.