Tis the time of the year when spirits get really active for some people (another super active time might be in May--for some of us it doesn't really stop). It's a great time to set up an Ancestral Altar, if you'd like to. Not everyone needs/wants to venerate their ancestors and that's fine, too. Plus, some ancestors don't deserve to be honored imo (maybe not forgotten--make notes of the shit person they were, so a descendant doesn't end up naming their kid after them). If you'd like to, you can leave it up all year if you want/can, too, or take it out on birth/death days or other special days. Our Ancestral Altar lives in a hutch that I inherited from one of my grandmothers. Inside you'll find photos, notes, letters, trinkets, fossils, maps, family trees, photo albums, money, pendulum, offerings, and prayers for Ancestors of Blood and Spirit, our pets, and strangers/acquaintances who've had an impact on us in one way or another (like David Bowie, Fre...

The Vestalia is a Roman festival honoring the Hearth and Home Goddess and the Living Flame Vesta; I also honor the Greek Hearth and Home Goddess Hestia and the spirits of the Vestals.  I've been celebrating this holy time for a few years, since learning about it back in the early 2010's, when I was exploring Roman and Greek Paganism.  The festival is from June 7th or 9th to the 15th.  This is one of my most important holy times, especially now as a Priestess of Hestia-Vesta (a Hearth Keeper for Hestia and a Vestal for Vesta--Their words, not mine).  You may notice that I often hyphenate Their names, because sometimes They appear as one goddess and other times as two, purely a personal choice, not a historical one. My Vestalia Shrine. June 9, 2023 Starting in the back, left to right: a statue inherited from my grandmother representing family love, a satchel of my kids' altar stuff, a red protection satchel sitting in a bowl one of my kids' made, a Vestal, Vesta (at He...

After seeing Byron Ballard's warning for the next 48 hours  last night, I grounded myself between earth and universe, Gods and humans--the liminal. I plunged my energy roots deep and wide, so that no storm could knock me down. I connected with my new home and the land and the stars (I can see the stars now!). I went outside and looked up into the bright round moon, perfectly framed by three tree branches. Sister Moon, how long has it been since I've simply gone outside and gazed? Opened myself to your energies? Too long. I charged my shields, my husband's and children's shields, our home, vehicle, and property shields. I turned my attention next to the land and nature spirits. I had already given introductory offerings on Midfall, but tonight was different. It was dark, bitterly cold, and quiet.  I was alone. After standing there for a few minutes, I went back inside to get to my Priestly duties: asking what the Spirit Fam wants for offerings, of course. The Healers wan...