The Phoenix rising from the ashes?  Well that archetypal jewel of meaning holds a lot of magickal power for me.  I’ve had my own phoenix journey. She’s travelled with me and sits before me as I type.  She sits within me too.

As mentioned in my first post my relationship ended this year – house number 13, remember?  And the relationship almost entered its thirteenth year too.  Anyway, my fearless phoenix helped me through.

I discovered this amazing card in an English witchcraft shop.  It’s called ‘Rise’ by Silas Toball and depicts a winged woman rising defiantly from the burnt orange glowing ashes, unfurling herself into a new existence; emerging from loss and pain. 

Visible also is the phoenix, new wings also spread wide seemingly at one with her.  And on the ground is left a mask, a symbol of the life before; her before.

It’s amazing this card.  I simply adore it and I’m so grateful that someone put paint to paper and shared their vision.  It helped me connect with my strength, to face my fears, total trust in my intuition of knowing what I want even if it means to leave a precious thing behind, to keep on the path of true honesty with myself.  Deep honesty lives in each of us but sometimes gets clouded out of fear; fear to walk the path we know we’re capable of but somehow we hold ourselves back.

I lost love and was deeply broken hearted; part of me died inside.  I felt hatred, rage, grief, horror at hurtful words, pain, emptiness.

"Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." Well said Tennyson – another who shared his inspiration.  Yes, to experience love – what a loss to have never had this. And what a loss I had.  To love is to risk.  It’s to put your heart on the table.  It might get slaughtered like mine did, but I would not have changed years of love I felt.

I knew I was on my journey.  Somehow I was meant to be experiencing this, no matter how wrenching it was.  Out of loss I gained.  I gained strength to be on my own and follow my own path.  I surrendered to my truth and went my own way .  And out of that surrender I gained more than ever.  I am first hand experiencing the true power of forgiveness; that love, even if smashed can come back if forgiveness is there.  Surrender means I will always be looked after – and I was.  To follow Truth is to connect with Divine.

Forgiveness is release.  Release of blame, release from the hold the painful words had, release from resentment and anger.  I own the power of my forgiveness and it takes strength to do it.  Forgiveness is taking the ultimate responsibility for my experience.  Drinking the poison of resentment hoping the other person will die never worked – because it’s you who’s dying, me who’s dying, not them.

Emerging anew, I Rise.

to yoga!  To link with the divine!  That is the true meaning of yoga.  I like to do this in my magickal practise too otherwise for me it is empty.  To commune with the God and Goddess and serve them is the ultimate magick.

Well, at least my blog is anyway!

I actually started this blog last Friday, which was of course the 13th!  Good old 13th.   I have a mixed relationship with the number to be honest.  I think it’s a magickal number – there are 13 full moons in a year and the members of the coven I was in all had house numbers that either were 13 or a combination thereof!  But I lived in a number 13 and my 12 year relationship ended which was the worst thing ever   So who knows.  And I moved in glad that it was a 13!

Is it just that the number inherently holds a challenging sway in its quality, or do we, with our will make it so?

I found out that there’s a medical term for fear of Friday 13th, can you believe it.  It’s Paraskevidekatriaphobia!  Sometimes I think we create the unluckiness out of our combined will!  We are that powerful and I guess it is that same powerful will that we use in magick.

So, I have a lot of plans for this site.  Photos, recipes, magickal musings, Cornish witchy tales.