paganism – Page 3 – Serendipities

Devotional Jewelry: Bast

November 30, 2015
by Alexandra

Bast5

I have finally finished (and listed in the Etsy Shop) my first piece of devotional jewelry: a bracelet for devotees of Bast, the Lady Devourer, my Patroness. The bracelet is about 8.5 inches in length, but as I have enough supplies to make several more, the length can be variable with the addition or removal of the golden glass accent beads. The gemstone beads are rutilated quartz, golden tiger’s eye, picture jasper, and black onyx, all in 8mm rounds and pearl-knotted on durable nylon cord.

There are four of each bead, in four groups, split in half by the glass scarab bead. The number four is important in Kemetic numerology, and of course the scarab is an important symbol as well, and protective amulets were often carved in the shape of this beetle. The gemstones are ones that I personally associate with Bast, and the golden accents are evocative of the Netjeru generally, as they are sometimes said to have been made from gold itself!

Hopefully this bracelet will find its way home with someone who will appreciate both the design and the goddess for which it was made!

~Réaltán~

Kemetic Execration Ritual Outline

In the interest of keeping most of my more formal workings here on this blog, especially if they serve the folk, which is the end goal of Serendipities, I have decided to copy here a ritual outline I originally posted to my pagan tumblr.

About a month ago, I led a Kemetic revivalist styled (flavored?) public rite using the sanctuary of the ADF Grove where I a member. It was done as a “moon rite” because Kemetic rituals aren’t ADF-kosher for the 8 yearly High Rites, and honestly, that suited me just fine – it was a more intimate rite and I got to use my own outline, instead of the ADF Core Order of Ritual. I started with Per Sebek’s outline here, and then altered it to fit a group, and to more closely resemble the sort of ritual my attendees were used to (ie, ADF-style), and as we were holding this rite outside, after sunset, in October, I tried to make sure it would be short, too.

My general intention for the ritual was to help us let go of things that no longer served us, in preparation for Samhain (I led the rite the week before) and the introspection of winter months.

So here is the ritual outline, complete with prayers written by me:

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Arts and Crafts and Execrations: Helping out a Friend

A few weeks ago a friend of mine (for the purposes of this post I’m going to call her “Phoebe”, though this is not her real name) asked my husband if I knew anything about strong banishments or curses. She’d been plagued by terrifying nightmares, and she was afraid that she was once again under psychic attack by an abusive ex of hers, who happens to be a Santeria practitioner. Phoebe had done banishments before, but so far they had all eroded in time, and had only barely managed to keep him away – her moving out of state had done more than anything else in that regard, as she only has a legal restraining order in the state in which he assaulted her. Phoebe was afraid to sleep and more or less at her wit’s end, and she knows that I’ve banished nasty spirits before, so she thought she’d ask me about blocking out a bad person.

What we ended up doing had four major parts. First, we made a banishing packet aimed at her ex. Then, I spoke to a few Entities from the Santeria “pantheon”, and we lit candles for them. Next, I facilitated a kemetic execration for her, drawing on my relationship with Bast and Sekhmet. Finally, we put together a dream-ease spell jar and consecrated it to Phoebe’s protector, Brigid. It was a bit eclectic, I know – but that did not seem to diminish the power of our spellwork.

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Beads for Devotional Jewelry

May 27, 2015
by Alexandra

Well, I have invested in a number of gemstone bead strands, and are beginning to delve into that wonderful world of devotional jewelry. It will probably be some time (and a lot of practice and working out kinks) before any of the things I make end up in an Etsy shop, but that is the end goal. I’m thinking I’ll start with bracelets for the Hallows, the Kindreds, and for gods/goddesses I know personally, and I’ll branch out from there. I know it will take some time to work out my personal “style”, as well, and I’d like to write brief prayers or meditations for each piece of jewelry, so that’s additional time, too. On the other hand, that’s a lot of devotional work that I will hopefully eventually be paid for, and that’s the point, of this entire adventure, isn’t it? To eventually be able to support ourselves by selling spiritual or healing objects, and by offering spiritual or healing services.

Here are the beads I have so far, from the top: rose quartz, onyx, picture jasper, howlite, adventurine, blue lace agate, bronzite, lapis lazuli, golden tiger’s eye, faux larimar, rutilated quartz, freshwater pearls, tree agate, amethyst, red agate, and amazonite.

I need a few more supplies still, but in the meantime I’m beginning to make prototype bracelets on knotted embroidery floss, to see how the different stones look together.

Here’s two tries at a Lunar Year necklace – it’s not long enough if I only use the gemstone beads, but I haven’t decided what kind of spacers I like better, or if I should use one (for the quarter) or two (for the weeks). The idea is to use 13 onyx and 13 howlite to represent the 13 New Moons and 13 Full Moons in the year. I may also give up on spacers and use chain if I can find some inexpensively. I want this to be a piece people will wear in public, even if they’re not publicly pagan, because it’s pretty enough and “normal” enough that no one will look at it twice.

This is a bracelet for Bast! It’s the perfect length just like this, honestly – all it needs is a clasp and maybe a small charm. Of course, the embroidery floss isn’t strong enough to stand up to real wear, but hey, I’m still counting this one a success. I’ll re-string it when I decide which string I’m going to buy for the knotted ones. (Honestly, stringing material is surprisingly complex, and bracelets in particular have to stand up to a lot.)

This is the beginnings of a bracelet for Fand… only I discovered that my pearls have much tinier holes than the rest of my beads. In general, however, I think the color scheme is nice, and the crystals work well for her.

Anyways! It’s an adventure! And hopefully I’ll have more Serendipities new for you all soon!

Bright Blessings!

Réaltán

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