Monthly Archives: May 2006

Comfort

o many put their trust and their definitions as to what is comforting or comfortable in terms of things that are external. For me, having to live between the worlds, in various places, at varying times, there really are few things that I place trust in that are outside myself. Some would say it’s having a full belly, the warmth of a fire on a cold winter night, the love of another, their caress upon their skin, and the feel of soft, clean sheets in a spacious bed with plenty of room to manoeuvre with that lover are the very definitions of comfort. All of those things, I find, are relatively easy to obtain.

The one thing that is most difficult to obtain, and is absolutely essential to contentment is being absolutely comfortable with oneself. After as long a life as I have had, and as much history as I have seen, you have plenty of time to learn to become comfortable with yourself. Many never achieve that in the whole of their lives. Once you are armed with this one elusive quality, you can be comfortable anywhere in nearly every situation. True comfort is having the ability to wield the power that allows you to control your own life. There is something wholly reassuring to being able to say with conviction that you bow neither neck nor knee to anyone and knowing that there are few, if any who have sufficient intestinal fortitude to try to prove you wrong.

That is where I find comfort.


Muse: Fanny Fae
Fandom: Original Character / Folklore / Mythology
Word Count: 225
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Agrimony (Agrimonia eupatoria)


Agrimonia eupatoria (Rosaceae)

Common Names: Agrimony, Church Steeples, Liverwort, Sticklewort, Stickwort, Cockleburr, Warlock’s Bane,Philanthropos, Garclive
Planetary Influence: Jupiter
Element: Air
Gender: Masculine
Tarot Correspondence: The Wheel of Fortune

Description: Gray-green cinquefoil leaves, yellow flowers shaped of stars, the scent of apricots and seeds or burrs that stick to your garments as you pass by.

Medicinal Use: Steep fresh leaves in water to make infusion, used as an external astringent to stop bleeding and for treating wounds. Use the more delicate parts of plants. 3 cups of water to 1 ounce dry herb or 1½ ounce of fresh herbs; pour the freshly boiled water over herbs in a pot, cover the pot and let the herbs steep for at least 10 minutes. Strain. This herb is also used to treat jaundice, as it is tonifying for the liver and assists in making this organ of the body more efficient. (Remember the doctrine of signatures). Agrimony is an astringent and is used to staunch the flow of blood within wounds. It is also been used since antiquity for the healing of the eyes. Not commonly known, Agrimony is used to stop loss of the hair in both men and women. A tincture extracted in 80-100 proof vodka, macerated over 2 weeks to 1 month or one moon cycle is very effective in this way.

Magical Uses: Agrimony is used interchangeably with Cinquefoil which is also known as Five Finger Grass. This herb is protective and should very easily find its place in absolutely any and every protection spell and formula. Agrimony protects against all negative magic and energies, and indeed will not only thwart such workings but will reflect them right back to the sender. Agrimony can be used to quell the nerves of those who feel that they are under such magical and psychic attacks. If placed under the head, it can cause a very deep sleep. This should be used with caution, as it has been warned by many that such sleep cannot be broken until the herb is removed from under the pillow of the sleeper.Agrimony is also used as protection against goblins and poison.

Resources:
Beyerl, Paul “A Compendium of Herbal Magick”1998 Phoenix Publishing
Cunningham, Scott “Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, 1985 Llewllyn Publishing
Wood, Matthew, “The Book of Herbal Wisdom”, North Atlantic Books

And this Wytch’s own considerable notes and experiences about this herb.

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Mother

erhaps in my child’s mind I made my mother into far more than what or who she truly was. I was probably all of four years old when she died. My mother was everything that I am not. She was so young, innocent, and full of life. Like me she had dark hair, but unlike me she had blue eyes. Perhaps it was her blue eyes and sweet song that attracted my father, Gan Ceanach. The things I do remember is that she was the one who taught me about the plant spirits. She taught me to interact with them and listen to them. Perhaps it was her innocence that made such a thing natural to a child. In that world, what little I remember of it, I felt safe and loved. The world was full of things that begged exploration, and there was nothing anywhere within it that was not exciting and wondrous to me.

Then all of that ended….

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TM Challenge #127 Describe a chance encounter that changed your life.

have had numerous “chance” encounters whereby my life was never the same. I would be lying if I thought that my life’s course had not been in some way affected in one way or another by an encounter that was just happenstance. I could say this of every deep friendship or intimacy of my life. The meetings were never planned. Nothing was ever contrived or conspired. Perhaps that is what always led to the longevity of such liaisons.

It was the first and by virtue of that fact, most memorable chance encounter was when I met He of the Silver Arm, the Red King, Nuada, that comes immediately to mind. He was the Supreme Sovereign of the Tuatha Dé Danan, and a wonder to all who knew him or had ever heard of him. It was determined by Morgienne that I would go to the Great Council to represent the Fortunate Island. Looking back I somehow believe that Morgienne sent me in the hopes that I would fail or fall victim to some dark, Unseelie Prince. Surely Queen Annwynn, the Queen of Air and Darkness would be sending her heir, Itet.

I pulled the dark cloak about me tighter. This would be the first time I had ventured out of the Black Forest in a very long time. but in this I had little choice. I had followed the Red King, Nuada, to Berlin. The very survival of the world depended upon alliances that could be drawn up here. I had passed through the first gates and fortifications, only to be stopped by a guard at the second.

“What is your purpose here, madame?” the human man, obviously of French origin asked me.

“I am here to see King Nuada, “I said simply in his own language.

The young man scoffed, shaking his head, “Sure, he said returning in French, “and just whom may I say is here to see him? ”

I pushed back the hood of my cloak to reveal my face. The young Frenchman looked at me with astonished eyes. The lightning bolt of recognition of my face clearly made him nervous.

“Tell him that the the representative Lady Morgienne, of the Fortunate Isle…..the Halfling wishes to see him.”

The young man was about to deny me once again, when I heard a voice, one that was used to commanding many speak.

“Allow her, Henri,” he said.

The shadows outside the penthouse of King Nuada were cool, and a welcome respite from the bustle of the City of Berlin. I peered from the tall double doors that were slightly apart. From inside I caught the scent of Seelie Incenses. When my escort opened the doors to announce my arrival to the King, I kept my face a mask.. As the door swung open for me to be received, I caught sight of the wizened, yet handsome head.

Nuada.
I stood barely inside of the door, for a fragment of a moment unable to move and I could not help but feel the rising tide of apprehension that rose from deep inside of me. It was as if each step had to be forced. I’faith it is hard to stand before the one whom many call the Great Seelie Uniter. I inclined my head but did not bend my knee, for as representative of Fortunate Isle, for me to do so would have implied allegiance. Morgienne would not have stood for it, and now was not time for that.

“You come at an inopportune moment, Halfling,” Nuada said quietly, appraising me, “Strange that Morgienne would have sent you.” His power was a palpable thing, and it instilled awe in that part of me that was human. “So, what do you think when you look upon your own people, Faelyn?” he asked.

I gasped, amazed that he already knew my name. “Her Ladyship thought it better that I should come,” I managed, “I have seen but a few of the Fae, Majesty” I inclined my head again.

With a soft approving chuckle he came toward me. When he at last stood in front of me he lifted my chin between his fingers. “Then there is much you will have to learn about your own kind.”

And so over the following days Nuada told me those things which neither my mother, nor my foster-mother, Morgienne, would do. It was he who was the one who instilled in me what it was to be Fae. Nuada was to me as my father was not. While I like to think of myself of possessing all of the tenacity needed to succeed in life, Nuada and our chance meeting stands out most in my mind as having set my feet upon my present course.

Muse: Fanny Fae
Fandom: Original Character / Folklore / Mythology
Word Count: 795
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What was/is your childhood ambition?

“Any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires”

~ “The Prince”, Nicolo Machiavelli, 1469-1527

hey say that who we are is a product of the events of our childhood. I imagine that my life would offer no exception to that particular adage. I decided at a very young age that I would never be the victim of someone else’s power and control. I suppose it could be said that it was always my ambition to rule, if not over others certainly over all aspects of my own life. I daresay that I have achieved both of these things.

I learned first hand how the powerful could either take the power they had and could give great benefit to those around them, or cause incredible pain and suffering. As a child, it was Morgienne, the woman who was then the High Lady of the Fortunate Island who took my mother from me. It happened when I was very small and I did not learn of her treachery until I was on the edge of womanhood. When I did learn of it, it became an all consuming passion; an obsession. I made it a point to study all forms of Power, its Laws and Mysteries. I committed them all to memory and I used them and turned them on upon those who would choose to exploit me and mine.

Even as a child, my ambition was to rule. To be successful, I learned the art of duplicity, which at any court is absolutely essential. With Morgienne, I was unmerciful as she in fact was unmerciful. Constantly over the course of my life, I watched, I observed all the while discreetly insuring that I would take my revenge as well as the throne of High Lady of the Fortunate Island. All that need happen was for nature to take its course. At last, the people saw her for what she truly was, her star began to fade and she was weak enough to be struck. If I had been convinced to be foolish enough to let her live, the viper would have reared up and bit me once more. Morgienne would not have been merciful, and so the viper was destroyed, swiftly, without hesitation and all remnants of her regime swept away. My childhood ambition was at last realized, my desire for vengeance had at last been exorcized.


Muse: Fanny Fae
Fandom: Original Character / Folklore Mythology
Word Count: 380 (Michavelli quote not included in count)
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