#theo's updates

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: June 28th - July 4th

My partner fell ill over the weekend (common cold, nothing serious) so after a restless night I got up early on Sunday and created a bindrune for healing and added it to my seven day candle.

Monday was the strawberry full moon which means it was time for my monthly altar clean, plus my second quarter tarot pull. But before all that, I held a garden funeral for a chickadee I found deceased at work.

Woke to a thunderstorm on Tuesday morning and I'm so glad I decided to leave a jar out on my outdoor altar last week. It's working perfectly to catch the rain when I'm not expecting it.

Wednesday was another bird funeral, this time for a female American redstart that collided with my car. She joined the chickadee from Monday in the garden. In the evening a storm rolled in but blew by, but not before taking out my outdoor altar and a few branches from one of the pines bordering the cemetery.

After work Thursday, at the tail end of a sudden downpour, I repaired my outdoor altar and will be looking into ways to add support in hopes it doesn't get taken out by the wind again. Sadly due to my collection jar being lidded and tucked underneath the altar, I did not get to collect any of the storm water.

Friday I woke up earlier than usual and spent a good amount of time sunning before getting up and refreshing my daily offering. After work another brief rainstorm rolled in and I managed to collect some storm water this time. I also spent some time just standing in the rain to cool off and cleanse myself. It felt so refreshing.

It rained most of Saturday then got foggy. While running errands with my partner, we went thrifting and I found a handmade ceramic piece to add to the altar as a candle holder (it's base was inscribed with the year I was born and signed, so thank you "Keith"). In the evening I spent a few hours just sitting in the living room by my altar watching the candle flames flicker around the room.

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: June 21st - 27th

As the majority of my week was plagued with insomnia, a pretty nasty sciatica flare, and some other health issues, I didn't have a lot of energy or pain tolerance to do much in the way of magic this week.

The few things I did manage to do were:

Celebrated the summer solstice on Sunday by giving thanks to the spirit watching over the land we are on.

Kept up on refreshing daily fresh water offerings (keeping a decanter on the altar is proving helpful in remembering, and when portioning into my tea cup seems to last about a week).

Asked Eir to comfort me during the worst of my pain in the wee hours of the morning and for a brief moment it felt like someone laid their hands on my shoulders and as they slowly moved them down my arms, my symptoms lessened a little (I know it could have been the sleep deprivation but I'm choosing to believe she was there).

Friday before work I cleaned out my rain water jars that were getting a little funky and also prepped a jar I can keep out on the outside altar to collect rain for me when I forget to put a jar out. I also finally refreshed my solar energy jar.

Saturday after finally getting more than 4 or less hours of sleep, I finished repairing our broken bird feeder and put it back in the garden, then caught up on some yardwork I had neglected all week.

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: June 14th - 20th

Sunday was a soup day. Cooler temps, rain, fog and a sore belly. So into the crock went shredded chicken, carrots, celery, onions, broth, rice, and parsley. Simple but comforting~

Monday morning amongst mundane housework, I spent some time removing old spell ingredients from beneath my altar and cleaning their containers to reuse. I also removed as much rust as I could and seasoned my repurposed cast iron cook pot (I use or outdoors for making small fires).

Tuesday morning while lighting a candle and leaving water offerings in the altar, I got this feeling that Grandmother Doe (the elderly whitetail deer skull I found in 2022 in the woods just across the road from our property) would like to go outside and be in the sun. She's only been outside a handful of times since I got her and never just to sit and enjoy the elements. So when I got home from work, despite the clouds, I brought her outside to the outdoor altar and offered her some grass and a promise to bring her back outside again when the sun is out.

Had some sort of intestinal episode Tuesday night/early Wednesday morning, so I didn't get much sleep. Thus Wednesday's energy got used up for work and not much more.

Woke up to rain on Thursday morning. The yard is partially flooded (joys of living surrounded by marshes). Took all the water as a sign to finally fill a decanter to keep by the altar in hopes it will remind me to leave more frequent offerings. After work I decided to deconstruct and refresh my Prosperity Pitcher.

Friday I woke up slightly early to catch the sun as it came up over the trees. It honestly just feels so nice to bask in the light first thing in the morning (kinda energizing too).

Saturday I met some tourists visiting the property for a Father's Day ghost hunt/history adventure and got to talk about the property's history, urbex, spirituality in general and the afterlife. (It's so rare stranger interactions are good here as it's usually just "tourons" thinking they can do whatever on the land, but these folks were kind enough to knock on the door and ask permission to walk around).

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: June 7th - 13th

Sunday despite still feeling unwell, I set about deconstructing my old outdoor altar space. I had to cut the grass anyway so removing it left me one less section to weed whack around (honestly hate weed whacking and would much rather have a crazy wild lawn with pathways instead of so much space being cut but I digress).

Instead of simply sitting in the morning sun inside, Monday I went out to the garden before work and started building my new outdoor altar with materials from around the property (I was going to wait for the weekend but I was too excited to get started).

Tuesday I spent some time moving a few things around in the garden. (Before it gets too hot, I'm trying to make a conscious effort to spend some time everyday puttering around out there).

Wednesday I refreshed my luck spells for my partner as he had a job interview Thursday. (Unfortunately he won't know for a bit if he got the job, but we're trying to be hopeful).

Thursday morning before work I started grinding up all the ginger peels I dried (Everything smells refreshing now).

Friday was a long work day, so other than spending some time in the garden in the morning, I didn't get up to much else craft related.

Saturday I picked up trash in the neighbouring cemetery and spent some time sitting amongst the graves observing nature (The wind had picked up and was cooling, with the smell of petrichor in the air).

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: May 30th - June 6th

I ran out of time and energy over the weekend so I was unable to clean my altar on the exact date of the full blue moon. Instead I got it cleaned up Monday.

Monday was also the day my new wax melts arrived so I now have a sweet scent for aromatic offerings.

Tuesday and Wednesday I did some note taking as I'm trying to create a small pocket reference book with information I feel is important to carry with me.

Thursday I found a four leaf clover in our yard🍀

Friday I didn't get up to much as the withdrawal symptoms have been setting in (I've been tapering off a long-term medication for months as it may be the cause of my heart rate issues, and this is the first week I've been fully off them).

Saturday, despite the withdrawal feeling like a nasty flu, I:

Restocked the bird seed for nature offerings.

Cleaned out the birdbath.

Watered the garden.

Made a fresh batch of candied ginger and ginger syrup.

Made a large dish of what I've been calling "dirt salad" (cubed radish, cucumber, beets, and dill...tastes like the earth).

I'm hoping by next weekend the withdrawal symptoms will have at least softened because I want to get to work on reworking my outdoor altar space to make it something usable before the solstice.

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: May 16th - 22nd

Going to try and start weekly updates again because I completely forgot after one post in December.

Last Friday was a dear friend's birthday, so on Saturday whilst hanging out I gifted them some witchy goodies.

Sunday I refreshed my solar energy spell jar. This time adding dandelion like originally planned, and I feel like it's given a better boost as I haven't been struggling to wake up in the mornings anymore.

Monday I tried sauteed beet stems and greens for the first time and quite enjoyed them. Not sure why it took me so long to realize they can be eaten as I love beets, but I've tried them now and plan to incorporate them into more regular meals.

Tuesday I restocked my glass bottles, picked up some dropper bottles, and ordered some roller bottles. Then after work I spent some time just sitting in the neighbouring cemetery observing nature.

Wednesday and Thursday we're busy work days so I didn't get up to much other than spending some time in the morning sun before work.

Friday my package of pure beeswax tea lights arrived (finally found a reliable Canadian source for them as the last ones I ordered were either super low quality beeswax or cut with paraffin as they didn't burn clean, smelt awful, and burnt out in less than two hours), so overall it's been a week of restocking, refreshing, connecting, and trying something new~

[ofcedarandbone]

Theo's Updates: July 12th - July 18th

Sunday after running errands I ended up taking a long nap. It ended up being a lazy kind of day for my partner and I.

Monday after work I cut the grass, trimmed some overgrown branches around the property, then foraged a whole bunch of black raspberries. I also removed the dried hollyhock blooms from the drying rack and placed them on my altar. They'll be useful in future protection workings

Tuesday morning before the heat of the day set in, I went out to the garden and did some weeding, along with cleaning and refilling the wildlife water stations. Before leaving for work I refreshed my daily water offerings and tossed in a few of the foraged berries. Later in the day I foraged a few more black raspberries and made an offering for protection to the Antlerless Buck. Then with some of the berry juice used to mark his skull, I marked the doors and windows of our house.

Wednesday I simply spent some time at my altar after work, lighting candles and making my daily offering of water. The air is thick with smoke from the various wildfires across Ontario, bathing everything with an eerie yellow tinge.

Thursday with the air still filled with wildfire smoke, I tended to the garden and made sure the wildlife water dishes were full, as well as watered the plants. In the morning I moved some of the sleeping moths out of reach of the toads, in hopes they'll have time to lay all their eggs.

Friday morning while committing to the daily upkeep of watering the garden and refilling the feeders, I heard my first cicada of the season. I had hoped to spend some time outside in the afternoon after work, but ended up in a flareup so I just ended up in bed.

Saturday though still in pain, errands needed to be run so my partner and I did that then I returned to bed for most of the day, getting up only to sit in the doorway long enough to witness the brief thunderstorm and downpour.