Channeling Messages Beneath the Blue Moon
Once in a blue moon, we return home to the stories that made us. We cast a net into a golden tide of remembering, harvesting moon flowers and mystery from the succulent vines of nostalgia.
Once in a blue moon, we're given opportunities to revisit the things we loved as children – our favorite books, creative companions, and the wistful seeds of yesteryear.
And so, beneath this blue moon, a supermoon, our second full moon in a single month, and our ninth moon of the year, we offer you our hand, a behind-the-scenes story, and a question – what nostalgic souvenirs do you hold dear?
Perhaps it's a vintage book, a piece of old clothing, or a once-plush familiar, and if you're anything like our illustrator Caitlyn Barone, it's all of these things, but also so much more.
In preparation for what we hope will be a larger, more welcoming workspace for Pointy Hat Press's co-founder, the Art Witch has been busy cataloging and clearing out boxes of her childhood belongings.
And, as evident by her well-loved hardcover of Charlotte's Web and an impressive coven of Polly Pockets and Beanie Babies, I can easily say she has ventured into a 90s treasure trove. With each share from her time capsule of days gone by, I can't help but think of the 13-year-old me. I wonder how she's doing, what she's doing, and where she harvests the finest stalks of inspiration.
Arranging the fossils of our youth into a foundation for our creative and magickal practices is nothing short of a spell. Because while we've hopefully matured since our tender teenage eras, the things we loved during our formative years have a way of showing up again and again. And each time, the fertile grounds of inspiration acquire a new layer. Not surprisingly, for as long as mine and Caitlyn's childhood memories serve, the realms of mystical books and magickal writings have been lighting up our souls like shooting stars.
But, how does a youngster discover the inner worlds using only her imagination and intuition, the places that, to this day, still feel like home?
Folklore suggests it's all part of Maidenhood, the youngest face of The Triple Goddess and the Pagan Holy Trinity. As the archetypal student and seeker, it is the Maiden who self-initiates and ventures into the Underworld of becoming. We see this in the myths of Persephone, Ariadne, and the Celtic Brighid.
From a magickal perspective, reuniting with the things we loved as children can be a potent potion, a doorway into the creative catalyst we call nostalgia magick. There, at the altar of our remembering, our younger selves serve as creative companions, mirrors through which to scry, and unassuming alchemists, expertly taming the minotaur within the soul's labyrinth.
And so, inspired by the teenager within, the one tending to the stories that made us, a Blue Moon spell.
Grab a journal, a writing utensil, a lit candle, a glass of drinking water, and your tarot deck. Arrange these items around yourself or on your altar, and imagine that your thirteen-year-old self is sitting across from you. Rest the glass of water between the two of you. Shuffle your cards, and when ready, one by one, speak the following prompts aloud. Pull one card or several in response to each line:
Card 1: Beneath the Blue Moon, a reunion of hearts…
Card 2: Nostalgia looks like…
Card 3: Tendrils of inspiration, winding around…
Card 4: In the gardens of memory, the bones and blossoms grow together…
Card 5: A secret from you (the inner 13-year-old) to me...
Card 6: A secret from me to you (the inner 13-year-old)...
Card 7: What energetic souvenirs will you harvest beneath this full moon?
Card 8: What will you resurrect during this next cycle?
Card 9: Led by this card, speak a blue moon prayer into the glass of water. Drink the water.
Spend several minutes channeling responses to the prompts above and their accompanying cards.
Although it's still a couple of days away, September spurs the month of the vine. According to Celtic lore, this is a season of reflection and inner explorations, where Underworld rumblings welcome back the ghosts of autumn.
Believed to be a holy month, in ancient Greece, Demeter and Persephone hosted the Eleusinian Mysteries in September, their annual ceremony dedicated to the Goddess, her Grain Mysteries, and the antidote to humanity's greatest fears around death and endings. The chapter waiting to be written beyond the veil…
But, while Spooky Season is right around the corner, and our author has an exciting offer for our fellow word witches (more on that soon!), we don't need to wait for a specific date to divine with ghosts - all we need to do is tell the bees.
In the old world, back when magick was a part of everyday life, our ancestors viewed bees as charming pollinators, but they also glimpsed shapeshifters, fairies, and fuzzy messengers that carried our successes and stories into the spirit realm.
To them, bees were not mere insects but mystical couriers. And upon reaching an important milestone, families toasted their good fortune with the hive. The buzzing could go on for days (the bees loved any excuse for a party), but once the hoopla died down, a team of pollinators would venture out into lands unseen, delivering meaningful news to our ancestors and spirits long gone. In addition to joyful happenings like marriage proposals, anniversaries, graduations, and births, people also told the bees about their sorrows - endings, doubts, and the woeful junctures of life.
Today, the ritual of telling the bees shows up in animistic communities and magickal circles across the globe. Generating abundance, insight, soulful synchronicities, and ushering in sweetness are some of the gifts offered by a happy hive.
Pointy Hat Press introduces
An Illustrated Fairy Tale about a little witch, a curious invitation,
and a sticky, springtime tradition.
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