Congratulations to Whimsical Witch winner of the Roots & Shoots, Buds & Blooms Challenge

Okay, so I have to apologize for the blog posts lagging. All of us here at the Pagans of Etsy Street Team have been busy little witches, especially with the Harvest season upon us! With that said, I'd like to congratulate the winner, Whimsical Witch, for getting the most votes in our latest POEST challenge called "Roots & Shoots, Buds & Blooms" with her beautiful item, "Herbal Adornments - Glass Vial Charm Necklace - Pure Magic"


You can view this and her other magickal items at:

www.WhimsicalWitch.Etsy.Com

Bright Blessings,
Moonlit )O(

Pagan Prompts

Looking for suggestions on what to blog about? Well, I've created a new site that will be updated weekly with new pagan-related blog prompts.

http://paganprompts.blogspot.com

Not much there yet, but I hope to have a new topic posted each Thursday. Have some suggestions already? Feel free to comment and share, and I will add them to my list.

~ Sunfire

Colored pencils and the gypsy spirit

Perhaps you are wondering what I have been up to. I have been of course enjoying my activist leanings and looking for work. I have been taking two classes one on colored pencil drawing and one on heart centered meditation. A new writing group has captured my attention. Here is a piece I just posted.

Gypsy Spirit

My childhood was full of the moves associated with a military family. It is through these many changes and uprootings that I grew a gypsy spirit. It’s a way of seeing that is always stronger when there is a turning in my life. I think of it as a survival skill that comes out when needed. I had already moved 4 times in the same general part of the country. We were about to move again to an unfamiliar place when I first noticed it.

The summer before our move while my father was stationed in Okinawa and we were living near my grandparent's. A photograph of a smiling boy playing near the surf hung over the old mahogany crib in the bedroom at the top of the stairs at the house my father grew up in. I had seen it before, but this time it spoke to me not in words per se but I could feel the handsome boy on the beach who looked to be close to my own age. It was a beautiful picture but I had a very bad feeling about it.

I asked my aunt who this was. She told me that it was my father as a child. She was unusually dismissive, I did not believe her and felt even sadder. One day after my fathers return. He was preparing the car for our cross country trip while I sat in the driveway, I had his un divided attention so I asked him about the picture. He too said that it was him as a child. I out and out said “Daddy don’t lie to me” and I described exactly where the picture hung in his family home. He told me that it was his younger brother Georgie. After some prodding, bit by bit he told me that he died in an accident as a child when he was 5. He was upset about talking about it so I did not ask any more questions. Later I found out that my father had only been 7 when their older brother accidentally ran over Georgie, while test driving a car. Dad and Georgie had been very close and I don’t think that my father ever got over that loss. This helped me understand my father better over the years and I am grateful for this.

The gypsy spirit was still with me that summer. The night before we moved to the strange new place, I dropped of to sleep and asked to see where we would be living. Sure enough in my sleep I flew over the new town, when we got there it was exactly as I had seen it.

I did describe the town to my dad before we got there.... Even though it tickles me, the gypsy spirit actually it is a very powerful tool and a peaceful type of protection. It helped me stand my ground against my father who had an angry streak and served me well in my youth when I traveled parts of the world by myself. Oh, sometimes it just serves to make my life a little more magical and fun. Other times it really has saved me from harm. Although there have been times when I knew I was walking into a risky situation and did so anyway, because I was confident that I could handle it. I am not sure that all this spiritual swashbuckling was ethically sound, but it sure was fun. I may have taught someone a lesson they needed to learn. My philosophy is we are here to have fun and if make we a difference that’s good too.

I can share some of those “I am reading you like a book so don’t cha be messing with me tales” and other stories where I met some pretty mystical travelers who maybe had a little more control over their powers and I could clearly recognize but I didn’t want to be messing with them.
What brings up these musings on the gypsy spirit is that …I am now in a major transitional phase. Recent years may have dulled my edge a bit. Ten years ago, we found this marvelous hand hewn “tree house” hidden from the road in a clearing. It was not advertised in the paper the sign on the mysterious drive said for “sale by owner.” I kicked up the maple leaves on the decks to the song in my heart. I was about to receive some money from my share of a business. The timing was good and we bought it. It still makes my heart sing. Many animals cross the meadows, birches glow amid the pines and it has been a good place to raise a family. Since my youngest is a senior in high school and my sweetheart has moved on. I decided to take a heart centered meditation class as I prepare to make a decision on my next step.

Now I could always meditate from the heart, but I am most comfortable zoning out and flying around. I can be very grounded and still fly around. My teacher tells me to try to stay in my body and be more focused. I picked an unusual medicine card~ armadillo reversed. It is a card about protection shields and armor. There is a lot to that. On the surface, it could mean that I have been standing still for too long. Ten years is my record for staying in one place. In my case perhaps that is the challenge. I am still mulling it over. The time may not be quite ripe for a sudden physical change… though other changes are happening.Perhaps I will be able to come up with an outside the box way to travel and stay here. Time will tell.

POEST member, Kathy Crabbe, on GetWitchified.com

Get Witchified episode 11 features an interview with artist and soul reader Kathy Crabbe from LuLuDesign.Etsy.com. Above are samples of Kathy's wonderful artwork. Be sure to check out Kathy's Etsy store.

Kathy is having a giveaway on her blog:
January Celtic Mermaid Print Giveaway: Sign up for the New Moon Newsletter for your chance to win at SoulReaderBlog.Blogspot.com. Up for grabs is the lovely "Silkie" - A Celtic Mermaid Print. Check it out here.

Click here to listen to the show!

Get Witchified is a podcast that delves into the witchy world of spellcraft, divination, the paranormal and everyday life with your host Oseaana December. Oseaana is the Creatrix at The Moonlit Sea and also a member of the Pagans of Etsy Street Team.

Stay tuned to Get Witchified for more POEST member interviews!

New at The Sacred Oak

(click the pic to go to the listing!)

Cinnaberry Votive Candles

The smell of cinnamon and Berries together in this lovely set of 6 votive!

And Featuring our Candle Gift Sets! These are made by The Order! Your choice of 2 votive gift set or 3 Votive gift sets! More will come! Give the gift of scent and light to that special someone in your life!

Yule & Christmas Sales

Yule is coming up on December 21st and Christmas will be here shortly after on December 25th, which leaves less than a month for gift shopping! In celebration of both holidays, the Pagans of Etsy Team is offering various promotions in over 30 member shops. The sales include discounts on Christmas/Yule items, all items, giveaways, free shipping and more!

Below is a list of participating shops and available promotions. Please see their shops for more details and exact dates - they may not hold their sale during the entire sale period:

3sistersmagickshoppe - 20% off for all PaganTeam members plus $2+ off selected items for any customer
AngelicGems - Everything 10% off and orders above $50 shipped for free from 11/28 to 12/01
AthenasDisciple - 20% off everything in the shop
BellaMental - 15% off all items except custom orders, write "paganyule" in notes to seller to receive the discount - offer lasts from 11/28 until 12/21
BrightlyBlessedBeads - Free shipping up until Christmas
DragonHoard - $2.5 off every $25 spent; free surprise gift with purchase from 11/28 to 12/25
DragonsMoon - See shop for details
FollowTheRedBrickRd - 10% off of items over $10, and 15% off items over $50, put "paganyule" in notes to seller to receive dicount
GBaneyx - 20% off all items from Black Friday - Cyber Monday (11/28 - 12/01)
HappyHaven - See shop for details
HarvestStorm - 20-50% off selected items & Free Shipping on purchases including any "ACEO Bounty" cards
KarenElizDesigns - See shop for details
LavenderDragonHerbs - Mens and Womens Sprays buy 1 get 1 half off; Sachets buy 1 get 1 half off; Tinctures Buy 1 Get 1 half off; Teas and Incense 15% off; Gift Baskets 25% off; Or choose to get 25% off your total order of $20 or more; Every Purchase will be entered into a Drawing for $25 Gift Cert; See shop for details on getting the discounts
L. & T.A. Frank - 10% off everything from 11/17 to 12/17
LWaite - Most items $2 - $8 off until Jan. 1, 2009.
LuluDesign - See shop for details
Magical Alchemy - Free shipping on all herbs & teas from 11/28 to 12/24 and a reduced price on both "Frankincense & Myrrh" mixed resin and room spray
MeaCulpaBodyandBath - Free sample with purchase
MeriGreenleaf - See shop for details
MoonLitCreations - 20% off all Jewelry during December
Nefaeria - Some readings will be buy one, get second half price from 11/28 to 12/25
NightMaiden - 50% off everything and free shipping Black Fri thru Cyber Monday (11/28-12/01). After 12/01, 20% off pagan and metaphysical items - look in the sale section
Oakling - 33% off all meal planning kits for black friday/cyber monday and extended further for Yule
RainaDelMagick - Free quartz crystal with all Yule sales and free shipping on sales over $25.00
RainFeather13 - See shop for details
SerenityFields - Free shipping on holiday scented container candles
SnowWaterWoolWorks - Select items on sale
SuzeesJubileeZ - Free shipping on all items and a free catnip cat
TheDancersSpirit - Free gift with purchase
Tunrida - All orders over $50 get a free set Oracle Runes until the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21st)
Vermorlian - 20% off all our altars, altar sets, smudges and wands from 11/27-12/5
Vidia2Be - 25% all items for black friday (11/28) and cyber monday (12/01)
WhimsiGals - See shop for details

Please see promotional items below:





Members - please feel free to use the above images for your items and avatar to help promote the sale. Here is a blurb: To celebrate both Yule and Christmas, the Pagans of Etsy are having a sale! Over 30 shops are offering you discounts and freebies as you prepare gifts for your family and friends. Please search by "PaganYule" to find promotional items.

***
Update 12/16/2008: Our sale was mentioned by Darkly Fey in her blog & podcast - Thanks very much!

POEST Member Interviewed on GetWitchified.com

Shaman Amy Frank from LTaFrank.Etsy.com was interviewed on the podcast Get Witchified (A)nother Podcast for Witches. Shaman Amy shares with us her amazing tradition and spiritual path that blends Mongolian Shamanism and Native American spirituality.

Listen to Shaman Amy's interview in the Get Witchified podcast #7 available for download at GetWitchified.com and on iTunes.


Get Witchified is a podcast that delves into the witchy world of spellcraft, divination, the paranormal and everyday life with your host Oseaana December. Oseaana is the Creatrix at The Moonlit Sea and also a member of the Pagans of Etsy Street Team.

Stay tuned to Get Witchified for more POEST member interviews!