Blessings are often disruptive. On Imbolc Eve, my husband and I lit our candle to Brigid. We invoked Her peace and protection on our home and lives. It worked…and quickly!
The day after Imbolc, we discovered mold in our upstairs bathroom. A few days later, an inspector discovered that the peeling and cracked paint in the ceilings our our bedroom and my office contained lead paint. We would have to demo. Goody.
First of all, let me stress that these are very luxurious problems. While many people even in my town are living out of tents and vans, we are blessed to not only have a home, but one with two bathrooms. I can’t even really call these problems–more inconvenient disruptions. But again, blessings are often disguised as disruptions.
In order to do the demo work, we have to clean out everything from both rooms and our bathroom. Given that my office has been buried in the paper clutter from writing two books and its closet was packed with over a decade’s worth of papers and clothes I hadn’t worn in almost that long, I have a lot of work to do. But the disruption offered the blessing of early spring cleaning. I am spending these last few weeks of winter giving away what I’ve already read or am no longer wearing. One of those blessings was giving away old evening gowns to a teenaged daughter of a friend of mine, who attached to one right away saying, “I feel like Cinderella!”
It’s a time of shredding old papers, but also revisiting old memories. Some memories were warmer than others. It led me to dream of saying goodbye to people in my past, whom I don’t care to have in my future. It also led me to reconnect with old friends, sending them photos and notes they wrote long ago.
But a tricky thing was releasing old Magickal tools. One friend of mine says, “Don’t keep what you don’t use.” It made me wonder if keeping old trinkets from past rituals, or tools I’ve barely touched kept much my Magick stagnant. I knew it was time to let things go, but is it “bad” to let go of something that was once Magickal?
No! The items told me. We’re ready to rest!
Here’s what they “told” me to do:
* Pray over old herbs. Thank them for their work. Scatter in a park or forest, or respectfully leave in the compost.
* Break old candles–away from you. Declare that their work is done.
* Tell old tools that their work is done, and give away to a friend or a thrift store, or dismantle and return biodegradable items to the earth.
Wish me luck!
