Magic is a wonderful thing; a productive process and ever changing energy! When thinking of working a magic spell one might picture a complicated or formal process,carefully choosing the day, time and phase of the moon, and special ingredients! Incantations and rituals all would be chosen to assist in the desired outcome. However, there are many types of magic spells and I've found the most effective ones often involve no formal process at all. Sometimes you don’t even think about it and you’re working magick!

Some people believe magic involves wielding an actual force outside of oneself. There may be some truth to that and it certainly can be helpful, but I believe that magic is largely a matter of psychology, or positive thinking. It really is all about the power of intention & will! And imagination, of course!

An effective spell can be as simple as saying an affirmation out loud until it sinks in, choosing what items of jewelry to put on, or cooking a special meal. When I sit and put on my makeup or create a scent to wear each day, I am working magic. I often do cooking or cleaning magic. Put the right intent into the most mundane task and it becomes a powerful spell!

Monday night was the new moon. New moons are considered good times to do "banishing" spells, let go of negative energy, bad habits and transformative work. I have been dealing with some  difficult circumstances of late. There have been a lot of changes in my life. In many ways this is causing me to become a different person, yet it has also helped me to affirm the most essential, most genuine parts of myself. Coming through the fire, I learn who I am and despite what some people may contrarily say and think, who I am not.

I've been getting lots of excellent advice about cleansings and uncrossings. I've also been encouraged to do some transformation work. Anticipating this new moon, I've been collecting items for a ritual. A friend even gave me a magnificent, perfect skin her snake had shed! How perfect a symbol for transformation is that?

Often the well laid out plan gets pushed aside by something unexpected and ridiculously simple. That night, I realized I had started working my transformation spell without even knowing it. The day was full of false starts. Eris and Mercury in some kind of tug of war! It drifted along in a way that resisted all sense of purpose. I finally gave up trying to push it and went with the flow which included getting off the wrong freeway exit and meandering around San Francisco until a visit I had intended to last a couple of hours became about 30 minutes and a planned prompt arrival in Berkeley at 830 became 850!

But it all worked out gloriously.

The friend I was visiting in SF is new in my life. She is literally going through transformation right now and has decided her ultimate gender is "to be determined!" She is an amazing, inspiring and hella fun person! She doesn't judge me. In fact she really gets me, and my sense of humor.We met quite by serendipitous accident. I wanted to go to a friend's birthday party in the city, didn't have a ride, then got one at the last minute, but time was limited. However, I showed up at the right time evidently, because we met!.

Spending 3o minutes having awesome coffee, bitching, talking, laughing and hugging someone who is the embodiment of transformation is a pretty good start, eh?

I rushed off to Berkeley,sure that my waiting friend would be frustrated with me and that the restaurant would close. But, he was awesome, totally patient and understanding. Instead of making me feel self conscious about not having money or like some kind of pariah because of my troubles. He graciously treated me to dinner, listened, offered help and advice, and even continued our conversation after the restaurant closed. To have someone, who is making bold changes in his own life, and whose judgement I hold in high esteem confirm that my circumstances, though affected by some bad choices are not my fault, that I'm working hard to change them and doing the best I can, for someone to actually see me for who I really am and recognize what I'm doing to improve is pretty powerful medicine.

The road ahead continues to be daunting, however, I left feeling so much better about myself and my outlook for the future. I rushed home to grab the things I needed for my spell! It was late, but I still had time, in fact by the time I got back to my house-sitting job the time would be perfect! I got to my front door and dug in my bag for my keys only to realize I had left them in the South Bay!

At first I was frustrated. Then I had to chuckle because this day had been determined to go its own way right from the start! Nothing to do, but head back & just work something out!

After a few miles on the road I realized I was hearing song after song about, change, transformation, cleansing, being seen for who you really are, etc. something clicked and a sense of peace slipped over me. Though I might well decide to do something with that snake skin next month, I didn't need to do a big spell tonight. I had simply been doing one big transformation spell all evening without even thinking about it. I was cleansed and transformed by the Phoenix fire of conversation, love and acceptance by other phoenixes.

Wow! And blessed be!

If I had been coming up with a contemplation for Corn Mother it might have been less pithy and more about sacrifice,  gratitude or the cycle of life, but since I am dealing with someone else's work for inspiration, here goes....

Many of the plains Indians have a Corn Mother or Corn Maiden Goddess. In fact versions of Corn Mother show up all over the world. It's interesting that Loar chose the Pawnee Indian Goddess to write about when Cherokee and Hopi stories are more commonly found.

*"Corn Mother is a symbol of the Great Goddess, who gives the substance of her body and her life to provide food for her children."

A number of tales about Corn Mother tell of the mother sacrificing herself so that her children will not starve, commanding her husband and sons to kill her and press her body into the earth and bury her bones. From her bloody flesh mixed with the soil grows corn and from her bones grows the sacred tobacco plant. You can read a version of this story here. 

Other stories tell of corn mother pulling the corn off her own body or from her womb every day in secret and when her sons discover this they become horrified and refuse to eat causing her to become old and die. You can read a version of this story here.

The corn cycle is a great example of the cycle of life. It sprouts, grows,  nourishes, dies, and returns to the earth to restart the cycle. 

*"By honoring these cycles and giving thanks in a spirit of reverence, humanity maintains its bond with Corn Mother and ensures that the blessings will continue. Otherwise our arrogance might cause the land to become barren." 

From the Great Spirit Mother website: 

"Corn was a highly valued staple in the Americas and together with the other vital crops of beans and squash, the grouping was named the "Three Sisters, Our Supporters" in accordance with the belief that the plants also embodied female spirits. Mother Corn Herself, the nurturing Creatrix and Sustainer, was held in the highest esteem as shown in the following creation story. 

"Once all living things were in the womb of Mother Earth. Corn Mother caused all things to have life and start to move toward the surface of the Earth. With Corn Mother's help, the people were born onto the surface of the Earth, but because the people did not know how to care for themselves, they started to wander...Finally the Arikara came to a beautiful land where they found everything they needed to live. A woman of great beauty came to them and the Arikara recognized her as the Corn Mother. She stayed with them for many years and taught them how to live and work on the Earth and how to pray. When she died, Corn Mother left the people a corn plant as a reminder that her spirit would always guide and care for them. The Arikara say that the beautiful place where they learned to live was the valley of the Loup River in Kansas." An Arikara story 


*Contemplation: " The Gods are jealous. If you forget to give smoke they will be angry."
*This contemplation and the topic for this blog entry was inspired by, “Goddesses for Every Day” by Julie Loar. 

This was labeled, "Mermaid Dying." :-( But it's beautiful!