Eye of Newt…

I looooove The Witches of Eastwick. Cher is my favorite.

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg, and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.”
William Shakespeare

“Macbeth” was always my favorite Shakespeare play, mostly because of the witches. Also, I liked the part where Lady Macbeth is driven mad and does the whole “out damned spot!” thing.

Fun Fact: The ingredients mentioned by the witches are the folk names of herbs and NOT parts of animals. For a modern equivalent, think of lamb’s ear which is not the actual ear of a lamb but the fuzzy, soft, ear-shaped plant leaf:

See the fuzz? (Photo by Sharon Marston)

The Halloween Countdown Begins!

We’re officially in the double digits! Only 96 Days until Halloween! That’s only 3 months to prepare… and a full 3 hours of that will be taken up by my intense viewings of Dexter episodes (Season 6 premieres October 2nd! YAY!!!)

Fall is my favorite time of the year and, to be honest, it consumes about 4 months of my life. The stages of obsession are as follows:

I start getting excited about Halloween in mid-July but I keep it respectfully contained so the summer lovers don’t revolt.

August marks the beginning of the fall season for me. The first Pagan harvest festival, Lammas or Lughnasadh (loo-nas-a), falls on Aug. 1st and by that time Halloween decorations have begun to trickle into stores. It’s at this time of year that I begin looking for fall and Halloween themed recipes and scouting out festive activities.

On September 1st, I like to spend the day creating meticulously detailed calendars of fall themed events. These include hikes, meals and outings that I plan on making Fiancé take part in. This also includes times and dates when all the Halloween and Canadian Thanksgiving (mid-October) themed shows/movies will be on TV (because I WILL NOT miss The Great Pumpkin) I also look up local orchards to find out when certain kinds of apples will be in season and gather information on nearby pumpkin patches and hayrides. I also look up annual attractions like Halloween Haunt at Canada’s Wonderland. Fall fairs and craft shows also make the calendar. You may have to wait until October to fully flesh out your calendar with Halloween events, but it’s ok to add as you go.

October is mostly spent baking Halloween themed cupcakes and consuming vast quantities of pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. October also marks  my annual viewing of my favorite movie, The Blair Witch Project and outings to see any new horror movies in theatres. Another way to pass the cool, crisp October days is to cyber-drool over the amazing Halloween decor on the Grandin Road and Pottery Barn websites or drool in person at Pier 1. The sales ladies love me.

I realize that I sound like one of those crazy coupon cutters on “Extreme Couponing” BUT this is what needs to be done in order to maximize the potential for fall fun. Sadly, I never make it to all the scheduled events and viewings because, unfortunately, I have a life. Regardless, if you’re making your “Halloween Fun” calendar properly, every single day in the months of September and October will have an activity, whether it’s baking pumpkin scones or watching Hocus Pocus for the 70 millionth time.

That, ladies and gentleman, is how you do fall.

P.S.

On a slightly more serious note, Samhain (Sow-in) is the most important Pagan holiday. It is a celebration of the dead and the final harvest festival of the year. Samhain, which falls on Halloween, is the witch’s New Year and a time for divination and self-reflection. Samhain is similar in several ways to the Mexican Day of the Dead which follows on November 2nd. I like to plan elaborate altars and shrines to Frida Kahlo (in the spirit of Day of the Dead) and I partake in detailed tarot readings in the days leading up to Halloween.

Social Media, Death and Amy

I went on Twitter this morning and was saddened to find out that Amy Winehouse has passed away. I was a little disheartened that people who have no connection to her, other than a few songs on their iPhone, were passing judgement on her death, calling her an addict and blaming drugs.

We don’t yet know what her cause of death was. If it happens to be an overdose or suicide, I urge you to donate time or money to a charity that deals with addictions or suicide prevention. Or find out what causes Winehouse supported and donate to one of them. Perhaps you could even volunteer your time teaching music lessons to needy kids or give to a charity that supports the arts. If Amy Winehouse’s music touched your life, maybe you should honor her in this way, instead of talking shallowly about it in social media.

It’s a pretty disconcerting world we live in. Death is discussed in less than 140 characters on Twitter and on random ill-written blog sites, like this one. Or posted on Facebook in between status updates about what someone had for dinner, soon replaced by another about partying tonight.

We all engage in social media. At times, it’s both a blessing and a curse. I’m not passing judgement. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong. It’s just interesting.

And a maybe little unnerving…

Last Quarter Moon (and a lesson in magical correspondences)

I don't remember where I found this photo but it's full of witchy awesomeness.

Tomorrow, July 23rd, is the Last Quarter Moon. While most witches celebrate the full and new moons, powerful magic can be cast during the last quarter, when the waning moon is half full.

The last quarter is a good time to banish things from your life. This contrasts with the moon’s astrological correspondence this month. The last quarter will be in Taurus, a sign known for acquisitions of power and wealth. Taurus is also ruled by Venus, the plant of love. Taurus is an earth sign corresponding to emeralds, copper, roses and horned animals, like rams and bulls.

That may seem like a pretty random grouping of correspondences but a love banishing spell immediately can to mind:

Spell to Banish a Lover

By banish, witches do not mean kill, destroy, or send to an alternate universe (although that would be pretty fantastic.) Banishing, in the case of this spell, is the act of removing someone from your life. It basically works by untangling your lover’s life from yours so that you can both continue living happily, but separately.

This is a great spell for people going through a breakup. It eliminates the stinging pain during that messy stage where you’re still talking on the phone but conversations end with silence where there used to be “I love you.” It will help heal your heart by soothing the emotional wounds. Know that every star in the sky is working on your behalf to keep your ex away and banish your pain. This should bring you comfort.

You’ll need:

1 black pillar candle

Rose petals (The spell will be more powerful if you happen to have flowers that were given to you by your lover, even dried petals                              from an old bouquet.)

Tears

Light the black candle and think of all your emotional pain. Don’t be afraid to have a really ugly cry. Add your tears to the burning wax. Channel all of your anger and sadness into the candle, looking at the flame as you think about all that has happened with your lover. When you’ve finished crying, crush up the rose or flower petals and sprinkle them over the candle so that they burn in the flame and stick in the melting wax. Say:

“As the candle burns, as the moon wanes,

(Lover’s name) is banished, as is my pain.”

Burn until you go to sleep that night. Light the candle and sit in front of it at least every night for the next 7 days. Whenever you cry or feel angry, light the candle. Whenever you’re tempted to call or text your ex-lover, light the candle. The candle absorbs all of your pain and as it burns, that pain is dissolved into the universe. Bury any candle remnants outside, off your property. If you live in an apartment, dispose of the finished candle in a trashcan in a public park.

Why does this spell work?

It’s important to understand why a spell works. Witches see the world as a big spider’s web whose strands connect everything in nature. Everything means something. Everything has a history. Everything has a unique energy and thus a unique magical vibration. That’s not crazy new-age talk, that’s Grade 11 physics.

This spell will be done on Saturday, a day that corresponds to banishing, as does the moon phase and the color black.

Taurus, the sign the moon will be resting in, corresponds to sex and love because of its association with horned animals (horny, get it?) and the planet Venus, which obviously controls love.

Roses correspond to both Taurus and love.

Taurus by itself refers to acquisitions. This spells allows you to acquire power by banish love.

An Insomniac’s Guide to Sleeplessness

I’m slightly insane (I conceal it well from the outside world), but during bouts of insomnia the quirkiness gets amplified. My life devolves into a heinous blur of narwhals, 90′s sitcoms and Hello Kitty. If you suffer from insomnia, you understand.

Here’s my suggestions for wasting away those looooong nighttime hours:

1. Watch the entire series of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” I suggest the episode Once More With Feeling. It features a demon who makes people break out into spontaneous song and dance. Bonus: free to watch online and because you’re sleep deprived, it makes total sense.

2.  Star gaze and lightning watch. I always feel bad when thunderstorms happen during sleepy time and I miss them. Appreciate the random weather patterns that blow through at 3am.

3. Look up fun facts about alpacas. I’ll get you started: In Ancient Incan culture, a person’s wealth was measured by the number of alpacas they owned. True story.

4. Watch 1980′s rom-coms. My favorite is “When Harry Met Sally” but there are like thousands to choose from. Also, anything with Cher or Dolly Parton is a wonderful choice (Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias, 9 to 5, Witches of Eastwick…etc) They’re all lurking around the interwebs for you to watch for free.

5. Concoct strange grilled cheese sandwiches. This should take place when you’re at that weird stage that happens at 4am (you’ve gone 10 hours without food and it’s almost an acceptable hour for breakfast.) Here‘s an inspirational recipe that combines Pop-tarts, brie and bacon. The perfect sandwich for a delirious insomniac.

6. Write your memoirs. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 19-year-old mathlete or an elderly cat lady, you should write down your life story… then send it to me at missbunnysunday@hotmail.com so that I have something to read when I can’t sleep.

7. Watch terrible slasher movies. You remember that huge pile o’ crap that happened when the horror genre was revived in the mid-late 90′s/early 2000′s? It was the era of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” and “Scream.” Google ‘em and watch the delicious cheesiness that is the 90′s teen slasher flick. I highly recommend “Urban Legend” with Jared Leto.

8. Mmmmm………. Jared Leto.

9. Start a drinking game. If you’re up this late anyway, you might as well be drunk. Flip through television channels and drink whenever you come across commercials for sex or rotisseries. You’ll be plastered in no time.

10. Look up facts about narwhals. Hint: They’re the alpacas of the sea. This will make sense if you’re as sleep deprived as I am right now.

11. Read books about developing your psychic abilities. In this sleepless state, you are susceptible to believing you’re a powerful conjurer. Don’t be surprised if your kids/pets/partner are less than supportive when you scream, “I AM MERLIN!!!!!”  into their sleeping faces at 4am.

12. Watch paranormal movies and tv shows. Become convinced that the coffee table is trying to steal your soul.

13. Make hand puppets. Take off your socks and transform them into glitter-faced new friends. This is a great time to work through the veritable stew of crazy that’s been keeping you awake all night. Work on your daddy issues or practice saying “no” with Sylvester and Edith… or whatever you name your sock puppets…

14. Go to this site and marvel in wonderment. Warning: contains adorable platypuses (platypi?), alpacas and sea-alpacas.

15. Porn. I hear it’s good.

That Bastard Insomnia…

“The night is the hardest time to be alive and 4am knows all my secrets.” -Poppy Z. Brite

Insomnia is a dirty bastard, as all insomniacs already know. It begins one strange night with a sudden aversion to sleep, a fluttery caffeinated feeling in your brain that says, “Must see what 4:37am looks like.”

Then, you’re down the rabbit hole of sleeplessness and into a destructive cycle of “can’t sleep-sleep in too late-can’t sleep” until your brain starts making you do weird things like put a kettle of boiling water in the fridge (Seriously. That happened this morning.) 

“The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world.” -Leonard Cohen

But, insomnia also means that you have the luxury of being awake while the world sleeps. You’re initiated into the exclusive club of night shift workers, goth weirdos and artists. There’s only a small group of us that know what time the birds start singing (4:02am) and when the sky fades from black to that peaceful pre-dawn royal blue (4:43am.) 

We also witness the intimate goings-on of late night. Last night, I watched a guy scream obscenities at his girlfriend’s locked door for over 15 minutes. I was also privy to the nightly 2:15am parade of drunk girls walking home from the bar, giggling like deranged psychos, heels clacking on the sidewalk. I know when the paper gets delivered and when the coffee shop down the street starts baking muffins. I hear the world go silent at 3am and watch it come alive a few hours later. The progression of apartment lights being turned on, then cars on the road, then dog walkers as the city wakes up and I begin to feel tired. 

“I’ve always envied people who sleep easily. Their brains must be cleaner, the floorboards of the skull well swept, all the little monsters closed up in a steamer trunk at the foot of the bed.” -David Benioff

Unlike most insomniacs, I work from home and so I have the luxury of falling asleep as my fiancé wakes up and making my morning coffee while he makes lunch. It’s an interesting rhythm. Sometimes I wonder when I’ll sleep like a normal person, other times I hope it’s like this always.

I think that’s the insomnia talking.

July Full Moon: The Blessing Moon

The Blessing Moon is full tonight. At this time of the year we are blessed with an abundance of vegetation and crops. It is also known as the Thunder Moon, Buck Moon and Hay Moon. The moon names come from history and can be found in European agricultural practices and the beliefs of Native tribes.

Colors: Green, Silver and Blue

Element: Water

Deities: Cerridwen, Venus and Juno

Stones: Opal, pearl and moonstone

Trees and Herbs: Ash, oak, lemon balm

Dreamwork and divination are done under the July full moon. This is also an opportunity to work on self-discipline and personal goals, especially those that seem out of reach. Try scrying in a bowl of water or call on Venus to enchant a glass of tap water with loving energy. It is a good time to harvest herbs and walk outside. A ritual bath can be prepared with cleansing sea salt and rose petals.

In case you were wondering, July’s full moon will be in Aquarius. Interestingly, Aquarius, though an air sign, is called the “the water carrier” and is symbolized with watery lines. July is also known as the birth month for the sun sign Cancer, a water sign symbolized by the crab. This is where the connection between July and water comes from. Additionally, water symbolizes divination and dreams, so you can see how everything is connected and the reasons for the above correspondences. This is a good month for all water signs (Cancer, Pisces and Scorpio)

Death of an Artist

Frida with her iconic flowers and rings.

“July 13, 1954 was the most tragic day of my life. I had lost my beloved Frida forever…To late now I realized that the most wonderful part of my life had been my love for Frida.” -Diego Rivera

Frida Kahlo passed away a few days after her 47th birthday, in the early morning of Tuesday July 13th, 1954. The death certificate states “pulmonary embolism” but suicide was rumoured. She gave Diego an anniversary present 17 days early, saying that she’d be leaving him soon.

Hundreds of mourners visited Frida’s coffin but after lying in state, the body that had been so uncooperative was burned. The urn containing her ashes can be visited at The Blue House in Coyocoán.

Diego escorts Frida's coffin.

Despite the many tragedies she suffered, Frida loved deeply and laughed vivaciously.

At age 6, Frida survived the polio that left her right leg withered. She would hide it under long skirts and layers of stockings for the rest of her life.

At age 18, she survived the bus accident that destroyed her body, breaking her spinal column and pelvis and impaling her with a metal handrail that entered through her hip and exited her vagina. She often joked that the handrail stole her virginity.

She survived 32 operations to put her body back together and alleviate her chronic pain. Nothing worked.

She survived the amputation of her right leg, several miscarriages and the multiple infidelities of her husband.

All this inspired her art, which is “acid and tender, hard as steel and delicate and fine as a butterfly’s wing, lovable as a beautiful smile, and profound and cruel as the bitterness of life” as Diego Rivera told Picasso.

The last entry in her journal reads, “I hope the leaving is joyful and I hope never to return.“

Her last painting is inscribed with the words “Viva la Vida”

Long Live Life.

Rest in peace, Amiga.

The Paintings

My Birth, 1932

Frida’s paintings are scattered across the globe. Some are in New York City. “Fulang-Chang and I” and “Self Portrait with Cropped Hair” are on display at the Museum of Modern Art, where Fiancé proposed. “My Grandparents, My Parents, and I” can be found at The Jewish Museum, Frida’s father was Jewish. Many paintings are still in Mexico, at the Blue House or in the Dolores Olmedo Collection.

The majority of Frida’s paintings are hanging above people’s fireplaces. It’s only been 57 years since her death and many of her friends and family are alive and well enough to cherish the paintings she left behind.

Currently, collectors are snatching up paintings as they become available, paying over 1 million dollars each. This is how Madonna came to have several in her private collection, including “My Birth.”

Fun fact: I once dreamed that Madonna invited me over for dinner and while she was stirring spaghetti sauce, I rummaged through her drawers and closets in search Frida paintings.

Anyways, I’d really like a painting… preferably one of the self-portraits… just putting out there…

I’d settle for one of her rings…

Frida Firsts

Frida was the first person in mexico to be psychoanalyzed by a psychologist.

She was the first woman to sell a painting to the Louvre in Paris.

She was one of the first girls admitted to the National Preparatory School, where she studied to be a doctor.

The first and only solo exhibition of her lifetime took place in Mexico in 1953.

Her first painting was done at the age of 18, while recovering from the bus accident that almost killed her.

Alejandro Gómez Arias was Frida’s first boyfriend. He was in the bus accident as well. He sustained minor injuries and rescued Frida’s body from the wreckage.

Salma Hayek was nominated for her first, and only, Academy Award in 2003 for her portrayal of Frida Kahlo. Frida Kahlo’s niece was so impressed with the film that she gave Salma one of Kahlo’s necklaces.