מכתם לדת - Michtam L'Dat

י'ב באייר תשס"ח
Mab 13

מכתם לדת

I ritually stained the wood of my carved staff this evening with a red-ochre pigmented blend of botanicals, under the waxing gibbous moon 92% full, beginning during the planetary hour of Jupiter (ת) and finishing for the night during the planetary hour of the Sun (ד), drawing out from among twenty feda the ogham letter Saille (aravah) whose keyword is flow and whose corresponding mystical concepts [1] include:

female moon times
connecting with the Ancestors
knowledge of proper timing, tides of time

Additional associations [2, 3]:

liminal zones
witchcraft, magic and the feminine mysteries
divination, seership and prophecy
psychic perception and intuitive sensitivity
interweaving the revealed (itkafia) and the hidden (ithapcha)
water and mystic eloquence

lips
sukkot, joy
hoshanah rabbah
the temple in Yerushalayim


Footnotes:

[1] Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom by Erynn Rowan Laurie

[2] Ogam: The Celtic Oracle Of The Trees by Paul Rhys Mountfort

[3] Inner Dimension, ערבה

Staff Of Beauty Consecration Blend

ג' באייר תשס"ח
Mab 4

Preliminary list of botanicals to be used to make my staff consecration blend:

base oil (1)

sweet almond

drops of other oils (3)

bergamot
cedarwood
vanilla (absolute)

resins (6)

amber
black mayan copal
dragon's blood
galbanum
labdanum
sweet myrrh

herbs and botanicals (27)

aloeswood
balm of gilead
broom
burdock root
calamus root
calendula
damiana
dandelion
elder flowers
gall nut
ginger root
hawthorne
juniper berries
milk thistle
mugwort
nettle
passion flower
pomegranate seeds
saffron
sage
uva ursa
vervain
white sandalwood
white willow
witch grass
woodruff
wormwood

pigment (1)

red ochre

In addition to the clear natural crystal point that I've already used in crafting my staff, other stones I've chosen with which to empower it are:

amethyst natural point
herkimer diamond
jet
spirit quartz

Staff Of Beauty

ג' באייר תשס"ח
Mab 4

This past Sunday afternoon I found my witch's staff and de-barked it. Then after letting it rest for a few days, this evening I did my initial carvings. I am planning on filling up most of the surface with mystical and symbolic designs.

I have no idea what kind of wood the staff consists of, but it is a hard pale wood. When I decided this past weekend that the time was right to go look for the wood with which to craft my magic staff, I found it immediately, within 1 minute after exiting my car and entering the forest. My staff of beauty measures 58 inches long and is shaped like a tzadi sofit (the fifth of the final letters).

In between cycles of carving (and before sealing it with a protective varnish), I am going to treat the wood with a herb, resin and red ochre pigment mixture in a base of almond oil. I haven't decided on the exact recipe yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I've placed a small clear natural crystal point in one of the top ends of the staff. Other things may be added after the carving, (and initial) protective pigmenting treatments and varnishing are complete.