Merry Meet,
I had a very busy but productive day yesterday. In my last post I left off with all the things I needed to accomplish. Here is what I actually got done. After I did my morning prayer I started researching deities, and I found exactly what I was looking for. The deity I would like to start working with is Selene Goddess of the Moon. I found her on a website called Otherworldly Oracle. This is another great website I have found that has lots of great information on a lot of different topics from folklore, Sabats, history of Wicca, rituals, spirit guides and much more. This site also has a members only page which I have not been able to check out yet, but I will. Soon.
That is not the only site I used to read about Selene. I would not learn all I need to know about her through just one source. I referenced Otherworldy Oracle because that is where I first learned of Selene, and I feel like I need to recognize the place where I found her. This is what I have learned so far during my web search. Selene Moon Goddess is a deity of Greek origin. It is said that Selene gives her followers more intuition, and helps with divination, among other things. I am very interested in divination. I picked up some rocks on my nature walk to make my own rune stones, but more on that later. It is said that Selene is the moon itself, she is pulled through the night sky by her white horses. I have always been fascinated by the moon and I believe this is one of the reasons I felt an instant connection while learning about her. There are many conflicting stories about Selene on the internet so I need to do a lot more research about her, but she is the Goddess I hope to start working with.
I started getting tired of staring at my computer screen so I decided it was time to go on my nature walk. A lot of Wiccan followers find their magical tools and Altar decorations in nature. There are many things I would like to buy, but with money so tight right now, I will work with what I can find. It helps that I have been collecting items over the years that I can use in rituals and eventually in magic, but I know I need more. There is a lake near my house so I took a walk down there to see what I could find. Along the lake shore I took a small sample of sand for the earth element and a little lake water for the (duh) water element. Looking back now, I wish I had brought a bigger container to hold more water, because I would like to use it to create moon water. So I plan on going back soon to collect more. I brought with me a glass vial filled with mixed stones to give back to the lake with my thanks, and I tried to meditate and say a prayer to thank the earth every time it gave a gift to help me on my path, but I don’t feel confident that I did it right. I obviously need more practice in meditation and prayer. But I still practice every day and with time I’m confident I will improve. I also found some small rocks scattered around a tree that I think will be perfect in making my rune stones. I am going to paint them a solid color and then paint the runes on them and start practicing divination. Once I collected the rocks, (13 for the rune stones and a few more I’m sure I can find use for) I turned around and saw two geese very close to me swimming at the edge of the water. They looked at me then turned around and swam away. When I first got to the lake, I took a moment at the waters edge to just quietly look at the lake as sort of an exercise to appreciate nature. I did not see these geese anywhere as I did this, and the fact that they were right at the waters edge just a few minutes later so quietly, well I took this as a good sign, that maybe the God and Goddess are watching me and telling me they approve. I hope I am right about this. I plan on meditating on it later. I should have done it last night, the day I actually went to the lake, but I was so tired when I got to bed that I forgot. Hey, I’m still learning, and I know I’m going to make mistakes, but that is how you learn!
As I continued my walk around the lake I found a fallen branch and thought it would make a great wand so I took a minute to ask the branch to join me just as I did with the sand, water and rocks. I did not feel any negative energy, so I picked up the branch and continued on. The next area I came to had some tall plants growing. I suddenly saw that these plants could make the bristles for a broom, or as some Wiccan’s call it, a besom. So again, I took a minute to ask for permission to take these plants. Then I put my hand on them and started to pull. I could tell instantly which plants did not want to come with me. I am actually quite proud of myself right now. I have only been practicing Wicca for 9 days, but I have already grown and learned so much. A month ago if I wanted a plant that was growing in the ground I would have just taken it. Now I can actually feel if a plant wants to come with me or not! And when I found a plant that did not want to come, I still took a second to thank the plant for being a part of my journey and moved onto the next one. I found a lot of them that did not want to go, but also a lot that did. I am grateful to both. When I was done picking plants I took a moment to say my thanks and then continued on. I realized that the branch I had picked up earlier would be better suited as broom handle than a wand, as it was kind of long, so I continued on in search of a new wand. I found a few sticks laying at the base of a tree and growing on the ground was a big patch of moss. I remember reading that moss has some uses in Wicca so again I took a moment to ask permission and got no negative reply so I cut a small patch of moss, found the stick that would be my new wand, said my thanks and stood to continue on. When I turned to walk away I was facing a large bush that I had not yet noticed. The bush had no leaves and looked still dead from winter, except for the bright red berries growing all over it. I gathered some berries, said my thanks and continued on. It was very cold out yesterday, and being near the water made it much more so and windy and I was freezing at this point so I decided to turn back towards home. I was still looking for anything I could possibly use, but nothing jumped out at me. I’m sure I missed some things, I was hoping to find some shells or a bird feather, and I’m sure some of you reading this are thinking of a few things I could have picked up, but hey, I’m new to this. 😜
Once I got home I set my new treasure on a towel I placed on my soon to be new Altar. I was pretty proud of all that I have found. After I warmed my bones I did a little more reading from my books on Wicca and on the internet. Later that night I attempted to make my besom and wand. I started by taking the bark off of the wood. It very quickly became clear that I did not collect the right kind of wood. The bark was not the problem, it came off quite easily in some places and was a little harder in others, but as I was taking the bark off the wand snapped in half. The wood was too soft, and not at all smooth under the bark. The branch I chose for the wand is still long enough to use as a wand even after it broke I think, so I’m still going to attempt it. At the tip of my new wand it turns into two small branches, kind of like a divining rod, and I would like to place a stone in there. I have a couple pieces of quartz and a big piece of amethyst among some others, so I need to do a little research to figure out which one I should use. Next I made my broom. What a messy project that was! I probably should have used plants that did not have tiny flowers growing all over them! But I lined up the plants so the bristles would be even at the end, then I placed the handle so that I had enough room to attach the bristles then tied everything together. For a first time broom maker, I don’t think its too bad! It’s a little bigger than I had anticipated and it will probably continue to be very messy until all the flowers fall off, but all in all I’m quite happy with what I have created!
Pictures of my lake walk are in the gallery along with a picture of my new besom and my soon to be wand. Take a look and tell me what you think. I would love to hear from you! Thanks for taking the time to read my blog everyone! Today I’m going to plan out my Imbolc ritual and I’ll write about my first major Wiccan holiday in my next post!
Blessed be
From Waning to Wiccan 
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