Suddenly this week, the energies have shifted sharply towards activities and actions that signal Separatio, the alchemical phase that I observe as aligned with the spring equinox. This is the part of the alchemical process where decisions are made as to which materials are being carried forward and which are being removed after the stage of Dissolutio (which was Imbolc). In my life, this often takes the form of firm decisions made and committed to for events in the spring and summer. I'm picking which gatherings to attend and these then all shape the further stages of alchemy for the year. Now is when I commit to working with certain energies and refinement processes, discarding other choices.
I got email back
from the temple priestess and I'm good to go for my guest house needs
for my larger conceived adventures. So, at this point, I just have to
let a few people know I'm having adventures in April and May, and find
my airline tickets. I got email from the alchemical priestess in Vegas
and have accepted her offer to run a planetary group at MayFire. I have
to let A know I'm hard-confirmed for her event April 26-27 and will
arrive a couple days earlier. I'll also get some gatherings at the
temple too, for the new moon and Beltane. And I have to check in with
my Bay Area road-wife, as we barely broached the MayFire topic at P-con,
and see how roadworthy she's feeling this spring.
1. Light Supreme, who art the Divine in Nature and dwellest in its innermost parts as in Heaven, hallowed be thy qualities and laws!2. Wherever thou art, all is brought to perfection; may the realm of thy Knowledge become subject unto thee.
3. May our will in all our work be only thee, self-moving Power of Light! And as in the whole of Nature thou accomplishest all things, so accomplish all things in our work also.
4. Give us of the Dew of Heaven, and the Fat of the Earth, the Fruits of Sun and Moon from the Tree of Life.
5. And forgive us all errors which we have committed in our work without knowledge of thee, as we seek to turn from their errors those who have offended our precepts. And leave us not to our own darkness and our own science, but deliver us from all evil through the perfection of thy Work, Amen.
~ from "Eckartshausen's Prayers," one of two prayers written by Karl von Eckartshausen for alchemists, from Über die Zauberkräfte der Natur, Munich, 1819, translated by Joscelyn Godwin
I got out in the yard during a break in the rain this week and did some pruning and weeding. The antique roses got their annual hack down. They responded so well to this last year, I hope we get even more blossoms this summer. I also finally got a handsaw and removed a super-thick-and-dead hunk of thorny cane. As I already have saffron in process, when I cut back some of the crazy rosemary growing intertwined with the roses, I did not save the herb. Both saffron and rosemary are Sun plants, so I didn't need another for my spagyric work. But I may take some rosemary from another bush later in the spring and distill some essential oil as it's so useful.
The housemate backyard survey/discussion required took place, and the apple tree has an agreed-upon new spot where it will be taken out of it's big pot and put into the ground. That's me digging a freaking deep hole. There appear to be some tulips in the vicinity which I will have to just encounter and move on an individual basis. We hope this allows the tree to stop dropping its fruit which is what happened last year. Temps also have shifted enough it seems like a fair time to pitchfork up all the straw and see how the strawberry plants overwintered. We decided that since these really are happier in pots, I'm going to move all the plants to the front yard where we have some large, fancy planters that don't have much going on in them, or only have early spring bulbs. The strawberries will wind up lining the front steps of the house. I have to look up strawberries alchemically. There's got to be something magickal/historical I can craft from these exquisite berries....