Persephone Dark Moon Bath

"To she who glides the silver crescent moon boat through the dark still waters of our becoming"
~Demetrius George"

 

I recently attended the Waking Persephone Dance Festival in Seattle. It was a wonderful weekend full of dance, spirituality and change. You can read all about my experience here. I am thrilled to have Persephone’s presence back in my life. I have worked with her before, but she had been silent for several years. She first began to whisper to me again when my friend first told me about the Waking Persephone festival during lunch about a year ago. I had looked at the website, but realized that there was little chance that I would make it all the way to the Pacific North West. I thought,  “perhaps I will apply to teach next year too and then I will end up there.” I dismissed this first call back into her embrace. Weeks later I began reading Village Witch by Cassandra Latham. I absolutely love Cassandra Latham! I love how she is grumpy, real and strong. I love how she has been through so much, yet has so much to offer! I loved every page of her book; it really helped me see that all the trials, abuses and traumas of my life were for a reason. In her book she speaks of Persephone’s Children, which she referenced came from the book “Mysteries of the Dark Moon” This was the second call and I ignored it again. Well the Spirits do have mysterious ways about them and when they want you to go in a direction they open doors! Time went on and in a strange turn of events we suddenly moved from Arizona to Portland Oregon, just 3 hours away from the Waking Persephone festival. I waited and procrastinated until I couldn’t anymore! I broke down, I registered for 4 witchy based dance classes. Then in an even stranger turn of events I was revisiting the Village Witch book and I decided to finally break down and get Mysteries of the Dark Moon. No coincidence it arrived right around the time of Waking Persephone! 

I opened the book and, like I always do, I flipped around devouring the information I craved before starting at the beginning and reading the whole book. I got to the section on Persephone and I began to read, it spoke of her sexual trauma which I know all too well and as I read through the book. I began to see patterns and key words appear on the page. I then slipped into trance through bibliomancy. I saw myself naked, being cleansed with water, rose and the blood red juice of the pomegranate. The scene changed as if I was now getting instructions. I saw myself in my sacred bath, filled with black salts, roses and juicy pomegranate seeds and red blood like juice covering my body. I understood that this was the healing I had been asking for. She was back in my life and that this was the dedication to her and to heal through her ways. I did not hesitate, I grabbed the pomegranate in my fridge and went to the bathroom, I cleansed myself in warm waters and rose and then without care for my hair or where the seeds popped and sprayed I covered myself in blood red juice covering the walls of the shower with red and the floor with pulp…


This is just the beginning. During the Dark Moons she has asked that I worship her in this way; with her sacred fruit and a journey to the underworld. So just in time for Samhain and of course on each dark moon I look forward to spending time in her death like embrace… 

Here is my recipe, feel free to tweak it how you feel fit. Working with Persephone can be incredibly rewarding and powerful for those that have suffered through traumatic events in their lives. Will you join me in by honoring this powerful Goddess with a healing bath in honor of the dark goddess Persephone?

You will need...
·         ½ cup pomegranate juice
·         1 apple sliced so the pentagram shows
·         1 pomegranate cut into quarters
·         1 cup Epsom or black lava salt
·         Red Rose petals

The Rose Thorn Charm

Slathered in homemade flying ointments of nightshade and fly agaric, I waded through the waters of the forest creek. I dropped pansies from my garden as an offering and sacrifice to the spirit world. I walked against the current untill I heard a call, a tug at my heart strings. I saw the seductive silver of the artemisa and nightshade. A single purple flower with a bright yellow pistil and anthers stuck out and drew me in. I instantly knew I had permission, it is almost as if she drew me in. There was no need to ask she beckoned me over and I thanked them. I harvested several branches and placed them in my harvesting basket. I walked for a while before heading back to my family picnicking by the river for lunch. I thought I had finished collecting plants, but I was not quite done. There to my right, standing high above the rest of the silver weeds were green and brown striped balls glistening in the sun. There were exactly three on a dried and twisted silver nightshade twig, my charm was almost complete. I collected fallen bark, droplets of sap from the ground, some wild weeds and then I waded in the waters and regenerated. I crossed the river back to my family and after an enjoyable day returned home.

The rose, the first to bloom on this plant the second for an offering. This one white on the outside and deep blood red on the inside. It whispers to me words of bone and blood. I combine the rose with it's extra sharp, needle fine thorns, with the prickly weeds and silver nightshade. This formed the perfect combination for the charm I needed. Beauty and bane, bone and blood...tied with a black cord this protection charm now hangs in the magic room. I warn visitors not get too close to this beauty, she has a sharp bite. There were many sacrifices in this making this magical charm. Sharp pricks sticking my flesh as I wrap the cord around it reminding me that everything has a price. All great works of magic cost, the price is always different and never easy. The cord wound tight, the sacrifice given, incantations whispered and life given...


Avalon Rose Water



I have been silent for a while, I have been so busy with Henna, and Dance that I havent had time to sit and write out a blog. I seam to be out of the crazy rush of the spring now, so I have a few moments to blog. Though I havent had the time to really write, I have been busy crafting magic. One thing that I have been useing quite a bit in my personal rituals, and spell work is Rose water. 


Rose water is very easy to make. The rose water that I have been using though, is specific to Avalon. Red and White are the colors of Avalon, representing everything from the 2 sacred wells in Glastonbury, the apple, and red and white Dragons (Wales and the UK) These colors represent polarity, light and dark, death and life, up and down, etc. Since it is spring time and my Roses are in beautiful bloom I decided to harvest the Rose petals I needed straight from the garden.
I selected the Most beautiful red and white roses I could find. I gently separated their petals from the stem and rinsed them off. I then heated up some water and poured it over the rose petals. Covered and let sit for 24 hours. The next day I had wonderful Avalon Rose water! I have been using it for all sorts of things from cleansing, baths, and offerings. There is nothing like drops of rose water forming steam as it hits a red hot coal sending its essence into the other world.  

 *** If you want to keep the rose water you make unfortunately it doesn't last in its natural state. You can add a bit of  vodka to the mix and it will keep!