Spring/Summer Altar Refresh

I like to change my altar according to the seasons, changing it every 6 months (at minimum!). It's spiritually refreshing to change the way it looks to align better with the seasons, and on a practical level, it's good to clean off the dust and remove anything that's gone off. To start with, here's a photo of my Autumn/Winter altar ... the 'before' photo:

(Apologies for the poor photography -- I don't seem to have a photo of the full altar!)

And here is the 'after' photo:

I removed the fuzzy winter cloth and replaced it with a placemat that I bought at an Op Shop. Even though it's a darker colour, the florals remind me of Spring. Unfortunately it wasn't quite wide enough to cover the entire shelf, but it's not too bad. I swapped some of the crystals, stones and natural things for ones that felt more 'right' for the season.

I recently found some things that I'd had/made since I was a teenager, and I decided to add them. There's a painted stone with a happy face, and some candles I made. Yes, I made my own hand-dipped candles when I was 15! I chose a group of three. Unfortunately I couldn't get the two taller ones to light no matter what I tried, but I don't mind too much.

And here are a couple of shots with the fairy lights on:

I think it looks lovely!

I've started creating altars in other parts of my house too, for specific purposes. I'll share them in a future post soon.

Grey School of Wizardry Hiatus (It's Over!)

Hello! It's been a while since I last posted, so you may have guessed that I've taken a break from Grey School of Wizardry.

It was a mostly accidental hiatus. At the end of June my first year of tuition ran out, and I decided to take a break before re-enrolling. It was partly because I had so many other sources of learning that I'd just discovered which were taking up my time, and partly to align with the school year. The Grey School semesters run from equinox to equinox, and I felt like I preferred my tuition to begin and end with the seasons, too. I've recently decided to base my goals and plans around the seasons rather than the calendar year, so I decided to wait until Spring to re-enrol.

So, I re-enrolled today. Technically, it's now 3 weeks past the equinox, I know! I deliberately waited a bit longer because I thought that at the end of the year, it would be nice to have some extra time after the end of the semester to tie things up, just in case I can't re-enrol for my third year straight away.

I've started working on my assignments again, specifically the shielding assignment for Core Energy Practices 201. It's the last compulsory class for Level 1, and it will be a milestone when I finish it.

In other news, I've bought a few new books, been learning about hoodoo and done a big spell. I've also planted some plants in my garden and I'm looking forward to sharing it all!