Yvonne Aburrow's Blog, page 49
April 9, 2020
Notable and quotable: coronavirus (3)
As coronavirus lockdown continues and the case count spirals upwards, people are getting more anxious and in need of community support. Heres another roundup of coronavirus posts.
Michael at Unhinged and Unenlightened has a great post on spiritual coping strategies for anxiety.
Ive decided to put together some self-help tips that try and take into consideration our limitations due to the pandemic. I mainly focused upon anxiety and worry, as it seems thats what most people are dealing with in...
April 5, 2020
The Tower and the Virus
My first guest column at The Wild Hunt.
I have been anxious for months, years even. I have watched with growing horror the rise of right-wing populism, the melting of the icecaps, the burning of Australia, the beginnings of wars over water and resources, the seemingly inexorable destruction wrought by climate change. The protests of Fridays for Future and Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion gave me some cause for optimism, but it is also obvious that governments have not been doing enough...
April 3, 2020
Follow Friday
Just been having a conversation with someone Im following about how to find good blogs to follow on WordPress.
I dont use the search function very often. I have found the occasional good stuff via search, but it is rare.
Instead, I follow the blogs of people who write good comments on blogs Im already following. Or people I find on Twitter or Instagram who share an interesting article. Or people I know from other contexts.
I have also followed a lot of people whose posts are featured in...
March 31, 2020
Books I read in March
Oddly enough, the first two books that I read involved faeries (not for any particular reason).
The Book of Dust Part 2: The Secret Commonwealth, by Philip PullmanThe world of the new Philip Pullman series (The Book of Dust) is somehow more like our world than the previous one (His Dark Materials). Interestingly, Lyras Oxford has almost exactly the same street plan as the Oxford in our world. This seems a little odd for an alternative reality; but it is very useful if you know Oxford well...
March 27, 2020
300 followers
I reached a milestone of 300 followers. Thanks everyone! Welcome to new followers, and thanks to old followers for continuing to read my stuff.
Special thanks to people who followed me here from Patheos or from my earlier blogs, Nemeton, Dance of the Elements, and The Stroppy Rabbit.
Popular postsSome of my all-time most popular posts:
First Thoughts, Second Thoughts, and Third Thoughts
March 23, 2020
Hand washing song
Storm Faerywolf pointed out in his recent article on The Wild Hunt that singing Isis Astarte Diana Hecate Demeter Kālī Inanna twice measures approximately 20 seconds of hand washing, the recommended duration for getting really clean and it works!
(Video of me singing it after the jump.)
As magical practitioners we can use this mundane activity as a personal trigger for our magical work. While we wash our hands each time we can inwardly focus on specific energy-states, such as those...
March 19, 2020
Ritual to the Asklepiadae
In addition to the recommended precautions like hygiene, social distancing, self-quarantine, and so on, its also a good idea to strengthen your immune system by keeping well hydrated, taking plenty of vitamins and herbal supplements. Its also important to maintain your regular spiritual practice, in order to keep your spirits up, as much as anything else. Magical and spiritual interventions can also be helpful here. So here is a ritual to Asklepios and his family, the Asklepiadae.
If you do...
March 18, 2020
Hugging while 2 metres apart
Many people are going to be deprived of touch and hugging while self-isolating during the coronavirus pandemic.
Heres a method for hugging while standing two metres apart (the recommended distance to avoid transmission of the virus).
About fifteen years ago, I went to a dowsing workshop in Bristol, UK, led by a guy called Jason. He got us to think of a happy memory and then dowse the edges of each others aura with dowsing rods. The aura expands when youre happy or thinking of a happy memory....
Notable and quotable: coronavirus (2)
The first roundup of coronavirus posts was getting a little unwieldy, so heres a second instalment.
Various posts have been reflecting on the implications of social distancing, and being cooped up with your partner and/or house-mates.
Nimue Brown has written a great post on maintaining good communication in small spaces.
The absolute key thing for surviving with other people in a small space, is not to take your feelings out on each other. Its easy to do this without noticing snapping at...
March 17, 2020
What we have in common
I dreamed that I was in an Anglican or Episcopalian Church in North America and had been invited by the vicar to introduce a hymn. She handed me the order of service which already had a hymn picked out, and it had been annotated to change him to her, so I introduced it and encouraged people to sing her where appropriate if they wanted to. One of the congregation said they didnt really know the tune for that hymn. So then I suggested we sang Morning has broken and changed him to her in the...
