On Wednesday I woke up with intense pain in my neck and a massive, pounding headache. My plans for working on kitchen clean up and thus my year long project went out the window. So I took the drugs I could take, and waited for things to fade.
Eventually I had enough energy to do a little. I cleared off half of the windowsill that sits next to our front door, the door that opens into the kitchen. Whenever it’s warm and rainy — in fall and spring — we get salamanders on our front step. They climb out of the grate that rests under our mat, and by morning they’re gone — up the stairs and into the forest behind our property.
The past week or so has been warm enough for salamanders, despite winter digging its claws in for the long haul. (We’re due more snow on the 19th.) I opened the door and looked at the little guy out there; he was sitting just under the threshold, hiding, only his head poking out. The night before there had been two, one on each side, heads poking out like little guardian amphibians.
I thanked him for blessing our house and guarding our front door. I said he and his siblings were always welcome here, and I deeply appreciated their presence. He didn’t react, just sat there motionless, so I closed the door so the big scary hairless ape would stop staring at him.
I cleared off half the windowsill of both stuff (piled high with a hammer, a flashlight, and a few containers of coffee) and dust, a thick black layer of what looked like soot. No, just dust. I then found the metal sculpture of a gecko that my mom got me from one of her latest trips — it looks much like the salamanders outside. I put him on the windowsill.
It’s a spot for salamander spirit to sit and rest whenever it wants to.
I don’t think this house had a house spirit before, or if it did, it was sick. So I made a home for the salamander, and invited it to be part of our suite at least. I have been calling it Salamander Cavern for a while; it seemed only right.
*
Earlier this week our landlord came downstairs to tell us there was a new flood in the unfinished part of the basement. It’s our third one since the first one in fall, 2015. Luckily it’s also the mildest.
Unfortunately it still means I need to get on my hands and knees to check for water seeping through in our storage space under the stairs. I’ve already checked the closet in the office, and luckily that is still dry.
The constant problems in this place are wearing on me. Every time I take two steps forward, I’m forced three back. It’s this latest flood that has convinced me there is something spiritually wrong with this house. The sheer amount of crap we’ve had to deal with, and just as renters…there’s something off here.
After the last flood we bought clear plastic bags to throw down on the problem areas of the carpet, so if there’s more moisture our stuff stays dry at least. We cannot bring ourselves to care if the carpet gets mildewy at this point. There have always been moisture problems in the basement suite of this house; it’s likely why my allergies are so bad here. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the carpet is already mildewy (and it’s all new, put in after the first big flood). I just can’t face constantly moving my stuff around in case of water. I haven’t been able to actually *store* anything properly in the storage areas of the house because those are the ones that get affected.
I’m not done putting down the clear plastic bags. I need to put one under my portable wardrobe in the office, which will be a big job, and in the storage area under the stairs so we can actually put away our Christmas stuff.
I’m seeing things again, too. Little black flashes in the corner of my eye; figures skittering from one corner of a room to the next. Either the rat has moved down from the ceiling and is running around our place, or we’ve got more astral bugs. I did a massive cleaning before to get them out and put up new wards when I did. Looks like another one is in order, and fresh wards.
I’ve never been in a place that needed so much maintenance, spiritual or otherwise.
The salamander home is a partial answer to that. Salamander has been hanging out here for a while, so it’s my hope that offering it a home, a place to sit, will mean it’s more able or willing to assist me in keeping this place…well, habitable.
*
I’ve been doing more magic in general. I wrote out a plan to do magic once a week, but I’m hoping to do it more often than once. (Once a week = at every moon phase.) I’m doing this because I’ve spent a long time just not doing spells until I need to break out the big guns. I want to practice doing magic for smaller things. I want to hone my skills, and the best way to do that is to just practice, practice, practice. Which means not waiting until it’s a big issue to do a spell.
If I’d heard about the #domagick thing before it started I might have attempted that. But on the other hand, magic every day might be a bit beyond my spoon levels right now. I think once a week is a good place to start.
I don’t know how long I’m going to do my moon magick (as I’m calling it). It’s open-ended. I feel I just need to do it until I feel stronger, magically. I don’t exercise those muscles as often as I should. This is my magic workout plan.
I did my first bit this last full moon. My next bit is scheduled for Monday the 20th, last quarter moon.
It’s better than going to the gym.
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