carrying the hot circulation of life

Here is what the sea smells like. It is more texture than scent, because the sea is primarily made of two substances that have no smell of their own: water and salt. Salt has no smell, but makes the air sting, and so all of the other smells of the sea are layered upon the pang of salt. Water has no smell but instead a comfort, we feel moisture as life and so the smells of the ocean are layered upon the contentment of the water. Salt is treble and water is bass. I don’t know how I know this is true, but I know it is true. The sea smells like old wood and wet leaves. Like cold mud and warm stone. Like every creature who has ever lived in it, a churning graveyard and nursery. Like winds from the inland carrying the hot circulation of life and winds from the ocean carrying the distant froth of waves against ships and islands. Like grey, only more so. Like blue, only less so. 

Joseph Fink & Jeffrey Cranor – The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home  

violet/the end

1. in my wildest of dreams
the sky would be violet
the clouds would be shaped
as question marks
to match my internal confusion
& it’d make sense to be here

2. damn right in my wildest dreams
i’d be braver in the moments
that called for it
or bolder in the moments that maybe
didn’t require it but needed a little kick

3. the colour purple & violet
are meant to keep us grounded
but violet also relates to fantasy
& escape
how fitting is that for me?

4. violet in no capacity
represents the end
where the bullshit is finally over
& yet i still want violet skies
in my dreams & otherwise
maybe for hopes of
balance
maybe for hope to exist at all

vanessa maki

my favourite thing

I have been feeling very clearheaded lately and what I want to write about today is the sea. It contains so many colours. Silver at dawn, green at noon, dark blue in the evening. Sometimes it looks almost red. Or it will turn the colour of old coins. Right now the shadows of clouds are dragging across it, and patches of sunlight are touching down everywhere. White strings of gulls drag over it like beads.

It is my favourite thing, I think, that I have ever seen. Sometimes I catch myself staring at it and forget my duties. It seems big enough to contain everything anyone could ever feel.

Anthony Doerr
All the Light We Cannot See

The Toll of the Sea

The first Technicolor feature in Hollywood, a retelling of Madame Butterfly, starring Anna May Wong

green means go, so run - now  –
green the colour of the siren sea, whose favours are a mortgage upon the soul
red means stop, before the cliffs jag downward
red the colour of the shore that welcomes
white the colour of the man washed ashore, from his shirt to his pants to his brittle shoes
white the colour of the screen before Technicolor
white the colour of the master narrative
green the colour of the ocean, so kind, not leaving a stain on the white shirt
green the colour of the girl, so kind — but why?
She speaks: Alone in my garden I heard the cry of wind and wave
In the green girl’s garden, the stranger clamps her, asks:
How would you like to go to America? A lie, soaked in the
red of the chokecherries that turn brown in the heat
red the colour of the roses that spy
red the colour of their fake marriage
white the colour of the white man’s frown
She asks: Is it great lark or great sparrow you call those good times in America?
green the colour of his departure
white the colour of the counterfeit letters she sends to herself
white the colour of their son
white the colour of erasure
red the colour of the lost footage
red the sea that swallows our stories
red the colour of the girl who believed the roses
red the colour of the ocean that drowns the girl
red the colour of the final restoration
In every story, there is a Technicolor screen: black / white / red / green
In every story, there is a chance to restore the colour
If we recover the flotsam, can we rewrite the script?
Alone in a stranger’s garden, I run — I forge a desert with my own arms
blue the colour of our recovered narrative
blue the colour of the siren sea, which refuses to keep a white shirt spotless
blue the colour of our reclaimed Pacific
blue the ocean that drowns the liars
blue the shore where the girl keeps living
There she rises, on the opposite shore
There she awakens  – prismatic, childless, free -
Shorn of the story that keeps her kneeling
blue is the opposite of sacrifice

Sally Wen Mao

Colours

Yellow is the colour of my true love’s hair
In the morning, when we rise
In the morning, when we rise
That’s the time,
That’s the time
I love the best

Blue is the colour of the sky-y-y
In the morning, when we rise
In the morning, when we rise
That’s the time,
That’s the time
I love the best

Green is the colour of the sparkling corn
In the morning, when we rise
In the morning, when we rise
That’s the time
That’s the time
I love the best

Mellow is the feeling that I get
When I see her, mm-hmmm,
When I see her, mm-hmmm
That’s the time,
That’s the time
I love the best

Freedom is a word I rarely use
Without thinking, mm-hmmm,
Without thinking, mm-hmmm,
Of the time,
Of the time
When I’ve been loved

Donovan

Poetry

I need poetry
this burning sorcery
this heaviness of words
spoken and unspoken
that awakens emotion
and creates colours
never before seen –

How to Read Auras…

This is a very simple, beginner method, but with enough practice things will get clearer, and you can see more at once.

1. Facing a white or black wall in good lighting, put your arm straight out in front of you with your palm facing the wall.

2. Spread your fingers, and look between them at the spaces. Keep your eyes relaxed and generally unfocused.

3. You should see an energy field around your fingers developing in your peripheral vision. It usually starts out clear, and with practice you see colour.

4. It may help to move your hand slightly. I find if I do this that the aura leaves a ‘trace’ for a few seconds, allowing me to see it clearly. Sending energy out of your hand or visualizing it becoming stronger also helps.

5. Keep practicing. In time you can see different layers and colours, on yourself as well as other people, coming from the entire body.

Cyrnaros’ Witchery

Knot Magic

Different kinds of knot/cord magic:

Braiding: Used for long term, braid three or more colored cords while focusing on your intention and use when necessary.

Knot 1: Tie 9 knots on a colored cord while focusing on your intention and place some place where it will not be disturbed (by storing it, burning it or burying it- so the knots will never be undone).

Knot 2: Tie 9 knots on a colored cord while focusing on your intention to store energy. Release knots one by one in the order they were tied to release the energy when needed, once a day consecutively.

Crochet/Knitting: Use to imbue intention into the item so that the wearer benefits (e.g. warmth, self confidence, protection, etc).
Cross Stitch/Embroidery: Used to imbue intention into the item. Especially useful with sigils.

How to do it:

There are a few methods known when working with knot & cord magic.
Braided cords typically do not get undone, and are stored for long term use. While braiding the cord (typically in 9’ or 9″ measurements but if you don’t follow the threefold law this is irrelevant– unless your deity is a triplicate that you plan to invoke).

To Do: Concentrate on your intent while braiding the cord, visualizing/thinking about it coming to fruition. Once you’re finished braiding consecrate the cord and put it away until you need it. This isn’t meant for an every day thing, just an as needed cord.

Knots can be harnessed in a few ways but the gist is that you’re using the knots to store power related to the intention of your spell. 1) Where you don’t ever untie them, 2) When you untie them as power is needed, or 3) when you untie one knot each day for consecutive days.

Typically you would tie a bead onto one end of the cord so that you know what your starting end is. You can also melt the ends with fire to prevent fraying. To Do: Pass the cord through a candle flame or incense to cleanse it while saying the words of your spell (i.e. the REASON you’re doing this) then you begin tying the knots in the cord you want to say the following while focusing on the intention/the type of power you are storing:

By knot of ONE, the spell’s begun
By knot of TWO, it cometh true
By knot of THREE, so mote it be
By knot of FOUR, this power I store
By knot of FIVE, the spell’s alive
By knot of SIX, this spell I fix
By knot of SEVEN, events I’ll leaven
By knot of EIGHT, it will be Fate
By knot of NINE, what’s done is mine

Generally knots are tied in this order:

1——6——4——7——3——8——5——9——2

But I have seen other variations, I just find this one easier to follow because it doesn’t start in the middle so you have a reference point for which end contains the 1st knot (the bead). You can also tie things INTO the knot to strengthen the magic even further (hair, wood, stones/gems, etc) just make sure to destroy or bury those items if you choose to untie the knots. Some people use knotted cords as a powerful talisman and don’t untie the knots, if this is the case you want to store it where it won’t be disturbed, burn it so it will never physically be untied or bury it where it will disintegrate in the earth and also never physically be untied. I have done all three methods of handling and I can’t say I prefer one over the other. The really great thing about storing energy is that it’s raised when it will be the most powerful (increases, like success or protection, would be sometime from the new moon to full and decreases, like a binding, would be sometime from the full moon to new) but the power is now stored for use whenever you need it.

Crocheting/Knitting is something I consider part of knot and cord magic because you can purposefully stitch your intention into the item you’re making. A lot of time, if for friends/family, I weave warmth and protection into things I make for them. So I might say something like:

With every stitch that I make,
the wearer of this item will be protected
and warm, but as the need arises
they will be alert until they get to safety.
Never too hot, but not cold either,
This item will keep them comfortable.
By earth, air, flame and sea,
as I say, so shall it be.

And I’ll focus on that while I continue to make the item. Off topic, but notice how I put a clause in there that they will be alert if the need arises until they reach safety. I don’t want them to be so warm and comfortable that they neglect their own safety.

Cross-stitch/embroidery: You can embroider sigils using color appropriate cloth and thread! You can cross stitch spells into your work (like cross stitching an acorn and imbuing it with luck and protection, which actual acorns can represent). There are so many different things you could do, let your imagination do the work!

Color in knot & cord magic:

White: purity, truth, sincerity, spirituality, the goddess, peace, higher self, virginity(as in the woman’s mind is owned by no man), a substitute for any other color.

Red: strength, health, vigor, sexual love, energy, passion, courage, element of fire, career goals, fast action, lust, blood of the moon, vibrancy, driving force, survival

Light Blue: tranquility, understanding, patience, calm, gently moving, wisdom, good fortune, opening blocked communication

Dark Blue: impulsiveness, depression, changeability, protection, spiritual inspiration, reassurance, creativity

Green: finance, fertility, luck, Earth Mother, physical healing, monetary success, abundance, tree and plant magick, growth, Element of Earth, personal goals

Gold: wealth, The God, promote winning, safety and power of the male, happiness, playful humor

Yellow: The Sun, intelligence, accelerated learning, memory, logical imagination, breaking mental blocks, selling yourself

Gold/Yellow: attraction, persuasion, charm, confidence

Brown: hesitation, uncertainty, neutrality, influence friendships, special favors

Pink: honor, romantic love, morality, Planetary Good Will, healing of emotions, peace, affection,romance, partnerships of emotional maturity, caring, nurturing

Black: loss, discord, confusion, protection, repelling negativity, binding, shapeshifting

Purple: tension, ambition, business progress, power, influencing people in high places, third eye, psychic ability, spiritual power, self assurance, hidden knowledge

Silver/Grey: cancellation, neutrality, stalemate, telepathy, clairvoyance, intuition, clairaudience, psychometry, dreams, astral energies, Female Power, communication, The Goddess, moon magic

Orange: encouragement, adaptability, stimulation, attraction, business goals, property deals, ambition, career goals, general success, justice, legal matters, selling, action

Copper: passion, money goals, professional growth, fertility in business, career maneuvers

Source HERE