Visionary Night

Sorry I've been away so long.  Life got in the way like it always does, but this blog hasn't been far from my mind.  I've been pondering, sometimes for hours on end, what I could do to make this blog become what I dream for it.  When I started this blog, I meant for it to be about creativity as spirituality, and also about journaling as a creative practice.  Now, though, I really need it to be more freeform.  I need it to be a space where I can discuss my experiences, share my deep thoughts with you, and really build a community here. So, of you, my loyal readers, I have something to ask.  Please leave a comment about what types of content you'd like to see on this blog.  What would you like me to share?  What are you curious about? As for me lately, I'm wandering the pathways of my inner world and exploring bullet journaling in my outer world.  I'm still fighting to stay healthy, and using the times I'm not to meditate and think those deep thoughts that

I know I haven't been around lately.  One reason is because of my health, and the other reason is that the way I attempted to structure this blog isn't working out.  It's not conducive to my lifestyle or the way I practice.  I wanted to be a good little pagan and post along with the solar and lunar cycles.  I should know that doesn't work from past experience, but I was hopeful.  It didn't even come close to working.  It's confession time.  Out of all the sabbats, I only celebrate Samhain.  As for the lunar cycles, I'm lucky if I remember to collect moon water, let alone do anything else.  I do my magickal workings whenever I feel like it and however I want to do it.  If you're looking for someone that does things by the book, that is definitely not me.  Although, I do stay attuned to the energies as the wheel of the year turns.  Every day is magickal to me.  I don't fuss over how things are supposed to be done.  I do what feels right.  I can turn ju

I have another idea for a monthly or even weekly page that you can add to your journal.  It's fairly simple to do, but it can be a bit time consuming depending on how much detail you put into it.  Here's an example of how it can look: This page took me a few hours to do, but most of that was waiting for the background to dry since I went a little bit overboard.  You can use this technique to add quotes or gratitude lists to your journal in a fun and colorful way.  I used these supplies for this page, but you can improvise with whatever you have on hand: Derwent Inktense blocks, Fan brush, Graphite pencil, A good eraser (My favorites are the Tombow mono and the Tombow mono zero erasers.  They erase the cleanest of all the erasers I've tried.), 6 pens with different colored ink (I used Staedtler Triplus Fineliners), and A black brush pen (I used a Prismacolor Premier Illustration pen). I started by using a fan brush that had a lot of water on it and my Derwen

I had some ideas for other types of pages I'd like to include in my book of shadows, so I'll be doing a series of posts about them as I try them out.   The first of my ideas was to create a simple page each month to highlight the moon phases.  It's partly informative and partly a record of my experiences with the cycle of the moon.  Here's an example of what I mean.   May's page is shown in the photo below. You'll probably notice two things right away.  1. As always, there's a bunch of color.  If you haven't figured it out by now, I love color.  2. There are some moon phases missing.  Maybe I'm a bad pagan or something, but I don't pay attention to all the phases of the moon.  I practice according to the dark, new and full phases of the moon.  That's what makes sense for me, so that's what is on my journal page. On this page, I collaged strips of washi tape and scraps of patterned cardstock onto the journal page.  I wrote the moon

Blessed Beltane!  I hope everyone is having an awesome day.  I thought I'd share an idea with you for pages you can create in your journal to celebrate this time of year or any time of year.  It's amazing how we're halfway through the wheel of the year since I started Visionary Night.  I feel like I haven't quite accomplished what I thought I would by now, but I'm happy with how far I've come and with where this blog is going. It may be cliche, but this time of year makes me think of flowers.  In May, the magnolias are blooming.  It's really the best time to see them and most other flowers before the heat of summer causes them to practically rot.  My mom gave me some beautiful stickers by Mrs. Grossman's.  The name of the sticker sheet is "Spring Stems."  The stickers, along with the crazy weather we have in April and May, really inspired the art journal page I painted (see the photo below). The basic idea behind this page is to combine

Depending on what time zone you're in, today may or may not be Ostara (or Mabon in the Southern hemisphere).   Where I am, the spring equinox started at 11:30 pm last night according to  archaeoastronomy , only a few hours after I finished the journal spread in the photo below. Around the equinoxes each year, I feel a strong connection to the plant spirits, since they are either emerging from the earth in a riot of color (spring) or going out in a blaze of glory (autumn) only to repeat the cycle again.   I often feel a strong desire to paint them.  This year, it wasn't a local tree or flower that captured my attention, but bamboo, a tree found on the other side of the world.  I was curious as to why I suddenly felt such a strong connection to bamboo when I hadn't really thought about it before (or realized it's actually a tree).  I did a general internet search to learn more about its symbolism and characteristics.  I was so inspired by what I learned that I wrote