1/31/2023 Tuesday Day of The Moon
12:15am Hour of Mars cusping towards Hour of TheSun
Waxing Gibbous Moon

Friends,

After a warm day the night air is still and just beginning to cool. The clouds in the sky are moving either to the West or the North depending on how high they are, pushed and pulled by unseen forces of Water and Wind. After a long day at work I have indulged myself and thanks to a delivery App I will have a late meal of Pad Thai and Gyoza and Kani Rolls. I have also discovered that rarest of all creatures an Asian restaurant that is open all night! This is a particularly valuable discovery here in Orlando, which in some ways is still the collision of the sleepy Southern towns that dotted the area in the era Before Walt.

Early last week I had a quiet moment and felt the urge to do a Tarot card draw. I ended up pulling the 8 of Cups. Appropriately enough as, after 13 years with one Motel company and 14 years with the same Motel brand, I have accepted a new Hospitality job with a new company and turned in my two weeks notice with the motel I’ve been at the last few years. The overall vibe I got from the card pull and my various readings on the card meanings, was a fairly literal “set aside shiny shit for now to focus on this new thing”

So instead of beginning an intensive period of writing, reading, Witchcraft, and Social Media content creation; I mostly went back to lurking. I took a breath and accepted that I needed to lean into a transitional phase, to ground myself in my new reality and to chill for a bit. I have been alternating between working my final two weeks at the old motel, with a meeting and training at the new motel, and even have squeezed in a day off.

*Rereads the above paragraph* Apparently chilling is a relative term?! I suppose its that I am feeling incredibly reenergized and deeply hopeful about the future? Whatever it is… this seeming flurry of activity had felt vaguely like a vacation. I’ve focused on things that serve my goals moving forward. Including not only having a job that lets me grow and learn and develop in new ways, and both pays the bills and effectively reduces them by returning to employer based insurance rather that the expense involved in the Health Insurance Marketplace.

I got myself a new Journal, a leather cover and a snap closure and a trade paperback size all marks in its favor as I wished to begin this new year with a new focus on discernment, and introspection, and daily…. somethings… involving my writing and inner work and my Craft. Now, I do not have a lot of confidence in my ability to draw. Since I am working on my sigil game, I am beginning to work on that but it is early days yet on my drawing skills and sigil Witchery. So when I decided to begin a new diary and journal and wished to incorporate Laura Tempest Zackroff’s 2023 Sigil for the Year I was at a bit of a loss until I decided that Office Supply Magick is, after all, still Magick!

So blending together some computer printouts of Ms Zakroff’s 2023 Sigil and some of her process notes, scotch tape, some whispered blessings and prayers, and boatloads of hope and intent and will, I am beginning both metaphorical and literally new chapters in 2023!

Speaking of my sigil game, and also feeling like a victory… In late November I had crafted an Employment related sigil around the simple phrase “I am Employed”, with a bunch of intent and thought about what I wanted out of being employed. I had it in mind to do some spellwork around my job hunt, but between the Holidays and New Years and some personal financial business things got a little hectic. I hadn’t done anything formal around it other that figure out my process for it and move forward with it, and craft a sigil I was happy with and ready to add to a Sigil vocabulary I am trying to build.

About a week later I got a call from a manager I had not worked with in about 5 years, inviting me to join the team at their, and now my, new motel. Needless to say this has also boosted my confidence, and I already have a few phrases outlined to do some more sigil work around!

So, New Year, New Job, and New Journal. All in time for Imbolc. With everything else that has been happening I haven’t had a lot of time to think about what to do for Imbolc. Truth be told, it’s rarely if ever been a Sabbat I had a strong relationship with, beginning my craft in the subarctic and now continuing it in the subtropics, neither climate really vibes with the first stirrings of spring and life spiel that one finds in most Wheel of The Year related materials… I’ve always had more of a relationship with it as a Return of The Light… although it’s associations with New Beginnings and First Stirrings ….actually that may be on the right track. I may have to do some reading up on Brigid and Imbolc…

Whatever I decide, it is now around 2 something am and I need to get some sleep. I will see you all on the flip side!

Bliss & Blessed Be,
Pax / Geoffrey

PS- once I have actually had some sleep, I will be adding some Sigil Magick resources below…

Dear Reader, after a delightful night of deep Asian food binge induced slumber, I have decided to write out the Sigil resources and some notes and thoughts on Sigil work as a separate post, here…. (pending link as your author falls down a bit of a research rabbit hole)