The Fey folk love your beautiful witchy heart.
After having the above thought, I painted a border for it. To add Faerie magic, I paint everything I can: memes I write, the newsletter button below, my clothes—including my shoes …
(The art work blurred a bit and what-not, when I made the file smaller so the webpage would appear quickly for you.)
Once a kitten, cute and shy, but she changed: The familiar comes of age.
I painted the above piece last fall, joyful at my little kitten growing up and coming of age as a familiar.
I also wanted to share that immense happiness about my kitty with you, in the spirit of celebrating all our familiars. Creating a painting seemed a way to do that (but I had no chance to post it til now, LOL).
Animals are far more multifaceted than some people understand, but we who live with familiars know better. Let me share a story about that.
After I painted the piece, I wanted to make a Merry Yule greeting with my kitty in it, just for my personal use. (You might have seen my post of it to wish you Happy Yule 2013.) I thought I’d try to adapt the above already-finished picture. The result surprised me and was interesting: Though the adaptation changed only the cat’s environment and the text, and left the cat itself exactly as is, a completely different facet of her became obvious.
In the original, I see her depth, nobility, and new maturity. But put her in a different surrounding with different text? Check it out below.
What a mischievous no-good girl! Such a naughty look in her eyes! None of that was apparent in the original version.
I’m not sharing the story to credit myself as an artist. My point is to credit the complexity of animals, and how you and I both see it in these two pictures, when a lot of people would not.
Here’s to our familiars, the wonderfully complex and mystical beings that are our companions, teachers, co-conspirators, comfort, partners in magic, and all around friends. I honestly do not know what I’d do without them. They play so many important roles for me. I am grateful to recognize their many facets.
Ostara Art Eggs
My Spring Equinox Altar
What is going to be on your Ostara altar? Sharing our altar journeys with each other unites our spirits—it is a way we can celebrate Sabbats together long-distance.
In my case, preparing an Ostara altar this year involved art work.
Let’s start with the Ostara pendant I made, to the right. … Um, okay, it is jewelry, not an altar piece. … But I myself can be an Ostara altar!
I love ornamented eggs, but didn’t think I’d have time to make Ostara eggs this year.
Then, I couldn’t resist when I found tiny egg-shaped unfinished wood beads. I’d been looking for them forever. These are 7/8.” See photo to the right.
They are tiny—I love tiny.
I painted one green and the other purple.
Then I ornamented them with various Jones Tones foils.
Next, I coated them with a protective clear finish.
I made each into a pendant by putting it on a jewelry pin, along with other with beautiful little beads. Joking aside about being an altar, I adorn myself in praise of my Gods.
I think some of the wee beads are Swarovski crystals but am not sure because I upcycle a lot, so do not always know what I am using.
Whatever they are, they sparkle, and this faerie loves sparkly things.
Below is another piece that will be on my altar:
Ostara Egg Cosmic Egg—Abundance and Chaos Meditation. If you would like this on your altar, click on it to go to my shop.
When I thought to myself that I’d have no time to decorate eggs, I’d forgotten that I’d already painted the above Celtic knot work talisman, probably in January. Do you ever get so caught up in creating that you forget what you have created? Let me know, please. I made this during a painting binge. Later I channeled material about it, which you can read at http://etsy.me/1pyFsvf
Traditional lore tells us that the cosmic egg explodes into chaos at spring equinox, creating the cosmos.
More knotwork: I painted this Birthing Goddess in 2013, probably during the winter. So this is the first spring equinox I can have Her on my altar.
If you would like this Goddess image on your altar, click on it to go to my shop. There, you will also find an essay I wrote, because painting Her brought up a lot for me.
She has the cosmic egg in Her belly. 
My altar will also hold other pieces of my art, plus ritual objects I’ve acquired over the years—including other people’s art, such as a beautifully crafted wand, and a well-made blade. Art takes many forms.
I only speak for myself when I say that placing my and other people’s art on an altar feeds my pagan heart and imbues my Sabbats celebrations with power.
What is going to be on your altar? Is there a story about creating or acquiring those pieces? Sharing our altar plans and altar stories can be an actual joint celebration of the rituals done at our respective altars.
Dear site visitor, I want you to see the Faerie tale illustrations at their best. When WordPress shrinks a pic to fit the page, it blurs. Please click on a painting to see it unblurred; it makes a real difference.
Hiding, Healing, Power. Part Three
Written and painted in March and/or early April, 2012.
Part one: https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/13/hiding-healing-power/
Part two: https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/27/hiding-healing-power-pt-2/
Part Three
When she grew up, something else wonderful happened. That little girl grew up to be Goddess Diana—Great Mother, Light-Bearer.
Diana, Great Mother Goddess. Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture.
A child became a deity, yes. Yes, she did. Let yourself hide.
Hiding is not always about shame or fear. It might be a time of preparation or privacy, a time of beauty or empowerment, a time of nurturance or growth.
Hiding can be motivated by discretion.
A hiding child became a deity, a bearer of light, a light held high. The woman no longer hiding.
That little girl was always god. But she needed discretion to find it.
Diana lived with her cat who was secretly a Faerie. (See Aradia, Gospel of the Witches, for lore about Diana and her Fey Cat.)
The woman, the Goddess, hung a welcome sign on her front door. People came to see her. (Mind you, she still hid a lot of the time, and we will get to that in a moment.) She healed people with her light. Or tickled them with it. She used her light to guide others to their own shiny brilliance and to that of the Gods.
Here is the welcome sign she hung up. 
Diana is Goddess of Witches. This warm, protective deity has given me tremendous solace and healing many times over the years.
Often, her visitors hid with her. That was fun.
And sometimes—often, in fact—she still hid all by herself. Well, her cat was with her. As were other gods. They are always nearby.
Tucked in her home, she traveled to wonderful places.
Her visitors went on great adventures with her, traveling between the stars.
Where You and Diana Go if You Visit Her. Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture.
When someone is hiding, I look twice to find the god. The end.
Storyteller (the author, self-portrait). Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture
Please use the nifty Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ buttons, right below, to share my Faerie tale. Thank you for your support, it’s the only way many folks will know about my new story and refurbished site (the site you are on has been updated lately with a new look and all sorts of other new stuff). I cannot do it without you! If you do not see the buttons, you’re viewing this blog entry on my site’s home page. Just click this: https://stardrenched.com/2012/07/11/hiding-healing-power-pt-3/
If you missed part one, here it is: https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/13/hiding-healing-power/
Hiding - Fey Strega in Training
Hiding, Healing, Power. Part two
Written and painted in March and/or early April, 2012.
This little Italian girl is another example of someone hiding. Why do you think she is hiding?
Dear site visitor, I want you to see the Faerie tale illustrations at their best. When WordPress shrinks a pic to fit the page, it blurs. Please click on a painting to see it unblurred; it makes a real difference.
Everyone who hides has a story. What is yours? It is okay if you hide some of it.
Here is part of hers (she wants to hide the rest): When she first hid, she had a pretty place in her mind. She started building it. First, she made the window frame you see her peeking out of.
She lived behind it with her Faerie cat. She giggled there a lot. The cat dozed in brilliant shafts of sun light that came through the window. As she slept, she dreamt up schemes for the little girl. They had many adventures, and no one saw. Except other Faeries. So many giggles!
It took a long time, a lot of work, and a lot of hiding to build more. (Sometimes you hide to find quiet magic, so that you can even imagine secret places in your mind.)
For years, all she had was that window frame to hide behind. But it kept her safe. I mean, look at all the detail she put into it!
Little Bunny in a Tea Cup. Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture
And by the time she had grown up, her home was finished.
Want to know what adventures she had as a grown up? I’ll post part 3 in two weeks here. I blog once a week, and am alternating between this blog and the blog at my other site. Two blogs with two separate RRS feeds.
Please use the nifty Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ buttons, right below, to share my Faerie tale. Thank you for your support, it’s the only way many folks will know about my new story and refurbished site (the site you are on has been updated lately with a new look and all sorts of other new stuff). I cannot do it without you! If you do not see the buttons, you’re viewing this blog entry on my site’s home page. Just click this https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/27/hiding-healing-power-pt-2/
Hiding, Healing, Power
Written and painted in March and/or early April, 2012.
I call the following piece a Faerie tale. That is accurate but not by most standards. The piece is part my thoughts, part my paintings, part my methods for empowerment (perhaps in less overt forms, such as asking you a question), mixed with little magical stories told through word and visuals. By my definition of shamanism, that is a faerie tale: The sum total helps you live in myth—live in myth generally speaking, and in the particular myths I’m creating here, and in your own unique myths that this piece can help you find and/or better dwell in.
I painted the illustrations brush stroke by stroke—digitally. I just paint on a computer screen instead of a canvas. And with that:
Hiding Fey Warrior In Training. Click on the painting to see it large and without blurring that occurs when WordPress shrinks a pic to fit the page.
Part One
This is a Faerie tale about healing and power. And about hiding. This story is for grown ups.
Sometimes we need to hide. There are many reasons. We might have to hide because we hurt. We find a safe, secret place to heal, or at least to be away from whatever might hurt us.
Do you ever hide? Do you need to tell someone why? Or is it better that no one knows you are hiding?
Sometimes we hide because it is fun.
Sometimes we hide to be alone with our thoughts.
Or with our “imaginary” friends.
Hiding, Faerie Healer in Training. Available as a limited first edition print. For more info, click on the picture.
When children have to repeatedly hide to protect themselves, it can injure their spirit in ways that haunt them into adulthood. But they’re doing the best they know how to keep themselves safe, and that is an act of power.
Hiding can also be an act of power when motivated instead by happy events and sweet wishes. We don’t always stay out of sight because of fear and pain; for example, you might simply tuck yourself away in a special place for a while, in order to flourish undisturbed.
Some people hide to gain powers that only come where no one—without those powers—can see them. They work hard and often joyfully, secretly doing what the Cosmos asks of them. That is what this little Fey fellow is doing—he is a Faerie healer in training.
And perhaps he is also making himself safe from trouble; if you ask him sincerely, he might tell you. Or maybe he’ll just keep peeking out at you from his hiding place.
I’ll post part 2 in two weeks, here. I blog once a week, and am going to try alternating between this and the blog at my other site. Two blogs with two separate RRS feeds.
Please share the URL to my above story; here it is to copy and paste for Facebook or an email or whatever: https://stardrenched.com/2012/06/13/hiding-healing-power/ I want folks to know about my new Faerie tale and my refurbished site (the site you are on has been updated lately with a new look and all sorts of other new stuff). Thank you for your support. I cannot do without it, truly! Oh, wait…I am so 20th century! Unless you’re viewing this blog entry on my site’s home page, you can like my Faerie tale with the nifty Facebook button, right below, next to the Twitter button and the like. Duh!