Grit and Glittr

Trying this thing again, except going for less polish than last time around so I can actually, like, finish things, and practice using my tablet in a lower-key project.

Day 1: Harpy

So as soon as I saw harpy on the list, I thought of the Egyptian goddess Nekhbet, some of whose depictions can fall into the loose definition of “harpy” as a bird-woman combo. In Nekhbet’s case, a vulture.

She’s wearing the goddess Wadjet on her head in cobra form, and holding a shen ring in her talons. I was kinda going for a cracked sandstone carving/painting look.

Set up a shrine here finally, after two months. I didn’t want to unpack my altar box in case I’m leaving soon (fingers crossed), so I set out my travel shrine with some extras. This corner of my room used to have my laundry basket but my shrine has to be as far away from the bed as possible so this was the only practical option.

I pulled a short bookshelf from my dad’s closet (just two shelves, it’s about a foot tall), cleaned it, and covered it with a white towel. My travel shrine lives in the wooden box on the right side, and the small cup, the tea light lantern, and the incense dish at the center top of the photo live inside it. The little blue thing with the gray tail is a scarab necklace whose chain got stuck inside the pendant and I haven’t been able to get it out, and it also goes with my travel shrine.

The mirror is my self-love mirror that I received as part of a ritual at Dark Odyssey: Fusion last month. When I placed it there I didn’t realize that I would be able to see my face in it from my sleeping position on my bed, but weirdly it worked out that way. I have it on my shrine to remember that my relationship with the gods also involves me, and that it’s really hard for me to pray or hear the gods when my relationship with myself is all out of whack as it has been for some time.

Next to the mirror is a little stone vase my mom brought back from Acadia National Park in Maine, and it has two feathers in it. I think the black one is maybe a crow or a grackle or something, and the big striped one is probably some kind of hawk (it’s about as long as my forearm and hand together).

The other items are a tiny tea set that my mom gave me when I got here in May. There are two small plates with a small bowl and a small cup each, a teapot, and another pot with a strainer. The tea set has been in its box this whole time because I didn’t have an appropriate place to display it, but as I was considering what else I could put on my shrine I thought of it. I’m excited about the idea of sharing tea and morsels with the gods. It won’t be Senut really because I’m not there yet consistently in my practice, but having a small daily prayer ritual in shrine will be nice. With two dish sets, I can share some with the Akhu and some with the gods. 

I still need to find a cushion of some kind to sit on. I think I will be able to open the window a bit and hang the tea light lantern from the lip of it, so the open flame isn’t resting directly on the towel. The shelf underneath that is hidden by the edge of the towel is where I’m keeping my prayerbooks, my tarot cards, and the Sacred Kink book I’m reading.

Bonus BPAL today, because I tried another one weeks ago but didn’t document it. I pulled out Yggdrasil on a work day and it was very nice, but a bit too wintry for October. A bright, sharp, snow-covered forest scent, which is more December/January to me, despite growing up in Wisconsin where first snow tends to come before Halloween. It did keep me alert at work though, which was welcome.

BPAL sez:

The World Ash. Nine woods, nine leaves, and three herbs each for Ratatosk and Vidofnir, with three final herbs to placate Nidhogg.

Scent: Yggdrasil
Collection: Bewitching Brews
Gods that might like it: I’m getting Yinepu and Djehuty, but I’m not sure why. It’s clearly a Norse sort of scent.
Would wear again: Yes, later in the year. 

Siniful and Nikolasco are having lunch with me today on their way north, so I am pulling out another Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab scent. Today it is Lyonesse. It was the first one I pulled out, and then I tried to pick a different one but ended up going with it anyway. I’m glad I did—it smells like delicious cookies!

BPAL website sez:

Then rose the King and moved his host by night 
And ever pushed Sir Mordred, league by league, 
Back to the sunset bound of Lyonesse —
A land of old upheaven from the abyss 
By fire, to sink into the abyss again; 
Where fragments of forgotten peoples dwelt, 
And the long mountains ended in a coast 
Of ever-shifting sand, and far away 
The phantom circle of a moaning sea. 

Golden vanilla and gilded musk, stargazer lily, white sandalwood, grey amber, elemi, orris root, ambergris and sea moss. 

 So I guess the vanilla is what gives me the impression of cookies. It’s difficult for me to pick out the other elements individually.

Scent: Lyonesse
Collection: Wanderlust - The Phantom Isles
Gods that might like it: I’m not sure…again, vanilla is a Hethert scent for me, but…
Would wear again: Yes