I spoke to Craig last weekend. He was very apologetic but still hasn't touched the Athame. I told him that I have run out of patience with the project, and that if there hasn't been significant progress when we come out to see it tomorrow, I will be taking it elsewhere. I cut him some slack because of the holidays since everyone wants to spend time with family, but he hasn't even touched it since October. Enough is enough.

I'm getting a new chalice. Two, actually. I'm getting lovely silverplate goblets with vines up the stems. A steal on ebay, brand new. I am thinking of making the second one a gift - I just need to find out if she needs one.

Labels: athame, chalice

Lazy witch again! Another month has passed since I posted. I guess I just don't have much to say these days. I've been busy with holiday baking and decorating my home for Yule. Now that the silly season is over, I ought to be able to get back on track here.

Still no progress from Craig. I think I'm going to tell him that I'll pick up the Athame next weekend and take it elsewhere. He's had it for 3 months now and it has been 2 months since he said it would be finished. I've reached the end of my patience.

Labels: athame, Yule

Lazy witch. It has been nearly a month since I updated here.

I have very little to say. Samhain was wonderful. Full of energy. I did a very simple ritual after taking my daughter out to wreak havoc in her fairy costume.

I am still trying to get Craig to finish my Athame. I'm very disappointed in the whole thing and I wish I'd just gone with my instincts and taken it to Santa Cruz, but no, I decided to spend more money with this fellow in Sunnyvale because he was closer and could have it done in time for Samhain. Silly witch. I heard from him over the weekend and he said he would work on it this week since he's had no time since October to work on it. Hopefully he has something to show me this weekend, otherwise I may tell him to forget it and go pick it up and take it to the fellow in Santa Cruz after all.

Frustrating. The universe keeps telling me to trust my gut, but I never do.

Update on my Athame…

I left it with Craig, who owns a really neat shop where customers can learn woodworking and rent the shop to use the tools instead of spending thousands of dollars on equipment for their woodworking hobby. When I left it with him, he called it an Athame (not “knife”… he even pronounced it correctly). I was impressed, having the impression that even if he isn’t Pagan, he has an understanding of my path and the importance of the Athame. He promised to have it done in time for Samhain. He made a couple of handles and I picked the one I liked best last weekend. He varnished and assembled it but didn’t complete it in case I wanted to change anything. We looked at it yesterday, and I have to admit I’m disappointed. It isn’t what I expected. I really should have brought my camera to document it. The handle isn’t perfect. Not even close. It is higher on one side than the other, higher, in fact, than the guard, by a good 1/8”. That will have to be fixed. So will the deep scratches on the tang. The scratches weren’t there when I brought it in to him. And the pins are cut too short – they should be flush with the handle.

So yeah, I’m pretty disappointed. Not only will it not be ready for Samhain, I expected higher quality workmanship for what I’m paying him ($45/hour!). My husband could have done better if he’d had the right tools. I sent Craig an email last night in addition to the notes his employee made yesterday since he wasn’t at the shop when we were there. Not only am I paying a premium for his work (another woodworker who specializes in knives told me he charged $25/hour but he’s 45 minutes away), it isn’t anywhere near right. It isn’t a problem with communication. It’s just shabby workmanship. I considered just taking it home with me and telling him that it wasn’t acceptable, but that’s not my way. I want to give him the chance to make it right. I know we’ll have to go in this week to talk to him about it, and I’m not looking forward to it. I’m not good at putting my foot down with people. I don’t like being brutally honest, but I know I have to communicate my disappointment. On Saturday he sent me an email telling me it would be essentially finished on Sunday, and that I’d be “pleased”. I was anything BUT pleased.

*sigh* I’m just so tired of being screwed by people. I’ll bring up the fact that I could have had it done much cheaper too… I’m not pleased about his hourly rate if this is what he calls “taking pride” in his work.

Gearing up for Samhain.

I love Samhain. It is such a powerful day, even with all the commercialism. This weekend, my husband and I took our two kids to the pumpkin patch. We rode the overpriced train, bought two beautiful pumpkins, and played in the hay pit (neat idea, really... like a ball pit, only it was built of hay bales and full of hay). DH even got a picture of me jumping into the hay.

This year, the Halloween aspect of Samhain is more fun for me since our daughter is 4. She's really excited about going out trick or treating (as a fairy). It is my turn to take her out, so I think I will dress in my ritual garb. Why not have fun with it too? I decked out our front porch in lights and spider webs yesterday, and we're carving our pumpkins tonight. My husband will probably carve something scary, but I wanted to honour the Goddess with my pumpkin. I found a wall plaque online, of a goddess with the moon, so I printed it out and traced the edges. I'll be sure to post a picture after I'm done the carving.

I also picked up some beautiful, fat, pomegranates for my ritual, and some Indian corn. My typical Samhain ritual is more elaborate than most of my rituals, but I do like to keep it simple. I plan on inviting the spirits that hang about our house into my circle, and trying to communicate with them. Maybe I can find out why they're here, and get them to understand that waking the baby (and me!) isn't appropriate. Neither is turning on my daughter's bedroom light the other night.

Anyway, that's my plan for the holiday. Blessed be!

Astrology is cool. My horoscope this week, from Astral Reflections (see link at left)...

"Domestic friction disappears. Romance heats up for four weeks. An old flame returns. Or you'll hear from a long-gone child, revisit a favorite vacation spot, rediscover an old creative project, or spend hours poring over old photo albums. Beauty floods into your life, and much of it mixes with nostalgia. This isn't the best time (to November 17) to start a new relationship, love affair, or creative or speculative project - although it would provide a lot of enjoyment, just not long-term stability. Married Cancers feel joy flowing all month!"

I can't help but relate the return of my Athame in usable condition to the reference to a long-gone child and old creative project. I'm picking it up on Sunday.

My Athame. It has a long history.

I bought my Athame 8-9 years ago. It was a used knife from an army surplus shop. It was ugly and looked like a hunting knife, but it had a good energy and I could see the potential for it to become something beautiful, so I handed over my $40 and brought it home.

I used it for a couple of years before I was ready to start looking for someone to bring out its beauty. My plan was to just add a pommel and put a new, nice handle on it, but a friend of mine put me in touch with John, who had been making knives for years. We met, I brought my knife, and we spent 2 hours brainstorming. He took my knife with him along with the promise that it would be done within 6 weeks.

A year and many excuses later, I went and picked up my Athame from him. It was still unfinished. He told me I didn't have to pay him, but I did pay him some, but not everything, since the work that he DID complete was beautiful.

Here's my Athame as it is now...


Assembled.


Parts.


Closeup of filework on tang.

And so it has been, for more than 5 years. He started work on it shortly after I married, and my husband and I celebrated our 6th anniversary last August. I've toyed with the idea of buying a $50 Athame from a store, but it wouldn't be MINE. My knife will be one of a kind. My husband offered to try to do it for me, but he doesn't have the tools or the skill since he's really never done any woodwork, and I'd really like to have my Athame back. I feel like I'm missing a limb without it.

This past spring, I thought about asking a wood artist I buy things from to do the work for me, but he's VERY Christian and while I am not one to hide my spirituality, I wasn't sure that our working relationship would suffer from the knowledge that one of his good customers is a Witch, so I decided not to approach him with the project.

I've decided that I want to have it finished by the end of this year. It has been in a box far too long, and I hear it calling me. I've contacted about a dozen wood artists in my area, and some of them don't do the kind of work I am after, but I think I've decided on one. He charges $45 an hour, and estimated that it would take 1-2 hours to complete, so I think that's pretty reasonable. He also impressed me by saying he could have it finished before Samhain. Not Halloween. Not "the end of the month". He actually said Samhain. He also told me that if I'm not 100% happy with it, he'll redo it over and over again until I am. The only problem is getting it to him. He works in my city, but our transit system leaves a LOT to be desired, so I'll have to convince my husband that he needs to take me out there to see him. That will be the fun part, since he hates playing chauffeur.

Oh well, such is life. I have a really good feeling about this guy, and if he does a good job, I'll get him to make me a new box for my Tarot cards next year.

The Witch in the kitchen...

There is something inherently witchy about making bread. The act of measuring the ingredients, mixing, kneading. Because the art of bread making is so involved (unless of course you use a bread machine) there is plenty of opportunity to weave magic into your loaves, buns and rolls.

I make bread for a few reasons. Firstly, it is much cheaper than storebought bread. I can make two loaves of 100% whole wheat bread for less than $1 each. I'd pay more than $3 a loaf for a comparable product at the grocery store. Secondly, I know EXACTLY what is in each loaf. Organic whole wheat flour. Honey. Flax. Safflower oil. Third, the bread tastes better than anything I could buy. Even the expensive artisan bread doesn't compare to the bread that emerges from my oven. And lastly, the fact that depending on what my family (or recipient of the many gifts of bread I've given) needs at any given time, I can weave my magic into each bite. I recently gifted bread to a friend who wanted to buy a house, so with every ingredient, every knead, I put my wish for them to be able to buy a house. 5 months later, they had purchased her parents' house and were working on renovations. A Witch in her kitchen is a powerful thing.

Bread truly is the staff of life. Unless you are allergic to wheat, bread is good for you. The whole grains do wonders for our bodies. There is a reason that the Goddess gave us wheat. Thank you Demeter, for your gift.

Bread recipe:
I originally found this recipe at The New Homemaker but I have since made many modifications.

The Sponge
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup warm water
1 cup whole wheat flour

The Dough
1 3/4 cups warm water
4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (approx)
3/4 cup gluten flour
3 tablespoons vegetable oil or 1/2 cup ground flax
1/3 cup honey
1 tablespoon salt

Put 1 cup flour and 1 tbsp active dry yeast in a mixing bowl. Pour 3/4 cup of warm water over it (water should be about 85-90 degrees F). Stir together and cover the bowl with plastic and let it sit for 45 minutes to an hour in a warm place (I put it in the oven with the light on). The yeast will activate, causing the mixture to become bubbly and spongy in texture. Now it is time to move on to the next step.

When your sponge is ready, uncover the bowl and add the 1 3/4 cups of warm water and 2 cups of whole wheat flour. Stir this in very well. Do not add the salt, oil or honey until after you've added the water and 2 cups of flour, otherwise you may cause your yeast to become too active too soon, which will affect the final texture of your bread.

Next add the 3/4 cup vital wheat gluten, 3 tablespoons vegetable oil (or ground flax), 1/3 cup honey and 1 tablespoon salt. Mix these in well. Now start adding the remaining flour about 1/2 cup at a time.

By the time you have added 4 cups of flour, you will have a stiff dough. Now you should put in your dough hook, or put your bread on a board to knead. Use additional flour as needed to keep the dough from sticking. If you're using a mixer, test the dough for stickiness - it should pull away from the sides of the bowl and form a ball on the hook.

Work the dough as long as possible, at least 10 minutes in the mixer. If you are kneading by hand, you'll need to knead it for about 20-30 minutes. Take a break about 10-15 minutes into it and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

When you think you've kneaded long enough, draw the dough into a ball by cupping your fingers around the ball of dough and drawing the surface toward the back. It should be smooth all the way around, without cracks around the edges. If you want it perfect, knead until the cracks go away.

Place the dough into a large greased bowl (preferably glass or plastic) and cover with plastic. Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for 1 to 1 1/2 hours until it doubles in size. When you think enough time has passed, pull the plastic back and poke in the dough with your finger. If the hole fills up again it's not ready yet. Allow it to rise another 15 minutes and check again. If the hole doesn't fill up, it is time to shape the loaves.

Put the dough on the counter and gently press the excess air out of it. Do NOT knead the dough, or it will make tough bread. Cut the dough in half, and gently roll it, tucking the ends in to make a perfect loaf. It is hard to describe the technique, so you'll have to experiement. I find that if I press on the dough a bit, it helps to prevent air pockets.Place these into greased 9 X 5 pans. Cover them with plastic and allow them to rise for 45 minutes to an hour. The dough should rise at least an inch above the top of the pans. Turn your oven to 350 degrees and when the oven is ready, bake your loaves for 35-40 minutes.

To test for doneness, pull the loaf out of the pan and tap the bottom with a wooden handle. It should have a hollow sound. If you like, you can brush the tops with butter, but I don't as I find it makes my bread bags sticky inside and I can't reuse them. As tempting as it might be to eat your bread steaming hot from the oven, allow it to cool for at least 45 minutes, or it will tear instead of cutting nicely.

Enjoy!