A Lucky Find!

I found this beauty while I was wandering around the otherwise deserted beaches of Folsom Lake this weekend. The BF and I took the dog for a game of fetch on the beach and some swim time. The area we chose was muddy and required hiking down a bit of a slope to get to it, so it wasn't really anyone else's idea of Memorial Day fun. It was perfect for us, though.

I nearly tripped over this rock while we were wandering around. It was almost completely buried in mud, but it stood out to me like it had been shining a flashlight in my eye. I picked it up, rinsed it off in the water, and spent the rest of the morning trying to convince my dog that it wasn't a ball to chase.

I think it's quartz. I know next to nothing about crystal and stone identification, but I do own a few pieces of quartz already and this looks pretty similar, although this is raw and mostly milky white with some swirls of pink and red thrown in.

In my own humble opinion, it's a gorgeous piece! Whatever it is, it's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I feel that it called me to it, like it was meant to end up in my hands. I'll be cleansing and charging it under the next full moon, and I look forward to discovering what kind of energies it will bring to my craft.

Pretty New Things

I'm at a point where I want pretty new things.

I have a rather long list of items that I want to buy, such as: cast iron cauldron, certain gems and crystals, a new tarot deck, etc.

I made a trip to my favorite Witchy store, Garden of Enchantment in Old Sacramento, expecting to pick up all of the things that I've been wanting. It didn't really turn out the way I expected, though! The things I wanted, plus books that I wanted to buy, would have cost me half my paycheck. Just a tarot deck alone was $20, which is what I spent on a week's worth of groceries just hours later. To keep my shopping simple and cheap, I ended up buying a small rose quartz and a green candle (both for spells I'm planning).

I currently don't work with a whole lot of tools or aids. I typically work with things I find in nature. I get most of my research material online, so I don't really spend much on book purchases. I really wanted to pick up a few new items and books to enhance my practice, but I can see now that I'm going to have to rethink my shopping list. I narrowed it down to just a few essentials:

• Books. Those are staying on the list. There are a few essentials that I want to read. After all, there really isn't much else for a solitary Witch to turn to, I guess.
• Herbs to add to my garden. Rather than buying bunches of dried herbs to work with, I will just learn to grow more of them myself!
• A new tarot deck. Mine got lost somewhere amongst 3 moves and I really want to get back into tarot.

The biggest item being knocked off the list is a rune set. I will make one of my own. The gems and crystals I want can be acquired over time. And maybe I can find the books I want on bargain somewhere in a used bookstore.

 How do you do it? Buying tools and other desired items can be really tough for a Witch on a budget!