SeaHeart

So, since finishing Moth, Jenn and I have been non-stop at work on the next Fable Tribe update...which is tonight at eight o'clock, EST! I'm uploading everything now (while munching on one of the cortland apples we picked in the orchard on Sunday, and drinking violet tea. BECAUSE THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST DO WHEN YOU UPDATE THE FABLE TRIBE. ;D <3), and will set the shop live at eight tonight!

See the update preview at our Flickr! Seeker Stone sets, Blessing Bowls, hair flowers and spoon pendants. <3



~*~

We finished everything up for the update today, so I haven't been outside yet. To those of you who know me, this comes as no surprise, but I'm kind of a wild hooligan MOST months, but fall is my worst. XD I MUST BE OUTSIDE EVERY DAY FOR MULTIPLE HOURS, OR I TURN INTO A PUMPKIN (actual results may vary XD). I'm going to push through adding everything into the shop, and then I really hope there's enough time to go cavort at Swallow Hollow. This is the most beautiful day. <3 (To combat this while I was finishing up Moth, even if I'd worked fifteen hours straight on it during the day, I had to go for a walk. Even at one o'clock in the morning. In the rain. <--might have done so multiple times. Autumn fills me, sustains me, makes me feel alive, and I need to be part of every second of it.)

*has been vibrating in place at the table all day staring at the out-of-doors*

*updates faster*

~*~

Last but not least! I posted this in a Tumbl last night, but I'm putting it here, too. <3

You asked, we answered! Many of you wonderful, sparkly people have asked us how you can purchase signed paperback editions of our books…and now you can! I’ve created the Sappho’s Boutique Etsy shop. It has signed editions of all of our paperback books currently out, and some eReader editions, for those people who asked for a way to purchase the eReader copies directly from us. ♥

Thank you so much, guys, you’re wonderful! Let us know what you think of the shop. ♥

A bright, blessed Mabon morning has spread before us--a wild, untamed day of vibrancy and brilliance, leaves unfurling, and autumn descending, Persephone descending. Hail and welcome, beloved Autumn. <3 <3 <3

Today, we are applying for our marriage license. I was a little nervous that they won't give us one (they don't have to if it's against their religion), and we'll have to find another county to go to (I have activist courage about eleventy billion things regarding GLBT rights, but when it comes to my OWN WEDDING, I just want it to be all positive, all happiness--that's not such a hard-to-grant wish for most people, but for gay weddings, it is. I hate that.). Last night, I sat very still, eyes closed, and imagined them smiling when they heard the news we were getting married--getting the same reaction as all of the straight couples who go in for their licenses. I thought of all of the people who fought so very hard for us to even get to this point, and I stopped being nervous. If they treat us terribly, we'll leave, we'll talk about it, it won't stop us from getting married because nothing can stop us from getting married. That thought alone revived the great joy in my heart.

A week from today, we are getting married--legally married. We are four Glamourkins away from the completion of Operation Sparkle Wedding, we are seven days away from legal marriage, something no one can ever touch, no one can ever destroy. We'll be "official," "worth-full" in the eyes of a society that did not think this in June. I've never given a flying flip what society thinks about me, but now we're protected, we have our rights--we're safe.

Mabon is all about gratitude. Every day, I'm thankful for so very many things, but this time, the list is so much greater.

- People from all over the country are flying and driving and sparkling in to celebrate our marriage. They are taking time out of their busy lives to uphold us in love. Many more wish they could be there, will be there in spirit. We dwell in a veritable house of love, a mansion of love, a beautiful dwelling of heart and love--I could not be more grateful for you.

- We are getting legally married, a hard won, hard fought for privilege. So few of our community have this precious right...it should not be this precious, but it is, and I'm so, so grateful for it.

- Every day, every hour, every moment, I fall more in love with Jenn in my life. She is my soul mate, the celestial body to my satellite, my morning and my star rise. I love her with all that I am, every day I fall deeper into that love, I can not believe that I am blessed enough to marry her again.

Whoever you are, whatever you do, this day, I am sending you love. This is the autumn of the year, this is the resplendence of the world, this is one week from a marriage.

Oh, bliss, bliss, bliss. <333333333333333333333

- Last night, Jenn and I went with Hugh and Jer (and two of Jer's awesome friends) to the live Rifftrax screening of House on Haunted Hill. It was so great, oh my. XD For every major holiday (and even for some none-major), they do live screenings at certain movie theaters across the country, riffing movies like they used to do in their old MST3K days. It is still brilliance--and, perhaps, even better now (and I'm one of the biggest MST3K fans alive!). If you ever have a chance to see a live screening, do it! It's totally worth it, wickedly hilarious and positively awesome. :) Last year, we saw a bunch of Christmas shorts live, and it was just as great. I'm hoping they do one for Yule again~!

- It's totally silly and cheesy, but one of our Halloween/Samhain traditions is a visit to Holiday Hollow, which we saved to do for this Halloween weekend. I'm so sad that they're closed tomorrow--the only day we could do it. ;-; What will Halloween be like without the great pumpkin quest?! (Jenn will probably be endlessly relieved--the show changes very little, year over year, and she's always like...yay?...when I'm like WE SHOULD GO THIS WEEKEND! :D)

- So, instead, we'll probably go to the Great Pumpkin Farm Pumpkin Festival tomorrow, before...

- Maddie's annual Halloween party! :) Maddie, Jenn and I are Three Witches this year...my sister is going to be Lady Gaga, with all that entails. XD Yes, there will be many pictures.

- This is what I'm dressed up as, for work today!



( A few more! There's a surprise under the hat! :D )

- (Can you tell this is my favorite holiday? Naaaaaaaaaah~ :P)

- Our house is decorated to the nines (you can see a few pictures here!). But, my favorite thing that I wanted to share was the window display at our local cloth-work store (they sell counted cross stitch and quilting supplies, and the ladies are AMAZING--as evidenced by this window display. :P). Here is the stuff nightmares are made of (he also has an evil twin!:



- Our Samhain celebration is all day Sunday--we're going to hike at Allegany State Park--one of the most haunted places in the region (I know I've talked about that place before here--it's one of my favorite parks in the world, and it's so very steeped in ancient Native American lore, stories and ghostly encounters. I love it with all my heart~), culminating with a feast at our house, and a beautiful ritual. I can't wait~ <3

- On Sunday, Samhain, is my eleventh anniversary of my dedication as a Witch. :) Oh, blessed Mother--thank You these years, most amazing. <3

- Whatever your plans this weekend, whatever celebrations or sacred or spooky things you'll do, whatever you may spell or conjure--may it be wonderful~ <3333 Happy Halloween! Blessed Samhain! <33333

Let me tell you an autumn story.

In the country, fall does not come in an instant--no season changes in a heartbeat. She comes slowly, dragging her long, fiery gown behind her. One night, it's warm, but not too warm. You wrap your long sweater about you, beneath a sickle moon, for when the wind blows, it's cold. Clouds scuttle across the sky, dodging stars, bright silver. You walk far out into the meadow with your dog, mindful of all the bunnies who would rather moonbathe themselves than be chased by a very fast Collie. Everything is bright, and all the cicadas sing, a symphony that melts with your heartbeat, the whispering leaves, the bright moonshine. You close your eyes, try to remember that moment forever.

The next night, it's colder. Only a few crickets play a melody, and the night is so dark it's as if there were never stars. The blackness is velvet, soothing, and in the center of the meadow the sky melts with the towering pine trees, and you hold out your hand before you, completely unable to see it. One cricket, then two, strike up a conversation. It's cold, you're barefoot, and you shiver--the dew is freezing against your skin.

The next night, there is silence. Pure, frozen silence. You're wearing a coat, and in the moonlight, you can see your breath. There are no clouds, just the galaxy reaching overhead, a broad band of stars that looks milk-white against the burnished heavens. The moon hangs low in the horizon, lazy. The grass crunches beneath your boots. The husks of the sunflowers dangle mournfully along the fence of the garden, and you worry about your last vegetables, wondering how long you dare before you take in the squash. In these last, ripening moments, you could lose everything to a hard frost if you wait too long--but if you don't wait long enough, it won't be what it could have been. This is what separates a gardener from someone who gardens, and you think about that for a moment, laugh, shake your head. It was something your grandmother said, and you wonder if it's true about you. You've always harvested at the perfect moment--you've just always known when. It might be genetic, it might be magic, it might be dumb luck. You look up at the moon, wrap the shawl tighter about your shoulders, breathing in the chill air, the scent of colored leaf and pine. It's all so crystalline, so clear, so wonderful. The dog chases a bunny who outpaces him easily, and you call him back. He bounds over, leans against your leg, staring up at the same moon, too. It's a heavenly communion for half a moment--a perfect autumn night.

On all these nights, you turn to go back in, and look at your cottage, nestled beneath the moonshine or that dark sky. The lights glow cozily, the cobalt walls reflecting the glow of candle or lampshade. There will be warm tea, waiting for you, and a wife who hugs you, sleepily, giving you the sweetest, softest, best goodnight kiss.

And, on nights like these, you stand, for a moment, basking in the moonglow, in that perfect moment. You have so very much to be grateful for, your heart can't contain it.

So you pray, thanking the Lady for these years, most amazing.

And you go inside.

Last night, after we got home from a lovely dinner party with Maddie and Jared, I walked the dogs. It was late and so, so warm--the sweet, sharp scent of changing leaves had merged with the grass from the meadows, from the wind, from the moving branches. Clouds scuttled across the sky and over the face of the almost full moon.

It was Poesy's turn, and we walked out into the meadow together, intent on moonbathing. I lay down on a bed of hay and looked up at that heavenly, silver creature. Poesy nestled up to my stomach, and sighed contentedly, and we stayed there for a very long time. I didn't think of anything--I just stared up at the moon, at the clouds, at the countless stars and velvet black of the night, at the face of the Goddess everywhere, in all these things, and my heart soared, with gratitude, with love. My cup overflowed with it all, and we lay and we moonbathed in the silver light, the cicadas singing sweetly...it was the purest magic.

Poesy got bored with my silent joy and nudged my hand. I sat up, drew her into my lap and said: "it's all so beautiful, isn't it, baby?" She licked her face, wagged her tail, hopped off my lap, ready to go on to the next adventure.

I rose, too, and blew a kiss to the moon, my heart full.

And so, the Summer Queen stepped away and down, and Autumn--sweet Autumn, in all her resplendence, took the throne.

Hail, my beloved Autumn~ <3 Hail, Mabon~

The Obligatory Explanation:
To those new on my friends list - I *adore* perfume oils. I consider my body to be a temple, and I perfume it accordingly~ Perfume oils to me are part ritual/part magic, and the heady scents and bewitching fragrances of autumnal blends make me giddy~ That being said, I have several favorite perfume oil places... but probably my all TIME favorite is Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - or BPAL for short. Every year they create a Halloween themed update... Autumn is the highlight of my year, and somehow they capture the magic and deep beauty of the turning leaves, pumpkins on the porch and mist filled nights of stars.

The Halloween update came out--appropriately--today, it being Friday the 13th, and all~ ;D

- The Halloween update is here
- An awesome decant circle is here
- And if the above decant circle fills, there are five million forming at sinandsalvation

("Imps" are BPAL perfume samples that people collect and trade...a decant circle contains imps that are decanted and sent out by a central person to people who join and pay for sections of the decant circles...so you can choose the perfumes you think you might like and get samples to try them. :))

The reason the above decant circle is wonderful is that you can buy HALF imps of perfume. That's a very small amount, but I already have so many perfumes, and not all work on me--I'd rather try a few, and find the one or two that are perfect...this is the approach I did last year that worked wonderfully. :) Also, in the interest of minimalism, I'll use these up very quickly instead of having imps and imps and imps around from many Halloween pasts. XD Which, you know, I already have.


The Ones I Picked This Year:
The soundtrack of scent for my Autumn~:

Odd Portents
Black rose, olibanum, dark musk, myrrh, blackcurrant, lavender buds,
bourbon geranium, and amber incense.

It sounds practically perfect in every way. I think that with the myrrh and blackcurrant, especially, this might be a winner.

The Hag
Black musk, bay leaves, galangal, bourbon vetiver, blackcurrant, and rum.

This is a very, very dark scent, but I'm very lucky with those, usually--when they warm up on my skin, they turn bright and spicy. I hope this one will, too!

Nothing Gold Can Stay
Dewy green leaves colored by Moroccan amber, ginseng, and rooibos.

Amber is very happy on me, paired with the rooibos, I think this might be a warm-tea-ish scent--I hope so!

October 2010
Dry, cold autumn wind. A rustle of red leaves, a touch of smoke and
sap in the air.

The perennial classic. I use up my imp every year~

Pumpkin Latte
Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a
dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Oh my. I might die and go to heaven wearing this. XD

The Wild Swans At Coole
October twilight. Falling leaves breaking the stillness of cool water,
with sweet autumn clematis, feather-soft orris root, luminous white
chypre, and muguet.

This scent reminds me of one of my (arguably) favorite songs by Loreena McKennitt, whose albums are my soundtrack of autumn--it also sounds like it will dry down perfectly.

Pomegranate III
Pomegranate, Tamil Nadu sandalwood, lavender, tamarind, hazelnut,
Atlas cedarwood, sugar date, bitter clove, and Arabian myrrh.

A pomegranate grove instead of a pumpkin patch? I can live with that--almost. ;D As it is, they all sounded brilliant--this one sounds perfect.

Tell me what you decided on~! Let's talk happy, beautiful autumn things. :) I'm so excited about the shifting of the seasons. Already, some of the leaves are beginning to leave the bright green of summer...it's coming, she's coming. And soon. <3333