Hag Stone Journal

Small Things

Small Things

Issue 006
October 28 to November 3
In This Issue: Journal Prompt, Meditation, Home, Outdoors, Community, Body, Magic, Poem, Craft, Cookery, Moon Phases, Activism, Recommendations, Next Week

I believe quite firmly that much of the magic in the world resides in small things. There are fleeting moments that nevertheless linger because they expand us with their beauty and meaning. There are delicately detailed door knobs, minuscule mushrooms, and pocket-sized poems that change the tenor of the moment, inviting you into the magic hidden in plain sight all around. There are brief interactions that can fill you with hope for humanity. One small thing can save a whole day.

Tamata (pictured above) are votives– small offerings in exchange for a vow, desire, or wish fulfilled– used in the Greek Orthodox church. These small things, like votive candles lit in churches, pennies tossed in a well, and milagro (miracle) charms in Latin America, are imbued with prayers for healing, love, safe travels, and luck. Tamata and milagros use symbolic imagery that is suggested by the image but decided by the petitioner, like a heart, which could be offered either for someone with a heart condition or for someone wanting love.

You too can imbue small things with potency and the meaning that you decide. Sometimes all we need is something small, but I think we all need at least that. Fortunately, life offers us small miracles, often in abundance.


By Heather Gray

Craft

I always wanted to learn to embroider. It looked so delicate and pretty and fancy. It was a skill I wished I had, but I didn’t know where to start. Last summer, I finally let myself try it. I ordered hoops, thread, and fabric online (since then I have bought supplies at my local craft store) and I watched videos that taught me basic stitches. I am not great at it yet, but I really enjoy it.

Embroidering makes me feel like I am living my best life. I am able to create something pretty, making something that I envisioned exist in the world.

For this craft you just need:

  • Cloth napkins
  • Embroidery needle
  • Embroidery thread
  • 4” embroidery hoop (optional – you can could do this by hand without a hoop)
  • A pencil to draw your design

We use cloth napkins at home. These white ones with fancy red trim are our special holiday napkins. I used a back stitch to create the outline for each letter. I put french knots in the H, and used a running stitch inside the B. I decorated the Z with lazy daisy stitch flowers on the corners and more back stitches down the center which I slightly embellished with another little sideways stitch crossing each back stitch.  

You can learn how to do these stitches in books, blogs, and videos. I like this video: Hand Embroidery for Beginners – Part 2 | 10 Basic Stitches | HandiWorks #52 

Cookery

A perfect cup of tea can be a small gift to yourself, at any time of the day.

You will need:

  • 1 tea bag or 1 teaspoon of loose leaf (per person)
  • Thermometer (like a cooking thermometer with probe or a Thermapen)
  • Freshly drawn water
  • Your favorite cup

Choose your tea:

Black tea has caffeine and can be a good start to your morning or give you energy for the afternoon.

Green tea is full of antioxidants and has about half the caffeine of black tea. Green tea also mixes great with fruity flavors like lemon, peach, and mango.

Oolong tea is between black and green in caffeine content and strength of flavor.

White tea has little to no caffeine and the most mild flavor.

Herbal teas are not actually tea. Tea is made from Camellia sinensis leaves. Herbal tea is made from herbs, fruits, and flowers. They are caffeine free. Chamomile is a great herbal tea to have before bed.

Fill your kettle with freshly drawn cold water, allowing the tap to run for 30 seconds first. Don’t reboil old water in the kettle. Fresh water has more oxygen, which really develops the tea flavors.

Bring the water to a gentle boil and take it off the heat. Use a thermometer to measure the temperature and pour over the leaves when the temperature reaches:

  • 208 F for herbal (some herbal teas may have different recommended temps)
  • 200 F – 210 F for black
  • 190 F – 200 F for oolong
  • 160 F for white and green

Don’t pour boiling water over the tea, as it will scald the leaves.

Steep the tea according to your taste:

                          Tea bag                   Full leaf

  • Green 1 – 3 minutes        2 – 4 minutes
  • Oolong 3- 5 minutes       5 – 7 minutes
  • Black 2 – 4 minutes         3 – 5 minutes
  • Herbal 5 – 7 minutes       5 – 7 minutes

Cover the teapot with a tea cozy or cover your tea cup* with a saucer to keep the temperature warm while steeping. Remove the tea from the water immediately after it has brewed for the desired time. While the tea is brewing you can make yourself a little snack to eat with it. 

(You can also use the temperature and steeping directions on the box.)

Optional: Add splash of milk to black tea.

Let tea cool to 140 F to drink.

*A porcelain cup is not only the classic vessel for your tea, but is said to offer a better flavor than plastic or metal, and it holds the heat better than ceramic.

How is your tea? Hopefully the best you have ever tasted! You can tweak your steeping times and definitely try out different flavors. Some teas are more bitter, some are more sweet, and other flavors are nutty, grassy, or floral.

Tea is the second most consumed drink in the world, after water. It is a small thing that plays a  major role in customs and cultures all over the world, from China, to Ireland, to Russia, to Pakistan. Spend some time discovering and perfecting your favorite brew.

Meditation

Let’s go back to our Five Senses Exercise. This is the perfect small meditation.

 

What do you hear?

What can you smell?

What can you feel?

What do you taste?

What do you see?

 

This small meditation lowers my heart rate, slows my breathing, and brings me back to the present moment. 

Journal Prompt

I have learned to look for the magic in small things. Maybe that is because I have had some very hard times in my life, where the world seemed very dark, and the only light therewas a small one. But small things have big magic.

 

What is a small bit of magic in your life right now?

Home

There are so many ways that we can make our home more conducive to experiencing small wonders. I have a porch that, for some reason, I didn’t really use for a couple years. I know the reason– it’s because it was a mess. The dirty floors and spider webs weren’t very welcoming.

I finally reclaimed the space this June. I swept it out, dusted the furniture and rearranged it, and brought out some candles and potted plants. One of the most important additions, that I really couldn’t do until after the big cleaning, was a thrift store blanket that I threw over the old scratchy swing. I sacrificed this blanket that I wasn’t really using elsewhere– I could probably replace it for under five dollars– to make myself a very cozy summer retreat. I brought the bistro table and chairs from the garden into the porch, and we started having dinner there every night. We would often go out and sit on the swing after sunset and watch the fireflies. On the first cold day, I got a small flannel throw from the living room and wrapped myself up in it on the swing. I wasn’t ready to be chased back inside yet.

Look at your home with fresh eyes. What area could you transform with a small amount of effort? Could you keep a collection of candles in the bathroom so that you are more likely to take a long luxurious bath? Could you reorganize your desk to make room for a small potted plant? Do you have an outdoor space that could use some sprucing? It doesn’t have to be a big thing; sweep it out and add some twinkling lights.

Small changes can make a huge difference.

Outdoors

One of the smallest things you can do outdoors is to just go for a walk in your neighborhood. Walk slowly. Let yourself notice the small details of the homes and buildings around you, the greenery, the doorways, and the cats at the windows.

Body

I read that a 30 second hug releases the “love hormone” oxytocin. Since then, I have made sure that I get my full oxytocin hug at least once a day. (More if I can!) Oxytocin doesn’t just create bonds of trust and love: it may also help alleviate anxiety and depression, make you more generous and empathic, and improve wound healing! So many benefits for just 30 seconds of hugging!

Thirty seconds might feel like a long time to hug if you aren’t used to it. But that is how long it takes to get that sweet, sweet oxytocin magic. So get your hug on!

Other ways you can get oxytocin:

  • Pet your cat or dog
  • Soak in a hot tub
  • Share a meal
  • Make eye contact with someone during conversation
  • Get a massage
  • Give yourself a massage
  • Rub your temple and your forehead between your eyes
  • Do the Metta Meditation
  • Yoga

Magic

A sigil is a symbol with which you imbue magic power. It is a simple form of magic that you can do with only a pen and paper.

At your altar, meditate on what magic you want to work. Say you want to create health and healing. One a paper write out the letters H E A L T H H E A L I N G. Cross out any duplicate letters. Some people also cross out the vowels.

Then– and this is the creative part– think of the letters in your word as symbols. Break the letters down into basic shapes: lines, curves, and dots.  Arrange the shapes in a way that feels creative, beautiful and magic. You can add or subtract shapes to create symmetry. This is your symbol.

On another piece of paper, maybe fancy thick paper or colored paper or cardstock, draw the finished design of your sigil, putting the intention of the word into each line you draw. Once you have the sigil drawn, place it on your altar, light your candles, and say the intention again. Alternatively, you can burn the sigil, setting your intention with flame.

 

I separated the letters into their shape.
The H encloses the sigil, with the l, t and g in the center. I added curve of the lowercase n in four places.
I drew my simple sigil for health and healing in purple. I think it has a pretty design.

Moon Phases

October 31st is the last quarter moon.

A Bird came down the Walk— Emily Dickinson

A Bird came down the Walk—
He did not know I saw—
He bit an Angleworm in halves
And ate the fellow, raw,

And then he drank a Dew
From a convenient Grass—
And then hopped sidewise to the Wall
To let a Beetle pass—

He glanced with rapid eyes
That hurried all around—
They looked like frightened Beads, I thought—
He stirred his Velvet Head. ––

Like one in danger, Cautious,
I offered him a Crumb
And he unrolled his feathers
And rowed him softer home—

Than Oars divide the Ocean,
Too silver for a seam—
Or Butterflies, off Banks of Noon
Leap, plashless as they swim.

Community

 

This week you can connect to people in your community in a small but very powerful way by looking up, smiling, and saying “Hello”. It is okay if people don’t say hello back. It will still brighten your day to make this small (and free!) gesture of goodwill and connection. There was a recent study that showed that people feel more connected when they recieve eye contact and a smile.

Smiling releases dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin into your bloodstream, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure. Smiling is like a little magic spell you have that can help you relax and feel better and garner that feeling in the person that receives your smile, especially if they mirror you and smile back.  

I am not telling you to smile because you would look prettier, or that you have some moral obligation to smile. That kind of nonsense makes me frown. I’m saying that a smile and a hello is a small thing we can try this week and see how it feels.  

Activism

 

Now that you know how to embroider, let’s engage in a little craftivism. You can sew political messages on scraps of fabric and anonymously leave them around your community. Or gift them to friends. Or send your embroidered political witticisms to your elected officials.

Recommendations

Small Reads

Poet Nayyirah Waheed began by publishing her work on Instagram. She also has two books of poetry: salt. (2013) and nejma (2014). Her poems are short, truthful, and beautiful. Follow her on instagram for a daily dose of magic.

Next Week

Next week we will explore the magic and sacred in Wandering.