What I Did On My Afternoon Non-Vacation

[kiya]

I've been intermittently cranky in the 'I need to do more stuff' way for a while, which has been sort of aggravating. I checked the stoop to see if the parcel wordweaverlynn was sending me had arrived -- it hasn't, I'm suspecting the Post Office ate it -- and saw a big box, which would be the cabinet I ordered.

So I spent the afternoon putting it together, which included calling teinedreugan and asking him where the drill/screwdriver was and intermittent commentary to people on IRC. (I opened the initial box after I got it inside, and it was full of parts and a smaller box marked, "Do not open with sharp object!" Okay then.) Then I set up the small shrine. This is sort of the skeleton draft of it -- the potpourri bowl will be replaced with an oil diffuser when I have a good oil diffuser; I want a more active scenting process in Bast's honor. (Eventually, there will be icons, but that is the longer road.) There was some aggravation when I determined (after cleaning up the fountain and making sure it worked after its period of disuse) that the best plug for plugging it into did not provide power. We make do. The fountain is soothing, damnit.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

My parcel from wordweaverlynn has yet to arrive, either, so I suspect it's just the uniform slowness of the post. (But the lilacs are at their peak!)

[kiya]

That's ... sort of reassuring? At least it means it's not just me. (People sometimes Fail To Find My House. Often people with parcels.)

(Mine hasn't gone yet. Buds but only a few florets popped.)

[sashajwolf.livejournal.com]

People sometimes Fail To Find My House. Often people with parcels.

That would be akin, would it, to the mysterious process by which we are always either out or unable to hear the doorbell when DHL or ParcelForce call, but rarely when anyone else does?

[kightp.livejournal.com]

At this time of year, it's all about the latitude. (-:

[kiya]

*carefully studies the one spur that's popping flowers*

Hrrr ... west. :}

[arianadawnhawk.livejournal.com]

The fountain is soothing, damnit.

*grins* It looks lovely.

I know the "I need to do more stuff" feeling. Me and one of my other friends got it around the same time, so we'll be working on our magical practices soon. Woot!

[kiya]

I'm thinking, in the long run, of finding some semiprecious stones that suit the ladies to whom the shrine is dedicated and adding them to the fountain's rock collection. A few cats'-eyes would be nice and shiny.

My do-stuffness has been focused a lot on house maintenance and house processing. Trying to get the painting done so I can give arawen his ladder back and so that task can get off my queue (where it's been for ~3-4 years), packing up books that are overflowing shelves, the usual household maintenance laundry and cleaning and the like ....

[arianadawnhawk.livejournal.com]

Semiprecious stones = yay. They're a fairly major part of *looks around* yep, all my shrines.

I need to get some do-stuffness motivation - my new lease starts in 6 days! Definitely time to clean and pack - a lot. (I'm not quite as lazy as I sound. I just have a small dorm room here, and I don't get kicked out of it until the 13th.)

[ardaniel]

ISTR that Pyramid Books in Salem, at least when I was in high school, had semiprecious stones of all stripes and sorts for at least vaguely reasonable prices.

[morningwind.livejournal.com]

I know this is only a "skeleton draft," but it looks lovely! I'm not sure which Netjert the fountain is intended for, but the House of Netjer also has one at their Bast shrine; it strikes me as the kind of thing She would dig. (That, and windchimes -- something for me to keep in mind if/when I ever create an outdoor shrine for Bast)

the potpourri bowl will be replaced with an oil diffuser when I have a good oil diffuser; I want a more active scenting process in Bast's honor.

I currently have an oil diffuser ring that you stick on top of a lightbulb. While it's certainly functional (and has been handy for BPAL scents, heh), I do want to get something nicer in the future and incorporate it into my shrine.

[kiya]

The fountain is a sort of general perpetual cool water offering. And it starts making funny noises when it runs low, reminding me to make more libations. The shrine itself is for Bast and Brighid, which is a story all its own.

Have you any thoughts on BPAL scents that might do well with that sort of thing? The ones I have are mostly kind of weird-smelling until they get skin chemistry interactions, but I don't know if heat would change them into something more acceptable to my nose. (And any thoughts about which ones She might prefer?)

[morningwind.livejournal.com]

Bast and Brighid? Okay, my curiosity has been piqued!

I've actually found that Nuit works well in my oil diffuser -- better than on my skin, certainly. As for Bast, two scents that I think She might like are Bastet and The Lion; I don't actually own an imp of The Lion yet, but a friend let me borrow a dab, and I approve. *grins* I'd like to find more spicy amber scents for Her, as they strike me as the type She would enjoy, but that's just my personal take on it.

[kiya]

Nuit is the one that makes me smell like a girl. :} It amuses me. I'll keep those in mind -- having some dedicated things for the shrine space seems a good idea, and so! Variety! Spicy amber feels right to me too, conceptually.

Basically, I started having this nagging feeling that I should have what amounts to a hearthfire shrine. If I were Greek it'd be a Hestia shrine, y'know? So I'm thinking about Who to set up the shrine to, and I chew on it a while, and get, "Bast! Protection of the house of the Pharaoh which generalised over time, guardian of women and children, this all sounds right. I will set it up to Bast." And then my backbrain threw at me, "And Brighid!" And I said, "... what?" And my backbrain said, "Bast! Set it up to Bast and Brighid!" (This makes sense; Brighid does govern the hearthfire as the center of the family activity and stands as midwife, but buh?)

My current best guess is that this has to do with arawen, who is Brighid's. If I set up a family-focused shrine to just my gods, that would exclude him semi-tacitly, which is unacceptable to me. So this is the way my backbrain solves the problem. Also, the two ladies in question are dealing with different aspects of the thing in somewhat different ways, so it's a more complete matter that way.

I spent a goodly while talking to various folks who know Brighid to make sure nobody thought there'd be personality conflicts, though. :}