Thank You For This! It Really Explains Traditional Ways And Contextualizes It For Today!

St. Joseph the worker pray for us 💼 worked for me last week! You got this!!

please pray for me I have a job interview coming up 🙏🏼🩷

after getting rejected a handful of times I’m starting to get a little depressed :(

Happy Transgender Day of Visibility to all trans folks no matter their identities! And for a roll call, trans man here, pronouns he/him, in the middle of my medical transition. No matter what your journey looks like, you are a treasure, a gem, and you are worth the journey you're taking. Photo: me posing as Maude Adams 1901 "L'Aiglon" outfit I tailored myself.

Joyeuse Journée de Visibilité Trans a tous les gens transgenres qu'importe leurs identités! Et pour me présenter, homme transgenre ici, pronoms 'il/ils", en plein milieu de sa transition médicale. Qu'importe où tu te trouves dans ton cheminement, tu es un trésor, sans pair, qui vaut la peine pour le changement que tu embrasse.

Photo: moi dans l'ensemble 1901 "L'Aiglon", un habit reproduit de Maude Adams, cousu par moi-même.

May 21st: Virgin Mary’s Day

While Mary has many feast days in the traditional Catholic calendar, this day was chosen by Pope Francis as a new feast day to foster a spirit of love and understanding in her name. Personally, I like this day for her, because it’s close to Mothers’ Day, and it goes great with the loving energies of May. 

Colours and symbols:

cerulean blue and white

lilies 

mother goddess effigies

fleur-de-lys

Activities

light light blue and white candles in her honour

grace her altar with fresh lilies

brew a rejuvenating blend of tea like mint or ginseng

volunteer at a women’s shelter

help out your mom if you can (some mother relationships are toxic, it’s up to you)

honour the energies of creation

plant seeds today in your garden and in your mind

remember to show love and compassion to others

volunteer at a library and read books to children

spend time with your children if you have them

write what you are grateful for in your life, especially those that show you love

heck if you’re traditionally Catholic, some ‘Hail Mary’s are a good idea.

I welcome any further ideas in the comments if you have any :) 

Heritage Folk Witch Altar - Update

I wanted to personalize my altar to my practice further, so I decided to paint Quebec landscapes and notable animals that mean a lot to me. Some landscapes are derived from my grandmother's painting style, while others are inspired by Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942), an artist well-known for his Quebec landscapes of villages and sweeping views.

Panel 1: Black bear mother and her cub in a Charlevoix clearing in winter. Black bears are very common in the sub-boreal forests of Quebec, and I've had many dreams of them, sometimes as one myself. In Innu cosmology, black bears are very close in relationship to humans, and are often perceived as humans themselves. The clearing is directly from a Clarence Gagnon painting.

Panel 2: Bluejay resting in a flowered tree in St. Charles-de-Bourget, late spring (late May-June). My grandmother painted this exact bluejay on a wooden lamp, and I have fond memories of her bird paintings. She lives in that village, and she taught me to paint these kinds of flowers when I was 11, so it's a rather sentimental panel.

Panel 3: Canada Geese in the Saguenay Fjord in autumn. My grandfather often mentions the 'outardes' (Canada Geese) flying south or coming back, and he's always happy to see them. These birds are ferociously loyal to their families, and their endurance is tested and true. The song 'Les oies sauvages' from Mes Aieux has a special place in my heart. It's a song of familial strength and support mirrored in these geese.

Panel 4: A humpback whale having fun in the summer waters of Tadoussac. My grandparents love to go whale-watching in that region, and these whales journey a long way to come back north to our waters. Their communication styles are unique to each whale, and they form very close bonds with their children. My ancestors often visited Tadoussac in the summers to trade and communicate with other family groups, so it is a time of joy and gathering.

I discovered there are four additional panels, 2 on each side of the altar, which excites me, but it is anchored to my wall, so I'll have to wait until I move to think about painting some more.

Book of Seasons and Festivities

I wanted to share some images of my work so far in a book of holidays, seasonal religious and cultural celebrations for my own personal path. :)

Moonshadow and Altar Time

this cat is clingy and adores spending time at the altar with me

Happy Easter to all my family and friends! I’m back home and finally got to wash my altar surface with holy water and chrism oil, and decorate it again! I’ve placed the Host back in the tabernacle lantern with a red votive electric candle, He has returned! 🕊️✝️🌷

St. Anne's Feast Day - July 26

St. Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary, and the grandmother of Jesus. She gave birth to Mary very late in her life, and taught her all about the Christian way of life. She is often linked with books, and is the patron saint of grandparents.

Patron saint of Brittany and Canada, St. Anne has been venerated by Catholics in Canada since the first settlers' arrival and before. Voyageurs in the fur trade would pray and offer tokens to St. Anne for a safe passage through the wilderness to the trading posts, and for safe passage across the Great Lakes. She has also been adopted by some Indigenous cultures, notably the Innu of Labrador and Quebec (Nitassinan). She serves as a grandmother figure, and is known for her healing powers. As such, she is placed highly in Indigenous culture for those that practice elements of Christianity.

In 1650, Breton sailors experienced a nasty storm near Quebec. They vowed that if they made it to shore safe and sound, they'd honor St. Anne with a sanctuary. Landing safely, they build the shrine of Beaupré. This expanded into a basilica later.

In Brittany, St. Anne's Feast Day is celebrated with torch-lit processions. She is the patron saint of sailors and Canadians at sea, fishermen, seamstresses, miners and the subterranean world, crafters of brooms, cabinetmakers, carpenters, pregnant women, childless people, lace makers, equestrians, vintage and second-hand clothes dealers.

Ways to celebrate her feast day include:

-offerings of chamomile tea, wine, flowers, and white candles

-dedicate a journal to her

-do something that heals you. Have you taken time to slow down and take care of yourself recently?

-take time to meditate on the subterranean level. Ground yourself and learn about the earth around you.

-learn about the ocean history around you (living in Nova Scotia, it's a bit easier to do, and she was well-loved by my Acadian ancestors)

-reach out to your grandmother if you haven't yet. She misses you. Or offer a candle for all your matrilineal female ancestors who passed away.

-sew something in her honor that day, perhaps an apron with red, green and white embroidery. Really make it for her.

-Offer roses, Queen Anne's lace, chamomile as flowers on your altar.

-Pray to St. Anne's Chaplet. This has a Saint Anne medal, and three groups of five beads, with each grouping separated by one larger, or distinct bead for a total of eighteen beads. The single larger beads may be in the shape of a rose.

-Tend to your garden lovingly.

Back online!

Hello everyone! I apologize for being inactive in a while. I just graduated from my final year of Costume Studies at Dalhousie University and I am now in a place where I can research and practice my faith to my heart's desire. More posts are incoming :) the goal for this year would be to fine-tune my festivals and holy days schedule and rituals, as well as implementing my practice in my daily life. My altar got a little refreshing, my cat is helping with my holiday book, and I found a frog in the Camp Hill Cemetery!

Lent 2025 personal devotion

For Lent this year, I'll read 12 pages a day for 40 days of this wonderful translation.