Property of a Lady

Deborah Lipp goes on about Wicca, politics, movies, Paganism, and cats. Not necessarily in that order.

I don’t know what Mingo is doing here. He was desperately trying to climb up that closet door, and was staring at a spot near the ceiling, but there was nothing there, not even a bug.

Whatever it was, it kept him busy for quite a long time, and it was pretty noisy, too.

I got an interesting letter last night, and I asked for permission to publish it.

Hello. I have your “Elements of Ritual” book and I love it. The thing is, you talk about candles and incense as being key essentials to ritual. I’ve been trying to learn as much as I possibly can before I do a whole ritual by myself. My problem is that I’m a college student who lives on campus, where candles and any sort of smoke or fire-related anything is strictly prohibited. I was just wondering if you have any substitution ideas or know where I can find any. I can’t always get the exact tools and things I need for my altar or rituals, which is another reason I haven’t attempted a solitary ritual yet. If you can help, that would be great. Thank you so much and I really love your work.

Blessed be

Good question! I default frequently to candles because they are inexpensive (see, students? I have your needs at heart!) and easy to get a hold of. But dorm rules are something I didn’t consider; especially when I wrote my first book. Here’s what I wrote back (edited a little):

Candles and incense are very helpful, but if you have to substitute, you can. For incense, try using an essential oil or a natural herb. For example, a sprig of fresh rosemary or lavender can be used create scent, or open an essential oil and inhale when Air is needed.

For Fire, substitute a Fire symbol; an unlit candle, a piece of ambera painting of the alchemical symbol for Fire, or perhaps a minature lion; be creative.

When candles are being used for things other than Fire, it depends upon their use. For example, if you used a candle to represent the God, instead, use another God symbol. If you used candles
to mark quarters, use a different sort of boundary marker.

Blessed be,

So, those are my thoughts. I’d be interested if you have any additional ideas.

All solved in record time!

Name the actor or actress by identifying spouses they’ve had in the movies.

1. Peter O’Toole, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda
Solved by Melville (comment #1).

2. Carla Gugino, Tamlyn Tomita, Angelina Jolie
Solved by TehipiteTom (comment #5).

3. John Lithgow, Alan Arkin, Chris Cooper
Solved by TehipiteTom (comment #9).

4. Lauren Bacall, Ann Todd, Polly Bergen
Solved by Melville (comment #4).

5. Anthony Hopkins, Ian Richardson, Jim Broadbent
Solved by George (comment #10).

6. Téa Leoni, Laura Linney, Maura Tierney
Solved by maurinsky (comment #6).

7. Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, Christopher Walken
Solved by TehipiteTom (comment #7).