We have always valued beautiful things. People traded for visually stunning materials to make their tools out of, discovered pigments in nature for body decoration, spirituality in everything from the fragrance of flowers to the shapes of mountains. We have landscape photography, perfume is an industry that brings in billions of dollars, and people feel healthier living in places where aesthetic detail matters. Social elites have tried to define what is truly beautiful and some people out there would argue that beauty in life does not matter. I say it does.
A basket of makeup beside two jewelry boxes, several perfume bottles, a decorative dish, gold tray, and a small pile of headbands
A little about me. The early beauty YouTube community helped me start to learn to love myself. It was easier to get out of bed when I wanted to put on a nice outfit, do my make up, take care of my skin. Gradually over the years I linked this with my spirituality, which has a divine feminine focus. now I encourage people to care for their spirit by dressing in ways that make them feel both beautiful and comfortable, and creating an aesthetic environment that nurtures a sense of peace and contentment.
A black cat rests on one of two velvet cushions, which are pink and yellow, in front of a wood and glass piece of furniture used as an altar. The altar holds several handmade God and goddess statues, offering cups, plates holding crystals, and several other symbolic and decorative objects.
The copper plates, ceramic espresso cups, and many other items here were created by small business owners online who have a great sense of aesthetic. I created the statues by hand, though I wish I could have done more detail work, as a self-taught amateur sculpter. The photography is also my work. The layout is meant to be visually aesthetic with balance and symmetry. I really worked to choose colors that I find inviting. There are also some vintage items such as the two jewelry boxes I use for long-term spells, and the two candleholders on either side. I chose natural materials wherever possible as a connection to the Earth, which is why I also included the photography. And most of us appreciate the feel of luxurious material on our skin, such as velvet or silk, which is how I decided on my floor cushions.
Luxe magic is intentional living for the purpose of being happy and fulfilled. This means self-care, cultivating beauty in your life, doing the same for others around you and being involved in your community, actively choosing intellectual pursuits and experiences that change your perspective, and above all, taking care of the divine aspect of yourself while having a strong relationship with your higher powers. Over the next several months I plan to chat with you on the various aspects of this practice. Subscribe if you are interested.
Sable’s nicknames were sweet girl and honeybee. I also referred to her in conversation sometimes as a salty diva because she was very much the Primadonna. She would be seeking attention one minute, and then I would walk by her a few minutes later and she would bite my foot just because she was annoyed at my presence. She never really liked toys and knew how to remove a collar. She was absolutely food crazy, and if she really liked you she would let you hold one of her paws while she took a nap. An absolute lap cat, she did not love being held but would refuse to get off of you no matter what you needed to do, or how quickly you needed to do it.
Sable was born sometime in the spring of 2014. I never got the absolute correct date. But I got her in April 2015 so she was between eight and 10 months old at the time. At first the Humane Society would not let me visit with her because they wanted her to be adopted with her former housemates. The owner had gone into hospice. I was on the verge of signing the paperwork for a sweet little black cat named Diamond, when they came in and told me I could see her because the other two cats from the same house had been adopted without her. She completely ignored me at first, until I put my hand on her scruff the way a mother cat would, and then she climbed all over me. She wasn’t the cat I was necessarily looking for that day, but apparently she was the one I needed.
Over a decade, several moves, friendships coming and going, and me trying to figure out what to do with my life, Sable has been there. She struggled with a stress related bladder disorder and a congenital lung condition. She hated wet food for most of her life, but would eat canned chicken or tuna. She also had this walk like the patterns in her fur were some kind of fashion statement, and always wanted me to turn on the faucet so she could drink from it. I never had to worry about her trying to go outside, and while she would watch the birds, she didn’t seem to care to try to catch them. Another nickname I jokingly had for her was sun patch cat. Because as with most cats, sunbathing was one of her favorite activities.
There is something about that face that I always felt was almost human but I could never explain why. She knew how to manipulate with those eyes. After she came back from the vet and they had had to give her a breathing tube during dental cleaning, she had lost her voice for about a week. She figured out that if she used the same tone even when she was recovered, I would think it was adorable and pitiful and give her what she wanted. Which was generally treats.
Sable passed away around 7 AM Sunday, August 31 of this year. She was losing her vision and mentally declining. Lung and liver conditions caught up with her and we were also dealing with a flea infestation. Someone removed all four sets of her claws as a kitten, so she had difficulty scratching let alone jumping to high places to get away from them. while I was treating my place and her, I missed the signs of anemia and she declined very suddenly. So this afternoon I laid her to rest.
The first thing she received were what I think of as grave gifts. I work well with water and fire magic. I gave her black mother of pearl, a cowry shell, and one other I don’t remember the name of. She received four stones. Blue kyanite, aquamarine, quartz, and agatized coral. I covered her with a blend of lavender blossoms, sea salt, some ground ginger, and a little dragon’s blood oil. The last thing was this champagne silk scarf I kept in my purse. We draped it over her before covering her up. I wanted her to have a true funeral, the kind of burial that ancient pagans would give those they love with all sorts of riches included in the grave. Before we filled in the grave, I finally just asked that her reincarnation would be a reward for all that she did. I was not in the frame of mind to decide what God’s to call. I had held her while the grave was dug. I had made an impression of her paw print in clay that I will paint later on. I was not a perfect pet parent, we frustrated each other and argued, and she gave me plenty of sass. I wanted to make sure, because this isn’t done enough, that she had a respectful sendoff. Too many sweet babies are just discarded, or owners treat them as accessories instead of members of the family. That was my first strong opinion I think, that pets are family, and I remember I took so much crap for that in third grade. Please keep your cats inside, make sure they know love every day, and don’t just discard them when they become slightly inconvenient.
The phrase memento vivere means remember to live. We are all getting swept away in the horror that is our world right now. I can translate sadness over the shitty way so many of us treat animals who love us into just doing more for the ones who have chosen me. I can acknowledge how awful our social climate is, and then prioritize doing things I enjoy like going out for coffee, artwork, thrifting and music, because personal happiness in the little moments is resistance to the darkness. I can prioritize remembering to say good morning or good night, checking on my friends occasionally without needing to be prompted, sending out a birthday text or condolence wishes, because those things forge our connection with each other. Say good night, memento mori, say good night and drive safe. Memento vivere, say good morning and you matter to me. Remember you will die, but also remember to live. Because as far as I’m concerned there are three things to do in life. Have a good time, try to learn something, and live in a way you can be proud of at the end. But I need to add to that. Be there in a genuine way for those you share this life with who are genuine with you.
I have not worked with Kali Long. I was encouraged to work with her because what she does is clear away those things that interfere with you fully stepping into your divine feminine. As this is the focus of my spirituality, in a global sense, I agreed. Very quickly a few messages were delivered.
If you want to influence changes in the world, you have to stand on your own 2 feet. You cannot rely on others to support or save you. This goes back to the idea I have presented before of being a ruler of your own domain. You can’t wait for scraps, claw your way up some metaphorical ladder, You have to build your own throne. The only one who can sabotage that throne is yourself. This means going as deep as possible in order to face things you might have been avoiding.
If you live with constant stress, if you’ve always had to protect what’s yours or who you are, you can develop a constant conflict mindset where it feels like everything and everyone is against you. You have to drop this. I know not everyone is ready to hear this message in the insane, turbulent world we live in. It feels like we are always treading water. A lot of the advice out there is how to react, how to deflect or diffuse, how to counter attack. And while you might need to have those strategies in your back pocket, because there are those who will want to bring you down, if you walk around in a constant defensive state, it actually attracts those who want to take what you have. If instead you recognize the boundaries of your domain, and move with the understanding that what is yours is already yours, without question, if you can cultivate a sense of security within yourself, you go from treading to just floating. You go from just trying to hold your place to trusting that you’re not going to sync and you will get where you want to go.
Finally, anger is a shallow thing. An explosive thing for sure, but shallow. Deep, sincere feminine rage is slow, but far reaching and much more powerful. This is still something I work with her on, as one of my own personal flaws is a short fuse. So this one I’m still trying to understand. But destruction should create fertile ground for building something new, not a breeding ground for toxicity and corruption.
According to many religions we all contain some aspect of divinity. Whether that is incarnation, a divine spark, a pillar, or the potential to ascend to the level of a God or goddess. At this point I feel my beliefs are a combination of the first two. We can incarnate some aspect of gods who have taken a hand in our creation and growth. For those who believe in one particular God, they say that people are made in his image. Which could be interpreted as the same thing. And we all have divine energy within us, those little gifts and moments of intuition beyond the physical.
In my own personal practice I ally with, work with, and give offerings too, many different types of gods and spirits. So what if when we give without expecting anything in return to other people, we are in some ways making offerings to their spirits? And what if when we initiate an exchange of labor or material possessions, we are allying with that person’s spirit the same way we do with the non-physical entities we work with? Sometimes those human spirits in living bodies aren’t necessarily deserving of what we give, and sometimes we give with ulterior motives, but that’s a topic for another day. Most religions would say it is good to be selfless. But I think a healthy amount of selfishness is also a good thing.
If the only food you have in your home is a plate of cookies, and there are five, and three people come to your home asking for food, are you going to give away all of the cookies? We have to take time to physically restore our emotional Resources, our sense of comfort in this physical reality, so that we have enough abundance to share when others need it. We do this in three ways. We are careful not to give to those who only seek to drain us. Community means that when you share resources, there is an unspoken promise that when you need support, others will share with you. This goes for emotional and spiritual resources, not just physical. You protect what you know you need. This means that the three people who came to your house wanting food can get a cookie if you know you are going to have more food in the next few hours. But if you don’t, then maybe sharing isn’t the best idea. Maybe they promised to bring something back in return. You don’t know if they will keep that promise.
The third way is self-care. Actions that bring you a sense of well-being, contentment, and security start in the physical, boosting your emotional resources, giving your spirit space to heal. For some people this is cleaning or working out. For some people this is a rare steak and red wine. Of which I approve. For some people this is a luxurious bath involving fancy special occasion products and scented candles. Also lovely.
How do you practice self-care?
I personally engage in self-care in a few stages. I will enjoy a nice bath, to remember how to love the body I am in. I might bring a mineral water with me. I will listen to a favorite book. Then when I am done, I make sure to take care of my skin, put on fragrance, and throw on a favorite dress. I get ready as if I am going out on a date or with friends. But instead, I order a pizza, put on a favorite show, and acknowledge my gratitude for how much the gods and spirits I am aligned with due for me. And how incredible life is. Or if this is too much of a production, I get a mineral water or a coffee, maybe a brownie or a few pieces of dark chocolate, and I find somewhere quiet to just sit and read. I still might throw on a pretty dress though. I have put myself in a better state of mind to make it easier to handle whatever life throws at me next. And be there for the spirits of those I care about.
I offer two courses that relate to this topic. Right now they are live for $30 an hour, and they are one hour courses. Later this year I hope to have print download options. They are glamour magic and self empowerment. You can read more about these on my courses page. 
I’d like to wish everyone a happy summer solstice. I made it a point to be outside for the sunrise this morning. I wanted to do something to honor her power, to draw on that strength for myself, and to connect with the Earth.
For the first part of my working I aligned 3 favorite stones I always carry with me for specific purposes. One of my core beliefs is that the fulfillment of desire and the active choosing of contentment our spiritual acts you can do in-service to the gods you work with. The first stone I worked with was Rose Calcedony, to remind me of the beauty of the summer solstice and that things will always change for the better. We are always evolving and progressing. This was connected with the energy of Lakshmi, who is a goddess I work with. One of many. She is said in lore to have the luster of the sun. The second stone I brought was a piece of Chevron smoky quartz. In order to truly feel the incredible ups and downs of life, I think a lot of us as adults have to reconnect with ourselves. This involves shadow work and soul retrieval so that is how I programmed this stone.
For the second part of this working I had a piece of white jade. This I used to connect with angelic energies, reaching out to align with feminine angelic spirits of a fiery nature. The darker spirits I work with are often aligned with water so it’s a balance. Three came to me And channeled their names. I think I will keep those private. But their energies flowed together and through me. But the element of fire was significant to them. All three had a similar build, long red hair and white gowns. They did not show wings.
The third segment of this working was to connect with the Earth, the sun, and the wind, to recharge and heal my body. The currents of energy from the Earth and the wind were especially strong and I could physically feel them.
The last part went a little sideways. There is a large tree behind my apartment building. I attempted to work with its energy and discovered that it contains a parasitic spirit who attempted to feed me toxic energy. I was going to invite several spirits I work with to a further part of this ritual but ended up having to go back inside.
I did not want technology involved in this ritual so I have no pictures of the sunrise which was in any case blocked by another building and the trees. But the wave of power that came with the light this morning was truly spectacular.
I have never really been into the organic shapes and earthy look of a lot of spiritual jewelry. I’ve always liked pieces that are bold, but still classic in their design.
These pendants have been collected over the last decade. A few are a little more ornate, but they are all basically the same simple cabochon and setting design. I love chunky brooches, pendants, bangles and medallions. They are personally expressive but in ways that translate well to the culture we live in. I’ve always liked to blend my spirituality with my sense of style. I feel no need to stand out and in fact I prefer keeping my practice quite subtle. There is something so powerful in disguising your workings this way. Someone sees a beautiful dress or piece of jewelry, and there might be a spirit housed in the jewelry, the dress might have symbols sewn into the lining. Your fragrance might be charged, you might have tiny mojo bags in the heels of your shoes. Your wallet might be blessed with prosperity oil, the one you Thrifted for $.50 because it was beautiful embossed leather.
By the way I will be offering a glamour magic course, in print downloads, later this year. Those will be $10 each for the different sections. I also offer a live course for $30 and accept Cashapp or PayPal. If you leave me a comment we can figure out how to connect. The live courses are available now.
You can do so much with gemstone jewelry. Of course you can work with the stone itself for many different purposes. But the piece can also be used for spirit keeping, that is housing a companion spirit if necessary. They can be used for all sorts of other types of spell work. I primarily use this collection for spirit keeping, although this is a process I am just now initiating, and managing my energetic body and environment as a practitioner. 
I like to try to manifest as many positive and beautiful moments throughout my day as I can. The world feels as though it has lost its mind, and part of my spiritual path involves prioritizing my own sense of contentment within my life. I love a luxurious bubble bath, doing stretches or walking loops through my apartment listening to favorite music, dressing up just for me, or making a charcuterie board for dinner. None of these are rituals necessarily, but they are some of the choices I actively make to manifest positive energy in my life.
Here is one recipe I love for emotional self-care after a bad day. You can use skim or oat milk. About half a tablespoon of dark cocoa powder, the Hershey’s Dutch dark is my preference, and real honey. A lot of store-bought honey is flavored syrup, you want to make sure it says organic. Or at least raw. All you are going to do is heat up a mug of your milk or substitute of choice, add your cocoa powder and then sweeten with honey to taste. You get a rich luxurious drink that is also quite nourishing and will help you sleep. You can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon or cardamom if you like. This is also an excellent alternative to coffee.
One of these is for the body, one is for the mind, and one is for the spirit. I try to employ all of these in my daily life although not always successfully. When I do, I find they are quite effective.
For the mind: self-care. This is taking baths with luxurious products, dressing up just for yourself, setting up date nights for just you and maybe some girlfriends with good food and maybe champagne. This is getting your hair and nails done, going for a walk in the park, working out or keeping your space clean. You want to recharge your emotional batteries, physically enjoy the life you live, so when life is difficult, it isn’t quite so draining. This isn’t a time to worry about having a certain body type, adhering to hustle culture, or trying to live up to unrealistic standards.
For the body: breath work and slow communication. A lot of feminine coaches will tell you to speak slower to be perceived as more feminine. This is for purposes of social acceptance. What I would add to that that they usually don’t is that you want to also speak from the diaphragm. When I am anxious or upset I have a tendency to speak very fast and from the throat, which is where a lot of women speak from. This is called up speak. If you slow down and speak from the diaphragm, you find that anger or anxiety turns to power, that people will better listen to you and are more likely to agree to what you have to say, and will perceive you as more assertive. Our deeper intuition is rooted in the solar plexus chakra which is right by the diaphragm. And I find explosions of anger or aggression are very shallow in their roots in your body, making them unstable. Up speak is great to soothe your best female friends during a bad break up. But when dealing with a world that wants to force its will on you, it’s better to speak from a deeper place of power. also making your language more direct and less equivocal, not overly apologizing or using verbal pauses, is a great way to govern an interaction in your favor. Learning how to properly project the way a vocalist does is helpful with this. You don’t want to breathe from your shoulders, you want to breathe from your stomach region. And projecting isn’t making your voice higher, it’s using deeper breath to throw it farther. All of this is an antidote to how we as women are taught to make ourselves smaller and more digestible to those around us.
For the spirit: rule your domain. A lot of feminine energy coaches will tell you that we should be about rejecting hustle culture and having soft lives. This usually trails into commentary on how we need leaders and protectors. And this is where I diverge. We can have those soft lives if we set strong boundaries and rule our domain. We narrowly define the things we want and we do not permit people or environments to introduce energies that corrupt those desires. We only take in to our spheres of influence those people and things that will align with our goals. When we don’t allow society to dictate what we should desire, beyond using it as a sort of browser to find those things, we aren’t trapped in a cycle of chasing Everything we are supposed to want and then failing ourselves. I want specific handbags, a specific make up style, train travel, enough cash to buy a nicer apartment preferably near a public beach. I don’t care to have a socially acceptable body, a perfectly attractive partner, or excessive wealth. This is what I mean. It’s partially about shedding baggage, partially not begging for scraps, and partially dictating what is allowed to influence your choices and worldview. The way I see it is, you can be a queen on her throne and accept gifts of quality, or you can sit on the floor and take only what falls from a table where those who want your worship sit and feast. You deserve your own throne. And you can build your own table with your own people.
Just remember that the feminine within you is like the sun, it gives life. You project but not in a shallow cheap aggressive way, but in a deeper way that illuminates everything. Respect yourself as the center of your universe, but also respect that everyone else is the center of theirs. Learn how to validate things you don’t understand and see new concepts as equally worthy of consideration as what you have been taught. Welcome to the path.
After 17 years officially of being a magic practitioner, I had lost my love for this essential aspect of my life. This was caused by a few factors. I couldn’t summon the energy to make my working stick. I found constantly setting up candle rituals and all of the paraphernalia you need for a western based magic practice tedious and cumbersome. I still, and always will, speak with the gods I worked with, but I didn’t want to do and own all of the things without some serious results. I had to do some investigating, and I had to change course. The moment I made that decision, everything opened up. Here’s how.
I had to stop blaming myself for the low rate of successful spell work when it came to my own goals. The work I did for others was generally successful. Through some divination I came to understand that I just didn’t have the energy to support my workings. I had to learn to find healthy external sources. And I had to learn to be proud of the skills I had gained thus far.
I had to put the wonder back in magic. Science and spirituality go hand-in-hand. And no matter the religion, people have always observed the workings of nature fairly accurately, with simple differences in terms of who these workings were attributed to. Science gives us understanding of the atmospheric patterns that create storms, but that does not mean that gods or spirits associated with those storms aren’t involved. The science will be there behind the currents of energy in the universe, as well as our gods and spirits, and I don’t necessarily need to grasp that mystery in order to have a healthy practice. I just need to trust it. Dreams and imagination play a large role in a healthy spiritual and magical practice, but when those things are overshadowed by rigid logic, the joy and authenticity drain away and my heart wasn’t in it anymore. I had to learn to set aside rationality and analysis and just allow my practice to breathe and evolve. I think in part this comes from feeling that my very creative and intuitive nature is less valuable than an analytical one in the culture we live in, which feeds on creative energy until creators are starving, but does not foster new creative growth.
I needed to lean into my dark feminine power. It was time to focus on rebuilding the connections between body and spirit, accepting that my nature is intense and chaotic, and learning to love that. There was also some emotional decluttering to be done. Of hobbies that were not enjoyable anymore, of connections that did not serve my growth, And of the self doubt created by negative reception of my ideas by others in this community. I had to shed some emotional and intellectual baggage. My spiritual energy is precious and it was being spent in too many places. Now I am in the process of rebuilding those stores and mostly trying to take a break from expending them.
At least for the moment I no longer feel the need to necessarily talk to anyone in my personal life about my practice. Right now I don’t want any of the types of input that I’ve experienced for the last 17 years to interfere with my work. And I don’t feel the need anymore to have my methods validated. I feel like I am turning inward, to become as strong as I can. but here and now, I am sharing my experience and tips with all of you who read this, in the hope that you find what I have to say valid and useful, and maybe what I have to say can help you evolve your own practice. 
I go against Western grain in that I regard the sun is feminine. Most goddess archetypes are tied to creation or destruction, abundance or decay. So is our Sun. Yin is warm and life-giving, and so is our sSun. But she can also destroy, not in a temporary aggressive way, but as part of her process of evolution. I believe that we as women can embody this cycle of entropy and growth as we become the most powerful versions of ourselves. The sun has her own cycles of expansion and diminishment, daily and annually. She plays the long game but with absolute intensity.
If you’d like to read about goddesses associated with the sun, check out the stories of Hathor, Sulevia, Lakshmi, and Amaterasu. And if you want a few fiery goddesses to read into, Pele, Ognyena, and Sekhmet.
Every time you dress up to feel beautiful and spend time in the summer sun, you honor the divine solar feminine.
Solaria Divina 