Mental cobweb clean out!

Gee haven’t I been the blogger bummer lately lol…I figured I should at least get something down here if only to get the rambles out of my head. Things have been very low key lately and that’s just the way I like them.

Last weekend, we did a little impromptu visiting of relatives in the cemetery and also wandered around picking things up for random strangers….setting toppled flowers right, fixing a few flags that were blown asunder and scraping the dirt off one flat stone so the man’s name could be seen again.  Sometimes people consider cemeteries to be spooky places, but they can be peaceful as well as interestingly informative if you take the time to look around at the more historical monuments and stones.

Following a “horrible” doctor appointment with what I now realize is an absolutely crazy GYN doctor…I’m attempting to take steps to lose a little weight. Her reasoning for all of my girl problems are because I’m heavy, well as being too heavy to have my tubes tied (WTF??)…Luckily I work with doctors and nurses who all have reassured me that something is “off” with the above mentioned doctor, which makes me feel better…as did the ultrasound that she begrudgingly let me have that showed a fibroid.  So….now begins an attempt to get healthier and lose a little weight, partially to prove to myself that she was wrong (this would be the wrong reason LOL) and partially to just feel better about myself (the right reason). Now at least when I decide to visit another doctor, maybe they won’t have the heavy card to play anymore. I guess this is just an example of how some doctors and some people just don’t click with each other, and how important it is to really have someone you feel comfortable with.

Well, now that I’ve digressed completely on the point of weight loss, let’s move on…I have whipped up myself a little mojo bag to help me on this journey; amazonite and moonstone in with lemon balm leaves in a red bag. I wrote up an appropriate verse to chant and put it all together under the full moon during my ritual. I thought I could use a little extra magic boost in my efforts…something to focus on when I need to not have that second bowl of pasta or ice cream, etc. At the very least, I guess I could chew on it when I get desperate! LOL 

In happier news, I have my Halloween altar all set up on the porch and it’s looking quite cute…I feel even better about it this weekend because I really did a huge purging out there and my adorable little sitting area is back and looking nice and clean, instead of crowded and piled up with crap and too many pieces of furniture.  A clean anything always makes my view on life a happy one! We’ve also got our outdoor decorations and lights up…mostly for our own personal amusement, since we live in the middle of nowhere and no one comes to our house to trick or treat anyway. Halloween is my daughter’s favorite holiday…so I’m taking this as a positive sign that maybe I’ll make a witch out of her yet…no pressure, just hoping.

My calendula oil is coming along nicely….there is definitely a change in the color of the oil, so the petals are giving off their oils quite well.  I’m getting excited to make something with it…lip balm, cuticle cream, hand salve…oh boy! 

My latest Goddess research has led me to Bast, the Egyptian cat Goddess. I find it both interesting and amusing that these ladies always make me take a round-about way to find them. Between various red herrings and odd connections, it’s like a live action Scooby Doo mystery of the Goddesses and honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

A breath of fresh air...and Arizona!

"A while back, at the entrance of a gym, there was a picture of a very thin and beautiful woman. The caption was "This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?"

The story goes, a woman (of clothing size unknown) answered the following way:

"Dear people, whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, seals, curious humans), they are sexually active and raise their children with great tenderness.
They entertain like crazy with dolphins and eat lots of prawns. They swim all day and travel to fantastic places like Patagonia, the Barents Sea or the coral reefs of Polynesia.
They sing incredibly well and sometimes even are on CDs. They are impressive and dearly loved animals, which everyone defend and admires.

Mermaids do not exist.

But if they existed, they would line up to see a psychologist because of a problem of split personality: woman or fish?
They would have no sex life and could not bear children.
Yes, they would be lovely, but lonely and sad.
And, who wants a girl that smells like fish by his side?

Without a doubt, I'd rather be a whale.

At a time when the media tells us that only thin is beautiful, I prefer to eat ice cream with my kids, to have dinner with my husband, to eat and drink and have fun with my friends.

We women, we gain weight because we accumulate so much wisdom and knowledge that there isn't enough space in our heads, and it spreads all over our bodies.
We are not fat, we are greatly cultivated.
Every time I see my curves in the mirror, I tell myself: "How amazing am I ?! "

Well wasn’t that refreshing??? I received this in an email this morning and I haven’t a clue who actually wrote it…but I figured it was worth the share.  I think we lose tract, especially in America, of what is actually beautiful and sexy...for women or men.  I for one don’t think the plastic stereotype is especially attractive and it’s unfortunate that in this day and age there are young girls who are trying to live up to this stereotype and society seems to be pandering into this delusion. My heart goes out to all the girls who just won’t be able to fit this standard due to genetics and will suffer some form of mental anguish because of it. I also revere the young girls who are able to accept themselves as they are and are able to realize that it’s not what you look like, it’s how you act and what’s in your heart and mind that matters most.

On a lighter, but just as serious note – Today is Arizona’s day…The Grand Canyon State! Home to one of the seven wonders of the world, the Grand Canyon, of course, as well as many Native American tribes in our country.  The powers that want to be would quite happily be willing to destroy these wonderful cultures as well as their historical artifacts because they say the Native Americans are different, and therefore, considered bad by their standards. Pshaw says I! It would seem to me that a culture so deeply rooted in the honor and care of Mother Earth should be honored and not attempted to be forced into extinction.  I’ve wanted to visit the Grand Canyon since I watched the Brady Bunch go down into it while riding on donkeys…and hopefully someday I will get to do that…it’s on the bucket list LOL So tonight, Arizona, I pray for you!

A Tuesday dabble round-up...

Just a quick note on some recent dabbles…I finally deemed my garlic and apple cider vinegar tincture to be done….and I was completely weirded out by it, so I ended up tossing it LOL  Have you ever got the feeling that something was just bad…you look at it from this way and that way and you smell it and poke it and it just gives you the heebee jeebees?  Yeah, that’s how I felt about this stuff…ah well, lesson learned.  Maybe I should have kept it in the fridge, or maybe I should have actually preserved it like one does with jellies…maybe I should just stick to bath products, potions not meant for drinking and edible things that have already been tested by others…like tea! I will be putting my tincture bottles to good use by keeping plain old apple cider vinegar in them in the fridge to use as a daily tonic on its own…mixed with water of course.

On a more exciting note – the calendulas are done blooming and the petals are dried.  Last night I mixed them with oil…about 8 oz of petals with 1 cup of sunflower oil, ½ cup of sweet almond oil and ½ cup of apricot kernel oil and now they sit in my window slowing infusing themselves with the wonderful essence of the calendula flowers. Such a fantastic plant, with so many good uses…I’m planning on using the oil in a balm as well as keeping a little bit in its oil form as well.  I have some fantastic glass vials with corks…from some cone incense I got a while ago…and they’re just screaming to have something put in them.

I’ve also decided to keep my peppermint plant inside for the winter instead of getting it into the ground before a frost…and darned if the thing hasn’t been growing better since it came in. The same thing with the four lavenders as well…they are still small and wee, as my daughter says so on the bakers rack they went as well….between those two and the rose scented geranium that has become ginormous in the past few weeks…I have one corner of my house that smalls happy and herby all the time. It’s nice to have a place to go when I’m stressed out and just squash my face in the leaves and breathe deeply.

I still desperately need to get the elderberry, hyssop and Artemisia into the ground…if it would stop raining and be sunny long enough for me to feel like going outside, that would be awesome!  I discovered that I have another type of Artemisia growing in my yard…who knew.  This I was very excited about…I seem to be drawn to this plant for some reason.  Admittedly it might have to do with our discovery of legalized absinthe over the past year, but that was before I discovered these plants in my locale.  My next Goddess to research will be Artemis…I’ve come to learn that when Goddess clues are thrown at me in strange ways, I need to investigate them more because they have something important to say to me.

Lastly…Alaska, today I honor you….The Last Frontier, The Land of the Midnight Sun…you’re beautiful and I hope to visit you one day! On behalf of most of America, I would like to apologise for "that woman" who has brought you so much attention over the past 3 years...we too would like her to shuffle quietly off into the sunset.

Hail Columbia!

Lord and Lady, please watch over our country during these troubled and confusing times.

Preserve our freedom of speech and religion while protecting us from harm and persecution.

Keep evil and strife far from us all and help us all to strive to remember the values our country was founded on.

Let there be liberty and justice for all and harm to none!

Hail to thee Columbia – may your light shine upon our country always!

I wrote this prayer in response to the whole DC40 debacle that’s going on.  I have a candle dedicated to Columbia and will be holding a nightly ritual to send my energy to help our country. I love my country, and I like it the way it is…to me, separation of church and state is a wonderful thing.

I love my little state as well…I don’t want it to be renamed. The Ocean State is a great name, if someone feels that it needs to be renamed The Miracle State, then maybe they need to actually come here look at our ocean and our shore line and realize that its already a miracle in its own right because of those very aspects.

Roger Williams founded Rhode Island on the basis of freedom of religion.  I recently took the time to look up the Rhode Island Charter which was written in 1663 and found it quite inspiring…

That our royall will and pleasure is, that noe person within the say colonye, at any tyme hereafter, shall bee any wise molested, punished, disquieted, or called in question, for any differences in opinione in matters of religion, and doe not actually disturb the civill peace of our sayd colony; but that all and everye person and persons may, from tyme to tyme, and at all tymes hereafter, freelye and fullye have and enjoye his and theire owne judgments and consciences, in matters of religious concernments,

(Quote take from http://www.auok.org/rhode_island_charter.htm - Feel free to read the whole thing)

Best I stop here for now, I’m planning on doing more about Rhode Island the day before the DC40 invade us…and my dander is up for the moment LOL I might get carried away.  As for right now...Hawaii, I'm praying for you tonight...Goddess bless!

Blog parties and pendulums and tarot cards...oh my!

First off I want to give a huge thanks to Frosted Petunias for holding the Practical Magic Blog Party of 2011, and to all the people who visited my blog during it.  This is truly one of my favorite movies and honestly, I don’t always fit in…anywhere LOL  it was nice to be involved in something that so many other people truly love and appreciate as much as I do.  It was great to see everyone’s ideas on their blogs and all the different takes on things, and I also found some new blogs to read in the process…which is always very cool. I’m still working my way through the entire list..it’s taking me much longer than I planned! Sometime before Halloween, I might finally be finished LOL I hope it happens again next year, since I already have a couple of things knocking around in my brain for it!

In other news, I’ve decided to start working with the pendulum I have. A friend gave it to me a while ago, and I just kinda hung it in the kitchen because it was pretty and nice to look at and I didn’t have a clue what to do with it.  Then I had some strife with a friend, nothing horrendous but sometimes when people are harming themselves, it also tapers down to you….and a very nice lady I met on a message board gave me some information on cord cutting, for severing the “bad” attachment that someone has with you, while being able to keep the “good”. Well in said “recipe” is the mention of using a pendulum….so I figured I now had an opportunity to get to know my pendulum a little better…ironically, the same friend who gave it to me was the one who is having the problems. 

Anywho, I started a little online research (as my funds for a book of any sort are a bit low right now) and I discovered that not all pendulums act the same way…some places said for sure, yes is left to right, no is up and down and maybe is in a circle…and other places say test it out for yourself, bond with your pendulum and see what it tells you….well, of course I’m always up for a good experiment so I began to play.  Lo and behold…and really, I’m not hugely surprised at this…my pendulum has different answers than what some people would say are standard.  Maybe is up and down, no is left and right…and yes just kinda hangs straight down not moving at all.  At this point, I’ve moved on to asking questions I know the answers to, just to keep testing it out. It’s kinda blowing my mind to tell ya the truth lol….I wish I had started working with it sooner.

I’ve also decided to start practicing with my tarot cards a bit more. My work computer now takes soooooooo long to boot itself up in the morning that I actually have time to shuffle and do a 3 card reading complete with interpretation before I can even log in. I figure that’s a better use of my time, than say…doing other work, right?  I have to give huge props to anyone who can remember what all the cards mean and how to interpret them for another person.  I use a book to sort through my answers and once I see what’s going on, I can relate it back to whatever situation I’m being given information on.  And I really enjoy just doing it for myself…I barely know what’s going on in my own head, let alone picking stuff from someone else’s brain and the cards to give them information.

They say you learn something new every day and I have to tell ya, I’m glad I’m old enough now to learn about what I want rather than what I was told in school LOL Pendulums and tarot are much more fun than civics and calculus…although I will admit history has gotten much more interesting now that I’m older.

Mabon 2011

The other night I had a fantastic end of summer "celebration" with my daughter...I even managed to take a few pictures to celebrate.  We have the privilege to live close to an abandoned amusement park...very cool in its own right, and even better that I had actually spent many a pleasant summer day there when I was a kid.  My daughter recently got into checking out abandoned amusement parks online...so i thought bringing her to Rocky Point would be a very cool adventure.  Not that we had to break in or anything, they've recently reopened a small section of the park complete with walking path that takes you on a fantastic stroll by the shore line. 

We wandered around and looked at old things, took pictures of what was left to compare with pictures from its heyday online and we collected rocks and seashells while we stuck our toes in the water and "frolicked" on the beach. It was a little sad to see what had become of the midway and the giant dinner hall and it seemed an appropriate symbolic good bye to summer, as it's now time to say good bye to the carefree days and long nights of summer. 

Later we drove to the light house and pretended we were being sneaky as we walked up the giant gates with the stop signs and homeland security signs to get a better look, and then ended our night sitting on a bench eating dough boys and cheese fries over looking the bay.  We both agreed that our summer now felt complete and our sense of well being was uplifted after spending that time together.  It's a wonderful memory that we'll both cherish.

Tonight I have a small ritual planned and then we'll bury our protective witch bottle at the end of the driveway...it seems it has finally stopped bubbling! Our feast was last Sunday, and in retrospect it was definitely a good idea since my husband has worked every night this week, and is working both tonight and tomorrow night...so our last meal as a whole family was a good one.  Tonight's meal will be somewhat suspect, as are most of them when its just the girls home alone...i always feel a little bad cooking a whole meal when the husband isn't there with us.

I feel like the whole week has been filled with little symbolisms...most of the plants have been brought inside, since the frost threatens here and there....not so much now, of course, its muggy and gross right now...but last week it was almost there! I've been doing fall cleaning and washing the thick blankets for our beds and the warmer jackets...I think one of the reasons I do like fall so much is the sense of getting ready to "winter in" makes me appreciate my home and what I have so much more. To think that there are people who aren't as  fortunate as I to have a place to winter in is a little heart breaking.  This is just one of the many things that I am thankful for, all which will be mentioned in my ritual tonight.  Its funny how many things you can come up with when you sit down and make a thankful list for yourself.

Practical Magic Blog Party 2011 - Welcome!

Oh Practical Magic….how I love thee!  Whether book or movie, one of the best stories that I have ever had the pleasure of encountering! I saw the movie first and was completely and totally moved by it. 

I felt the love Sally and Gillian had for each other, and wished I had more of it with my sister….my heart soared when Sally and Michael were brought together and I grieved with her when she lost him. I knew how Gillian felt when she found herself in love with a bad man and understood Sally’s confusion when she met the man her own magic had called to her. I still want a greenhouse like the aunts had and a little room to keep my magical supplies and goodies in, though sadly I will never have either on such a grand scale, nor will my gardens be so productive and pretty.

At my wedding, my bridesmaids and flower girl walked down the aisle to Alan Silvestri’s “Practical Magic” and the last dance at the end of the night was to Stevie Nick’s “Crystal”. After 9 years of marriage, I sometimes still hear in the back of my head Faith Hill’s “This Kiss” when my husband kisses me.

Although there were numerous memorable lines in the movie, one that always stuck out to me is Sally’s memory of Michael and the mint oatmeal shaving cream…”We were going to open a botanical shop. Where Mike would get all the ingredients and I'd make the stuff. He really loved my mint-oatmeal shaving cream. He couldn't stop eating it”.

It’s a good memory…some people think that “making memories” is about going places and doing things, and taking pictures so you can look back and say “look at all we did”…but my idea of a good memory is just something that happens every day. Maybe because it’s something that happens over and over or maybe it’s just something that happened in the midst of regular old good day that made it special.  Either way, it’s special…and these are the moments that I look out for the most in my own life.

In honor of the movie and in the hopes that we can understand why Michael kept eating the shaving cream….I give you….mint oatmeal cookies! This recipe is adapted from an uncredited recipe at  the http://www.cooks.com/ website.

INGREDIENTS: ½ cup of butter, softened, 1 cup granulated white sugar, 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla, 3 cups old fashioned oats, 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, i pkg of Andes chocolate mints.

Mix together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then blend in eggs and vanilla.  Add in remaining ingredients except the mints and mix well. Shape the dough into two 12 inch logs and wrap in wax paper.  Freeze for several hours or overnight.

For an extra bit of *practical magic*, remember to focus your energy and intent for love, luck and prosperity into these goodies as you mix them together

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cut each roll into ¼ inch slices and bake on ungreased cookie sheet or parchment paper (I recommend the paper) for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned.  Immediately place ½ of an Andes mint on each cookie and spread to cover the whole cookie as it melts. Cool on wire racks. The number of cookies you yield varies on now thick you cut them. 

Feel free to give the cookies a little extra enchantment before serving them as well….I know in my house, a little extra anything is always welcome! Here’s what I came up with…

Oats, mint and chocolate, together in this tasty treat

Bring to my family vibrations of love, luck and prosperity.

Make us happy and make us complete

As we spend time together in our family retreat.

With cookies in hand, it’s time for fun

With harm to none, this spell is done.

Well…I’m off with my plateful of cookies to the family room to watch the movie, have a glass of wine and do a little blog-hopping!  Thanks for stopping by!  Bright blessings to all!