The Hippie Witch

Obligatory New Year's Eve Post!!

2011-12-31T23:05:00.000-06:00

Welp, it's new years eve, which you guys probably didn't know. It's a very obscure holiday. Yeah........ Anyway, I'm aware I'm late once again to things I love Thursday. But better late than never, eh? So, let's just jump right in, shall we?

::Just Dance

For real, the most fun thing ever. The songs I have the high scores on are: I don't feel like dancing, jump for my love, and California girls. I have the highest score because no one in my family believes you have to actually MOVE YO DAMN FEET! Seriously....

:: Hugging. Nough said...

:: My family's Christmas!!!

It. Was. Epic! Here's the highlights of this year....
Goddess apron!
3 michaels and a hobby lobby gift card!
4 new mystery science theater 3000 movies WITH a Gypsy figure! She's so cool!!
TANGLED!!!!!!!
Herminone's wand! My mom got it for me! Haha....

There was a lot of stuff, lol. But one of the best parts was when my BF dropped by for a visit. We had a lot of fun, even though my uncle embarrassed me with his RACISM! God damn moron, I swear.....

:: TANGLED!!!!!!!

This is the perfect movie. I'm obsessed with it right now/forever. I even got my BF to watch it! And he liked it (or at least said he did....) and he bought me a Pascal plushie!!!!! I'm so freaking happy about that!

:: Pintrest!

It's like polyvore and tumblr all rolled up in one! Visit me here. http://pinterest.com/witchyhippy/

:: Baking.

In my new apron! Woo!

:: the new year!

Yeah, even though the world is gonna end or some shit like that (I'm sure no one has heard of that either...pretty obscure prophecy or somethin...). I'm looking forward to it, even though I think it's gonna be crazy! It'll be my first valentines day with my BF, and he's already made plans and bought me stuff! I'm also looking at a new job (even though I still like kmart....grudgingly...) and seriously considering college....although online college, probably. Let's not get crazy, here! Because of the whole end of the world thing (which I don't actually believe in, just so y'all know), I've decided one of my resolutions should be to live life to the fullest. Nice and cliche, no? But seriously, if this really WAS the end of the world, and I had turned down opportunities to live an epic life....wouldn't that just suck? So I'm gonna TRY to do it. I'll fight my laziness and anti-social nature and make have some experiences, DAMMIT!

In other resolution news, I'd like to keep trying to live my values, like I did this year. It went really well; I recycled, bought almost all used, cut out dairy milk, and bought as much organic stuff as I could. Also did very well with the charity thing. I'm totally continuing all of it next year, but I'll try to do more. Not sure what exactly, but....more.

Otherwise i'd just like to be happy and stay positive this year. That'll work, if nothing else does.

So, have a good rest of the year, y'all! I'm off to dance my ass of....

Things I Love Thursday! Late Again....

2011-12-24T00:08:00.003-06:00

Hello, people! This list might be a little short; I haven't been able to give this much thought, since iv been ungodly busy and grumpy this week.....anyway.

1) Just Dance 3!

Omfg. You guys. My older sister got us A FRICKING WII for christmas!!! I'm so psyched, cause I've never had anything even kind of like this before- I've been horribly deprived. But now we have one and just dance is pretty much the most fun thing I've ever done. It's a great work out and I'm actually not horrible at it! Amazing! Now I really want wii sports so I can box, and Dance on Broadway- it has the flippin time warp, y'all!

2) Christmas Eve!

Why? Because it means the frickin holiday season is almost over! Yaaaay! I now hate Christmas time, thank you retail. Ok, it's also because of presents and family and whatnot....but mostly the impending return to normality.

3) Dancing. For obvious reasons.

4) Unexpected Presents!

5) Writing.

6) Giving people stuff. I've given a bunch of people cupcakes and I really love doing that. It's just nice.

7) Little Kids!

Today a little kid in my line said this to me:

Girl: do you work here?
Me: Yup.
Girl: But....don't you have a mom?

I thought it was kind of hilarious.

Ok, I need to go to bed, because I have to slog through one. More. Day of nightmarish work. Curse you, people who do your shopping on Christmas eve! Just stay the hell home! Anyway, I'll have more to put here next week. Until then, have a good Christmas, y'all!

Yule post! Just in time!

2011-12-22T00:12:00.000-06:00

Well, Yule is almost here. I don't know about you guys, but I'm not feeling very Yule-y. :s I'm facing a crazy final week of Christmas insanity, and it's all nasty and Icey outside right now.....I don't love it. And the worst part is knowing it will be many more months before it's anything less than cold and grey and depressing....

Which is why I'm kind of baffled by an article going around tumblr about Yule being overrated.
People say we only care about Yule because of Christmas; otherwise it's a pretty minor sabbat. But I disagree.

It's true, Yule isn't the biggest of the holidays and stuff like Samhain and Beltane are way more exciting. But Yule is really important. From a Wiccan perspective, I think it should be a pretty big deal to celebrate the rebirth of our god. I mean, the Christians seem to think so...

And from a non Wiccan POV, it's the Day when the sun starts growing stronger. The longest night of the year, the cold and dark will soon be behind us. it's a much needed reminder that there's light and hope and most importantly SUMMER APPROACHETH!!!!

I can't imagine anyone who has suffered with seasonal affective disorder would think Yule was overrated. If you have, you know how important light is, especially sunshine. The promise of light is very important, to me anyway.

So, since it's only a couple days till the solstice, I thought I'd make this list: THINGS TO DO AT YULE!!!

:: Feed birds and other little woodland creatures. It's the perfect time, since their natural food supplies are depleted and they need a little bit more fat. Also, because it's the season of give and whatnot, but most importantly, because you can feel like a Disney princess hanging out with bunnies and bluebirds and stuff. I know I do.

:: bake and bake and bake. I do it every weekend. I have made approximently a jillion sugar cookies this year. Plus the butterbeer cupcakes pictured above. If you're not gonna eat em all, give them to other people! Then you don't have to buy them anything and everybody wins!

:: And in that vein, give things to people! It's not just for Christmas, you know...

:: Be with people you love. And if you can't do that, be with people you like enough not to stab with a pencil. I mean really, you can't be only during winter, that's how The Shining happens.

:: Read Santa's Wisdom For Pagans. It's touching.

:: If the constant, mind numbing Christmas carols start to get to you, combat them with some Yule carols. Santa claus Is Pagan by Emerald Rose is a mighty refreshing change of pace and just bitter enough to be hilarious and awesome.

:: Make resolutions. Since it's a time of rebirth, look to start new things. Besides that, the rest of the world is all about new year's resolutions, so why not jump in?

:: Go outside and enjoy nature. Even if you get frostbite doing it.

:: Practice snow magick. Also use the crappy weather as an opportunity to practice indoor magick like astral projection, meditation, dream work, or just regular study.

I think that's about all you can do for Yule, assuming you're not a small child. But since I've mentioned seasonal affective disorder, I guess I'll also mention some things that help me get through it. People who have read this blog for any length of time know I've had problems with depression and this time is always the worst for it. So here's some quick things that really help:

Bright colors, glitter, being with people, light, going outside, happy music, keeping busy, lots of movement, hilarious things, and staying warm with lots of awesome blankets. Like my epic Harry potter blanket, for example!

Welp, that's about it. My Yule will be spent working, as usual. Hopefully either that morning or night I'll have my ritual done. But after work, be and the BF will be going art supply shopping and then to the epic fantastic frozen yogurt/ice cream place, Orange Leaf. What's better than frozen food in the middle of winter?!

So I hope that gave someone some ideas. Happy Yule, y'all!

December's Charities and a New Installment!!

2011-12-16T11:29:00.009-06:00

Hey! Remember when I had a blog?! Yeah, I don't either. I guess I could blame it on the insane work I've been doing, but you've heard all that before, so I won't bother.
However, I'm here to tell you about 2 things:

1: The charity of the month! This month there are two. One isToys for Tots! I always love shopping for toys and making kids happy, so it's a good cause IMO. The other one I have no link for because there's no website for it. But it's pretty common; adopting families! Yep, my mom's work does it every year and this year I helped out by buying clothes and (of course) more toys.

Hopefully there will be one more though. Either Arbor Day or Oceania. OK, I'm actually not sure what that big ocean charity is called, but I'm feeling very pro-ocean lately, if that's a thing....more will be coming on this topic later...

And now for #2! As you can probably tell, I don't update very much lately. So there's this thing a lot of bloggers have been doing and I think I'll try it too: Things I Love Thursday! Also, I think it will help me to write things that aren't so damn negative....

So on with the TILT!!!!!

fuzzy socks

Mikes raspberry margaritas. Fizzy, cold, pink, fruity. It's like a splash of summer in these dark cold months. See picture #3.

Silk pajamas. They make me feel so fancy.

Silk errything!

Cookies! see picture 2.

Baking said cookies

Tumblr, specifically body positive blogs and THIS>. Which is amazing for me...

My boyfriend!!!! That's right, I got one of those! And he got me a mini TARDIS and a sonic screwdriver pen (see picture 1)! He's possibly the perfect man. He even watches mystery science theater 3000 and Rocky Horror with me!
Yep, it's kinda nice.

Rainbows. I'm in a color obsession right now, I even want to paint each wall in my room a different color. My current favorites are every shade of pink, orange, neon green, turquoise, and purple.

Glitter. I've never been very girly, but right now, pink, rainbows, and glitter are what it's all about. I blame the winter blues.

Hilarious things. I've discovered that laughing like a weirdo at everything possible is really good for you.

Dancing.

Redonkulously decadent food. Think chocolate covered cherries, dark chocolate blueberry organic fair trade charity chocolate, organic oatmeal with coconut milk, and four layer cookie bars.

Love.

Babies.

Butterbeer cupcakes! I haven't made em yet, but I'm totally going to.

Stephen king books.

Cutting out dairy and replacing it with hemp and coconut milk! Seriously, do people know how amazing hemp and coconut are for you? I prefer hemp because it's great for the planet and for the people who have to harvest it, but coconut tastes better.

Happy music, specifically glee, rent, and lady gaga.

The impending end of the holidays!! Seriously, I've never not loved Christmas, but it's just too stressy right now. I want it to b January when I get a break from work! Then I might actually be able to read! And paint! And hang out with friends! And you know, go to the doctor, which I've needed to do forEVER. damn the curse of retail workers.....

So there we go! And before you say anything, I'm aware it's a day late....no need to point it out. I'm busy, ok?! Anyway, that's my big post for today! Hope to be back next thursday....no promises though....
.

Hecate Trivia!

2011-11-30T23:48:00.000-06:00

Well, apparently I'm a bit off on my Hecate celebrations. The official night of Hecate was a few weeks ago; tonight is called Hecate Trivia and it's another celebration of her. Still counts, ok?

I had a good mini-ritual honoring her where I lit black and purple candles, asked for her guidance (and received it), and said this little prayer from Ellen Dugan's book, The Garden Witch's Herbal:

"Hecate Phosphorus, the light bringer, shed your illumination down on me.
Hecate Trivia, triple faced, protect me whether I am in air, on land, or at sea.
Hecate Nykterian, lady of the night, guide my hand in heart.
Teach me to use your sacred plants wisely and grow in my witch's art."

Hecate is an extremely powerful goddess. She rules ghosts, witchcraft, death, the crossroads, fate, mysteries, and midwifery (are you seeing a theme with my chosen goddesses?). She is often feared, but she can actually help you a lot. I love working with Hecate. I feel very close to her as a witch plus aspiring midwife. So! I hop everybody got a chance to commune with her tonight. She can do you real good!

Everything I Touch Turns to Flies...

2011-11-29T19:22:00.000-06:00

Welp, I've had a pretty awful November. And I'm going to lose NANO by about 10,000 words. But since I haven't written in this blog since the 6th, I'll give y'all a quick rundown of what's been goin on since then...

*Work has been crazy busy. I worked on thanksgiving, which sucked. Black Friday I had the longest shift of any cashier and it sucked as well (they didn't even provide food! Scumbag Kmart....). The new people drive me crazy. So whiny and lazy....just be happy you have a fuckin job, ok? God, kids today...

*Remember a few months ago I liked a guy from work who was a total dbag? Well he finally went away, leaving me alone in august after I told him I didn't want to date him any more. Real winner, that one. And then one of the aforementioned stupid new people revealed his is good friends with this guy and started questioning me about why I didn't like him. That brought up a lot of stuff. Then he randomly decided to start texting me last night.

I don't like that. It took me a long time to get over him, so to speak and I don't want him popping back up randomly to to torture me. Besides, as I've said to everyone who will listen, I HATE THAT GUY.

*things are so confusing with the guy that likes me. He's fricking awesome. He even got me a Christmas present and we talk all the time. I've never met a guy whose so ACTUALLY nice. So I feel like a horrible person for not going out with him. And I know, no one should go out with a person out of guilt or obligation. But I feel like he genuinely cares about me and I shouldn't pass that up. *le sigh* It sucks cause I really like him as a person and don't want to hurt him...
Plus, I like his friend (who also works with us) quite a bit lately....although I don't think he likes me. Some times when we're talking he does the inch away thing...I hate that thing. Anyway, it's just super confusing,

*NANO. Oh, how I looked forward to it all year. And now I'm not finishing it. I'm just so fuckin tired. My emotions are all over the place right now. I can't focus. Oh yeah, and my writing sucks. Can't forget that. But this is the first year I haven't finished it and it's a real bummer. I'm really sad.

So that's been my month. November always sucks. But this one is just really disappointing. Ah well. Next month is bound to be good, seeing as how theres presents in my future! Anyway, I hope you guys did better on your nanos and I should be on tomorrow to write about the Night of Hekate! I adore her as a goddess and I'm gonna try to get a post worked out...if only I could get my focus together....

November Charity: Love 146!

2011-11-06T18:40:00.000-06:00

So I missed last month a little bit. :/ I was super busy and tried to make up for it by donating when I went to stores (like for St. Jude and the Live Strong Foundation and the humane society with the zombie walk), but those don't really count; I like doing charities like this one, where I can learn more about them and feel like I'm actually helping something, know what I mean?

So this month I chose Love 146, a group that focuses on ending child sex-slavery and exoloitation.
I found their website>, and was really impressed with the whole thing. What they do is amazing and some of the stories make you cry. It's such a horrific thing that happens, all over the world, every day, but people really don't know about it. The exploitation of children is part of the reason I'm so vehemently against porn and prostitution: every day a child slips in, sometimes by accident but a lot of the time on purpose. It pisses me off like you wouldn't believe, so I had to support this cause.

I can't recommend it enough. They not only work on preventing slavery, but also on the aftercare for the children. Very good group.

Samhain Altar Pictures!!

2011-11-04T22:16:00.005-05:00

Well, this post is going to be short. I'm behind on my NANO word count and having serious guy trouble...so enjoy!

This is the God side. That's a bag of wormwood up at the top.

The goddess side. There were purple lights all over the place when I took the pictures. Not sure what they are, I was using my fancy pants new phone to take them.

Here's the middle. My new jack o'lantern candle holder all the way in the back and the 'spirit of Samhain' card in the front.

Aaaannnd the top view. See the purple floaties? What is it? Ghosts? Camera flash? I'm kidding of course; it's obviously ghosts.

2011-10-31T20:04:00.003-05:00

glitter-graphics.com

Well, it's Samhain! Hope everybody's having a good day. I had a good time at work. My devil horns broke and I was kinda annoyed, but then a nice coworker found me a pair of cat ears that fell out of a costume and my Halloween was saved! Plus another coworker gave me a candy corn stocking filled with candy and I got to give out candy to little kids! Halloween success! Then after work I bought an amazing maple spice candy corn candle. It's sooooooo good. I'm just gonna sit on my bed and smell it forever.

I've got a busy night coming up and I've got to finish my notes for NANO, but I just wanted to say hi! Hope everyone has the most awesome Samhain yet!!

The Day Before Halloween....

2011-10-30T19:23:00.007-05:00

The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Very High
Level 2 (Lustful)	Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Very Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
(^ we all know I'm goin to hell....)

Well, it's Halloween eve. I've had a good month so far. And a good weekend. We saw paranormal activity. My sister had to go home cause she's too young to see it. :( Fuckin movie theater. Hell, whats gonna happen if a teenager sees a rated R movie? I mean really...
But I had fun, even though it wasn't that great a movie. And yesterday I had to work, which sucked. But tomorrow I get to where my devil horns to work! Yay! Then I'm off to radio shack to get my license back, because they lady accidentally kept it when I was there yesterday. :s

Anyway, no real point to this post. I just think it's sad Halloween is almost over. Since I work tomorrow, I'm trying to get some of Samhain activities done today. So far I've got the glass I'm going to paint for a scrying mirror, I cleaned my room all nice, and we made gumbo for my grandma. I also left an offering at the grave of my dead pets.
Tonight I'm going to do a tarot reading, paint my mirror, smudge my room, and make a dream pillow. Oh and right now I'm watching Night of the Living Dead.

But as soon as the clock strikes midnight tomorrow night, it'll be time for another event I'm super mega excited for: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!!!!!!!
I got my notes all written up, my scenes planned out, and my snacks stock piled. Let's do this thing.
Yup, it's gonna be a crazy month.

And since this post is short and random, here's some crap about my life...

1) My niece has asked me to illustrate a story she wrote! How cute is that?

2) That coworker I went out with in July? I think he likes me a lot more than I thought he did. And people keep hinting about how perfect we would be together. *le sigh* I just don't know. He's pretty cool...I just can't imagine dating him and doing relationshipy things with him without feeling really weird. Also, I don't want to date anybody right now...not really. Oh why must life be so complicated?! A couple years ago I didn't worry about anything! Damn you, having a job!! And by extension, a life!!

3) the Samsung Flight 2. $250 phone. I got it for $18. Thank you, upgrades!!

4) my mom and sister went to the Wizard of Oz museum yesterday. I had to work. >:( But my mom got me an adorable wicked witch plushie! I'm so happy!

5) Retail Robin. I swear to god, if you've ever had a job involving COSTUMERS, go look at it. It's my life. MY LIFE.

So that's my last update before Halloween. Hope everybody has a good Sunday. I'm gonna be pretty busy, myself...

Halloween Glitter

The Day Before Halloween....

2011-10-30T19:23:00.006-05:00
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Level Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers) Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) Very High
Level 2 (Lustful) Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous) Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Very Low
Level 7 (Violent) Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
(^ we all know I'm goin to hell....)

Well, it's Halloween eve. I've had a good month so far. And a good weekend. We saw paranormal activity. My sister had to go home cause she's too young to see it. :( Fuckin movie theater. Hell, whats gonna happen if a teenager sees a rated R movie? I mean really...
But I had fun, even though it wasn't that great a movie. And yesterday I had to work, which sucked. But tomorrow I get to where my devil horns to work! Yay! Then I'm off to radio shack to get my license back, because they lady accidentally kept it when I was there yesterday. :s

Anyway, no real point to this post. I just think it's sad Halloween is almost over. Since I work tomorrow, I'm trying to get some of Samhain activities done today. So far I've got the glass I'm going to paint for a scrying mirror, I cleaned my room all nice, and we made gumbo for my grandma. I also left an offering at the grave of my dead pets.
Tonight I'm going to do a tarot reading, paint my mirror, smudge my room, and make a dream pillow. Oh and right now I'm watching Night of the Living Dead.

But as soon as the clock strikes midnight tomorrow night, it'll be time for another event I'm super mega excited for: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!!!!!!!
I got my notes all written up, my scenes planned out, and my snacks stock piled. Let's do this thing.
Yup, it's gonna be a crazy month.

And since this post is short and random, here's some crap about my life...

1) My niece has asked me to illustrate a story she wrote! How cute is that?

2) That coworker I went out with in July? I think he likes me a lot more than I thought he did. And people keep hinting about how perfect we would be together. *le sigh* I just don't know. He's pretty cool...I just can't imagine dating him and doing relationshipy things with him without feeling really weird. Also, I don't want to date anybody right now...not really. Oh why must life be so complicated?! A couple years ago I didn't worry about anything! Damn you, having a job!! And by extension, a life!!

3) the Samsung Flight 2. $250 phone. I got it for $18. Thank you, upgrades!!

4) my mom and sister went to the Wizard of Oz museum yesterday. I had to work. >:( But my mom got me an adorable wicked witch plushie! I'm so happy!

5) Retail Robin. I swear to god, if you've ever had a job involving COSTUMERS, go look at it. It's my life. MY LIFE.

So that's my last update before Halloween. Hope everybody has a good Sunday. I'm gonna be pretty busy, myself...

Halloween Glitter

The Day Before Halloween....

2011-10-30T19:23:00.004-05:00
The Dante's Inferno Test has sent you to the First Level of Hell - Limbo!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:
Level Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers) Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers) Very High
Level 2 (Lustful) Low
Level 3 (Gluttonous) Moderate
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious) Very Low
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy) Moderate
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics) Very Low
Level 7 (Violent) Low
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers) Moderate
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous) Low

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
(^ we all know I'm goin to hell....)

Well, it's Halloween eve. I've had a good month so far. And a good weekend. We saw paranormal activity. My sister had to go home cause she's too young to see it. :( Fuckin movie theater. Hell, whats gonna happen if a teenager sees a rated R movie? I mean really...
But I had fun, even though it wasn't that great a movie. And yesterday I had to work, which sucked. But tomorrow I get to where my devil horns to work! Yay! Then I'm off to radio shack to get my license back, because they lady accidentally kept it when I was there yesterday. :s

Anyway, no real point to this post. I just think it's sad Halloween is almost over. Since I work tomorrow, I'm trying to get some of Samhain activities done today. So far I've got the glass I'm going to paint for a scrying mirror, I cleaned my room all nice, and we made gumbo for my grandma. I also left an offering at the grave of my dead pets.
Tonight I'm going to do a tarot reading, paint my mirror, smudge my room, and make a dream pillow. Oh and right now I'm watching Night of the Living Dead.

But as soon as the clock strikes midnight tomorrow night, it'll be time for another event I'm super mega excited for: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH!!!!!!!
I got my notes all written up, my scenes planned out, and my snacks stock piled. Let's do this thing.
Yup, it's gonna be a crazy month.

And since this post is short and random, here's some crap about my life...

1) My niece has asked me to illustrate a story she wrote! How cute is that?

2) That coworker I went out with in July? I think he likes me a lot more than I thought he did. And people keep hinting about how perfect we would be together. *le sigh* I just don't know. He's pretty cool...I just can't imagine dating him and doing relationshipy things with him without feeling really weird. Also, I don't want to date anybody right now...not really. Oh why must life be so complicated?! A couple years ago I didn't worry about anything! Damn you, having a job!! And by extension, a life!!

3) the Samsung Flight 2. $250 phone. I got it for $18. Thank you, upgrades!!

4) my mom and sister went to the Wizard of Oz museum yesterday. I had to work. >:( But my mom got me an adorable wicked witch plushie! I'm so happy!

5) Retail Robin. I swear to god, if you've ever had a job involving COSTUMERS, go look at it. It's my life. MY LIFE.

So that's my last update before Halloween. Hope everybody has a good Sunday. I'm gonna be pretty busy, myself...

Halloween Glitter

OBP: Your Halloween Movie Night!

2011-10-27T17:56:00.003-05:00

Via: TermLifeInsurance.org
I thought ^ this would be helpful, in case anyone finds themselves trapped in a horror movie this weekend...

Anyway, considering what I'm going to do tomorrow (Paranormal Activity FTW!!), I decided to post some of the best ever movies for watching on Halloween. Ironically, paranormal activity is not one of them...ANYWAY! here we go...

(don't know why that's in another language....just ignore it, Kay?)

This shit is scary. A little cliche I suppose, but it still has it's shocking, frightening moments without being gory or gratuitous. And that red faced guy? Whoah.

I've written about how much I love this movie before. It's literally the perfect halloween movie. I can't recommend it enough.

Ok, maybe this is the best Halloween movie of all time? Or maybe just one of the best movies period?

Other movies I saw this year that would be good for Halloween are Let the Right One In and Them. That's a French movie a lot like The Strangers. Of course I saw more movies than this. These are just the particularly good ones.

Although if you're looking for a truly terrifying movie, one that will take you to the depths of neon, candy coated horror...a trip to a musical nightmare world...I recommend Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I'm not even kidding. That is the scariest movie I've ever seen, hands down. That damn Child Catcher scares the shit out of me. That's why there's no movie picture here, I can't even look at it.
So anyway, enjoy your now terrifying Halloween!

OBP: Samhain Recipes!!!

2011-10-27T17:19:00.002-05:00
Since it's so close to Samhain, I thought I better hurry up and post these recipes...there's not many, but I only post recipes that I myself would be able/willing to make AND that looks unique and awesome. So on we go...

Toasted Candied Pumpkin Spice Seeds
Altered from Allrecipes.com

Sweet, crunchy, salty, spicy, you won’t be able to get enough of these.
Ingredients:
1 cups raw pumpkin seeds, rinsed and dried
6 tablespoons white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
a pinch of clove
Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Spread pumpkin seeds in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast for approximately 45 minutes. Stir occasionally until dry and toasted.
In a large bowl, stir together 2 tablespoons of white sugar, sat, and spices. Set aside. Heat the oil in the large skillet over medium high heat. Add the pumpkin seeds and sprinkle the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar over them. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is melted - about 30 seconds. Pour seeds in the bowl of spiced sugar and shake/stir to coat. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients
CRUST:
20 crème-filled chocolate sandwich cookies
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:
2 8-oz. packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch-square pan with foil so that foil overhangs sides. Mist with cooking spray.

2. Make crust: Process cookies in food processor until ground. Pulse in butter. Press evenly into pan. Bake until firm, 10 to 12 minutes. Cool slightly.

3. Make filling: With an electric mixer on medium speed, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Beat in pumpkin, then eggs, 1 at a time. Beat in vanilla, flour, spice and salt until just combined.

4. Pour mixture into pan. Put pan on a large rimmed baking sheet; place in oven. Pour hot water into baking sheet until it’s nearly filled. Bake until cheesecake is set around edges but jiggles slightly in center, 40 to 45 minutes. Remove pan from sheet; cool completely on rack. Cover with plastic wrap. Chill until firm, at least 3 hours.

Note: Note: Pipe whipped cream onto bars in a circular motion. Use mini chocolate chips for eyes.

This
Recipe for caramel frosted pumpkin muffins sounds amazing. I'm gonna have to make some Sunday. Well, probably. I'm pretty lazy.

Candy corn cheese cake mousse! This looks so good...

These adoable parfaits are even easy and look soooo cute!

So there you go. Obviously this year I'm all about the adorableness factor. I hope to be trying some of these out this weekend....

OBP: Shadow Men

2011-10-26T20:16:00.003-05:00
Ok, brief 'my life' update...
1) I'm sick with a cold. :c Hate being sick so so much.
2) My Samhain/ Halloween is looking awesome. Friday me, my sister, my friend, and the cute guys from work are going to see Paranormal Activity 3!! I'm excited! Saturday I work, but Sunday I will be doing some Samhain cleansing, divination, and honoring my dead grandmother by making gumbo. She was from Louisiana, so it makes sense. Then Monday, I have to work again, but I get to dress up! And if I win the costume contest thingy, I might get a giftcard. Woo! That night I MIGHT go trick or treating with my friends and their kids. Then it's home for a ritual. Busy, busy...
3) I am totally stoked for National Novel Writing Month! You have no idea how excited I am! I have a story about apocalypse survivors all planned out, all the way to the end..this is gonna be good.

Now, on to the point. Samhain is a spooky time of year, involving many spirits. Ghosts get all the attention, but thats not the only astral nasty floating around. I've written about my experience with ghosts, but I've had even more time dealing with a phenomenon known as Shadow Men.

In case you haven't heard of them, shadow people are human-like, dark creatures that look like, well, shadows. It would be easy enough to explain them away as ACTUAL shadows, if it weren't for the fact that they move around on their own and often interact with people. Oh yeah, they're also usually malevolent. Occasionally people see red eyes as well, but I never did.

What's really odd about these guys is that no one really knows what they are. Theories include ghosts, demons, aliens, time/ astral plane travelers, Or just the imagination (although we all know THAT'S not true...). I don't know if I agree with any of these theories, but hey, one of them has to be right. Anyway, here's my story...

The first time I can remember was during a black out. Me and my sister were playing in the living room, facing the hall way and my parents room. I happened to look up, down into their bedroom, when I saw a guy come walking out. He walked, not hovered or anything, down the hall and into the other room.
Now, it was dark, but he was somehow darker, if that makes sense. Also a little fuzzy and the head was a bit pointy. It was so weird. I saw him plainly for several seconds, head on. It had nothing to do with what I was thinking and doing at the time, so imagine my shock.

The second time I was also in my patents room. I was reading on the bed when I looked over the top of my book. There was a person leaning over the foot of the bed, head on its arms, watching me. When it saw me, it sort of jumped back, stared at me, and then dove under the bed. I fucking kid you not. I was shocked, but not afraid. I got the vibe that it was young and more scared of me.

After a while, my sister and took that room and my parents moved into our old one. I can think of several occasions where I was woken up by someone talking loudly in my ear. I would sit up, thinking it was my dad, and no one would be there. The weirdest thing was when I clearly heard 'gumball'. Seriously? An interdeminsional traveler spans time and space to tell me that?! I swear, if I were making this up, I'd make it something cooler...
Also, I would wake up feeling my bed shake. Now I also thought this was my dad, because he's weird and sometimes woke me up that way. But again, when I sat up, he wasn't there.

My experience with shadow people has been extremely similar to other people's. The only differences in my stories are the lack of eyes and the fact that I never got a bad vibe from them. I'm sure many are malicious, but I didn't meet any of them, luckily.

None the less, they are very creepy. Imagine looking up and seeing a dark shape standing over you, maybe more than one. You don't know what they are or what they want, but you know they're not nice...and then they just walk away.
If you would like to totally creepify yourself, try reading some of these accounts from other people...

http://paranormal.about.com/od/trueghoststories/a/aa103105_2.htm

Halloween quiz time!

2011-10-25T16:34:00.001-05:00
What would my October blog party look like without my usual time wasting quizzes?!

You Are a Serial Killer Movie

You find the evil of other people to be fascinating, and you are obsessed with the twisted minds of serial killers.

Forget the devil, vampires, or random monsters... no one is capable of as much terror as a human is.

You love the psychological drama and mystery that comes with serial killer films. Being scared is just not enough for you!

You like films that explore the sick killings of a murderer... the sicker the better. You go for movies like Silence of the Lambs, American Psycho, and Zodiac.

What Kind of Horror Movie Are You?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

HALLOWEEN QUIZZES

You Are Candy Corn

Your Halloween personality is whimsical, colorful, and creative.

You see Halloween as a time to get your creative juices flowing.

Each year, Halloween can't start soon enough for you.

You tend to go all out for Halloween. You decorate like crazy and always dress up.

What Halloween Treat Are You?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

You Are a Total Geek

No doubt about it, you're a bit of a geek.
You're a bit offbeat in an appearance, but you're still real cute.

You don't care much about what other people think. You're too busy doing your own thing!
You're definitely one of a kind - and in your case, that's a very good thing.

What Does Your Favorite Candy Say About You?

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!



You Are Sexy on Halloween

You don't get your thrills from being terrified on Halloween. You get your thrills from all eyes being on you.

Halloween is the one night you can get away with dressing wildly. And you take the opportunity to bare almost all!

Each Halloween there's no question that you will go as a hottie. The only question is how far you will go.

You may not score a lot of candy on Halloween (who needs the extra calories?), but you will score a lot of phone numbers!

Who Are You On Halloween?

Blogthings: We're Not Shrinks, But We Play Them On the Internet

Your Halloween Sugar Binge is Caramel Apples

You have a sweet tooth, but you can feel easily overwhelmed by sugar.
You prefer to have your treat cut with something healthy, like fruit and nuts.

But don't let the apple part fool you, you can eat sweets with the rest of them.
You're even willing to make a bit of a mess if your sweet treat is tasty enough.

What's Your Halloween Sugar Binge?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds



You Are a Carnival Mask

You are flirtatious, charming, and seductive. You are both mysterious and alluring.

You know how to dance the steps, no matter what the dance is. You always know what the next move should be.

You are good at drawing people in but not letting them get too close. You know how to be wanted.

You prefer to be understated than over the top. You never want to be seen as trying too hard.

What Halloween Mask Are You?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Blogthings: We'll Tell You The Truth... Someone Has To!



You Are Optimistic and Sweet

You're the type of person who wears a costume representing who you wish you were. You're likely to dress up as a historical figure or a super hero.

You think it's fun to dream and play a little. Halloween really brings out your lighter side.

Your favorite Halloween celebration is with your favorite people. You love to see what costumes your friends end up wearing.

You feel like you can learn a lot from what your friends choose to be this time of the year. It's how they really reveal themselves.

The Candy Apple Test

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

OCP: Samhain Herbs

2011-10-16T20:55:00.000-05:00
Today I'm going to write about traditional Samhain herbs. There are quite a few of them and they're all pretty good ones, so lets get right into it...

Pumpkin:

The classic Samhain plant. They are sacred to the goddess and related to water, fall, and fertility. They can also represent earth. The seeds are used in dream magick, to help connect you to the other side. Also, protection from spirits, invisibility, and secrecy. Carry them when you wish to go unseen or put them in your book of shadows to keep the information safe.

Apple:

Apples have traditionally been one of the most powerful trees. They are highly connected to love, sex, and wisdom (tree of knowledge, anyone). Also related to health, obviously. Faeries love these trees and the fruit is said to attract unicorns. Now, I've never seen one around my apple tree, but who knows? At Samhain some people burry half an apple in honor of the dead.

Rosemary:

One of my favorite herbs. It smells so damn good. It's highly connected to knowledge and memory, making it a good herb for this time of year. It can be used in rituals to help remember the dead.
Rosemary is a very strong herb and can be used for spells involving safe travel, romance, protection, cleansing, and as replacement for any herb in a spell.

Mums:

Mums are a common fall flower. They are used for protection and exorcisms.

Nightshade:

I don't know many people who actually grow this herb, considering how toxic it is. Still, it's very powerful, related to astral projection, hexes, protection, banishment, and beauty. It's a hallucinogenic herb, which kind of explains why people used for flying ointments.

Yarrow:

This herb is sacred to Hekate. It rules divination, psychic powers, and love magick. You can carry some to attract a lover.

Mugwort:

Mugwort is a big deal this time a year. It's strongly connected to psychic powers and divination. It protects from demons, evil spirits, and wild animals. It's sacred to Artemis. Use it with scrying and in dream pillows.

Wormwood:

This herb is good for Samhain because it's used for divination, protection, and exorcism. Throwing it into fires at samhain will call spirits to you. Fun fact: this herb is one of the main ingredients in absinthe. How neat.

Sage:

This herb is related to the crone, wisdom, strength, and courage, but it's main property is cleansing. Samhain is a good time for getting rid of nasty residue, so use sage to cleanse away.

There are more herbs you can use for this time of the year, but these are the main ones. Of course, the deeper you get into fall, the more your plant options shrink, so just use what's readily available to you.

2011 Renissance Festival!!!!!!

2011-10-15T21:19:00.003-05:00
Omg, you guys. I've had the best day ever, even if I am super exhausted right now. Today, me and two of my sisters, plus my niece and nephew and sister's friend got up obscenely early, dressed in our fantastical best, and drove the freakin' long way to to Kansas City. It was, as usual...magical. I am never happier than when I'm there. Good people, good food, amazing art and costumes and acts...it's pure fun and joy. I love it so much and getting to go with kids just doubles the fun.
We were there all day, so I'll just put the highlights here, since I'm sure none of you really want to read a full on recount of my day...

* Apple dumplings. It's like an apple covered in pie crust with ice cream on top. Also, cinnamon sugar almonds. My favorite nut of all. I get them every year and it's an all time favorite.

* Getting a painting from my niece. Shes an awesome artist and she painted everyone a really nice tree picture. I swear, she's better at drawing trees than I am...she's eight....

*Astral Seas incense. 15 sticks for a dollar? Yay!

* The fact that my sister, niece and nephew were all in handmade Lord of the Rings costumes! Arwen, Galadrial, and the adorable baby hobbit! SO CUTE!!

* My nephew finally likes me! He let me take pictures with him and hold his hand...he is precious. Especially when he's singing, "mama, dada," while dancing around in his sling. Ugh, just want to smush him...

* Jousting that involves fake blood. That's hard core.

* Majikah Perfumery. Omg, I can't say enough about this place. I mentioned it last year, and ever since then I've been obsessed about going back! I love it- so many smells! This time I got 'dark majik' and 'fairy romance'. I wanted so many more, but I only have so much money. They come in such gorgeous bottles! Ones purple, sqaurish, and has a pretty pentagram charm. The other is red with a bat charm.

* Gypsy dancers! They are so funny and awesome. And hot, but that's not the WHOLE point...:D

* Everything. It's amazing. I don't care if you live in freakin' Alaska- go to this thang.

I'm so happy I got to go and I can't wait for next year! I'll have to go every weekend. Other cool things today- We went to a halloween party a family friend was throwing. Very fun, even if there were a lot of loud drunk people. There were pumpkins being carved and candy and hayrack rides...so cool.
Anyway, awesome day and I'll have some actual pictures in the next few days...

OBP: October's Moon

2011-10-11T17:59:00.002-05:00

Tonight is the blood moon, in Aries this time. It's also known as the hunters moon, the shedding moon, and the leaf moon.
Traditionally during this moon, the very final harvest is taken in and activities are turned indoors. Final preparations are made for the winter. Since it's so close to Samhain, psychic powers run high. It's a good time to work magick for prophetic dreams. Also you could try holding a seance and working in your divination.

Astrologically speaking, this phase speaks if returning to your authentic, true, self, the person you were as a child and who youre meant to be. Be who you are and listen to the messages being sent to you this full moon about your place in the world.

Not sure how I'll be celebrating the esbat tonight...I'm so damn tired and have to get up early and work tomorrow. :( But happy esbat to all my readers!

OBP: SAMHAIN CRAFTS!!!

2011-10-08T20:39:00.003-05:00
Ok, so I'm not going to stress about posting something everyday. I work, ya know. Also, posting pictures is a hella pain in the ass on the iPad. Everything else is mostly ok, but it makes it difficult, sooo...you're just gonna get what ya get, ok?

Anyway, samhain crafts are so exciting! But I craft so much I hardly have space on my altar for anything new, so I probably won't be making any of these things. But like the dutiful little blogger I am, I've scoured the web finding new and awesome crafts for your Samhain pleasure! Here they are...

Pumpkin seed necklace.

Pumpkin seeds are obviously big at Samhain. They have a lot of magickal properties, which I'll talk about in another pot, so I like this idea a lot.

Pokeberry ink.

These grow all over the place around Samhain and according to the article are good for banishing. Very cool idea.

Crepe paper curtains.

Halloween curtain decorations are expensive, so I like this craft, even if it does look like too much work for my lazy ass...

Pumpkin incense burner.

Damn it, Martha Stewart, why must you be so cool?! This is an amazing craft, I'll probably be doing this one.

Spirit incense.

Fairly easy herb blend, sounds pretty useful.

So that's about all I've found this year...Also check out Martha stewarts website and better homes and garden website; they have some surprisingly cool stuff!

OBP DAY? ZOMBIE WALK!!!!!!!!!

2011-10-07T12:48:00.011-05:00
That's right! Last night I rushed home from work, swallowed a muffin whole, applied horrific toxic make up, and went to Lawrence, KS to meet my friends for the annual zombie walk! This is it's fifth year in a row and it's pretty awesome. All the proceeds go to the Lawrence Humane Socieity. This year there were over 500 zombies walking and almost $1000 raised! It was amazing. Here are some pictures...

Here is an incredibly blurry Beetlejuice. Pretty cool. There was also zombie Harry Potter, zombie Santa, zombie Giligan (as in from Giligan's Island!) and Jesus. Yeah.

Here's yours truly! All zombiefied! That make up took 10 minutes to take off...

A quick view of the crowd...

And a slightly better view of the crowd.

Me and Jesus! My right wing family will be so pleased I finally found him...

This one is NOT my photo. I'll give the link below. Pretty cool, no?
Sadly, most of my pictures came out blurry/too dark, so go here to see some professional pictures from the truly epic night!

Link one...

For that last picture...

A cool gallery with zombie Santa!>

I had a lot of fun. Lawrence is really the best town in Kansas and I'm so glad I got to be a part of this, with my friends. It was awesome!

OBP Day 3: My Costume!!!!

2011-10-04T18:52:00.002-05:00
Well, two days late....not off to a very good start on this thing, eh? Well anyway, I decided to make this post about my epic costume this year...which is the same as last year. Except with witch tights and no devil horns. And I probably won't actually be wearing it on Halloween, but to the renaissance festival with my sisters and niece and nephew! Who, by the way, will be dressed as Arwen, Galardial, and a hobbit! Can't you just see it? A little baby hobbit! Omg, too cute!

Anyway, I got my costume from work. Kmart has surprisingly nice costumes and mine is friggin awesome. Here is a picture...

I love it. It's so pretty and i feel so witchy in it! Here's the link

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_009W089449011008P?prdNo=16&blockNo=66&blockType=G66

Sorry, it's very difficult to hyperlink on the old iPad...

Anyway, This is my one costume...but I'll have another for thursday. Why, you ask? For the annual Zombie Walk!!!! I'm so excited for it! All the proceeds go to the local human society and several of my work friends are going with me. Omg, I'm so very excited!!

OBP Day 2: Halloween Playlist!!!

2011-10-02T19:28:00.002-05:00

This playlist is going to be a little different since I'm using the iPad to post it. Therefore I can't make a legit playlist and post it here. So instead I'm going to link to all the songs here. Just click on the name and it'll take you to playlist.com where you can listen to it. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to think of/ find many good songs this time around, so I just went with some if the classics! Here we go...

This is Halloween

This one is mandatory for Halloween. I post it every year, but for good reason.

I Put A Spell On You

Such a good song. Marilyn Manson also did a good version, but I like this one best.

Samhain

Another mandatory one for a witch's Halloween.

Dark Mother

Perfect song for this time of year, not just Halloween.

Time of the Season

I'm putting this one here even though it's not specifically Halloween-ish. It reminds me f this time of year, partly cause of the name of the band (the Zombies), and partly because it was played in the Stephen King movie Riding the Bullet. So it reminds me of creepy goodness.

Season Of The Witch

And lastly, this lovely song. It makes me feel so 60s when I listen to it!

Sadly, I was unable to get any Nox Arcana music for this list, since they seem to have disappeared from the website. So I'm just going to review one of their albums here, without linking to it.
The CD is Zombie Influx and it's amazing!

My sister got it for her birthday and it's one of the best horror CDs I've heard. Obviously about a zombie apocalypse, it's very gritty and sad and creeperific. I really love the song Defcon Six, where we hear government announcement that's very chilling. Some of the songs are a bit repetitive, but it's really great. I highly recommend it if you like zombies and horror music.

44 Days of Witchery Day Who Even Knows? My Altar!!

2011-10-02T18:07:00.002-05:00
I decided to kill to birds with one stone and show y'all my Mabon altar using this prompt!

I'm very happy with it. I think it's so nice and sparkly!

44 Days of Witchery Day 34: Wands!

2011-10-01T13:38:00.002-05:00

The above is a picture of my Pottermore wand. I don't have a pic of an actual wand because I'm lazy.
In case youre wondering, that one is hazel with unicorn hair. Mmmhhmm.

And yes, I do have a wand. It's a lovely piece of driftwood I found at the lake. However I don't use it very much, for the same reason I don't use an Athame.
I see wands as related to fire element. They are good if you really want one, but I don't think they're always necessary. I was reluctant to get one at first, because honestly, it seemed really dorky. But I respect them as an important tool and if you want to use one, go for it!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!!!

2011-10-01T13:30:00.000-05:00

OCTOBER IS HEEEEERRRREEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

In case you missed it, I'm mighty excited for this month. It's gonna be awesome. We got the whole 31 days of October blog party, the Renaissance festival on the 15, and then of course HALLOWEEN!! Sadly, there will be no Rocky Horror this year. :( The theater isn't having it for some stupid reason. Maybe they got tired of cleaning up rice and toast?

Well, anyway. I have a lot of good stuff planed for this month. The only problem is I'm having trouble thinking up particularly original or pagan related posts...:s But stay tuned for such classic installments as redonkulous costumes, costume wins and fails, and Samhain recipes!

44 Days of Witchery Day 32: Favorite Nature Spirit!

2011-09-30T20:07:00.001-05:00

Nature spirits are like faeries, only they are specified to a particular element. Water gets mermaids and nyrads. Air gets slyphs and faeries. Fire mostly just gets salamanders. And earth gets gnomes, eleves, and dryads.

I already wrote about my love for mermaids. Faeries are awesome. I do have a fondness for gnomes...but I'm gonna have to go with dryads.
Ever since I saw a picture of one in an art book, I've been struck by them. When I was a lot younger I wrote a story about them.
I just think they're so beautiful.

In case you don't know, dryads are nymphs from Greek mythology. They live in/ are part of a tree and each tree has one. If the tree dies, so does the nymph and the other way around. They were beautiful and known for seducing human men, even though they hate humans.

I don't know what it is, but I really like them and their myth. I've always loved trees, and the idea of a personified tree spirit is just fascinating.

Big, Random 44 Days of Witchery Post!

2011-09-29T21:11:00.001-05:00
Wow, I've gotten kind of behind on this. I blame the fact that I just got into pottermore (see last post...) and the fact that this week has been busy. And expensive. I've had to buy a whole new phone AND a new tire. Apparently the old one was about to explode and kill me. Who knew? Anyway, on to the postings...

The first prompt is my favorite flower.
My favorite flower is jasmine. I have a little jasmine plant and I just love it. The smell is amazing and the blooms are so pretty.

Jasmine is good for a lot of things, but its main properties are psychic powers, love, dreams, and healing. It is sacred to the goddess and the moon. It helps stimulate lucid dreaming and the heart chakra.

My other favorite flower is marigold. Because it's sunny and pretty and I feel it's related to leos. Also, I've heard it repels snakes. And ever since I've planted it, I haven't seen any snakes!

It's magickal properties are legal maters, prophecy, the sun, and helping to see magickal creatures. They help renew personal energy and will grant you clairvoyance.

And now I'm doing the next prompt in this post as well: A favorite faery.
...and it's going to be very short. Because I don't know of any individual faeries. At least not enough to name them my favorite. So I don't have a favorite! There, very short update.

Aaannnnd. Now I'm going to do another prompt, because I've missed a bunch if days and this is short. SO! Favorite rune!
That would be jera. I really don't have a lot of experience with runes. But I do have a necklace with jera on it. According to my sources, jera represents...

Rewards, plans coming into being, the harvest, and skill. All that kinda reminds me of Lammas, now that I think about it.

And yet another prompt, my favorite candle. Answer? Easy, anything pumpkin! I love Halloween candles especially.

So there you go! I kinda decided to take care of all the short prompts. That way I don't have to clutter up your feed, even though I know your all so interested...

I GOT INTO POTTERMORE!!!!!!!!

2011-09-29T20:28:00.006-05:00

You read that right, y'all! Tuesday morning I got my Pottermore email and almost died of excitement. Luckily I had the day off- otherwise I might have called in...

Anyway, it's pretty cool. It's very emotional to go through the story along with Harry. The graphics are amazing! I like the interactive-ness, although some of it doesn't work too well with the iPad. For example, you really can't cast spells or make potions. At least I haven't been able to. But maybe it's just a beta version glitch?

My favorite parts so far have been the quizzes for the wands and the sorting. Olivander's was totally awesome! My wand is hazel with unicorn hair. 9 inches and brittle. I need a a hazel wand now for real.
I also love the little tidbits from JKR herself. All kinds of unknown info from the books. It's awesome.

The only thing that I'm not thrilled with...the sorting quiz. It was insightful and fun with GORGEOUS illustrations. The problem?

............IM IN GOD DAMN SYTHERIN!!!!!!!!!

I was highly disappointed. I'm meant to be in Gryffendor, dammit! My niece is mad. She said I'm too nice to be in Syltherin. Kids are so sweet!

Syltherin has it's good stuff; according one of JKR's updates, Merlin himself was in Slytherin! Who knew? And the sorting hat only chooses people for that house if it thinks they're destined for greatness, so that's kinda cool. Plus, all my friends are there.

So all in all, it's a pretty cool site. And if any of you have account and want to add me, my name is Sparkscharm73. And next week, anyone who wants to join will be able to!

44 Days of Witchery Day 30: Famous Witches!

2011-09-25T14:48:00.002-05:00
There are lots of famous witches/pagans out there, so it's hard to choose my favorites. However, I'm going to post a few here, but mostly fictional ones. They're the most interesting...

The Sanderson Sisters! I love this movie so much! I watched it a thousand times when I was a kid (is it any wonder I became a witch?). These sisters are the quintessential witches. They're so wicked and fun. I totally want to dress up as Sarah for Halloween.

The Haliwells! Charmed is an awesome show, even if it is hokey and silly. Not many witches more famous than these three. They are the ultimate witches, using their powers for good despite what they might want. Plus I really identify with piper, sooo...

Who doesn't love Willow Rosenberg?! A nerdy witch, she was also the first girl to have lesbian sex on network tv. Good for her! I also identify with her quite a bit, although I think I have more in common with Anya. Willow rocks.

Finally, a real person! Starhawk is a huge inspiration for me, because of her politics, feminism, activism, writing, and of course her witchy-ness. Her book The Earth Path really shaped my beliefs and The Fifth Sacred Thing shaped my view of the future.

I could not Get a picture for one of my other favorite witches, Z. Budapest. I love her work and really respect her. She hosted a ritual once to catch a serial rapist, and guess what? They caught him shortly after. She was influential in dianic Wicca, which I've explored a lot.

Another favorite witch is of course Hermione Granger, but I think she goes without saying.

44 Days of Witchery Day 29: Pagan artwork

2011-09-25T14:36:00.002-05:00

I saw this on my tumblr a while back and just loved it. I think it's so gorgeous and a great representation of the goddess. I wish I knew the artist, but there was no name on my tumblr...if you know, please share!

44 Days of Witchery Day 27 AND 28!

2011-09-24T20:15:00.002-05:00

The first thing I'm supposed to write about is my favorite witchy podcasts. I have no favorite podcasts because I've never listened to any. That's right, I'm a weirdo. So, I'm going to go straight into the next post, about the water element!

This is the element connected to the west, sunsets, fall, the moon, and the goddess. Without further ado, here's some things that make me feel connected to the water element...

Fall
Divination
The ocean/lakes/rivers/rain (duh...)
Dreams
Being submerged, either in a pool or the bath, anything like that
Mystery
Scrying
The cups tarot suit
Emotions
Psychic powers
Cycles
Femiminity/the womb

Water is a cool element and how fitting that I write this right when the season turns to the one most closely related to it: fall!

44 Days of Witchery Day 26: Pic of a Witchy I-want-it-now!

2011-09-24T19:52:00.003-05:00
Well, there are a lot of things I want, especially pagan things. But this showed up on my tumblr the other day and I thought it was super awesome. So here it is...

Aren't they gorgeous? So yeah, other then that, I want a nice cauldron, a big one. And there are loads of books I want, too.
I know this is short, but I'm feelin pretty crappy today. My annoying coworker told me my hair was 'that ugly shade of blonde". Yeah. And she had no clue she was being really fucking rude. Also, IM NOT BLONDE. DA FUQ.

44 Days of Witchery Day 25: Favorite Pagan Movies

2011-09-23T18:51:00.003-05:00
Well, it's been a pretty good Mabon. I had a great ritual, purified my space, harvested, blessed my house, and went for a walk with my dogs. Plus I had caramel apples and vegetable stew. I've talked my mom into making that chili we had last year, which was so awesome, so we're going to have that sunday. Now, onto the point.

Decent pagan movies are few and far between. For the most part, we're mocked and shown as evil witches. Which is fun sometimes, but not always. So heres my favorite pagan movies that don't make you want to punch people!

Practical Magic

You had to know this was coming. You can't have a pagan movie list without this movie. I'm not going to rehash it, since I'm pretty sure literally everyone reading knows what it's about. But yeah, it's an awesome movie.

Trick r' Treat

This is one maybe some of you haven't seen. So here's how IMDB puts it:

Four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband.

So why am I am putting it here? Because of the little witch character, who helpfully gives us the history of Halloween. There's lots in this movie regarding samhain. In fact, a few plot points revolve on honoring the dead and lighting jack o lanterns. Plus it's just a really good movie.

The Company of Wolves

this one is good if you agree with the theory that many fairy tales are pagan themed. This is just a fantastic movie, full of symbolism so triply you'll have to google it later to find out WTF. I love it. Though there is no out right portrayal of pagans, theres plenty of symbolic characters pagans will be familiar with.

The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns

This movie was 10000% responsible for my fairy obsession as a child. Well, this and the movie FairyTale: A True Story. Those two were instrumental in how I viewed and interacted with fairies. Plus, if you like good Celtic folklore and beautiful graphics, this movies for you. At least I think so; I haven't seen it since I was like, 8, soooo...anyway, here's what IMDB has to say about this one...

American businessman Jack Woods rents a cottage on the enchanted Emerald Isle which is occupied by a family of leprechauns. Leprechaun Seamus Muldoon's son and son's friends crash the fairies' costume ball and Muldoon's son falls in love with fairy Princess Jessica. Their love re-ignites a feud between the leprechauns and the fairies, which escalates into a war. The Grand Banshee warns of terrible consequences and Jack Woods is chosen to make peace. Woods interrupts his own romance with an Irish beauty to help, and becomes involved in a strange and wonderful magical adventure.

Which brings me to this movie...

FairyTale: A True Story

*sniffle* Sorry, I'm suffering a nostalgia attack. This movie is so beautiful and magical, a great portrayal of the fairies, something that many pagans should appreciate. Here's IMDB again...

.
Based on factual accounts, this is the story of two young girls that, somehow, have the ability to take pictures of winged beings... which certainly causes quite a stir throughout England during the time of the first World War. Everyone, except the girls who think it's quite normal, are excited about this "photographic proof" that fairies exist... even the great Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini pay the girls a visit

Ok, now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to update my Netflix que...

Happy Mabon!!

2011-09-23T11:15:00.002-05:00

Happy autumn equinox, witches! The season of the witch is officially upon us! And it's a gorgeous day here in Oz land, with brilliant blue skies and end of summer temperatures. Today I plan on harvesting some herbs, smudging my room, blessing my lovely new house, giving the thanks for all the awesome things I've gained this year (like said new house), saying good bye to summer and light, and trying this <a href="http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/mabontheautumnequinox/a/Balance_Medi.htm">meditation

And another awesome thing today: Supernatural season premiere! Could not be more excited! Completely unrelated to paganism, but still super awesome! So I hope everyone has a good sabbat today! Happy Mabon!

Amazing Thriftstore Find!!

2011-09-22T21:41:00.002-05:00

I found this utterly awesome incense burner at the Thrift store this weekend and I'm so happy with it! In case the blurry image throws you off (damn it, iPad. $500 and a crappy camera?!), it's an old witch, hunched over a cauldron. There are pretty stones set in it with clay and it's kinda totally awesome. What a crazy thing to find at a thrift store!

44 Days Of Witchery Day 24: The Earth Element

2011-09-22T20:43:00.002-05:00

Ah, earth element. I think it's my favorite of all the elements. It is ruled by the goddess, mother earth. It's main areas are forests, fields, and mountains. It's animals include bears, wolves, Cyotes, and sometimes snakes. Colors are black, green, and brown.
Things that make me think of the earth element are...

The pentacles suit in Tarot
Coins/ money
Trees
Gnomes
Herb/flower garden
Winter
Bones
Rocks/fossils
Standing on the ground without shoes on
Being in the forest
Drums
The goddess

44 Days of Witchery Day 23: Current Moon Phase.

2011-09-20T11:21:00.003-05:00
The moon phase right now is waning. This phase obviously appears after the full moon and before the new.
It's at this period the energy gathered at the full moon usually dissipates. Presonally, I start to feel less energized, psychically speaking. This phase is directly related to the crone goddess and it corresponds to fall and ends of cycles.
Today, the moon is in Leo, meaning it's awesome. Time for creative expression, drama, and being social and self centered!
....well. Thats pretty short. And basic. I guess I should pad the post with some updates about other things...here! Let me steal from like, all other blogs and do a quick Things I Love Thursday!

Lemon-blueberry Smirnoff ice

Derrick Jensen

Season premiere week!

Upcoming renaissance festival!!

The intelligent part of my family

Reading Stephen King books because they're more relaxing than most of what I read

Learning about midwifery

Tumblr

HALLOWEEN PEEPS. LOVE.

Spencer Reid.

Ok. There we go. I'm off to work now!

44 Days of Witchery Day 22: Does your family know about your witchyness?

2011-09-19T11:57:00.000-05:00
I don't hide my witchyness. I don't go to work wearing my pentagram or talk about sabbats to people I just met. But if someone asks, I don't deny it. Sometimes it comes up in conversation.

My close family knows, I'm sure. My mom and sisters and other very close relatives for sure. I think some of them are in denial, since they've never mentioned it. Its very possible by dad doesn't know, since he's completely oblivious.
I list pagan as my religion on Facebook, so anyone on there should notice it, which has happened before. After I added some coworkers on Facebook, I came to work one day and the manager said, "so, you're a witch!" At first I was like "....." but then they were really nice about it.

As for how people feel about it, I think they are generally accepting. My mom kind of looked at it as a silly phase, like when I was a kid and believed in fairies. When she realized I was serious about it, she was like, "but don't you think it's kind of silly? Witchcraft?" And then I explained about it and she dropped the issue (even though I know she was unhappy with me having ANY religion). She became pretty supportive, even if I could tell she thought it was stupid. Over the years, shes bought me lots if books and stuff to help my path. But she still refuses to learn anything about it. And when I ask her to read about it or anything, she gets upset.

My younger sister tolerates it, but I know she too thinks it's stupid. My one older sister is pretty accepting of it. And my oldest sister is too,even giving me a lot of pagan stuff for holidays. I was concerned about her, since shes a christian, but she was ok with it, which was great.

Everybody else in my life has been really ok with it too. When my friend came to my room for the first time, I kind of thought that would be the end of it, because she's a serious Christian and republican and my room is dripping with pagan hippy stuff. But it didn't bother her a bit. (see, in real life I get along fine with people who have differing opinions. So suck it, Jon Beckman.)

44 Days of Witchery 21: My Moon Sign!

2011-09-18T12:39:00.000-05:00
Moon signs shows a person's feelings and emotional and home life. Also their relationship with their family. My moon is in libra, the sign of balance, romance, fairness, and elegance.

Libra moons like to be surrounded by beauty and harmony. We like our home and family to be calm and gentle and do anything possible to avoid conflict. Fighting greatly upsets us.
We are often to eager to please and worry too much about other people's feelings (of course this changes when you add in my other signs- for example, my leo sun makes me dogmatic and belligerent, but the libra moon makes me pay attention to the things I say. In real life anyway, not so much on the Internet...>.>).

Moon signs usually follow the same traits as they do when they're sun signs. So libra moons are charming, diplomatic, indecisive, and self indulgent. We also have a strong need to share our lives with someone.

44 Days of Witchery Day 20: Favorite Scent

2011-09-17T19:51:00.001-05:00
That's a tough one. I guess I'll divide it like this...

INCENSE SCENT

rose
Patchouli
Lavender
Vanilla
Cinnamon
Fairy dust (a special scent from one of my favorite stores around here)

OIL SCENTS

neroli
Jasmine
Lavender
Amber
Vanilla
Sage

IN GENERAL...

mown grass
Barbecue
Baking
Sunscreen
Rain
Roses
Rosemary
Sage
Thyme
Chamomile
Cedar wood burning

And in random news, I SOLD ONE OF MY BOOK OF SHADOWS ON ETSY!!!!!!! I'm so excited! Now I have to make more!

44 Days Of Witchery Day 19: Favorite Tarot Card!

2011-09-16T11:04:00.000-05:00
My favorite tarot deck is the DruidCraft Tarot Deck. The art is beautiful and I absolutely love them. The only problem is they're so big they don't fit in my hands!
As for my favorite card, that would have the Lady card.
It's so gorgeous. I use it a lot on my altar for a representation of the goddess. For me it's the ultimate depiction of her.

44 Days of Witchery Day 18: Fire element!

2011-09-15T11:54:00.001-05:00

Hmmm. What to say about the fire element? Well, it's very important to me, and not just because without it we'd be kinda dead. But also because I'm a Leo, which is ruled by fire and the sun.
The fire element represents passion, anger, lust, violence, purification, and strength. I experience it through the rays of the sun, watching an open flame, moving and working hard, and feeling heat. Something's that make me think of the fire element are...

Dragons
The sun
Candles
Hawks
Snakes
Anger
Art
Dance
Lizards
The desert
Skulls
Death
Rebirth
Summer
The south
Litha
Spices
War
Signs like Leo, Sagittarius, and Aries.
The wands suite in tarot decks.

Fire is temperamental and awesome. It's one of my favorite elements.

44 Days of Witchery Day 17: Paranormal Experiences

2011-09-14T10:59:00.000-05:00
Have I had any paranormal experiences? Yes, a few. Nothing real shocking, and I think I've written about them here before, so I'll just go over them quickly...

*My great uncle died around five in the morning one day, or at least that's when we got the call. At about 4:30, I was in the bath room and heard footsteps outside, very clearly. Then the water turned on by itself. I got the hell out of there and the smell of candy was all over the place. No idea why.

*When I was very young, I was walking down the hall (also early in the morning), when I looked at one of the pictures on the wall. It reflected the living room and kitchen entrance, but this time it showed a man standing in the door way, wearing a full KKK outfit. How damn weird is that?

*I wake up to voices shouting loudly in my ear sometimes. It happens less now, but it was quite a bit last year. I used to think they were my dad trying to wake me up, but then I'd look up and no one would be there.

*Two words: Shadow People. Seriously, google it. I'm saving my stories to write about them for the 31 days of October challenge.

*I used to think our barn was haunted. Once I was out there looking around and I looked up. There was a woman leaning over the railing and she very slowly faded away. It was awesome.

So yeah. There's about all my paranormal experiences. Tune in tomorrow to hear me blab about the fire element.

September's Charity!

2011-09-13T11:08:00.001-05:00

This month's charity is Birthday Wishes>. It's a very nice organization that provides birthday parties for children in homeless shelters. It's pretty cool; not only can you donate money, but also gifts, party supplies, favors, and cake! Or you can volunteer if you live in an area with a participating shelter. It's kind of awesome.
I wanted to do it last month, but then there was a crisis in Somalia. Which I'm pretty sure is still going on, but who would know? Seeing as how the media has pretty much abandoned it. What, are they all better or something? *sigh* Anyway, Birthday Wishes is a fantastic charity and it makes me so happy that somewhere, a kids going to have happy childhood memory, even if the rest of his life isn't so great.

/

44 Days of Witchery Day 16: Picture of a Magickal Place

2011-09-12T15:12:00.011-05:00
This prompt is good cause I can kill two birds with one stone: show a magical place and the pictures I took for Lammas last month! Have I mentioned I'm really lazy?

This is the view from the peach tree looking out to the corn field...

And here's the apple tree out there...

I had bee hives before the were cool, neighbors...

There were hay bales everywhere last month. I think they're very cute.

A couple of classic Kansas shots. I think it's gorgeous out here. I know Kansas kind of sucks, but we do have some amazing views out here.
So there you go. I think the most magickal, beautiful place is right where I live. Im so lucky!
.

44 Days of Witchery Day 15: Favorite Witchy Websites

2011-09-12T10:56:00.001-05:00
I have a lot of favorite websites on witchcraft, so I'll just get right into it...

Witchcrafted.org

Very informative. Lots of stuff for the beginning witch, but I still find myself going back there all the time because of the valuable information.

Witchvox.com

Lots of good essays from practicing witches.

http://gaiasgifts.tumblr.com/

Gorgeous pictures, great information.

Littlecitywitch.tumblr.com

The same, except more focused on native American customs than the other blogs. Lots of the usual Wicca though as well.

Thedomesticpagan.blogspot.clm

It rehashes some basics a lot of the time, but still has lots of interesting things.

Domesticwitch.blogspot.com

Very cool articles and lots of giveaways! Always a plus.

Confessionsofapagansoccermom.blogspot.com

Very useful information, especially about sabbats. Also lots of giveaways! I won a book from her once.

Paganwiccan.about.com

Lots of basics, crafts, and opinion articles. Very helpful.

Protectedbywitchcraft.tumblr.com

Gorgeous pictures, mostly, but sometimes good info.

http://wicca.cnbeyer.com/satanism.shtml

I really think the lady who writes this is harsh and arrogant, but the information is very valuable and good for people who need to wake up.

44 Days of Witchery Day 14: Favorite Sabbat!

2011-09-11T17:16:00.002-05:00
Just a quick update on my life: I have moved! For the first time in 15ish years! And only a few feet away from my old house! Yes, that's right: it was built here, just next to my old house, which is a craptastic trailer. I'm so happy right now! A real house, with a dish washer and multiple bathrooms! Heaven!!!

But I'm also very tired from moving and have to get back to it, so I'm gonna keep this one short. So here we go...

FAVORITE PAGAN HOLIDAY

Boy, this one is tough. It seems every time a sabbat rolls around, I feel that ones my favorite. I get excited and decorate for each one, but I do have a couple of favorites.

Beltane is awesome. Flowers, summer, fire. I also feel it's particularly pagan, what with all the sex and fertility. Also a high magickal time.  Beltane is swimming with faeries, magick, fire, and passion. All good things. It's a beautiful sabbat.

And of course its direct opposite Samhain, is my other favorite. Ok, who honestly hates Halloween? And yes, I realize Halloween and Samhain are not the same, but they're both damn close. It's the most fun holiday/sabbat ever. Candy, ghosts, spookiness, fall, pumpkins, scary stories, haunted things. What's not to love?! Samhain is also a time ripe with magick and mystery. It's the perfect sabbat because it has all the stuff I love!

Of course, if you ask me in a couple of months, I'll tell you Yule is my favorite because I'll be in full blown Christmas mode!

44 Days of Witchery Day 13: Thoughts on the Afterlife

2011-09-10T16:04:00.000-05:00
I suppose my thoughts on the afterlife are pretty typical of a young pagan. Honestly, they aren't very well defined. It's not something I spend a lot of time thinking about, really; it may sound bad, but it's not something that really has an affect on my life. I just think we're probably all wrong, so whatever you believe is personal and doesn't really make a difference. Besides, right or wrong it's not going to change how I live my life. But ANYWAY.

First of all, I believe in reincarnation. I feel it makes sense. After all, as the quote says, everything in nature is resurrection. I think I have had past lives. And after we're done with our incarnating, we sort of go beyond human and become part of the universe. Either that, or maybe we're never done reincarnating. Maybe it's an eternal cycle.

Secondly, I obviously believe in the god and goddess. And ghosts for that matter. Although I'm not sure why some people incarnate and some others stay behind. It's one of those things I haven't worked out yet, I just believe based on mine and others experiences.

So there you have the spark notes version of my after life views. I don't know how clear or illuminating, they are, but hey...work out your own damn theories...

44 Days of Witchery Day 12: Books That Have Influenced Me.

2011-09-09T20:03:00.001-05:00
I first learned about Wicca and paganism in summer of 2006, I think. Although before that I had been very interested in witchcraft, I never really considered it until then. Plus, I sort of came upon it by accident. But the first book that ever influenced my practice was Notions and Potions by Susan Brown.

See, everyone in my little circle of friends knew I was very interested in witchcraft (this was in 2001, btw). So for my birthday that year, my best friend got me a book her pagan family used: Notions and Potions.
At the time I didn't realize it was an introduction to a religion; I was just excited about the spells. I thought I was gonna do a spell for some money and become super rich, haha. So I guess that was the first book that really introduced me to modern witchcraft.
The other books go in order and are as follows:

The Sweep series by Care Teirnan.

I know it sounds strange that a fiction series (and such an unrealistic one at that) would be the books that helped me come into my own ideas, but it's true.
It was when my friend was going through a Wiccan phase. I was at a sleep over at her house and picked up the books and started reading them. I noticed they weren't the best, but I was hooked after the first couple of chapters and she let me barrow the book.
I was very interested in what the books showed even though I knew it was highly fantastical and not an entirely true picture of Wicca. But the images painted in this book and the emotions they invoked were things I could relate with.
So that coupled with hanging out with other wiccans, really helped me understand the religion and realize it was something for me.

Confessions of a Teenaged Witch by Gwinevere Rain.

Around October of 2006, I was interested in Wicca, but not really serious about it. In fact, I was a happy little arrogant atheist.
So one day I was looking through the teen paranormal section (the true stuff, of course), trying to find something I hadn't read before, and I came across Confessions. We had to go, so I didn't read really what it was about; I just thought it sounded like Sweep. So then I started reading it at home and imagine my surprise when I discovered it was nonfiction!

Something about just completely called to me and it seemed to fit me perfectly, so I knew I had to find out more about it.

Elements of Witchcraft by Ellen Dugan

This was after I officially became a pagan, which took a while after discovering the other two books. It helped shape my practice and views on a lot of things, including the elements.

Spell craft for Teens by Gwinevere Rain

This one really helped me in writing spells and getting a grasp for magick.

There have been a lot of books over the years, but these are the ones that really stand out in my mind.

44Days of Witchery Day 11: Air Element Pictures

2011-09-08T12:01:00.001-05:00

Not very many, but It's a nice day out and I have no intention of spending it on the intertubes! Good day to you all!

44 Days of Witchery Day 10: Oils!

2011-09-07T20:15:00.003-05:00

I really like oils. I use them all the time, for massage therapy, rituals, anointing, and just general good smells. I have a big box of oils I use all the time and I like to mix them up into new scents. My favorite oils are neroli, lavender, amber, and jasmine.
You can find recipes all over the net, but I find a lot of mine here: http://witchcrafted.org/recipe3.htm#1

Anyway, I have lots of stuff to do tonight, so that's where I'm gonna leave it.

44 Days of Witchery Day 9: My Sun Sign

2011-09-06T20:04:00.002-05:00

In case any of you haven't been paying attention, I'm a total Leo. I'm talkin' the whole package: dramatic, self centered, dogmatic, friendly, generous, social, emotional, creative, playful. Pretty much everything a Leo is supposed to be. I even have the Leo sign tattooed on my back.
So I'm not sure what else to say, so here's some fun facts about leos!

*Leo rules the heart and back.

*Leos are very good with children.

*Ruby is the Leo stone.

*Leo is associated with Italy and France.

That's about all I can think of, so I'll leave it there tonight. Until tomorrow, y'all!

44 Day 8: Favorite Mythical Animal

2011-09-05T20:33:00.000-05:00

I feel weird calling mermaids mythical animals, but I guess they are part animal...right? So it counts? Anyway.

I've been into mermaids ever since I was a kid. Even though I live in Kansas, nowhere near the ocean, I felt very connected to them as a kid. I wanted to be one so bad. Heck, I even thought I was SUPPOSED to be one; just a mermaid switched into the wrong body! Isn't it ironic that I was an other kin before they were cool. HIPSTER OTHERKIN, Y'ALL. But if course I wasn't, really. I was just a kid who watched too much Little Mermaid. Omg, I was so weird. At the peak of my mermaid obsession, I wore a plastic sapphire crown and a shell belt every where I went. I still resent my mom for letting me do that...
There was this documentary about monsters of the deep and it had a part on mermaids. I would get it from the library and watch it over and over, entranced by the (what I thought were real) mermaids swimming in the dark ocean.

I have no idea why I decided on mermaids at that age. The Little Mermaid wasn't my favorite movie, I couldn't swim very well, I didn't even go to the lake much, and had no real interest in the ocean or aquatic life. It was kind of a random obsession.

But even now I feel a deep love of them. They're beautiful, graceful, mysterious, and dangerous. I still think they're the coolest of all the mythical creatures.

44 Days of Witchery Day 7: Air Element!

2011-09-04T13:31:00.000-05:00
Air element

I don't really know what to say about the elements. I mean, if you've been into to witchcraft for any amount of time, you already know everything about them. Maybe I'm supposed to say what they mean to me? Ok, I'll try that...

For me, air represents intellectual abilities, freedom, and youth. I'm reminded of it when I look at my tarot cards and see the Swords: high minded intellectuals, elegant and aloof. Fairness and knowledge but with a lack of emotion or empathy. Sometimes the air element seems a little uppity to me, but then I remember that spring, music, and faeries are directly related to the element. These are the things I connect with the air element in my practice:

Faeries
Childhood
Books/learning/knowledge
Dance/music
The colors yellow and white
Birds/dragonflies/lady bugs
Glitter (don't ask)
Clouds
Beginnings, like spring and dawn
The east
Air signs, but especially aquarius, since that sign embodies my views of the element almost perfectly
Citrus, since it's light and springy
Joy
High towers
Hills and mountains

And here are some ways I connect with this element:

Standing on hill tops or in the fields, feeling the wind rush around me.
Watching birds or flying bugs
Reading my tarot cards (even though I know divinations is more related to water)
Reading and learning
Watching the sun come up

So that's about all. I like attuning myself to the elements, so if anyone has any other ideas about connecting, I'd like to hear them!

44 Days of Witchery Day 6: Favorite God.

2011-09-03T21:14:00.002-05:00
You know, it's funny. I respect the pagan god as an equal to the goddess. The thing is, the god is much more abstract for me. With the goddess I choose many matron deities and easily relate to them, or I can just honor the concept of her in a different sense. But with the god, it's never just one deity. I feel his presence in the sun shine, the peak of summer, the crops like corn and grain. When I see deer or snakes, I think of him. And I especially feel him at litha.

But if I had to pick one deity to call my favorite, I would probably choose the generic Horned God of Wicca.

I know most pagans know all about him; how he starts off young and strong, the god of the wild and the hunt. Then grows into the sun god, the protector. And finally reaches the stage of harvest god, lord of the underworld. I'm not sure how much of that myth applies to my own practice, but I think it's a nice story. And I know I see him as a god of the sun, but I think the goddess is more involved with the whole death thing.

Anyway, that's my god for ya!

44 Days of Witchery Day 5: Favorite Goddess!

2011-09-02T20:05:00.004-05:00
Well this one isn't hard at all. I actually have a lot of favorites; Pele, Kali, Gaia, Freya, etc. But the one I identify with most is Artemis.

I've felt close to her for a couple of years now, even setting up a small shrine to her. I feel very connected with her; we're both Young, free, strong, man-hatin' ladies, who enjoy running around outside with our dogs and helping out with children. Yes, in case you didn't know, Artemis is also the goddess of children, pregnant women, and midwives. So it kind of makes sense that shortly after I started working with her, I discovered what I think is my calling: becoming a doula, then a midwife. I won't go into a lot of detail right now, but I feel like it was her calling me to do this and it just feels right. Nice to have a goal!

Some quick facts about Artemis:

She helped deliver her own twin brother, apollo.

She turned a girl into a river to to save her from being raped.

Her symbol is the bow and arrow and the crescent moon.

Cypress trees were sacred to her.

In the beginning she was considered an earth goddess, protector of all nature.

My very first stalker!!

2011-09-02T12:05:00.001-05:00
We interrupt your regularly scheduled 44 Days of Witchery post to bring you this exciting announcement: I HAVE A STALKER NOW, YALLL!!!
That's right! Some guy named Jon Beckman found my blog last night, read through a disturbing amount of posts, then tracked me down to Facebook, where he demanded explanations for everything I have ever written regarding feminism. He also sent a friend request to me and my sister, weirdly enough.

Obviously I was a bit perturbed by this, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and answer his questions. Big. Mistake. We only had a couple of messages between us. He asked me about my 'feminist blog' (I was confused because this isn't a feminist blog, it's a pagan one, so I didn't even know what he was talking about). I answered as best I could. He accused me of being defensive, but I think I was being perfectly reasonable considering the circumstances. Then I said, "ok, is there anything else you wanted to know about?" And that's when I got this little gem. Before this the tone had been generally non-insluting, if not friendly, so I don't know where this came from. But I do know it's pretty typical of guys to turn abusive when not given exactly what they want and this message proves my theory. His parts are in bold.

WARNING: It's about to get real curse wordy up in here, thanks to this guy.

The fact that for some reason you spill your guts like a stuck pig on a blog on the internet

What else does one keep a blog for? It's a diary, duh.

and talk shit about your friends behind their backs.

The people I talk shit about are not my friends; they are people in my life who have pissed me off in various ways. I have no contact with any of them and have not said anything about them in a really fucking long time. You'd know that if you were going forward in my blog instead of backwards.

Adding to that the hypocrisy you bring forth when you realize people talk shit about you.

No idea what you're talking about here....

It seems like you have a mini god- complex and tend to exaggerate things.

Oh? Thank you doctor Jon! Thanks for diagnosing me! Glad you're a psychology expert who can judge people just from their blog posts alone!
Let me give it a shot: you're clearly a self absorbed psychopath with rage issues.

Maybe you should also tone down on the feminism.

Maybe you should go fuck yourself?

Sure women like you got women everywhere the right to vote and helped the world towards more equality, but really it isn't too fun with you label every single guy in the world except for a whipped guy a misogynist.

Sure, you made the world better for women, but some poor wittle men got der feelings hurt. :( Big mean feminist....and I love it when they say 'not all guys are misogynists' while BEING A MISOGYNIST.

It would be like me labeling every single women in the world except for my girlfriend as self obsessed whores that demand attention.

Yeah, except it's not like that at all. And please, you don't have a girlfriend.

Also the fact that you bitched about a lady at work when she treated you badly when she was obviously having a bad day, then you go around and complain about your bad day at work when you had to help a customer.

Yeeeaaah what? How do YOU know what kind of day she was having? I mean apart from the fact you're clearly hiding in the bushes outside my house, watching everything I do. And news flash! Everyone complains about their bad days at work and helping customers. It's called having a job and maybe one day you can try it.

Besides, I wasn't complaining about her having a bad day or anything. It's the being mean to people part that I have an issue with.

I love the comparison there.

Yeah, I get the feeling you love a lot of senseless things...

Oh, and I know, how much you love when people make mistakes in writing..

I'll give you that one. Unnecessary comma, by the way.

I hope you end up changing the world with your feminism and I also hope that you never get laid like the guy you trashed.

Well I'm pretty sure he's been laid, so I don't know what you're talking about. But hey! Thanks for the supporting my feminism!

Hell, I'm quite sure you won't because no misogynistic guy in his right mind would ever want you,

Thank god.

and any guy that fits your ideals is already going to be with a girl that values him and doesn't bitch and moan about every single thing.

Oh, well I should just give up then. Believe it or not, I don't really care about guys wanting me that much. And you know what? If I can't find one that will completely respect me and my opinions, then I DON'T FUCKING WANT ONE.

I agree, women are damaged goods, no one is perfect, But you Danielle, you're a fucking wreck, it's like someone kicked your personality down a staircase and then ran it over.

I don't even know how to answer this. Sorry I'm not more pleasing to your misogynistic views, but IDGAF about you or any other thing with a penis. :( Try not to cry to much.

Excuse my French, but please, try not to be such a fucking bitch to men,

Ummmm, no. Try not to be such a psychotic douchebag to random girls you've decided to stalk.

because frankly, cumguzzling dumpstersluts are much more attractive than people like you

Oh, darn! You mean I'm not attractive to you? Then I must be doing something right.

Look here, kids. This is classic 'nice guy' syndrome. Act all "oh I loooove women! I respect you so much and I'm such a Nice Guy!" then turn into a ragey asshole who uses terms like 'dumpster slut'. Seriously, all these guys are the same.

with good values, only because they aren't as high maintenace as uppity bitches like you.

I'm a bitch?! That's the nicest thing you've said this whole comment! And how funny that you consider a girl wanting to be treated with equality 'high maintenance.' Because yeah, that's WHAT FEMINISM IS ABOUT, DUMBSHIT.

Susan B. Anthony and the rest of Seneca falls weren't even this whiney. God.

Well, Susan B. Anthony never met a guy like you. Also she didn't have a blog.

The only thing this guy was right about is that yes, for a while I was a wreck. I was going through a horrible stressful time and the drugs I had to take for pain management left me angry and depressed. But that has nothing to do with my views on feminism and if he had read a little further, he would have noticed that. Instead, like all sexist jerk offs, he only went backwards.

Based on this and his other messages, he doesn't seem to understand that people's views, opinions, hell, even moods change from time to time, like mine have done. I've kept this blog for two fucking years! People change!

You know, I guess I should be thanking Jon. He pointed out a glaring privacy flaw in my Facebook, which I have of course fixed now. Wouldn't want any more angry misogynists tracking me down! He also reminded me of just why I'm a feminist. Because of bastards like this who think every woman in the fucking world owes them something.

His very last message called for me to grow up and become an atheist. For real. Which is funny because it's exactly the sort of thing I would have said when I WAS an atheist. When I was 13. Then I GREW THE FUCK UP. So he not only proved my idea that guys are jackasses, he also proved the idea that atheists are some of the worst people ever. Thanks a lot, buddy.

And Jon (yes, I'm addressing you directly because I KNOW you're reading this), please don't bother commenting on here (even though I also know you'll do this). Seriously, I'm just going to delete them without reading them because you've proven yourself incapable of actual debate or rational discussion.

But just in case anyone needs a little refresher in feminist theory, I'll leave you with some of the websites that helped solidify my views.

http://bonerkilling.blogspot.com/

http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/

http://rageagainstthemanchine.com/

http://elkballet.wordpress.com/

http://womononajourney.wordpress.com/

http://blog.pigtailpals.com/

http://www.about-face.org/

http://www.oneangrygirl.net/

http://www.heartless-bitches.com/rants/niceguys/coin.shtml

(this is a helpful article on the myth of nice guys such as Jon and Brian. The rest of the site is worth a look, too.)

44 Days of Witchery Day 4: Water Element!

2011-09-01T19:02:00.002-05:00

This is the first element in the 44 days of witchery challenge. Instead of just rehashing the same water element facts every witch already knows, I decided to post pictures of the element in its various forms. We're always surrounded by the elements in one way or another.

44 Days of Witchery Day 3: Athames!

2011-08-31T11:14:00.002-05:00

Im not really sure what to say about this one. I don't use an Athame as I have a lovely driftwood wand...that I also rarely use. Sometimes they just feel unnecessary, since they are traditionally used to direct energy and I'm usually channeling energy into something and prefer to use my hands. But I've seen a lot of cool ones and when I first started to craft I used my black handled pocket knife. Eventually it just fell by the wayside, but if other witches want to use them, more power to em!

44 Days of Witchery Day 2: favorite myth!

2011-08-30T11:06:00.002-05:00

My favorite myth or story from folklore is gonna have to be Aristophanes speech from Plato's Symposium, as told by Hedwig and the Angry Inch. That's right, I will never Not talk about that movie. Hedwig tells the story in the song The Origin of Love, which makes me cry all the time because it's just so sad and amazing. Sadly, I can't find a good link to share it with you guys and YouTube doesn't give me any HTML codes, at least not on the iPad, so you'll just have to take it upon yourselves to hear this stunning song. Seriously, google it, y'all.

Until then, here's the lyrics.

When the earth was still flat,
And the clouds made of fire,
And mountains stretched up to the sky,
Sometimes higher,
Folks roamed the earth
Like big rolling kegs.
They had two sets of arms.
They had two sets of legs.
They had two faces peering
Out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
As they talked; while they read.
And they never knew nothing of love.
It was before the origin of love.

The origin of love

And there were three sexes then,
One that looked like two men
Glued up back to back,
Called the children of the sun.
And similar in shape and girth
Were the children of the earth.
They looked like two girls
Rolled up in one.
And the children of the moon
Were like a fork shoved on a spoon.
They were part sun, part earth
Part daughter, part son.

The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
Of our strength and defiance
And Thor said,
"I'm gonna kill them all
With my hammer,
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said, "No,
You better let me
Use my lightening, like scissors,
Like I cut the legs off the whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh,
Said, "I'll split them right down the middle.
Gonna cut them right up in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades
Of a knife.
And it ripped
Right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon
And the earth.
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole,
Pulled it round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay.
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane,
To scatter us away,
In a flood of wind and rain,
And a sea of tidal waves,
To wash us all away,
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping round on one foot
And looking through one eye.

Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;
I had blood in my eyes.
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine.
That's the pain,
Cuts a straight line
Down through the heart;
We called it love.
So we wrapped our arms around each other,
Trying to shove ourselves back together.
We were making love,
Making love.
It was a cold dark evening,
Such a long time ago,
When by the mighty hand of Jove,
It was the sad story
How we became
Lonely two-legged creatures,
It's the story of
The origin of love.
That's the origin of love.

44 days of witchery!

2011-08-29T18:42:00.002-05:00
That's right- I'm starting the 44 days of witchery! It was originally made for tumblr, but I want to do it here. If you're wondering, you can find the source here.

So! Day 1: What's your witchy background?

My witchy background is zilch. There are no pagans or witches in my family at all, although my grandma was really into the occult. She once sent me a crystal ball, an alligator head, and the Encyclopedia of Witchcraft. Yeah. That was cool. She gave me lots of books on ghosts and used put "Gris girs's" on people, which, for you non-Cajuns, is apparently a voodoo curse. She even tried a ouija board once, but was so freaked by it she never did it again.
So that's as close as I have to a witch in the family, and i have a feeling she would have freaked at being called that since she was a slightly twisted catholic.

I did grow up around a few pagans though. At least three were in my homeschool group when I was a kid. I liked them because they seemed to take me seriously when I talked about faeries. But my mom always talked about them like they were crazy. She'd say, "yeah, she' thinks she's a witch. She has a coven and they dance naked in the woods. How weird." And I would say, "yeah, that's weird." Little did we know I would one day be one of those loonies. Minus the naked woods dancing...

So that's about it. It would be cool to have a family of witches, but I don't mind. It's kinda cool to be the weird witch aunt, like the ones in Practical Magic! It's a little fun being the weird one!

Random Pagan Pics!!!

2011-08-29T16:11:00.003-05:00

This is the shrine I set up to honor artemis and the moon goddess. I quite like it. The shell holds all my offerings and my prayer beads I made last year are hanging on a deer antler.

This is the shrine to Vesta I set up to ask her to bless our new house. Which is being built in the front yard as I write this!!!

This is some of what I got shopping Saturday. Two things of Bristol paper, pumpkin and cider candles, incense and a humungo tube of 12 votive candles! Plus some colored pencils and adorable owl earrings.

And all this left me feeling very witchy, so I drew this...

Witchy... by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

Both frogs and dragonflies are spiritually significant to me, so I put them here. Anyway, that's all for today!

Tattoo #2!!!!!

2011-08-26T19:19:00.002-05:00

I am in love with this symbol! It's the Venus sign, In case you don't know. It symbolizes...

*femininity
*female empowerment
*the goddess
*oneness
*spirituality over matter
*sisterhood

...and a whole lot more. My dad says it's stupid because I'm already a girl, so I don't need the sign. But I say he's stupid, so there.
Anyway, I got it today on Women's Equality Day! What a coincidence! It hurt like hell, though; much worse than my first one. But I just love it!

When bored, use name generators

2011-08-11T11:41:00.003-05:00
Since I have been working a redonkulous amount of days lately, I don't have much time to do anything in between. So I veg out on my iPad doing crap like this..

Mermaid name

My mermaid name is Gold Port Singer
(flavens portus)
Gold coloured with similar variegation between individuals as is seen in coy carp. Flaxen-haired with pale, orange-gold skin.
City lovers, the portus congregate near to large ports, exploring netting, anchors, and any other man-made curiosities they find. Scavengers by nature, they have been reported to steal fishermen's catches and are occasionally snared in trawler nets.
Note: Known for its alluring song, this variety is rarely quiet, luring sailors to their doom.
Get your own mermaid names from The Mermaid Name Generator!

Elf name

My elf name is Gilorsel
Meaning:
Star Tree (gîl+orn)
Daughter, Maiden or Girl (sell)
(gilorn+sell)
Get your own elf names from The Elf Name Generator!

Fairy name

My fairy name is Oak Goblinglimmer
She brings riches and wealth.
She lives in forests of oak and lime trees.
She can only be seen when the sun sets on the day of a completed harvest.
She wears pretty autumnal leaf colours and has gentle green wings like a butterfly.
Get your own fairy names from The Fairy Name Generator!

Fantasy name

My fantasy name is Sinead Shadowsinger
Goddess of the Northern Oceans
Get your own fantasy names from The Fantasy Name Generator!

Vampire name

The Great Archives determine that I have gone by the identity: Guinevere Darling
Known in some parts of the world as: Bast of Blood
The Great Archives Record: Thirsty, unstoppable and vicious.
Get your own vampire names from The Vampire Name Generator!

Witch name

My witch is the WARTY Morag Toadbeater
She beats you with an umbrella
and she likes to eat flies!
She is covered in warts and carbuncles!
Get your own witch names from The Witch Name Generator!

...that ones a bit religiously insensitive, but what're ya gonna do?

When bored, use mane generate

2011-08-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

August Charity: Somalia.

2011-08-09T11:20:00.002-05:00
Can you believe there are some people that still don't know what's going on in Somalia? According to one article I read, this is the worst humanitarian crisis pretty much ever, even though it was preventable and now treatable. Why? Because no ones paying attention to it. The media coverage has been very lax and nobody's making a big deal about it, so people have been driven to help out. But make no mistake, this is one of the biggest famines ever and there a few causes more deserving of your money. Which is why this month, I chose to make this the charity. I had originally wanted to do the Birthday Fund, since it was my birthday and all, but I thought it could wait.
Anyway, there are two places I think are the most helpful, but href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/10/how-to-help-somalia_n_894117.html">here's a list> of all the charities helping out.
I chose this one, <a href="http://www.unhcr.org/emergency/somalia/global_landing.html">The UN Refugee Agency>. According to them, just seven dollars provides a super nutritional meal for one of the refugees.

My birthday! The good and the bad...

2011-08-04T10:43:00.002-05:00
Well, yesterday I turned 19! I had fun with my sisters in town, and the day before my friend took me to the mall. It was great.
She bought me Chinese food, we took pictures in the photo booth, and went to the candy store (!!!!), and saw some of our work friends. Very awesome.
Then yesterday me and my sister stopped by work for a minute and everyone told me how nice I looked. :) even the people who usually dontnlike me said happy birthday, so that was nice.
Then my older sister came to pick us up. She brought her kids, who are adorable.
We went to this witchy store where I got a bunch of incense and my younger sister bought me a chinese zodiac monkey statue. So sweet of her!
And then...it was Orange Leaf. Have you ever heard of it? It's frickin amazing! Self serve frozen yogurt? You can get as much as you want and pay by the ounce. I got peanut butter, pecan, and coconut...with almonds and coconut on top. Fo sho.
Then we went back to the mall and I got some of this perfume that I wanted (it's called Sungari and it's amazing).
Then we went back home and my mom and godmother were there, with my favorite pizza and a carrot cake.
I opened my presents! I got...
Hedwig and the Angry Inch
A Hedwig poster
Soap making supply, including the goddess soap molds I wanted!
Eco friendly bath stuff
Garden stuff
And Buffy season 2!

Not bad, eh? So that was about it for the birthday festivities and it was all pretty good. Then the guy I like canceled our date. With a lie, no less. On. My. Birthday. I'm pretty sure that makes him the devil. So yeah, I'm really bummed about that. He didnt even tell me happy birthday! Bitch, I know you were on Facebook. So that was mighty disappointing.

Oh well. Now I know and now he's dead to me. :)

Lammas is coming!

2011-07-31T16:18:00.002-05:00
Wow, I haven't updated in a while. I haven't really had anything to write about, even though there's been lots of stuff happening lately. Did I ever mention we're getting the house we want? Yes, we're very excited. The guy I like broke up with his girlfriend shortly after asking me out. I'm kind of tentatively happy about that, but who knows how it will go? Dude's a flake, that's for sure. But he says we're going to see Harry Potter the day after my birthday. If he stands me up, I will consider it being stood up on my birthday and he will be dead to me. Ahem.
I also saw it with another guy who asked me out. Sadly, it was a little akward and I think he likes me way more than I like him, so it's not gonna go anywhere. Oh yeah, and did I mention my 19th birthday is in like 3 days?!?! I'm so excited even though I'm not sure what I'm doing yet. And I'm kinda more excited to go out with this guy, if I'm being honest...

ANYWAY. On to the point. Lammas is tomorrow! I do so love that sabbat, but I'm not sure what to do for it this year. For one thing, I have to work tomorrow in pharmacy (blah) all day, so that limits my options a bit. Otherwise I just have no plans. It's like if you can't make bad, WTH can you do for this sabbat? I'm probably just gonna meditate and do some offerings, plus some magickal work for abundance and artistic skill.

So that's about it. Just wanted to stop by and remind you all I'm still alive, talk about myself, and mention the sabbat. I probably won't be able to post tomorrow, but I'll try to post soon with pics of my altar, which I'm not entirely happy with, BTW.

July's Charity!

2011-07-18T11:39:00.002-05:00
Hey! You know how last January one of my resolutions was to donate to a charity a month? Well, even though o haven't updated about it much, I actually have done pretty good! So far I've give to the Water Fund, RAINN, Japan, and March of Dimes. I'll admit I did skip last month, since I was a wee bit broke. But I tried to make up for it by using GoodSearch, which is like google, only they donate money to a charity of your choice every time you search with them. It was on ABC news, so you know it's legit! Anyway, I have not skipped this month!

This month is a little out of the ordinary because it's not technically a charity. It's a Kickstarter fund. In case you don't know, that's a program where people Can help fund projects they really believe in. I chose to back a project I'm really interested in, and one I think the rest of the pagan community can get behind, too! It is...

A MOVIE OF THE FIFTH SACRED THING!!

That's right! Remember the book by Starhawk that I reviewed last summer? The pagan ecotopia novel? Well, people are trying to make it a movie, which I think is awesome. But you might be asking how making a movie is important? And why would I choose to give my tiny bit of money to a movie project instead of a real charity? Well, I'll let the website explain it for me:

They say that movies are collective dreams. If so, we’re heading for a nightmare—for there are very few films that show a positive future on earth. We want to change that. How can we create a thriving, just and balanced future if we can’t even imagine it? We want to bring alive a vision that can inspire people—and we’ve found the story in Starhawk’s novel, The Fifth Sacred Thing.

In the story, set in 2048, Northern California has survived eco-catastrophes, wars and epidemics and forged a society based on respect for the Four Sacred Things that support life: air, fire, water and earth. Streets are turned into gardens, streams flow free, people of all races and religions live in harmony – until the militarist Southlands attack. How can the people of a peaceful society fight against ruthless invaders without becoming what they’re fighting against? Musician-turned-guerilla Bird, his story-teller grandmother Maya, and Madrone, the healer, must wield a force more powerful than weapons—the fifth sacred thing.

In the eighteen years since its publication, hundreds of thousands of people have read The Fifth Sacred Thing and been moved by its imagery and drama. Now, at this time when our future seems so precarious, we want to bring it to the screen and to a whole new generation who are more visual than verbal. To do it right—big screen, special effects, major actors and director, will take lots of money. What we hope to raise here is just the beginning, but a very important one.

That's why I feel it is a worthy cause. And if you think so too, you can go here to back the project yourself! I hope people will give just a little bit to help the Pagan vision come to life on screen.

Finally, Litha Altar Pics!

2011-07-08T14:37:00.002-05:00

Isn't it lovely? In the middle there's my awesome sunflower faery candle holder. And on either side there's some nice flower candles my mom got me. Behind the candles there's the Green Woman and Green Man cards from my Jessica Galbreth Oracle Cards. Also, flower candles, my cauldron, and some herbs.

More view from the middle....

Goddess side. For some reason I don't have a picture of the god side. These pictures were taken with my iPad, BTW! Not too shabby, don't you think?

Summer Picture Post!

2011-07-08T14:16:00.008-05:00

^monster hunting with my little niece and nephew over the fourth of July.

I'm finally able to post pictures! How? Because my laptop works. Yeah. Damn thing only played dead so I would go buy an iPad, then popped back to life like, 'lol, jk, I'm totally virus free!' *sigh* Anyway, here's a bunch of pictures of my lovely summer time plants

View from in between the apple and peach tree. Beyond that is just miles of corn. Yup, I'm a country girl.

Hibisuis! I love them and when they start falling off I colect them and use them as herbs.

Bebeh watermelon.

Caterpillars freaking love parsely! And I planted a ton this stuff. I guess that's why we have so many gorgeous butterflies this year.

iPad for Witches!

2011-07-06T16:21:00.003-05:00
Hey y'all. You know how I'm kind of awesome and have an iPad? Well, I've been hitting the app store, looking at all the awesome things I could be downloading if I had a decent Internet connection, and I've found quite q few pagan goodies. I decided to share them here, in case any one has an iPad or phone.
First I'll start with common witchy interests...

HERBS:

EZ Herbs: It's a free app with lovely pictures and information, covering a wide range of herbs. It teaches you how to use the herbs for healing, and I think some recipes.

LeafSnap: this is another freebie. From what I understand by friends who have this app, you can take pictures of plant leaves and the app will help you identify them. I hear it has a few kinks that need worked out, but how helpful if your out wildcrafting or just wondering what type of plants are native for your area!

Herbal Encyclopedia: Only 99 cents for a huge encyclopedia- that doesn't even require an Internet connect! Awesome pics and cool information for a very low price.

MOON PHASES:

Moon.: Free! And very cool, with nice graphics and loads of information. Not only would this app be good for basic moon phase info, it would also be very helpful for astrologers.

Moonshine: 99 cents for even better graphics, a little more info, and a really cool moon calendar.

CANDLES:

Free Candle: a free app that is very realistic looking. Apparently there's a way to blow on it to make it go out, but I'm not sure how. Anyway, you can choose from ten different candles and different lightings. Can also play music.

DIVINATION:

Tarot Free: Well, obviously free. And with many different spreads and and categories, plus the ability to save spreads. Pretty cool, of you ask me.

Water Divination: this one is $1.99. It looks interesting, obviously water centric, with cool information. It's not like a traditional tarot deck, more like an oracle deck. Still pretty cool for the price.

TarotPad: 99 cents, but still pretty cool. Less spreads than Tarot Free, but worth the money.

Hand Reading Pro HD: 2.99, but worth it if you really like palm reading. Pretty professional and with lots of information.

The Runes: A Human Journey: only a $1.99 for a virtual bag of runes and guide book. Pretty neat.

I would love to show some cool astrology apps, but none of them were under $9.99. :( Thats pretty expensive, if you ask me.

Now for some random ones!

Meditation: 99 cents. Mostly it's just relaxation sounds tonhelp you meditate. It has lots of sounds and you can mix them too. I had an appn like it, but I never used it. It's still cool though.

Universal Breathing: free and with really cool graphics. Helps you train your berating for meditation and stress relief.

Chakra Tuning: 2.99 and has lots of cool pictures and information about chakras and tuning them

Ipause: 1.99. A cool labyrinth for all your meditative needs.

Dream Journal: $1.99. A very cool and simple dream journal with symbol look up and the ability to password lock it. Plus it has special lighting for using in the middle of the night.

And then if you want somethingnjust for fun, try these:

Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials: at $4.99, this is the most expensive app I'd ever buy. But it's so effing cool, y'all! Beautiful graphics and setting, awesome story line, challenging puzzles (maybe a little too challenging for me >.>). I just love Big Fish Games. Also, it's very pagany, considering you gather potion materials through the whole game and use them at the end. Very cool.

Boil and Bubble: for a free game, this one looks very cool. In it you play a witch, making potions and spells to fend off all kinds of supernatural chaos. Very cool grahpics and very witchy. Love!

Besides that, there are loads of witchy books in the app store, but I haven't been able to find many good ones. There are so many awesome apps out there, one for anything you're into. I just downloaded a ghost radar app that's the bomb, a super cool fantasy game with fairies and stuff, and this awesome game called Build It Green, where you turn an island into an eco paradise! I may never get off my iPad...

Tarot Readings and Fireworks: my kinda fourth!

2011-07-05T20:24:00.004-05:00
Well, I hope everyone had a really good fourth of July. Even non-Americans! Because everyone should have had angood day yesterday!
Mine was effing awesome. Both my older sisters were there with the four youngest kids. I just love kids! They were about 8 to 9 years old, one boy, and they were so much fun! We ran around, played in the woods, and played with my old My Scene dolls! I had forgotten how much fun it is to simply put clothes on and off a doll...seriously, what isbfun about that?!

Anyway, it was my nephew's 8th birthday. We had cake and presents and whatnot. You see, my sister, her fiancée, and their kids are from Chicago, where you can't do lots of fireworks. We live in the country, where they sell fireworks in every parking lot. So they went w little crazy and bought about 200 dollars worth of fireworks! It made for an amazing night.
And omg, my little nephew would scream, "I LOVE YOU, FIREWORKS!" after every big one. They were so cute!

Then today they came back to hang out before they have to go back to Chicago. Me and my niece decorated a bag from a kit she got, then we popped MORE fireworks (mostly smoke bombs), then we played with dolls again. But my nephew was getting antsy and I thinknthey were about to start fighting, so we decided to go monster hunting. It was so fun! I brought them to the barn and told them about the ghosts I used to see there. We walked all around and looked at the weird writing on the wall. They made up ghost languages, and my nephew took it so seriously! He got really mad if he thought you were joking around. Eventually he decided we had to fight the ghosts and he gave me a plastic bottle to fight with. He got the tennis racket. >.>

It was all so much fun! I'm so glad I got to see them, and meet one of my nieces who no one had really met before. Oh, and my little baby nephew who was frikin' adorable, even though he wouldn't let me hold him....they all said I was a 'cool young aunt'! I feel special.

But that's not all! I managed to corrupt the children a little bit, brining them to the pagan side ( with their parents permission, weirdly enough). See, none of them had seen my room yet. All purple with herbs and scary Kali posters, and dangling pagan things. All the kids ooohed and ahhhed over my pretty stuff and they said 'wouldnt it be great if we had magic and could make our rooms exactly like this and with all the same stuff?' lol, I really didn't think it would be that interesting for little kids, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, then they found my tarot card box. Yeah. They were a little obsessed with it. They made me read their cards all day long. My nephew got into it, asking stuff like, 'will I be famous? Will I be a monster hunter? Will I be tall?' It was fun. My nieces decided they want tarot cards. But her mom had to explain they couldn't mention it to their dad, who is a crazy religious conservative loser. Seriously, he sent me a teen bible for Christmas one year. Look how that worked out...

And after they got all quiet, gathering around my Kali poster and asking tough questions about why she's sticking her tongue out and why she's standing on a dead guy. And I had to explain to them what an 'Earth Mother' is. Very interesting.

Yes, it was a great fourth of July. So much better than last years. And in completely unrelated news, the guy I like? I'll probably never hear from him again. He texted me Sunday, begging me to work his 8 1/2 hour shift in a department I know nothing about. I explained to him many times that I couldn't do it for many reasons, but he kept at it. Finally he said what I guess he thought would change my mind: that if I did it, he would call me everyday...for week. Because, you know, I'm a pathetic desperate girl who will drop everything and bust my ass for a guy, as long as he promises to grace me with his attention for a week. Gag. Me. I said no and he hasn't talked to me since. Yeah. Probably won't again, either. I know I shouldn't be sad about that, but I am.

Oh well. It was a very good weekend. Pics may be forthcoming. Hope y'all had a great holiday!

Disillusionment

2011-06-26T14:35:00.002-05:00
Hey y'all. I haven't posted in a while, thanks to an inability to upload my litha pictures to photo bucket (curse you, iPad!!!). Besides that Ive been working more the past month, searching daycares around the area for a new job, and hanging outnwith friends, because I seem to be popular this month. I'm sure that will pass. I'm even going on a date at some point. Thats right, with a guy. I'm not too excited about it though, because while he's a very nice, smart guy...I'm just not that into him. The guy I do like seems to like me more all the tome. He even called me the other night and we talked for almost 3 hours! But this post is not to talk about awesome things. Its about stuff that actually kinda sucks.

I'm just not feeling things like I used to. I'm kind of becoming disilluisioned with things. Even paganism. That's something thats hard for me to admit, because I love it so much and it's a part of me. But I haven't experienced the energy in a very long time, and I always struggled to rectify it with my feminism. Which is another thing that's constantly wearing on me.

Everyday I get up and check the feminist blogroll and mentally prepare myself. Ok, now which of my favorite things am I going to find outnis my
Misogynistic? What horrible news am I going to hear now? In what way will I be guilt tripped today? I keep on reading them because I know it's important and nessicary. But I don't like it one bit and every day I feel more and more like the worst femininst ever. I me, look at me; I have long hair, I wear occasional make up and dresses, and I want to have sex with a guy. Maybe I should just hang up my protest sign and join the idiot masses...they look so happy over there...

But no, I won't be giving up either feminism or paganism, because they are both so important, for me and for the world. I just don't know how to be myself and be happy while not betraying my passions.

I've been reading Starhawk's book Walking to Mercury and I can totally relate to the characters. Ones a pagan leader who travels to Nepal to reawaken the goddess energy within her that's gone quiet. She goes through the motions, but has the same problem I do with not actually experiencing the energy. Through flash backs we see her as a teen, rebellious and activisty, with a burning need to help the world. Obviously I can relate to that too. I wonder if everybody goes through this phase, but just don't talk about it? I sure hope so. And if so, can someone please talk to me about it?!

Happy Actual Litha!

2011-06-21T09:58:00.002-05:00

Hey peoples. Hope everyone's having an awesome solstice so far, even thought it's pretty early. I already had my ritual and I'm still working on getting pictures from this crazy iPad contraption onto my dear blogger. Now I'm out to harvest herbs before it starts raining and I have to gonto work! Happy solstice, y'all!

Early Litha Celebration!

2011-06-19T11:39:00.002-05:00

I shall be doing my litha ritual today, a couple of days early. Why? Because I have to work all day tuesday and I'll be far to do it then.
Besides, today seems like a good day to do it. It's the day of the sun, for starters. It's father's day. It's nice and hot and my sunflowers are in full bloom. And I spent yesterday doing that most sacred summer activity; chilling at the pool with my friend. So now I'm all sun burned and in a summery mood!

I'll still do a couple of things on the actual day, such as harvesting my herbs. But all the time consuming stuff will be throughout today. And I can't wait to how y'all my awesome altar! Could be my best one yet!!

New Book of Shadows for Sale!!

2011-06-17T23:45:00.003-05:00

So here it is! Latest Book of Shadows in my shop I really love this one- purple dragonfly gorgeousness!
Click the link for more pictures (and to buy it. Buy it, dammit!).

"You're just lucky you're not fat..."

2011-06-14T17:34:00.004-05:00
"Otherwise I wouldn't want to date you."

This was said to me by the guy I currently like, when he called me last night. We talked for over two hours, me standing outside the whole time to get reception. It was nice. To be honest, he's the first guy to ever call me. And he's cute and flirts with me all the time. He actually seems interested in me, though I'm sure it's almost entirely an act (although who knows. I am a strange home schooled pagan hippie. I'm sure he's never met anyone quite like me). He said a lot of nice things, we talked and joked, it was great. Real shame he's a player and he has a girlfriend. Loves the drugs too, though thats not a big deal for me, really.

It was a very interesting experience. On the one hand, I like him, he's cute, we get along. I'd love to go out with him, but mostly because I figure I ought to go out with SOMEONE before I'm 19. Not like I'm gonna marry him or anything, I'd just want something causal and flirty so I could have the experience.

On the other hand, he says stuff like the quote above. Hes obviously shallow; he doesn't read and he listens to rap. Don't look at me that way, you know rap is stupid as hell. No interest in anything but drugs, partying, and sex, three things I'm damn happy without. He's not as smart as me, something he readily admits. And some of the things he said, even though he was joking (I think) made me feel not so great. I really don't want to be one of those girls that dates the guy that puts her down.
Also, he kept asking sexual questions and even though I told him over and over I didn't want to talk about it, he kept badgering me about it. I don't like people not respecting my wishes. But then I've never met a teen boy who didn't have this flaw, so if I'm gonna date anyone I think I'll have to put up with crap like that.

So now I'm just confused. I know I like him enough, and that if he asks me out I'll say yes. But what will that say about me? I feel like I'll be betraying my feminism if I date a guy that doesn't respect me or any other woman. But then I think it wouldn't be so bad, since it would be causal and just for experimentative purposes. *sigh* I feel like buffy in season six. I just don't know what to do...

Sorry for the long, personal post. I just don't have anyone to talk to about anything involving feminism and this is a big feminist issue for me.

The Movie Everyone Needs to See...

2011-06-12T17:11:00.008-05:00

Thursday night I watched the best movie since Rocky Horror. The move shown above, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, is so epic fantastic, I don't know how I've missed it for so long. I don't even know how to explain the awesome that is this movie, so I'll let imdb explain the premise for me:

'A transexual punk rock girl from East Berlin tours the US with her rock band as she tells her life story and follows the ex-boyfriend/bandmate who stole her songs.'

One of the most amazing, inspiring movies ever. Perfect for all those LGBT, and the supporters. It's very funny, and a rock opera with some of the best music ever. Plus, is it weird I find Hedwig very hot? I swear, men are better when they're women.
I highly recommend this movie to all people interested in quirky indie films, hella good music, humor, gender identity, and/or drag queens. It's so freaking moving. And the songs! Sugar Daddy, Midnight Radio, Tear Me Down....holy shit, they are awesome. However, the very best song is The Orgin Of Love. It's unbelievable. It tells the story of Plato's Symposium, which if you don't know what that is, you should check it out. For your listening pleasure, I've included a link to listen to it. I can't put it on this blog myself, because the damn iPad does not support flash. Wtf, Apple?! so, click the link below and read along with the lyrics, which I've also provided. Seriously, y'all. I never listen to the same song in one day (it's a weird thing I have), but I listened to this one over 15 times in two days.

http://www.playlist.com/playlist/additem/1119575825

Origin Of Love Lyrics

When the earth was still flat,
And the clouds made of fire,
And mountains stretched up to the sky,
Sometimes higher,
Folks roamed the earth
Like big rolling kegs.
They had two sets of arms.
They had two sets of legs.
They had two faces peering
Out of one giant head
So they could watch all around them
As they talked; while they read.
And they never knew nothing of love.
It was before the origin of love.

The origin of love

And there were three sexes then,
One that looked like two men
Glued up back to back,
Called the children of the sun.
And similar in shape and girth
Were the children of the earth.
They looked like two girls
Rolled up in one.
And the children of the moon
Were like a fork shoved on a spoon.
They were part sun, part earth
Part daughter, part son.

The origin of love

Now the gods grew quite scared
Of our strength and defiance
And Thor said,
"I'm gonna kill them all
With my hammer,
Like I killed the giants."
And Zeus said, "No,
You better let me
Use my lightening, like scissors,
Like I cut the legs off the whales
And dinosaurs into lizards."
Then he grabbed up some bolts
And he let out a laugh,
Said, "I'll split them right down the middle.
Gonna cut them right up in half."
And then storm clouds gathered above
Into great balls of fire

And then fire shot down
From the sky in bolts
Like shining blades
Of a knife.
And it ripped
Right through the flesh
Of the children of the sun
And the moon
And the earth.
And some Indian god
Sewed the wound up into a hole,
Pulled it round to our belly
To remind us of the price we pay.
And Osiris and the gods of the Nile
Gathered up a big storm
To blow a hurricane,
To scatter us away,
In a flood of wind and rain,
And a sea of tidal waves,
To wash us all away,
And if we don't behave
They'll cut us down again
And we'll be hopping round on one foot
And looking through one eye.

Last time I saw you
We had just split in two.
You were looking at me.
I was looking at you.
You had a way so familiar,
But I could not recognize,
Cause you had blood on your face;
I had blood in my eyes.
But I could swear by your expression
That the pain down in your soul
Was the same as the one down in mine.
That's the pain,
Cuts a straight line
Down through the heart;
We called it love.
So we wrapped our arms around each other,
Trying to shove ourselves back together.
We were making love,
Making love.
It was a cold dark evening,
Such a long time ago,
When by the mighty hand of Jove,
It was the sad story
How we became
Lonely two-legged creatures,
It's the story of
The origin of love.
That's the origin of love.

First Post from the New iPad!!!!

2011-06-07T10:04:00.002-05:00
Woot! I has an iPad!!! Please forgive any spelling errors; I haven't quite mastered the keyboard, though I'm pretty good. And it has the godforsaken autocorrect. :/. In case you're wondering, I had to get an iPad when my laptop caught yet another virus and I was just like 'fuuuuck this.' so we went to best buy and I was gonna get another laptop, but then the iPad was better and only a little more expensive, soooo...

so, for brevity's sake, I'll just list all pros and cons of this wicked awesome little gadget. And I'm going to start with the cons, becAuse I like to end on a positive note!

*lack of USB ports. You have to buy a separate device for uploading your photos. In fact, without downloading certain apps, you can't upload pics to any websites (like blogger. *sigh*).

* no photo editing system either. I had to download an app for basic retouching. Real cool camera though.

*AUTOCORRECT. FAIL.

* no built in dictionaries or calculators. You must download the Apps.

* you basically have to have computer some where else to set up your iPad. That wasn't a big problem for me, since everyone in my family has a laptop. But you also have to have an iTunes account, which I did not have until Sunday.

* It's sometimes hard to scroll on things, like when your writing a blog post. Like the page with load, but not the body of your blog.

* No way to bold or italicize anything. That's kinda crazy.

Now for the pros!

*very light weight and easy to carry, which is important to me.

*it doesn't heat up, like a laptop does.

* twirly screen!!

* awesome touch screen. The keyboard is easy to use

*fun apps. I just installed iBookshelf and this super cool sketching app. Nano Wrimo even has its own app! Very excited about that.

*Super long lasting battery.

*Not too much more expensive than the laptops we were looking at.

*Back to apps, there are some very cool pagan ones; tarot cards, highly detailed astrology apps, ebooks...It's pretty cool.

* The iPad does not have a really good writing program, but neither did the lap tops. The best buy guy told me that the only thing laptops come standard with now days is the simple word doc. That sucks. iPad comes standard with a Notes program, complete with font changes and spell check. Plus all the sweet ass writing apps are pretty cheap.

So I think that might be all for pros and cons. Actually, I'm sure I'll think of more as soon as I publish this. But to sum p, iPads = AWWWWEEESOOOOMMMEEE!!!!!!!

*

My Very Own Etsy!!!!

2011-05-31T20:42:00.002-05:00
Gah! I am so excited right now! I just listed my first book of shadows on etsy! I have two, but I've only listed this one so far. Check it out!!!

Go check out my page! And buy my crap- uh, art! :D

SUMMER WRITING PROGRAM!!!

2011-05-30T20:57:00.003-05:00
Say! Do you like writing? Do you like NaNoWriMo but don't have the time/energy and wish you could take it slower? Do you have a Gaiaonline account? Well, do I have the solution for you! Sign up for the Gaian Summer Writing Program!

I am really excited about this! I have two ideas: One postapocolytic novel about 4 people fighting a corrupt government and searching for the last remaining life on the planet. And another about a witch/human war and a mage caught in the middle.

I think, since it's nice out and I'll have to work and I'll have relatives over and I've recently aquired friends, that I'll only write 25,000 words, maybe in each story. It sounds relaxing and fun and I've been wanting to write that apocolypse story for a very long time.

Of course, SuWriMos starts...tomorrow. June 1st. So, it's a little short notice. So if you want to participate but don't have any ideas, I suggest this awesome website. It's really fun.

So anyway, I can't wait!!!

I just don't get it...

2011-05-18T11:08:00.002-05:00
As you may have heard, the mythical Stephen Hawking has come out saying there is no after life.

.....A-duh. What do you expect from scientists? But for some reason people are making this a big deal. Forget the fact that he, like the rest of us, really doesn't know. If white, scientist man says it, it must be true.

Here's what I don't get: 1) Why are we wasting time thinking/arguing about this? 2) Who gives a fuck? And 3) Why can't brilliant scientists like Hawking spend their time trying to cure cancer, or reverse global warming, or inventing a giant ShamWow to get the oil out of the Gulf? Now I know many are trying to do these things, but maybe instead of wasting time on questions we will never know the answer to, we could be putting all our energy to things that matter.

Whether or not there's an afterlife is not a question I think is very important. Does it make a difference in our lives? Not mine. It'll make athiests feel smug and relious people depressed, but really it won't change many people's minds. Will it help anyone to find out? No, it will just take away people's hope and faith, so...yay? Will we ever know the answer? No, so I ask again

WHO GIVES A FUCK?!?!

I know I don't. But I guess one could drive themselves crazy wondering about it.

One thing I've noticed is when people say 'There is no god/afterlife', they mean there is not CHRISTIAN god or afterlife. They never really address anybody else and I think I know why: Christianity has caused a lot of shit in the world. Horrible things have been done in the name of this and a few other religions. I guess that's why some people are so hip to disprove them.

But the thing is...horrible things have been done in the name of science too. Some things that spring immeadently to mind: Animal torture under the guise of 'testing', the atom bomb, and every single technology that's been invented that's fucked over the planet, all in the name of science and progess. Again...yay?
And if you think religion the only thing that's been corrupted, you got another thing comin'. Did you know corporations routinely hire doctors and scientists to say their stuff is safe when it's not? Seriously, check out the book 'Toxic Sludge is Good For You' (forget who wrote it), or 'A Language Older Than Words' by Derrick Jensen. Seriously, last time I went to the doctor, know what I saw? Pharmacutical names and labels on everything, even the chairs! Everything is so fucked, I tell you...

This is all not to say I'm anti-science and technology. I love my laptop and I like a good Nova episode as much as the next person. But I do not think we should be putting all our faith in something as corupt, dogmatic, and sexist (that's right, I went there- see 'evolutionary pyschology') as Science. It's practically a religion itself.

*sigh* I just don't see the thrill in telling people there is no afterlife. Hawking called it 'A fairytale for those afraid of death' or something like that, and maybe it is. But what difference does it make? Assuming no one is trying to convert or kill you or take away your rights because of their beliefs, what harm is there in believing there is something more out there? Sometimes these beliefs are all people have. Do you really want to tell the kid with cancer or the old lady that they're just gonna die and that will be it? Do you wanna tell the person that lost their loved one that they'll never see them again? Why does it make some people so happy to take away other peoples' hope? Even if you personally think it's stupid or silly, it's not hurting you, so why give a damn? Whether there's an afterlife or not, peoples' faith gives them hope, comfort, and joy and I can't think of anything more douchy than wanting to take that away.

My Book of Shadows!

2011-05-08T21:32:00.008-05:00
As some may know, I'm working on making some BOS's to sell. I have one about 98% done, one I just started, and one I'm hoping to begin tonight. And in the spirit of BOS's, I thought it would be fun to share mine!

Made out of a binder and covered in green silk. I made that button myself, BTW.

I've had it for about 2 years now. Look how big it is! And how neat and oraganized, right?

Wrong! (I made that pocket...) People recently gave me a bunch of stickers and I stuffed them in there. There's also scrapes of paper with spells, rituals, and corespondances on them. Plus some spare paper. On the other side is a Selina Fenech painting. She had a free coloring page on her website and I printed it out to use in the BOS cause I think it's fitting.

Inside there's my book blessing. And the Earth page, which I really like. There are different sections for each element.

The end of my stone corespondance page and the Air divider...

My incense corespondance from the Air section, and the Fire divider, which I never quite finished.

The left is what happens with overzealous paper staining...And the Water divider.

So that's all. Obviously I have way more sections, but some aren't finished and some just aren't that amazing. Hopefully very soon I can share some of my other upcycled creations. One is so cool I kind of want it for myself...

Post Beltane Picspam!

2011-05-08T12:28:00.000-05:00
It's several days after Beltane, so you know what that means...My very late Beltane pictures! And since this post will already be so huge, I'm just gonna get right in...

This is what we had for dinner; yummy stir fry veggies over jasmine rice. I love me some jasmine rice.

And an awesome fruit salad, sort of following the recipe in the 2011 witches day planner.

Here's my lavender and parsely in the corner of my sun garden.

My marigolds and some adorable snapdragons!

Sun flower sroups! ^-^

Daisies, marigolds, and a hint of my rosemary.

Here are my violas. They're called Dark Delight. How cool is that?

Some blurry pansies...

Here's my tyhme, the mint that wouldn't go away, and my foxgloves from last year.

This is the view from my room; beehive, field, and firepit included.

Here's the apple and peach trees, and the other side of the feild. Aren't I a lucky witch?

Finally some altar pics!

Goddess side...

And god side. It had loads of flowers on it, very pretty.
So! That's all I'm goint to say today. Hope everyone is having a happy mother's day! :D

Wicca and Gender

2011-05-02T19:19:00.009-05:00
There's an issue that's been weighing on my mind for a while now. It's annoying because I don't really care about this issue- as in, I don't think it's worth all the fuss people are making over it. It's crazy how whiny and hair-split-y people are...and this is coming from a pretty radical feminist!

The issue is gender in Wiccan and Pagan circles. Not just male and female, but trans-people as well. Where do they fit in? Does Wicca rely too heavily on gender sterotypes? Is it really as accepting toward gay and lesbian people as it seems? These questions seem deep, but they're really pretty simple. I don't see why people are making such a big deal over this stuff. *sigh* But let me explain anyway...

1: Let's get one incredably simple fact straight: Wicca (and many Pagan religions) is a fertility religion at it's heart. Many of the sabbats celebrate life, death, birth, and rebirth. And when you have a relgion that celebrates life and birth, it only makes sense for the deities to reflect those things. In most cases, it takes a male and a female to create life...so obviously we're going to have male and female gods.

People whine about Wicca being so hetro-centric, what with many sabbats (like Beltane) focusing on the hetro-partnership of the god and goddess. But how can you have the creation of life without the mating of a hetro couple? Wiccans don't honor a goddess and god because they hate gay people (although Gerald Gardner kind of did...but nowadays we look at him more as the kooky grandpa than anything). We honor the goddess and god as devine parents because that's how life works. When a mommy and daddy love each other very much...

The nice thing about Wicca is that while the traditional god and goddess are hetro, A) You don't have to be and B) they don't have to be. That's right! Different Pagans choose different gods. Or the gods choose you, some would say. You can honor just the goddess or even just the god, or any other god you want. Hell, even more than two! Pagans are an eclectic bunch; you can pretty much do whatever you want, god-wise, considering there are so many different branches of it. I myself work closely with Artemis, but at the sabbats I honor the traditional deities because I think the seasonal mythology is lovely.

Anyway, the main point is that almost all pagans and wiccans are cool with all L,G, and T people; anyone who isn't is in serious minority. And certainly no one is going to tell you the goddess hates fags or some shit. So I hope this long winded paragraph serves to show people wicca does not seek to disclude anyone for sexual orientation. Gerald Gardner might have, but it obviously didn't catch on.

On to point 2...

2: All the focus on fertility, sex, and the creation of life lead some people to think Wicca is overly focused on limited gender roles for women: that of the nurturer and mother. Instead the god is celebrated for being a wise, strong warrior. People complain that the goddess is only valued for her body's ablities. I have a couple of issues with that.
A: She's a goddess. A mythological deitiy. Completly non-physical. She is only personified and given a body to make her easier to relate to on a human scale. She has no body to objectify. I will not argue that she is valued for her life giving abilities...but what the hell do you expect a deitiy to be valued for?! She's not a goddess of math, or piano playing or juggling. She's the freakin' life giver. However, if you're looking for one, there a plently of goddesses that are worshiped for things other than life; some that spring to mind are Athena, Artemis, Kali, Pele, Hecate. Wiccans and Pagans honor a host of goddesses, the life giving-mother just being one of them.

B: The god too is valued for his life-creating. Do I need to reiterate how it takes two to tango and that's why we honor a devine couple? The god is more than anything seen as the Father, while the goddess is usually seen as the Mother. They are usually honored equally, although the goddess does get a little more attention, considering many Pagans are damn sick of patriarhical religions.

C: Just because our life giving goddess is seen as the devine Mother doesn't mean all women have to be mothers. As I've already stated, Wicca doesn't hate women who choose not to have children just because they see the goddess as a mother. Pagans celebrate all women, mothers, non-mothers, lesbians, hetro, women-born-women, transwomen. We're people who like people, OK?!

I can understand, though, how some women might feel a little left out, with all the talk of fertility and birth. After all, not all women want or can have children; not all women menstrate; not all women are born women. AND THAT'S OK. Many things in Wicca are metaphors and myths; I don't think anyone really believes that up there in the sky there's a giant couple that do it and that makes Spring happen. So when rituals talk about 'her fertile womb', it actually means lots of things: The fertility in the earth that brings plants and flowers. The creative fertility in our minds that allows new projects to take seed. Of course literal fertility for those who want babies. When it talks of nurturing, it doesn't have to mean children. Birth doesn't have to be having a baby. It could mean lots of things, depending on what's relevent in your life.

Besides that, like I've already said, there are tons of goddesses out there. If you really, really can't swallow the idea of a mother goddess and just have to have one more suited for your life experience...no one is going to hate you for finding one.

I've also heard people complaining about the whole 'triple goddess' concept, saying that it only further underminds the goddess based on her body. I completly disagree with that. Allow me to explain with a,b, and c.
A: Again with the being too literal. Nobody thinks of the maiden and automatically goes to her pyschial ablities. No, the Maiden represents freedom, joy, youth, wildness...that sort of thing. It's the same with the other stages. And with the god.
I've actually heard people say the three stages of the god are something like, 'youth, warrior, sage.' No, actually; I've heard ONE person say this. Because it's not right. The god's stages are more like 'youth, father, sage'. He is not valued for his skills as a fighter or anything. His stages almost exactly mirror that of the goddesses; childhood, adulthood, and old age. And all the wisdoms and experiences that come with those things.

I will agree that the Wiccan focus on 'feminine' and 'masculine' energies is a little fishy. Why? Because those things are societital inventions, which usually end up screwing people over. The god and goddess are the devine parents, not because women are supposed to be nurturing mothers and men wise fathers, but because YOU HAVE TO HAVE A MOTHER AND FATHER TO HAVE LIFE.* I no longer feel any need to assign them human persoanlity traits like 'masculine' and 'feminine' because they are not humans and therefore not subject to human catagoraizing. They are not literal, they are mythological archetypes.

3: Oh, trans-people. How you confuse things. So many people discriminate against you without even realizing it, simply because you've never really been an issue before. It's no different in pagan and Wiccan circles. Recently there was a shit storm over some ritual that only wanted women who were born women to be involved. People flipped out over this and I can kind of understand why.

I really don't believe trans-women should be treated any differently from WBW (women born women). I just wish everyone could be treated completly equal and stuff like this was never any kind of issue. But since it is, I'll say that trans-women should probably be allowed in the ritual. But my question is, why the hell do you want to be a part of rituals like that? WBW will have had different experiences than trans-women. A ritual by and for WBW will probably include these experiences, and will therefore alienate trans-women. For example, menstration and childbirth. I really don't believe those things should be ignored just to make trans-women more comfortable. In fact, I hate it when trans-people complain about those things. These are important issues not just to WBW, but to fertility religions such as wicca. If you get rid of the focus on fertility and life, what are you left with?

While I believe in equality and inclusion, I also believe it's important to have places for groups that seperate from others. For example, rituals specifcally for gay men, or Dianic Wicca, which is just for women. Just because you're part of a lesbian-only ritual doesn't mean you hate straight people or want to discriminate against them by not including them. Does everybody really have to be in the middle of everything all the time? I don't think so.

*sigh* I hope this cleared up some things. I think I actually said what I meant to this time, which is nice for a change. >.>

*At least in most cases.

Beltane Faeries

2011-05-01T15:10:00.004-05:00

Go to geminimoon.net for more Pagan graphics!

Everyone knows Beltane is a busy day for the Fair Folk, so I decided to post some tips and my experience working with them. I won't say everything, because I would feel weird doing that and I think it would piss them off...which is never good.

Anyway, first the tips:

* On this day, leave them offerings! I like to leave oats, honey, cake, ginger, and sugar. In my experience, I usually get a good reaction from them when I leave ginger. Sugar, not so much. And they seem to like the honey too. However, they are all different and the Fae where you live may perfer wine or tobacco to any food products. Unfortunetly I do not have free acess to wine, so they'll just have to deal with it.

Other things I leave are stones (usually aventurine) and ribbons. Pay attention to the reaction you get from whatever you leave. And whatever you do, don't return every few minutes to check on the offering! They like privacy. Also, don't expect anything to disappear; they are not physical beings and so won't physically. It's just like leaving offerings to the gods; it's kind of the thought that counts.

* Fae communications will be high today. Try meditating outside to connect with them. Or ask them to visit your dreams. After I leave an offering or something, I usually get a visit in my dreams, usually by the same faery woman. Once I had something I wanted to tell them about some human-made danger coming their way and she popped right up in my garden (in the dream, obviously) and listened to me explain. Ever since, when they wanted to tell me something, the same fae has appeared. Usually they want me in the woods for some reason, but recently they requested I start working on the garden. So I got to it.
This is an amulet that can be printed out or drawn. Use it to enhance communication.

* It's said that putting thyme in your doors and windows will invite them in. I haven't had much luck with this, but you could sure try it.

* Try some Beltane honey cakes and leave one out for the fae! And I happen to have a recipe right here...

* They might want shelter after a long night of partying. Why not set up a sweet Faery pad? Seriously, it's so fun and you should look on etsy for inspiration. There are some real works of art on that website that sell for hundreds.

* Or maybe you've had enough of those mischief makers, hmmm? Well obviously you need to turn your clothes inside out. What else? And if that fails, try some basic protection runes, iron, or ringing a bell. They hate that.

Hope that helps! Now I have to go prepare my body art equipment for my ritual tonight. It's gonna be the bomb, although I still wish I had a group activity to do today. Damn Kansas, not having any Beltane celebrations...

Beltane!

2011-04-30T18:48:00.004-05:00

Beltane Babeh! by Jade0winchester on Polyvore.com

Happy Beltane, y'all! Hope everyone's having an awesome day!
As you could probably tell from my last post, I've got a lot of plans for today. I just hope the sun comes out- I want blue skies for my Beltane!
I have a couple of flowers to plant today (pansies, violas, and marigolds).
There are two rituals I plan to do: This garden ritual
And my favorite Beltane ritual from the author of Confessions of a Teenage Witch
All that plus leaving some offerings around for the good neighbors, who we all know are running around today. Love Beltane!

Beltane stuff!

2011-04-27T10:20:00.002-05:00

Beltane! by Jade0winchester on Polyvore.com

Boy am I having a shitty night. My computer got a virus and I've had to reinstall the whole thing. Now I have no AOL (which I actually liked having, believe it or not) and I can't get polyvore to open all the way. My favorite website and I can't go to it. Thanks, universe.
Besides that, my hours got cut at work, I may get written up for major cashier fail, and I'm just feeling pretty crappy.

On the plus side, today I got some thyme and allysum, and a whole bunch of stuff for my BOS making hobby! Seriously, the Good Will store around here sucks, but today I found a cheap skirt with fire/sun print and that will be great to tear apart for a book cover! (you'll see what I mean later...). A binder, 200 sheets of notebook paper, and some cool decorations for the front of the books...I'm almost in business, y'all!

And there are a couple other reasons to be happy: The hot new guy at work offered to drop everything and look at my car yesterday when I mentioned it wouldn't start. That was nice. Also, tomorrow is Easter! Even though we're not Christian, I still love me some Easter ham. And chocolate. To sum up, Easter is good.

But that's not what this blog post is about. It's about Beltane!
Last year I wrote about Beltane-y crafts. Honestly, they haven't changed much this year. But I still have some activities and crafts I want to talk about to today...

This year Beltane is on a Sunday, so I get it off. Yay! The things I want to do that day are...

* Planting in my garden! By next sunday I hope to have daises (which I'm going to wait and buy from work when the hot guy is in garden shop . ;)), maybe some foxgloves, and some more herbs. I've had to rethink a lot of my garden plans for lack of money and whatnot, so I'm not sure what plants should now go in my faerie garden. Besides thyme, foxgloves, and alysum, of course.

* Work with Faerie energy. We all know the fae are out in abundance this day and I plan to work with them.

* I read about this custum where you tie ribbons on trees and make wishes. I want to do that because I think it would look really cool.

* I've also heard it's a good time for vision questing. I'll be trying that, in one form or the other. (I will not be fasting- I love food too much.)

* This is one of the first sabbats that I don't have any food planned for. Oh well. It's still a week away, so maybe I'll think of something.

As for crafts, I don't have many this time around. I'm not making a maypole or a flower crown or anything. However, I am making...

*Masks. I feel they're really appropriate for this sabbat, especially since its direct counter part is Samhain. A friend of my mom gave me this fantastic purple mask, ready to decorate and I'm trying to get a green one to represent the Green Man. They're pretty sweet and I'll post pictures as soon as I finish it.

* Braiding. I'm going to incorporate it some spells on Beltane.

....Can you believe I've been searching for days and that's all I have? Sad, no?
So please, readers; if you have anything you want to add here...feel free! I'll try to find some good rituals and whatnot to post later, but I haven't got a lot of time now...

ETA: Things have gotten much better since I started writing this, including my computer. I can has polyvore now! :D

Happy Zombie Jesus Day!

2011-04-24T11:17:00.009-05:00
If you're Christian, happy Easter! If you're not...happy sunday? Oh well. You get ham no matter who you are, so it's all good!
This Easter my mom gave me the usual chocolate bunny, a beautiful card with a painting called 'sister moon' on it. I don't remember the artist's last name, but the first one is Aimee, so...
Also I got a pack of col-erasable non-photo blue pencils! Perfect for sketching because they don't smear or show up on scanners! I'm happy.
Even though my laptop is probably fucked...

You know what's weird? When I was a kid I was really anti-christain. I mean I just hated that crap. But Easter was the only time I ever considered it as a valid, maybe OK religion. I don't know why. I mean obiviously because I was a little kid and got easter egg hunts and chocolate (and ham. God, I love that stuff). But I think it was more than that. I have happy memories of watching The Ten Commandments with my family and once watching this claymation movie about Jesus with my grandma. Those were good times. And when you consider most Christain teachings of intolarence and hellfire...Easter is oddly hopeful and happy.

Now, however, I'm just a little struck by how silly the whole thing is. Do they honestly believe a guy came back from the dead? Like, no metaphor or anything, he was for real zombie-fied? I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound bitchy, but...you've got to be kidding me. People think Pagans believe weird things?!

*sigh* Oh well. I guess you can believe whatever you want as long as you don't push it on everyone and ya'know massacre millions of people over your beliefs- wait, Christains did that? OK, nevermind.

But seriously, if you believe in Zombie Jesus, I'm not gonna stop you. Happy Easter, y'all! HAM FOR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bees, Flowers, SPRING!

2011-04-21T19:28:00.006-05:00
So, since I haven't been on in a while, I have all these pictures that I haven't gotten a chance to post! So I'm doing that today! First, here's my Ostara altar, just a little late...

On the left, jade, agate, an egg, my goddess candle holder, some flowers, a goddess card, and my bottle of Ostara oil.
Center: my Ostara card, cauldron, goddess statue, and ostara tree.
And on the right, blood stone, sun candle, an antler, and the sun tarot card.

My beehive! I bought it off ebay and my dad put it together. It's so cool! We're going to try baiting it before we buy bees because they're freaking expensive! It's in a good spot because it's right by the field, with flowering and fruit bearing trees.
Speaking of flowering trees...

And my apple tree!

Isn't that a cool picture? We have some badass thorn trees around here.

Violets are all over the woods. They're so beautiful.

I just can't wait for Beltane. It's totally my favorite Sabbat. Even though I say that about them all...

Things To Come and A Suprise!

2011-04-18T12:46:00.005-05:00

^my cat Pumpkin discovers trees.

Hello my beloved blog! Where have I been all this time, you ask? Well, mostly working a whole lot for no money (FML) and chilling outside in the lovely spring weather. Seriously, bees and butterflies, flowers and apple blossoms, reading under the oak tree...it's great.

But I feel like I've been neglecting this blog, so since I don't actually have anything to update with, I figured I give y'all a preview of what's coming up and what I've been working on.

* Remember when I made my own BOS out of upcycled material? Well, I've been working on another (slightly cooler >.>) one that will go on my etsy! Actually a couple.

* I've been learning about crystal grids and I actually bought a few crystals for the spell I'm working on. Of course I wouldn't have bought any if I had known I was broke...Dammit Kmart, give me a raise already!

* My garden! All my seedlings died except for my sunflowers, which are nice healthy sprouts right now. The last couple of weeks I've bought snapdragons, marigolds, lavender, rosemary, and parsely. Going to go plant them as soon as I'm done here.

* Enjoying life with no HBC! I got off my pills and I feel a lot better. I'm working on a blog post about how badly HBC can screw up one's life.

* Ritual body art, yo! I love fantasy and stage make up, tatoos, henna, body glitter, etc. And I've been reading a really interesting article about using body art to channel spirits. I probably wouldn't do that, but everything else is really fascination.

* Animal messengers. I've been paying close attenion to the animals that show up in my life randomly and in my dreams and it's been pretty eye opening. Blog posts to come on all of these things!

* Trying to get back in touch with my magickal self. Maybe it doesn't seem like it, but I haven't been very witchy lately. As well as being severly depressed, the HBC made me lose connection with spirit or whatever you want to call it. I even did a money spell for my family (mom actually requsted it- that's how you know we're desperate) and the results have been pretty well, magickal. My mom's so excited right now because she just got an extra $100. To quote Harry Potter...I love magick! :D

* And the big suprise.... A NEW BLOG!!! That's right, y'all! I have started a new blog, all about astrology, with how to's and real life explanations of astro-events. Everybody go check out Starcrossed-Witch and foooolllllooooowww....

Now, I have to go set up my Beltane altar, get ready for a few spells, eat some organic yogurt, and plant ma garden. Also, it's my mom's birthday, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! :D

ART.

2011-04-03T14:34:00.004-05:00
So I've been on an art kick lately and decided to share some of it with you blog readers!
First, some paintings. All of these were done using Meredith Dillman's book on watercolor painting, so they aren't my original design or anything.

Dryad by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

Wandering by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

Mushroom Faerie by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

Now for some drawings....

Medusa's Curse by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

Rose Fae by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

OHAI! It's me!

Me. by ~Winchester-Girl on deviant ART

So there it is, what I've been doing for a long time. And I'm getting my etsy/zazzle shops started up! One day I will have art and projects for sale! Good times...

Pagan Prompt: Define Magick

2011-03-31T12:42:00.003-05:00
What IS it? What does it mean to you? How can it exist? How does it work? What's with the extra 'k', anyhow?
Expound as you see fit.

Hmm, that's kind of a hard question to explain. Magick, to me, is the very life force of everything. It flows through all of us, humans, stars, pebbles, animals, plants, everything. It's the force of the universe, pure power and energy. It's the ability to use our will to shape and change our lives. It's something that is within everyone, but witches have figured out how to tap into it.
I also think it's a neutral force. It's not good or evil, but it can be used for both. I wrote in detail about magick and magickal energy on my website, so I don't want to rehash it here, but I will give you this quote from the site:

Magick is focusing your intent and will to direct your life-energy toward a specific goal. Magick is transformation in the physical and the astral realm. It’s not as hard as it sounds. It’s not a huge mystical secret; virtually anyone can do with some practice.

If you want to read the rest of it, go here.

As for how magick can exist, what an odd question. Magick is a natural force, just like everything else in nature. It just is, how would I know why or how? How can any of us exist? Maybe I just don't understand the question, but it doesn't make sense to me.

How it works is easier to explain, but because I need to pry myself off the couch at some point today, I'm going to direct you to this awesome website.

Now the extra 'k' question is one I can actually answer! Some people think it's stupid, but I don't. It's simple; we spell magick with a 'k' to distinguish it from Harry Potter/stage magician magic. It's not so we look special or cool, it's just so people can tell the two apart!

When I first got into witch craft I was very leary towards magick. I thought is was goofy and for nerds and not real, durr! But the deeper in I got (and when I actually broke down and tried some spells and they worked) the more I came to accept it as a beautiful and powerful part of my craft. It's not evil, it's not supernatural, it's not a special thing for only a chosen few. It's a beautiful part of nature and I wish more people would realize that.

Geminimoon.net

A Change of Heart...

2011-03-26T22:44:00.002-05:00
In case you haven't noticed, I've made some changes to this blog. The background, obviously. And I would like to change the URL, but I'm afraid that would cause mass confusion. Because theres a suprising amount of people who google 'the fire witch' and if it's not there....well, then who will read my blog, hmm? But the title and header have changed to reflect my new ideals.

I'll explain. It's come to my attention that I've not been very tolerant lately. This isn't good, especially for a pagan. I blame it on my Leo dogmatic-ness and tendency to see things in black and white. And the fact that every now and then I get so tired of caring about things that I just say 'fuck it' and start to hate everything. But either way, it needs to stop.

I can thank the otherkin for bringing this to my attention. Now hold up; I still think they're a bunch of mixed nuts. But my level of hostility has gone down in the past couple of days. I got to thinking about them, reeeaaally thinking about them, and I realized there's no reason for me to be so hateful toward them. I still disagree with them on the question of whether it's possible or sane but...they aren't hurting anyone, really. And even though I didn't do a very good job of showing it, I support everyone's right to believe whatever they want and they're own quest for happiness. Mostly now, I just find them sad, but...decent...people on every other level.
So...was I wrong? I wouldn't say wrong (Leo, remember?), but I was overaggressive about it. So I took down a few of the posts with some otherkin comments in it, but I left up the orignial for these reasons:

1) I don't feel like it's attacking otherkin because it's my own personal opinion on my own personal blog. No one has to read, agree with, or comment on it. It's not like I'm seeking out otherkin to yell at.

2) The post is mostly directed at a specific person. Y'all know who.

3) The stuff I pointed out in the post are all reasonable points; I don't think there's anything wrong with rational critic; but maybe I ought to be nicer about. >.>

SO. I've changed the name and header of the blog to reflect my new lovey dovey, super tolerant hippie self. I hope it starts an era of chill instead of constant rage for me. What do you, my one reader, think? Should I go ahead and change the whole url?

OSTARA!!!!!!

2011-03-20T10:24:00.003-05:00

Happy Ostara! by Jade0winchester on Polyvore.com

Easter Decorations and Crafts - Easter Table Decorations - Delish.com

It's the first day of spring! Thank goddess it's finally here! Words can't express how glad I am that in a few weeks I can start buying plants and planting them! For the past few days I've been restarting seeds (because all my sprouts died) and getting the ground ready for my butterfly garden. Sadly I will not be able to have my moon garden, but I'm hoping I can still have some of the plants in containers.

Today is so perfectly Ostara; when I got up this morning, the birds were sining, the sun was shining, and the air smelled like rain from the storms last night. So lovely. And we have deviled eggs and strawberries and spinach salad...so much Ostara!!! I'm gonna do my ritual later on, after some much needed cleaning, and then post pictures of my altar (eventually...), so stay tuned!

And now some Ostara crafts, because I didn't get around to posting any eariler:

Egg shell faery beds!. These are so cute!

Some cool egg charms.

Make a mini green house for Ostara. It's a lot like the one I made, but I used a recycled clear plastic spinach tub lined with foil.

Here's a whole bunch of spring crafts, not specifically Ostara.

Go to geminimoon.net for more Pagan graphics!

St. Patrick's Day!!!

2011-03-17T11:31:00.004-05:00

Free Myspace Graphics

Hello, people! It's St. Patrick's day, a day that means pretty much nothing except drinking and people pinching you. :s And as all Pagans know, this day is not exactly good for us; St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, but by 'snakes' they mean 'Pagans'. Nice.

But now days it's more a day for pretending you're Irish, wearing green, and getting smashed, so I don't see much harm in it. And what else does this day have? Leprechauns.

What's so special about magickal midgets who ride around on rainbows, you ask? Well what's NOT special? Leprechauns on fun and this is the one day of the year people all over the world celebrate them, and in doing so, acknowledge the entire faerie realm. That's something special. As realfairies.com puts it:

'...what I find most interesting is that this is the only human holiday I know of where a member of the faery realm is focused on and celebrated. It seems to be a time where people stop and think “oh, remember, there’s still fairies around.”

When I was a kid, I didn't know what st.patrick's day was all about. I just knew my grandma would pinch me and it would piss me off. I hated that day, until I got a little bit older and became obsessed with faeries.

My sister and I would play in the woods for hours and hours. We saw magickal creatures everywhere; some we made up ourselves, some not so much. We considered them good friends and talked and played with them like all kids do. And some where in our play we decided St. Patrick's day was actually 'Leprechaun Day'. And in our little world, it was the day magickal creatures came from all over the world to have a gigantic festival. Mermaids in the stream, faeries coming out of the sky, royal elves coming to vist. It was awesome.

We spent days preparing everything with our 'friends'. It was so much fun, one of my favorite memories. And now, many years later, this day still has magickal meaning for me. So today, I'm going to start some more seeds and then head out to the woods to soak up the faery revelry before work. Hope everyone else can do the same. :D

Info on Leprechauns.

Live video of 'Leprechaun watch'.

Earth quake relief.

2011-03-13T12:52:00.002-05:00
We all know what happened in Japan friday, so I'm not going to rehash it. But I am going to share a link here:

Red Cross Earthquake Relief.

I donated for my monthly donation thing and I think if you, the viewers at home, ever wanted to donate, now would be the time. Everyone has ten bucks to spare. They need it more than you. Fork it over, people. I don't mean to sound like a bitch, but this is kind of a big deal.

Art Project Explosion...

2011-03-06T12:36:00.006-06:00
I have so many projects going on right now! And I love it- it's just that whenever I have a ton of things I want to do, work decides to give me more days. Go figure. Oh, speaking of work, they showed us the results of this survey customers have been taking. I got soild tens in everything! Costumer satisfaction, making people feel welcome, line-wait, and knowledge! I'm so happy! I've been at Kmart a year this month and everything is still awesome. Yay me!

Here's something random: Our local Border's is closing, which is really sad. Where will all the trendy teens hang out without buying anything?! Where will me and my friends go to mock romance books?! So anyway, they've been having everything on sale. Of course, Borders is over priced even in their going-out-of-business sale, so the first week I didn't buy anthing. This was a mistake, because I went back yesterday and all the stuff I wanted was gone (including my 'Firefly' comic. I almost cried). So I got a mini Chakra kit!

It comes with a little book, a necklace, and 7 gemstones to go on the necklace. Very cool, especially for $6. I really want to start learning about Chakras and crystal grids. I think they're pretty cool.

And another thing: We sent my cat to get fixed, the boy this time. I was worried about him, so I set up the usual shrine to Bast, made my prayers, and sent her an offering. My little Pumpkin came back good as new. Bast is so awesome. :D

Now, back to the point. I have so many things I want to do! Here's the list so far of art projects I have going:

*Comic books: I bought a huge book of comic book paper; super heavy duty and really cool. I have two comics planned out- one about witches and a Buffy fan comic. I've only started working on the witch one, but the Slayer one is the one I really want to work on. Fight scense, yo!

* Artemis shrine: Remember the love shrine I made out of a little wooden box? Well, I'm doing the same thing but with the goddess Artemis. It's already almost done and it's pretty awesome.

*Weird Victorian witch box: Hard to explain...just something I'm putting together and you'll just have to see it when it's done. ;)

*Painting: I had a dream the other night where a faery dropped a paint brush on my bed. I sort of got the message and now I'm going to start painting again. I noticed when I was painting my shrine that it was so fun and relaxing. I can't wait to get started again.

*A mini Tardis: That's right. It'll be pretty small, but you know Tardis's; they're bigger on the inside. :D

So that's what I have going on right now- on top of work and buying a bee hive and trying to live extra hippie and saving money for a house from the Tiny House company. Yup, busy days.