Spyrit Dancers' Musings On All Things Wiccan

I hunted around for themes again today, and found the one that is currently on my blog.  To me, it symbolizes Balance.  To the left, a woman looks to the left as the sun rises.  To the right, a man looks to the right of a cloudy dark side.  Ying and Yang.  Sun and Moon.   Goddess and God. The circle of the year.  All of it to me is represented in the images across the top and bottom.

As Wiccans, we all have to find that inner balance within us.  How to live our magickal life that is close to the earth, yet still work in the modern world and keep food on the table.  Balance family, work, meditation, and our connection to our Goddess and God.  To balance the dark and light parts of the path.  I am one who believes in harming none, which includes myself and those around me.  Yet, it doesn’t mean I’m perfect and never get angry at situations or people.  Balance is learning not to pick up your wand/spell/power and focus and direct it when you are upset.  Like most in the craft, been there, done that, with bad karmic results.

Finally, I think it is apropos to select this the day before Summer Solstice.  When Day and Night are equal and in balance…another reason this theme calls to me.  So as this day progresses towards tomorrow and a day of balance, enjoy the new theme.  Let me know if anyone has issues with readability.  I’ve tested it in Firefox, IE, and Chrominum so hopefully it looks great for you too.

Have to drive “over the hump” as they say here to Vegas.  We have a 5,000+ foot mountain pass between our valley and Vegas Valley which fortunately, isn’t in the winter and snowed shut.

I like being able to drive into the big city, shop at places like Costco, Sam’s Club, and my favorite rock shop, then drive back to my small town.  Like a lot of somewhat psychic, sensitive people, being around that many people whooping it up and drinking wears me down after awhile.  As I get older too, I find I want to basically stay in my yard, take care of my plants, and watch our feral kittens we feed play.

Saw this posted up about which foods to eat organic if at all possible.  They are the 12 fruits/veggies most likely to have pesticide residue.  And that doesn’t wash off, it is inside the plant itself.  Although there is no research that it will harm you, eating anything that kills an insect can’t be good.  The Dirty Dozen

For over a year my husband and I had a job that we were traveling back and forth to Vegas several times a month, and I admit I let my Greenhouse go. I just had no way to keep the plants watered when we were gone several days, plus during the winter, it made it hard to keep warm.  But we quit the job as we were not making good money at it, and wanted to devote more time at home on the web work that did earn us money.

Over time, I’ve been planting more and more in my green house, trying to get stuff growing.  It is paying off as now I can harvest lettuce, radishes, and cherry tomatoes to eat every day for lunch.

Here is a pic of my first radishes of the season.  Yumm!

One of our feral cats we feed, that we have named Auntie Amelia “Ear Hair” (after the fact she has black ears and long white ear hair) has had kittens.  They are living on our front porch, and in some thick catnip we have growing in a front planter box.  Below is a pic of her nursing 3 out of 4 of the babies.  Awwww

We have named the kittens Cream sickle,  (white and orange kitty) Marmalade, (mostly orange tabby) Smoke (mostly black, but his inner most layer of fur looks orange) and Two Tone (a gray and white kitty).  All but Two Tone are shown above.  Mom is a calico, and one of only two of the feral cats we can touch.

I saw a post about this on Mrs. B’s facebook page that the Pope was coming out against the movie Avatar.  Of course, I haven’t seen the movie yet, and this just makes me want to see it even more.  You can read the entire article here.

The pope also denounced the “supposedly egalitarian vision” that human beings and other living creatures should be placed on the same plane of existence, adding that such a worldview would “open the way to a new pantheism tinged with neo-paganism, which would see the source of man’s salvation in nature alone, understood in purely naturalistic terms.

What is wrong with putting people and animals on the same plane of existence?  I personally believe that ALL life is sacred.  Animals and humans are included in that.  None should be devalued.

Oh wait, he is talking about worship.  That man’s salvation in nature alone.  Hmmm. I believe that the spirit of the Goddess and God flows through all living things…plants, people, animals.  But I believe that the Goddess and God are the same divinity that other faiths worship, I just see a different facet of the whole than they see.  So I feel the power flows from divinity, not just from nature alone.  So…I’m losing where he thinks that is neo-paganism.  But then again, I’m also not familiar with the many flavors of faith either.

The article is an interesting read, and I agree with the author, when the movie releases in Italy after that proclamation, it will probably be mobbed.

When I saw my last blog was Happy Thanks giving, I realized it had been too long since I blogged here.  The holidays are always a tough time for me.  I miss my parents.  My husband and I were so broke this year, all we could afford as presents to one another was trip out to eat at the local buffet on Christmas.

But the holidays are past, and it is a bright and shiny new year, so I plan on blogging a bit more often now.  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday with their family and friends and the new year is going well for them.

Today is a day to say Thanks to the Goddess and God for all of the blessings in your life.  Spend times with friend and family.  And try not to get too stuffed on food.

I have many, many things to be thankful for, but these are at the top of my list.

1. A loving husband who supports me, has a great sense of humor, is sexy, and is my best friend.
2. The unconditional love of two cats, and being a hero for a tribe of feral cats we feed on our porch.
3. Several friends that I would trust with my life.  I feel you are blessed with one, and in addition to my husband I have three, which makes me triply blessed.
4. A brother and sister that I love very much.
5. A son that walks my path, and has found happiness with a girlfriend.
6. A comfortable home that is warm and safe.
7. Plenty to eat.
8. Clothes on my back.
9. Good health.  Going through a few tests, but even those are for things that are correctable thankfully!
10. That I found the Wiccan path to walk.  I never fit quite in with any other path, and I’m glad to find where I belong.
11. For being sober today and continually for the last 8 1/2 years.
12. To be able to spend Thanksgiving with a group of friends.
13. And finally for all the wonderful people I’ve met online.  For the laughs until I cry, for the wonderful sayings, tips, tricks and help that I’ve found over the years.  Thanks everyone!

Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!  And don’t forget to take some time to really think about all you are thankful for today.

I have a facebook account that is personal (aside from my Spyrit Dancer persona) and a lot of fellow webmasters and webmistresses are my friends.  One of them made a comment on his status that, oh joy the religious fundamentalists were coming over for Thanksgiving, and he hoped he didn’t make them cry this year as he started eating before they prayed.

I told him why don’t you pray to someone like Demeter, Goddess of harvest, and really shake them up?

He responded that he would only pray (and I’m paraphrasing) to a God or Goddess who bought or cooked the food.  If he was going to pray, it would be to a grocery store, as he has never found one he believed in enough to pray to.  Through a private message, I then found out he is an atheist.

How can you not believe in a higher power?  Where it is Jesus, Demeter, Epona, Budda, or Jehovah, how can you think the universe is just a random series of coincidences, we evolved to our point, and there are not deities that watch over us?

I have never understood this point of view.  Of course, it also comes from the fact that I’ve seen magick work, and I’ve stayed alive, or had things happen that I believe absolutely could not have without divine intervention.  That is more than enough proof for me.

What a lonely universe to live in!

Right now I’m going through a series of tests, to rule out some medical conditions.  It is always scary, and my brain automatically goes to the worst case scenario.  But I’ve been praying to my Goddess every day.  I made myself an amethyst and rose quartz bracelet to wear to help with healing.   And I’ve done some healing candle rituals.  Even if my problem isn’t cured, I know that between my husband and my Goddess and God, I have someone to walk through all this with.  I just couldn’t do it without that faith and belief.

Mom moved the kitties about two days after we saw them last.  I was worried about them, visions of hawks or crows attacking them.

Well this morning, it is only 37 degrees out, and the babies are back!  They were out drinking water there wasn’t one speck of dry food left in the feeder for them to eat.  So I put a can on two plates and I no sooner got in the door and all four babies were eating, and mom was guarding them.  I got this pic.

I have no idea where the fourth one was before, although since two look so much alike, one may have been hiding while the other ate and vice versa.  At least we cleaned the windows so the picture came out better.

The babies ate every scrap of food.  I carried out another can spread on two plates, plus their dry food feeder I had taken in to fill up, and now mom is chowing down when I looked last.  It feels so good to be able to help a family in need out.

I saw a tweet about this wonderful company called Angel Food Ministries. They have boxes of food you can purchase from them that they say you can save about $35 on average over the store cost of the same food.  Plus free recipes for cooking the food.  There is no income requirement needed, you just order and pick up what you want, and go and pick it up.

Each month they have a monthly signature box, a senior/convenience box (with frozen foods), a grill box, a veggie and fruit box, and an allergen free box.  This month they also have a Thanksgiving Dinner box.  What a great way to save money for any family!  Or a great gift to buy and donate to a family in need.