Sunday, July 30, 2017

Back to work ...

Greetings, dear friends! Hope all is well with everyone. As for me, well, it is time to get serious again about my weight loss! As some of you who have been following my blog may already know, I have been going through an extremely difficult time in my personal life the past few months or so which has caused extreme depression. As a result, I had been struggling with my motivation to exercise and push myself to keep my weight down. I have been seeking help regarding this, but I refuse to take medications for this issue because I know, at least from my personal experience, that weight loss and anti-depressants do not mix as they seem to work against the goal of losing and/or keeping my weight off.

I also know that it is very important for me to maintain a reasonable weight in order to keep the pain in my bad knee at bay. With the extra weight off of my knee, I sleep much better at night and I have no need for pain pills (also hindered my weight loss) which I have not taken in the two years since I lost weight. 


In addition to the reduction in knee pain, my weight loss has also helped to avoid the threat of type two diabetes which was a big concern to my family doctor. Needless to say, I am not a fan of taking pills unnecessarily and I avoid having to do so any chance I get. :)

My plan is to begin once again my 45 minute walking regiment as much as possible beginning this week until the end of fall. I also have a couple of weeks vacation scheduled between August and October so I indend to make the most of them (weather permitting)!

Until next time, love and light ~

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Frankincense, not just for magick

As a practicing Wiccan/witch, I have learned which essential oils to use in the craft as well as for what purpose in ritual and spell work these oils are to be used. Since my mother had been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder known as bullous pemphigoid, her doctor had suggested that she try rubbing some pure essential Frankincense oil on her skin to help heal her open wounds.

Frankincense oil, as well as many other essential oils, are used and recommended by a great many physicians and homeopathic practitioners to help treat a number of illnesses. They are also good for muscle issues, anti-aging creams and, in general, relaxation among other things.



There are many different ways in which to use these wonderful oils. Some require a bit of mixing with other ingredients and some may need to be diluted. I have found a few good sites which can give you helpful hints and recipes on how to mix them for their specific purposes.

My mom and I had gone shopping today at our local "Celtic Myth & Moonlight" shop (as recommended by her physician) and she can not wait to begin using her new bottle of Frankincense oil. My mother is a wise woman and much prefers this path of treatment as opposed to the steroids her other doctors were prescribing her.

Thursday, July 27, 2017

A 'Throwback Thursday' poem ...



"Peace up to heaven,
 Heaven over Earth,
 Earth under heaven,
 Peace in everyone."


(photo was taken by me at sunset in Hamilton, Bermuda)

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Lughnasadh


Wiccans use the names "Lughnasadh" or "Lammas" for the first of their autumn harvest festivals. It is one of the eight yearly "Sabbats" of their Wheel of the Year, following Midsummer and preceding Mabon. It is seen as one of the two most auspicious times for handfasting, the other being at Beltane. Some Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the "corn god" in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it.

Lughnasadh and Lughnasadh-based festivals are held by some Neopagans, especially Celtic Neopagans. However, their Lughnasadh celebrations can be very different despite the shared name. Some try to emulate the historic festival as much as possible, while others base their celebrations on many sources, the Gaelic festival being only one of them.

Neopagans usually celebrate Lughnasadh on 31 July – 1 August in the Northern Hemisphere and 31 January – 1 February in the Southern Hemisphere, beginning and ending at sunset. Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox (or the full moon nearest this point). In 2017, this is on 7 August in the Northern Hemisphere.


**************************************************

Sunflower

In the field she blooms,
But once a year
This luscious sunflower ~
So sweet and so dear
The love she shows,
With kindness she cares
Our Mother's fruit ~
The seeds she bears
Both yellow and bright,
This sunflower grows
Then leaves us again ~
When winter's wind blows

~ Lady Caer Morganna

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Wordless Wednesday ... and some cool music!



)o(     )o(     )o(     )o(     )o(     )o(     )o(     )o(

The Struts ~ "Kiss This (live)"

"Sweet Caroline" (an excellent Neil Diamond cover as sung acoustic by The Struts' Adam Slack)

Thursday, July 20, 2017

Fun Friday: I love dragons!





Whether or not you happen to be a fan of the show "Game of Thrones," you just gotta love this very strong, beautiful, and powerful female character named Daenerys Stormborn. She is known as the 'mother of dragons' and this wonderful video clip shows you exactly why. I hope you enjoy it and have a blessed weekend everyone!

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

This and That ...

Greetings all! Hope all is well with everyone. Not a whole lot happening here lately. I do; however, wish to to share with you that I am still working with Erica and she had given me a couple of more tools to use to help balance my chakras ...

My new chakra bracelet for balance

... and my carnelian pendant. Both were given to me by Erica in order to aid in my difficult transition. Beautiful, aren't they? :)

Speaking of transition, Dark Elf is doing quite well with his current move to Athens. Here he is just "chillin." LOL!


Well, that is about all for now, until next time dear friends ...

BRIGHTEST BLESSINGS ~

Saturday, July 15, 2017

Witch Wars


Witches/witchcraft are a religious belief. Either believing in them or believing that they are evil is a religious belief. It is my belief that witches have created too much controversy in our civilization.

There are many occult orders claiming that they have secrets but none of them are real secrets to those who do a good job researching facts. Occult Witch Orders and Sects are really troublesome because they refuse to become "religions" regulated by the state. They depend on secrecy to work their way inside of the followers minds. Sometimes a schism in the sect creates two enemy groups.

Also, legal covens and "churches" often antagonize for followers.

A conflict is inevitable and is called a witch war. Unlike the islamic jihad and the suicide bomber attacks, witches look after their self conservation because there is no paradise with "sex slaves" for them. These wars are done by legal means and target to create a faith which seems wrong and to defame people, groups and other covens.

It is most like gossip, only it is well premeditated and in accordance to psychological techniques as to cause fear to would-be-members and confusion to members. The witch wars are actually "psi-ops". Additionally there can be also spells, hexes, curses, attacks through the astral and other psychic attacks.

So be careful when considering  joining a group because doing so may make you a target of another one.

Beautiful fantasy art by Cyra R. Cancel

Greetings everyone! Just wanted to share some more beautiful cat art from one of my favorite cat artists, Cyra R. Cancel. These are her gorgeous black cats with the seven chakras. Enjoy!!








Love & Light ~

Thursday, July 06, 2017

Tuesday, July 04, 2017

The 4th of July

Independence Day, also referred to as the Fourth of July or July Fourth, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Congress declared that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and were no longer part of the British Empire. The Congress actually voted to declare independence two days earlier, on July 2.

During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain in 1776 actually occurred on July 2, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it two days later on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more."

Adams's prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.

Historians have long disputed whether members of Congress signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.

Coincidentally, both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the only signers of the Declaration of Independence later to serve as Presidents of the United States, died on the same day: July 4, 1826, which was the 50th anniversary of the Declaration. Although not a signer of the Declaration of Independence, James Monroe, another Founding Father who was elected as President, also died on July 4, 1831. He was the third President in a row who died on the anniversary of independence. Calvin Coolidge, the 30th President, was born on July 4, 1872; so far he is the only U.S. President to have been born on Independence Day.

On July 4, 1776, the Founding Fathers declared to the world not only that the colonies would henceforth be independent from Britain, but also, and more fundamentally,

“that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

This was the beginning of the first moral country on earth—a country in which individual rights were to be explicitly recognized and protected.

Although slavery persisted for several decades after the founding, this aberration was ultimately recognized as incompatible with the basic principle of America and thus eradicated. Between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century, while certain lesser rights-violations legally continued, America came as close as any society has ever come to establishing an exclusively rights-protecting government. Americans were almost fully free to live their own lives, by their own judgment, for their own sake. This is the moral ideal we should embrace and redouble our efforts to achieve: a society in which the basic law of the land is liberty—which means: a society in which government protects the rights of all citizens and violates the rights of none.

On the Fourth of July, celebrate not the rights-violating, crony-enabling welfare state that America has become, but what America once virtually was and factually ought to be: the Land of Liberty. Celebrate man’s “unalienable Rights.” Celebrate the principle that the proper purpose of government is “to secure these rights.” Celebrate the principle that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” And, most of all, celebrate the Founders, who recognized and codified these principles, thus making possible the degree of freedom we still enjoy and the moral ideal to which we should rise.

Sunday, July 02, 2017

Continuing my spiritual journey ...

Greetings all, I hope everyone had a wonderful and Blessed Midsummer/Litha! I have been very busy as usual. I am still working with my spiritual adviser, Erica, whom as most of you who may have been following my blog for the past few months already know, I have been seeking some well-needed guidance from in order to deal with a lot of major life changes going on in my life at the moment.

Life is nothing but a series of changes and some are more difficult to handle than others it seems. But, Erica has been a great help to me ... mentally, emotionally and spiritually. There are two steps to my spiritual journey and the process is a long one. One of the many tools with which Erica has provided me with are her very own chakra pyramids that she has personally designed and created to use in balancing. Each one is designed for a specific purpose. I have already worked with the first chakra pyramid and I have just begun to work with the second one. This pyramid is mostly pink and green in color with the corresponding gemstones added to it as well ...

The second chakra pyramid has the "Third Eye" symbol placed on the side door which opens up. As with the first pyramid, this one also has a mirror inside of it ...



Well, that is about all for now. Brightest Blessings, my dear friends!!

)o(      )o(      )o(      )o(     )o(      )o(      )o(      )o(      )o(