Friday, December 30, 2011

Dating as a Pagan: A Rant

Ok, it's no secret by now that I'm single. While I usually don't complain about it, I know I don't want to spend the rest of my life alone. Here lately I've been dating a little bit (as in going on dates with people) and I'm starting to get rather frustrated with it again. I hate labeling people, and I'm all about the Coexist movement, but I have to admit I'm sick of trying to date Christian males! The last person I went on a date with started talking about the bible to me and asked what religion I am. I, of course, believe in complete honesty so I told him I am Pagan. That brought on a pretty fun talk.

I had to go through the standard "No I don't kill animals or babies, no I don't worship the devil, I actually don't believe in the devil," and had to go into an entire discussion about what Paganism is and isn't to me, etc. Basically we had the whole my religion is better than your religion crap. Then all of a sudden he decided to tell me that he thought I was sexy, and that it might be "unChristian" to say so but blah blah blah insert stupid plea for sex here. I looked at him and said, "Well the Goddess blessed me in lots of ways," and was going to leave it at that until he decided to start saying what he wanted to "do" to me. Which of course left me having to say politely that I would never have sex with him even if he was the last man on the earth was not interested.

In all honesty I'm almost ready to throw my arms up in the air and give up. White flag, I surrender! I'll stay single if that means I don't have to deal with that kind of stupidity. I know it would probably be better if I found a nice Pagan guy to date (or at least someone with similar ideals as me), but I have no clue where to look, or even if to look lol. The problem I face is the town I live in has a population of around 300. If I'm not already with someone from my town it's very doubtful that I will get with one of them now! Most are senior citizens, and others are people I went to school with and while we are friends, we are not compatible in relationships. I don't go out to the bar very often (and lets face it guys, in general the bar is NOT the best place to meet someone to have a long term relationship with) and I'm not sure about other ways of meeting people that don't involve me driving an hour away. So what to do?

The fighter in me refuses to surrender. No white flag for me! But I look down the road and wonder how am I going to change my future? I don't want to be in my crone days alone with no children to carry on my legacy. I know I can adopt, even while single, and believe me, I've considered that option (and am still considering it), but I also know I don't want to be without a partner in crime ;). So, I've got a lot of figuring out to do. If you guys have opinions on the matter, or wish to share your rant with me, as always my comments and email are open to you. Let me hear your voices dear friends!

I've Got a New Store!

After talking with my friend Ronda on Facebook yesterday, I decided to open a brand new Etsy store. Currently there are only two things available for sale, but I'm hoping to pick up some supplies today and have a few more things available by the end of the day or at least tonight. My store's name is Pagan Fancies, and here's a bonus just for you guys ...

If you will promote my store with a button on your blog, or with a post about it, I'll give you a big discount on your first order! Here's how that will work: grab the store button and display it on your blog, or write a post with a link to my store. Come back here, leave me a comment with the link to either the blog where you're displaying my store button, or the post with the store's link in it, and I'll send you a super secret coupon code, just for you! Be sure to leave your email address so I can email you the coupon code. Currently the two things in the shop are priced fairly, but I know I'll have things that are a little higher.

I've ordered supplies to make glass tile pendants, and can't wait to have some made and ready for you guys! I've ordered more turquoise skulls and a few other things, and I'm just so excited to have stuff to make and share! Here's the button for the store:



<a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaganFancies?ref=si_shop" target="_blank"><img src="http://i469.photobucket.com/albums/rr58/amberh2008_photos/storebutton.jpg" border="10" /></a><br />

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Today Was A Crafty Day

Yesterday, I took a day to myself. No internet, no cell phone, just me and my family. I will admit it wasn't an absolutely no  electronic day as I ended up using my Yule money to buy the new Nook Simple Touch, and of course I had to play with my new toy! But I don't count that as a non-me activity because I was reading. I read The Eco Chick Guide to Life by Starre Vartan. I love that book! You'll just have to read it to understand. If any of you are interested in reading it, but can't afford to get it, I'm more than glad to loan it to you. Now how does that work? Well, if you have a Nook account (and you don't have to own a Nook to have an account) we can loan books to each other! How cool is that? If you're interested, go to Barnes and Noble, create a Nook account, and download one of their apps for your computer and/or smart phone. Email me and let me know, and I'll gladly loan you the book! (I am not associated with Barnes and Noble in anyway. I am the proud owner of a Nook, and I've always loved shopping there, but I am by no means a representative of the company)

So, today was a lazy day, and I got a little creative. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when I search through Etsy and everywhere else when looking for Pagan jewelry and such, so I took time out today to make some stuff for myself and my family! Check out the pic below:



I know it's not all that big. If you want to see a closer pic just let me know and I'll take more up close pics of each thing. I made 3 Pagan keychains (they aren't complete, I need to find key rings to put them on), a key chain for Mom which is the one with the cross and the pink rose, and some pentacle earrings. I have no idea what I'm going to do with 3 keychains, but I like all 3 lol, especially the ones with the skulls! I'm toying with the idea of getting back on Etsy, and making these and other things to sell. What do you think? Would y'all be interested in buying something like this? Anyway, that's all I have for now.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Something You've Been Putting Off: Response

This is the new prompt at Charmed I'm Sure. I'm sitting here wracking my brains trying to figure out exactly what I've been putting off. I guess I've been putting off the actual cleaning and cleansing of my house, waiting to move in. I could in all reality go over there right now and sweep the floors, lug water over there to mop the floors, straighten up my bedroom, bring the sheets over to Mom's and wash them, cleanse the bed, and start putting things away, that way I'll have less to do when I do get hooked up to electricity.

You know what, now that I'm writing about it, that is definitely something I've been putting off. I could go over there tomorrow (in the daylight) and rearrange furniture, unpack everything and put it away, throw away what needs to be thrown away (like the bread that some how got left in there which is probably really bad by now... I wonder if you can put bread in a compost pile?), go through the clothes and such that are in there and see what needs to go to Good Will, and then I could go out to my little brother's shop where stuff is being stored and see what can be given away, got rid of in some way. These are things I can definitely do, I've just been putting them off with the excuse of waiting for the house to be hooked up to electricity. The cleansing ritual will have to wait until I have electricity because even though it's okay for me to clear out the clutter, my house feels differently energy wise when it's hooked up to electricity than it does when it's not, so I want to wait for it to be complete before cleansing it.

So, tomorrow after I get back from taking Mom to the doctor, I will work with what daylight I have and continue working until I can't see. Then I'll bring in the stuff from the shop and work on that here in Mom's house.

Goals: My Response Cont.

I promised I would work on more goals this week, and here are a couple of them.

1. I want to be more eco-conscious and friendly.

This means that I'll be trying to recycle. We don't have a place to recycle here in town... for a drop off place I would have to go all the way to Lubbock which is an hour away and most drop off places in Lubbock are only open to Lubbock residents, but I've contacted a place called Green Queens that offers a curbside service in Levelland (15 miles away) and Lubbock (45+ miles away) and asked them if they wouldn't mind setting up a drop off site in Levelland. I'm in Levelland almost every day and that would be perfect if I'm able to set up something with them.

As I've stated before, I am installing a bamboo toilet seat (I know there's not a whole lot of benefits from that, other than the fact that I'm using a more sustainable medium for my toilet seat lol), and I've installed a low-flow eco-friendly shower head, which slows the amount of water that comes out of your shower. The one I installed says it takes the flow down to 2 gallons of water per minute.

I've been looking into getting a tankless water heater for the house, but I have to confess that that one had nothing to do with the environmental pluses it offers, but the fact that I'll be able to take a shower longer than 2 minutes (and yes that's exactly how long I get out of the water heater during the winter... summer gives me about 7 minutes).

I already own a combination washer and dryer (not the stacked unit but the all in one unit) that is HE. It uses way less water than a normal washer, a TBSP of laundry soap and a TBSP of softener, and the dryer dries the clothes really well, and doesn't even create lint. Plus the entire unit runs off 110v electricity instead of the typical 220v, which means it uses less electricity than a traditional washer and dryer.

And the big one, I'm starting my own compost pile! Tomorrow I plan on picking up a compost bin for in the kitchen. And when I have a chance, I'm gonna pick out a good place to start the pile. I'll break up the dirt a little bit, then start laying on layers! I'm very excited to start composting. This is something I've wanted to do for a long time, but never knew where to start. Thankfully Dad is being pretty supportive, and he even had some knowledge about composting, so he's working with me which is really helpful.

By working on these things, it helps me become closer with Mother Nature, which in turn will help with my magick. It works like this: If someone is constantly taking from you and never giving anything back, are you really all that willing to help them again? Mother Nature is more patient that we humans, but I've noticed that as long as I'm trying my best to help her out, she rewards me. When I'm not trying at all, she gets a little frustrated lol. There was one time that I threw out a McDonalds bag on the road, and for a week after that nothing went right, mundanely or magickally.

2. I vow to keep my home clutter free.

This means that as soon as the electricity is hooked up, I will be going through everything I own and getting rid of things that don't make me 100% happy. I will also be doing a complete magickal cleansing of my home from top to bottom, corner to corner. After I get my home exactly where I want it to be, I plan on picking things up as I go along, so that trash doesn't pile up, because I admit I'm horrible about having little rat's nests of trash packed all over the house, especially on the night stand and around the house. I don't notice it until it gets bad, which in itself is bad. So I'm going to try to force myself to start throwing things in the recycling and trash and compost bin when necessary. I will also have one day a week for thorough cleaning and magickal cleansing. That's the plan... I'm sure I'll have to get a dry erase board and stick it on the fridge to remind me of these things, but I'm gonna do it!

Releasing Rituals



A lot of people are restarting their personal journeys, and that means new chapters in your life. Now, past chapters are a good thing to look back on, but if you look back on them and feel guilt or an instant pull to it, it could be time to release their hold on you. I have a lot of stuff that I thought I'd released, but when probing through those things, I realize that I still have several hurts to let go of. I've been aimlessly surfing the blogosphere, and several other places, and I'm noticing a trend going on right now. There is an abundance of releasing rituals floating around. Well, while I hate jumping on bandwagons, I think this is one worth the jump.

I personally have always loved releasing rituals/ceremonies. While I admit I probably don't do them often enough (or maybe it's that I'm not releasing enough when I do them...), I also can't escape the fact that when you do one, the end result is almost addicting. You release the hurt, the guilt, anything holding you back, and you're left with this amazing feeling of floating weightlessly through the world. Of course, to continue to float like that would be hazardous because you're not grounded like you need to be (which is what causes the floaty feeling), so it's always good to enjoy your feeling for a while, then ground yourself. But even after grounding that lightness stays with you. You no longer feel like the weight of the world is crushing you. You end up happier, and a blank slate for all the new lessons coming your way. It's like finishing the freshman year of high school... after you finish you generally get a new notebook so you have a clean slate to write down notes for the next year. That's how a releasing ritual works.

Now, on to my favorite kind of releasing ritual. I've always loved working with fire... it's just something I'm comfortable with, and that I instinctively know how to work with. I probably need to get used to working with the other elements as well, but for a releasing ritual I'll probably always go back to working with fire. It's just so cleansing! Now, what I'll normally do if I'm just doing a small releasing ritual is to speak my worries into the fire and watch the fire burn them away. Then I'll allow the fire to mentally engulf me (mentally watching it spread over and through my body... no it doesn't hurt, its like having a warm blanket covering my entire body), and feel it cleanse and release all the worries I told it about. It leaves me cleansed and ready to start new. Now you could most certainly do that by itself if you wanted, but if you have bigger issues to handle (like mine and the feelings I have surrounding my grandmother's death), sometimes it's best to write a letter.

In the case of my grandmother, I would write a letter to her, starting with how much I love her and miss her, then explaining the hurt, the anger, the frustration, confusion, and everything that went along with her death, and ultimately being told I killed her by being a different religion. The whole time, because I know how much Gram and I love each other, I know that she is fine with the feelings I'm telling her about, she'll listen to them, tell me how much she loves me, tell me everything will be alright because she knows for sure that it will be. Then, after I've finished writing this letter (which in all honesty turns into a deep conversation with Gram just like we did at the kitchen table all those times), I'll take the letter and set it on fire, in a safe place of course because I would die if I burned my lovely little cabin down. As I watch the letter burn, I focus on watching those bad feelings burn away with it.

The letter thing works well with past romantic relationships as well. If you're holding on to hurt from a different relationship, it will severely hurt any new relationships that come into your life, making it impossible to have a healthy relationship with the new person. So sit down and write a letter to any and all past partners, talk to them, starting with the good, telling them how you will always hold on to the good memories, but it's time to let go of everything else. Burn the letter, and watching all the baggage burn away as well. The key to both of these simple rituals and truly meaning it. If you're half hearted about it, that means you're not ready to let go just yet. And there's nothing wrong with that, its just gonna take time. But ritualistically, the magick won't work unless you're all in.

There are many ways of going about releasing things. There's a pretty neat one that's also really simple involving the toilet and toilet paper! You write what you want to release on the toilet paper, then flush it down the toilet literally and mentally releasing those problems while watching the water swirl. Whisper your worries into bubbles (yes like the bubbles children blow) and let the bubbles carry them away. Speak your troubles into handfuls of dirt, bury the dirt away from your house, and let the earth compost it and turn it into something positive.

Here's one that I think is pretty creative, and involves your internal warrior! I call it the Warrior Jar. Take a jar, like a canning jar or coffee can, just something with a lid. Gather several rocks while walking around in nature. The number doesn't matter that much, but make sure it stays in increments of 3. Once you've collected all you're rocks, put them in a glass bowl and rinse them lightly with water. Infuse them with the power of a warrior. I imagine a Celtic Warrioress. She is built like an Amazon, but more important than what she looks like is what she exudes, and what she stands for. She is the perfect image of strength, honor, justice, truth, and when needed rage. She is there to protect, and she will give her life with honor to protect her home and family.

Take what I just worded there lol, and infuse it into the rocks you picked up. I promise it's easier than you think. Hold the mental picture of what I just wrote about the Warrioress, and remember what I said she exudes and stands for. While holding all that, push those feelings through your hands and into the rocks. See them glow a pure white light with streaks of red. Next, put them inside your jar. Now is the fun part. You can either write down the things you want to release (bad habits, feelings of guilt, anything) and put the slips of paper into the jar with the rocks, or you can just push those feelings and thoughts into the jar, the same way you released the Warrioress energy into the rocks, only this time you're not infusing anything with those feelings, you are simply putting them inside the jar. Once you've placed your feelings in the jar (with whichever technique you choose), start to shake the jar. Imagine your Warrioress rocks pummeling the things you placed in the jar, utterly destroying them. Shake, shake, shake that jar, until you feel better!

Then, this is where your honor comes in. It isn't honorable to bury the Warrioress rocks with the "enemy", so you'll need tongs or gloves for the final part. Place the glass bowl we used earlier in the sink again. Use your tongs, or a gloved hand, and pull out the Warrioress rocks. Place them in the bowl and cleanse them of the rigors of the battle they just waged. Now, you can either give those rocks a warriors burial, or allow them to be "reincarnated" by completely cleansing them and store them somewhere for later use. Now you should cleanse the tongs, or if you used a glove, put it in the jar. Take the jar, with the massacred things you've released and bury it preferably near a tree. After you've buried it, walk away with your back completely to it, and DO NOT look back at it, and don't give it another thought.

I hope you enjoy these options I detailed. What's your favorite way to release things?

Monday, December 26, 2011

A Beautiful, Inspiring Tiny Home

I don't know how many of you guys know this, but I'm a big supporter of the tiny house movement. My little cabin is 400 sq. ft., and I absolutely love it. Living here at Mom and Dad's house, which is probably 10 times the size of my house feels strange to me. When I was living in my tiny house alone in Amarillo, I always felt like it was too big for just me. I had one boyfriend live with me, and to me the home felt more complete, because there was someone there to share it with. Needless to say, that relationship did not follow me back home. I'm not sure how I'm going to feel moving back into my home some time this week once the electricity is hooked up. That's why I've already bought a new daybed for the living room to replace the humungous couch that I decided to cram in there, a new bamboo toilet seat (to replace the old particle board one currently on it that has a crack in just the right spot to pinch your butt when you sit down on it!), a new shower head (had to go with the eco-flow shower head!), and a couple other choice things to make it feel more like my personal home again.

I'll be doing a cleansing and blessing ritual as soon as I get into my house to clear out the bad vibes left over from Amarillo. I'll detail that for you guys after it happens :D. Now, on to why I'm posting a blog entry at 3 in the morning! As I've said before, I'm a big supporter of the tiny house movement. I love browsing through videos from Fair Companies, and just randomly on youtube. So when I found this video below, I knew I had to share it. This woman's house boat is so completely her own! It's so inspiring, and her home is so lovely! Hope you guys like the video... this is kind of a bleed over from my other blog Big Adventures in a Tiny House, but I've never hid anything from you guys before, so I didn't plan on doing it now, I'm just not sure how to combine the two blogs lol.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8dfeIJ9RPY&w=560&h=315]

I Can Change One Thing

Thanks to a lovely friend Aurora from The Witch Inside, I found another New Year kind of thing. It's called I Can Change One Thing. WitchyLyn over at Witch Blog is putting this one on. She's made a really neat journal for the month of January. The idea is to work on one little thing each day in the journal, that way you've worked on a few things for the entire month by the time of the next Sabbat. I'm gladly joining in on this. I've already downloaded the journal. It's free to download so hop on over there and check it out! I feel like this fits in wonderfully with the New Year, New You Experiment. I'll be adding the button for this one to the sidebar in just a moment, and of course I'll keep you updated on the things going on!

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Goals: My Response

Okay, here's my second response to the New Year, New You party going on over at Charmed I'm Sure. The second prompt is about our goals. Click here to read more about this prompt. Deb asks, "What do you want to accomplish in 2012 using both magical and mundane means?" So here is my answer :D

I just recently graduated from nail tech school, so one of my goals for this year is to be successful. Yes, that might sound cliche or weird or whatever you feel like branding it, but while I was in school I had a teacher that constantly told me I was going to fail either in school or in the salon. I want to prove her wrong. I plan on accomplishing that by doing my professional best, and working a little success spell as well ;)

I've bounced between romantic relationships that were not the best for me all this past year. I plan on trying to avoid that. Of course, I would love to be in a wonderful relationship, and have someone to share my life with, but I'm going to be a little more selective about who I allow into my life. I do not plan on casting any love spells, but I do plan on casting a seeing spell on myself, so I can see what's good for me and what's not.

Those are the two big ones, and I really can't think of anything more to say on it. I'm sure I'll come up with more throughout the week, so I'll probably elaborate on this, but there's what I have for now! I am so happy to be taking part in this "experiment" as Deb puts it. Like I've said before, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one feeling the need for change and self improvement right now.

Making Way: Response

So, I recently found this new really cool party going on called New Year, New You, over at Charmed I'm Sure. Now the fact that I started this blog as a way to completely restart on my spiritual and personal journey makes this party even more important to me. Click here to find out what this rigamarole is all about, then click here to read the first prompt, then click here to read the most recent, because as always I'm a wee bit late to the party.

I'm really digging this party in all honesty because it means I'm not doing all this alone! Now... for the first prompt. Miss Deborah has started the party with "Making Way," for the new you. This includes, surprise, surprise DECLUTTERING! Which is something I've been working on these past couple of days. Just like when I was talking about clearing my chakras, decluttering does the same thing, just mentally, and in the mundane world (like when you throw away those clothes that you don't wear anymore, but just can't seem to let them go).

So, as my response, this is the plan I have... My house will be hooked up to electricity this coming week. While I'm staying with Mom and Dad, waiting for that to happen, I've been working on my emotional baggage. It's been a year and a half since Gram passed away, but I'm still holding on to her like my life depends on it, and for a while, my life did depend on it. Now I'm healing, and though I'm not 100% ready to let her go, I'm working on at least decluttering the feelings wrapped around that big ole mess. I am working on my insecurities when it comes to relationships, familial and romantic, and as soon as the electricity is on at my house, I will be tearing into it like no other!

It's hard for me to describe the things I'm dealing with emotionally. But here's a couple of things. The death of Gram really knocked me back, a lot, and that's an understatement. I'm working on getting back to who I personally am. When she died I turned my back on my religion, and now I'm working on getting back to my personal beliefs. The decluttering helps a lot. Aphrodite used to be my patroness, but since turning my back on my religion, she and I are not as close as we used to be. When I first learned that, I thought it was just a matter of working closely with her again, but I've realized that, while I'll always love Aphrodite, and there will always be a place in my heart for her, I've grown and changed as a person. Working with her used to feel like putting on a coat that fit just right, it felt like a loved one was enveloping me in pure love and light. While that feeling is still there, because Aphrodite does love me, I feel like we're not matched like we used to be. So I am now on the road to finding a new patron or patroness.

I am sorting through my feelings about religion and tossing out those that I wrongfully tried to live by to please everyone after Gram passed. That story is a long one, but I'll suffice it to say that I was told I was the one that killed Gram because of my religion. My religion had brought the devil into the house which in turn killed Gram. For quite a while I wondered about that. Growing up in a Catholic church made me wonder for a little while if I hadn't been duped by the devil into believing that Paganism is okay, just to take me to Hell. But, while I know for sure I believe in evil (because there could be no good if there was no evil), I do not believe in the devil. I don't believe in a little guy with a pitchfork following me around all day trying to get me to screw up. Even the most dark of all gods wouldn't do that to every single person, every single minute of the day, it's just too damn tiring! I love the feeling of peace, happiness, and rightness that flows through me when I connect with Mother Earth, the gods and goddesses, and when I do spell work and work on my meditations. If it makes me happy, in a non-violent way, how can it be something the devil created?

So there you have it my friends... there's more that I'm working on to clear the way, but there's just not enough time to write it all down lol. Plus I'm quite sure you would get tired of reading it all after a while, because I know I have a tendency to ramble. So I hope you're path clearing is working as well for you as mine is for me. I wish you luck on this journey we are now all taking! Brightest blessings to you all, and may you find what you seek!

A Lesson in Chakras

I'm reading Chakra Clearing by Doreen Virtue, and I've learned a little more about chakras than I did before. Of course, when I first started my journey into the twisty roads of witchy craft, I did a little studying on chakras as well. That came from the fact that the only place I had to get books on witchcraft was Hastings or Barnes and Noble and B&N was not really that close to us. So I would happily browse the occult section in Hastings, finding one book after another that I told myself I wanted to read someday, and never really getting around to it. However, I did get around to reading a Chakras for Beginners book and I was hooked. So, when I started my journey to bettering myself and getting the discord of my life under control, one of the first places I started was with my chakras.

Now, I don't know how much you guys know about chakras, but I've always found it's best to start with at least the basics when I talk about stuff like this, so you don't feel like you're completely left in the dark, scratching your head and going "HUH?!" So here's a little basic chakra lesson, so you'll know what in the heck I'm talking about lol. Chakras are little balls of light located in several parts of your body. Some people see them in different ways. They might look like a literal ball, flower, fan, star, whatever, but the one thing they always do is spin in a clockwise motion. The picture below shows the general colors of the chakras.



 

I like to start from the 7th chakra and work my way down, but a lot of people start from the first chakra and work their way up. We'll go with my way, but just like everything else in the craft, find your own way of doing it, that's the best way! Okay, the 7th chakra is also called the crown chakra. As you can tell it is purple in color. Now, Doreen Virtue says when it is healthy it is a very clear purple with almost like shootings of stars coming off it, when it is unhealthy it is almost the color of the night sky. It should be spinning at a fairly high speed. Everyone will see it a little differently, but remember it is most important that it is spinning at a healthy speed, clean of any dark spots, and not shrunken or grossly enlarged. When mine is healthy it's a pretty neat looking violet color that's very hard to describe. Right now, mine is a little dark and quite a bit shrunken, which tells me that I've been questioning my connection to the Goddess. That's how the crown chakra works ... it is your internal connection to the divine. If you question your faith, your connection to deity, or if you question your personal power it will shrink. If you are obsessed with being close with deity, or obsessed with power it enlarges. Now it's generally good to have large chakras, this means you are well balanced, but you don't want them grossly enlarged, and you don't want one bigger than the others, because this causes imbalances.

Next we move on to the 6th chakra. This one is known as your third eye chakra and is positioned on your forehead, a little higher than your eyes, and right smack dab in between them. Doreen Virtue says this chakra is dark blue in color. It controls things like your psychic abilities (which is kind of obvious since it is located where your third eye is), but it also controls things like how you see your past, and your willingness to see the things that "aren't there". Just like with the 7th aka crown chakra, this one will shrink when you question your intuition, fear seeing things that aren't there, or hold on to negative things from the past. It will enlarge if you obsess over those same things, like trying to force yourself to become psychic, trying to force yourself to see ghosts, and so on. This one, like all of them should spin in a clockwise motion. A healthy third eye chakra will be indigo blue, with a clear center, and shoots of the pretty purple from your 7th chakra. Again, everyone will see it a little differently, just remember it should be spinning at a medium fast speed, and be a healthy size. You know what it looks like when your feet are swollen, use that as a way to measure whether your chakras are swollen or shrunken.

Next is the 5th chakra or the throat chakra. This guy controls your speech, the way you express yourself verbally, and your creativity. The health of your throat, ears, nose, and lungs are controlled in certain degrees by this chakra as well. It is light blue in color, spinning slightly slower than your 6th chakra when healthy, and should have a clear center with shoots of the indigo blue from the 6th chakra. As with the other chakras, a shrunken one indicates doubt or illness, and an enlarged one indicates obsession of some kind. Maybe you're obsessed with the sound of your own voice, causing it to enlarge, or maybe you doubt your ability to fully explain something, causing it to shrink.

Next the 4th chakra also known as the heart chakra. The guy is either green or pink in color. Doreen Virtue says this one, if green is a gorgeous emerald green, clear in the center with shoots of the light blue from the 5th chakra, but I've always seen mine as a beautiful mossy green. Maybe I should work on seeing the color Doreen has mentioned, maybe that will change things. Perhaps I have been limiting myself by seeing that color. I will try the emerald green color and see if any changes happen. If not, I'll continue with my color. The pink is a weird shade to describe. Its very vibrant, but not hot flashy pink, again clear in the middle with shoots of color from the 5th chakra. This one handles things like giving and receiving love (romantic, familial, friend, etc.), self love, the way you attach yourself to people, your ability to forgive, and your ability to clearly feel your feelings and others. This one can be knocked off balance by many things, such as not forgiving someone for whatever wrong you received from them, obsessing over your "popularity" for lack of a better word, feeling disconnected from friends and family, and so much more. I believe I'll do a post on each chakra by itself so we can spend a little time learning more about each one. For now, this one should be spinning slightly slower than the 5th chakra, and of course should be the same size.

On to the 3rd chakra, called the solar plexus chakra. This one is yellow in color and is located between your solar plexus and your belly button. A clean one will be the color of sunshine, although mine has usually always been a pretty mix of sunshiney, buttery yellow. It should have a clear center like all the others. This guy deals with problems with power and control. Obsessed with power or control it will enlarge, doubt your own power or control and it will shrink. It should be moving slightly slower than the 4th chakra.

The 2nd chakra is called the sacral chakra and on me is located directly behind the belly button. Some people see the 3rd chakra directly behind the belly button and the 2nd chakra just a little lower than that, but not on the pelvic area. See it on yourself, and don't question it. This chakra is orange in color, and like all the others should be a brilliant color, with a clear center. It should be spinning slightly slower than the 3rd chakra. This guy handles things like cravings, addictions, and the things your body actually needs like sleep, health, and so on. How you see yourself affects this chakra as well. Again, obsession enlarges, doubt shrinks.

And located in the pelvic area or lower is the 1st chakra. This is called the root chakra and is a gorgeous color of red when healthy. This one handles your issues of physical security such as finances, career, home, physical safety, needs, and possessions. This one is the slowest spinning of them all. Enlarged means your obsessed with something this chakra deals with, i.e. money, your job, buying a house, etc., and shrunken means you have doubts about things this chakra deals with, i.e. not being able to own your home, losing your home, losing your job, not being able to find a job, not enough money, etc.

As you can see, lots of things can knock these guys out of balance. Regular cleaning of them, just like the regular cleaning of your body, helps keep things in balance. I fell out of that habit, and now have to recreate that habit. There are lots of things a person can do to keep themselves in balance. Meditation is the main one, but certain tones can help clear the chakras and heal them as well. We'll go over those at a later date. But for now, if you would like to work on your chakras along with me, visualize them one at a time, either top to bottom or bottom to top. Watch the one you start with spin. What color is it? Is it brilliant, shining, clear in the center, and well balanced? If not, spend a little bit of time getting it in tip top shape, then move on to the next. Do this with all 7 chakras, then once you've reached the last one of your circuit, mentally step back and watch them all at work. After that, slowly step yourself back out of your visualization and know that all things are balanced. Feel the comforting energy flow through you. Do this every morning and evening for a week and chart how you feel, beginning to end of the week. Tell me you don't see a noticeable difference!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

A Hearty Hello!

Hello, and welcome to my new blog! Some of you may know me from Confessions of a Country Witch, my old blog. I used to be so good about keeping up with that blog, then all of a sudden it didn't feel sincere any more. I felt like I was having to force myself to write it. Then, the other night I realized something. I have been in a slump for quite a while now, and I had no idea how to get the heck out of it! My health has not been what it normally is this year, I've been depressed a whole heck of a lot more than I normally would be, I've been lonely, unhappy, and incomplete for quite a while. What might be the cause of this? I used to be so grounded in my religion, nothing, and no one could interfere with that; however, somewhere along the way I fell off track. It started with a slippery slide backwards. I stopped doing simple spell work, which led to me not doing cleansing rituals on the house, which led to me feeling trapped and claustrophobic in my own home, which led to more and more problems.

Of course, there is more to the story than just those few things. There were environmental things at work as well. Such as, when I bought my new house and moved it to that horrid trailer park in Amarillo. That trailer park was probably the worst place I've ever lived. It was so oppressive. I didn't feel safe in my own yard. I felt like I had to lock myself inside my house just to be semi safe, which led to even more frustration. Several relationships (romantic and otherwise) were ruined while I lived in Amarillo. I started reading Magical Housekeeping by Tess Whitehurst, and I realized that all the discord was coming from the fact that I personally felt a little lost. I was not grounded, and most definitely not centered. I had lost my way religiously, emotionally, physically, and mentally. Things that had once caused me great joy and excitement had now become the things I wanted to hide from. I wanted to cloister myself in my house, dive under the covers, and never see the light of day again. But when we want to do that, usually its because we need time to figure things out. And that's exactly what I've been doing this whole month that I've lived with my mom.

As we came closer and closer to Yule, I realized that I definitely wasn't looking forward to the celebration, much less anything else. Why did I feel that way? At first I didn't know the answer, just that I felt a major discord when I thought about the Yule celebration. One day my little brother looked at me and said, exactly what is your version of my Christmas? I was floored! I've never hidden my beliefs from him, and my parents are fluent in most of the celebrations (thanks to my dad's interest in history and in Greek and Celtic lore). I just couldn't believe that he had no clue as to even what religion I was! He asked if I was celebrating Hanukkah! As I lay in bed asking myself exactly why he had asked me such a ridiculous question, I realized that while I had been strong in my beliefs 2 years ago, lately no one really knew what religion I was! They knew for sure I wasn't their fellow Catholic, but other than that, I could have told them I was Atheist and they wouldn't have batted an eyelash. While I've been saying I'm Pagan, I definitely haven't been acting that way. I've been acting like someone devoid of religion and faith.

It took several things for all this to click into place. The first being my little brother asking if I celebrate Hanukkah. The second was when I visited a friend about a week ago to catch up after about 2 years of not seeing her. She told me her son was getting married, and asked me to "put my mojo" on the union, her way of asking me to bestow a blessing on him and his fiance. She also asked me to put my mojo into bringing her son back to Lubbock so they could be closer. It's something both of them want. I laughed at it at first, and told her I would do such, then later that night I came home and prayed that their union be blessed, and that they would be able to move back to Lubbock.

Now I've worked for that friend of mine before. I did a little herb work back when she was having major stomach problems and not being able to keep anything down. I made her an herbal tea, told her how to take it, and sent it on its way with her. When I'd worked on it, I'd infused it with healing powers, and asked the goddess to bless the tea so that my friend wouldn't have to worry with the stomach problems she was having. My friend never even drank the tea, she said just having it in the house made things better. Since then she's asked me to put my mojo on lots of things, and I've always gladly done it.

When I realized how much I'd changed I decided to go on an inner self journey to see what was going on, what was making things so discordant for me? As I sat and journeyed, I realized I'd fallen far away from the path. Back in Amarillo I'd struggled to get back to it, but so many things blocked me from that. There were so many blockages I had no clue how to get around or through them. If you ask me, that city is a little too discordant for it's own good, but that's just my personal opinion. Now that I'm back home, I am reconnecting, healing, and making things better for myself. I'm finding my way again, back on the journey of the seeker, but not at the very beginning. I hope that you come on this lovely journey with me as I start over again. Blessed be, and a blessed Yule!