1000 Pages To Go!

So, last night I officially hit the "1000 pages to go" mark on my USBoS. This, of course, does not include my tarot decks to work with, but hey, 1000 pages over two books isn't bad. Okay, on a technical note its 1002 pages, but that's only because I went to bed last night to watch Harry Potter 6, which then proceeded to give me an incredibly surreal dream.

So, if we want to be specific, I have 375 pages (out of 603) to type up in my Symbol book. A little less than HALF the book was one chapter.

I have 627 (of 1035) in my Spell book. I'm on the chapter about the Evil Eye. I've skipped somje chapters in this book because the spells don't sit right with me, like the dominating spells and the hexes. I read each spell and deside if the risks of the spell are worth it.
For some, there is really no risk, such as the spiritual cleansing spells. Others, like the dominating spells, interfere too much with other people without there consent.
"But Lea!" I hear you all tell me, "you wrote up banishing spells!"
Banishing spells for people is indeed a last-chance-completely-desperate-no-other-option option. Yes, they do interfere with people without thier consent, but, unlike dominating spells and hexes, these people can be a legit threat to you. When you perform a person banishing spell, it really means they have overstayed thier welcome and are interfereing with your life WAY to much.
Each of these banishing spells does contain some degree of risk, and it's up to the spell-caster to choose if the risk is worth it.

So, then, why aren't I including the hexes and dominaing spells?
These types of spells are the spells that, unlike banishing spells, are spells in which you aren't getting rid of a problem, but exterting your power. For these spells, the risk is much higher, not to mention they can go very wrong. In these cases, unless you want a reputation as a "black witch", taking the risk to control other people or cause them harm on purpose is not worth it when there are other, less risky spells you can use, such as making yourself invisible to the people you want to hex.

In the end, spells all carry a certain degree of risk, and it is up to the spell caster to deside if the risk is great enough.

I have no idea where that little rant came from, but I think I'll polish it up for another one of my "lessons" postings.

Have My Posts Been Sucking Recently?!

Well, I think they have. I've been detoxing, and it's not been a pretty picture over here. No, I wasn't addicted to hard drugs or anything like that.

As it turns out, I've got a food sensitivity to one of my favorite foods and I've been getting that all out of my system. Let me tell you, it has not been pretty. Today, so far, has been a good day. Yesterday was a bad day. Hopefully my days will start getting better and better. It's a whole diet revamp, and it really isn't easy, mostly because, though I'm not actually missing the foods I can't have, I'd just rather not eat, which probably isn't a good idea. I do get some cravings for food, but not many. Right now, I'm really craving Kelsey's chicken strips. Been caving them ever since I really got sick.

Anyway, I'm semi-back on track with typing up my USBoS, so better blog posts should soon follow.

More Third Eye Drama

So, I had been working on opening my third eye before my surgery. No biggie, right? It was beginning to open and though I still was a little afraid, I still could actually visualise things. See, I never had a good "inner eye"; when I was writing, I could never invision what I was doing until my third eye began to open up.

Then I had wisdom tooth surgery, and either due to the IV sedation or the antibotics, or the painkillers (Tylenol 3s and something VERY strong and dangerous if taken too much) that have, literally, shut down my third eye. I know that drugs can do this sometimes, but I never expected it to happen with m surgery.

Fast forward to last night. I have a kind of translucent gold barrier (floor-to-celing, wall-to-wall paralelling my bed) to keep me safe from any wandering spirits. Last night, I'm typing on my computer, and feel a bit odd. Out of the corner of my eye I see a dirty white shape, right against the barrier. Scared me badly. Still not sure what it was. It was round-ish (at least the part I saw), dirty white, kind of glowy.

Ugh, annoying-.-

The Rainstorm and the River are my Brothers

You think I'm an ignorant savage
And you've been so many places
I guess it must be so
But still I cannot see
If the savage one is me
How can there be so much that you don't know?
You don't know ...

You think you own whatever land you land on
The Earth is just a dead thing you can claim
But I know every rock and tree and creature
Has a life, has a spirit, has a name

You think the only people who are people
Are the people who look and think like you
But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
You'll learn things you never knew you never knew

Have you ever heard the wolf cry to the blue corn moon
Or asked the grinning bobcat why he grinned?
Can you sing with all the voices of the mountains?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?
Can you paint with all the colors of the wind?

Come run the hidden pine trails of the forest
Come taste the sunsweet berries of the Earth
Come roll in all the riches all around you
And for once, never wonder what they're worth

The rainstorm and the river are my brothers
The heron and the otter are my friends
And we are all connected to each other
In a circle, in a hoop that never ends

How high will the sycamore grow?
If you cut it down, then you'll never know
And you'll never hear the wolf cry to the blue corn moon

For whether we are white or copper skinned
We need to sing with all the voices of the mountains
We need to paint with all the colors of the wind

You can own the Earth and still
All you'll own is Earth until
You can paint with all the colors of the wind

I've been listening to this song on a loop for a bit (I'm writing a story about the concept of 'savages'), and all I can think of is how strange this song makes me feel. It really gets me emotionally charged. It's hard to explain. It's like I feel a tugging at my heart, and I get shivers and goosebumps.
Now, I don't really like the outdoors, so to speak, yet this song still speaks to me.
I really think this song has a connection to Pagans and Wiccans everywhere-- be you a technopagan, a traditional Wiccan, or a complete eclectic Witch.
I have (as far as I know) no Native American blood in me, yet I feel a strange connection to certain tribes, including the tribes of South America. Part of that might be due to Quetzalcoatl taking such a liking to me.
This week I have sucked at concluding things.

It's Official

It's all official! I'm now a makeup artistry student. How awesome is that! Yay! Post-secondary education!

There was a bit of a snafu on my end, and they had me interviewed for the full course (Spa management, electrolysis, ect), instead of just the single skill course (make up). I didn't tell them I was just registering for the single skill. Yeah...lol...

But, man, it's nice to be registered and done with. I'm so excited.
Classes start January 8th, 2010. So, until then, I'm going to practise as much as I can. YAY!

I just thought I'd let you all know. I really have to work on my USBoS (The folder on my computer) to finish my books by then! It's my new goal. It's about 20 pages a day, or ten per book.

Halloween Week-Decorations

Halloween is just around the corner, so (hopefully) you have your decorations all out. We have a halloween village, some crosss-stitch my mom made, and a halloween tree with Nightmare Before Christmas and Peanuts Gang ornaments. Of course, we also have candles, pumpkins, and (for some reason) the cast of my dad's teeth that his dentist gave him when he got his mouth guard.

So, what sort of decorations do you have? Do you have different decorations for your Samhain celebrations, or do you use the hokey Halloween stuff?

Us? We like the hokey stuff, so we're going to keep that up.

Halloween Week-Costumes

Hello everyone, welcome to Halloween Week! All Halloween, all week!

So, last night I had my Halloween party. It was a blast. I’ll be sure to give you all a link to the photos later, when I upload them onto my computer.

My harem girl costume is too hot and kind of uncomfortable to wear all day on the 31st, so I’m going as a fortune teller for that day. I’m going to set up a sort of altar on my coffee table, with a deck of my tarot cards, and my crystal ball. I’ll wear a long skirt and one of my poet (aka super puffy) tops, and tie one of my many altar cloths to my head, and talk in a slightly over-kill Russian accent.
As much as I loved my harem girl costume, I do need something a bit easier.

Are any of you guys going to be dressed up for Halloween day? What are you going to wear? Will you have a costume for fun and a more serious one for any samhain rituals? Will you wear "tradional" garb for samhain?

Losing Touch

What do you do to recharge and re-energize? How do you get back in touch with yourself after being so caught up in the mundane of every-day life, work and bills?
Also, I'm curious how you recognize that you've lost touch. Is there some sort of signal, some sign that you notice, that tells you it's time to take a break?
--Pagan Blog Prompts

Because I’m still working on processing my books, I can really tell when I’m drained. When I’m really in-touch with what I’m doing, I’m literally on a roll. I can finish huge books in a day or two. But when I’m really drained, I work at a snail’s pace and end up doing almost nothing.

I usually push through it, or negotiate with myself. Right now, I should be working on processing, but I’m typing up this blog post, so I’m not doing something totally pointless. Sometimes I just give up, but that’s usually for things that are less important. When I feel out of touch, I usually get really upset with myself, because I feel bad for not doing anything.

If I really need to recharge, I usually just do whatever I want. I ignore what I “have” to do, and focus on what I “want” to do. And if what I “want” to do is read comments on FSTDT, then I do it. Eventually, what I want to do will become what I need to do, and the cycle repeats.

Pagan Blog Prompt: Mundane Beauty

As I leave my home for a week tomorrow, I thought it would be fitting to post something about my house. So, I wrote up another Pagan Blog Prompt about Mundane Beauty.

Make your blog post today about the beauty surrounding you, hidden within the mundane. It could be something you see or do every day, that suddenly feels magical. Tells us a story, and help us to feel that magic too.
Beauty is everywhere, we just have to take the time to notice it, and recognize it as such.

Beauty is indeed everywhere, and people tend to forget that. We are a culture obsessed with movie stars and fake boobs, and we don’t notice the beauty in clouds or animals.
Today, the mundane beauty I’ve found is in my dream catcher.

Now, compared to the more professional ones you can buy, this thing is ugly. It’s made of a wreath ring, with black leather cording wrapped around. The netting is off-centre. The beads are nice Sworski crystal in pink, red, and blue. The metal feathers came with the cheap kit. There is a Tibetan prayer bead hanging from it on a piece of clear wire. It smells like bergamot, and I think I burnt some of the sinew netting when I cleared it with sage.
Yes, this thing is clearly hand-made.
And that’s why it’s beautiful.
See, you can tell it’s handmade. You can tell that someone (meaning me) put the time and effort into making it, instead of buying a more “factory” looking one from a store.
I think that's where mundane beauty comes from. I took the time to handmake something, and though it is no where near professional quality, the energy that flows through this is so much better than any one purchased at a store. Sure, the materials used were very ordinary (and cheap), but together they combined into something extraordinary.

Hard Drive

So, my computer crashed a while back, and I just got it back with a brand-new hard drive. Here’s the thing: they gave us the old one back. The fried one? Yeah, it’s sitting on my altar at the moment.
Pagans form connections to things that mean a lot to us. I think we all know I’m very attached to my computer. But, when I think about it, I’m not attached to my computer, I’m attached to the files and the things a computer can do. So, that would basically make me attached to the hard drive.
I suppose you can say it has a high concentration of my energy, because my computer is, quite literally, glued to my lap from the time I wake up until the time I crash.
When I found out they gave us back the old drive, I immediately took it and now, it’s sitting on my altar, doing nothing.

I don’t want to just pitch it. It’s a part of my life. When I hold it, I can feel it’s energy. But, I have no idea what to do with it. Do I just have it sit on my altar? Do I make a talisman? Do I use it as a ritual item? I don’t know. I don’t exactly know what to do with it.
I suppose I’ll find the answer eventually, but at the moment, I seem like a hoarder.