Bizarre Quiz of the Day
Sal sent me this one. Ironic, since I was out doing one at the time. I'll save it for tomorrow. LOL



Your magical style is Priestess.

What type of Magic do you work?. Take the Magical Style Quiz by Paradox



Raves

I'm raving over myself again today. Created a new webset and did several changes, updates, and minor things to the website.

The webset is "Chivalry", and is for a new site fight I entered for Wizards Quest. Age of Chivalry is what I'll be fighting for and in, and I'm pleased they took me on. I wanted "Brigadoon", but you know what? This set turned out so well, I'm happy I wasn't messing with tartans. LOL. Please come on over and take a look.

Check out the index page, too. I adopted Harrison Ford. While looking for a small picture around the web (I really love that one from Witness, tho!) I noticed that I have pictures that rule. I went to FOUR sites, and NONE of them had anything decent in the way of pictures. Good grief. I can't be hording them ALL, can I? Well, okay, maybe I am. LOL. Look for a fan page in the future, I should think. I shouldn't keep this all to myself. ROFL.

I also linked Amazon Way directly to Fifth House. This was for a simple reason (and here's the RANT of the day), Angelfire wouldn't let me keep that much stuff there anymore. Now, that's not horrible. I understand limits. If I'd GONE OVER, I probably wouldn't be this annoyed. But I was nowhere near the 20k, even though they ordered me to lower it or lose it. So I lowered it, removing a BUNCH of good stuff, which annoyed me. Then I realized I was now at about 5k, and was never near 20k, and what WERE they thinking? Well, forget it. It's still there, but now it's at Fifth House, too. I pay (ha) good time (energy, more like) for Fifth House, so I'm going to use it, by hook. So, pppttthhhh Angelfire.

I also added all my graphics for fooling everyone when I was the Mystic Maiden. This is a game we played for Women of the World, where I went around anonymously signing guestbooks with a little graphic. It was very fun. However, once the game was over there was a bit of confusion, and we think Abril DID guess me. But everyone let it stand since they'd made all the suff. Anyhow, you can see all the great gifts at the WotW Spirit page. If you want to see the graphics I made for it, drop on by my guestbook. I signed my own book, too, to throw them all off. I doubt anyone noticed. LOL.

And that about sums it up for the day. A public thanks to Hula Kitty for taking on my boys for 2 whole nights. Whooo!

Until next time, keep your sword sharp and your bow strung! Herete!

Neither a rant nor a rave, but a question I wanted to answer. Thanks to Sal for showing me the link to the webring and group where I got the question, Pagan Speak. I'm not a member, mostly because I still don't have a spirituality page on my website. I've had one in the planning forever, but just haven't quite got it set up yet. Anyhow, I still wanted to answer the question.

Struggles on the Path

We all have times of inner conflict when it comes to our spiritual path. We change, we explore, we learn. Talk about how your spiritual path is going. Have you had any struggles that have been particularly important to you in getting where you are? Share how you got through the tough times and what it taught you. Do you think there will be ever a moment when we will just get it and no longer be seeking?

I'll try to be as brief as I can be about my spiritual path. It's not clear-cut, on purpose, which is a lot of the problem. I consider myself part-Astrology, part-Buddhist, part-Wiccan and a general follower of whatever works for me in every given situation. I don't ascribe to any particular religion or doctrine for all those reasons. Why? I'm overly flexible.

Let's start with the spiritual path. Astrology is really the core of my spiritual path. If it wasn't for astrology, and an in-depth look into how it works and all comes together, I wouldn't be who am I today. I wouldn't understand much about myself or how I work, and I wouldn't know when I was throwing up roadblocks for myself. I can see them most of the time now, which is good. This is where the flexibility comes in. I'm an Aries Horse, with Libra rising. When I'm in my good place, I've stopped putting myself first, and have started using balance and justice, fairness and flexibility to put others before myself. However, this makes me seem incredibly wishy-washy, since I keep rethinking what I think I already figured out.

In the realm of spirituality, this means I believe in almost everything. I believe in an overall spirit-father-mother figure. This figure will change as I need him/her/it to for various prayers, spells, and worship. The core belief here is that there IS something, but that it doesn't really have a name, a face, or a gender (geez, how arrogant are we that it must be like us?), a race, a creed, nothing. It is nameless and formless and belongs to each of us as we see it individually.

I have no actual religion. I make it up as I go along, and worship however I want. That's what America is for. I light candles and do Wiccan spells, I light candles and say prayers (much the same, IMO), I say prayers when I'm on the bus, I'm not afraid to "take the Lords name in vain" as often as I want (Since it's really just invocation), I don't read the bible but I know all the stories and think they're grand, and I have a weakness for Greek gods. Big deal. I'll bet you can't call on Zeus, Hera, Artemis and Ares and turn around and call on Jesus. Belief is belief. Again, it's flexible, it's nameless and formless and belongs to each of us as we see it individually. You aren't wrong, I'm not wrong, they aren't wrong. Go for it.

Have you had any struggles that have been particularly important to you in getting where you are? Good grief, at least one a week. More like one a day, right now. I have the worst time expressing myself when it comes to spirituality, so I can't really share it. And I think sharing is a good thing. Handing out knowlege, teaching others, all of that, it's very important. But I can't do more than just BE my spirituality and teach by doing.

Let's take the book, teachings, and lessons in "Effortless Prosperity" by Bijan. This is just one example in a long line of books and studies and things I've had myself do to get in tune with the universe. To me, it's not a big thing. But I know going in that I'll probably take a whacking for it. (I did.) I am full of humor, and take such things in stride, really. It really doesn't have anything to do with anyone else but me, so laugh all you want. I didn't say you should join up or that you should follow the teachings (which are really great, by the way) or do the daily lessons or anything. I may offer you the URL and say, "Well, try this." but I think that's as far as I went with it. Your choice is your choice. Exercise it. (I got two total ignores and one freakout, btw. So far. What will tomorrow bring? LOL)

Now, Bijan's lessons are based on peace within yourself that reaches out to others around you and to the universe at large. This is great. This taps into the universal consciousness (which I know about from my astrology learning) and helps to bring peace to everyone. Think of it this way: Every thought you have goes up into the atmosphere around the planet. Which do you think, right now, is more prevalant, good thoughts or bad? Within yourself? Within others? Exactly. So, count my thoughts on the good side. And every day at 1pm I'll still be praying for world peace, too. It's the very least I can do.

So, I'm teaching by doing. I'm being quiet when I need to be quiet. I'm letting go of my 'supposed' control of the universe and trying to see what good things God is bringing to my life (like Bijan and David and everyone in my life) and what lessons I am learning. It's not easy. But I AM doing it.

Share how you got through the tough times and what it taught you. The tough times are still coming. I'm standing in the middle of them right now. I have a wealth (pun) of problems concerning wealth (ha!) which would be stressing me out. A month ago, I would have been freaking out. In fact, I did have a freak out about three days ago, and cried over the entire lot of stress (not the actual problem, the stress of the problem was more annoying). But I discovered I was also 'hormonally' challenged at that particular juncture. But the release helped, I felt better, and the next day was easy and smooth and peaceful. And today, although the problem itself remains, I am still at peace.

I do want to mention a string of days early this month when I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned and couldn't figure out what was wrong. My father had admitted on the phone that he was a bad father, that it was his fault I had been physically abused and sexually abused. Man, what a thing to say! We usually sweep this topic right up under the rug. Anyhow, I was in turmoil about it. Because I hadn't really forgiven him for it all. I mean, I'd rationalized it into someone else's hands, taken the power to forgive away from myself. David helped me understand that, and I said out loud, "Well, I forgive him for that." and have been oversleeping since. LOL. Of course, I still need to tell dad that to his face, and I will, but he's hard to pin down. He's supposed to take my boys camping sometime or other, so I will see him soon. And I will be happy to share that with him. (Cause I don't think I should on the stupid phone or by email, or normal means of communicaton.LOL)

So there are lots of struggles. I don't think we stop struggling with those outside our spiritual paths, or within ourselves.

Do you think there will be ever a moment when we will just get it and no longer be seeking? Only on that final day. (Without going into horrible detail, I mean, is this the longest blog post ever for me or what?)

So, keep your spirit sharp today.

RANTS

Just getting right to it, today, because this is just da bomb. First, go to the start of this story. When you finish, try today's.

In a nutshell, this teenager went missing in a park 2 days ago. They found her truck, her dogs, and like bits of her stuff everywhere. The entire scene looked like an abuduction had taken place. There were police dogs, combing the woods, volunteers, Scouts, you name it, all looking for this girl in the wood.

Well, they found her. In Seattle. With friends. And they hauled her back home in a cop car.

You see, she apparently staged the whole abduction so she could go on a shopping spree in Seattle. I mean YEESH! She had to publicly apologize and everything, but man!

I was trying to imagine what it would be like to be that girl's parents, and I just have this deep sympathy for them. Their daughter might be the pariah of the community (and she is, IMO, cause the media and all) instead of a confused sixteen-year-old, but the parents? Ostracized. Total outcasts. Lepers!

I mean, I did a lot of really, really, really, really dumb things when I was sixteen, but it was all me. My parent's didn't really suffer from my mistakes, a fact I can be grateful now that I'm a parent. I hope the community (Lake Oswego, an upper-middle-class area, btw) forgives sooner rather than later, and IS thankful for the safe return of the teen. It could have been so much worse, and it wasn't.

Well, two cents for the day.

Bizarre Quiz of the Day:





Which Woman of Beauty Are You? Find out! By Nishi.


I returned to Nishi's site for that one. It was worth it. LOL

RANTS

Actually, ranting at myself today. I should be updating this blog a heck of a lot more often, I know. I apologize to any and all fans (Kou,Theryn, and/orSal, ) who might be checking this for updates. I seem to have found a life or something, I suppose. Either that, or my computer is preventing me from coming here as often as I'd like.

I wanted to mention the whole MONEY debaucle. Why? Because Sal put it on her blog. Of course.

It begins innocently enough. With me at the computer. Matt, my 11 yr old red-headed son, comes up and asks if he can go to Target. Knowing the child has no money, I ask, "Why?" in a perplexed fashion. He answers that he has $15. "Where did you get that?"

His friend, my next-door neighbor's son, gave him $15. "Why?" "He said he got a lot of money from his dad, and that he wanted me to have it because I'm his firend." A long discussion ensues where I try to explain why taking money to be someone's friend is a bad thing, which I'm sure he only got "give the money back" out of. Now he's just angry. He storms off, but eventually comes around.

Later on, I had to take Matt to his psychologist. I have no car, no bus money, and my bank account is overdrawn I discover. (That was a fun moment.) Guess who has the only money in the house? Matt! Figuring it must be there for a reason (and knowing I can pay it back anyhow) I inform Matt that part of the $15 is now going to be bus money. Of course, it's in $5 bills, so we have to go make change. So, off to McDonald's we go. We got a special deal (2 double-thick chocolate-banana milkshakes for $3) and got change. It is now like 1:45, and I have to be at the doc's at 2:30. It's a half-hour bus ride. The bus simply didn't come. At 2:10, I realize that short of a racecar of airplane, we aren't going to make that appointment. So, we return home.

I deal with the psychologist (who wasn't mad I couldn't come, remarkably). Matt asks if he can go to Target. I figure at this point, why not. If need be, I'll just pay back the whole $15. It's been a heck of a day anyhow, hasn't it? So, off he goes and spends every dime of the rest of his money. (Pokemon cards will do that.)

Much later, the neighbor comes over. I'm (go figure) on the computer. "I'd like to talk to you and Matt about something," she says. There's an aura of anger around her a mile wide. Let's bear in mind this is someone I have an....intolerence....for. (I'm getting over it.) "Is this about that money ****** gave Matt?" I ask. "Oh, you know about that?" she says. Her combatant attitude suddenly vanishes. I'm not sure what she was expecting, but it was really weird. Her anger aura is still going strong. "Yeah. I explained to Matt that he shouldn't take money to be someone's friend," etc, etc. Explain that I did use the money, because it was an emergency on my part, and that I'll pay it back if she needs.

"No," she says. "That's fine. It's all *******'s fault. You see," and here's the grand bit of this story. "****** just picked the money up off the counter at his dad's house." Apparently, the father (who I had assumed was paying child support to my neighbor and using ******* as a go-between or something) was going to pay some bill or other with the money, but hadn't. So it was lying around in the bathroom (which is freaky to me, but whatever. Strange detail, that.) and ******* picked it up and carried it off home. He then proceeded to lie to his grandmother and spend $40 on a Gameboy game, gave $15 to Matt, and probably spent more than that in other ways she didn't divulge. She waved away my offer of paying it back (for about the 3rd time that story) and took ****** off to his father's house for a chat.

Much, much, much later, they both come back to the house. ******'s punishment was first to apologize, then he was going to work off the money with his mother. I offered Matt's help, and Matt apologized for having taken the money 'to be his friend' as well. But the neighbor said that wasn't really neccessary, so it's forgotten.

*whew* It was quite the day. And I kind of like her better knowing her son isn't the perfect little angel she makes him out to be. Anyhow....

RAVES

Well, the rants was so long, I'm not sure there's a good rave left in me. LOL. Well, how about my new Women of the World Spirit Page? I made a really awesome webset for it, at least if I do say so myself.

The set is created from an album cover from about 1958-1962 or so. It was a time when young adults (I'm talking 20-30 year old's) went to clubs and actually danced together. It was a time of 'beatnicks' and jazz, when there were names for the dances (samba, rhumba, cha-cha) that matched the exotic flavor of the music.

I got it from an awesome website "Club Velvet" that is still up, but out of operation. I spent just HOURS pouring through the really awesome album covers on his site. All of them unique, all of them interesting, and most of them with the most humorous names ever.

"Mallet Mischief", on which the set is based, is a selection of songs featuring a xylophone. But there was something about that woman with the pearls. The look on her face, the gold of her dress, the length of her pearls, I dunno, that just appealed to me. In fact, it was so interesting, that I had been thinking of her for three days, including in my dreams. It didn't surprise me that I created the set from start to finish in about 2 hours. That's a kind of record for me. It just flowed so easily.

Drop me a note and let me know how you liked it, if you did.

Until next time, keep your sword sharp and your bow strung! Herete!