But the good news is that things are finally going a bit more steady, which means that I can yet again embark on this journey!

I have applied to Radford University finally, now I am waiting for a plethora of complications to recede (consolidating my loans, mostly) so I can plan for that.

In the meantime, I am happy to report that I have ordered my first batch of beeswax so I can start making candles and salves!  Hopefully this will bring in a little extra income since my job came to a halt last month.  In my attempt to be as practical as I can, I will limit myself to the most basic additions to the candles and salves so I won’t lose all my remaining money to expensive essential oils.  My next and probably last purchases for this will be a carrier oil (I hear Jojoba oil is the best since it’s not actually an oil but a liquid wax, says Scott Cunningham), and some basic EOs that will go a long way — everything else I have is already at home, and years of cooking for my family has taught me how to make my own combinations of delicious oils.

The batch, 2 lbs of it from eBeeHoney, is due in one to three days.  When it arrives, I will take tons of pictures.

Stay tuned!

I was lucky enough to get a bladder infection last week.  But the only thing about this bladder infection is that it was particularly harsh; Wednesday the pain was so bad that I fainted at work.  Fainted is kind of a dodgy term for it though, I don’t think I lost consciousness, but anyway.  It was a big embarrassing scene out of my place of employment (I work in a mall, so everyone and their mothers and bosses saw me being carried out), where I was officially diagnosed with a bladder infection, given some antibiotics, and sent on my way.

Thursday morning I experienced some kidney pain.  Nothing serious, right?  Well of course, because I’m me, it was serious.  By Friday afternoon the pain in my right kidney had gone from negligible to constant and very noticeable.  I had two options — go back to the ER for a follow up, or go to an immediate care center in Sewell, which is much farther out of my way than it is to go back to the ER.  So mom and I set off at 5:30 that night.

When they finally called us back — after being registered in triage and all that — I couldn’t stand without having something to prop up against.  We sat in the ER while they ran a beautiful array of blood cultures.  They got me situated with an IV and gave me something for the pain, and finally, my doctor came in and did the tap test.  For those who don’t know about this innvoative technology, your doctor will gently tap the side of your body and ask if it hurts.  99.99% of the time, it never ever hurts.

Ever get punched in the kidney?  That’s what it felt like.  He ordered a CT scan of my abdomen and left.

I only saw my doctor once after that, and that was to tell me that he wanted to keep me overnight because it was strange that I was already on antibiotics and I had managed to get a kidney infection.  Apparently, getting IV antibiotics is kind of a big deal?  So I was admitted, moved to the 4th floor, and spent 24 hours there.  I was released yesterday evening, with an Rx for Levoquin to keep in the infection at bay.  I did notice today a sudden shimmer of kidney pain again, when I picked up my shoes off the floor today, but otherwise it has been pretty quiet.

Needless to say, I am happy to be home.  But I am really tired from the stay at the hospital, even though all I did was lay in their fancy hospital bed all day and talk to nurses and watch TV programs about dinosaurs.  While hospitals are all about rest, I quickly felt lazy.  But in the end it was probably better that I didn’t try to sneak out of my room looking for adventure.

Well, wish me luck, readers.  Next time, I will be writing an article about Red Oak Grove’s Alban Arthan!  :D

If you haven’t already heard from my constant whining and complaining, I got poison ivy last week.  It started on my face and exploded from there.  Luckily, it was just a rash and not giant sagging blisters full of yellow fluid.  But man did it itch!  So after a week of not working (my fingers swelled so bad and I couldn’t do anything except itch, apply calamine and hydrocortisone, and itch some more) and finally getting to a doctor, I have a prescription for Prednisone to last me the week, and by then I should be cured of this devilish affliction.

I hate that I can’t wait it out — trust me, taking drugs is the last of my favorite things to do after years of eating aspirin/acetaminophen/ibuprofen for migraines — but there was no way I would be able to wait this out another two weeks.  So I got to the doctor, I took two tablets at 8 o’clock and the rashes are already almost gone, except for my left arm and my inner thighs; there is HEAVY bruising from the scratching, but I’m not worried.

In the meantime, Martin and I have begun our 200 Sit-ups and 100 Push-ups challenges.  You should check them out, they’re lots of fun and hardly a lot of work at all.  Dedicate ten minutes to 5 sets of varying sit-ups/push-ups and in no time you’ll be kicking some ass.  I’m excited!

Also in news, a little less than a month until Red Oak Grove’s Alban Arthan celebration in the little town of Medford, New Jersey!  I went last year, and it was just the best time I’ve ever had in a giant cabin full of my favorite people.  Granted, some of them will be missing (Sean, Maggie, and our dear Pants), but we will drink and be merry and remember them in their absences.  Beware, readers: there will be such a heavy photo-dump that day, I just might link my Facebook photo album here.

Alright, readers, I’m off to bed now.  I have to get into a better sleeping schedule — I work black Friday at an amazing 7am (this means a lot after never being at work earlier than 9:30am), and I’m bringing bagels and coffee for all the wonderful ladies I work with for being such good sports, what with black Friday and my terrible absence that they covered for me.

Bright blessings, everyone!

Here is the path, cleverly hidden by overgrowth and camouflaged by dead foliage and chilly earth.

And here’s more of it…

As I got further down the path though, I noticed something weird, toward the back.  I mean, you woudn’t know it if you hadn’t been there before, but it was definitely a change.

Then I saw this:

A fucking tree fell on my circle.

That’s a really big tree!

Oh boy.

I tried hacking away at it (the wood was very dry and brittle, it’s no wonder it fell) to make it easier to move from the circle, but it was still too big and the only thing I brought with me was my camera, phone, and a plastic rake.

So I went to work, clearing out as much of it as I can, raking the leaves and other such plants from within, smelling the wild chives I had un-strangled.  It was very nice.

Because I had my camera set on “Sunset/Sunrise” mode, this picture is fantastically creepy.  But it wasn’t very red at all, the sun had disappeared behind the houses and after I stopped to take a few pictures, it was colder than I anticipated, so I headed home.

Toodles!

Well it’s been a bit since I updated.  Mostly work and NaNoWriMo have taken my soul — that and I’ve begun art journaling.  I’ll post pics in the coming days, I’m pretty impressed with myself.

Most of that started shortly before Samhain, when I went to JoAnne Fabrics with my mom one night.  There’s a mixed media magazine called Somerset Studio that I have taken an interest in since their last issue dedicated to Alice and Wonderland.  FTR, I absolutely love mixed media, and while I love painting and drawing, nothing makes me feel more involved and a part of my artwork than making a piece that is made of all sorts of things.  So I bought the magazine, it’s really quite fantastic and my Christmas list includes a subscription to it.  I plan on spending my spendable money on some materials to make my first shadowbox piece.  I’m very excited.

Also worth noting, the day before Samhain, Martin and I were walking around my development looking for nice leaves to press and preserve for decorations (I had spent the last of my spendable money on decor for Samhain that also doubles for all the sabbats), when we went poking around the woods and found a perfect spot for a circle.  So we went back to the house for a compass, rake, and lantern and we returned to the spot, clearing it out and outlining the circle with branches that had fallen from trees.  I realise that even though it’s in the woods, it’s a residential area, so I don’t think I’ll be burning many candles when I go out, but I’m pretty pleased with it.  I have to talk a picture or two of that for you guys when I get the chance, I’m thinking Tuesday morning when the sunlight is bright and golden and will make it look mystical.

Also, I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about this on the blog, but I’ve begun budgeting so Martin and I can make the big move to Virginia.  I’ve been wanting to move back to Virginia for a long time, plotting with my darling Turnip (petname) and it’s looking like it’s really going to happen.  We’re aiming for early February, at the latest early March.  I don’t know much about the Pagan community down there as I was always in school the last time I was there (for college), but I know Witchvox has some links there regarding locations and communities.  As a member of ADF ROG, I wonder if they have a Grove in the area?

Anyway, that’s a lot of what is consuming my time — imagining life in Virginia.  I’ve decided that if we can afford it, in the spring, I want to build a coop and get a couple of chickens.  And start a garden.  And do all those things we can’t do here in Jersey (at least, where I live).  A simple, wholesome life with two of my most favorite people can’t be beat.

Anyway, I’m going to go start journaling and probably turn in really early.  Despite work being boring, it really does take a lot out of me.

And don’t forget:  TWELVE MORE DAYS TIL HARRY POTTER.  There will be an extensive blog entry about it when it happens.  :D

Bright Blessings!

There is no denying that a good deal of our laws come from the collective idea of  The Golden Rule, The Silver Rule (yeah, I didn’t know about this one, either), the Wiccan Rede, or whatever you want to call it.  ”Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” or “harm none and do what ye will” come in about seventy different flavors, but the idea is just the same.  Such a philosophy has created what we know today as basic human morals — i.e., don’t kill people, don’t steal, respect others, and the like.

However, obviously people don’t always follow these elementary interaction skills, regardless of their religion.  People deal daily with their frustrations, and however hard they may try, are just as subject to curse their inconveniences and flavor-of-the-day enemies.  I mean, even the best of us can get aggravated and say some pretty unsavory things to people we barely know, or know very well.  But typically (or at least, I like to imagine) we apologise or cool down, and try to change how we react to negative things.

So this brings me to a personal “battle,” I guess you could call it.

I started out practicing Wicca at the tender age of 14, though as I stepped into the adult world later in 2007, I began to look at things in a different light.  At first, I was conflicted because I began studying and practicing Wicca because, not only was it something that made sense to me, but the threat of being punished for wrongdoing in the eyes of a higher power was a lot less scary — in fact, the idea of something coming back at me at three times the potency seemed fair.  However I began realising that a lot of my practice was strained within the limitations that were spelled out by the Rede.  It seemed that if I were angry about something, instead of being angry about it, I was forced, out of fear of punishment from a higher power, to take a different approach.  Meaning, frankly, if someone did me wrong, I felt I was not allowed to act on my anger.

Anger is a very important emotion, as it lets you know that you have been wronged, and obviously you would want to undo the wrong and enforce the right.  Too many times did I let something go that I felt was unjust and looked for an alternative outlet.  I guess it’s just perspective or how I approached it, but my experiences have taught me that the alternative, peaceful approach is not always the best way to resolve or close a case.

While I was trying my best to stick to a Wiccan belief system, I found myself unable to accept that I felt like I was forced to always be the good guy when I was only human, and to ignore my emotions was something I was unwilling to do.  I admit it is admirable to always try to be peaceful and do the right thing, but realistically, everyone gets mad, and sometimes the only way to get change is to be aggressive, and when I realised this, it was then that I realised that I could not call myself a Wiccan.

But it’s so much more hassle to call yourself a Pagan and not Wiccan — because while you can define Wicca at least a little bit, and reassure the masses with the “harm none” business, a strand of neo-paganism that is NOT Wicca cannot be as easily defined, and cannot reassure the masses that you aren’t going to put a little jinx on them if you cross them.  And you know the masses — hysteria would quickly ensue.  While there are many people and groups out there to educate the populus about Paganism (not just Wicca), it’s difficult to get past the word Pagan in the first place.

Even though the dictionary expressly clarifies it as “someone who does not believe in your god/someone who follows a polytheistic or pre-Christian religion,” the bible takes precedent and refers to us as Heathens, which does not have a very positive connotation at all.  However I do know some folk refer to themselves as Heathens and this is not an issue for me, but you have to admit — if you ask 100 strangers how they feel about the word Heathen, or ask what they know about it, 99 of them may only have that singular source to pull from.

For years I would not say that I was Pagan to avoid the trouble of having to reassure people that I was not evil, I was not a devil worshiping, virgin sacrificing, live-animal-eating deviant.  I would say I was Wiccan, which was justifiable to me because I had not stepped out of the bounds of the Rede and had an entirely Wiccan practice, but it was all I knew, and most importantly, I had an issue with its policy.

Though, events that have unfolded in the world today made me realise that I can’t keep covering up who I really am just to avoid conflict.  Seems silly now, almost, at 21 and after all of high school fighting for gay kids’ rights to be out and proud, never hiding who they are, here I am making the same realisation about myself and my spirituality.

Just because my particular line of practice does not expressly say that as a follower of my faith, I will not do anything bad to anyone, does not mean that I WILL do something bad to anyone.  But it also does not mean that I won’t do something that could be construed as naughty.  I stated previously, everyone is human and regardless of who they pray to every night before they go to sleep, we all do something to walk the fine line between bad, mean, angry, or selfish at one point or another.  Even just something mischievous.  And it always comes back to us, regardless of who we think is running the show.  This isn’t just in a magical regard either; mundane, secular things also apply here.

Once, I did a spell to remove a negative influence from a girlfriend’s life when I was 16.  It resulted the aforementioned negative influence being relocated to Virginia.  I performed the spell again not too long ago, but I feel wholly responsible for a friendship ending that could have easily been saved.  Both of these things are pretty touchy according to Wiccan rules, as it’s generally accepted that you don’t perform magic on or around someone without their permission first.

Another time, I wished very intently that a friend of mine’s car would fall apart on the way to college (he had crossed me terribly).  Later, though I had forgiven him and didn’t think much of the wish after that, he informed me that the exhaust system in his car was annihilated while driving on the roads of Ohio.  That wasn’t even something that had a circle cast or a candle lit — my anger was so concentrated that the intent was released and well, I’m just happy that it was only his exhaust.  And that he’s going to school for classic car restoration.

The point is, folks, that at the end of the day, we are all people.  We make decisions every minute of our lives that have an impact in the biggest and smallest ways.  We are taught to do the right thing, the reasonable thing, and yet we still do the things that people do not see as most reasonable.  However, the chances of our “bad” decisions occuring habitually decrease if we take the time to analyse the execution of our actions and learn from them, and how we can do it better or differently next time.

With this knowledge I have gained and the experiences I have accumulated, I know who I am.  I will defend my rights as a human being, I will protect my friends and family, and honor the gods to the best of my ability.  I’m going to slip up every now and again, say some bad shit, do some bad shit, but it comes with the territory of being a human being.

To wrap this up, I’ll leave you with a quote from a man I can align with pretty well.

“…besides, the world isn’t split into good people and Death Eaters. We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.”

I’m not a very political person, as in, I don’t watch the news as often as others might.  But this has struck a chord in me, because ignorance has really taken the reigns here.  If you recall possibly, there was some controversy a couple of weeks ago concerning Christine’s “dabbling in witchcraft,” something she openly discussed on Bill Maher’s Politically Incorrect television show back in the 1990′s.  Video of that incident can be found here.

When I first watched it, I was doubled over with laughter.  Either she got some facts confused or she was not a part of any witch function.  But after this, I began actually looking into this woman, who up until then seemed just a victim of ignorance to a negligible degree.  It turns out this woman is really quite mental — a religious right that condemns sex all together, insists that homosexuality is an “identity disorder,”  theorises that handing out condoms in high school is like “legalising drunk driving,” among a slew of other ridiculous claims.  Handy guide to lots of her quotes and sources found here, but do take the time to look at the kind of woman who wants in on our government.

So now, it really has come down to realising that this woman would be a terrible asset to have in the Senate.  Religious ideals have no place in government in America.

While cruising Facebook earlier today, I found a video posted by a fellow Witch, linked from author T Thorn Coyle.

Then, after hearing more about this, discovered another video.

And then I knew that it was my turn to speak.

Please pass this onto anyone you know, add to the snowball.  Let them know that we will not be quiet, and we will not stand for ignorance and political agendas put a bad name on Witches everywhere.

Thank you to T Thorn Coyle, Miss Star F, and Miss Stasa for getting my video out there.

Anyway, as I have been under the weather lately, I inquired to my vegan associate Sarah if she knew any good, vegan recipes that were hailed to cure the cold, much like chicken noodle soup or some variant.  She relayed to me a simple recipe which I modified slightly to accommodate my need for flavor.

Not So Vegan Cure for Colds (aka Par-Garnion Soup)

• 1 medium yellow onion
• 4 cloves fresh garlic
• a sprig or two of fresh parsley
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• crushed red pepper

Chop the onion in half, and then half again, and possible half it an additional time (depending on how medium your onion is).  Then cut the garlic cloves in halves if you wish, and toss the whole lot into a food processor.  Top off with the parsley.  Sorry the pictures are kind of terrible, for whatever reason my camera was not feeling up to natural light.

Proceed to process the ever-loving-nonsense out of the mix.  It’s really about preference, but I personally do not like big chunks sneaking in with little chunks.  It’s a texture thing.

After processing, heat 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a small saucepan, and then toss the par-garnion mush in.  I suggest med-low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

After the mush has cooked and the par-garnion is tender and somewhat translucent (I know it might be tough to tell because of all the liquid in there, so I bank on 10 minutes), add one cup of water and one cup of chicken stock.  After you bring it to a boil, cover and reduce heat to simmer for 15 minutes.

After simmering, take off heat and add a bit of crushed red pepper (I added a ton of thai pepper, myself).  The website with the recipe said to eat one helping, get under a blanket and sweat a lot, then get up and have a second helping.  I did not do this as it was really good and ended up eating the whole thing without waiting for seconds.

And there you have it.

Stay healthy!

Saturday night during work I was overcome with blinding pain in my face from the pressure in my sinuses reaching about forty billion psi. This led to a severe migraine that lasted roughly twleve hours, lots of time rolling around and just asking for a gun or other life-ending implements.

Sunday started the fantastic cold, complete with a clogged nose that not even the Neti-Pot could dredge.  I also adopted a vicious sounding cough that is accompanied by flesh colored phlegm that occasionally makes itself known. I am not running a fever, but damn if I’m not constantly freezing.

Martin was nice enough to come over that Saturday night and hold my hand while I prayed for death, and then he made me a beautiful bowl of chicken soup (with garlic and thai peppers) the next day, which alleviated some of the sniffles.

So now it’s a combination of leaky nose, horrendous cough, and bouts of intense lethargy. And also this morning I noticed that my lips are quite swollen.

I might indulge in a cup of mint green tea to help with the breathing a bit. In the meantime I might pop on The Secret Garden, pass out, wake up again in an hour just in time to see Medlock flipping shit on Mary.

Stay healthy, kids!

Chicken Wrap Yeah!

• 1lb chicken tederjawns
• 3 large leaves of lettuce
• coupl’a spinach leaves
• 3 whole wheat tortillas
• 1 roma tomato
• 2 avocados
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• pinch sea salt
• paprika
• cumin
• garlic powder
• extra virgin olive oil

Alright.  Take the avocados, pit them, and put the delicious mush into a blender with the lemon juice and the salt.  Take pictures.

Meanwhile, slice those tomatoes real nice.

Take the delicious avocado mush and apply liberally to the three tortillas.  Place one big lettuce leaf, a couple of spinach leaves, and two slices of tomatoes on the tortillas.  I definitely forgot to take pictures of this as I was so excited to eat.

Next, take the chicken, drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil, and season to your liking.  I find that half a teaspoon of each of the spices did well for each tenderpiece.

I also forgot to take pictures of the finished grilled result (which I assure you looked really, really great).

Place 2 chickenpieces on the pretty edible plate, wrap, place toothpicks in the result, and EAT.

Enjoy! :D