Getting back on track

I always seem to be doing that, don't I?

My pledge for 2012 is to be better on a lot of things.

My organization system was all set up to kick off the new year smoothly. Then somewhere out of the darkness came a sinus infection. I fought it - and won - over the course of 14 days. Now I'm healthy and working tirelessly to get caught up and on track.

One of the things I'm hoping will help keep me on the Spiritual path is to take some classes. My first one in a series begins next week with Deborah Blake. You can read her blog post about it HERE The cost is affordable and being taught by someone I trust.

The first class, Introduction to Modern Witchcraft (and all subsequent classes) will be taught through a Yahoo Group Loop. You can check out the HomePage for all the info and how to sign up. I like classes taught in this format. I've taken a lot of writing courses this way. You can back-read if you miss a day, converse with other classmates on the material and ask questions of the instructor.

As a side note: The above mentioned Yahoo Group is totally separate from the Cauldron Writers Group I've talked about before. The class group is strictly for her workshops.

I'm not taking this particular course because I feel I need it, but because it's the first in what we hope will be a series of classes Deborah will offer over the coming months.

Having taught courses in this venue, I know first-hand how time consuming this is for her. It takes away from her personal life, coven life and business. (Did you know she has some of the most beautiful jewelry you'll ever want to wear?) So I encourage my friends to take the course and get to know this awesome lady. Who knows... there may be a gem of something you didn't know hidden in those magical posts.

Many Blessings

Rain

A New Year

How was your Samhain? If you were lucky, like my friend Deborah Blake, you had snow on the ground for ritual. I know it's not exactly the weather we want for the biggest ritual of the season, but if the weather cooperates, I don't think there's anything quite so peaceful as a dark sky full of stars above and a blanket of snow beneath... and stillness all around. It's like the polar opposite of a raging thunderstorm for me.

For my Samhain, I had neither. What I did manage to do was finally get my altar the way I wanted it. Well except for the lack of candles. I can not believe with all the candles I have in this house - and in my ritual cabinet - I didn't have a single Yellow or Gold. :: shakes head in disbelief ::: But otherwise, I finally have a permanent altar. I've warned hubby NOTHING gets put on it.

So tomorrow when I go on a Quilt Shop Hop I'm going to buy the candle colors I need - at least two sets. I want to have a set I can use for a temporary altar. Hubby is gone 3 weeks at a time and home 3 weeks. It's part of his job as a river boat captain we've lived with for years. When he's gone, I can get up in the morning and visit the bedroom altar. But when he's home, he likes to sleep in at least til 8 and I'm an early riser. So I'm putting together a altar box I can keep in the living room and use a TV tray in front of the big East facing picture window.

As the holiday candles hit the shelves, now is the time to pick up the Gold and Silver candles in particular. With Halloween behind us, now is also the time to pick up the black and orange ones going on clearance. Learning from my own lesson, it's one of the things I'll stress in The Organized Witch.

As soon as I have those candles in place, I'll post a pic of my altar. I'd love to hear about yours. Is it traditional or is it more eclectic with things that mean something to you personally?

Bard of the South

It doesn't matter where our journey takes us, there's always something new to discover or someone new to meet.

I met Rickey Pittman for the first time at the Ozark Creative Writers conference in Eureka Springs Arkansas. An author, he signed in to the event on Thursday night and was told about an Open Mic planned for the evening but they hadn’t set the mic up yet. He jumped right in to volunteer to help out. He just happened to have one in his car. That's the type of guy he is. Ready to help out where he can. He truly enjoys what he does and gives back when given the opportunity. And the journey for us began. He emceed the event on Thursday evening, treating us to the Irish brogue of a home he’s never been, and capturing us all with his songs and storytelling. Throughout the course of the weekend I would have several opportunities to talk with Rickey, as well as enjoy his musical talent.

As I write this, I’m enjoying his current CD – Bard of the South. Along with some Civil War classics, he shares originals like Arkansas Gypsy and Cry, Little Artillery Man. Each song will pull you in a different direction. One minute you’re laughing at the lyrics while hearing the pain many experienced in the war between the States.

Rickey entertains at many children's programs and Celtic festivals. If you want talent at your next event, I recommend you contact Rickey Pittman. You will be blessed.

Blessings

Rain

The Drum

For the past 3 or 4 years, I've been in search of a drum. I wasn't sure what style I wanted, but I knew the sound had to be rich, like the sound of horse's hooves pounding across the hard, packed earth. Whenever I came across drums in stores or vendor booths, I'd touch one or two but nothing pulled to me... until Saturday.

After all the craziness around here I decided to take the day off and head for a pow wow being held in Hardy AR, about an hour south of me. I hadn't been to one in several years. Just the thought of making contact with Mother Earth and feeling the vibrations of the host drum around me was all the incentive I needed. Pow wow's are also a great place to pick up supplies such as sage, cedar and sweet grass. All three items came home with me as well as 2 pairs of earrings. But my most precious purchase of the day was my drum.

At first I thought it was part of a display at the vendor booth for the only thing the gentleman had was a wide variety of cases with silver and turquoise jewelry. But I kept going back and forth until I noticed a young man tapping one of them... this one... so I stopped to talk with him. He told me the top was bull skin and had a richer tone than the other one he had, which was made of elk. As he made contact with the drumstick to the head of the drum, I felt the pull and asked how much.

When a vendor smiles and tells you the price is dependent on the type of mood he is in, you know you're going to buy something. He told me what the drum sold for, but the price he shot me was lower. He also included the drumstick and gave me choice of any of the three he had on hand. I chose the dark purple and chocolate cowhide braid. He was also kind enough to accept a check - something vendors seldom do because the cash is their travel money for the weekend.

As soon as I touched the instrument, I felt the electricity travel through my body, bringing me to tears. The drum had come home.

I look forward to many hours honoring the God and Goddess with it's beautiful music, for I know however I play it, it will sing with love.

Many Blessings

Rain

REVIEW: The Secret Circle

“You’re a witch.”

For once these words were not spoken in a derogatory manner or in disbelief. Wouldn’t we all love to have that experience every time someone found out (or better yet – we told them)? However, it didn’t happen to me in real life but to Cassie by opposing cast member Faye in the new CW series, The Secret Circle.

I keep hoping that just once there will be a show that actually portrays our beliefs they way they actually exist. Not as the crone on the broom flying across the night sky, the woman wanting to eat little children or the Bewitched type trying to live a mortal life without using her ‘powers’. Then there are the Charmed sisters who at least know there are some spells that require mixing something up, using your mind and working together.

With those things in mind, The Secret Circle is a mixture of good and bad portrayals so far. We understand there is power in numbers. Okay, they have their ‘group’, though they didn’t call it a coven – yet. We all know there are witches who, like anyone else in the world, may try to abuse the power. This show seems to have a ‘dark’ undercurrent of abuse in many forms. Leading me to believe that portrayals of who we are has missed the mark once again. I know it’s early in the game. Last night was only the pilot, after all. But like other paranormal/ witch shows before it, watch it for the story line and the entertainment value. But at this point, I’m not expecting realism.

To learn more about the author, L. J. Smith, (who also penned the Vampire Diaries), you can check out her website and blog at http://www.ljanesmith.net/www/

You can see a great review on last night’s premiere HERE.

If you watched it, I’d love to hear your comments.

And if you missed it, you can watch the extended trailer HERE.

Many Blessings

Rain

New Toy

When I visited a friend, Curt's creative blog this morning and saw his Halloween Count down, I knew I had to have one for this blog.

If you click on the link below the countdown pic, you'll see a variety of themes and occasions to pick from. I like the full moon and tree from Curt's blog but I just had to have the cauldron on here. We are the Cauldron Cafe, after all hehe

The air has a crispness to it and it's beautiful here in the Ozarks. I know after the grandtoddler goes back home and hubby heads back to the boat next week, I'll be spending lots of time outside. It's my favorite weather for working around the property.

I'm also hoping to start a needlework project around Samhain. I'll post a link in a few days.

How are your plans for Samhain coming along? How do you celebrate our new year?

Stepping Back In

My internet has just been bizarre! And it feels good to have it back on a regular basis. It was so incredibly hot here - as it has been most everywhere from what I'm hearing. But after two months of dealing with HughesNet tech support we finally determined my modem was overheating. I couldn't stay on-line for more than 10 minutes at a crack. Very frustrating. Keep in mind, my house has central air and a dehumidfier. So we're not sure WHY. But a 10" fan sits on my desk, blowing on the modem whenever it's plugged in and everything seems to be working fine. Please Goddess, hear my prayer.

As I fought with internet issues, I was spending a lot of time with Mother Earth. I have almost 50 tomato plants, 30 green pepper plants and 15 banana pepper plants I've been trying to coax through the heat. The banana peppers have been flourishing. I'll have enough banana pepper pickles for awhile. The cantalope also did well. The tomatoes, not so much. With the heat has come an abundance of grass hoppers and they think my plants taste just scrumptious. I've been battling them and stink bugs (a grey, triangular-shaped beetle) with an organic mixture of tobacco tea, dish detergent and Listerine. It is helping some. Now to figure out what to do about the tomato worms. They too seem worse this year. I so wish I had chickens to feed them to.

I've not been working in my journal. My writing time has been spent with my weekly column in a local newspaper and working on contest entries in my spare time. I've pulled it off the stack and placed it by my bed so I'll remember to write in it.

One of my first projects was to reconstruct my altar but I've put off doing that because I know we'll be remodeling the bedroom soon and I'll have to move everything again. So for now, it's the bare bones.

I've been picking up scrapbook papers, stamps and images to put a creative slant to my BOS as time permits. I bought a sheet of underlayment to make my cover. I'm trying to decide if I want to use it for a binding as well. That would give it the appearance of an old bound book. What kind of BOS do you have?