Out of the Blue!

Merry Meet and Greetings Family and Friends!

So, you know how I recently wrote about my learning to work with spirit guides? Well, at some point after one receives their second degree Reiki attunement, their spirit guides may make an appearance. Now, I have to be honest, I am nothing if not open-minded. I am a true believer in afterlife communication because I've experienced it first hand and have an "open door" policy when it comes to visits from the dead people, but the whole "spirit guide" thing? Meh...I was beginning to have my doubts.

My Reiki Masters made many suggestions for how we might connect with these beings, and I've tried all of them! Guided meditations, Shamanic Journeying, pleading, whining. I got nothing! I've had better luck with dead people, dammit! I was beginning to suspect that if my spirit guides really did exist, they were just not that into me!

A few nights ago, I sat down to do my own Reiki healing. The more one connects to the Universal Life Force Energy, the more potent and powerful it is becomes, so I try to practice daily. I put on my favorite meditation CD, lit some incense, closed my eyes and began to connect to the energy. The beautiful full moon shining down on me through the window added it's own energy to the experience.

After about a half hour of blissful Reiki-ing, suddenly, out of no where, came a flash of brilliant blue light surrounding the profile of a woman's face! The woman, a Victorian lady, looked to be in her early 30's, with a lovely, serene expression. However, she wasn't anyone I recognized.

Imagine, if you will, an antique photograph, yellowed by age, in which the subject's facial features and hair are clearly defined, but the remainder of the photo is pale and faded. Now imagine this photo instead, vibrant blue, and you will have a fairly accurate description of what I'd just experienced!

I felt no fear whatsoever, but kept my eyes tightly closed both to hold the visual and because I wasn't really sure I was ready to open them to find her, ya know, standing in the middle of my living room!

"Was this my spirit guide?", I wondered, which my stunned senses translated as, "Holy friggin' crap!". Yet, before I could even begin wrapping my mind around the possibilities, the words that have manifested themselves in my life more often and more dramatically than I could have ever imagined came to mind with stunning clarity...

"When the student is ready, the teacher appears!"

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

And Sow, We Reap

Merry Meet Family and Friends,

This past weekend, I participated in two Lammas celebrations. Lammas marks the first harvest of the year, is one of three celebrated harvest festivals and heralds the coming of Autumn. It's also a time of reflection upon what we've accomplished or the blessings we have reaped in our lives.

One of rituals I attended was held in a beautiful 65 acre nature center adjacent to a wildlife preserve. After the rites had ended, I was sitting next to the fire, listening to the birds singing. Twilight would soon be approaching and I decided to take a walk down a path through the woods to see if I could spot the first little bats of the evening. I love bats!

I walked only a short distance when there, directly in the center of the path, stood a young tree that created a natural crossroads to what lie ahead. I considered choosing a path, but instead decided to honor someone who has, often in less than subtle ways, guided me along the way. Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads.

It is customary to leave food at the crossroads as an offering to Hecate, so I ran back to the pavilion where the ritual had taken place, snatched a mini muffin off the table and headed back down the path. I also brought with me, a single yellow rose.

When I arrived back, I knelt down to lay the rose and the offering at the base of the tree, only to discovered a large toadstool that had also created a perfect little natural altar for me to lay my gifts upon..and so I did.

I looked past the trees, gave thanks for my accomplishments, my blessings, the people in my life who have encouraged and inspired me and wondered what might await me on the path beyond. I realized then that perhaps for today, I had gone as far enough. For now, I am exactly where I was meant to be.

Pursuing My Passions...

Merry Meet Friends and Family:

My friend and fellow writer Voodoo Child came up with a brilliant idea to interview one occultist per month and post it on her blog site. She has honored me by including me for the month of July as her first interview.

If you have reading me for a while than you have heard me rave about her blog! She is a fascinating lady who has inspired me to pursue my own interests in rootwork.

I strongly encourage you to check out her site at VoodooChild at www.passionrituals.blogspot.com.

In Darkness, Light!!


Tracy

Some Things In Life...

I just can't be sorry for!

Oh yeah, I went there! Enjoy!

No New Hope for the Confused!

Merry Meet again, Family and Friends!

So this Saturday, we took a drive to New Hope, Pennsylvania. New Hope is a quaint little place with an awesome vibe, about an hour and a half from our home in New Jersey. There are funky little shops, great places to eat and while at times it can be a little touristy, we always find something new and interesting when we visit. Where else can you find an entire shop devoted to mortuary memorabilia?! That said, I should have predicted the strangeness of the day when I stepped from the car only to encounter a man with a monkey on his shoulder wearing a diaper. Just to clarify, the monkey was the one in the diaper.

One of my favorite places is a witchful little shop, appropriately dubbed, "The Witch Shop". They carry incense, herbs, candles, books, etc. And while it's probably not the kind of place that would appeal to the serious occultist, it always feels like a visit with old friends. I did pick up a great book called "Hekate Liminal Rites: A Study of the rituals, magic and symbols of the torch-bearing Triple Goddess of the Crossroads". Thus far, I'm finding it fascinating...but I digress.

While I was paying for my book, a handsome, well dressed gentleman came in with a woman whom I presumed was his partner. He looked around a few minutes before asking the salesperson, "Excuse me, do you have a book called, "The Satanic Bible?" I found it very advantageous that I wasn't drinking anything at the time or I probably would have snorted it out my nose! The salesperson, a young girl looking a tad uncomfortable, replied "I'm sorry, no we don't carry it". Then he asked, "have you heard of it?" He sort of glanced over in my direction as he asked. "Try Barnes and Noble or Amazon.com, I suggested. The author is Anton LeVay". "That's right!, he exclaimed, obviously surprised that I might have this information. "Thank you!" he said, as he left the store.

I guess I wasn't doing very well at hiding my amusement, because the salesgirl was now eyeing me curiously, "I'm sorry. It's not that I have anything against Satanists, I explained. "I just found his blurting it out like that, you know, really friggin' funny". "I actually agree with 8 of the the 11 Satanic Principles of the Earth", I added. Oooops! Outside voice! I could see by her change of expression that I had just made her even more....uneasy!

A few minutes later, a touristy looking couple walked in. They were standing beside me looking at the athames (sharp, pointy ceremonial knives) in the display case, when I heard the husband say, "that's what they use for their blood sacrifices". I glanced up to examine his expression for signs of sarcasm, but alas, no he was dead serious. And then, "don't they know that animals would work just as well as humans". Oh for the love of nerve! I'm sure they were wondering why I was laughing, but I honestly couldn't contain myself! And while I'm usually a huge advocate for dispelling the myths and misconceptions about Wicca and Witchcraft, I got the distinct impression that anything I said would have been like preaching to the choir, if you get my drift!

"How sad is it that this is what they truly believe", I said to the salesgirl as we watched the couple leave. "Yeah", she replied wistfully. "I'm so blogging this", I told her as I made my departure from the store. She laughed, but appeared...relieved.

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

Messages Great and Small

Merry Meet and Happy Weekend Friends and Followers!

If you haven't heard this already, let me go on record as saying, I don't like bugs! I know, I know....I'm a Pagan, I should love all living things! Bullshit, I don't like bugs!

Still, to live in this World, I've had to learn to cohabit in harmony with even the lowliest of creatures, even humans! And, I must admit, there are some insects, like butterflies, that I absolutely adore.

Yesterday, I saw something that I'd never witnessed before. I was attempting to take some photos of our new kitten, Ember, but she was being less than cooperative! I looked away from the camera in frustration and glanced through our sliders to the deck. There I saw two butterflies dancing the "dance of joy" together on our back lawn! Now, I've seen little white butterflies doing this often, but these were big, beautiful Monarchs! I tried to get a photo, but trying to get a picture of butterflies dancing is nearly impossible! Seriously! I decided that there are some things that a camera can't possibly do justice and decided instead just to embrace the moment! It was..breathtaking!

Then, this morning, as I began typing this entry, I noticed something crawling atop my the screen to my laptop. :::Cringe::: "Ant", I thought and quickly put my hand over my freshly brewed coffee. I grabbed a napkin off the table with the intention of showing his little ant ass the door, when at closer inspection, I realized this was no ant, but a wee cricket! The tiniest, cutest little cricket I've ever seen! I watched him crawl over the screen, thinking how I might show his little cricket ass the door without squishing him, when suddenly :::ping::: he was gone! "Oh, gross, I thought, now I have a tiny wee cricket "pinging" on my dining room table! If you've ever had a cricket in your house, even smallest can demonstrate their vocal ablilities at ear piercing levels at all hours of the day or night! I perused the table to see where he might have gone, but his color blended in with the table and given his stature, I knew the chances of finding him were pretty slim!

I sat back down to finish my freshly brewed coffee and this entry, when it occurred to me that I should research these "close encounters". I Googled, "insect totems" and came up with some stuff that was amazingly relevant to my current state of being!

Butterfly: Major transformations and transmutations taking place, outcome is different than expected. Symbol of joy, color, gentleness, lightness and change of life. Awakens us to dance on the winds of life, teaches us that growth doesn't have to be painful, allows us to discover the important issues in life for conscious transformation. Don't sweat the small stuff, be joyful and thankful for your blessings.

Cricket: Cricket will attune to new vibrations, heightening intuition, sensitivity and awareness. Crickets can teach effective communication techniques and subconscious communication cues to obtain what is wanted or needed. Crickets are about transformation and resurrection from stages as in the molting process. Expect changes and new developments that will bring growth through reflection and patience as the sensitivity to mental, emotional and physical challenges are coming your way. Cricket will help in finding the right balance of action and using inituition and subtle awareness.

Just as I finished reading, I noticed a subtle movement out of the corner of my eye. It was my wee cricket! Now, for the sake of my sanity and practicality, I absolutely had to boot his wee cricket ass outside. I found a scrap of paper and tried him coaxing him onto it. :::ping::: He respectfully...declined! Amazingly, I spotted him again crawling along the top of my chair and held out my finger, hoping, but not expecting, that he might climb aboard and so he did! I slowly walked to the sliders to put him out, expecting any moment that he would "ping" into oblivion, but instead, he sat perfectly still until I found the nearest planter to deposit his wee self into.

"Thanks for the advice and happy chirping", I said aloud, only to look up to see my crucifix wielding neighbor staring across the fence. "You might want to visit Mary", I whispered.

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

"Insect Totems" courtesy of:
http://www.starstuffs.com/animal_totems/dictionary_of_insects.htm

The Circle

Merry Meet Family and Friends!

Ok, so I have some happy news and some "not so happy" news. I usually like to dispense with the crappy stuff first given how it, you know, sucks!

Some of you may recall me writing about our elder cat, Dominick. Dominick epitomized the word, "longevity" from a feline standpoint. Our best guess put him somewhere at around 26 years old, making him about 120 in cat years. With the exception of a visit to the vet to be neutered, he was never sick once in his entire 120 years! We were all in agreement however, that his attempt at immortality was beginning to get a little creepy. Yesterday, after a brief illness, Dominick officially left the building. Yes, it saddened us. Yes, we felt he lived a long and happy life and yes, I have a twisted sense of humor!

Now, on to some happier news! Last Thursday, I was at work where for all intents and purposes, I was supposed to be working. Yet, for reasons still unclear to me, I found myself perusing the pet adoption site, Petfinder.com. This site places homeless pets with adoptive parents. You enter the kind of pet you'd like to adopt, their age, and your location and it brings up every animal shelter or adoption agency in your area, with a every pet available, complete with photos! I've adopted 3 of my 4 dogs without ever having to leave the comfort of my home. In light of recent pet adoption disasters however, my husband had put a moratorium on any further adoptions. Still, while the cat's away.....

As much as I hate to admit it, it seems we have run into string of some bad cat luck of late. Several months ago we lost our cat, Autumn as well. We adopted Autumn from Angels for Animals Network, the same agency from whom we recently adopted Persephone, the cat that was so ill. Like Persephone, Autumn was plagued with illness from shortly after her adoption. We spent hundreds of dollars in vet bills, only to have her die suddenly. She was only a year and half old. I was heartbroken. Yes, Ray had a valid point. No more cats!

Ok, so I typed in a search for "cat", "baby" and "domestic long hair" and up pops a photo of a beautiful 8 week old kitten, that bore a striking resemblance to my Autumn. I was smitten! Without hesitation, I sent off a cheerful little note to the agency to find out if she was still available and she was! Now, my only dilemma was how to tell Ray that I wanted to adopt another cat. Then I noticed a little box on the bottom of the screen that read, "Share This Pet on Facebook". Oh yes, I did!

A few moments later, my phone rang. It was Ray and the conversation went a little something like this:

Ray: We're not getting another cat!
Me: But she's a baby! And she looks just like my Autumn!
Ray: I don't care, Trace! We're not getting another cat! Are you crazy?!
Me: But isn't she cute?
Ray: I don't care how cute she is! We don't need another cat! I don't want another cat! We're not getting another cat!

Hmmmm...now I could see I was going to have to resort to my powers of persuasion if I was going to make this happen.

I mustered up my best "don't fuck with me" attitude and yelled, "Ray, if you don't let me adopt this kitten, I am going to take a shit fit the likes of which you can only imagine!!! "Sometimes you act just like a 3 year old!", Ray yelled back. "Yes I do!, I retorted. "A three year old who practices Witchcraft!".

May I present, Lady Ember a.k.a. "Baby Wiatch"