That's The Spirit!

Merry Meet and Greetings Again, Family and Friends!

So, since I began practicing Reiki, I've learned quite a bit about working with "Spirit Guides". Our spirit guides are those disincarnate beings who provide other worldly assistance when we need it. They are not the same as having a Guardian Angel, because apparently, one's Guardian Angel is a separate entity. Who knew?!

Given the nature of spirits, I wanted to learn as much as possible about them, generally speaking, if we were going to have a close working relationship. I went in search of some good books on the subject, but the selection at the local Borders was pitiful. I finally settled on a book, but realized shortly after I began reading, that I'd have to take this author's expertise with a grain of salt. That said, I'm not sure that any mere mortal can have actual "expertise" in this area? Seriously.

I did come across one thing, however, that gave me some significant food for thought. The author suggested not calling upon your departed loved ones when you are of need of assistance with Earthly matters. Hmmmm....why, I wondered?

She went on to explain that after death, we retain the same personalities we had in life and if we shared personality conflicts before, in all likelihood, those things haven't really changed all that much on the other side. Oh now that's a friggin' scary thought!!!

So, wait, does that mean that my sister has the same degree of sibling rivalry she had when she was alive? Is my Mother destined to piss me off for all eternity. And what about my Aunt Ann? The woman gave new meaning to the word, "Bitch!" Oh yeah, I went there!

Then I recalled that a year or so ago, my husband and I had wandered into a dusty little bookshop run by a woman who was a Medium. She and I were chatting when suddenly she stopped speaking, looked at me and asked that I follow her to the back of the store. I found this a little...unnerving, but I went anyway. Once there, she gave me an impromptu reading in which she brought through my Mom. My mother was a tiny woman with a very raspy voice that made her sound much more intimidating than her 4'11 inch, 90 lb. frame.

The Medium told me so many things about my family that she couldn't have possibly known! If that wasn't enough to freak me out, she then said, in an imitation of my Mother's voice that was so eerily accurate it made my blood run cold, "Your Mother says, "He's still a pain in the ass". I glanced over at my husband who was near by browsing through the books and asked, "Who, Ray?" (Sorry, Ray...I was, you know, guessing). "No, the woman said, "your father!" Ok, well that was it for me! No one else would have said this but my Mother!

Yes, to my great dismay, expertise or not, I had to admit that what the author had written made perfect sense, on so many levels. Some people will continue to be a pain in the ass, even in death!!! Now there's a comforting thought, isn't it? And here I thought we got all "enlightened" and shit!!!

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

As the Stomach turns..

Merry Meet and Greetings Family and Friends!


I have been terribly remiss in my writing, this I know. Life has taken some strange and unexpected turns, some absolutely wonderful and others, well..not so much.

At Midsummer, I was certified as a Reiki Master/Teacher. One of the last things that our Reiki Master warned us about was the year long self healing process that accompanies the Reiki Master attunement and the possibility of a "falling away" of those things that had, up until this time, taken precedent in our lives. She spoke of things such as changing careers, moving, ending relationships, etc. Since my first degree Wiccan initiation and subsequent Reiki attunements, I can definitely attest to this fact. How profound this was to be, however, has been a bit disconcerting.


I have felt the need to distance myself from those things that aren't serving a higher purpose either spiritually or magickally. I feel a greater pull towards learning and I have allowed my intuition or perhaps, my spirit guides, to lead me toward those things that I feel most connected. I'm uncertain where this is going, but it all feels right. At the end of September, I am planning to participate in a intensive workshop in Hoodoo, which I gotta tell ya, I'm completely psyched about!

Recently, I have been doing a lot of distant healing which I am not at all happy about. Well, I'm happy to be able to send healing energy, but not at all thrilled that it's necessary. I have been blessed by those of you that I call friends who have not only supported my efforts with your own work, but have sent healing energy to me as well. Thanks guys! I gotta tell ya, it has really helped!

One of my most significant and difficult lessons thus far has been that distance sometimes is necessary. At times I will take things into myself and feel as if the problems of the World are in my hands. Ok, that's an exaggeration, but still. To that end, I've learned that distance, in general, can be a good thing. It gives one a chance to ground and center, be overall more productive and find balance when things are off kilter.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that, I have no idea what this year's healing will bring, but...

Just for today, I will not worry
Just for today, I will not be angry
Just for today, I will be thankful for my many blessings
Just for today, I will do my work honestly
Just for today, I will treat all living things with kindness ~ Dr. Mikao Usui

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

Inquiring Minds...

Merry Meet Family, Friends and Followers:

Ok, so about a month ago, I posted an entry entitled, "See ya on the way down".

Since that time, I've been asked on three random occasions, who it was who had broken my heart.

A few mornings ago, I happened to walk into the kitchen, to over hear my daughter, Kyla asking, my husband, "Hey Dad, so...who was the "asshole" Mom was talking about in her blog". Of course, up until that point, Ray hadn't read the entry and now, he was asking me the same question. Then, I get a message on Facebook from a friend of a friend in High School, that thought I was referring to him! Oh for the love of nerve!

Now, I had to go back and read my own entry to refresh my memory, but I was pretty sure I knew who I was referring to. Thankfully, I don't know that many assholes!

So, now for all the inquiring minds, I am ready to reveal the truth!

::::visualizing all the little hearts racing with anticipation::::

The person I was referring to was my first serious relationship when I was 17 years old and while it hardly matters now, it obviously taught me enough about love, self respect and personal growth that I wrote about it so many years later!

The other reason I chose to write about this particular person is that I learned that he was recently arrested for theft. He was managing a store that had just been equipped with video cameras and was caught stealing.

I guess for some people personal growth and self respect will remain elusive and while I'm sure this won't come as any surprise to some (right, Jeff)..he's still an asshole!

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

Well...That certainly does...

Suck!

Merry Meet Family, Friends and Followers!

I consider myself to be a reasonably honest person, so when things like this happen, it pisses me off beyond all definition of the word.

As many of you know we got royally screwed when we recently adopted our cat, Persephone. We were exposed to a potentially serious illness when the rescue agency misrepresented her actual health status. We paid $200.oo in veterinary expenses for a very ill cat we'd only owned for 4 days, paid an additional $35.00 to cancel the check for adoption fee. The rescue/adoption agency, promised to reimburse us 30% of the vet bill, which never happened and today, we received our check back in the mail marked "void" with a note from the adoption coordinator that read, "don't call me again".

Don't call her again? Excuse me, but we still have no idea what became of Persephone, we still haven't been reimbursed, they still have the cat carrier that we used to bring Persephone to the hospital....don't contact her again?

I'm certain that the person who wrote this message is very upset right about now. That's seems to be what happens when people are caught in a web of their own deceit. You see, after my phone calls and e-mails had gone unanswered, I finally decided that I was not going to have my family exposed to a potentially serious illness and get ripped off for $435.00 in the process.

My first order of business was contacting the New Jersey Chapter of the ASPCA and filing a report of animal abuse. That was followed by an e-mail to the Department of Health in the town this agency operates informing them of the potential health hazard they are perpetuating, an email was then sent to PetSmart's corporate offices informing them of the liability involved in having an agency that adopts out animals with infectious diseases to their customers and finally today, an email was sent to the Bergen County Division of Consumer Protection. No, I venture to say that Angels for Animals Network is not at all happy.

What is the acronym that my kid's often use? "TFB" (Too Fucking Bad!) I tend to prefer "DLIBMA" (Don't like it? Bite My Ass!)

I've spent many a sleepless night in the past couple of weeks wondering if, in trying to give Persephone a loving home, I didn't expose my family to serious illness. So far, thankfully, we're all good. But, it wasn't only my family's health that I thought about. I recalled the first time I saw Persephone at PetSmart. There was another family there adopting her litter mate. A little girl and her Mom stood waiting to fill out their adoption application. I asked the girl, "are you taking that baby home?" She shook her head enthusiastically. I've thought of them often and hoped that they were all doing well or if like us, they've already spent hundreds of dollars because they believed they were adopting a healthy pet.

I really don't enjoy conflict and I try to avoid it whenever possible, but where my family is concerned..woe betide the creature that fucks up in my garden!

In Darkness, Light!


Tracy

And the Forecast is...

Merry Meet and Greetings once again, Family, Friends and Followers!

Well, if things stay on course, this will go down as the coldest and rainiest June on record. It has rained 14 of the 15 days of the month. I can barely remember what the sun looks like and I've officially lost my mind!!!

That said, I think it's safe to assume that the myth about Witches melting when water is tossed on them is a bunch of crap!!!

If not, you'd be receiving this message from my husband informing you of my untimely demise, with accompanying photos of the puddle where I used to be. This might come as quite a surprise for some (and you know who you are), yet for me, might actually be amusing enough to risk getting wet for!

Midsummer Blessings to All!!!

In Darkness, Light!!!


Tracy

It's only..."Natural"

Merry Meet Family, Friends and Followers. I hope this finds you all in some place that actually isn't raining!!!

I am always amused and I must say, confused, when people refer to me as a "Natural Witch". What does that mean, exactly? If being a Witch means anything at all it should at least begin by being "natural". Wicca, after all, is a nature based religion.

If being a "Natural Witch" means that I don't buy into all the "new agey" or "pseudo-intellectual" crap that some attribute to magick, then I have to agree. Most of what I attribute to "witchery" comes from within and is solely based on my own intuition. It's been part of who I am since I was a kid. That is not to say that I haven't spent countless hours reading, studying and learning everything I can over these past 13 years, only that I am discriminating in what I attribute to actual knowledge. I feel that I have been blessed to have been taught and continue to learn from those that are "Natural Witches"in the truest sense of the word.

That said, there are major differences between possessing wisdom and having facts. You can study as much as want from a million different sources, on a ton of different topics related to Wicca, Witchcraft and the practice of magick, but if little of that knowledge is intuitive, what you have is basically a lot of interesting facts. For me, if something actually works...that's magick. I don't need to research it, do too much planning, or think it to death for it to be successful.

Witchcraft, as it is known today, began with the practices of Shamans, Medicine people, Herbalists, etc. They were the people who's natural talents were experiential, intuitive or passed on by hereditary. Perhaps this is why I have an affinity for the "root" practices, such as Voodoo, Louisiana Hoo Doo and Folk Magick. It's Earthy, it's real and it works! You can't run to Barnes and Noble or Amazon, pick up a few books and call yourself an expert. In fact, true root workers are very particular about with whom they share their wisdom...as they should be.

In her book "Lid Off the Cauldron", Patricia Crowther writes;

"To become a witch you must have a natural inclination to worship the Old Gods. It must be a feeling which springs from the heart and carries you on towards your goal, in exactly the same way it happened to the first witches thousands of years ago."

Ok, well that pretty much says it all for me. And trust me, when you encounter someone who truly fits this description, they couldn't conceal that "natural inclination" if they wanted to.

So what do you say to someone who refers to you as a "Natural Witch?"

That's simple...

"as opposed to?" }:)

In Darkness, Light!!!


Tracy

"You're a Witch!!!! They were right!!!!"

"They usually are." ~ "The Craft"

What Season Is It?

Merry Meet Family, Friends and Followers!

This is what the weather was like here in New Jersey yesterday. Seriously.



They had to take the plows out of Summer storage to clear the roads.

So much for, like, Global Warming.

In Darkness, Light!


T