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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

heartbroken

On Friday, Sept. 18 my mother-in law passed away in her sleep.

You know that part in the Harry Potter movie (can't recall which one right now) where someone is describing how the dementor's kiss felt and they said "I felt as if I'd never be cheerful again."

That's how I feel today.

I wish I could just quit my job and run away and be with my family.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Catching Up

Okay, so there’s a whole lot going on in my life as the wheel turns ever closer to Autumn.

To catch up, I’ve continued to work on my Book of Shadows and am having a blast with it. I’ve been getting all of my notes I’ve taken over the last few years from my Seeker classes, my Year & A Day classes, notes from books I’ve read/am reading, my astrological charts and such all re-written on my lined paper I ‘made’ and hole-punched and ready to roll! So far I’m steeped in the ‘getting ready’ phase of the books. I’m collecting information, re-writing things, continuing to organize and of course collecting cool papers, stickers and irresistible pens. Soon I will begin to actually put things into the binders but I’m just not ready quite yet.

I’ve taken a bit of a break on my book as of the last week to welcome my mom to the cities! She is able to visit me for 10 wonderful days and we’ve been having a blast!!

Generally we are both housebound hermits and so it’s invigorating for us to be going and doing so much. I had a four day break from work and we were barely home any of those days. I forget how nice it is to have someone around who is into the same things you are and is sooo easy to hang out with. It's rare and wonderful.

We went to the annual Renaissance Festival which was far cooler than I thought it would be! It’s always nice to get those surprises. Everyone around here is always amazed when I tell them how long we’ve been here and that we haven’t gone to the State Fair or the Renaissance Festival. Generally I’m not a very good crowd person. (Neither is my mom) I tolerate it during concerts but have noticed that even that is wearing a little thin for me and it is getting tougher. I need to practice shielding and get better at protecting myself from other people’s energy I think. Plus, we were given some ticket discounts so that helped immensely as well. $20.00 a person admission? What the hell?!*! So now only rich people get to see such wonders? It’s the same thing here with the science museum, they charge so much to see the traveling exhibitions that we rarely go. Jerks.

Okay, sorry for the rant, back on track.

So yeah, we bought some great artwork from some really talented artists, my personal favorite is an artist whose name is DeLayne Hostetler. I bought two prints, one for myself and one for Swan as a surprise gift. Maybe I should hold on to it for Yule? Hmmmm…. Her website does not do justice to her work, tho you can get a pretty good estimation on what she's up to by clicking on the small icons.

Another great artist who my mom just ADORES and bought a substantial amount of work from is Randal Spangler. His work is so dense and imaginative!! Really I encourage you to take a peek at both of their work, they are wonderful people keeping magick alive in the world & uplifting the spirit.

Oh! And I found the coolest pendant that was just waiting for me, it is a squid with wings. I have a major thing for octopus & squid. Not entirely sure why, it’s a relatively new obsession but I find them fascinating beyond compare. And wings, well, I’ve been obsessed with wings my whole life. I just happen to have a set tattooed to my back.

I love buying local art and supporting artists. Rarely do I ever have the money for such things but I was in a mood that day and since my husband didn’t acknowledge our 14th anniversary I figured I’d just do it for myself. Ha!

And along the lines of art, I was able to wrangle the husband, roommate, mom and myself into the last day of a traveling exhibit at our museum for William Holman Hunt. It was amazing!! The link will take you to an image of my favorite painting from the show, I looked and looked for a good one, one that would showcase the enormity of the work, the brilliance of the paint, the skill of the artists hand but alas, none of them did him a bit of justice. If you EVER get a chance to look at this mans work, please do yourself a favor and check it out. I’m not sure where the show is traveling to next, it’s sooo worth your time. The name of the painting is “Lady of Shalott” after the poem. The scale of the painting was amazing and the brilliance of the paint unreal. I can’t say enough about this guy, all of his work had a very intriguing quality. His life was scandalous as well which only adds to my fascination with him.

Aside from affairs of the art (ha ha, I’m so clever, well….I like to pretend anyway…) I am getting outrageously excited for my trip to see the healer Solomon Wickey. I will be there exactly one week from tomorrow. I’m nervous about traveling alone which I very rarely do but am so excited that I’m not fixating on all of my little paranoid hang-ups.

This Sunday my mom will be accompanying me to Swans house for my class and I think we are going to try to put together a ritual to help me assimilate my healing, release my fears and over-all just prepare me for my journey and my healing. Should be great, this will be the first time my mom has met Swan and also the first time she will be a part of any type of ritual. We’re all pretty stoked!! I just know that she & Swan would be fast friends if she lived here and they were able to spend time together. I will give a full report on my visit with Solomon just as soon as I am able, hopefully it will be all good. It’s a slippery slope to not put too much expectations on a person/event but still put positive energy towards it/them. I’m not very good at it yet, I’m afraid I’ve got a massive heart investment in this opportunity….

Till then, breathe the last bits of summer deeply and get ready to welcome Autumn!! My favorite time of the year~