Bette: Sports, Spells, And Superstition

Oddly enough, the first person who has asked me to do anything remotely spell-involving, is Bette. I am not at the point of actually practicing magik, I mostly do tarot and other divination. 

She was talking about how she had a shirt that she couldn't wear because when she wears it (or even takes it out of the closet) her sports team looses.  "It's total bad luck, and I am afraid to even give it away because it's bad luck."  So I jokingly said that I could cleanse it.  She got a lot more excited about it than I thought she would.  I also found out why it was bad luck to start with, from the moment she bought it she was already thinking 'this one won't be as good as my old one'. 

So the first cleansing I have ever done for anyone goes to Bette.  To cleanse the negative energies she has put into the shirt by deciding it was bad luck. 

Now the tricky part is, I can cleanse the shirt, bring it to neutral again (because I'm not putting any actual spell on it) but if she takes it back thinking "oh look, my bad luck shirt that isn't as good as my old one" then it won't matter at all.  So before I even put the energy into doing this I have to know that she believes it will be the best most fantastic shirt the world has ever known when she get's it back from me.  Which she has promised to try to do... 

So now I have brought the shirt back to neutral and feel sure that it has no residual negativity left on it.  All there is to do now is get it back to Bette, the rest is up to her.

Luna & Cara: A Very Good Store

About 3 weeks ago Luna came over to ask if I wanted to go with them to an herbal store we had heard about in a town about an hour away.  It went really good and I plan on going back soon.  I don't know what to really say about it, I intend to go back as soon as I get a chance, and while I am there I will need to ask if the owner minds me mentioning it in detail on my blog.  The owner is openly practicing, but still I would like to have their permission first. 

I will say that the experience of finding one good resource in your area is a real boost.  It was just a very good experience and I am so glad that I have a place to go (and it helps that it is out of town) to find things I need, and be in the company of someone who has practiced much more than I have. 

Luna's New Blog

My neighbor Luna has started a blog as well, the link is http://the-luna-chronicles.blogspot.com so if you are enjoying this blog go give hers a look as well.  Since we have different takes on some things, and we have slightly different writing styles, there may be things there that you agree closer with, or just find described in a way that makes more sense to you.
Just wanted to welcome her to the blogspot community. Welcome Luna & http://the-luna-chronicles.blogspot.com

Friends & Tarot

I've done readings on many of my friends.  Adrian has been my tarot test subject, especially when I first started out, he has a friend (who I haven't met) that is very good with tarot and knows it is important to practice, practice, practice.  He was also able to pass on advice from his friend to help me as I got started.   Other than Adrain, I have done a few readings for my husband (though I was worried about doing readings on him because it can be difficult to get a reading on anyone your life is so tied up with) and last New Years I offered anyone who wanted a "year-ahead" reading if they wanted it.  Bette was the first to volunteer and a few others at her party got one as well.  It was really good to get some experience reading on people I don't see all the time or know as well.  I also have tried some 'distance' readings, on some of my friends who live farther away (but I always ask them before I attempt a reading on them, I feel that's only fair, I don't want to do anything they would not be comfortable with).  

Once I got comfortable with tarot, I'm ashamed to say I slacked off on it a little.  So now I am trying to do readings at least 2 to 3 times per week to continue to sharpen my grasp on it. 

About Being Lonely

I've been thinking, and I realize I don't really have good reason to go on about it being lonely.  I am in an area that's not open to alternate religions; but on the other hand I do have my husband's support, Luna and Cara next door, Adrian down the street (for now, until he moves), as well as Willow out of state just a phone call away.   My life is busy and sometimes our schedules don't sync up just right, but I wouldn't do anything if I was going to stay hung up on the excuses not to.  So this is my personal 'shake myself awake' post saying, if I'm feeling lonely or disconnected from other people then I should move my feet or pick up a phone and do something about it.   

This blog itself tells me this, I post about how this friend has inspired me or how much talking with that one helped.  And it occurred to me, someone reading this might be in a much more isolated situation than I am.  

I think what sent me on the spiral was that I had planned to go visit Willow on vacation in May, then my work schedule and finances didn't match up.  In the end, I really hope, this blog has been a good thing that never would have occurred if I hadn't been feeling down.  So, just life in motion I guess. 

 Wishing everyone a happy Beltane.

Nina: Alternate Reality Check

When I first started telling my friends, I was very nervous.  But in time I got used to people accepting it without really changing their opinions of me.  I told Nina, asked her if she would still be my friend, and told her any questions she had I would answer.  Her first answer she was fine, she would love me no matter what I was.  About 2 weeks later she came back with the following questions: 

1. Does this mean you don't believe in god?
2. Do you like me less because I am christian and you are not?  
3. Do you curse people? I mean if I get you mad will you make something bad happen to me?
4. Do you do sacrifices and stuff with blood?  
5. Will you be doing drugs and having orgies and stuff?  


These questions came about because she had talked to some people at her church and asked them if they knew anything about wicca.  The answer she got was, "I don't know anything about wicca, I haven't heard about it before or anything, but if it's not christianity you should be worried."  And so she worried.

Before I put out my answers to the questions asked, I want to explain my friendship with Nina.  I had known her for 7 years at this point, and it was one of those friendships where we talk about anything right off the top of our heads.  We are very much like sisters, she lives downstairs from me and we see each other all the time, she gets upset if we don't see each other for more than 2 days on end.  So I only expected one or two of these questions, the rest were a complete shock to me, luckily it didn't sink in that I could be offended until a few hours after I had answered her.

Now for the answers:

1. It's not that I don't believe, I believe in a different way, I experience it differently and view it differently.  
2. No. I am happy you have faith in something that makes you happy, that's all that matters to me, you have something that gives you hope and keeps you out of trouble.  Just because I believe something is right for me doesn't mean I think it's what everyone needs to be right.  
3. No, I don't actually practice magik right now and if I did, I would not be cursing anyone.  One, you know me, I am not hateful like that, and two, like most things in life it comes back to haunt you or bite you in the ass.  
4. No, no no no, and no.  I do not kill things, I do not mess with blood.  There are offerings of bread and drink, but nothing like offering a life.  
5. No, I won't be doing anything like that, I have no desire to take drugs and throw myself around.  I don't think that is how I will find peace or enlightenment.   

After I answered her she calmed down a lot.   

A little later  it sunk in that if Nina, knowing me for so long and so well, could be blindsided by these thoughts and concerns.  What might a complete stranger automatically assume of me?  I talked to Nina and her husband and told them, "If you are worried about me and want to pray for me that's fine, I'm not offended.  If you want your church and other groups to pray for me that is fine too, but please don't give them my name or where I live.  It's a safety issue."  They agreed to that, their church is praying for Nina's friend and that doesn't bother me, prayer can be a very good thing. 
But this got Nina worried because she couldn't remember if she had said my name already, I told her not to worry over it, so she recited about everything she had said to anyone about it (because now she had it stuck in her head that she was going to get me killed no matter how much I told her it wasn't a problem and they probably didn't remember my name from one light mention) and one thing stuck out to me, she said, "I think I've been a very good christian, because I am being loving and not judgmental of my friend who is in a religion that is obviously wrong, but I am just being loving to her and hoping that can show her my good example".   Now on the face of it, it sounds very condescending.  But, bear in mind, this is the best I can expect from most people of other religions; I was raised in christianity and I know they are taught that their way is the one and only way, that if they love someone they will do everything in their power to ensure that they come back to their way.  That is their religion, that is what we have to understand, there was no room made in their religion to accept other faiths.  True, I talked about my husband and he looks at it differently, but in general this is what you have.  I have to accept and realize the huge step it takes for a christian (or people of othe like faiths) to be willing to tolerate and love me, because they won't like my faith, but the huge step for them to see it as my choice and hold themselves back no matter how much they want to 'save' me, is something I am learning to respect.  

Now, for my own confession, after they left the 'more holy than thou' had sunk in on me so I repeated it to my husband, and followed with, "I would like to just say, I think I am being a very good wiccan for being so calm and nice and not pointing out that she was being condescending".  So yeah that doesn't put me in the best light either, this was before my lesson from this experience kicked in, also, I deflect a lot with sarcasm and humor, so that was actually said in a very pompous accent and followed by laughter.  

DJ: The One I Lost

I'll preference this with, she was just and acquaintance, I didn't see her often but we did always get along and have fun together.   Last winter while checking my FB, I found DJ screaming her online lungs out about christmas being only for christians and if people weren't going to believe in jesus then they had no right to celebrate christmas.   Lots of people had jumped in to agree or disagree with her, which had escalated it to the point I came in on, "if you don't believe that jesus is the on true savior then fuck off, christmas isn't for you, so if you don't love HIM then go to hell and stop stealing our holiday", and I got the bright idea that I would reason with her.  I didn't say I was wiccan, or that I would be celebrating yule, I just said that there were a lot of holidays for other religions around this time of year, but just that in society most people call it christmas.  Of course this made her mad and I tried to lighten it up with, "well can I celebrate happy winter day, time, thing..." which made her madder.  In the end I promised I wouldn't use the sacred word of christmas, ever again but hoped she had a very lovely and joyous 25th.  She un-friended me and doesn't speak to me or my husband (online or out in the real world) anymore. 
What I took from this was;
1. don't argue online, it's always a shouting match,
2. don't try to reason with someone who is on a fire and brimstone rant, they aren't in the state of mind to look at the other side,
3. yes my beliefs could lose me some friends, and
4. pick your battles, there was no real reason for me to have gotten involved in the first place. 



On the bright side, another friend of mine posted a video on the same day.