Happy New Year.

In a few hours it will be the start of a New Year.  2018 will arrive brand sparkling new as we bid 2017 goodbye.  Frankly I will be happy to see 2017 leave.

To say it was a stressful year is to put it mildly.  For the United States it has been a year filled with tension and stress as we grapple with a small handful of people who are trying to impress their ideas on the majority.  We are in the middle of an investigation of Russia tampering with and installing a puppet President who wants nothing more then to be a dictator and have his family act as princes and princesses.  We have the Republican Party in Congress who are trying to help the wealthy gather even more money, while they try to destroy the working class, and take actions that will harm a variety of people be they elderly, women, children, the poor or of a different ethnicity or religious group.  This all has has resulted in people now knowing that the US has become completely divided.  We have seen that there is a minority of people who dislike other races, and other religions.  They wish to turn our nation into a theocracy of extreme Christianity, that is more of a religion based on hate and control, then upon worshiping a deity.

On a personal level I had a heart attack in Feb, and had to have 2 stents placed in the artery in my heart.  In September I had another life threatening issue arise with Ludwig's Angina.  I had 3 narrow escapes from being in an automobile accident, thank the Goddess they were narrowly avoided.  Any of the 3 would have resulted in me being hit in the back end by another vehicle that was speeding at a high rate of speed. 

I had a number of friends and family members pass to the Summerland, including a brother-in-law in July, then a few days later an Aunt-in-law, in Oct., my friend Mark who edited my books, a few days after he passed a friend and former sister-in-law, then to round things up royally and to show the universe had a sense of irony, in November I lost my Aunt Ann, my birth father's sister-in law.  A few hours later I found out that my birth mother Ruby passed away.  The irony?  They were to both be at the same funeral home. 

There were a lot of issues, problems, and irritants along the way also.  No, I won't miss 2017.  I am hoping that 2018 is much better.  I wish all of us a New Year filled with peace, happiness, joy, prosperity, and good health.  I wish you all a Happy New Year!

Happy Solstice; Have a Merry Yule!!

In a little under 12 hours it will be Winter Solstice!!!  Merry Yule everyone!!  I hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with light, love and laughter.

I have decorated my Yule tree, made a wreath for the door, decorated a cinnamon broom, made Puppy treats, kitty treats, and people treats.   I made Mamie Eisenhower fudge, the first time I ever made it.  My Mom always made it for the Holidays and I would help.  Oh boy, now I know why she only made it once a year.  Unlike regular fudge where you cook everything on the stove, this fudge has the chocolate bits and the bakers chocolate and the marshmallow fudge in a mixing bowl.  You put the sugar and the condensed milk on the stove, stirring constantly, and then bring it to a boil for approx 6 and 1/2 minutes, of course stirring it constantly!!  Take it off the stove, pour over the stuff in the bowl and mix it till it melts and is smooth, then you pour it in your pans.  YIKES my hand got tired and I had to yell for the Husband to come help stir the stuff in the bowl!!  Oh was it good!! 

I made peanut butter fudge, and peanut butter potato candy also.  First time I myself made the potato candy.  Hint pick the smallest potato, not a big one.  Found that out!!  I also made Banana Bread.  So I shared my goodies with 3 of the neighbors, the nephew who lives next door, and the brother-in-law.  Everyone seemed happy.  Storm shared his noms with the doggies next door, and my cat brats shared theirs with the kitties next door.  Threw out birdy feed and bread for the birds and the critters.  Hubby who in almost 30 years of marriage has NEVER gotten in the holiday mood, actually surprised me and put lights up on the porch!  I had went shopping and when I came back he had decorated the porch, I almost fainted!!

When decorating the Yule tree hubby and I almost had words.  Well, he said when I was putting on the beaded sun/moon/star garland after I had put on the tinsel garland "Must you make it so gaudy"?  I bit my tongue and said, "Yep, I like gaudy'!  Now let me tell you, our taste is way different.  I want lights, decorations, and I want glitter and sparkly!  HIS idea is lights and maybe 4 decorations.  NOT happening!!  But since he was making an effort to be in a holiday mood, I restrained myself mightily and put very few decorations on.  Sometimes ya gotta keep em happy, sighs.  But I decorated a tiny Yule tree also and went crazy wild on it!!

Tonight I have been have a fun time singing Pagan Yule songs.  Youtube has some great ones!  My favorite one is on there -Jingle Bells Cast Your Spells!  Here is the link for it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwy143gA7vo.       Also check out the one about Mother Berta is coming to town, and Let it snow, the pagan version!! 

I hope you all have a Merry Yule!!!

The Solstice Celebration: A short story by the Garden Crone

A short little story for you for the Holiday Season.

"Grandfather is ill, Ivy!  What shall we do? " cried Holly.  Poor little Holly sat down on the log and cried while tears dripped on to the ground and turned into glistening snow flakes.
Little Ivy began to sob as if her heart would break as she clung to Holly and their tears mingled.

Suddenly Ivy raised her head and said, "Oh Holly, perhaps Grandmother will cure him.  She knows everything."  They both stopped crying and felt hope spring into their minds. "There is suppose to be a celebration tonight, perhaps we can talk to Grandmother and see if Grandfather is feeling better, and I am sure he will be."

Holly and Ivy were both young Autumn fairies.  They were just a few months old, having been born on the Autumn Equinox, they were just learning of the ways of the seasons and the Wheel of the year.

They went on with their chores when they heard a rustling of the wind and a voice whispered through the trees "He is gone, Grandfather has passed to the Summerland."

Holly and Ivy with tears in their eyes headed for their warm cottage when they saw the Maiden run by them running towards the area of the forest where Grandfather and Grandmother dwelled.  Both little fairies were so upset they crawled into their bed and cried till they fell asleep.

They were suddenly awakened by a voice saying " Wake up sleepyheads!  It's time to go to the celebration!"  They opened their eyes to see the Dryad of the Oak tree.  "Oh lady, do you mean even though we all sorrow, we are still having a celebration?" asked Holly as she and Ivy crawled out of bed.

"Of course!  We are celebrating and the Mother has given birth to the new babe!" replied the Dryad.
"But we are sad because Grandfather passed to the Summerland. " sobbed Ivy

"Oh my dear little fairies, no one has explained to you yet!  You are so young you have not learned yet the mystery. "  said the Dryad as she sat down on the bed and patted the bed on either side of her and " Sit down and let me explain the mystery to you".  Ivy and Holly sat down on either side of the Dryad.

"Little ones, everyone and everything dies.  It is part of the cycle of death, life and rebirth.  But we are ALL reborn.  Grandfather passed on to the Summerland.  But the Mother has just given birth to the babe who IS Grandfather reborn.  The Babe will grow and age with the seasons to once more pass into the Summerland next Winter Solstice, and once again be reborn as a babe.  Just as the flowers poke their heads out of the ground, and grow into a plant that blooms with color and blossoms and then withers and dies as the dark and cold season appears, and then sleeps over the cold dark season and wake up to regrow, so does all life."

Holly and Ivy begin to talk excitedly "Oh Lady, let us go see the babe!  See Grandfather reborn!"
and they bounced up from where they were sitting and pulled the Dryad to her feet.  With a tinkling laugh the Dryad led the little fairies to the clearing.

The Maiden and the Crone were standing on either side of the Mother who held a newborn wrapped tightly.  Holly and Ivy edged closer to the Mother to peep at the babe.  The babe opened his eyes and looked at the little fairies just as several stars started twinkling brightly in the sky.

The Dryad leaned down and said to Holly and Ivy "Tonight the night is longest night in the seasonal wheel, but with the rebirth of the Babe, each day will be longer than the one before.  The dark and cold are passing, and the wheel is turning towards warmth and light.  This is the reason we celebrate the Winter Solstice."  At this the babe gurgled in delight as he looked up at the twinkling stars


Hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it!!

Decorating your Yule tree or let's get crafty!

Oh yes every once in a while the Garden Crone get's crafty.  And let's face it, finding witchy type Yule ornaments is tough!!  Tinsel, garland and lights can be bought and that is not an issue.  The same with icicle type ornaments.  You certainly buy clip on Bird ornaments and use those, also Pine cone ornaments(or make your own, we will get to that soon), and also easily find those lovely apple ornaments and snowflakes.  But what about a pentagram?  Or witchy seashell ornaments? 

Now let me tell you right off, if I can make these anyone can, because I am not real crafty!  The kids can help make them too!!  While you all are making them you can tell stories about Yule.  Talk about how the Christmas tree is a pagan tradition!  So let's get started, oh and forgive my diagrams, I am not a very good diagram drawer!

First let's start off with doing Pine cones.  For this you will need glitter and glue, or clear glitter spray on paint, I know for a fact you can find that at Michaels.  You will need narrow ribbon or string or beading wire, a hot glue gun, and some buttons and of course the pine cones!

First off glitter your cones and let them dry.  Once dry take a button, small now, like on a button down shirt size, one with 2 holes in it.  Put your ribbon, string or wire through the 2 holes.  Twist if its wire, knot if it's ribbon or string, make a loop and tie a knot in it.  Glue the button onto the bottom of the pine cone.  There you go!!


Baked Dough Ornaments.

Now you can make a baked dough Pentagram!  Or whatever else you want.

2 cups flour      1/4 cup salt        1 tablespoon alum      1 cup water

Mix together, if sticky add more flour.  Tint dough desired color.  Roll out on floured surface and use star cookie cutter(for pentagram) or desired cookie cutter.

Use a straw to make a hole at top.  Place on cookie sheet.  Bake at 300 F for 30 minutes.  Remove and let cool.  Use paint or glitter glue to outline the pentagram.  Allow glue, paint, and glitter to dry.  Spray front and back with either clear spray paint or hair spray in a pinch.  Insert string or ribbon.


Pentagram stick ornaments.  See Diagram.

Supplies needed.

5 twigs of equal length. at least 5 inches for best results to hang on tree. 
Jute string
Hot glue gun.

Using diagram below, hot glue the twigs, and then wrap with the Jute string and tie. Dont forget to add a loop at top to hang. You can decorate them if you wish with pine, or ribbon or jingle bells. I am not the best diagram drawer, but I think you get the drift here.

You can also buy clear plastic bulb ornaments in various sizes.  If you want you can add tinsel to the inside, or even fake greenery or glitter etc.  Use glitter glue, glue and glitter, or paints to draw pentagrams, or other designs.



Sea shell ornaments.

Fan shaped sea shells, glitter glue, glitter and glue, or clear glitter paint.  Ribbon and assorted greenery etc.  Glue gun.  See pic of shell to use below..

First glitter the ridged colored outside and let it dry.  Then glitter the inside white part.  Now in exactly the position of the pic of the inside shell is, the square part at the top.  Glue a looped ribbon for hanging.  Then glue a little bow, or flower overtop the glued area.  Then in the curved portion of the shell glue fake greenery, berries etc.

See how easy that is.  And most of the items needed for the crafting can be found at a dollar store for a dollar!  You have witchy Yule ornaments, you and the kids ( your kids, your grandkids, or whatever kids you used) had fun.  Seashells are a symbol of the Goddess.  If you have the spiral shaped ones, you can decorate them also, they represent the God.

Here is to a wonderful Holiday Season.

Cauldrons: Every Witch needs one!

The cauldron is something that every witch needs!  A cauldron is nothing more then a metal cooking pot that generally has a handle and a lid.  The metal is generally cast iron.  Back in the old days it was hung over a fire, be it the fireplace or a fire out in the open. 

Witches also used them to do various types of spells, or brew potions or other concoctions in them.

Witchy tales tell us of various magical cauldrons such as Dagda's cauldron which could do all sorts of things including restoring life, and never ran short of food.  Bran's cauldron brought the dead back to life.  Down through time there have been stories of cauldron's and their magical powers.

Now the cauldron symbolically speaking represents the womb of the Goddess and is associated with birth, death, and reincarnation.  So it represents germination, transformation and transmutation. 

You can do everything pretty much with a cauldron, from making a potion, to doing spells.  You can place a candle in it and do a simple candle spell, you can use it as a burn container to burn something, be it papers or herbs.  You can also use it to do a container spell.  You can also fill it with spring water and use it for scrying.  There are a number of things you can do with that cauldron. 

Now you can shop online for a cauldron and pay a pretty penny for one.  BUT the smart witch also knows that an iron dutch oven, or an iron camping cooking pot will work also.  Plus the price is so much better! 

Have fun shopping!

Writing obituaries the do's and don'ts.

So there seems to be a lack of understanding on how to write an obituary.  I know of all things to write a blog post on, but there appears to be a lack of knowledge...

The entire idea of an obituary is to 1- let others who know the deceased person that they  have passed on and 2-to have the information there for future generations.  150 years from now your great great great grandchildren will want to know genealogical information.

So you give the person's accurate legal name.  Grandma might have shared Grandpa's name when they were married, but if she remarried or reverted to her maiden name or former legal name then it does no one any good to name her by Grandpa's name if she no longer goes by it.  Trust me everyone probably already knows they were divorced.  If everyone is on good terms, you may include Grandpa as in she is survived by -list children,  list siblings, and then include " and former husband John Dow."

You list her parents.  This info will also be needed on the death certificate.  You give her fathers full name and you give her mother's name but you use the mothers maiden name.  For example Grandma's Dad was named Jacob Yamrick.  Grandma's mothers name was Marianna Wyroba before she became a Yamrick.  You use the Wyroba.

You list where she was born, if you aren't sure of the city, then just use the county and the state.

You list Grandma's children.  All of them.  You might not like some of them, but again trust me on this, everyone knows.  If you deliberately leave someone out, trust me folks will notice and they will talk.  And trust me the talk won't be kind towards you.  Because if they aren't listed in the deceased section people will notice.  If she has been married more then once and has step children you list them also.  For example : She is survived by a son John Davidson and wife Jolene of Daytona, Florida, a daughter Lisa Carpenter and husband George of Glendale, Arizona, and one stepson David Nelson and wife Carol of Benton, Georgia.  You do not include nieces, cousins, the neighbor next door or anyone that is not her child by marriage or birth.  Grandma might have felt like they were her offspring, but the entire world doesn't know this.  If you include someone who is not a child or stepchild, again people will talk and they will assume the worst. Yes you include adopted children.

You list all of Grandma's siblings.  You might not like all of them but again you name them.  I assure you people will notice if you deliberately leave out Aunt Effie.  Again there will be talk, and it won't be kind, and again you include adopted siblings.

You may also list the accurate number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, step grand children etc
At this point if she had someone she considered as a child or grandchild, even if they weren't you may list them here as a special friend.

If Grandma was married before she married Grandpa, and that person died while they were married, then you list that.  Example she was preceded in death by her first husband James Wiley.  You also list her children and siblings that died before she did.

After you list all of the pertinent family info and ties you may state where she worked, what organizations she belonged to, any hobbies etc.

So example.

Glenda North Tinman died June 20, 1832 in the Emerald City of Oz.  She was born May 10, 1756 in Northern Glen, OZ.  She was a daughter of Glenn and Goldie (Goodwitch) Munchkin.  On July 4, 1793 she married Otis Tinman.  She is survived by 2 children Wandmanker Lionking and wife Cinderella of Emerald City, and Glenn Tinman and wife Blondie of North Glen.  1 stepdaughter, Dorothy and husband Scare Crow of East Glenn: 1 sister Wicked East Witch Munchkin of West Glenn, 4 grandchildren, 3 great grandchildren, 2 step grandchildren, and several nephews and nieces and special friend Toto.

She was preceded in death by her first husband Lyon Lionking, and a sister Super West Witch.

Glenda was a member of Goodwitches Unite, Save the City, and Wizard Begone.  She enjoyed casting spells of joy and granting wishes. She retired after 40 years of being the Guardian of the North.

There see how easy that was!  Info is accurate, and trust me everyone knew that the Wicked Witch of the West was a sibling!

Funerals and Death are stressful, but you have to put aside your personal feelings about people.  You don't want to appear to be white trashy and no class!!

The art of domestic science, or homemakers are grand.

In the past 50 years or so, it has been the trend to downplay the homemaker.  Snarky remarks are made such as "Oh, she's just a homemaker", or "A house frau, how quaint."  Well, there is an art to making a home, and I salute all homemakers.

In the past the lady of the house did not have all the wonderful items to make life easier that we have today, yet they made wonderful, comfortable homes and created fantastic meals.  They also understood the concept of delegating, time management, procurement and a host of other concepts generally not associated with homemaking.

Stains on the carpet? They knew how to take care of that, and how to get them out of household linens and clothes.  Lost button?  They could sew that button on, fix a hem, patch a tablecloth so you didn't even know it was patched and sew a seam so fine you needed a magnifying glass to see them.  For that matter, they could make you an outfit or make a quilt for the bed, not to mention crochet a doily, make an afghan, put embroidery on your towels and make the lace for something.  They knew how to whip up a batch of starch, and how to iron that outfit.

New wallpaper needed?  They would rip off the old, put up the new, paint the ceiling and woodwork, and wax the floor, and still have time to whip up a tasty meal for dinner. And no doubt washed the windows and drapes while they were at it.

As for cooking, they knew how to make homemade noodles, and bread, custards, cakes and pies, not to mention canning and jelly and jam.  You could give them a handful of ingredients and they could whip up a meal that could grace a 5 star restaurant in a blink of an eye.  Fast food and frozen dinners were not on their agenda at all.

I sit back and think of all that my Mom could accomplish in a ordinary day and it makes me tired just thinking of it!  For instance Mondays.  Mondays were laundry and changing the bed day.  Plus the usual household chores, and the usual farm chores.  My job was to help feed the animals and when I came home from school help with any household chores, set the table and help with the dishes.
In the summer add to that gardening or canning.

Tuesdays were ironing and breadmaking day, in the summer add canning to that.  One of my first household lessons was helping to iron.  I was first started out on handkerchiefs and was gradually moved up to other items.  I remember being excited when I was older as Mom had deemed me ready for shirts, and finally curtains with frills.

Wednesdays and Thursdays were for housecleaning.  Upstairs one day, downstairs the next.  Fridays were for doing all the things that needed done that we hadn't gotten around to.  Saturdays and Sundays were for shopping, visiting and resting. 

There was no such thing as no-wax floors.  You learned how to wax, and how to strip the old wax off the floor.  I still enjoy waxing a floor.  The brother-in-law likes his floors waxed and when he doesn't have time to do it, he calls me.  When I am waxing a floor I let my mind roam and think of spells to create, things to put in books and so on.  It's also good exercise!

Yes homemakers had a wide array of talents that they put to use in creating a comfortable homes for their families.  It is and was a talent, a skill, and an art!!

Warlock or male witch? Or Witch is Which

Nowadays the term Warlock is throw around quite easily and generally is used by those in the non pagan areas to refer to a Witch of the male gender, though to be honest some in the Pagan/Wiccan communities use it also. The origins of the word go back to the Scots.

The term Warlock literally means twister of truth, or even Oathbreaker.  It was used centuries ago to refer to a traitor in the Ceremonial Magician paths.  The Readers Digest Condensed Version of a Ceremonial Magician going back a few centuries or so is this: A Christian male who used Angels and Demons to cause change.  Through the use of various things such as gems, elixirs, herbs and circles, they tried to control the aforementioned to do their bidding.  Of course it was a whole lot more than that, but that is the basic concept.  Most of them were affiliated with Christian religious groups of some type or the other.

Now doing the Burning times and other Witch hunts, the Church generally turned a blind eye to these men as they were Christians, male, and supposedly using Biblical texts.  And as always happens you get a bad apple or two.  Now a few of these bad apples would either go to the dark side(meaning practice evil magic such as death cursing etc, or become involved in things such as torturing others, handing out poison and so on), or cause chaos and whatnot. So when the Church authorities would catch on and start investigating you would have these "Warlocks" turn up and they would blame the old Cunningman(a term for a male witch) down at the loch, or the old witch Elspeth of devil worship or else blame one of the other members for their own misdeeds.  Often they would make up stories of orgies, raising Satan and so on so that they would be allowed to live for turning in others who were supposedly evil.  So you can see where the twister of truth, and oathbreaking comes into this.

So traditionally going back to the origins of the word, and the time period helps us see that being called a Warlock was an insult.  As happens over time the word was misused and begin to be associated with any male that walked the various pagan paths.

Originally a male witch, was just that, a witch. 

Bon Voyage my friend.

I received word earlier that my friend Mark who was also my editor for my books has left this plane of existence and gone on a new voyage to explore that which lies on the other side.  Mark was a wonderful, loving, giving man who will be missed by many. 

Mark and I both loved to laugh and we had many a hilarious conversation laughing and giggling about many a thing that caught our attention.  I know for a fact that we laughed so hard at times that both of us were left gasping. 

I am sure that his spirit of generosity and adventurousness will do him well on his exploration of the other world. We had discussed our idea of what we each thought lies on the other side of the veil, and I am sure that Mark is keen to check it all out.

I will miss him and his friendship, but wish him well as he sets out on his new journey.  Bon Voyage my friend!

The right way and the wrong way

Most of us have a general idea of right versus wrong.  What amazes me is when someone is totally out in outer space on what to them, constitutes the right way.  I am pretty open minded and understand that everyone has different ideas.  Be it marriage, or beginning or ending a relationship, most folks understand that honesty and trust is the foundation of a relationship.  So it is important when in one to have that.  Many a promising relationship has not gotten off the ground because one of the parties concerned has realized that the other person has lied or betrayed their trust, and many a marriage and relationships have ended because of the same.

Years ago I knew a lady who I will call Cecilia.  She and her husband Ralph had been married for 10 years.  They had met when she was working as a dancer in Nevada, and he had just gotten out of the service.  They were now in their mid thirties and had made several moves in location and changed careers.  Ralph was settling down into a more conservative life style and trying to get Cecilia to do the same.  She was a talented, free spirited type of lady and just wasn't happy with all the new plans and ideas that Ralph was wanting for both of them.  Ralph was insistent that Cecilia live life according to his plans and "grow up", she begin to get depressed and started over indulging in alcohol.  After one too many hang overs and a couple of screaming matches with Ralph, plus a book that a friend loaned her about happiness and being one's self, she decided it was time for some heavy duty thinking.

Ralph had pressured her to quit her job and be a full time wife.  She knew this did not make her happy.  She decided to indulge herself in gardening to help herself think.  She made a few new friends when she joined some clubs on gardening.  Meanwhile Ralph was living his life of conservative business man and all that that entailed.  Cecilia became friends with a man that was a few years older than she and would have coffee with him.  She realized that this man was easy going, and she was attracted to him.  She realized that she could be happy with a man of this nature, and that the life that Ralph had decided that they were going to live was not for her.  She went home, and told Ralph that she had decided that they had grown apart and no longer made each other happy.  She told him she wished him the best, but she was going to get a divorce.  After days of discussion Ralph realized it was true and they parted.  Cecilia after the divorce started dating the man she had become friends with, and Ralph went on to marry a woman he had met at work.  The last I heard everyone was doing well and being happy.  Cecilia went about things the right way.

Then there is the woman I will call Bertha.  Bertha and Harold had been married for about 8 years.  Bertha was a lady that had to be the center of attraction at all points.  Harold was working long hours to provide Bertha with the lifestyle that she let everyone know that she deserved.  Bertha would work at times, then get bored and quit.  She would go shopping and partying with her friends to occupy herself.  She was also upset that Harold was working so much.  While Bertha was out and about she ran into an old school friend ( we will call her Ethel) and her husband.  A flirtation that soon led to an affair occurred between Bertha and Ethel's husband.  Harold heard rumors about the affair and asked Bertha about it.  She denied it.  Harold took Bertha to Vegas for a vacation and when they got back, she handed him divorce papers and threw him out of the house.  Then she moved Ethel's soon to be ex-husband in.  Things didn't work out between them, and she tried to reconcile with Harold, who was having none of it.  The last I heard, Ethel was on husband number 5.  After being stalked by Ethel for over 2 years, Harold moved several states away, has a great job and has remarried.   Ethel did not go about things the right way, and she still can't understand why Harold wouldn't reconcile.  She blames his mother, his sisters, and everyone but herself.  She doesn't get it that she is the one who messed things up and she has no one to blame for the mess but herself.  She keeps saying she told him she was sorry, and that if he really loved her he would have made up.  Even when you tell her that she was the one who threw him out and filed for divorce, she will tell you that, that has nothing to do with it.  See what I mean, totally out there in space somewhere.

Some folks just don't get it.  I just shake my head and wonder if they ever will.

The signs of Autumn

From the feel of the air, Fall has definitely arrived.  Looking at the trees, one sees that they are decking themselves out in their orange and reds.  Soon Halloween will be here, and then the dark and cold of the winter months.

I have been fall cleaning.  I got the urge when I got itchy fingers to start going through some of the stuff in the basement.  I got one side of the basement done.  Then I said to my husband that we would start cleaning the living room.  Windows, doors, blinds, the walls and ceiling, and the carpet all got cleaned.  Then I got out the Olde English and did the furniture.  The sofa and chair covers all got cleaned and the sofa and chairs got a good vacuuming.  I gave away 4 bags of books once I went through the book shelves.  I have more room, and my friend Karen has something new to read.

Then the bathroom and the hallway and stairs got a good cleaning and scrubbing.  I brought in my outside plants due to the weather being chilly at night.

Today hubby and I tackled the dining room.  I also gave the porch a good cleaning.  Of course, there are some leaves on it again, the Oak tree and Grandmother Sycamore made sure of that.  But that is just another sign that fall is here.  I may or may not start the kitchen tomorrow, I might take a break.

But if not, next week the kitchen will get scrubbed all over, and then that leaves the upstairs rooms and finally the rest of the basement.   After that, I will get out the incense and herbs and go from top to bottom with it, and throw out a few lemon slices. 

Now to me, doing this is just part of the seasonal wheel, hey, I come from a very long line of compulsive cleaners!  I swear all my grandmothers show up once in a while and give me hell over the dust bunnies under the beds.  I know my Mom shows up, I can hear her!  I can just hear her say just look at those marks on that white woodwork!  Out comes the bucket and the Murphy's Oil soap! 

But a nice fresh smelling house is so relaxing, plus you know you've scooted out all the nasty psychic grime and critters too.

As for hubby, he likes a clean house, but likes to poke fun at me once in a while.  Like today-I am putting up the curtains in the dining room, and he all serious, he asks me if I starched them!  I whipped around and said, Are you crazy!!  The only curtains I starch are the white frilly ones.  He replies, well you haven't put those up in a long time.  No, hubby I haven't.  First off, if I do they will get washed first.  4 pairs mind you, because when I put them up, I do both the living room and the dining room.  Then they get starched.  Then to get them pretty and do the damn frills right, it takes at least 45 minutes per curtain to iron, which means 3 hours or so to iron them.   So that is why they don't get put up that often!  He grinned.  I told him if he wanted them up so bad, HE could starch and iron them!!

So I haven't disappeared, just been busy and probably will be for the next couple of weeks.  Done just in time to have fun for Halloween!!

Nature, us and balance.

Yesterday was the Fall Equinox.  Meaning that day and night were equal in length of time.  It is also a signpost to let us know that cold and winter are just around the corner peeking at us.

Now in life we should be balanced also.  An emphasis for a long period of time on one thing will throw our bodies and our spiritual self out of balance.  Just as the seasons are balanced so do we need to be also.

If we work all the time we need to learn to balance that with rest and relaxation.  We need to balance seriousness with fun.  Just as we need to nourish our bodies and take care of them, we also need to balance our spiritual life and our souls.  Our souls also need nourishment.  Meditation, prayer, reading thoughtful books and texts.  Even a walk in the park or a wooded area is nourishment to our souls.

Everyone once in a while we have to do some heavy duty spring or fall cleaning on our emotional and psychological self.  Throw away those outdated beliefs and those that no longer fit into the person that we are.

Just as there are times of scarcity in nature, so are there also in our lives.  We will have times of darkness, along with the times of light.  We all go through times of dark and cold in our lives.  We need to remember that we will and can make it through them.  Those times are when we especially need to nourish our souls and do some heavy duty cleaning on our ideas and beliefs.  Many times some outdated idea or belief that no longer reflects who we are is contributing to the despair.

Nature shows us that darkness is always followed by light.  That renewal and growth will occur.  We need to learn to harmonize and balance our inner and outer lives, and nourish them.

The Garden Crone Tough Magic for Rough Times now available!

I am very pleased to tell you all that the Garden Crone Tough Magic for Rough Times is now available for purchase.  It is available on Amazon.com as both a print book and an e-book.
It is also available on createspace as a print book.

Tough Magic for Rough Times is a variety of spells to help you deal with difficult situations and rough times.  Nasty neighbors, trouble making co-workers, stalkers, and gossipers are a few of the people you will get spells to deal with.  Spells for legal issues, and a few others are covered, and a ritual to banish nasty spirits that may have invaded your home.  There is also a spell to break any curses or hexes that may have been placed on you.

I hope you enjoy the book and find it useful.

Links for the book on Amazon:
For the print book

 https://www.amazon.com/dp/197410513X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505011442&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Garden+Crone

for the ebook

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075HBP7RD/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1505011442&sr=8-5&keywords=The+Garden+Crone

For the print book on createspace (You will get it 2 to 3 days sooner then amazon)

https://www.createspace.com/7412511

I am working on a couple of other books for your enjoyment also.

All of my books are available on Amazon and on Createspace.

Wishing you all a wonderful Fall Season.

Thank goodness for intuition!

Now I don't know about you, but I often get little nudges from my intuition.  Over the years I have learned to pay attention when I get the nudge.  When I don't listen and pay attention I always end up wishing that I would have.

So today I went and did my big stock up day for the month.  As the end of the month rolls around I start making a list of needed essentials, plus dog and cat food, and goodies and supplies for the following month.  I also do the weekly grocery shopping.  I generally hit up Tractor Supply, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Aldi's, Walmart, and so on.  So I headed off to town with my big ole list in my purse.
As I hit the main highway I got a nudge, a big one.  So I slowed down, and went on high alert.  Sure enough a quarter of the mile down the road there was a huge line of traffic, and slow, my goodness it was a turtle crawl.  I would see cars in my lane pass over to the next lane and my line became shorter.
I kept hearing a big truck horn blowing.  Well, soon I made it close enough to see what the issue was.
The problem was a transit bus of some sort.  It was going about 10 mph.  No I am not joking, because I was going about 3 mph(no exaggeration).  Behind the bus was a dump truck, he would blow his horn, because this bus would go off the side of the road, and swerve back on and would almost cause the dump truck to hit him.  I though oh boy.

Now I was going to dial 911, but I did not want to take my attention off of things.  It was getting very scary.  Behind the dump truck was a car, and then me in the Ford.  So for the next 6 miles, and a line of traffic about 2 miles long behind me, we all drove super slow, trust me, I never made it over 5 mph.  None of us could pass, as there would be oncoming traffic coming in the other lane.  Finally just before the big hill, we could all see, and there were no traffic in the other lane.  First the truck went to pass, and sure enough the bus swerved and almost hit him, the truck laid on his horn, and made it, same thing happened with the car.  I was next, and around him I started, good thing I was paying attention, he swerved towards me, and I laid on the horn.  I made it safely around him and off I went.  2 miles down the road is the state police barracks and I headed there where I informed the officer at the desk what had just happened.  He told me that they had received several calls and were sending an officer to investigate.  I told them good, as there was certainly something wrong with the driver of the bus.

So I got in the Ford, and got another nudge.  I was like oh for goodness sakes.  High alert again.  Made it to the intersection a half mile down the road to see a fender bender at the intersection at McDonalds.  Apparently a truck hit a motorcycle that was pulling on to the main highway.   The truck had been hit in the side by a car.  I thought to myself good grief are all the twits out today?  I had no more nudges, but I sure paid attention the rest of the time.

So when you get that little nudge, pay attention, it may save your life!!

Extreme right wingers, I detest them.

I am generally a tolerant person.  But I am going to tell you now, my tolerance with the "Pro-lifers", and the extreme right wing Christian groups has reached it's end.  Religious extremists are an absolute hazard.  I don't care what religion they are suppose to be, Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or whatever, they are deadly to humans getting along peacefully.

Today I was in the middle of cleaning the bathroom, the phone rang and rang, I answered the phone to have a little voice on the other end start telling me about saving unborn babies.  This immediately pissed me off, and I replied before Miss Crusader could go on, that I was a firm believer in abortion, plus I was a Witch.  There were a few seconds of shocked silence and then she hung up on me.

Yes Miss Crusader I am a WITCH!  That would be a Goddess worshipping, bell ringing, candle burning, cauldron stirring, spell casting WITCH!!  Yes I believe that a woman has a right to an abortion, and also a right to use the birth control method of her choice.  A FETUS IS NOT a baby. You and all your bible thumping friends are idiots if you believe that.  But then you accept a myth about a mythical Jesus that was created by Paul/Saul the hater, the early Christian church and the Emperor Constantine and his mother to control the masses, so what can I expect from you.

You cry about evil when you and your friends are the ones who have a hand in dishing it out.  You scream about the Islamic religion, when you are just as bad as those extreme Islamic groups.

Quite frankly I am sick and tired of all of you.  I am tired of all your hate, all your extreme views and rules.  Most of all, I am tired of you all trying to force your beliefs on the rest of us through laws.  I am tired of your ignorance and lack of knowledge and in you perpetuating a myth created to control the masses over 2,000 years ago.  I am tired of your lack of tolerance for others and your desire to make everyone else just like you.

So don't call me, don't come canvassing to my door to convert me, just back off.  Keep it up and I may decide a hex is in order.  It seems to be ok with you all to preach about getting rid of Witches and Muslims and what not, so I say let's get rid of you all, perhaps we may have a bit of peace and a chance to let everyone get along.

Solar Eclipse Magic: Ending and/or beginning

On Monday we will have a Solar Eclipse that will be visible here in the US.  Now this is a total eclipse and its a great time to do some heavy duty magic.

This is a wonderful time to do a spell to end something, and start a new beginning.  Now depending upon your location, meaning check what time the eclipse starts, when it goes into total eclipse and when it starts to come out, depends upon when you start the spell.

These spells are really a 3 parter.  Now you can chant, sing, or just do the spell.  Me, I have found out that if I make a song of the spell and sing it I have excellent results.  So for me this is what I do.

I start out before hand gathering my supplies, and about 15 minutes before things begin I head out to Grandmother Sycamore and get ready.  Supplies are candles and incense stick is optional.
I put out the candles, 2 white candles and 1 black candle.  I look at the time.  1 minute before I call upon the elementals and guardians of my land and area to join me if they are so inclined.

Now I light 1 white candle and the incense.  I start singing my spell like this:

Into the void, into the void health problems into the void.  Into the void, into the void, lack of money into the void. ( I sing each problem I want to get rid of, first naming them one by one)  Into the void, into the void all of you problems and issues into the void.

I sing a few rounds of into the void.  I then imagine all of the problems being swept into the void and going away.

Now when it goes into total eclipse, I light the black candle.  Now I sing a few rounds of:

You're in the void, you're in the void all of you problems are in the void.  You're being transformed, you're being transformed, all of the problems are being transformed.  You're out of my life, you're gone I say no more (now I list them individually again).

Now I imagine the problems and issues melting away and being changed into positive things.

As the eclipse ends, light the 2nd white candle, and sing a round of:

Health is here, no more ill, money is here, no more lack, all bad is gone and the good is back.

Let your candles burn out by themselves.

Remember to follow all rules regarding looking at the eclipse.

Good luck!!

Mem and Storm help clean.

So yesterday I decided to defrost the upright freezer in the basement.  Down I went with the blow dryer, a butter knife, Storm and Mem.  You know they are going to follow but what surprised me was they actually were a help and not a hindrance.

I did the top shelf first removing everything and putting it on the table.  Started blow drying the ice, Storm was biting at the ice on the shelves below.  Mem would push the pieces of ice I was throwing over near the drain, into the drain.

Now for those of you who don't know, Storm is the German Shepherd and he is smart, very smart.  Mem, is Memory the Siamese/Tonkinese/Korat.  He too is smart.  They both like to help.  Many times their idea of helping really isn't.  But this time they were.  When I got to the second shelf, Storm would bite off the loose pieces of ice he could reach, they would fall on the floor and Mem would literally push them over to the drain.  This surprised me as Mem does not like water, and if you have ever defrosted an upright freezer, you know there is melting ice all over the floor.  Every once in a while I would stop and use the broom to sweep the water on the floor over to the drain.  We did 2 of the shelves yesterday and decided to do the other 2 today.

Once again both joined in doing the same as yesterday.  When we finished the last shelf today I took a towel and wiped out the bottom of the freezer which is the last shelf.  When I turned around from putting the wet towel in the washer, there was Mem standing in the freezer on the empty shelf and looking up.  He looked at me as if to say "Yep, we got all the ice Mom".  So I told him and Storm good job and I wiped off the kitty paw marks on the shelf.  We had found the Popsicles so I let Storm pick out his, sometimes he likes cherry, and sometimes he wants lime.  This time he picked the banana one.  I broke it in half, and gave a half to he and Mem.  Yes my cat likes popsicles too.  Apparently banana ones.

I am amazed at those 2 sometimes.  They really do like to help me do things.  Anytime I hear anyone saying how dumb animals are, I always think to myself that the person apparently is an idiot if they don't realize how smart they are.

I do know with them helping it sure went faster then it usually does.   I am so glad they are my fur babies!!

Putting new wine in old bottles.

Many times I have heard people new to the various pagan and green paths lament the fact that they don't seem to be making any advancement in their lives.  After talking with them I generally realize why. And the why's seem to fall into several categories.

Thinking that all they have to do is a spell and everything will magically come to them.  A little story will illustrate what I mean.  Doris kept doing a spell to win the lottery every night.  She would also petition the elements and Deity to let her win the lottery.  This went on for years.  Finally one night when she was petitioning the Goddess she heard a voice boom out "Doris to win the damn lottery you have to buy a ticket first"!!  So along with doing spells you have to take action, go places, meet people, apply for jobs, you have to do something to help things along.

Get rid of that Christian and other Patriarchal mind set.  We don't realize just how much it has permeated our ideas and minds.  The pagan and green paths know that there is no HELL.  They realize that the Goddess is not a vindictive shrew who is keeping track and waiting for us to trip up and send us to eternal torment.  They realize that women don't have to be married, have a man, look like a Barbie doll, or have children to have a rich, rewarding life.  They realize that all of THOSE type of ideas were created by men when the patriarchy snatched power and began their reign of terror. You have to get rid of these type of negative ideas.  So let's be real here for a second.  Unless you reorganize your ideas, realize who you are, like yourself, you won't be happy.  You can form yourself into a Barbie with dieting, surgery, and hair dye and go catch your self that prosperous man, (who no doubt is completely in line with the prevailing societal opinions), and you still won't be happy in the long run.  Having a man is NOT the end all, live happily ever after.  That just brings a new set of problems to deal with.  There are plenty of men and women who are single who are quite happy.  There are plenty of people who don't have children who are happy.  The idea that to be fulfilled we have to be married, have to have children to be fulfilled is again a notion that was created by the patriarchy to help stabilize their new societal rules when they took over.  Go over your mind set ruthlessly and root out these outdated, negative beliefs.

Acting and not thinking things through.  Making a bad decision and then having to deal with the consequences of it.  This falls under what my husband calls "It looked good on paper".  Many times we REACT when something comes up instead of stopping for a second and thinking things through.  Now if you are driving down the road and a person jumps out in front of you, yes you have to react in a second.  But if you get a phone call and the person on the other end tells you that you have won a trip to the Bahamas and you have to pay a fee of $200 to get your tickets and travel plans delivered to you, and you whip out your credit card and give them your number and 3 days later you find out there is no trip and your credit card has been maxed out, then that is a case of reacting.  In other words if you keep making bad choices you are going to have deal with the mess.

Talking but not walking.  I see this often.  The person has decided that they are fed up with the prevailing religion and decide to switch.  Now instead of saying they are a Muslim, or Christian they say they are a Witch, Pagan, Wiccan or what have you.  The problem?  All they do is talk.  They don't practice, nor investigate or study their new spiritual practice.  They talk the talk, but never walk the walk.  You can call yourself whatever you wish, but unless you take the steps to learn, and participate in developing the new you, you won't get anywhere.  Reminds me of all these christian cults, they slap a label on themselves but keep the same prejudices and practices that they had in their "old life."

Yes your life will change if you walk one of the green paths, but you have to work on yourself, walk the walk, feed your soul and actively participate.  It takes a lot of soul searching but is well worth it.

  

For your reading pleasure, The Garden Crone Magical Formulary now available!!

I am proud to announce that the book is done and available for purchase as a print book!!  It is available for purchase at the createspace store at this moment.

The Magical Formulary has recipes on making various Oils, Powders, Washes, Baths, Incense, Magical Inks used in various traditions including Hoodoo.  There are even a few recipes in there for our friends in the LGBT community.

CONTENTS

                       

1         Introduction          11

2         Waters, Washes, Colognes and Vinegars    13

3         Oils and Powders             63

4         Baths and Bath Salts       181

5         Magical Inks                       219

6         Magical Incense                233

7         Final Words                       259

That is the table of contents.

Here is the link for the book to purchase it.  Just click on it and it will take you right to the store, or copy and paste it to your browser.

https://www.createspace.com/7004815?ref=1147694&utm_id=6026

I hope you all enjoy it!  I am now working on the formatting for the e book version of it.

I think you will find the book a welcome addition to your personal library.  Enjoy!!

Responsibility, or owning it.

Walking the different magical paths, we learn that taking responsibility for our lives and actions is something we must do if we are to learn and grow.  If we want to learn, we must seek knowledge and apply our self. This taking responsibility, or owning it applies to all areas of our life, from the magical to the mundane.  To do all of this it also takes some soul searching to realize those ideas that are ours, to those we just absorbed and adopted from someone else.

In today's world we seem to have flipped the coin and no one wants to claim responsibility but place the blame on everyone else.  We hear folks saying things like " everyone else does it", "or it's society's fault", or any other number of excuses.  No one wants to admit that they are wrong, or own what they said it did.

For example a few years ago I knew some folks who had a 12 year old daughter.  They let her date a boy who was several years older than she was and allowed her to stay all night at his house.  This went on for several years and when she was 15 she became pregnant.  And that's when the fight started.  Her family threw a hissy fit blaming the young man and his family, calling them names, and just raising a big old fuss.  Now instead of realizing that they had responsibility in this also, they wanted to just blame him and his family.  I thought to myself, Whoa, what did you think was going on when she was staying all night at his house, or for that matter when you allowed him to stay all night at yours?  Did you think they were playing Monopoly?  Why did you not take her and allow her to get birth control since it was obvious to anyone that could reason what was going on?  They were also making a fuss over the 4 year age difference now, something that hadn't bothered them a bit 3 years previously.  In no way did they want to accept responsibility for this mess.  As for the daughter she was all to happy to blame her former boyfriend and claim he pressured her and so on.

As for the boyfriend's family they who had not had a problem with any of this before now wanted to blame the girl and her family for the entire mess.  They had let the couple stay overnight at their home, and sleep together and not blinked an eye.  They certainly hadn't been worried about the age gap then, nor about the character of the girl nor her family but now they were.  The boyfriend claimed it wasn't his baby and he and his family demanded a paternity test.

Today the 2 families are still fighting, the young man has moved on to several different girls, as for his child with his former girlfriend,  his relationship is sporadic at best.  His family also tries and ignores the relationship with their grandchild.

The daughter since then has been involved in several other relationships, and lives with her current boyfriend and has a child with him.  She and her family still bad mouth the father of her first child and his family.  She blames them and him for the direction her life has taken.

None of them want to accept responsibility for their part in any of the mess and until someone grows up and does so, the situation will stay the same and only worsen.  His family needs to acknowledge that they allowed the relationship to flourish and allowed the girl to stay at their home, and allowed their son to stay at hers.  They also need to acknowledge they were wrong in trying to deny paternity of the child.  He needs to acknowledge that he didn't take any precautions to avoid pregnancy, and that he was wrong to claim the child wasn't his, even though he knew it very likely was.  She needs to acknowledge that she could have taken precautions to avoid becoming pregnant and that she was a partner in the sexual activity that occurred. Her family needs to acknowledge that they allowed the relationship to flourish, allowed her to stay overnight with him, and allowed him to stay at their home.  All of them are responsible, and there is no victim here, unless it's the child.

We need to realize when we are responsible for our actions, and to own it.  If we did it, own it.  There's a difference between making a choice and something happening we don't like, and something we have no control over.  A tornado we have no control over, deciding to have sex with someone without using protection we do, unless it's a rape.

Take responsibility, own it, learn from it and move on.  That's what life is all about.

Planetary Influences?

So the past few weeks have been strange.  The computer being weird, the nook acted possessed, and so on.  I know at times likes this the planets are having a field day so I try and lay low.


Mark finished with the edit of the book, so it was time to upload it and review the files.  But of course things ARE NEVER that easy.  For some odd reason the formatting went totally insane once it was uploaded.  Ok, after 4 days after trying to straighten that out, I decided to just copy and paste the whole dang book into another file.  YEAH, right.  On number 19, that's right, it took me a grand total of 19 attempts to finally get it right.  What the issue was, I have no clue.  It would look great until it was uploaded and then the fun would start.  On number 19 I got smart.  I would upload the file after each section and check it.  Perhaps whatever the glitch was it got fixed, or the gremlins got tired and quit messing with it.  I know I was tired of it for a fact!

Right after my heart attack I had received a questionnaire for jury duty.  I filled it out, and requested that I be excused due to the recentness of the heart attack and so on.  Then last week I received it again.  I also received a phone call from the Jury Selection committee telling me to ignore the questionnaire as for some reason THEIR computer went all crazy and resent them again to everyone. Guess the gremlins got in their computer too.  I told the lady who called it was no problem as my computer had went nuts for a bit also.

Today I was sitting on the porch when I had a weird encounter with a wren.  First I had the one windchime clanging, and a bird angrily chattering.  Don't know if the issue was the wren hit the windchime and was telling me off, or hit it to get my attention.  What I do know is, that wren sat on the edge of the flower pot and told me off royally for a good 5 minutes.  I am sure there was a lot of name calling and I bet human was not one of the names!  Finally the wren flew into the tree branch and told me off for a few more minutes, and finally flew off still chattering angrily.  I wondered if Mem the cat who likes to go to the basement and look through the screen door was out and bothering the birds.  So off I went to the basement.  Mem was taking a nap in the window in the sun.  Then I looked to see if Storm who was outside on his run line was doing anything.  He was taking a nap too.
So I have no clue what that wren's issue was.  But I shouted out the basement door, that I would watch what I say to the human who makes sure that they all get a handout of breadcrumbs and bird food once a day.  Those wren's are little drama makers!!

When the birds start telling you off, you know those planets are shooting out weird vibes!!  

Karma now or later.

When folks don't get along and leave each other in peace, there is no karmic debts that are incurred.  But, if you throw a pot stirrer or troublemaker, or drama seeker into the mix you end up with a different story.

We all, regardless of our beliefs here on the earth plane, come back and live again.  It doesn't matter if you are Christian, Wiccan, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist or whatever, we all reincarnate.  And we tend to run into the same folks that we knew before in our previous life.

Now back to my opening statement.  If you don't get along with someone and you deliberately lie, or do things to cause them harm, be it physical or otherwise, you end up with a karmic issue with that person.  Now depending upon the karma you have already, seems to determine if you end up having the universe (read Deity) balance things out by having something similar happen to you, or it may be chalked up to your Karmic balance sheet for you to take care of in another incarnation.

Because you will end up with an issue that will be balanced one way or the other.  The smart thing to do is NOT to do anything to cause harm to someone deliberately in the first place.  If you do, then you need to make amends to correct it, otherwise you will end up "paying" for it either in this lifetime, or in a future one.  You will have issues with that person to be resolved in a future incarnation.

For example you have a person that doesn't like their sister, let's call them Q, and their sister X.  Now Q is a drama queen and a pot stirrer.  She tells lies on X and causes her no end up troubles.  X knows that Q has issues and tries her best to at first resolve them, and when that doesn't work, she tries to stay out of Q's life.  Finally X retaliates by telling people what a pot stirrer Q is.  So in this life Q may get away with her nonsense without any repercussions.  BUT she now has racked up a huge karmic debt to X which in a future incarnation will have to be resolved.  X does not owe the debt, but is the debtor so to speak.  At some point Q will have to make restitution for her nonsense.

If in our example above, Q went to therapy and decided to change her nastiness, and she apologized to X, then depending upon how long she carried on her nastiness, would determine what remaining debt she owed.  In a future lifetime she may decide to be a defender and best friend to X, or she could end up having a situation happening to her similar to what she did.

Make no mistake, the universe (deity) prefers and demands balance and justice.  You may not pay now, but I promise you that for all the nasty and mean things you do to others, you will pay for.  If someone apologizes to you for something that they did, accept it.  You don't have to be best buddies with them, but you also don't want to be involved in a karmic issue with them either.  It is best to let go of anger and grudges so you don't have that on your score sheet for another life time.

Try to achieve balance in all things so in another life you don't have to deal with the same issues.

The Love of Money

Money is one of those necessary evils that we all have to deal with, right up there with taxes.  Everyone needs money in today's world to survive.  Unlike centuries ago when folks grew their own food, made their own clothing and household supplies and bartered for what they needed, in today's world one MUST have money to buy food, shelter, clothing and so forth.

Money in and of it's self is not evil.  But the "desire" and "love" to possess it is.  Let me explain what I mean.  If one has enough money to pay all of one's bills, buy food, clothing, and other supplies, and provide shelter and health care each and every month, a person should be happy and satisfied.  But for most of us that is not enough.  We want more.  More money, more expensive items, more possessions.  So it boils down to greed.

People who are greedy want it all.  They want more than their share and they don't want anyone else to have the same amount that they do.  They believe that by possessing items, they can command respect, love, loyalty and have others dance to their tune.  They own multiple homes, yachts, limo's and other luxurious items.  If a man, he has a "trophy wife" 9 times out of 10, if a woman, she may have a younger husband or one who has a high share of his own worldly  goods.

Now money will buy lots and lots of things and allow you to do pretty much as you please, but I promise you it won't buy you love or happiness or even self respect.  Oh sure it will buy a reasonable facsimile of love or happiness but a facsimile won't fill that void that only the real deal does.

A person that suffers from greed is never happy for very long.  They are always wanting more.  They may have homes all over the world that are show pieces and yet, they lust after that, which belongs to someone else.  They are never truly satisfied for long with that which they already possess.

While they are rich in money and world possessions they are spiritually bankrupt.  Until they realize that worldy goods will not buy them spiritual growth they will continue to flounder and try to fill the black hole that exists within.

Yet the world around them envies them and tries to emulate them.  Instead of focusing on being thankful for the blessings one has, they constantly strive to get more money, more expensive items, and lots of possessions.  We believe we will be happier with all these things.  We tie up our self esteem in possessions and how much money we have and how much we make.

"Wealth causes strife among kinsmen.  The wolf lurks in the forest".  That is a line from the the Norwegian rune poem, and it sums up exactly what happens when we focus on money.  I don't care how well a family appears to get along, watch what happens when there is a death in the family.  I have saw it in my own life.  People will lie, cheat, steal and manipulate to get their hands on the money.  The real wolf is the people not an actual animal. You want to see WHO someone is, watch them when a death occurs in the family and how they act.  See who tries to take everything or wants everything.  Because I guarantee there will be at least one person who feels that they are entitled to everything.

We need to start focusing on our inner world a bit more.  Yes money is necessary.  But besides providing for ourselves, we can also use it to help others who don't possess the same amount of worldly goods that we have been blessed with.  "Wealth is a comfort to all men.  Yet everyone must give it away freely if he wants to gain glory in the Lord's sight".  That is a line from the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, and truer words were never written.

Choices on treatments.

A friend of mine has a very difficult decision to make with regards to her life. Literally.  After a horrible screw up by a half assed doctor and a variety of mistakes made by the same, she found out that she has breast cancer and has to make a choice about treatment.

Now as you all know I am all about each person making their own choices, and in particular when it comes to their own body.  As you also know, I do not believe that doctors are gods and infallible.

 It also pisses me off when folks decide to push their choices on others with regards to religion and with another person's life.  If it's not some Christian pushing you to come to Jesus so you can be in heaven with them, then it's someone trying to tell you what to do with your body.

My friend does not want to do radiation.  But the doctor's, her family, a slew of friends are trying to rail road her to do the radiation.  "Listen to the Doctor", "If you love me you would do this".  And so on.

So let's lay it out here right now.  First off, it's real easy when it's not you, to tell the other person to do it.  Then to play the "love" guilt card, for friggin real!!  If YOU loved ME, then YOU would shut up and let me make a decision that is literally about MY life, not YOURS!  That is usually the same card that is played when they try and convert you to Jesus, cause THEY don't want to be in heaven without you, sob sob.  It's not YOUR life that is on the line.  You aren't the one who is going to be sick, be open to infections, lose their hair, be sick, and be subjected to radiation.

My friend is literally scared to death of the radiation treatment, and rightfully so..but the doctors who think they are god, and her family are pushing her to do this.

What my friend needs to do is make up her own mind by weighing all the pro's and con's and doing some research to help her reach her choice.  I wish her the best and want her to know that this FRIEND will not push her either way and will be there for her however she decides.

Happenings

Letting you all know that The Garden Crone now has a twitter account to go along with our page on Facebook.  Stop on over to either spot and leave us a message.  

The Garden Crone Magical Formulary will be ready soon for purchase.  Print book will be available first.  It will be also available as an ebook, but that will take a few days longer.  Playing with that ebook format always takes longer!!  

I think you all will enjoy the new book.  It is a book of magical recipes.  Ever wonder how to make some of the well known Hoodoo and other magical oils?  Well if you purchase the new book you will know.  It also has recipes for magical baths, colognes, inks, and incense blends.  I think you will all find that it comes in real handy.

I am sure that quite a few of you are wondering why alot of the previous post disappeared.  Readers Digest condensed version: with the advent of the right wing nutjobs with the rise of the New Regime, we felt it necessary to remove quite a few posts.  I will be reposting some of the spells.  

As for books in the works, well, I have 2 that I had started on.  One on the magical properties of Trees, which I had done a good bit of work on.  Then the Computer Gremlin hid it.  I have searched the PC and it seems to have done a vanishing job!  Then I have one on Tough Magic, a good bit of it is done, but then my notebook with the notes and outlines has done a disappearing act.  So hopefully though, I will find the stuff I need to finish them.

The books already done are still available on Amazon as ebooks and print books. 

Stop on over to twitter or my facebook page and give a shout out. 

Momma Dove and the rest of the wildlife.

So here I was a few minutes ago sitting at the computer when I heard a Mourning Dove calling outside.  Something made me get up and turn around.  When I did I saw Momma Dove sitting on the air conditioner looking in the window.  I told her how happy I was to see her and reminded her she was welcome to make a nest on the air conditioner again.  She cocked her head at me and seemed to tell me that she was just checking in and making sure that I was ok.  We chatted for a few seconds and then she flew off.

I can recognize her easily with her peach coloration that is on her head, breast and belly.  She has a few dark spots on her wings and I feel that her coloration makes it easy to recognize her.  I hadn't seen her in a week or so, apparently we were missing each other when she visited.  2 days ago hubby told me that I had just missed seeing her again.  Apparently this time she thought to check at the window.

We also have made friends with a Blue Jay that is apparently a veteran of some sort of war.  He has only 1 leg.  Yes, he has lost his left leg in some sort of accident.  I call him Braveheart.  He balances on 1 leg and puts the stub of the other one down when he is eating.  Then there are the 2 little mice that have moved into the hedges.  We call them Nibbles and Minnie.  I have informed them that as long as they and any offspring they may have stay out of the house and basement and leave the Ford alone they are welcome to stay in the hedges.

Then there was the huge field spider that decided to come into the house 2 weeks ago.  THAT did not work out well for him at all.  When I tell you huge, I mean he was about 4 inches in diameter.  I had gotten up to go to the bathroom around 3 in the morning.  Stood up when I was done, and right next to the sink was this spider.  It was so big, I thought hubby had put it there as a joke before he went to bed.  I took a step, and so did it.  Found out something, I can jump sideways.  Up I went landing on the bath tub.  When I couldn't wake up hubby with my screeching (nor for that matter the German Shepherd!) I begin to realize I was on my own.  Mem heard me screeching, he started yowling but couldn't get in.  I told him to go wake up hubby.  He ran yowling up the steps and couldn't get hubby's attention either.  Finally I thought of the hairspray.  Thankfully it was in the cupboard over the commode.  I backstepped to the commode, dug in the cupboard and found it.  During all this, that dang spider was eyeing me up and I was keeping an eye on it.  I got the hairspray, stepped down in the tub and the spider got brave.  PSSSSST went the hairspray on him and he turned tail and ran, I thought to myself OH NO you don't.  You are not getting loose in my house, and I flung the can at him and nailed him.  I don't care who or what you are, you don't come in my house and go after me!

Since then any night time visits to the bathroom have Mem escorting me.  Mem of course rubbed all of this in by telling me that he keeps trying to tell me there are monster spiders out there.  I had to agree!!

When to start teaching your offspring magic.

Talking to one of my friends who has young children we discussed when would be a good time to start their training in magic, assuming of course that they wanted to learn.  So my thoughts were when they turn around 12 or 13, assuming that a- they wish to learn, and b- they show responsibility and understanding of magic is not a game and understand there are consequences to actions.

Most children growing up in Witch/Wiccan/Pagan households grow up with "spiritual instructions" if you wish to call it that.  They grow up with following natural seasons and cycles, and hear the stories and myths.  They understand the meaning of ritual and circle work.  In fact I am sure that many parents teach them little spells such as protection spells, or spells to find a lost object and so on.

With magic and doing spells, the child needs to understand that their actions (the spell) will result in something occurring.  They need to learn the basics and build upon them.  Candle types and colors, herbs and their uses, and so forth.  They also have to understand that you don't go hexing or cursing someone just because you can, or that you don't like them.  Also not to attempt a magical working that you don't have enough knowledge yet.  Things happen, weird and strange things, and if you are an inexperienced spell worker, you may make a situation worse unintentionally.

All the time I read or hear about someone who got interested in the various paths and after reading a couple of books, they felt they were an expert.  They decided to raise a ghost, or control a spirit, or hex someone and ended up with a big mess on their hands.  Trust me, I have been on this path for over 50 years and I don't consider myself an expert!  The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know!  I will say it again, knowledge is power.  But you also learn that you use a flyswatter on a fly, not a shotgun.  The more you learn, and the more you practice you start to be able to distinguish between using the flyswatter or the big magical guns.

Some children may not be interested.  That's fine also.  Unlike the patriarchal paths our spirituality allows us to realize that our offspring may be drawn to a different path.

I have just finished up working on a new book.  The Garden Crone Magical Formulary.  Mark is working his editing magic on it, and it will soon be ready for publishing.  I will keep you updated.

Pick your poison.

Here in the United States we have become a nation of pill poppers.  We go to the Doctor's office and generally end up with a prescription for a pill of some sort.  No wonder the Pharm Companies are making billions of dollars each year and crank out new meds and lower the bar on numbers for various disorders or create a disease.

Every year the numbers are changed on things like high blood pressure and Cholesterol numbers so more people are prescribed medications.  For the most part no one questions this and pops another pill.

Think I am joking?  For example blood pressure.  Use to be 128/80 was considered ok.  Now it's considered pre-hypertension.  One would think with all the meds everyone is on, we would be a healthy bunch.  But we aren't.  Diabetes, heart disease, stoke, cancer and the list goes on runs rampant.  And all those pills that are suppose to manage your disease end up causing side effects and disorders that need a pill to manage it.  

As for the Doctors, they believe everything that the Pharm Reps tell them about the newest medical marvel in a pill.  When the side effects start cropping up, the Doctor tells you to suck it up and take your pills.  As for the Pharm Companies, they figure by the time the law suits start rolling in they will still have made a big profit off of the pills.  As for the FDA, who is suppose to protect the citizens they are generally in big Pharms pockets.  

Think about all the ads you see on television for the newest and latest drugs.  They tell you how wonderful the new drug is and then list a few of the side effects: Nausea, vomiting, cancer, bleeding, life threatening infections, and so forth.

For example a nose spray that helps control allergy symptoms has side effects that include backache and nose bleeds.  Now I don't know about you, but I would rather be stuffed up then having nose bleeds and back aches.  

The entire Pharm/Doctors/Healing in the States need an overhaul.  The Pharm companies donate money to the Universities to train the students, they emphasize drugs as the answer: The Pharm companies come up with new diseases and drugs which they manipulate the data, they send out their reps who tell the Doctors what they need to give to their patients.  Sounds like a scam to me and the patients are the one's suffering from all this.

Nutrition and diet works wonders, so do herbs.  The Doctors aren't trained in nutrition though.  Perhaps a class or 2, but for the most part, that is left up to dietitians.   If you question the doctors, they get all offended.  Most of them feel that since they have all that education they are GOD.  

Yep it's time for an overhaul. 

The friendly wildlife.

The animal kingdom is still making itself known around here.  My Momma Dove made her nest in the Ivy that is growing next to the house.  She flew out and sat on one of the branches of Grandmother Sycamore and chatted with me the other day.

We have quite a variety of birds that visit the yard every day expecting their snack of breadcrumbs.  There must be at least 30 wrens of various sizes, blackbirds, sparrows, 6 different bluejays including the one that is always spatting with everyone.  When he shows up I end up telling him that my yard is a fight free zone.  There are robins and cardinals, catbirds and I even had a finch fly onto the back of my chair and try and grab my hair!

Storm has made friends with the blackbirds and the other day he was on his run line in the back yard lying next to his water bowl.  Perched right on the edge of his water bowl were the pair of blackbirds who have a nest next to the basement door.  He was apparently chatting with them as they were getting a drink.  I had to laugh to myself at the picture they made.  Vicious German Shepherd? I don't think so!

Yesterday hubby and I were sitting on the front porch watching the birds snack on their breadcrumbs when these same blackbirds flew down and started eating.  They had the last of their birdlings with them.  That young bird was almost the same size as they, and to top it off, the poor parent birds were still feeding it!  Literally, it would scream, and they would hop over and shove a bread crumb in it's mouth.  Talk about needing to leave the nest!!  Hubby and I laughed and told the parent birds it was past time for their last young one to leave the nest!!

Today I was on the porch when what appeared but a young deer!  Yep it walked up the street, came in my yard for a bit and then left.  Broad daylight to boot.  I have come to the conclusion that word is spreading that my yard is a safe spot for the wildlife.  Storm was quite interested in watching it and made no move to chase it or harm it.

Storm just turned 3 and I must say I am well pleased with how gentle and socialized he is with other animals.  He is such an intelligent boy.  He still likes to help me cook and expects that he is going to get a taste of certain things we make such as homemade Mac -n- cheese.  He has been known to grab spice jars and want me to add them to what we are cooking.  I am not joking, we have had several discussions about no we don't need cinnamon in the macaroni salad.  He and Mem the cat are pals most of the time.  Mem thinks he is a German Shepherd Tonky cat.  If the dog does it, he thinks he can, and the two of them make me laugh.

Watching the wildlife can be relaxing and entertaining, not to mention watching the interactions between the pets!

Something is in the air.

My dove from last year is still around.  She has visited several times, in fact she has tapped on the bedroom window to get my attention and say hello.  I was very pleased to see her in fact and even her mate has taken the time to come sit on the phone line next to the house and sit for a few and chat with me.  That really surprised me as he was not particularly fond of humans.

All of that was surprising and pleased me to no end.  But then yesterday I had ducks...a pair of wild ducks I might add.  They were not the same breed of wild duck either, which leads me to believe that they certainly aren't prejudiced.  Anyways, up the street they came and made themselves right at home in the front yard.  Hubby and I were sitting on the porch, and so was Storm, the GS.  We were very surprised to say the least.  Storm wasn't very happy about it, because I made him go in the house for a bit.  I talked and they came right up to the porch.  They meandered around the yard,  and finally settled down to catch some sun.  They looked like they had made up their minds to settle in.  But they changed their mind when Storm came back out and apparently told them to go home.  He didn't try and hurt them or anything, just let them know, that as far as he was concerned their visit was over.

Today, I went to the store and on my way back first I saw a bald eagle.  Yeah, I know.  I was like, what  the?  But sure enough, it was a bald eagle.  White head, brownish body, no mistaking that bird. I was very surprised to say the least.  Then about 2 miles from home I saw about 6 hawks holding a committee meeting on a fence next to the road.  I got a good look at them also.

So apparently this was my week to see birds of various types and kinds.  I will admit it gave me a shock to see the bald eagle, and I got an excellent look at him too.  But to top that off with the falcons having their gathering it certainly made me wonder.

Hope you all are enjoying the spring.  

I hate Doctors.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the various branches of the Medical profession are on my last nerve.  Standard procedure seems to be to not pay attention to what you are trying to tell them and they want to push tests and pills.

So let me give you a few examples here on exactly what I mean.  We shall start with the fact I have white coat syndrome.  When I was a toddler I had fallen down the steps and cut my forehead open and needed stitches.  First off, the birth mother took me, instead of my grandmother (the one who raised me and ended up adopting me), that was bad enough, but once we got to the hospital the doctors there wouldn't let her in the room with me, they strapped me down, and they did not numb the area.  There you go, trauma all the way around.  Believe me I was only 3 1/2 but I remember this episode vividly.  So needless to say unless I know the Doctor quite well, and we have an ongoing relationship, my blood pressure shoots up.  Doc Jack and Doc Christopher understood this when I was a child, and we had plenty of relationship there, so I would calm down after a few minutes and all would be well.  Second we should all remember I am an empath, which means with everything else going on, I am probably catching everyone's emotions and getting overwhelmed when all the hoopla is going on.

I can prove this because in the hospital the other day, my blood pressure was 112/96.  I was laughing and joking with the nurse, the doctor walked in and BOOM my blood pressure shot up to 169/106.  I immediately pointed this out to the doctor, and the nurse verified it.  That doctor was pretty cool and listened to what I had to say.  Dr. Duer at the clinic and I also have a pretty good relationship and he has known me for years and he listens.

Now with the heart attack I have all these damn doctors who will not listen.  I am telling them hey, I have white coat syndrome, I am allergic to all kinds of things.  My Blood pressure is reactionary, it will shoot up in a second if under a lot of stress. Now they want me to take this drug or that drug purely for preventive purposes.  Not happening.  Then they give me stuff that literally makes me sick, I tell them and they are like basically "So what, suck it up and take it".  Again not happening.  I don't did meds at all unless it's an antibiotic and even some of those react bad on me.  It is rare for me to ask for a pill.

So I also have TMJ.  I will grind my teeth in my sleep if under a lot of stress. So apparently I have been doing that and have a mess going on.  First off I have a tooth that had 5, yes 5 root canals done on it.  The root kept growing back.  I am not kidding.  Any ways it broke off while I was eating.  So it decided to grow that damn root back in the midst of that, plus 2 of the teeth on the bottom on the same side are now messed up from the tooth grinding.  So my right side of my mouth is in pain.  All the way to the ear and even the sinus area and I am having headaches.  Trying to find a damn oral surgeon is like looking for a needle in the haystack.  Found one, can't get in until April.  The damn dentist won't pull the bottom tooth which needs to come out thanks to my tooth grinding and I am in pain.

But hey deal with it.  Any other time they want to push a pill on you or want you to take a damn test.  Ask for a tooth to be pulled or a pain pill, and they act like you are crazy.  I will suffer this out, and I will make it through it.  But you just wait till they try and push a damn pill or a test on me again, in the words of my Mom, "the fur will fly".