Tarot card for today...

The Eight of Pentacles
Straight from the lovely Stephanie's web page---
A craftsman, patience, care for details, absorbed in a project, seeking knowledge, pursuing a higher understanding. With diligence and patience, the Spider crafts her gossamer web. Dawn dusts an array of dewy stars across the threads. weaver weave a pattern:
weave a dream of summer musk;
weave the drape of autumn dusk. weaver weave a fate:
weave a life's frail anchored line;
weave the pale moon's waxing signs. weaver weave a web:
craft each silky precious thread,
artist's inhibitions shed.

Perfect for tonight's meditation. =)

A comment that made my night

This, for most, may seem like a random post. For those of you who know or can guess at how I feel about my numerous tattoos, this will probably make a bit more sense... =)

So, last night, I was over at a friends house having a play date night with all of our kids together enjoying pizza, brownies and mani/pedi time. I happened to be wearing a tank top, despite the chill, because it never fails that a house full of four kids under the age of 10 gets pretty damn hot quickly. On these nights, my friend and I also use our time to develop skills that are being newly discovered for them, such as telepathy as well as working on setting up a meditation time and developing that ability more fully. At some point during that time, I was laying still, grounding myself, and my friend came up to me and ran their finger over the violet tattoo on my shoulder. For my readers that have looked back through past postings, you'll see that I got that tattoo last March in memory of my grandmother who passed away unexpectedly and in the mist of pain-filled circumstance (see this entry: A Memorial). After doing that I asked the first thing that came to mind (which is usually the case as I rarely stop to think about my words when caught off guard!) which was, "Why do you like that tattoo so much?" The reply, "Because it's just so you." The idea that this tattoo, something that was filled with both love and loss, happiness and sorrow could be seen as so right for me really struck a chord in my heart, and the comment made me immeasurably happy.

Anyway, I just thought I would share this solitary moment in my life which seems to be sticking out in my mind a lot...

Happy blogging!

Back at last

I am so sorry on my month long absence... I've been trying to squeeze in every last drop of family time possible between life, appointments and "oh craps". My hubby has officially deployed and now I'm trying to get back in the swing of things. A lot of stuff has happened that I'm aching to blog about, so you'll have to bear with me as I try to squeeze in blogs between last minute holiday prep and some traveling to help out a few friends in Seattle that are in desperate need of assistance...

So, as it's late and I've been up since 3am making trips to the airport and crying, I'm just going to write a quick outline of things coming up:
1.) Dream Walking with Stars
2.) December Full Moon Ritual/meditation
3.) Yule and the Dark Moon

Those are the big things right now, though I'm sure that I'll add more to that once I settle in for some good, lengthy typing. =)

I hope that you all are well, and I can't wait to get caught up on everyone's blogs!

Blessings to you all this beautiful season!


A parting thought...

When it rains, it pours. Dammit.

So, let me start by saying that I will be SO glad when today is over so I can just go to bed and try again tomorrow.

From the beginning-
We had a great circle on Saturday morning. Really, it was fantastic. There were 13 people there (which is AMAZING!) and we had a wonderful time with a meditation that was a journey to Avalon. I had everybody work on "getting into the zone" while some pretty music played before the start of the meditation. During that time, I felt the desire to cast a circle, so I went for it. It was funny to tell people, when we were done, not to walk out unless they had me cut a door. Some of them were like, when did you cast a circle and others said something like ah yes, I thought I felt the wave of energy go over, around and through us. Afterwards, we sat and talked while eating cantaloupe and Cinnamon roles (YUMMY) and went over the schedule for the next few weeks. That afternoon, I had a birthday party/going away to tend to. The gal that is getting ready to leave is one of our circle members, and also the person that first started the circle we had in town before the one on base was formed. Needless to say, being around that many people and having to see one of my oldest friends here leave was emotionally, mentally and physically draining. I was more than happy to crawl into bed that night.... until 2am hit and I was awoken by a scream from my daughters room. Congrats mommy, your daughter has caught the stomach virus that has been going around! *sigh* From that point on, a "slept" (riiighhhtttt... more like laid there waiting for the next heave) next to my daughter as she got hit with the need to toss her cookies every hour. Sunday was spent in a sleep deprived, must take care of the kiddo state, Oh, did I mention that Stephen is sick also? Yeah, let's not forget that. So, I went to bed last night, hoping to get some sleep, which of course didn't happen. Jae slept so much during the day that she did a lot of tossing and turning during the night and wouldn't sleep unless I was with her. This morning, mercifully she was feeling better and wanted to go to school. As per the morning, before school routine, I brought the puppies in to feed them and noticed a cut on my boy Poe's leg. I figured that he and his sister got to playing too rough again, so I gave them their food and grabbed a piece of gauze to clean it up. When I went to apply the gauze I saw not a cut as originally thought, but a V shaped piece of skin in the area between his stomach and back leg (much like the web between our thumb and finger) had been completely torn and was just hanging there. For the second time in the past two days I was thankful I have a strong stomach. I was even more thankful that Stephen had just called me to say he was coming home to rest (rest. HA!). By this point however, I was exhausted, crying, and starting to hyperventilate because I just couldn't handle anymore.

SO, the husband got home and took Jae to school with my car as I wrapped my badly shaking and mangled dog in a blanket and took him out to the truck. Mercifully the vet it close and they were able to get him in and out in just over and hour. He was sent home with antibiotics and the cone of shame, which he only has to wear when I can't keep an eye on him or if he starts licking at his stitches.
Here is the inside of his leg, and it is identical on the other side...

You know, I was suppose to have this morning off to catch up on much needed sleep. So much for that idea. Right now, my biggest hope is that I can make it through the rest of the day in one piece and now that three hard things have come to pass, I'll be done with this madness.

To the Hopi- The month of purification and renewal

The full moon for February is know by many names. I chose to use the Hopi name for this moon because, for me personally, purification and renewal is what's up on the menu. =) Many of you have read my blog on the death in my family (and thank you for the warm wishes and happy energy sent my way), and my mom and I have decided to leave on Sunday and make the drive to southern New Mexico to settle my grandma's estate. I have packed a small bag with items for energy/magical purification as well as a bag for physical purification. I got to thinking about it, and when the magnitude of the task at hand hit me with the realization that we'll be cleaning out a trailer that hasn't been opened in almost 5 months, I decided that I needed to go down prepared. And in this process of cleansing and sorting, I plan to concentrate on my own life and the bedraggled state it's been in this past week, and cleanse and purge all the negativity and remaining "nasties" from being sick. I think it's an outstanding plan. =)

Because of this cold I'm still fighting, I decided to not do any of my normal full moon activities, such as making my moon water, because I don't want any "energetically tainted" things residing on my altar for the next month. However, I did cleansing the drains of my kitchen sink (because it's been a good while since I've done that), using the method I found on Mrs. B's fabulous blog: http://www.confessionsofapagansoccermom.com/2011/02/clearing-your-sink-and-magically.html#more, then Jaelynn and I did our normal nightly ritual with her new Goddess Candle (I took a picture for your viewing pleasure!). After that I took a nice hot back with some chamomile, drank some homemade herbal tea, and hit the sack!

Now that I've talked all about my life, let me give you some magical correspondences for this moon!

Astrology wise, today is the end of the Aquarius and tomorrow begins Pisces! Good colors to work with are light blue, aqua and purple. When I think about things to do for this full moon, the first thought I had would be to lay down, put a pretty piece of amethyst on your third eye and soak in the light of the moon. If it is too cold to go outside, that's fine, just find a comfy spot in the house and bring the moon into you! Feel the light of the moon recharging your body, mind and soul. Easing away any pains or problems you're facing and replacing that energy with the light and love of the moon/goddess (whichever you prefer). Do this until you feel the light within your entire being and that it's created a sphere around your body. Slowly take this light and pull it into you, keeping only what you need, then sending the rest back into our beautiful Earth. Make sure you eat a little something afterwards if you need additional grounding!

Hope you enjoy! Many blessings to you this full moon!