Category: Articles

Bad Kitty Chooses and Trains Her Witch…

Bad Kitty Chooses and Trains Her Witch…

by L. Lisa Harris

The candles were lit, as the heavy scent of incense caressed the air. “We all come from the Goddess” was playing softly in the background as we passed energy hand to hand to cast our circle. Deities were invoked, and quarters were called with poetry and passion.  Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a movement as a furry black paw reached out from under the altar cloth and snatched my ritual candle lighter. The familiar strikes again.

The day before last Thanksgiving, I had an overwhelming urge to adopt a kitten. It wasn’t planned out. It wasn’t even rational. I needed a cat and I needed it that day. After we bought our house, we had discussed adding a new pet to our family some time in the future, but had made no immediate plans. As a matter of fact, my dear husband had not actually agreed to it. I rationalized my impulse by telling myself that since our whole family would be home for four days, it would be the perfect time to bring a new family member into the household, especially since the smell of roasting turkey is so welcoming. Visions of our happy family playing with a cute, fluffy frolicking kitten filled my mind. It was time; hubby would come to see that once the cute little fluff ball snuggled up to him and purred.

I picked up the phone and called the local Petsmart adoption center. I was in luck, an organization called “Spaying To Save Our Pets” had several cats and kittens up for adoption, but I would have to get there before 1:00 p.m., as they were going to be packed up and taken back to the shelter for the four-day holiday. I took an early lunch and headed up to South Hill to see the kittens. When I arrived there was quite the display of meowing, yowling, tumbling and cuteness.

These cats knew that they were “auditioning” and were hamming it up good. It was almost sensory overload.

My eyes went immediately to an older kitten, about six months old, with long silky black fur and penetrating amber eyes. I knew that my husband and daughter liked very young kittens with short hair, and that hubby would have a fit if I brought home a cat whose fur clashed with our white carpet. My dear husband has what I consider to be an unnatural attraction to vacuuming and takes great pride in making each nap of the carpet stand at attention, spotless and clean. He’d freak out if I brought home a cat with long black fur just waiting for the opportunity                          to shed all over the place. I tried to ignore her and find something interesting, or attractive about the babies and shorthaired cats, but I kept returning to those big amber eyes, that penetrating stare that said, “You want me.”

“It wouldn’t be fair for me to pick the cat I like, just because she looks like a `witchy kitty’; this is a family pet.” I told myself. Kitty had other ideas.

After the other cats and kittens got done making fools of themselves or completely ignoring me, my eyes returned to the black kitty. She calmly sat in her cage, regal and oblivious to the hubbub going on around her. With her head held high and her fluffy tail gracefully circling her perfect little paws, she let out three dignified, soft, throaty mews, then reached her paw out of the cage and put it on my arm as if to say, “You may pick me up and hold me now.” I asked the clerk if she could get the kitten out so that I could hold her and she instantly began to purr and snuggle. I was hooked. When I looked at the tag on her cage, I noticed that her name was “Sabrina,” a fine witch name. She had been brought back earlier that very day.

The adoption center people wanted to make sure that we didn’t have a dog, as she had been returned for “beating up” a Yorkshire Terrier in her previous home. I had to respect a tough kitty and considered myself fortunate to have had the urge to come adopt a cat the same day that this fabulous creature had been brought back in.

She bewitched the rest of the household in short order, and I began to wonder if she would become my familiar. She loved the whole family, but attached herself to me quickly and completely. She could not sleep unless it was on or in my face, and I was not allowed any unauthorized or unsupervised trips to any other room in the house, especially the bathroom. It became apparent that I had acquired a fluffy shadow.

She was attracted to anything magickal, and had a weird thing going with my Witch Barbie’s familiar. She would jump up on the dresser at night and steal her little gray plastic cat, as if to say, “I’m the only familiar in this house and don’t you forget it!” I soon found that she had a collection of sacred items, including one of my rune stones stashed under the altar in our bedroom. It didn’t take her long to earn the nickname “Bad Kitty.” One afternoon I came home from work to find her sitting in the middle of the small Brigid wheel on the living room altar as if to say, “I’m magick.” She somehow managed to jump from the floor, over a circle of seven-inch taper candles, into a space of less than 12 inches, without knocking a single candle out of place. I have no idea how she did that, but she was quite proud of herself.

The first time I cast a circle in her presence, to charge some herbs for witch balls I was making my coven members for Yule, she went crazy (more so than usual), tearing in and out of the bedroom and creating a ruckus. Finally, as she was taking a short breather, I yelled down the hall at her, “If you want to be my familiar, get your furry little butt in here and help, otherwise go harass someone else. I’m busy.” She stuck her nose and tail in the air as if to say, “It’s about time you offered me a proper invitation” and sauntered into the bedroom and sat next to the altar concentrating on my work, only occasionally taking a break to lick herself. Once she was formally recognized, she left Witch Barbie’s kitty alone, as it apparently posed no further threat to her status.

From that point on, it was apparent that I had a certified “energy junkie” on my hands. At our monthly coven meetings, she simply must be in the middle of the circle as it is being cast. She bounced off the walls for three days after “attending” her first circle. She has since learned to ground her excess energy. There is to be no magick in the house without Bad Kitty being in the middle of it. She will only leave a circle if drums are bought out, and only for as long as the noise is going on. She is able to slip in and out of the circle without actually breaking it.

I do a lot of magikal work involving meditation and visualization in the bathtub, as it is the only place in the house that I can get any quiet and privacy. One night, as I was meditating in the tub with my eyes closed, I felt a “furry presence.” Bad Kitty had let herself into the bathroom and was perched on the edge of the tub with her front paws on my shoulder, her face right in mine, and her bushy tail dangling in the herbal water. She and I were sharing breath, and much to my surprise, energy. I could feel that the circle was stronger after she entered it.

Bad Kitty is in transition from silly kitten to serious magikal partner. We spend a bit of time each day working on our physic communication. We play a little game where one of us pictures in our mind’s eye, what we would like the other to do. It works about 85% of the time. She often uses this skill to argue over when and what she’s being fed. When she’s not filling my life with trickster energy, she’s actually helpful magickally. At rituals held in my home, she will often feel and fill an energy gap in the circle. If someone is distracted, uncomfortable or for some other reason is not moving energy as well as they normally would, she sits just behind them as if to fill in the gap. Several of us have felt the circle strengthen when she has done this.

Unfortunately, she is still young, at just over a year old, and definitely has her moments when she’s an unfocused, obnoxious adolescent. I was recently working a seven-day spell for something extremely important, and discovered that she is up for no more than three days in a row of any single working. The first three days, she could sense me getting ready to do the work and enthusiastically supervised my preparations, lent her energy during the actual working and served as guardian. On the fourth day she couldn’t decide if she wanted to be involved or not and grudgingly entered the bathroom with me. On day five I picked her up and carried her into the bathroom with me, thinking, “I started this working with the cat, I should complete it with the cat.” After that, I realized that no familiar is better than a bored familiar and let her off the hook for the rest of the working.

The more we work together, the more I discover how powerful the magikal connection we share really is. I often wonder why I had the overwhelming need for a cat at the exact moment I did. I would like to think of myself as a humanitarian who “rescued” a homeless kitty from a shelter. But we all know that I was merely the pawn of a cat looking for her own “pet witch”.

Animals Talk, We Should Listen

Animals Talk, We Should Listen

by Napecincala (Little Paws)

The early autumn air lay cold and damp around me as I tried to find a comfortable spot in my blanket. I had been in this pit for two days with no food and no water, but no vision came despite hours of singing and praying. I leand up against the wall and rested my back. I was tired and hungry and very thirsty, but I remained standing and stared at one of the fruit wood poles that my prayer ties were hung on. A little black spider started to spin a web between the pole and the string of my ties. It worked very quickly. I watched the operation, entranced by the beauty of the design and the opalescent colors that danced off the thread in the early morning light. It was beautiful when it was done. Then she crawled up the web and waited at the place where it was attached to the pole.

I stared up at the sky, and as the morning progressed the air warmed the dirt around me. The pit transformed from a cool retreat to an earthen oven. I pulled my star blanket over my head to keep off the biting deer flies. Only my blanket-clad head could be seen above ground by the helpers who periodically came to check on me. They did not speak to me, and I supposed they just came up to make sure I was still breathing.

Every once in a while I would look down at the web, but the spider had not caught any breakfast that I could see. A rabbit, unaware of my presence within a circle of prayer ties, hopped out from behind a rock and started to nibble on the fruit I left for the spirits. Crows called to each other, and butterflies, attracted by the bright colors of the prayer ties, would light on the string, searching futilely for the way in to the nectar of this strange, red cloth flower.

A large vulture soared on the warm updrafts above until it spotted a potential meal and disappeared over my diminished horizon. An hour or so later he was circling above me again. I kept thinking he was just waiting for me to die so I could be the next blue plate special. I held my pipe in my hands and sang prayer songs one after another in a high keening voice, begging for a vision.

As evening approached, bats performed amazing acrobatics above my head, hunting the wretched mosquitoes that had plagued me for nearly four days. I welcomed them and watched them dance in the gloaming. Even with all the mosquitoes in the air, the little spider still waited at the end of its web for a meal.

Stars lit up the prairie sky one at a time as darkness descended. I heard the scuffle of some ground animal behind me, though I never saw the passing porcupine. Only her tracks in the dust attested to the visit.

I woke that morning to a vision of diamonds suspended from the spider’s web. Morning dew and gray light formed a beautiful sculpture. Still the spider waited, and nothing disturbed the perfect form of the web. When the helpers came to take me out of the pit, I was weak with hunger and angry. In four days I had not been granted a vision. During the sweat lodge afterward the medicine person asked me what I had seen.

“Nothing,” I replied.

I could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, “So you were sleeping with your eyes open?”

“No, grandfather, what I meant to say was that I didn’t have a vision.”

“Oh,” he said across the darkness, “So you did see something while you were up there.”

Then I talked about the spider and the crows, the rabbit and the porcupine, the butterflies on the line. I described in detail how I felt and what I was thinking about, but I am sure he could hear the bitterness and disappointment in my voice. I had prayed and fasted for four days for a vision and spirit helpers, and it felt like it was all for nothing.

“Did the spider ever catch anything?” he asked.

“No.” I replied. It was the only part of my time “On the hill” that he asked about.

When we were all done and I was readying to leave, a woman helper came up and said that it takes a long time for most human beings to understand why things happen the way they do.

“We don’t really live in a fast food world, you know.”

Months later I began to understand that my time on the hill had given me everything I asked for.

*************

The above story is a parable, pure fantasy, a modern re-telling of an old Lakota story designed to teach something about the error of expectation and the need for patience when seekers are trying to learn from the natural world.

The reason I chose to write this parable in this way is because most white people walking the red road (learning about Native American spiritual beliefs) have a similar experience when they start out. I certainly did. More importantly, speaking in detail about personal visions and spirit helpers is a little like talking in detail about your sex life. It is usually more information than anyone has the right to know about you, or wants to know.

Like most people raised in a Christian culture, I came to the ceremony of “hanblecia,” crying for a vision, with all kinds of preconceived notions about what a vision was and how it would come to me. My pagan ideas also came into play, as I imagined animal spirit helpers as more like familiars that I could command than teachers I could learn from. Perhaps the most limiting expectation that I had was that I would be given an “important” animal spirit, like an eagle or a wolf or a bear. So, when my spirit helpers showed themselves to me, I didn’t see them, because I was not looking for them in the context in which they appeared.

My day-to-day world is bound by “clock time,” which is faster than Nature’s time, and “computer time,” which is so fast that I can’t even perceive it. As I contemplated my own hanblecia I began to see that time is a key to being able to listen to the animals. Lots of questions came to mind in the weeks following. Does a stone live on the same time as a hummingbird? Do daytime animals perceive time in the same way that nocturnal animals, like bats and porcupine, do? Why is it that most vision seeking ceremonies impose such difficult physical demands? What the Elder lady was trying to say, at the end of my story, was that Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth) has no respect for human concepts of time. We do not really live in a fast food world, and a real connection to Nature’s spirits requires that the human being accommodate them, by slowing down and focusing.

As in the Christian tradition, Lakota stories say than humans were the last thing to be created. But rather than being superior to everything, man was decidedly inferior. All the animals stood around First Man and First Woman and laughed and cried at how pitiful these naked things were. They had no fur to keep them warm, no teeth and no claws to feed themselves and they had nothing to offer the other animals in return for knowledge. Coyote laughed so hard at the sight of them that he died of it. Almost by accident, First Woman stepped over his prostrate body and brought him back to life. In his gratitude, Coyote begged the Great Mystery to do something to help these pitiful creatures. He thought that if they just died it would be better than the miserable short existence that they were in for.

Wakantanka had another idea. He created a plant, tobacco, and gave it exclusively to human beings. He also made the every spirit in nature long for the taste and smell of it, but the only way they could get it was if human beings offered it to them. So it was that human beings learned from animal spirits and other spirits in the world how to live.

I love this story because it clearly says that we needed the spirits in order to live. They did not need us. It is only with offerings of tobacco and a certain amount of humility that they are willing to reveal themselves to us. This was the purpose of the hundreds of red prayer ties I made in preparation for my ceremony.

In my fable, though, I did not have a vision in the way I expected. Rather the actual animals appeared in my world and demonstrated through their actions what I needed in order to live. The spider demonstrated careful construction and patience. The rabbit showed a certain amount of courage to come out into the open when it knew predators were still around, that there is a certain risk involved in really living. The porcupine taught me that I could figure out what was going on around me by simply opening my eyes and seeing the evidence. The vulture spoke to me of the opportunities to grow and change that death sometimes represents. The crows talked to each other and helped each other by sharing information. The butterfly reminded me that there is beauty in persistence. Even when it won’t get you what you want, it makes you stronger. The bats taught me flexibility and the immense power of listening carefully.

None of this interpretation came out of a book and the holy person who was assisting me did not even attempt to interpret what happened to me on the hill. He did stress, by his silences and later his questions, that while I could not control the things that happened, I certainly did control what they meant. It was my responsibility to find the meaning in the ceremony, not his. On reflection, I could tease out the lessons that all these helpers had given me. None of them were glamorous or particularly powerful medicine, but each brought me a lesson I needed at that time.

He also brought the spider back into my awareness with his question. “Did the spider ever catch anything?” When I thought about it later, I came to understand that just because I had done all the ceremony in the right way, at the right time and with the right materials, it did not guarantee that I would “catch” anything. And in another way, my answer had been wrong. The spider did catch something. It caught my attention. In those few minutes that it was spinning its trap, I was transported. I felt no hunger and no thirst. Time stopped as I gazed in awe at the beauty of the thing. I was listening and they were speaking in the language of symbols. Those moments, when time was suspended — that was my vision.

IN PRAISE OF THE GREAT MOTHER

IN PRAISE OF THE GREAT MOTHER

by H. Jeremiah Lewis

I know why they call you the Great Mother – Rhea, Cybele, Idaia or whatsoever thy name may be. You are the Mother of All Nations, the Queen whose Name is glorified everywhere and at every time.

You, Mother were the first, before you there were no gods. You brought all things into being and from your holy womb came the multitudes – stars, gods, men and all creatures that populate the world. We all share the same birth, the same flesh, the same Mother. It is to you that we return, when the measure of our days has been poured out. You are the comforter, and you welcome us back to you with wide-open arms. Mother, you are the end, and yet you promise us a new beginning as well – for in you all is made new.

Men know you by many names and  by  many  faces.  Sometimes  they  call  you “One”, sometimes “Many”. You are the fulfillment of the gods – you  are  the power by which they rule. This is why men  call  you  “Great”,  for  in  the world and among the gods you are indeed the Greatest.  Like  Zeus  you  have authority and power. Your words are commandments, and the  whole  of  nature hearkens to you. If you say  “Mountain,  be  lifted  up,”  the  earth  shall tremble and the great Parnassus shall be torn from its foundations and  hang in the air before you. If you say, “River, roll against  your  course,”  the water will leap at your word and rise like a salmon against the current.

And yet you are the one who set down Themis, who laid out  the  eternal  law by which even gods are bound to obey. With Pallas  you  are  the  keeper  of peace, and the protector of cities. You defend us from the wild  beast,  and the arrows of our enemies. You also assure that neighbors treat  each  other with civility, and that our appointed leaders govern us  according  to  your precepts.

The home is your primary concern, as it is with Hestia, and you watch  after women with a careful eye. You make sure  that  there  is  a  good  home  for children to be raised in; A clean place, with much  laughter  and  joy,  and always enough food for  their  bellies.  In  a  house  where  you  are  well honored, there is peace between  the  husband  and  wife  and  love  is  the foundation of the family.

But you watch over even the unhappy  family.  When  the  man  stumbles  home after too much time with Bacchus, you make sure that he  passes  out  before he can set into the woman, or you stop his angry hands from doing  too  much harm. Anyway, men like this usually die  early  and  leave  happy  widows  – which I think you have something to do with.

You are the Mother that Hera should be, for you do not make distinctions  in your love. All men and all gods are your children. You do not  pay  overmuch attention to our sins,  and  even  when  we  fall  short  of  our  goal  and disappoint you, your love is evident in  the  chastening  hand.  Men  should recognize that we share a common Mother and stop this endless bickering.  Do we think that it will make you love us any more?

Men and gods are not your only children. The animals share in your love,  as they share in Artemis’. You delight in the wild creatures, in the  lion  and the hound and the stag in the forest. You join them in  the  hunt,  in  wild dances through moonlit trees, and in the  tearing  of  raw  flesh.  You  are honored in the spilling of warm blood and in the glory of life continued.  I have seen you appear, goddess, in a swarm of bees and in  a  squirrel  in  a tree. You are the kitten’s warm underbelly, and the wise  old  crow  that  I share my lunch with.

That bread – I recognize as a gift from you, even as I give  it  to  you  as the crow. For you, goddess, as Demeter discovered and bestowed  to  man  the gift of grain, that we might put aside uncivilized fare, and eat  that  holy and nurturing food, bread. You have ordained that we should eat  other  food as well. Life-giving grains and fresh salads and grapes from  the  vine  and so much more. And all this bounty comes from you Mother,  for  you  are  the earth itself.

You are broad bosomed and firm of foundation, for  it  is  on  you  that  we build our homes and live out our lives. You rise  up  in  the  mighty  snowtopped  peaks, and you slope down into the gentle  valleys  rich  with  corn. The forest is one of your faces, and so  is  the  desert  valley.  A  single blossom reveals your presence in a barren field, and your hand  is  felt  in my garden. What extraordinary beauty you show to us  goddess,  it  fills  me with excitement just to think about it.

How like Aphrodite you are in this, for  love  of  the  general  can  easily shift to love of the specific. For instance, I hold in my heart  a  love  of all mankind, but when that pretty girl with the big brown eyes  comes  along it’s not her noble spirit that I am thinking about!  O  goddess,  thank  you for lust! When I am with my love, how  great  it  is  to  feel  your  warmth throughout my body, and to feel my flesh rise  under  your  gentle  coaxing. The smell of her hair, the taste of her  lips,  the  softness  of  the  skin beneath her knee, the breath she releases as I explore her body – these  all are sacraments and together we worship you, goddess, for  you  are  the  one who delights in life and all of its expression.

Though you share Poseidon’s realm, there is no animosity between you and Athena. Indeed, Mother, you are both wisdom and the inspiration of wisdom. All knowledge comes from you, especially the inspired and impassioned sort. You bring thoughtful men to greatness, and those that govern themselves according to your precepts are called “Wise”. You, Mother, are a Mystery. Only those who approach you with humbleness in their heart will gain an understanding of you, and even then, it will be a partial understanding – for you are too great to know in full. The fool approaches you boldly and proclaims that he knows all of your mysteries, but when questioned, he replies with nonsense. He knows nothing. (Although I know I’m right, I wonder if you give a special revelation to the fool. Is he more knowledgeable in your ways than I?  Would you tell me if it were so?)

Like the Muses you delight in music and in song, and you share these things with men. It was you who taught us to stretch skins across the drum, and to bring out its wonderful rhythms. You taught us to play on the pipes as well, and to chant hymns to you and your honor. This was the first music, and is still the best to my mind.

I shall come to you, Mother, whenever I am trying to craft a poem, and you will help me discover the right words and the right shape for the thing. This is how it has always been, even with this poem. It shall remain so forever.

The moon and the sun govern time, and you are revealed in both. Like the moon, you delight in torches, drums, and rituals at night. You, Mother, are many-formed like the moon, passing through one shape into another, embracing a multitude of meanings. You also govern magic, and bestow on your followers the utmost power. Your servants are only limited in what they can do by their imaginations, for you have taught them the secrets of the universe, and put into their hands the power to change their world.

Like the sun you are strong and all-powerful. You reach down and comfort us, pushing back the shadows that we might grow in the light. One may know that you are near by the attendant warmth and glow that can be found in only one other place – the sun. One of the greatest joys that I have had is to spend a day in the fields with a good book, lying out in the sun. This is another pleasure from you.

We come to you from diverse paths. War brings many, and disease. Old age is a great man-harvester, and so too the passions of youth which are frequently attended by folly and haste. You embrace all who come to you, Mother, and in your arms we find comfort and the pain that we felt in dying is gone. You wipe aside our tears, and sing to us comforting songs, for we are your children. All of the miseries that we felt in life, the pains and sorrows that continually assailed us are washed away in your embrace, and all that is left is joy. Death is not forever, and soon we are returned to the living, to struggle once more and to find joy in the moment.

In your many facets, you do not abandon those who are among the dead and those who are dying. No, you are with them ’till the end, and beyond. The soldiers laid out with their wounds too great, they call upon you, each one. “Mother,” they whisper and shout, as you walk among the line, offering what comfort you can. You stroke the cheek of this one, wiping the sweat from his brow, while the next man’s pain is too great, and all that you can do is close his eyes and help ease his way into Hades’ land.

You were with these brave young men when they were in  the  field,  and  you helped steady their spear and shield and urged them on  against  the  enemy. You made them noble, Mother, you filled their hearts with bravery  and  gave them strength to do what they must in this terrible situation. And if  their bravery began to wane, you were close at  hand,  riding  with  them  in  the chariot, marching with them through the mud.

To offer one’s life for the defense of another is the noblest thing  that  a man can do, and all who do so receive honors from you as well as from  Ares, for you, Mother, are the Queen of Hosts, and the defender of  the  innocent. You share with Hades the world below, and to you come all the multitudes  to be reborn. For the grave is your womb, and in its shadowed depths  men  find rebirth.

Another deep place that you rule is the sea. All waters belong to you, and their flow is governed by your hand. The mysteries of the ocean are your mysteries, and you know all that is hidden within them. You protect the ships on the surface, and many are your companions below the waves. The dolphin and octopus are most sacred to you, but you delight in all the creatures of the sea. It is fitting that this is one of your elements, for water sustains life. Without water nothing in the world could live. It is the same with you, Mother. No man could draw breath but for you.

This, then, is why they call you the Great Mother – for in all the world there is not another who possesses so much power and beauty, and unifies so many within herself. Blessed is the Mother, and blessed all who call upon her!

Ancient Mother

ANCIENT MOTHER

Holy Mother, you are the Earth!

You ground us as we walk upon you,

You are in the trees that shelter us

And when we hug the trees we hug you.

You were here from the very first,

Nurturing us; and we made clay statues

Celebrating your thighs and breasts

That birthed us and fed us.

We baked bread in your images,

Since we knew all food came from you.

Lady of the Beasts, we are grateful…

Since earliest times, we have loved you.

Asherah, Astarte, Mawu, Inanna,

Ishtar, Anahita, Gaia, Isis;

So many from such different lands!

We don’t know all of your many names,

But we know you have always loved us,

Cared for us and protected us;

You are rooted in our lives and our dreams.

We hear your voice in the humming bees

See your beauty in the blooming flowers,

Hear the sound of your drum and sistrum.

The very beat of our hearts is in tune with you,

For you are the Ancient Mother of our souls.

Beth Clare Johnson

Lugh of the Long Arm (Poem)

“O Lugh of the Long Arm:
You arch over earth
To kiss the corn,
To call it forth,
To see it born.
Your hillslopes flaunt,
breathe golden bees.
From parched fields
Scant dewfall flees.
Your chest is opened
Your heart exposed
Your blood like bronze
And amber flows.
Sun sears your flesh
Asprawl in thistles
Through your wound
Your life’s breath whistles.
You laid you down
In fragrant thyme,
To bleed the sun’s
Entranced decline.
You wrestled harvest,
Corn to capture –
Now we see at sunfall
Your face of rapture.”

– Lughnasadh Ritual by Llwyn y Ser, The Grove of the Stars

No. 4 Things to do for Lammas….

 

The Celtic God, Luga (Lugh, Long Hand), is noted for his high  level skills in many arts and crafts: smith, carpenter, bard, healer, herbalist, magician,  gamesman, spear throwing, military leadership, etc.  Get out your paintbrush.   Fix something in the yard or garden or home.  Tidy up the garden.   Create something, make something.  Start learning a new practical skill  or craft.  Clean your weapons and practice with the weapons.

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more….

 

 

“The Wheel of the Year has turned once more,
and the harvest will soon be upon us.
We have food on our tables, and
the soil is fertile.
Nature’s bounty, the gift of the earth,
gives us reasons to be thankful.
Mother of the Harvest, with your sickle and basket,
bless me with abundance and plenty.

The power of the Harvest is within me.
As the seed falls to the earth and is reborn each year,
I too grow as the seasons change.
As the grain takes root in the fertile soil,
I too will find my roots and develop.
As the smallest seed blooms into a mighty stalk,
I too will bloom where I landed.
As the wheat is harvested and saved for winter,
I too will set aside that which I can use later.

As the grain dies, it transforms to bread,
and brings us life through the winter.
We bless this bread, and it blesses us in return,
and we are thankful for the gift of the harvest.”

– Patti Wigington, Hold a Lammas Harvest Festival

 

Paganistan Weekly; July 30- August 5

Paganistan Weekly; July 30- August 5

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Twin Cities Pagans

It’s just one more week until Sacred Harvest Festival, August 6-12; http://harmonytribe.org/content/sacred-harvest-festival-2012-our-fifteenth-year

At Sacred Harvest Festival in 2008, I participated in a ritual known as The Sacred Hunt. It is a powerful and transformational ritual. I hunted for community. When I returned from the festival, I began developing the community Calendar at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/

In order to promote the Yahoo group, I began putting out this newsletter. My goal was never to publish a newsletter, but rather to promote the Yahoo group, but one thing led to another, and here we are four years later, and the newsletter is still going. Putting out the newsletter just keeps getting to be more and more of a hassle, so after Yule of this year, I am stopping. I will continue updating the Yahoo group, but I will no longer be publishing this newsletter.

I accept that many people rely on this newsletter to stay informed, but 667 of you are already staying informed as members of the Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TwinCitiesPagans/

Why K-Y Liquibeads Vaginal Moisturizer Was Recalled

Why K-Y Liquibeads Vaginal Moisturizer Was Recalled

by Dr. Mache Seibel

Ten years into menopause, vaginal dryness is the number one complaint. And it affects  millions of younger women as well. Earlier this month, J&J (Johnson and  Johnson) was asked to recall over 69,000 units of its K-Y Liquibeads products  after receiving over 200 complaints from consumers between June 25, 2010  and Dec. 12, 2011. It seems the product is not dissolving and/or has an  uncharacteristic consistency or texture.

A spokeswoman for the company said the recall wasn’t unsafe and does not  affect other types of K-Y vaginal moisturizers. Consumers do not need to  return any of the products.

“K-Y Liquibeads is being recalled from retailers and wholesalers to address  the U.S Food and Drug Administration’s concerns that the product should be  cleared under a separate medical device application,” the company said in a  statement earlier this month. “We are moving forward with the process to obtain  clearance for the product.”

K-Y Liquibeads had been sold as part of an application for an existing K-Y  product. The FDA determined that the Liquibead product needed a separate medical  device application. At the time, McNeil (a subsidiary of JNJ) said it would take  whatever steps were necessary to address FDA’s concerns. This is all part of a  larger manufacturing problem that J&J has been  having.

So if you go to the drugstore looking for Liquibeads and it’s no longer on  the shelves, consider Replens.  It offers women a safe, effective solution to vaginal dryness and has  received the FDA’s 510(k) clearance, a requirement many companies have not met.  Replens  is estrogen-free and long-lasting and has been clinically tested and shown to be  as effective as vaginal estrogen, about which so many health questions have  been raised.

6 Pollutants That Threaten Our Health

6 Pollutants That Threaten Our Health

by Delia Quigley

If you’re looking to understand the epidemic of chronic illness in our world,  you don’t have to look much further than the environment around you. To combat  the problem you will need to be a part of the solution and though your Care2  membership is a good starting point, there is more you can do. Educate yourself,  pass the information on to family and friends and take action where you can. It  is not my intention to be a fear monger, but to remind you that as your life  revolves around family and work there are actions at play in the world that  threaten the peace of your existence. It is an interesting thing about industry,  if they cannot get rid of  their toxic waste then the unsuspecting public will  just have to eat it,  drink it or inject it into our bodies.

1. Organophosphate Pesticides: according to the Natural  Resources Defense Council pesticides have been found to disrupt the human  endocrine system, cause cancer and neurological disorders.  They also cite  a recent study  linking 3 toxic and commonly used chemicals: herbicides, insecticides and  fungicides, as possible causes of Parkinson’s disease.

2. Genetically Modified Foods: all the fuss to genetically  alter our food is to create plants that are tolerant to Monsanto’s brand of  herbicide. In this way high doses of the weed killer, Round-up can be used,  while the GM trait acts as a pesticide. According to the Organic Consumers organization rats fed GM potatoes had  smaller, partially atrophied livers and GM soy caused reproductive problems and  infant mortality in test mice. Although no human clinical trials of GM foods  have been conducted, one experiment verified that genetic material inserted in  GM soy transfers into the DNA of the consumer’s intestinal bacteria and  continues to produce GM proteins.

3. Environmental Radiation: because we cannot see it with  our eyes does not mean that radiation isn’t present in our lives. Sources can include fallout from nuclear bomb tests,  radiation from nuclear reactors, mines, mills and fuel fabrication plants,  nuclear medicine, consumer products, military and industrial applications and  nuclear waste management.

4. Drug-resistant Bacteria: antibiotics have saved many  lives since its discovery in 1927. However, antibiotic resistance has become the  world’s most serious health concern due to bacteria becoming stronger and less  responsive to treatment. Microbes in the human body become resistant to the  drug, much like weeds become resistant to excessive pesticide use. You can’t  fool Mother Nature after all. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), “Every time a person takes  antibiotics, sensitive bacteria are killed, but resistant germs may be left to  grow and multiply. Repeated and improper uses of antibiotics are primary causes  of the increase of drug-resistant bacteria.”

5. Contaminated Vaccines: in 2006 the pharmaceutical company  Bayer found that the vaccine it had distributed in the United States was  contaminated with the HIV virus. Rather than destroy the batch Bayer pulled it  from the US market and instead sold it to Asian and European countries. Vaccines  continue to raise questions as to whether they are helping or just making our  health worse. Everything from the high numbers of autistic children to the  epidemic of autoimmune disease, Gulf War syndrome and ADHD are being blamed on  vaccinations and Thimerosal, the mercury used to preserve the vaccine. According  to the National Vaccine Information Center, mercury is a potent  neurotoxin that can harm the brain, spinal cord, kidneys and liver and can  affect a child’s brain in pregnancy, infancy and childhood.

6. Fluoride poisoning: found in products all around your  home such as toothpaste, vitamins, dietary supplements, cleaning agents,  insecticides, and drinking water. According to Dr. Paul Connett, the CDC should  ban fluoride because it not only destroys young teeth, but damages the brain as  well. In truth it is not an essential mineral, but a toxic waste byproduct foisted on the public by the phosphate  mining industry. Rather than release fluorosilicic acid into the environment,  causing widespread poisoning and contamination, it was sold to municipalities  and added to the water supply. Makes sense.

This Food Has 180 Times the Fluoride of Drinking Water

This Food Has 180 Times the Fluoride of Drinking Water

by Dr. Mercola

Jeff Green has been an activist in the movement to eliminate toxic  fluoride from your water supply for the past 15 years.

With more than 60 percent of U.S. water supplies currently fluoridated,  chances are you’re one of the 170 million Americans who drink fluoride on a  daily basis.

In a previous interview, Green delved into the sordid history that made water  fluoridation a reality in the first place.

If you missed it, I highly recommend taking the time to watch  it now.

But fluoridated water is not the sole source of harmful fluoride. Here, the  discussion focuses on some of the lesser-known sources of fluoride exposure.

A Primary Source of Fluoride: Your Food!

While toothpaste and drinking water would appear to be the leading sources of  fluoride exposure, probably the most common source of exposure is  actually non-organic foods! The reason for this is because of the  widespread use of fluoride-based pesticides.

According to Green, non-organic food could account for as much as one-third  of the average person’s fluoride exposure!

This is important, as many people are under the mistaken assumption that by  avoiding fluoridated water, they’ve eliminated the primary source of fluoride.  But if you’re still eating conventionally-farmed foods, your fluoride exposure  is still likely very high. Green explains:

“Cryolite is actually sodium aluminum  fluoride… This sodium aluminum fluoride is especially effective at killing bugs.  It’s also very sticky, so when they spray it, it’s more likely to stick  on your produce, unless you’re… really working at trying to get it off of it. As  time has gone on, and… everybody said fluoridation must be really great, they  ramped up the amount of residue [allowed on food] from these fluoride-based  pesticides. They have petitioned the EPA to be able to allow it, and they come  out with larger and larger [allowable] amounts.”

Amazingly, based on the assumed safety of such fluoride-based  pesticides, iceberg lettuce can now contain a whopping 180  parts per million (ppm) of fluoride—that’s 180 times higher than what’s  recommended in drinking water!

“The assumption is that on a head of lettuce,  you’re going to peel off those outer layers and you’re not going to eat much of  that. Whether you do or not; that’s up to you… Romaine lettuce and what we call  leaf lettuce are allowed to have 40 ppm, with the assumption that it’s down  inside there and you’re going to have to do more cleaning. But because it’s so  sticky, it’s almost impossible [to wash off] unless you go back to the old ideas  of the Fuller brush… produce brushes that you… scrape this stuff off with. The  majority of people don’t make that extra effort to be able to take it  off.”

Citrus fruits are allowed to be contaminated with 95 ppm of sodium aluminum  fluoride. Potatoes may have 22 ppm on the outside and up to 2 ppm on the inside.  Raisins can have up to 55 ppm. But of all the foods, grapes are perhaps  one of the foremost sources of fluoride exposure.

Bet you would not have guessed that!

Grapes are a major source of fluoride because, first of all, they’re heavily  sprayed with cryolite, and second, white grape juice is typically used as the  base, or filler juice, in all sorts of juice drinks. So if you drink any kind of  juice on a regular basis, you’re probably getting hefty doses of cryolite, i.e.  fluoride-based pesticide… Cereals, mechanically deboned meats, and black or  green tea are a few other sources that may surprise you.

“Wheaties for example was measured at 10 parts per million,” Green  says. “Shredded Wheat: 9.4 parts per million. Why is it so high? One, they  use pesticides on the grains. Two, they use [fluoridated] water… So you actually  have higher concentrations than you ever found in the water where it was being  made.

As for mechanically deboned meats, the source of the fluoride is the animal  itself, which is exposed in the same manner as humans—through feed and  water—which then comes out during the manufacturing process. Black and green  teas are naturally high in fluoride, even if organically-grown without  pesticides. This is because the plant readily absorbs fluoride thorough its root  system, including naturally-occurring fluoride in the soil. According to Green,  there are reports of people who have developed crippling skeletal fluorosis from  drinking high amounts of iced tea alone.

Is Bottled Water More Pure than Tap Water?

Besides food, though, drinking water is certainly a primary source of  fluoride exposure. Many mistakenly believe that bottled water is the answer, but  this is a serious misconception.

As a general rule, I don’t recommend or encourage using bottled water on a  regular basis—for a number of reasons. Not only does it contribute to profound  amounts of environmental pollution, but a variety of toxins can leach from the  plastic, contaminating your water. Not to mention the fact that you’re not  guaranteed a more pure product to begin with. An estimated 40 percent of all  bottled water is just bottled tap water that may or may not have received  additional water treatment. No, buying bottled water certainly is not a  guarantee of getting either pure or fluoride-free water!

For pure drinking water, your best bet, from a practical perspective, is to  filter the water coming into your own home. Unfortunately, fluoride can be quite  difficult to remove from the water once added in. Reverse osmosis systems have  typically been recommended to remove fluoride, but according to Green, many home  systems may not be very efficient at this task. Commercial systems are typically  much better, as they have redundancy features not found in smaller-scale  residential models.

“[Y]ou’ve got to remember that the free  fluoride ion, which is the part that we are concerned with… is smaller than the  water molecule. You can’t… “filter” it out. You can’t screen it out because of  the size, obviously… If you look at what the literature tells you, when you’re  looking at reverse osmosis, they almost always say that if you had eight parts  per million of fluoride [which is eight times higher than recommended]… they  could bring it down to 0.9. So you get a 90 percent reduction.

But nobody says take your 0.9 and take it  down to 0.1. Because what it’s basically doing is it’s taking out the fluoride  compounds, which is still a good thing in some ways, especially if you had eight  parts per million in it… but you’re still not getting out that free fluoride  ion.”

To Distill or Not to Distill… That is the Question…

Distillation is another alternative. However, while distilled water is very  clean, it also lacks structure and minerals, which is inadvisable for long-term  daily use as it can deplete your body of essential trace minerals. Distilled  water can be quite useful for short-term detoxification though.

Despite these drawbacks, Green prefers the distilled water over reverse  osmosis, primarily because the amount of water that is wasted with the reverse  osmosis (R/O) filtration systems. A reverse osmosis system can use anywhere  between three to eight gallons of water to create one gallon of drinkable  water.

I disagree with Green’s recommendation, as the example he gave is quite  skewed. The typical level of fluoride in most fluoridated municipal water  supplies is about one part per million, not eight, like the example he gave. So  if you reduce that by 90 percent with an R/O system you are in relatively safe  range of 0.1 parts per million. You can use distilled water to remove nearly all  of it, but the distillation process is a form of more severe processing than R/O  and it is more difficult to restore the water minerals and structure.

Add Fluoride, and Other Chemicals Become More Dangerous…

Interestingly, not to mention importantly, fluoride has the ability to affect  other toxins and heavy metals, in some cases making them even more harmful than  they would be on their own. For example, when you combine chloramines with the  hydrofluorosilicic acid added to the water supply, they become very effective at  extracting lead from old plumbing systems—essentially, together; they  promote the accumulation of lead in the water supply!

“In fact the two of them have been combined, and I believe patented to be  put together so that they could extract lead,” Green says. “… In fact,  you’ve seen from reports in Washington D.C. about the lead content [in the local  water] that this combination can have tremendous effects.”

Studies have also showed that hydrofluorosilicic acid increaseslead  accumulation in bone, teeth, and other calcium-rich tissues. According to Green,  this is because the free fluoride ion acts as a transport of heavy  metals, allowing them to enter into areas of your body they normally would not  be able to go, such as into your brain. Green says:

“Industry prizes what we call fluoride  compounds. What’s amazing is there is so much [information] out there  that’s never explained to the general public. But [fluoride] is… the most  aggressive seeker of another electron. It’s the most electromagnetically  negatively charged element in the entire world. It basically is the most  interactive of all the elements… It will give up whatever it’s with to be with  something else…

So it’s prized by industry because it  actually disrupts molecular bonds… Industry also wants it because it creates  tighter molecular bonds. So Scotchgard, Stain Master, Gore-Tex, ski gear… These  are all fluoride-type compounds as well because they actually make it a tighter  molecular bond that is more impervious to penetration.

… By the time you get to the enzyme activity,  and knowing what it can do to disrupt enzyme activity, the effects are so  widespread, it’s just amazing… Once [people] learn the nature of fluoride, they  would never want to put it in their water.”

Are Health Epidemics Spurred by Water Fluoridation and  Pesticides?

While fluoride has been linked to a long list of health problems, two that  are currently epidemic are thyroid disease and neurodegenerative diseases.

“I think the important thing is to realize that fluoride affects your  endocrine system,” Green warns. “… [I]n December 2006… the National  Academy of Sciences… came to the unanimous conclusion that the levels of  fluoride thought to be the maximum contaminant level and was safe to be in the  water, weren’t protective of human health at all… and that the places where you  could see that very dramatically would have to do with the endocrine  system.”

Fluoride also calcifies your pineal gland, which can lead to a number of  health problems, from precocious  puberty to cancer—both  of which are also burgeoning epidemics… So, what, if anything, can you  do to protect your health if you suspect you’re getting too much fluoride?

One early sign of over-exposure to fluoride is dental fluorosis, which  typically begins as white specks on your teeth, which then progress to more  unsightly yellow and brown mottling of the enamel. At the first signs of dental  fluorosis, if you haven’t done so already, you’ll want to immediately eliminate  as many sources of fluoride as possible.

But, according to Green, you also need to make sure you have certain  nutrients in your system. These three will help bind the free fluoride ions,  allowing it to be excreted from your body more effectively:

  • Magnesium
  • Calcium
  • Vitamin C

Join the Fight to Get Fluoride Out of Drinking Water

In summary, it would seem like most rational people would conclude you should  avoid using fluoride for its “preventive” benefits. You can easily choose not to  take fluoride supplements or buy fluoride-free toothpaste and mouthwash. You can  also dramatically reduce your fluoride exposure by opting for organic foods, on  which fluoride-based pesticides are not permitted to be used. However, you’re  still going to be stuck with whatever your community puts in the water, and as  discussed, it’s very difficult to filter out of your water once it’s added. Many  do not have the resources or the knowledge to do so.

It’s really time to stop the archaic practice of water fluoridation.

Earlier this year I joined forces with Dr. Paul Connett to help put an END to  water fluoridation in the U.S and Canada. The Fluoride  Action Network has a game plan to do just that. Our fluoride initiative will  primarily focus on Canada, since 60 percent of Canada is already  non-fluoridated. If we can get Calgary and the rest of Canada to stop  fluoridating their water, we believe the U.S. will be forced to follow. I urge  you to join the anti-fluoride movement in Canada and the United States by  contacting the representative for your area below.

Contact Information for Canadian Communities:

  • If you live in Ontario, Canada, please join the ongoing  effort by contacting Diane Sprules at diane.sprules@cogeco.ca.
  • The point-of-contact for Toronto, Canada is Aliss Terpstra.  You may email her at aliss@nutrimom.ca.
  • The point-of-contact for the Peel region in Ontario, Canada is Rob Brewer. You may email him at FluorideFreePeel@ymail.com. Also  see Fluoride Free Peel’s Facebook page.