Tag: Shopping

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for January 13

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

Bad feelings are burdens. When we get to the point of believing the whole world is sour because we don’t understand it, we have a lot of self-searching to do. Maybe we helped it to lose its sweetness. Maybe we’re the bad apple that soured the whole lot.

Our first thought should be to make amends. Sometimes we can’t, and when such is the case we need to get out of the way and let time and nature take its course.

Life is too beautiful to go on being a bitter pill that insists that everyone swallow it. As in the words of Caleb C. Colton, an English clergyman around the turn of the century, “the man who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own dispositions, will waste his life in fruitless efforts, and multiply the grief which he proposes to remove.”

We need to unburden ourselves by forgetting our problems and doing something that will put a smile on someone else’s face.

The quickest way to solve the problem of hurt feelings is to inquire if this situation is important to the whole of existence. Does this particular thing mean more than any of the other things of life? It is amazing how quickly trials fade into nothingness when faced with this question. It places before us the need to decide here and now the meaning of our whole existence.

There are not many things in our lives that we can truthfully say mean everything to us. The small things are important and very dear, but the really significant things we count on one hand – life, our loved ones, our good desires, our faith, and our nation.

One of the most magnified situations in this day is taking life too seriously. In the stress of too much mental confusion, we seem unable to laugh off so many little irritations. We let personality rule us into making each little problem the source of great anxiety and dramatically lay hold of it until it chokes us.

The worthwhile side of this life is too important to let ourselves become involved with things that mean little to us. Too much of the trouble in the world is caused from ego-building important that would never be missed in anyone’s existence.

________________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

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Daily Motivator for January 13th – Too much to do

Too much to do

Are you overwhelmed by all the things you need to do? Then stop needing to do  all of them and start actually doing one of them.

The best response to being overwhelmed is not to impress yourself or others  with how overwhelmed you feel. The best response is disciplined, focused  action.

Don’t be stopped, or even slowed down, by the fact that you can’t imagine  getting it all done. Let go of your thoughts about what’s still left to do, and  give all your attention to what you are doing, right here and now.

In fact, it’s a good thing you have so much to do. So gratefully accept that  blessing and get going on the first task, and then the next, and the next.

You have a continuing stream of opportunities to make a difference. Keep  yourself busy transforming those opportunities, one by one, into real value.

When there’s much that must be done, pick the most important thing and get  busy. Get on the path to achievement, and keep going.

— Ralph Marston

The Daily Motivator

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The Witches Magick for Jan. 13th – To Rid A Bothersome Spirit

The Witches Magick

To Rid A Bothersome Spirit

Before starting place your hands before you, and start the flow of power out your hands and then say the words letting the light form you hand fill the room or house or any other place that you might be.

Consecrate salt and water and sprinkle throughout the house as you repeat three times in each room:

“What is dark be filled with light,
Remove this spirit from my sight.
Let it go to where it may find it’s eternal rest.”

Speak gently to them to them and cleanse each room with incense especially cold spots and all corners and cupboards.

Put salt along the sill of each windowsill and the bottom of all doors and steps to the house afterwards.

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Don’t Forget We Have A $50.00 Gift Certificate Hanging Around Here

Poor little gift certificate, waiting for someone to claim him/her as their own. Make that poor little gift certificate happy and take a chance on winning it. Remember tickets are only $5.00 for a chance at $50.00 worth of merchandise. I will be adding more items tonight. Like I said earlier, I want us to have the biggest shop on the net. If you want it, no need to hunt everywhere for it, just step on over to the other site and there it is. Anyway I have to run for now. Got to run to town, fun, fun, fun, wouldn’t be so bad if I didn’t have to drive 50 miles. Oh, well I guess living in the boonies has some draw backs. Off and running,

Luv & Hugs,

Lady A

(ain’t she a beauty!)

giftcertificate

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Treat Yourself Today

A Little Special Treat Just for You

Relaxing Lavender Honey Bath

Did you know that Honey has a calming effect? Combined with pure essential oil of Lavender it’s a yummy bath treatment. Why not try it tonight!

2oz. of Honey
5 drops Lavender

Combine in a jar, use 1 -2 Tablespoons per bath. Enjoy!

Brought to you by AromaThyme.com 

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‘THINK on THESE THINGS’ for January 9th

‘THINK on THESE THINGS’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler

It takes such a little whiff of memory to carry us all the way back. Small things tucked here and there remind us of some place, some thing, some person who has played a special part in our lives.

We want to go forward, try new things, know new people, visit new places, yet how nice to slip on those comfortable old slippers of the familiar bygones and remember loving faces and happy times.

It is said that we should never return to places that have a sacred spot in our memories. Everything changes with time, so little remains recognizable to us. We begin to think that perhaps those hallowed places were not so wonderful as we remember.

But they were, for in their time and that place it was as it should have been, happy and meaningful. They may have changed, but so have we.

A little of every place and every person goes with us in the building of even happier times. We have not lost anyone or anything but it is the combination of all that we have lived and learned that builds our character and teaches us the way of life.

_________________________________________

Available online! ‘Cherokee Feast of Days’
By Joyce Sequichie Hifler.

Visit her web site to purchase the wonderful books by Joyce as gifts for yourself or for loved ones……and also for those who don’t have access to the Internet: http://www.hifler.com
Click Here to Buy her books at Amazon.com

Elder’s Meditation of the Day
By White Bison, Inc., an American Indian-owned nonprofit organization. Order their many products from their web site: http://www.whitebison.org

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Daily Feng Shui News for Jan. 9th – ‘Balloon Ascension Day’

‘Balloon Ascension Day’ lifts my mood as it allows me to share a fabulous Feng Shui tip that uses balloons to make your wishes come true. Simply take a new black marker bought especially for this occasion, and a helium-filled red balloon. With the marker, write a wish on the balloon and be as clear as you can be. Tie nine or eighteen inches of red ribbon onto the balloon, and on a clear and sunny day let the balloon go in an open space, like a park or your backyard. Watch the balloon until you can hardly see it. At that point imagine that the balloon has turned into a golden orb. Imagine the ‘Celestial Dragon In the Sky’ swallowing the golden orb while feeling satisfied and full. This grandest of all Feng Shui animals will now repay your kindness by making sure that your wish comes true. And — no emails please — the only balloons that hurt the environment are mylar balloons. This is not that.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

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A Little Humor For Your Day – Ten Indications of a New Year Hangover

      Ten Indications of a New Year Hangover

  1. You get it into your head that chirping birds are the Devil’s   pets.
  2. Trying to gain control of the situation, you continue to tell your   room to “Stay still.”
  3. Looking at yourself in the mirror induces the same reaction as   drinking a glass of fresh paint.
  4. The bathroom reminds you of the fairground cry, “Step right up and   give it whirl!”
  5. You’d rather chew tacks than be exposed to sunlight.
  6. You set aside an entire afternoon to spend some quality time with   your toilet.
  7. You replace the traditional praying on your knees with the more   feasible praying in a fetal position.
  8. Your catch phrase is, “Never again.”
  9. You could purchase a new fridge on the proceeds from recycling the   bottles around your bed.
  10. Your new response to “Good morning,” is “Be quiet!”

 

New Year Jokes and Funny Stories

Calendar of the Moon for January 1st

Calendar of the Moon

1 Luis/Gamelion

Day of the Rowan Tree

Color: Light grey
Element: Earth
Altar: On a cloth of light grey set a vase of rowan twigs, gathered ahead of time and forced into budding, dried rowan berries from the preceding year, a single red candle, a pot of soil, seeds, a bowl of water, and a bell.
Offering: Plant seeds. Keep your dreams alive.
Daily Meal: Vegan. Red food.

Invocation to the Green Man of the Rowan Tree

Hail, Green Man of the Winter!
Rowan tree of the mountains,
Slender of stalk and many of leaf,
Sacred berries that break any spell
And ward any home,
Red as the ochre of our ancestors,
Red as the food of the gods,
Brigid’s pride, magical branch,
Protector of doorways,
Protector of children,
Expunger of evil,
Fire of the forge,
Floods across the plain,
Duck who rides the flood,
We hail you, sacred rowan tree,
Green Man of the Winter,
On this the time of your dreaming.

Chant:
I rise with the sap,
I feel the deep spark,
I find joy in the cold,
I bend with the winds.

(Each comes forward and plants a seed in the pot of soil, saying, “Hail Green Man of the Earth!” Water is poured onto the pot, and then the rest is poured out as a libation. Ring bell and dismiss.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Calendar of the Sun for January 1st

Calendar of the Sun

1 Wolfmonath

Kalends: Day of the Moerae

Colors: White, red, and black.
Element: Air
Altar: Drape with cloths of white, red, and black, and place upon it three candles in these same colors, three goblets in these same colors holding white wine, red wine, and elderberry wine, a spindle wound with handspun thread, a piece of woven cloth, and a large knife or pair of shears.
Offerings: Libations of wine.
Daily Meal: Vegan. Should be eaten in silence.

Invocation to the Moerae

(Light the white candle and raise the spindle.)
Spin truth into words,
Spin words into doom,
Spin doom into fortune,
Spin fortune into life,
Spin my life fine and strong,
O Lady with the spindle
Whose thread is my beginning.
(All take a piece of thread from the spindle. Pour out the white wine as a libation. Light the red candle and lift the woven cloth high.)
Weave truth into vision,
Weave vision into mind,
Weave mind into spirit,
Weave spirit into life,
Weave my life with depth and color,
O Lady with the shuttle
Whose tapestry is my existence.
(All knot their thread. Pour out the red wine. Light the black candle and lift the shears high.)
Cut truth away from falsehood,
Cut falsehood away from illusion,
Cut illusion away from matter,
Cut matter away from body,
Cut my body away from my life
When the time comes,
O Lady with the shears
Whose knowing hand is my doom
And also my truth.
(The leader of the ritual drapes his or her head with a cloth of black and walks around the circle, cutting each thread in silence. The cut threads are laid upon the altar as an offering, and all sit in silence, meditating on their Fate and that of the coming year. Leave in silence.)

[Pagan Book of Hours]

Wednesday Is Ruled By Mercury

Witchy Comments & Graphics
Wednesday Is Ruled By Mercury

Archangel: Raphael

Candle colour: Yellow

Incenses: Lavender or fennel

Crystals: Citrine or yellow calcite

Use Wednesdays for spells for money-making ventures, learning new things, passing examinations and tests, house moves and travels, overcoming debt and repelling envy, malice and deceit.

Where possible, work in a windy place or when the clouds are moving fast across the sky.

Daily OM for December 31st – Putting Yourself First

Putting Yourself First

Daily Self-Care

by Madisyn Taylor

Putting yourself first means that it may be necessary to say no to someone else in order to say yes to yourself.

We have all heard the instructions of an airline attendant reminding us to put on our own oxygen mask before we help anyone else with theirs. This advice is often cited as a metaphor for self-care because it so accurately expresses why it is important. It seems to say, iron

ically, that if you can’t take care of yourself for yourself, do it for others. Few situations in our daily lives mimic the wake-up call of an airplane emergency, so it’s easy to keep putting self-care off—easy, that is, until we get sick, overwhelmed, or exhausted, and suddenly don’t have the energy to care for the people who count on us. That’s when we realize we haven’t been getting the oxygen we need to sustain ourselves. We begin to understand that taking care of ourselves is neither selfish nor indulgent; it’s just plain practical.

Putting yourself first means that it may be necessary to say no to someone else in order to say yes to yourself. For many of us, there is always something we feel we could be doing for someone else, and it helps to remember the oxygen metaphor. You can even encourage yourself by saying “I am caring for myself so that I am better able to care for others“ or some other mantra that will encourage you. It also helps to remember that self-care doesn’t have to be composed of massively time-consuming acts. In fact, the best prescription for taking care of yourself is probably small, daily rituals; for example, taking one half-hour for yourself at the beginning and end of the day to meditate, journal, or just be. You might also transform the occasional daily shower or bath into a half-hour self-pampering session.

Whatever you decide, making some small gesture where you put yourself first every day will pay off in spades for you and the ones you love. The oxygen you need is all around you; sometimes you just need to be reminded to breathe.

The Daily OM

Daily Feng Shui News for Dec. 31 – ‘New Year’s Eve Traditions’

Happy New Year’s Eve! If you want to attract more money in the coming year, then clean out your wallet of all old receipts and fill it with twenty-seven one dollar bills and forty-nine coins. Don’t forget to open your front door at midnight and throw both money and orange peels into the entryway. Leave them there until January second. The word ‘orange’ in Mandarin Chinese sounds exactly like the word for ‘gold,’ something it’s believed to attract. Opening all of the doors and the windows at midnight will also allow old or stuck energies to depart while inviting healthy, fresh and abundant ones to come and stay for the whole of your next fortune-filled New Year.

By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com

For All Our Friends Up North, Snow Magick!

Snow Magick

When winter rolls around, in some parts of the world there is an abundance of wonderful white stuff – snow! If you live in one of those areas, it makes sense to take advantage of snow’s natural properties and work those energies into your magical endeavors. Think about, for starters, some of snow’s physical characteristics. The most obvious one is that it’s cold. It’s also white. Sometimes it’s light and powdery, other times it may be heavy and wet. How can you incorporate these into your magical workings?

If you’re a fan of candles, make ice candles – they’re are a lot of fun and easy to make during the winter months. .

Build a snowman as a very large magickal poppet. Assign a snowman the magical task of being a guardian at the entrance to your property.

Got a bad habit you need to get rid of? Form that bad habit into snowballs, and throw them as far away from you as you can.

Snow quartz crystals are often associated with fulfillment of hopes and dreams. Use actual snow instead of crystals in workings related to wishes and goals.

If someone is bothering you and won’t leave you alone, try this simple bit of magic. Write their name on a slip of paper, and pack it in snow in a zip-loc bag. Place the bag in your freezer, and leave it there until the person “chills out.”

Go for a walk in the woods on a day that it’s snowing. Enjoy the silence, and the magic of the snowfall – some people report that they have experienced messages from the Divine as they walk on a snowy day. Perhaps it’s because we’re better able to hear the gods when it’s quiet!

By Patti Wigington, About.com

Herb of the Day – Peppermint

Herb of the Day – Peppermint

Peppermint is a prolific plant, often spreading beyond its intended borders. In Pliny’s writings, he mentions that the Greeks and Romans decorated their feasting tables with sprigs of peppermint, and in fact flavored many of their foods with it. Dioscorides, the Greek physician, notes that it had medicinal properties, when its oil was extracted and used to treat spasms and disorders of the digestive system. Peppermint may have been cultivated by the ancient Egyptians as well. It appears in the Icelandic Pharmacopoeias around 1240 C.E., and eventually was accepted for use in western Europe around the mid-1700s.

During the Middle Ages, monks — who were known for their herbal wisdom — used peppermint leaves to polish their teeth. Around the same time, cheesemakers figured out that mint leaves sprinkled around cheese piles would keep the rats out of the storeroom.

Peppermint is a natural stimulant, and in Back to Eden, Jethro Kloss says it should be in every garden. He says Peppermint is “an excellent remedy for chills, colic, fevers, dysentery, cholera heart trouble, palpitation of the heart, influenza, la grippe and hysteria.” It also works nicely as a toning astringent, and peppermint applied to the skin provides a nice refreshing feeling (try a peppermint foot bath at the end of a long day at work!).

Peppermint, like other members of the mint family, is found often in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cooking. Use it to season lamb, curry, couscous, or your favorite vegetables.

Magically speaking, peppermint is often used in healing and . It can be burned or rubbed against objects to clear them of negative energies, or consumed as an elixir or tea to bring about healing. Pliny also noted that peppermint “excites the emotion of love”; add it  to bring passion your way.

Other Names: Lammint, Brandy mint
Gender: Masculine
Element: Fire
Planetary Connection: Mercury
Deity Connection: Pluto

You can make a tasty peppermint tea in the same way people make sun tea: Gather up about two cups of fresh peppermint leaves, and place them in a gallon of water. Allow the tea to steep outside in the sun until fully blended. Add a bit of stevia to sweeten it for drinking, or use the mint tea as a refreshing cleanser in the bath.

Today’s Gemstone for December 30th – Jade

Today’s Gemstone – Jade

Jade

Solid to translucent. There are two varieties of Jade, Jadeite and Nephrite. Nephrite is quite similar to Jadeite in its healing abilities, but its colors are creamier and less translucent than Jadeite; Nephrite is the more commonly found variety. Jade may come in a variety of colors, green, blue, black, violet, white, yellow and a reddish and brownish variety. Each with its own slightly different use.

Green Jade: Health, wealth, longevity stone. Ancient Chinese used also for courage, wisdom, justice, mercy, emotional balance, stamina, love, fidelity, humility, generosity, peace, harmony. Lungs, heart, thymus, immune, kidney and blood detoxification, nervous system. Androgynous. A gentle, steady energy.
While all Jade has some healing influence, each color relates more specifically to certain ailments or organs. Properties common to all colors of Jade include its ability to mellow one’s existence. Helps one rid themselves of negative thoughts and energy. Strengthens the body’s filtration and cleansing systems and assists in the removal of toxins. Very beneficial to the heart in both physical and spiritual senses. It is a very protective stone and will keep its wearer out of harm’s way.
Blue Jade: A peaceful and passive energy source. Helps people who meditate to relax and gain an inner serenity. A quiet teacher of patience and slow, steady progress. It is a wonderful stone to give to people who feel restricted or overcome by situations beyond their control.
Brown Jade: A stone that connects us tot he earth. A good stone to use to help settle matters of the home or to adjust to a new environment.
Green Jade: Most common. Very calming to the nervous system. The color green is representative of life or growth. Helps one channel passions in a constructive way, making expressions of love easier.
Lavender Jade: In touch with the emotions. Beneficial to people who have been hurt by love or need to discover the gentleness within themselves. Can help one learn restraint and subtlety in matters of emotional importance.
Red Jade: A passionate and active stone. Caution is advised here: it can have such a stimulating influence that the wearer becomes agitated and feels the need to express anger. It can help you extract those feelings and come to terms with them. Use Red Jade to blow off steam, to release tension.
White or Cream Jade: Helps one direct their energy to its most advantageous outlet. Helps filter out distraction and allows you to envision the best result of a given situation. Also suggested for the eyes.
Yellow and Orange Jade: Both are similar enough to be considered together. Both impart the gift of joy and happiness. They teach the interconnectedness of all beings. Help organs that process food and waste in our bodies.

The Witches Magick for December 30th – Lemon Uncrossing Spell

Lemon Uncrossing Spell

Purpose: To get rid of negative energy.

Items You Will Need:

A cup of salt
A fresh lemon
Athame

Light white candles and protection incense. Anoint brow, heart and throat with oil. Put the lemon in the center of your altar and cut it into 4 slices (round).

Chant:
“All spells against me congregate in this lemon, that’s your fate.
Sour spell to sour fruit, you must go there cause it’s your suit.
Bound to this lemon evermore. Each spell against me that’s your store.
All in this lemon, now I see, and as my will so mote it be!”

When you feel that the chant has captured the negative thought forms in the lemon, begin to sprinkle the salt on the lemon.

Chant:
“Uncrossed! Uncrossed!
This salt for me breaks up the attacking energy.
As lemon dries in salt and air,
I’m freed from harm and all despair.
Uncrossed and happy now, you see!
And as my will so mote it be!!!”

Use lots of salt and when you are finished, thank all the elements.
Leave the lemon near your altar where you can watch it.
If it dries out, your work is done. If it should mildew, repeat the ritual.

Yule Soap

Yule Soap

1 cup grated unscented soap

1/4 cup hot water

1 tbsp. apricot oil

1 tbsp. chamomile

1/2 tbsp. rosemary

1/2 tbsp. ginger

6 drops frankincense oil

6 drops myrrh oil

3 drops cinnamon oil

Place grated soap in a heat-proof non-metallic container and add the hot water and apricot oil. Leave until it is cool enough to handle, and then mix together with your hands. If the soap is floating on the water, add more soap. Leave to sit for 10 minutes, mixing occasionally, until the soap is soft and mushy. Once the soap, water, and oil are blended completely, add the dry ingredients. Once the mixture is cool, then add the essential oils (essential oils evaporate quickly in heat). Enough essential oils should be added to overcome the original scent of the soap. Blend thoroughly and then divide the soap mixture into four to six pieces. Squeeze the soaps, removing as much excess water as possible into the shape you desire, and tie in a cheesecloth. Hang in a warm, dry place until the soap is completely hard and dry.

Recipe adapted from Kate West’s The Real Witches’ Kitchen Sabbat Soap recipe.

Solstice Wishing Balls

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Solstice Wishing Balls

This is a fun activity for the whole family, or it can be used to enhance the Winter Solstice religious rites. Participants write out their wishes on small pieces of paper. They will then be placed in a hollow Christmas tree ornament. The ornament is then filled with allspice for wealth, rosemary for protection, cinnamon for success, and coriander for health. The loop at the top is secured with gold, blue, red, and green ribbons. The ornaments can then be blessed during ritual and later  hung over the main doorway of the household.

Daily OM for December 20th – Strangers in Our Sanctuary

Strangers in Our Sanctuary
Sharing Peace

by Madisyn Taylor

 

Having strangers in our homes can be difficult, but we can choose to treat their energy as an exchange of gifts as well as an exercise in acceptance.

When we have created a sanctuary in our home, it can be jarring to have the outside world come in. It is easy to share our space with those we know well, but often strangers are asked in as household help, contractors, or technicians that help us make our homes more comfortable. Acquaintances of our spouses or children also bring something new and different into our space. If we resist their presence, treating it as an intrusion, we restrict the free flow of energy and may miss the gift they bring. Instead, we can choose to treat their energy as an exchange of gifts as well as an exercise in acceptance.

Before their arrival, we can prepare by envisioning light surrounding our bodies and radiating outward from the core of our homes. We may want to create a calm and welcoming environment by playing meditation music or lighting incense. We can remove tension for all involved by putting away our valuables. Then when they arrive, we claim our boundaries by guiding them through their visit—asking them to remove their shoes, offering coasters or a place to set down tool boxes, and indicating by example to speak softly or not use harsh language. If something still causes stress, we can remember that what begins as an irritation to an oyster becomes a pearl. After they depart, we can burn sage and clear our space if we like but not without first finding the pearl.

Finally, remember that we learn about life by relating with others. People may have been sent to our homes because we ignored some of the universe’s messengers outside. Our homes need not be a way to keep people out but can be the place where we are ourselves while accepting and allowing other’s choices. When we share the joy of our homes, we radiate our light rather than hide it behind closed doors. The more we do this, the more the outside world can become like the sanctuary we’ve created inside.

The Daily OM