Merry Ole England!

Hip, hip hooray!  In a few days I will cross the big pond to London, England!  I am so excited that at times I can hardly believe it's going to happen.  Traveling to England has been a dream of mine for many years.

I believe I became infatuated with all things England, when I saw Mary Poppins sail down through the sky, in Mary Poppins.  I was just a little girl in 1964, when Mary Poppins' magic came into my life and I was never the same afterwards.

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" became one of my favorite words.  And the ability to jump into chalk sidewalk pictures opened a portal in my mind.  And lets not forget magical Trafalgar Square where the old woman sat feeding the pigeons.

As fate or Spirit or Magick or The Goddess, would have it, our hotel is located close to Trafalgar Square.  We'll be able to walk to it!  And let us not forget all the Magick I have studied.  You know I'll be on a Magickal trek through London.  We'll be visiting bookstores, taking haunted walks, as well visiting museums and eating lots of fish and chips.  And of course hanging out in Pubs, where I will take my journal and write.

To our even greater pleasure we're due for rain.  Foggy London days! 

I can hardly wait.  I know the Goddess, my past lives, Magick, the Occult and so much more await me in London.  It is the trip of a lifetime.

Cherrio!

Priestess Najah

"I was born an original sinner"

"I was born an original sinner, I was born from original sin and if I had a dollar bill for all the things I've done, there be a mountain of money pilled up to my chin. HEY!...there was a woman in a jungle and monkey on a tree, the missionary man he was following me". Sing it Annie, Sing it!!!

Yesterday I learned Hobby Lobby is suing the Department of Health and Human services, in regards to providing insurance coverage for the Morning-After Pill.  I was livid and a bit sad, because I love to shop at Hobby Lobby, especially around Halloween time.  In fact, I had just been in the store the day before, before learning of their of their stance on the Morning-After Pill.

 

I have known for a long time Hobby Lobby is a Christian organization and respected their right to close on Sundays, so their employees can practice their faith and be with their families.  In fact I thought it was pretty cool, that they chose to do so.  But denying insurance coverage to their female employees based on their faith based practices crosses my personal line of integrity.  We are in a war in this country for equal rights for women.  Things continue to move towards dangerous grounds of turning back long hard fought rights to health care and human services.

 

Annie Lenox's song "Missionary Man" is my personal war cry.  I especially love the lyric "there was a woman in the jungle and a monkey on a tree, the missionary man he was following me".  Exactly.  Following me.  Why?  Why am I as woman and my body deemed any of their business?  It goes back to long held patriarchal beliefs that women are sin, dirty, responsible for the downfall for mankind.  Bullshit. 

 

Rise up Goddess, Rise Up!

 

 

Happy Birthday Marie LaVeau!

Tomorrow is the birthday of Marie LaVeau , who was born on September 10, 1794 and left this earth on June 16, 1881.  Shrouded in mystery, feared and admired, few facts about her life remain.  We know a few things.  Her home on St. Ann and Rampart streets in New Orleans still stands.  She worked tirelessly in service to the poor and the rich, sharing her knowledge and power of the Old Ways.  Old ways of Voodoo, Hoodoo, Conjure, Witchcraft.  All the terms apply.  She was a religious woman and of strong faith. 

I've been to her tomb; http://www.craftandconjure.com/blessed_marie_laveau  One cannot practice the Art of Conjure without feeling her presence in New Orleans.  I feel blessed to have paid homage to her tomb.  

Sometimes I imagine what it must have been like to meet her.  Did one knock on her door with a secret knock, when you needed her help?  What if you were lucky enough to study with her?  How many gris-gris bags would you have to make?  How many floors would you need to wash to gain her approval?

She speaks to my heart.  I look into her eyes and see power, knowledge and secrets.  It is known and documented she performed works for the Queen of England; Bivins, N.D.P.  Seems if one was in trouble, one knew where to go.

Lyle Saxon in the book, "Fabulous New Orleans" 1928, closes her chapter:

"In the Old St. Louis Cemetery on Basin Street is a neat brick tomb, with the following inscription: Famille Vve. Paris nee Laveau.  This is all that remains of the former greatness of the all powerful Voudou Queen".

How wonderful to prove him wrong!  Happy Birthday Marie LeVeau!