My friendships mean the world to me. As a child I didn't have very many friends. We moved a lot, and it was hard for me to sustain long term relationships with kids.
As an adult I've been blessed to love and lose friendships. I say blessed because I've known the pain of a lost friendship, which means I've had friendships that when they were no longer, it broke my heart.
A week ago, my best girl from college, came and stayed the night with me. She lives in California and I hadn't seen her in 8 years. We had such a great time together. Time seemed to fly by. There's nothing better than yacking it up with your best girls. I call it Women Time. Talking about anything and everything, stop, take a breath, and talk some more. Best thing ever.
And then one of my dear friends let me know I was doing something she didn't like. "OW". Its hard for me to say, I'm glad she told me, cause it hurt when she said it, and knocked me back a pace, but I am glad she told me.
I'm glad she valued our friendship enough to say something and not let my actions sit and seethe inside her, something I find we as women are very good at doing. I'm also glad she told me because I would be so hurt to have learned a behavior that could be easily corrected, was never addressed, and she just left me in a huff. You know how we can be. One moment we're there and then your girl is gone. No explanation, nothing. Just a big ball of hurt where your friend used to be.
So, I'm humbled and having growing pains, but it's a good thing. The journey continues to unfold.
End Trans 2/15/10
Najah Lightfoot. Llewellyn Contributing Author, Freelance Writer, Sister-Priestess of the Divine Feminine.
Full Moon Glory!
Luna Bright, Full Moon Light!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
Me and The Chinese Food Lady
We've been getting delivery from the same Chinese food place for years. It's great Chinese food. It's just what you want - it's fast, hot, sweet, sticky and delicious. But what really makes it stand out is the relationship between me and the Chinese food lady who takes my order, over the phone. I've never met her and I've been ordering from China Dragon for 13 years. The same woman always answers the phone.
We have a code. She answers the phone in a way that you know you be better ready to order. However when I give my address, it's our "hello". I can hear the recognition and the smile in her voice. I place my order with a smiling voice, and I know she knows we're one of her loyal customers.
End Trans 2/12/10
We have a code. She answers the phone in a way that you know you be better ready to order. However when I give my address, it's our "hello". I can hear the recognition and the smile in her voice. I place my order with a smiling voice, and I know she knows we're one of her loyal customers.
End Trans 2/12/10
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Stink, Stank, Stunk
Those are the feelings I'm left with after seeing the "Lovely Bones" at Harkins Northfield Theatres. I won't be a movie spoiler, let's just say I give it a thumbs down. I really wanted to like it, it was directed by Peter Jackson, and had some of my favorite actors in it - Susan Sarandon, Raschel Weisz. But it just never came together, for us.
But the real reason for the stink, stank, stunk, was the group of little bitches that laughed out loud, talked out loud, got and up and down from their seats, god knows how many times, and sat in the very front row of the theatre. In addition there was the woman who answered her cell phone, who sat next to me, then there was the theatre staff that tried to quietly assert their presence in the theatre, by standing obnoxiously next to the wall. Add to that the other theatre staffer who came in with a clipboard and appeared to be taking some type of stats, and oh yeah, the baby that coughed and sputtered throughout the entire film. All this for the glorious price of $9.50 per person!
As fate would have it, I walked out next to the little bitches, and one of them said "I want my money back". Well, that was it, and I told them how much I had enjoyed being in the movie with them. That conversation led to a confrontation in the hallway, and I recall the word "mama' being thrown around.
Its sad that an adult can't go to the movies anymore and not be submitted to the rude behavior of somebody else's kids. Its awful people can't leave their cell phones in their pocket or purse for the duration of a film.
I continue to go to the theatre because I like the big screen and the popcorn, and the experience of going out to the movies. But after tonight it will probably be a while before I plop down 10 bucks again for a movie.
End Trans 2/6/10
But the real reason for the stink, stank, stunk, was the group of little bitches that laughed out loud, talked out loud, got and up and down from their seats, god knows how many times, and sat in the very front row of the theatre. In addition there was the woman who answered her cell phone, who sat next to me, then there was the theatre staff that tried to quietly assert their presence in the theatre, by standing obnoxiously next to the wall. Add to that the other theatre staffer who came in with a clipboard and appeared to be taking some type of stats, and oh yeah, the baby that coughed and sputtered throughout the entire film. All this for the glorious price of $9.50 per person!
As fate would have it, I walked out next to the little bitches, and one of them said "I want my money back". Well, that was it, and I told them how much I had enjoyed being in the movie with them. That conversation led to a confrontation in the hallway, and I recall the word "mama' being thrown around.
Its sad that an adult can't go to the movies anymore and not be submitted to the rude behavior of somebody else's kids. Its awful people can't leave their cell phones in their pocket or purse for the duration of a film.
I continue to go to the theatre because I like the big screen and the popcorn, and the experience of going out to the movies. But after tonight it will probably be a while before I plop down 10 bucks again for a movie.
End Trans 2/6/10
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
"Under the Milky Way" - Sia
Blessed Imbolc.
We gathered over the weekend. It was a lovely Circle. Just the four of us and we touched our divinity and felt the breath of the Goddess.
Tonight I'm alone. Listening to "Under the Milky Way" by Sia. I lit all my candles and cast a spell, a prayer to Brigid. I felt calm and lifted.
I stepped outside and looked up to the cloudy sky and blew my kisses upward. I know She hears me and feels me.
Today was a rough day. Drama after drama unfolding in the online communities I belong to. I am thankful that tonight I had a reason to pause, reflect and remember my foundation, and that which gives me strength and peace.
On a daily basis I say a prayer that begins with "In the face of adversity, uncertainty and conflicting sensory information, I hereby pledge to remain ever mindful of the magickal, mystical, mystical, loving reality in which I live....." Although I've changed some of the words I can't take credit for the words. They come from Mike Dooley and his TUT website. "Conflicting sensory information", now thats a mouthful. Pretty much sums up everything of living in the everyday world, while flitting back and forth between the worlds of Hoodoo and the Craft. Oy vey.
I remain grateful for the simple ritual of lighting a candle and saying a prayer.
End Trans - 2/2/10
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Blame it on the Craft
A&E's "Paranormal State". Why do I watch such crap?
One because I'm bored, the other because I find it "entertaining". However this last show got my blood boiling. A man with a pentagram tattooed on his arm that used to practice "Witchcraft" takes credit for calling up a "shadow demon" in Circle, then everybody freaks, and have been tormented ever since. Give me a f*$!ing break! Then the shows producers and the family start to calling it a seance. Then they say, well do you think this happened because you broke the Circle? So to "heal" the family they call on Jesus Christ, everybody sits around a table and clasps hands together and now it's "magically gone" and everyone is happy.
I find the entire show blasphemous and irresponsible. Complete and utter nonsense. And who knows, maybe he did call up something dark and freaky from his own mind(!) But to blame it on Witchcraft is awful.
Let me state it for the record, right here and right now - Circle is SACRED! It's a place where Witches, Pagans, come to worship and honor the Goddess and the God. It's not a place where one calls up dark forces or entities, or WHATEVER. Circle is a sacred place where we touch our Divinity and are healed and blessed, just like Christians do when they go to Church and pray. It's no different. The same feelings of reverence and beauty and love exist, except maybe we're out in Nature -hopefully, or we're in someone's home or backyard.
I love being in Circle. It fills my heart and lifts my soul. Shame, shame on A&E's "Paranormal State". I for one will be finding a new show watch, from now on, when I'm bored.
End Trans 1/24/10
One because I'm bored, the other because I find it "entertaining". However this last show got my blood boiling. A man with a pentagram tattooed on his arm that used to practice "Witchcraft" takes credit for calling up a "shadow demon" in Circle, then everybody freaks, and have been tormented ever since. Give me a f*$!ing break! Then the shows producers and the family start to calling it a seance. Then they say, well do you think this happened because you broke the Circle? So to "heal" the family they call on Jesus Christ, everybody sits around a table and clasps hands together and now it's "magically gone" and everyone is happy.
I find the entire show blasphemous and irresponsible. Complete and utter nonsense. And who knows, maybe he did call up something dark and freaky from his own mind(!) But to blame it on Witchcraft is awful.
Let me state it for the record, right here and right now - Circle is SACRED! It's a place where Witches, Pagans, come to worship and honor the Goddess and the God. It's not a place where one calls up dark forces or entities, or WHATEVER. Circle is a sacred place where we touch our Divinity and are healed and blessed, just like Christians do when they go to Church and pray. It's no different. The same feelings of reverence and beauty and love exist, except maybe we're out in Nature -hopefully, or we're in someone's home or backyard.
I love being in Circle. It fills my heart and lifts my soul. Shame, shame on A&E's "Paranormal State". I for one will be finding a new show watch, from now on, when I'm bored.
End Trans 1/24/10
Saturday, January 23, 2010
New Journal Day
It's new journal day and I can feel myself getting all tingly inside. I LOVE shopping for a new journal. When I shop for a new journal I'm at the peak of my creative process. I start to think about what store will I go to, what color will the book be, how will the pages look? The thought of having a new journal to write in fills me with peace and inspiration.
I've journaled since I was a kid. An empty place to hold my thoughts and words has always been my best friend. Once on the advice of someone I trusted, I threw away all my journals. So sad, I know. This person told me that keeping all those past memories under my bed was preventing me from moving forward, so I listened to them and threw them out. I only regret throwing out one, it was my sweet little diary. The one I'd had since I was eight years old. It was orange and had a lock and a key. It was my first diary. I miss that one, still. So note to anyone who is reading this and is a journaler - don't throw out your journals! Maybe bury them or lock them away, but don't throw them out!
I moved into a new phase of journaling when I started working The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and she taught me about Morning Pages. Morning Pages have become my sweet, sweet, quiet time for reflection, meditation and insight. At first I thought that if I wrote three pages, every day, I wouldn't have anything else to write, but it's been just the opposite. Doing that mind dump in the morning frees up my thoughts.
I look forward to writing my Morning Pages. And thus far, in a process of 11 weeks, give or take, I haven't missed a day of writing my Morning Pages. I plan to continue them even after I finish the workbook and I only have one more chapter to go.
The changes have been profound. Julia Cameron got me to see myself as an artist, a label I would have never attributed to myself, since I'm not a painter, a dancer, a crafter, etc, etc, etc. But I do have a good sense of color and magic, magick, and mystery, and ritual, and that makes me a creative person. The other day I found a magnet that reads "Artists Always Welcome". I bought it and stuck it up on my wall, in my creative space. It makes me smile every time I look at it.
And then there are the Artist Dates, where you take your inner child artist, on a date. It's all about them. We've had a blast, buying silly, goofy, things and also some things that a little girl always wanted. Its funny, as an adult, you grow up learning to put your child self away, but what I've learned through the Artist's Way, is its the child inside, who is the most important part of your adult life.
So, I'm off to find a new journal and maybe even a new pen -ooooh, won't that be special!
End Trans 1/23/10
I've journaled since I was a kid. An empty place to hold my thoughts and words has always been my best friend. Once on the advice of someone I trusted, I threw away all my journals. So sad, I know. This person told me that keeping all those past memories under my bed was preventing me from moving forward, so I listened to them and threw them out. I only regret throwing out one, it was my sweet little diary. The one I'd had since I was eight years old. It was orange and had a lock and a key. It was my first diary. I miss that one, still. So note to anyone who is reading this and is a journaler - don't throw out your journals! Maybe bury them or lock them away, but don't throw them out!
I moved into a new phase of journaling when I started working The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, and she taught me about Morning Pages. Morning Pages have become my sweet, sweet, quiet time for reflection, meditation and insight. At first I thought that if I wrote three pages, every day, I wouldn't have anything else to write, but it's been just the opposite. Doing that mind dump in the morning frees up my thoughts.
I look forward to writing my Morning Pages. And thus far, in a process of 11 weeks, give or take, I haven't missed a day of writing my Morning Pages. I plan to continue them even after I finish the workbook and I only have one more chapter to go.
The changes have been profound. Julia Cameron got me to see myself as an artist, a label I would have never attributed to myself, since I'm not a painter, a dancer, a crafter, etc, etc, etc. But I do have a good sense of color and magic, magick, and mystery, and ritual, and that makes me a creative person. The other day I found a magnet that reads "Artists Always Welcome". I bought it and stuck it up on my wall, in my creative space. It makes me smile every time I look at it.
And then there are the Artist Dates, where you take your inner child artist, on a date. It's all about them. We've had a blast, buying silly, goofy, things and also some things that a little girl always wanted. Its funny, as an adult, you grow up learning to put your child self away, but what I've learned through the Artist's Way, is its the child inside, who is the most important part of your adult life.
So, I'm off to find a new journal and maybe even a new pen -ooooh, won't that be special!
End Trans 1/23/10
Friday, January 22, 2010
Prayers For Haiti
I belong to a great group on the web. It's called MyHoodooSpace and it's provided courtesy of Dr.Kioni.com
There are many in this group who have deep religious ties to Haiti. Of these beautiful people I have asked for a prayer. This prayer touched my heart, and with the author's permission, I gladly share it here:
"Papa Legba, Antibon, Father of a Nacion du 'Ayti
The roads are covered Papa, the paths a blocked
Only you, Papa can clear the road. Lend your hand Papa,
Lend your hand to those whose hands toil for the preservation of your land
Lend your hand to those who are desolate and are lost
Lend your hand to those who are far from their Spiritual home
Lend your hand to 'Ayiti, and to all those who are of 'Ayiti that the roads and paths may be soon cleared
That a new day may come in 'Ayiti
Let it be known that it comes from God, through your hand Papa
Hear the cry of the children of Ginen and Lend your hand
Nou tout sen yo - we are all one
Ayibobo! Ayibobo! Papa Legba Antibon, Legba vye, Ayibobo!
This is my prayer ... feel free to use it, change it or ignore it, but this is what my heart is praying over and over right now for 'Ayiti, for it's people, and for all of us that have our soul and our gwo bon anj tied to that land."
by H'oungan Liam
I am learning a lot about Haiti and it's religions. I thank H'oungan Liam for sharing this prayer from his heart, and for the power, strength, and peace I feel when I pray it. As an open-minded person, I feel I can pray this prayer and let it be. May you too feel its strength, comfort, and promise of hope.
End Trans 1/22/10
There are many in this group who have deep religious ties to Haiti. Of these beautiful people I have asked for a prayer. This prayer touched my heart, and with the author's permission, I gladly share it here:
"Papa Legba, Antibon, Father of a Nacion du 'Ayti
The roads are covered Papa, the paths a blocked
Only you, Papa can clear the road. Lend your hand Papa,
Lend your hand to those whose hands toil for the preservation of your land
Lend your hand to those who are desolate and are lost
Lend your hand to those who are far from their Spiritual home
Lend your hand to 'Ayiti, and to all those who are of 'Ayiti that the roads and paths may be soon cleared
That a new day may come in 'Ayiti
Let it be known that it comes from God, through your hand Papa
Hear the cry of the children of Ginen and Lend your hand
Nou tout sen yo - we are all one
Ayibobo! Ayibobo! Papa Legba Antibon, Legba vye, Ayibobo!
This is my prayer ... feel free to use it, change it or ignore it, but this is what my heart is praying over and over right now for 'Ayiti, for it's people, and for all of us that have our soul and our gwo bon anj tied to that land."
by H'oungan Liam
I am learning a lot about Haiti and it's religions. I thank H'oungan Liam for sharing this prayer from his heart, and for the power, strength, and peace I feel when I pray it. As an open-minded person, I feel I can pray this prayer and let it be. May you too feel its strength, comfort, and promise of hope.
End Trans 1/22/10
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