Twas the Evening of Samhain

Twas the Evening of Samhain
by Cather Steincamp

'Twas the evening of Samhain, and all through the place

were pagans preparing the ritual space.

The candles were set in the corners with care,

in hopes that the Watchtowers soon would be there.

We all had our robes on (as is habitual)

and had just settled down and were starting our ritual

when out on the porch there arose such a chorus

that we went to the door, and waiting there for us

were children in costumes of various kinds

with visions of chocolate bright in their minds.

 

In all of our workings, we'd almost forgot,

but we had purchased candy (we'd purchased a LOT),

And so, as they flocked from all over the street,

they all got some chocolate or something else sweet.

We didn't think twice of delaying our rite,

Kids just don't have this much fun every night.

For hours they came, with the time-honored schtick

of giving a choice: a treat or a trick.

 

As is proper, the parents were there for the games,

Watching the children and calling their names.

"On Vader, On Leia,

On Dexter and DeeDee,

On Xena, on Buffy,

Casper and Tweety!

To the block of apartments

on the neighboring road;

You'll get so much candy,

you'll have to be TOWED!"

 

The volume of children eventually dropped,

and as it grew darker, it finally stopped.

But as we prepared to return to our rite,

One child more stepped out of the night.

 

She couldn't have been more than twelve or thirteen.

Her hair was deep red, and her robe, forest green

with a simple gold cord tying off at the waist.

She'd  a staff in her hand and a smile on her face.

No make-up, nor mask, or accompanying kitsch,

so we asked who she was; she replied "I'm a witch.

And no, I don't fly through the sky on my broom;

I only use that thing for cleaning my room.

My magical powers aren't really that neat,

but I won't threaten tricks; I'll just ask for a treat."

 

We found it refreshing, so we gave incense cones,

A candle, a crystal, a few other stones,

And the rest of the candy (which might fill a van).

She turned to her father (a man dressed as Pan)

and laughed, "Yes, I know, Dad, it's past time for bed,"

and started to leave, but she first turned and said

"I'm sorry for further delaying your rite.

Blessed Samhain to all, and a magical night."

Salt over the shoulder......

Stressed from a long day of work, I begin my daily ritual in order to rid my stress and leave work at work as opposed to taking it home. I stare at the salt and imagine each grain having a tiny mouth. I can see it eating stress. My stress flows from the center of my being as a dark cloud. It flows up my arm and to my hand. It is cold and I feel the warmth of the loving energy of the sun replace the void that is left as the cold stress is seeping away. The salt is ravenous and eats until I don't have anymore negativeness or stress left to feed it. Good salt. Purifying salt. Warm and relaxed, I smile and toss the salt over my shoulder. “Cough, cough, sputter, sputter. What the fuck are you doing?” I hear behind me. Horrified I turn around to see my very overt Christian boss dusting salt off his face......

Naw hasn't happened, but I can just imagine.... Throwing salt over your shoulder is the first exercise I'm starting in Chaos Magic. Salt in the hand after work is a great tool. You're supposed to hold it in your hand and imagine the salt eating all of your stress. Then you throw it over your left shoulder (yup just like the superstition). As I would probably get negative reactions, and in turn fuel my stress, I use something less conspicuous -- dirt. Being on a civil construction site, dirt is plentiful (to say the least). With people standing around watching me and my reactions all the time, this method isn't practical enough for me to use. The only time I'm stressed is at work. I am very good at leaving my work at work and my home life at home. There isn't any mixing of the two and that makes life easier. The drive to and from work (though I complain that it is a long drive) gives me time to leave home/work at the windshield. The best part – no one can hear me or see me long enough to cause a confrontation....so I can be as big as a retard as I want.

Though the dirt doesn't work well. I may try this with salt and leave my stress at work in the bathroom. I will flush it down the toilet instead of throwing it over my shoulder. I could see how this salt method would be a good leave-the-past-behind spell. Imagine the salt eating the unpleasant history or memory or emotion and throw the salt over your shoulder at a cross roads you don't visit often– walking away and not looking back. (this screams of a hoodoo recipe).

So I've instinctively made my mental space – and it's my Jeep. I've done this for over two years and it is second nature to me. The way to work is spent communing with spirits and self examination. The way home is to unwind and not think or concentrate on anything too hard. I refuse to think of what I have to do tomorrow, or even what I have to do when I get home. No thought of “damn, I need to stop at the store for a gallon of milk” is allowed either. I would say that creating mental space to release stress is accomplished. I like it. It works.

Relax by Deep Breathing

OK....no brainer here. I've been doing this to begin meditation for years and would call this accomplished as well. Breathing is my concentration point in early meditation, then comes the next step (muscle relaxation, slowing of pulse, opening of chakras, working of energy, viewing with third eye, deep examination, symbol search, spirit speak, etc) but breathing always comes first. Counted breaths and pauses are important as well as remembering to let the diaphragm pull in air and push out the bad. Seeing a feather or flame in front of my mouth/nose doesn't work that well for me. The object is to breath shallow enough to not move the feather or flame, but I find that I can't feed my body enough oxygen with this technique and this is why I think I get “happy limbs” – that involuntary jerking of the arms and legs.

The Toilet

This stress releaser is.....interesting. The good news is that it can easily be done at work. The idea of this exercise is to defecate or urinate in the toilet. While doing so, the feces or urine is the stress, the nastiness leaving your body. You feel lighter and stress free. Flushing the nastiness rids it of the area and dissolves the energy to be released elsewhere. I've used it, but I don't think I'll make this a common practice, because I begin to giggle (I find it all humorous – poo-poo-in-the-potty humorous) – see “Laughter as a Cure” below. This may cause a few raised eye-brows and interesting explanations....giggling every time you take a shit.

Standing in the Shower

This exercise I've done & still do with excellent results. Standing in the shower, head down, mouth open, allowing the water to curtain over you and “watch” and feel the stress being rinsed off of you. Eyes closed, breathing deeply through an open mouth and hearing and feeling the water like rain washing away impurities down the drain– very powerful. I find this great to use before a ritual if I don't have time to do a bath justice. After the negative rinse, I envision the water as light washing over me and purifying me. I like it. It works.

Ofnung Technique

I learned it in a pre-Lamaze class while pregnant with Ryan. The technique is simple. During a light meditation, after concentrating on breathing for a few minutes, you concentrate on each muscle in the body and relax it. Starting from the head and working to the tips of the toes, you concentrate on one muscle at a time. You feel a hand massaging it (imagining warmth works better for me). You then tighten the muscle then release it feeling total relaxation It works well and if I have pain (specially back, neck, shoulder tension) I use this with good results.

Laughter as a Cure

I've not purposely tried this one. You just start laughing. It starts as a fake laugh then turns into real, non-stoppable manic laughter begins resulting in the release of tension. I've personally not tried this due to feeling ridiculous. I would try it if alone and will try it within the week (if I can find some alone time – yeah right) – bathroom time does not count as alone time. I bet this would work well as we all know that laughter is “the best medicine” and is contagious. How many times have you been in the room and heard someone start laughing? You start laughing too – even though you have no idea why that person is laughing (could be at you for all you know) but the sound and the energy is contagious.

Next are exercises of breathing. I'm looking forward to that one. I've looked and some of them I have not tried. It should be interesting. I have a rhythm that I like and that works for me and have always had the motto “if not broke, don't fix it”. However if it can be more effective, I'm game. I'm glad that this is in the workbook so that I'm forced to try them – or I wouldn't. Though this may take me a few weeks, I will record my findings in the next section “hee hee hoooo”.

Our behavior is human with a sliver of animal, our souls animal with a sliver of human

I believe that souls have an evolution (for lack of a better word)...each ending with all lessons learned and joining the ALL. Much like giving our energy back....recharging the source we've been birthed. OR a de-evolution (if you will) for lessons not learned, stagnation, or major fuck-ups until that lesson/karmatic tie is experienced and learned (here's my example of Hell discussed on a previous forum). Example someone that denotes too much evil is demoted to a lesser life form. This could explain our cockroach population. “Lesser” life form....will be explored later. With that said though, I don't believe there is a difference in souls. 

 Mathew and I hashed it out last night and we've decided that the following makes the most sense to us. Though each soul goes through transitions, souls do not differ from life form to life form. For example a tree's or a cockroach's soul is no different that a human's soul. The only only difference is physical capacity (this hits with why humans have the need to feel superior to all other beings). We did however argue if a rocks soul is the collective conscious of the Earth or some thing bigger....or even if collective conscious stops at Earth....(I think on larger terms than my Mathew...but yup he has pagan DNA...). 

Physical capacity – brain power and movement/coordination abilities. Human usage of a larger brain gives them the advantage of recording histories, creativeness (tools, paintings, music), expression. The physical ability to make and use the tools to create our expressions. We deducted these reasons by the actions some would call 'too-human' of animals (of which I've listed below a few that we used during debate).

Humans are the only ones that are preoccupied over death.  No.  Elephants for example have been recorded having a funeral rite in which they pulled grass and tree branches and covered their dead Matriarchs body. The daughter of the deceased was witnessed returning to the grave and shedding tears and fondling the bones on a regular basis for years. 

Humans are the only ones that murder (take life without survival in mind).  Another is the newly documented recordings of a grizzly bear upon awakening from hibernation early went around to the black bears dens in the area and murdering them for fun. I say murdering because the black bears were still in hibernation and never had a chance to defend themselves. 

Humans are the only ones that enjoy sex.  No.  Look into Bonobo Monkeys sometime (yikes).  Humans are the only ones that force/take sex.  No.  Bachelor dolphins have been documented to corner and rape unwilling females. 

This brings me to and reminds me of an experiment we did in earth science while in high school. We started with a 10 gallon tank and three mice – two females and one male. Having a gestation of just 20 days, litters of 6 and 10, and babies becoming sexually active in less than two months, it didn't take long before the tank was overflowing! There were mice everywhere. The hare may be a futility symbol, but someone missed the mouse! We recorded all of our findings, feed, watered, and cleaned the tank on a daily basis. The cleaning and recording began to get very interesting after four months. With 20 +/- mice overpopulation behavior began. Though provided with a diverse and ample diet, mothers began to eat the newborn babies. Homosexuality became commonplace. Murder ran rampant. Bachelor mice formed gangs and caused mischief like biting off others' tails. 

This has been shown again in the wolves in Idaho. Due to them being domesticated and showing lack of wolf pack behavior, breeding ran rampant. In normal pack society only the Matriarchs are allowed to breed – usually but not always. However in the wolf packs in Idaho all the females whelped pups. This over population and having ample food led to sporting kill....the chase and kill of elk, deer, and moose for the fun of it....carcass left uneaten. It was noted too that more and more collared wolves are showing up dead with signs of a fight from canine. 

So, animals have sex for enjoyment, their morals are as questionable as ours, their intelligence, though questioned, has proven to be more than we give credit.

This brought us to the question of how much of this behavior can really be pinpointed to overpopulation? Chimpanzees in an under populated forest still rape and kill..... How much of this is “emotion” ...the philosophy of consciousness and mind, and how much of this is reaction to stimuli, is “hard wired”?  IE: Elephant = consciousness and mind = the real response & understanding of death.  IE: Chick = hard wire = runs for cover when sees a shadow from above.  Is it pure 'instinct' passed down with evolution?

We both agree that evolution is bunk. I would lean more to alien experiment before I would argue that we came from millions of generations of monkeys. That however, is an argument for a different post.

Ah..Hell..

Depends on the denomination. The Christians have the Lake of Fire Hell. Hel for the Norse is a place of torment. ‘Hell’ for Buddhists would be rebirth to Preta or depraved men. Most Wiccans don’t have a Hell, just a repeat of life to learn a Life-Lesson. Hades is but a place for the dead for the Greek - Tartarus being the equivalent to Christian Hell and Elysian Fields, Christian heaven (unless you prefer the classics then Hades is like Old Testament Sheol). For the Gnostics, Hell is but the separation from God. For others all together Hell is the permanent loss of consciousness. I could go on, but the list would be lengthy and I think you get the picture.

They all have what I’m gonna’ call a ‘scare tactic’. Separation, Karma, Torment. In short punishment. The question then is not IS there a Hell, but WHY is there a Hell. Morals, that which separates us from animals.

One can’t say for certainty “You will go to Hell and burn in a fiery furnace, if you don’t accept Jesus.” That would be the same as a Buddhist saying to you “Without enlightenment, you will be reborn as a cockroach.” You don’t believe them. They don’t believe you. Can you honestly say that your faith is stronger than hers? In the end, it doesn’t matter what you believe, just that you do believe. Christianity isn’t right for the Taoist, just like Taoism isn’t right for the Christian.

The Good....

I shall begin the study of Magick with a review of myself. For one knows that it is dangerous to practice such without full knowledge of your own character, personality, strengths, and weaknesses. To be honest with yourself is hard at times, but this will be explored first. This first page is my strengths; the second, my weaknesses. Afterward I will study as to how to turn my weaknesses into strengths.

The Good......

I'm physically attractive with a dainty but proportioned body. I have very elven features – small pointed ears and large almond shaped eyes, of which shine brown, green, gold, and blue. All eye colors in one. My hair is a dark-chocolate brunette. Due to the petite features of my face I keep my hair short (as my friends and co-workers call it, a pixie cut – my boyfriend just calls it sexy). My breasts are smaller like all elves, and my ass is very well shaped (or so I've been told on many occasion – no, not by just my boyfriend--sheesh). My olive complexion looks good even without a tan. My fingernails have a mind of their own and the ability to grow fast, strong and seem to keep very good shape naturally. My limbs and fingers would be considered slim and willowy.

Like all good elves I have an innate, almost impeccable balance. The elements dance through me making my movements graceful and natural. I don't have a problem finding rhythm, be it music, wind, rain, flame, or stone, tree, snake, breathing – I can find it. Everything has rhythm and they all speak to me.

I can also feel energies from animals (people too but mostly from animals). The stronger the connection with the animal, the easier it becomes. I've always been surrounded by animal friends. They, often times, are easier to understand then humans. I noticed that fact even as a very young child. Therefore, I made it a goal to study humans. Unfortunately I can predict their way of thought and their personality traits with almost a hundred percent success rate. I say unfortunately because animals are so much more pure and so less full of bullshit. Rarely am I surprised by someones actions. I may not understand the actions themselves, but I can understand the path, thought and energy, toward that action. With an open mind I can accept most everyone's actions regardless if they surprise me or not.

I am able to tap into the spirit realm at times. I have made contact with a few guides. One of which is my twin flame, guide, and protector – the male enlightened shining one, Belrizzo. Another is my guide, medicine, and strength – Kodiak brown, Garamore. One other is teacher, student, magical aid, power, friend, confidant, protector, and more – Chaos Dragon, Lexicon. I used to see spirits when I was younger, but therapy 'cured' that. I'm working at unlearning that 'correction'. Maybe then I can get back to my normal (as opposed to society normal).

I also have a knack for music. If I can hear it, I can usually play it with some practice. Piano, guitar, drums. I would like to get a hold of a wooden flute (Native American in a low D or B). That deep clean wood instrument calls to me.

My will power is special. I don't mind physical discomfort. I can will myself away from anything (and often do just to test myself). Food, cigarettes, booze – just to name a few. It works just as well the other way too. I can set a goal, set my will to it, and make it a reality. There is nothing that I can't accomplish.

I have a quick smile for people that share like energy and if put in the position to have to deal with people on a day to day basis can bullshit my way through pretty much anything. I can play the chameleon and be seen, the center of attention, fun, spontaneous, and find anything in common with those around me, or if I choose, I can not be seen or heard at all – the proverbial wall flower.

I am intelligent and can soak up information like a sponge. I question everything. I am able to grasp and understand complex ideals as well as figure out how pretty much anything works.....again another one of my knacks. I can read something and not forget it...unless I don't practice it. It then becomes like anything else – don't use it, lose it. I can also remember anything that anybody has told me. This can be a blessing or a curse.

Change follows me. Change is sometimes uncomfortable, but change is always necessary and in the end turns into good (even better than before the change). The divine blesses me with change and lessons. I am in the right place at the right time and all things just....fall into place. Never had I a want for money – mainly because of the will and knowledge to get money. But it goes beyond this. I'm always at the right place, right time, and right energy for me to get promoted super fast or get super bonuses, better work, or higher and free education. I also have the knowledge to live off of very little (just what the earth provides) and the ability to not care about a bit of discomfort. The divine takes care of me and sets me up for the future at all times.

I help. Sometimes I think I was put on this earth to lend support and help to those around me. Be it with knowledge, wisdom, counseling, companionship, or physical chores, I find myself going out of my way to help, guide, aid others. Even my work is dedicated to helping others. I seem to be put in that situation with friends as well. They are needing a push this way or that because they are stagnate. I give them that and support when they need strength as well. Some people I'm around get that, then it is time for them to move on. One example of this is Brett. Another is Mary. In truth my whole life is filled with this. Even as a young child my aunt would talk to me about her very adult problems and concerns (from finance, child raising, and coping with the death of her husband). My ancient 9 years of age was just enough for me to realize that she needed to just talk it through, and have someone there that would not judge her on her words or feelings. She needed just an ear. Then she was gone.

I'm pretty calculated. Very rarely do I act or make a decision without knowing exactly why I did that and what the reaction will be. I'm very much cause and effect. If I can't live with the effect, I don't do the cause. I would consider this far sighted. And again the spirits and divine help me with clues on the effect side of things.

The Bad.....

My emotions at many times are very remote. Though I understand the energy and reasoning behind many emotions, I don't feel them as strongly as others for some reason. I've often wondered if I'm broken. True joy escapes me. In all the days of my life, I can't recall one second that I experience pure, unadulterated joy or blind rage. Maternal-yes, warmth for family and pets-yes, contentment-yes, calculated anger-yes, happiness-yes, fear-yes. I've experience depression and hopelessness (strong feelings). But it wasn't until recently that I experienced heart-break and adult love (both strong feelings). The deep feelings you need for great magic though is missing from me. Pure Hate/Rage, Pure Love/Lust....I got but whispers like anger and adoration. The one feeling I've always known and can always remember and recall is exhaustion. 

I'm my own worst enemy and my very own whipping boy. I judge myself with WAY too much of a critical eye. Not only my looks, but my actions, lack of knowledge, and especially my mistakes. As a result I constantly struggle with self doubt which in turn leads to blockages. If you tell yourself enough that you are stupid, weak, or can't do it.....then you are and you can't.

I have many natural talents, but not the conviction to choose one and take it to the highest of levels. Therefore, I am always in the middle of the pack – again selling myself short when everyone (myself included at times) can see that I am plenty capable at being in the front of the pack. I call it laziness and lack of gumption...Whack! Whack! Take that whipping boy!

Again laziness comes into play with my religious practices. I don't have NEAR the rituals that I should have. I acknowledge the moon phases, holidays and through a circle now and then, but I don't do it to connect with the divine anymore. I've fallen off the wagon and have been experiencing the dark side of the soul for awhile. Hence this work now. I've even been kicked right out of the Astral straight back to my soft body because of two things. 1) I was forgetting that it is the Soft Body and the Now that is the lesson – not the romping astral that can acquire unknown information. 2) There is more growth for me before I can experience more astral. Ptttthhhh.

In an attempt to feel emotion, I concentrate on it too much. Without warning, it all comes out in an overwhelming volcano of uncontrollable emotional vomit. From unexplained laughter about nothing at all, to inconsolable weeping – again about nothing at all. These emotions, though I've tried to put my finger on a trigger or reason, is an extreme mystery to me. The feelings are not strongly experienced, but the physical outlet is. I'm broken, huh? Yup. Damn-I'm broken. I view these outbursts as a weakness. Whack! Whack!

I'm argumentative and very opinionated. If I believe I'm correct, I will over spend energy debating just that.....even if the argument is trivial and not worth while.

I get irritated at the drop of a hat. Everyone was put on this earth to please me, and by god they had

better do just that! But it gets more interesting, because I should not have to waste my breath telling that person what I want – he/she should know me well enough (or read my mind) and just DO IT or NOT do it.

The Ugly.....

I'm not afraid to lie, and do so if it benefits me....though getting caught in a lie creates some hesitation and a bit of fear (depending on who is doing the catching). Example – I've killed off family members to miss work for 'funerals'.

I hate weakness and often catch myself not feeling pity for someone, but disgust if that person is displaying weakness that I would conciser ridiculous. Many times I have to bite my tongue, cloak my energy, and hide my expressions with a stoic face. If I can/have done it, or can suffer through it without compliant, or control my health and psychology with not but my will of mind – then by damned everyone can, right? Pussies.

I can never progress fast enough and am eternally impatient.

Though I want to get ghost sight back and be able to communicate again with spirits on the physical realm, I fear that my rational mind will not handle it. I wonder if my conscientiousness will decide that it is crazy, or other. Once that flood gate is open, it can't be closed except with years of therapy and massive amounts of drugs (shudder with repulsion).

I don't have time for stupidity and find myself very impatient with the retarded.  Which I think there are entirely too much of.  The gene pool definitely could use some chlorination.  Especially if they are in a car...all bad drivers should get the fuck off the road and out of my way.  The very least they could do is acknowledge that they can see me flipping them off.

I call everything as it is to me. Regardless if it hurts the feelings (again weakness) of those around me or the receiver of said opinion doesn't want to hear it (even if said opinion is truth).

My mind can go from Zen calm to irritated don't give a flying fuck in .035 seconds.

I make small careless mistakes. I HATE that. You know the ones --- where you send an email without

the attachment or some other such little really stupid thing. I REALLY fucking hate that.....but laugh at the fucker that does it using them as a way to make me feel better "at least I'm not the only douche bag".

Some people that I really don't care for and wouldn't be heart broken if they suddenly croaked off (I mean learned all they were going to learn here and moved on). It gets worse. These people, well, sometimes I experience satisfaction if they are miserable or suffering from a bad fate of some sort. I've often thought that if I had the energy or could work up a bit of hate, I would throw out a curse here and there. Hate – nope. Never experienced it. I don't think this is evil, but it might be ugly.

I question everything.

My tits are too small, I have cottage cheese fat in places, puffy black bags under my eyes and you can see all the veins through my thin skin.

...Well....Wasn't that fun?

April Showers my ass....

To live in the west is like none other.  The wildlife here is intense and well as the vegetation.  EVERY thing flourishes here.  It's green here all year long.  I call the trees fuzzy because the bark of all the trees are graced with a fungus or moss of some sort.  Whom ever said that moss grows on the north side of a tree - has never been to western Washington....it grows all the fucking way around here - north be damned.  Ferns even grow on tree trunks here....



  ....if the damned loggers haven't cut it down yet.  Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree with the logging as long as it is treated as a crop.  Being treated as a crop means that it is always replenished.  I've noticed as well that though logging plots of land drastically change the shape of the landscape, it moves the wildlife around.  For instance a reprod is a section of a logged area that has been replanted and left to grow.  The trees here grow very thick and provides wildlife ultimate security.  A clear cut is an area that has been logged and not yet replanted.  This area is now open and allows grass to grow which becomes a favorite for wildlife (specially the herbavors) to feed.  The down side of this is that unlike corn or wheat, trees take MUCH longer to grow to harvest size.  I think it's a fucking shame that we've cut to human content and an old growth forest (a forest that has not been logged).  Not to mention that to walk down a road to see that the young forest you've been aquainted with for the last few years has been cut the fuck down....unspeakably sucks...

I've had the privilege of walking through and sleeping in and speaking with old growth forests here.  They sport firs, cedars, and pines older than 600 years old - great, proud, royal, strong spirits that grace this earth.  To just walk below thieir boughs listening to the birds is powerful, but to see a buck walk out infront of you and look at you with some surprise before santering off....or to hear a bull elk's screaming bugle will lift the hair on your neck and arms.  This last weekend I was sitting on the edge of a meadow waiting for dusk to catch a glimps of a nearby elk herd when three very playfull and curious grey jays came to talk to me.  And talk they did as well as perch on my knee and check me out real carefully before taking their banter elsewhere.

But the rain!! The fucking rain, Rain, RAIN!!  Yes, yes, I know, I know it must rain in order to get the vegistation to thrive.  But come on!! After 9 months out of the year...I get tired of using makeup to cover up my damned gills.  You would think that when it rains non-stop you wouldn't have to wash your car...WRONG.  If you don't mold grows all over it.  I shit you not.  Noah, if you are reading this, give me a call I need instructions as to build a huge fuck-off ark...k?

...But the 3 months it doesn't rain every day....bliss!  Nothing beats a ritual in the night forest!  THAT is when I love Washington.  However an outside ritual in the winter is near to impossible if you want to use all the promps and tools.  Ever try to light a candle when the whole fucking candle is soaked despite your best efforts to keep it dry.....or to find anything dry to have a small ritual fire - laughable.  Not to mention it takes the mood right out of a ritual when you slip and fall into the mud....trying to get through the ritual soaked, mud caked, and freezing is a lesson on self disapline I can tell you.  You'd better have all your notes memorized becuase you won't be able to read rain slogged paper.  Keeping the salt dry is another trick I've not learned either...not to mention the incense.  That is why, my dears, that western witches are so pale...from having their rituals indoors. :)

Everything was fine untill they dropped a house on my Sister....

Do you think that the Bible refferencing "love thy enemy" and "love thy neighbor" is becuase they are usually one and the same?  In my case...they are.  The dirty Jerry Springer truth is worse than you can imagine.  It's actually funny that I used to watch people on the Jerry Springer show and think....do people like that realy exist?...can that really fucking happen?  Well I know that they do happen, just that most people won't take it to national TV...just internet....  I got divorced and my neighbor got divorced.  I fell in love with him and he with me.  We made a go at it.

Soon after our Ex's decided that they would do the same thing and make a go at a relationship as well.  Needless to say we basically did a husband swap (or wife swap however you want to see it).  Of course I was ostracized from the entire neighborhood because I "stole" her husband from her.  I will go into those nasty talk show - soap opera details at a later date.  For now I will just say that living next to your Ex is horrible....living next to your Ex and his girlfriend that you used to know and does her damnedest to smear you is taxing.  Oh, to turn her to a toad...

I've thought of this at length and have come to this conclusion.  Not worth it.  You see, to cast a nasty spell is completely do-able.  In order to cast a hex or curse though you have to have a lot of emotion and energy to pour into that spell.  Also - like attracts like.  You throw out nastiness you get nastiness back.  This again takes a lot of emotion and energy to handle.  All the while there are those (like kids) that will get caught in the cross fire. And personally I'm too happy with my new found life and love to be bothered by their little nippiness; so much like little yappy dogs.  Therefore not worth it.  She's gonna get what's coming to her and I don't have to play judge and jury...she's digging her own grave.  Also, I don't have that kind of emotion to pour into that.  The best I can scrounge up for either of them is disgust and ridiculousness.  Besides she has successfully cursed herself.  Powerful the mind.  ....And why turn into a toad what is already an ass?