Memoir: The 21st Century or Much Ado About Nothing

Memoir:  Wednesday, January 19, 2000

I thought this morning, rather ironically, that the 21st century is not what I expected.  I was thinking this as I was lugging an arm load of firewood into the downstairs laundry room, bundled into Grandma's old gray corduroy coat and my bright green snowshoes.

I removed the lids from the cooking surface of our new "boxwood" stove and fed it two more small logs, taking the poker and stirring up the hot coals.  It made me realize how arbitrary man-made time is.  I very well could have been a housewife on a cold January morning in 1900, rather than 2000.

I made two loaves of sour-dough bread this morning, letting it rise downstairs next to the warmth of the wood fire in the cook-stove.

 

 

The "Loner"...We're Not So Bad, Really

Someone on Facebook posted one of those very sentimental posters on friendship-- roughly, that even though we're not in daily contact with a particular friend, we can pick up the phone years later and take up right where we left off and still be best friends, etc.-- I wouldn't know. (And I even had the balls to post this very response-- "I wouldn't know"-- and that's the truth).  I am, despite my very 'out-there' website, blog, life, and activities, the proverbial "Loner".

It's always been this way, even in high school.  Hell, if I were in high school today, I'd be that quiet loner they so publicly claim they have to watch so she doesn't spaz out and shoot up the school.  Now wait a minute-- I sez to myself when I first heard this warning about 'loners', right on the heels of one of those horrible school tragedies.  I know they were upset, and the situation was over-the-moon bad, but listen-- do you realize what they did by saying that???

Every quiet shy unpopular kid in school just lost whatever they had left of their pathetic ego and self-confidence.  What a terrible image to hand over to all the quiet geeks who walk the halls, all the homely fat girls who will never go to the prom, all the outcasts and misfits who don't fit into any of the fashionable 'cliques'.  Can you imagine the outrage if they would've said something like:  "We have to keep our eye on every beautiful blonde cheerleader out there, she might be a loaded gun, she might be a threat to life and limb."...Honestly, sometimes people can be incredibly stupid.

Loners are okay, most of us, really...It's not that we don't fit in with the rest of the world; it's just that the rest of the world hasn't caught up to us. 

Hit n' Miss

I was proud of myself this past week for all the sweeping/mopping 'housewifey' stuff I was getting done around home, and this makes it sound like I spent all kinds of time doing this-- I didn't.  I am, admittedly, a 'hit-and-miss' housekeeper.  Words like 'sporadic' would also be appropriate.  I'll try to ignore anything for as long as I can until I can't ignore it anymore.  The irony of this, an oxymoron even, is that I love my surroundings to be clean and tidy and beautiful, or at least interesting and unusual-- and pretty (this is the Libra in me).  And I keep declaring to the world that every nook and cranny of my house would be in a pristine condition 24/7, if I didn't share my house with oodles of kids and oodles of cats (and one stinky very sheddy dog).  It would be-- really.

On one of my wild hair-up-the-ass days, when I was struck by the sudden urge to dust, I was going to tidy up a shelf I have, which sits at the very end of a very long, very dark hallway, right outside our bedroom doors.  Surprisingly, my uber tidy and clean-freak hubby told me to leave it.  "Don't touch it", he says, "leave it just the way it is."

okay...

 

 

 

 

 

Winter @ Fremont Lakes (Photo Blog)

The following photographs were taken at Fremont Lakes, Fremont NE, on Sunday, January 12th (copyright Amythyst Raine-Hatayama 2014)

I compiled these photos into a slideshow at Smilebox:

Make a free photo slideshow

Favorite Books & Authors

Writers are generally people who also like to read-- the two sort of go hand in hand, naturally.  So, who are my favorite authors?  What do I like to read?...

 

 

Most of my reading involves nonfiction books on occult topics by Silver Ravenwolf, Scott Cunningham, Ann Moura, Ly de Angeles, Raven Grimmasi, Laurie Cabot, Konstantinos, Raymond Buckland, etc. I love Anne Rice and when I'm in the mood, Poe. I adore Tennyson, had a crush on him when I was 18. Sir Thomas Mallory and all the tales of King Arthur, Charlotte Bronte and her sister Emily, Alice Hoffman (Practical Magick-- which turned into the modern witches' anthem), Dan Brown, Marion Bradley (The Mists of Avalon-- practically a bible for the spiritual feminist), the diaries and letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh-- and her classic "Gift from the Sea", "The Diary of a Witch" by Sybil Leek, books by the late Betty McDonald: "The Egg & I" and "Onions in the Stew". I like books on real life mysteries: The disappearance of Amelia Earhart, the Bermuda Triangle, etc. I love books about real life forbidden romance, such as King Edward VIII and Wallis Warfield Simpson. I use to love to read tawdry cheap love novels, but I no longer have the time or patience.

 

I tend to gravitate toward work that touches me in some way, that hits a key, connects with me on a personal level, or satisfies my curiosity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following is a list of the occult/new-age books you'll find on my shelves.  This list was compiled a couple years ago, so I'm pretty sure there's been an addition here and there:

1.  Wicca:  The Complete Craft, D.J. Conway
 2.  Solitary Witch, Silver Ravenwolf
 3.  Encyclopedia of Wicca and Witchcraft, Raven Grimassi
 4.  Palmistry, Roz Levine
 5.  Wicca, Vivianne Crowley
 6.  The Wicca Book, Sally Morningstar
 7.  A Grimoire of Shadows, Fitch
 8.  The Astrological Oracle, Lyn Birkbeck
 9.  The Goodly Spellbook, Lady Passion & Diuvei
 10.  Utterly Wicked, Dorothy Morrison (signed by author)
 11.  Witch: A Magical Journey, Fiona Horne
 12.  You Are Psychic, Katz
 13.  A Witch’s Notebook, Silver Ravenwolf
 14.  Crafting the Body Divine, Yasmine Galenorn
 15.  The Enchanted Candle, Lady Rhea
 16.  What’s Your Wicca IQ?, Laura Wildman
 17.  The Second Circle: Tools for the Advanced Pagan, Venicia Rauls
 18.  The Witch’s Book of Wisdom, Patricia Telesco
 19.  The Modern Witch’s Spellbook, Sarah Lyddon Morrison
 20.  The Witch in Every Woman, Laurie Cabot
 21.  Psychic Development for Beginners, William H. Hewitt
 22. Chakras for Beginners, David Pond
 23.  The Wicca Bible, Ann-Marie Gallagher
 24.  The Spells Bible, Ann-Marie Gallagher
 25.  Crystal Energy for Your Home, Ken & Joules Taylor
 26.  A Wizard’s Bestiary, Oberon Zell Ravenheart & DeKirk (signed by author)
 27.  Pagan Christmas, Ratsch & Muller-Ebeling
 28.  The Book of Chakras, Ambika Wauters
 29.  The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need, Joanna Martine Woolfolk
 30.  Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft, Raymond Buckland
 31.  The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Divination, Stephen Karcher
 32.  Witches, Hans Holzer
 33.  Crones Don’t Whine, Jean Shinoda Bolen
 34.  Dowsing for Beginners, Webster
 35.  The Teen Spell Book, Jamie Wood
 36.  Don’t Kiss Them Good-bye, Allison Dubois
 37.  Diary of a Witch, Sybil Leek
 38.  Old Souls, Tom Shroder
 39.  The Ghost Hunting Casebook, Natalie Osborne-Thomason
 40.  The Secret Teaching of All Ages, Manly P. Hall
 41.  Celtic Magic, D.J. Conway
 42.  The Pictorial Key to the Tarot, Arthur Edward Waite
 43.  Guide to Tarot, Sarah Kettlewell
 44.  Reading the Tarot, Leo Louis Martello
 45.  Llewellyn’s 2003 Wiccan Almanac
 46.  Llewellyn’s 2003 Magickal Almanac
 47.  Llewellyn’s 2003 Herbal Almanac
 48.  Llewellyn’s 2005 Magickal Almanac
 49.  The Witches’ Almanac 2004-2005, Elizabeth Pepper & John Wilcox
 50.  The Witches; Almanac 2006-2007,  Elizabeth Pepper & John Wilcox
 51.  Psychic Circle, Amyzerner & Monte Farber
 52.  To Ride a Silver Broomstick, Silver Ravenwolf
 53.  To Stir a Magic Cauldron, Silver Ravenwolf
 54.  To Light a Sacred Flame, Silver Ravenwolf
 55.  Moon Magic, D.J. Conway
 56.  Embracing the Moon, Yasmine Galenorn
 57.  Wicca:  A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, Scott Cunningham
 58.  The Complete Book of Incense, Oils, & Brews, Scott Cunningham
 59.  Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, Scott Cunningham
 60.  Spell Crafts, Scott Cunningham & David Harrington
 61.  Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic, Scott Cunningham
 62.  Nocturnal Witchcraft, Konstantinos
 63.  Witchcraft:  Theory & Practice, Ly De Angeles
 64.  The Magic Power of White Witchcraft, Gavin & Yvonne Frost
 65.  The Witch’s Book of Magical Ritual, Gavin & Yvonne Frost
 66.  Elemental Powers, Amber Wolf
 67.  Green Witchcraft, Ann Moura
 68.  The Lost Books of Merlyn, Douglas Monroe
 69.  Modern Magick, Donald Michael Kraig
 70.  Book of Shadows, Phyllis Curott
 71.  Silver’s Spells for Protection, Silver Ravenwolf
 72.  The Magical Household, Scott Cunningham & David Harrington
 73.  Magical Herbalism, Scott Cunningham
 74.  Drawing down the Moon, Margot Adler
 75.  The Gods of the Witches, Margaret A. Murry
 76.  The Book of Magickal Art, Hindoo magic, & Indian Occultism, Dr. L.W. De Laurence
 77.  The Everything Astrology Book, Trish MacGregor
 78.  The Complete Book of Dreams, Pamela Ball
 79.  The Everything Dreams Book, Trish & Rob Macgregor
 80.  The Everything Tarot Book, M.J. Abadie
 81.  The Everything Wiccan & Witchcraft Book, Marian Singer
 82.  The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Wiccan & Witchcraft, Denise Zimmerman & Katherine A. Gleason
 83.  The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Tarot, Arlene Tognettie & Lisa Lenard
 84.  Guide to Astrology, Julia & Derek Parker
 85.  Mythic Astrology, Liz Greene
 86.  Darkside Zodiac, Stella Hyde
 87.  The Astrology Directory, Annie Lionnet
 88.  The Book of Runes, Ralph H. Blum
 89.  The Learned Arts of Witches & Wizards, Anton & Mina Adams
 90.  The Tarot Directory, Annie Lionnet
 91.  A Magical Course in Tarot, Michele Morgan
 92.  The Complete Book of Tarot Spreads, Evelyn Burger & Johannes Fiebig
 93.  Tarot Mysteries, Jonathon Dee
 94.  Tarot Tips, Ruth Ann & Wald Amberstone
 95.  Power Tarot, Trish MacGregor & Phyllis Vega
 96.  Witchcraft: A Mystery Tradition, Raven Grimassi
 97.  Spells, Charms, Talismans & Amulets, Pamela Ball
 98.  Herbal Medicine, Dian Dincin Buchman
 99.  The Element Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells, Judika Illes
 100.  Llewellyn’s 2008 Witches’ Companion
 101.  1,001 Symbols, Jack Tresidder
 102.  Tarot Reading, Bridget Reed
 103.  Simply Tarot, Leanna Greenaway
 104.  Visconti Tarot, Giordana Berti & Tiberio Gonard
 105.  Spells Dictionary, Antonia Beattie
 106.  Angel Signs, Heldane, Seraye & Lagowski
 107.  Tao Oracle, Ma Deva Padma
 108.  The Secret Language of Relationships (astrology), Gary Goldschneider & Joost Elfers
 109.  The Complete Illustrated Guide to Palmistry, Peter West
 110.  Crone’s Book of Charms & Spells, Valerie Worth
 111.  Tarot Plain & Simple, Anthony Louis/illustrations Robin Wood
 112.  Essential Reiki, Diane Stein
 113.  Women Who Run With the Wolves, Clarissa Estes
 114.  Teach Yourself Cyrstal Healing, Roger C. Croxen
 115.  Crystal Healing Secrets, Brett Bravo
 116.  Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic, Catherine Yronwode
 117.  The Grandmother of Time, Z Budapest
 118.  Crossing to Avalon, Jean Shinoda Bolen, M.D.
 119.  Crystal Prescription, Judy Hall
 120.  The Gilded Tarot Companion, Barbara Moore
 121.  Summoning the Fates, Z Budapest
 122.  The Holy Book of Women’s Mysteries, Z Budapest
 123.  Celestial Wisdom, Z Budapest