Some Winter Inspiration

Some Winter Inspiration ~ a new blog post at Magickal Connections, something to snuggle down and read on this very cold winter weekend. Enjoy! 

 

 https://wytchymystique.com/2017/12/29/some-winter-inspiration/

 

 

 

 

Celebrate December!

 

Follow the Links to December/Winter themed blog posts & videos!

The Witch’s Corner ~ The Winter Solstice + Holiday Herbs + Holiday stones & crystals https://wytchymystique.com/2013/12/21/winter-solstice-december-magick-the-whys-hows/


December is almost upon us ~ https://wytchymystique.com/2015/12/13/decembers-full-moon/


A look back ~ December zodiac readings https://wytchymystique.com/2015/12/02/zodiac-tarot-readings-for-december-2015-aquarius-capricorn-pisces-aries/


A look back ~ December zodiac readings https://wytchymystique.com/2015/12/05/zodiac-tarot-readings-for-december-2015-taurus-gemini-cancer-leo/


A look back ~ December’s zodiac readings https://wytchymystique.com/2015/12/08/zodiac-tarot-readings-for-december-virgo-libra-scorpio-sagittarius/


Embracing Winter ~ https://wytchymystique.com/2014/10/23/magickal-preparations-for-winter/


A winter recipe with a magickal twist :) ~ https://wytchymystique.com/2013/12/14/gingerbread-a-magickal-recipe-for-yule/


What is magick, really?  This is magick… https://wytchymystique.com/2010/04/23/this-is-magick-2/


More recipes with a dash of magick and a pinch of inspiration ~ https://wytchymystique.com/2012/02/25/some-berry-nice-magick/

Confessions of a Pagan Mom~ Confession #7

I am exhausted.

That's it, this is confession #7.

It doesn't sound like much of a confession, does it, but it is (sort of, kind 'a) considering that, for some reason, people expect me to be cheerful, exuberant, enlightening, inspirational, and energetic (or "chipperfuck", as my husband Joe calls it) all the time.

I hate to disappoint, but I'm tired.  I have to admit that when I put some of my most recent videos together, I'm numb with exhaustion, and a couple times I was so tired I could hardly keep my eyes open.  But, for some reason, there are people like me (thank insanity, or stupidity) who just feel they need to keep going, and going, and going, and...

Why am I so tired?

1)  This gawd-forsaken never-ending Winter (said with great disdain and a scowly face).  If I were confronted by Frosty the Snowman today, I'd shoot the bastard.

2)  Financial stress...too many bills, not enough money coming in.  Budgeting on a shoestring is not all it's cracked up to be.  And this is so funny-- some days this topic seems overwhelming; and other days it's given barely a nod of recognition.  I think that it all depends on perspective.  It comes from trying to look at the Big Picture, when the Big Picture is too overwhelming and can't possibly fit into the everyday frame of life.  Sometimes, I tell myself (and other people tell me), take a deep breath and just think about/take care of One-Thing-At-A-Time.

3)  Job related stress, or the lack there-of...I've been doing so many really cool things-- damn cool neat shit (some I can talk about, and some you will probably never have a clue).  Life has been very exciting, life has tossed out some unexpected and new experiences for me to taste, just like chocolate chip cookies; but the ironic thing about all this damn cool neat shit is that it is not bringing in one penny of income (at least not right now, nor in the foreseeable future).

Ideas for Jobs...

I am apparently not qualified for any sort of employment, or Regular-Jobs, in this community. (Yes, I've tried dozens of places, dozens of applications, only a couple actual interviews.)  So I figure I have to look at what I CAN do, what ideas I have for jobs related to me and Things-I-Can-Do:

1)  My Own Business...we are pondering, in an on again/off again way, about starting up some sort of shop-- a magickal shop?  a coffee shop?  a tattoo shop?  a tea n' tarot shop?  a book shop?  any or all of the afore-mentioned?  To tell you the truth, I've wanted to do this for years, but to tell you the truth, at my age (I'll be 58 this year) the prospect of taking out a Huge Loan and trying to physically organize and run a new business, with no experience at doing this I should mention, is rather daunting.  And, if we were to open up a business, where would it be?  I can't hardly see me opening a Tea n' Tarot Shop in Fremont NE.  Most people I've talked to about this point their finger westward-- "You need to be in California." they say.  Tell me about it.

2)  Books!...yay, I have a new book coming out.  This is exciting, and I'm proud, and anxious, and feel deliciously accomplished and successful.  BUT, this book isn't even being released until April, and after that it will be months and months before I actually see a penny coming in from it (sometimes not until the end of the year).  In the meantime, I am a bag of nerves, and I spend many hours (too many hours) trying to push and promote, to hawk and sell this book online, through radio appearances, through word-of-mouth, through blogging (ahem), posting at various sites, etc. ad-infinitum.  I actually contacted Ms. Magazine the other day (an email to Michele Kort, the editor) to inquire if they would be interested in doing a review (all reviews are done in-house).  After really going over this magazine (I'm thinking, I'm a feminist, the book is on spiritual feminism, what's not to love) I realize that I probably don't fit into the glossy modern business savvy political female persona of that genre-- which is so ironic, even among the Feminist, I am a unique individual who doesn't fit any of the molds. 

3) Radio!...okay, Woman Speak was first conceived as a radio program, then as a google hangout, and then back to a radio program, and it finally evolved into a "Video Series", which is a Youtube video that is monetized.  But lets face it, unless a video goes viral, you're only going to be making pennies on it-- literally!  And do you want to know the truth-- my aspirations for the Woman Speak project actually went way beyond radio, I was thinking that this could be a really Cool talk show.  And I don't mean the usual woman drivel Let's-Look-At-Wedding-Dresses and What-Are-You-Feeding-Your-Babies-These-Days; but a television show that would touch on touchy Feminist subjects, a show that wouldn't be afraid to dip it's tippy-toes into the Pagan World as well as the mundane world of the Unusual Woman, women who live and think "outside the box".   (If there's a producer out there who's interested, call me.)

Are you tired?  Tired of Winter?  Just plain tired?

What's making you tired? 

And what can you do to fix the situation?

I Finally Got It Cleaned (a photo blog)



The Witchy Corner: upstairs hallway, all lit up.
 

I finally cleaned this infamous corner.  It's at the end of the upstairs hallway, and I swear I haven't touched it in two years.  This gave it a rather dusty-haunted-house-movie-set-look (I told myself.)  The old-black-magick vibes were so strong here, I claimed, "I won't even touch this corner!" (That's my story, and I'm stickin' to it.)  I got enough dust and dog hair off the bottom shelf to make another dog.

 

The Witchy Corner: upstairs hallway,
all dark & mysterious (and out of focus).

 

The Witchy Corner: All the glass jars and bottles are shiny and sorted.  I went through
herbs, magickal potions, graveyard dirt, incense, and candles...choking on dust all the way.

 

We haven't seen this cat (Bast) since yesterday afternoon, nor have we seen her sister, Duchess.  Where did she go? She's almost 14 years old and has lived here all her life, she doesn't wander away.  One thought I had was that the neighbor lady, who had a rummage sale in her garage yesterday, might have accidently closed up her sale at the end of the day and our cats right along with it-- if they were silly enough to have been sneaking around in her garage.  If we don't see these old ladies by tomorrow, I'll ask.




Bast

We are up, more often than not, at the crack of dawn. I have no idea why-- We don't have any place we have to be at this time of day.  (And when Joe goes back to work, on 2nd shift, the switch in timing is going to kill us!)  Morning is my favorite time of day.  I look forward to morning coffee; morning news; mornings on the back porch-- when it's warm; and mornings are my favorite time to write.  Morning sunshine is one of my favorite things. Mornings are a threshold (dawn), a magickal time.

Sunrise: I was trying to capture the rays of the sun through this series
of spider webs at the top of the ceiling.  But the sun was overpowering,
& I probably don't have the right kind of camera.

My birthday was in September, my 57th birthday.  I woke up that morning to a table full of flowers, boxes, cats, and a cake.  (It was a grand day.)  My kids are good kids, my hubby is a good hubby.  I am a lucky woman, I am, indeed.  Autumn is my favorite season-- I'm glad it is the season of my birth, says this Libra.

Notice the "Hershey's Chocolate Bar?  This, and a Rockstar
energy drink, are my favorite breakfast.  It's a perfect start to the day.

We're getting ready for Samhain (Halloween) on the 31st (my daughter, Sara's, birthday); and then we will be winding down, putting things away, battening down the hatches, preparing for the frigid winter we know is coming.  I feel an uncanny urgency to get this done quickly this year...it's an omen.  I feel winter coming, it's whispering in my ear.

"The Court" is so different this time of year.  In the summer months, this is a gathering place, a place for hot dog barbecues, early morning coffee, a gathering place to chat and re-group, a quiet place to read or write.  But all I can think of now is getting everything dismantled and put away before the North Wind hits and the Snow starts to fly.

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