HELLO - I'M BACK!!

It's been a long time since I've been active on this site, and for this I apologize.  Once I explain what has kept me busy, I hope you will understand and forgive me.

I have been very busy writing, writing, and more writing.  So much writing, for that matter, that it allowed me no time to work on my Blog.  Here is what I have self-published:

Points of the Pentagram:  An Elemental Journey Through Dreams and Visions.  Published through First Choice Publishing, the book is available only directly through me, but soon will also be available through Lulu.com  Non-fiction, it's a biographical account of how my dreams, meditations, rituals, visions, and insights have guided my life.  Please contact me if you are interested in obtaining a copy.

Every Story Has a Story:  An Anthology of Short Stories and Poetry.  Published through Lulu.com.  ""Every Story Has a Story" is a collection of short stories and poetry that have been written over the years. Inspired by life, nature and experience, these pieces speak their own language and tell tales of the mundane made fantastic."

Nightshade - an urban fantasy written during the National Novel Writing Month.  Published through Lulu.com. "Welcome to Stonewood Vale - an ordinary small town in Northern Ontario. There you will find friendly people, clean streets, wild winter snows and warm summer nights. However, Stonewood Vale has its secrets. Driving along the highways, this little town is easily missed,. Those who do manage to find their way there may find it very ordinary indeed - or not. One such young lady found herself there, and found her life changed forever"

Kaleidoscope - .The beginning of the Stonewood Vale series.  I have started this novel in the early 1980's, and was positive I would never finish it.  Suddenly, it demanded attention, and was completed in record time! At this moment, the novel has been submitted to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Competition, and I'm hoping for the best, of course.  Available through Lulu.com.  "Ordinary people in an ordinary small town get caught up in extraordinary adventures off-world and on Earth.Worlds of wonder and hellish vistas open before them, but all this pales in comparison to meeting - themselves!"

Harriet's Story - the next novel in the Stonewood Vale series, and a work in progress.  I'm hoping to have it finished in a couple of months.

I'm also busy working on an autobiography, a book of poetry, and a book entitled Wiccan Witchcraft A to Z.  My goal is to have at least two books finished and published this year.  In the meanwhile, I'll post here about once a week to keep you updated on the progress.

Be well, everyone!!

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/SnowPhoenix 

SO, IT'S ALL OVER...

I see I missed a piece of shiny stuff - and here I thought I put all the Yule stuff away...

Oh well, that's easily taken care of.  I look around now and the place looks so much larger, so ... empty.  Even though the top of the piano now sports a different arrangement (including a perpetual live Yule pine  tree, the absence of the larger tree and all the greenery has opened up the room.

And with all those decorations being put away, we have come to the end of another Yule/Christmas/New Year's holiday season.  In a way I'm very happy - mainly because I don't have to see and hear all those commercials any more, or hear what a wonderful season it was for retailers.  I'm also happy that the TV programming is going back almost normal.  Yeah, I know, it's a weird thing.

But there is something about the whole mid-winter that I find very magickal and exciting.  I love the lights, the shining tinsel, all the well-wishing

BIRTH OF A NEW BOOK

What have I gotten myself into!? 

These words reverberated in my brain more than once as I sat here, morning after morning. The blank screen just blinked at me without the magical outpouring of wise words. No, that was left up to me to conjure forth. Slowly, one word at a time, they appeared. Other mornings I felt as though I was taking dictation from another source, so easily did the words come to me. Still, "What have I gotten myself into!?" would wail out more often than not
. 
For years, I had wanted to write a book. In one form or another, writing has been a huge part of my life, starting with my journals in my teen years, and continuing through my adult life. Business writing became a must in the course of my jobs, and I became very skilled in putting together all sorts of brochures, programs and reports. In the early 1980's, I began working on a science-fiction novel, which I almost finished, before I realized that it would always remain a wonderful exercise in all things pertaining to putting a novel together. Short stories, articles, poetry and essays - these all poured out of me, and many were published in various magazines and books. 

Eventually, I became a Wiccan High Priestess, and this opened up a whole new outlet for writing - construction of rituals, which involve invocations and chants, essays on things I have learned and been inspired by, and most of all, dreams! It was during this time that I began to dream very vivid dreams, and began to keep a very detailed accounts of them. 
This brings us to this book I have finally written from beginning to end. Points of the Pentagram was inspired by these dreams and meditation visions that I have been experiencing on a regular basis. I asked myself at one time, "what if it's nothing more than an overactive imagination?" The answer came just as quickly, "So what if it is? Does it make all these experiences any less real?" 

And so I dived in and wrote from my heart, from my soul, and from my spiritual connection to the Divine. It is my wish that these words will also inspire you, the readers, to spread your wings and fly outside the comfort zone! 

'Points of the Pentagram' is an autobiographical journey I've been on for many years.  Specifically, it deals with my visions and dreams as they take me around the Elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit. I'm excited, terrified as I now wait for the books to arrive.  

DREAMWALKING

This is a place I have never been in before – it is night, the sky is a deep royal blue and filled with white diamond stars.  I do not see the Sister Moon.  The ground is a vibrant orange-red, and is a desert marked with huge rock formations that form a surreal landscape.  These rock formations have been honed by the wind to resemble statues, some squat and round, others lean and tall.  Against the starlit dark sky, these become alive, denizens of the desert.  It feels neither too warm nor too cold, and is too constant to feel natural, although it is very natural indeed, while the winds are light, stirring up the red dirt into small dust devils that settle just as quickly.

Now I see that there are two other men there, one very young, barely out of his teens.  His companion is an older man just entering his middle age span of life.  Both are attired in North American Native garb – buckskin, furs, and homespun garments, jewellery of turquoise, shells and agate, head dresses of feathers.  They have drums and rattles and woven blankets which they spread on the red ground, and wave me to come closer. 

I do so without hesitation, because I know I’ve been called here, and I recognize this now as a place in the spiritual realm, what their vision of The Great Spirit would be.  Speaking to me without speaking, they tell me that they need to work in opening a temporal gate, because some people are trapped behind that barrier.  I nod my understanding, and wait for further instructions.  The men strip their clothing off, leaving only their footwear, loincloths and jewellery on.  The younger one takes up a drum and begins to walk the circle drumming.  The older man lies down on the blanket and motions me to lie down with him.  I do not hesitate, and do so immediately.  He instructs me, again without words, that we must now enter into our Dreamwalker state, and travel across the temporal wall to create the doorway from there.

He holds me tightly, and I am very, very aware of his chiseled hard body spooning next to me, but I turn away from such thoughts and set my intent in concert with his, as we both, entwined more intimately than in sexual bond, let our spirits fly.

The world blurs around me, and although it is still the same, it is somewhat different.  I recognize this as “seeing it from the other side”.  I find a native rattle trimmed with buffalo hair in my hand suddenly, and am jolted with a sense of honour that this confers to me.  I feel humbled and elated, silently thanking the Powers for this blessing, and knowing that I know what to do, begin to beat a counterpoint rhythm to the drumming I still hear as a pulse of my blood.  My Dreamwalker partner is now dancing to the beats, his feet barely stirring the dust.  Our work is separate yet as one… the beats of rattle, drum and dance … our hearts beat as one… as one… one…

… and now we’re back, with about a half-dozen other people around us.  The drumming still continues, as the younger man circles the space and we Dreamwalkers get up off the blanket.  I suddenly feel annoyed, because one of the women with curly blond hair, starts talking non-stop.  The other people appear to be too dazed to say anything, while she keeps chattering as though she never stopped even during her entrapment.  All the people rescued are dressed in 19^th century clothing, and I get a sense that what has happened transversed across all time, and somehow threw it out of balance.  These are mysteries I do not understand, knowing only that we succeeded in our mission.

My elders are now getting dressed again, and I approach them to return the rattle, but they tell me it’s now mine, as thanks for the work I did with them.  Again, I feel deeply humbled and honoured, as I bow my thanks.

We are instructed to stand in a tight group.  The spectacular royal blue sky and burning red sands fade around us, and I drift gently towards wakefulness…  

WEEKEND IN THE ASTRAL

This summer was not an easy one for me so far.  It showed me that I could not go camping any more, which meant I was not able to attend WiccanFest, and I realized that I missed such an outing.  So when I received an invitation to attend a weekend in London involved in a workshop exploring Astral Travel, I jumped at the chance.  I passed the invitation to my friend, Mary Ann, and she too was very excited to take a break from “life”.

We left on Friday, which was the hottest day of the year.  With temperatures shattering records, soaring into the mid 40’s with the humidex, it proved very difficult for me but stoically made my way to the Aldershot train station.  Fast forward to London, and we were eventually picked up by Kim, one of the organizers and someone I met two years ago at WiccanFest .  Since we were early, she kindly opened up her home to us, until it was time to head out to the venue.

Mary Ann and I speculated as to how our accommodations will turn out.  We imagined that it would be very much like a utilitarian university dorm room, with a wooden plank supporting a foam pad for a bed.  And then we drove up to this beautiful Tudor-style house, nestled deep In the university property, surrounded by trees, lawns and even a forest in the back!  I noticed details like the dark-stained oak beams, showing the axe marks, the diamond-paned windows, the solid oak door with iron bound hinges, and… and… AIR CONDITIONERS!!

Inside the house carried through the theme.  The floor was hardwood, secured with wooden pegs and laid out in a beautiful pattern, a huge living room where we were going to meet, an elegant dining room, and our bedroom, oh, my gods, the bedroom was huge, with two double beds, desks, and dressers, a dressing room with more closets and shelves, and a bathroom that was almost as large as the bedroom, complete with a tub and walk-in shower.  And an AIR CONDITIONER all to ourselves!! 

Friday was an afternoon and evening of just getting settled and acquainted with all the participants.  Sadly, in spite of the comfort and coolness of the room, I did not sleep well, but still managed to have a very strong dream, which I wrote down quickly while we all gathered for breakfast.  Over cereal, eggs, toast, bagles, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, etc., not to mention pots of coffee and tea, we got fueled up for the morning session.

T. Thorne Coyle – she was the magnet that drew us all to this spot.  A beautiful person, wise soul, wonderful teacher and an overall joyous presence.  Starting the morning session with drumming, singing, dancing, invocations and gratitude praise, she then spoke of inward and outward journeys of the spirit. 

Deep meditation, deeper journey…

Drumming, singing…

Prayers, praise,

Dancing, sinking into bottomless silence…

Weeping, confessions…

Pouring out of the soul, comfort and encouragement…

How can I possibly describe the intensity of such exploration, both personal and group incorporate, of journeys we made together and individually.

Questions, concerns…

Answers, discussions…

Crayons, oil pastels…

Writing, drawing…

Visualizing, manifesting…

And so it continued.  Lunch was a welcome break – we needed to refuel and ground, then back for the afternoon session…

Out of body, etheric body…

Internal, external flights…

More words, thoughts….

Spirits, souls intertwined,

Grief and joy…

Teaching, listening...

Flying, grounding…

Supper – time to take a deep breath and ground again.  We all relaxed, visited, evaluated, laughed, and finally went our different ways – some to the Sun Festival, some to the planetarium or the labyrinth.  There was lots to do, and lots to explore, but I passed it all up, because what I needed most at that point was solitude and sleep.  Solitude to start digesting all the day’s exercises, and sleep, because by then I was about 40 hours without solid sleep.

Sunday morning, I got up before anyone else, except for the person who started the coffee brewing – I never did find out who that was.  I made myself a large mug of tea and went out onto the patio to enjoy the beauty of the green grounds and the forest at my back.  The horrible heat broke, so the air was cool and fragrant with the living green and filled with the songs of birds.  I saw squirrils, and so hoped to see a fox.  I was told that there is a rather large population of foxes there, but sadly, none showed up for a visit.  I had to be content with seeing one in my dream.

People started to filter down stairs, and soon I was busy setting out the breakfast stuff, and then eating, and once again we gathered in the living room ready to take on the next challenges.  The morning was spent in building our Astral Temples, and painstakingly setting paths, keys, gateways and intent – ah yes, Intent!  - to all our work.

More drumming and dancing…

More singing and chanting…

More flights of soul and spirit…

And finally, it was over. 

What!?  Where did it all go?  Wait – bring it all back!!  It can’t be time to go home yet!!  And yet, and yet… yeah, I had to admit that I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed.  It was indeed time to head home, to sleep in my own bed and begin digesting the huge amount of teaching, inspiration, of input and output.  Fast forward, to home, to my own little cocoon. 

Slept for 12 hours…

And now feel ready to start processing and practicing what I have learned. 

It was a perfect weekend, one that has enriched me in so many ways, and one that will continue to enrich my spirit for every day.  It was life-altering, and forced me to grow in unexpected ways.

Thank you, my deepest thanks to Thorne, for travelling so far to share your wisdom with us.  Thank you, Kim, for being our chauffer, and for opening up your Goddess Grotto to us.  Thank you, to the organizing committee for putting all of this together.  Thank you to Brough House for hosting the event, and to all the people behind the scenes that made this possible.  Thank you to all who attended – you have enriched my life in ways I can never express adequately.

Thank you, Goddess, for bringing me in contact with these wonderful people.

Thank you, Nagas, for intertwining yourselves into my life.

Thank you…! 

G IS FOR GODDESSES AND GODS

A number of years ago, shortly after I my first initiation, I was having a conversation with a friend who is a hard-core skeptic.  He tried not to smirk at my new-found path, and I tried to contain my adoration for the Gods from spilling out too much.  Neither of us succeeded.

Not for the first time – or the last – I was told of how religion has come to be and how useless it is.  He told me of how ancient men responded to a thunder storm, and how frightening it must have been to them to see the lightning flash across the sky and the thunder roll through the clouds.  And how in fear and defiance, they raised their spears and sticks heavenward, shaking them, throwing them towards the powers they did not understand.

And in that instant, I was flung back, back through history, back through the ages and civilizations, to that point in time when there were no cities, no buildings, no roads.  Back to the time when only wilderness covered this earth and these first forbearers, the first ancestors of our ancestors walked the earth in small familial tribes.  And I saw that first thunderstorm that frightened them so.

It was an instance of great enlightenment and awakening, for I realized how significant it was, that first instance, that mankind’s first encounter with something larger and unmistakably beyond them.  That recognition of the Great Spirit!! 

That recognition could only have come, because mankind itself was endowed with the same Spirit!

People all over the world went on to develop civilizations, each with their own views, each with their own Gods and Goddesses, each building monuments and pyramids of great structures to honour these invisible but incredibly alive Deities, each thinking they were the only ones who have seen Them truly.  Somewhere along the line, these views of the Divine caused schisms and divisions, and in an effort to protect their views, their ways of seeing the Gods, wars ensued.

From my vantage point, in the next instance, I saw things differently – each civilization, each ethnic group of people saw the Divine exactly as they were supposed to see it.  The Divine is simply too large, too universal, too cosmic to see as a unified force.  Whether one sees the Gods and Goddesses through the eyes of the Hindu, Egyptian, Buddhist, or Norse, whether Jewish, or Christian, what people see here are just splinters of the Godhead.  Further, these splinters are sub-divided and every human, whether a believer or not, carries this spiritual fragments and it is by these, the earliest of mankind was able to recognize that Gods exist.  Each culture is like a facet within the great diamond which is the Divine Godhead.  Facets of a diamond do not fight with each other – they glow with their own unique spiritual light, even as each culture, and each person within each culture is supposed to shine with his and hers own unique spiritual light.  Together, we all create a mosaic of light and wonder that reflects the Light and Wonder of the already eternally established spiritual realms of the Gods.

Ours is a very small planet spinning around a star of no great significance in the skies, and yet, we have here a life form called human beings.  Around this planet is an aura, a spiritual cloud to which we all are connected, not only to each other and every other person on this world, and to the Divine power, regardless of how it chooses to reveal itself to us! 

F IS FOR FLOW

Life is a river that flows within all

Flows smoothly, flows relentlessly,

Flows through and about

Life is a river of energy and spirit

Flowing towards and in everyone

Flows – there is no stopping it

Flows – you cannot avoid it

Or sidestep it

Or run away from it.

Flowing from you is an endless stream

Of thoughts and emotions, will and spirit

Flowing from others is a constant torrent

Of thoughts and emotions, will and spirit

Flowing, colliding, mingling,

Contributing, dividing, touching

The flow of life emanating from

Each and every life and spirit

On earth and the universe!

Flow the red stream from the bodies of women

Flow the white stream from the bodies of men

Flow the gush of water that brings forth new life

Flow of Spirit that ends the earthly journey

Flow of Spirit to Spirit

Flow from Divine to Mortal

And Mortal back to Divine

Flow, flow, flow eternal