Learning Tarot

I have had a passing interest in learning more about Tarot card reading for a long time.  I had always heard stories about my great-great-great grandmother and her tea leaf reading fame in the small town where she lived and maybe my wanting to read Tarot cards is in some small way an effort on my part to connect to her.  Until recently, though, learning Tarot was always put on a back burner for a time in my life when I had more time--until I joined an online group of women known as Spirit Sisters on Facebook, that is.  I am a procrastinator.  I am.  There is no way around it.  But, somehow, connecting with these women has really struck a cord in me and has made me want to delve deeper into my magickal studies.  I am very grateful for their energy, friendship, and wisdom...and I count myself very lucky to be one of their number.

Yesterday, I ordered my very first deck of Tarot cards.  After spending most of the morning looking at different decks and trying to find one that resonated with me...I finally chose the Radiant Rider-Waite Tarot deck:

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  I love the colors and imagery of this deck and can't wait to it arrives.  Until then I am going to study all I can so that I will at least know how to begin using them.  There are some wonderful Tarot discussions at the Spirit Sisters group and I will definitely be looking deeper into those.  I am really glad that I have some very knowledgeable and wise women to turn to for help in these studies.  Thank you Spirit Sisters!

A few weeks ago I was in a neat store we have in town called Earthtones.  They sell all manner of witchy and magickal items.  This store is owned by a really wonderful gal named Mary who also is the lady who first invited me to the monthly drumming circles I have been going to.  While looking at all of the cool things they have to offer one day before circle I came across a deck of oracle cards--The Wisdom of the Hidden Realms deck--a 44 card oracle deck by Colette Baron-Reid.

  Now, I know that these are not true Tarot cards but when I saw the imagery of the cards I just fell in love with them and had to get them.  These are some of the cards:

 Aren't they beautiful?  I have been spending a lot of time with the cards...getting to know them and letting them get to know me :-)  . 

For the first time last night I chose one card and it turned out to be card #38 The Keeper of the Scales...Fairness, Balance as Ally (or upright position).  This is from the book that comes with the deck:  "The Law of Harmony is enacted when the Keeper of the Scales comes to you as an ally.  Align with her as the law states, making conscious choices that create balance in your life.  When you do, you also magically align with the abundance of the universe and the powerful forces of synchronicity.  This creates conditions and possibilities  that lead to the fulfillment of your highest intentions.

Harmony begins with the self and then resonates out towards others.  You are in harmony with yourself when you nurture yourself with love, respect and acceptance, always fully taking responsibility for your actions.  Only then can you be in harmony with others.

Another message is restoration and the positive, fair resolution in all disputes, including those involving the legal system or other important exchanges.  The Keeper of the Scales is a just and kind ally, always making sure balance is activated on your path."

What does this mean to me personally?  I know that Balance is definitely something I need to work on.  Many of the things I have been focusing on are not about balance.  I need to take a hard look at this and begin the hard process of letting those things go. 

Interestingly, before I even chose the The Keeper of the Scales card I noticed that another card had separated itself from the deck and was just sitting there in a spot I do not remember placing it in.  This card was #16 The Shadow Queen...Acquiring Knowledge, Insecurity, Manipulation. 

This is what the book said about this card:  "The Shadow Queen tells you that too many of the details hidden behind your circumstances prevent your from moving forward quickly at this time.  She has come with a lantern to help shed light on what is concealed within you or your situation.  This is the time to wait for more to be revealed.

Perhaps you lack clarity and the knowledge of how to proceed with the subject of your inquiry.  It's time to educate yourself a little more about your intention and then put that information to work for you.  The Shadow Queen asks that you dig deep to gain strength and that you have the courage to ask someone "in the know" to shed some light on your circumstances.  She promises to send that person to you.  Beware of moving too quickly in the dark, as you will probably trip and fall and have to start again."

What does this mean to me?  "BINGO!!!"

I hope you will continue on with me through this learning adventure.  I am really looking forward to learning a little more about myself and I think Tarot can be a powerful tool to do just that.  So mote it be!

Lions and Birthdays and Ghosts...Oh My!

I commented a little bit about this last weekend on Facebook but had to share the goings on here in more detail.  I apologize for lack of portraiture as my "darling" hubby (read that as %@$!%!^!, LOL) hid my camera from me.  Well, okay, he didn't actually HIDE it from ME.  He somehow lost it in the car after I handed it to him to hold as I was driving.  So, no pictures of Tino's 10th birthday party...arggghhhh.

Anyway...I digress...and I need to back up a little bit so you can get the full impact of how exhausting this weekend truly was--exhausting but very fun, too.

It was to be the Big Birthday Weekend Extraordinaire--have I mentioned yet that we were celebrating a total of 4 birthdays on Saturday?  No?  Well, I shall now.  Yes, Tino actually turned 10 (September 9th) on Thursday but we waited to have his party until Saturday when all the family could be in attendance.  Roger's (hubs) birthday was Saturday (September 11th)...and my twin stepson's 20th birthdays are actually today (September 13th)...so we did what any certifiably crazy people would choose to do and decided to make it one big crazy day of birthdays. 

I was just finishing cleaning up my house when my daughter and her boyfriend arrived Friday afternoon for the festivities.  A couple of hours later my Mother-in-law drove in from Ojai and we barely had time to kiss her hello before dashing out to the grocery store for provisions (did I just say "dashing"?).  Thankfully Tino stayed with Grandma Rufee so Rog and I were able to get in and get out of the store in record time--arriving home around 9:30pm.  Then it was time to bake Tino's chocolate birthday cake.  I think I stumbled off to bed around 11:30 or so.  Not sure, really.  I was a bit delirious by this time.

This was the simplified version of our Saturday agenda:

9:15am  Tino's Soccer Pictures
10:40am Farmer's Market to pick up fruit, grassfed friggin awesome ground beef, and scrumptious sweet corn on the cob to go with the tri-tip BBQ going on later
11:40am Get the coach (Rog) to the soccer field late (oye) and back hatch of Mother-in-law's new car won't open...problem cuz thats where the balls are...
11:45am Hatch of car finally opens
11:50am Arrive on soccer field...it's getting hot...it's been really nice and cool for several days but Saturday it decides to get hot....look around and decide that it is going to be too hot for the older folks who are coming to see the game to sit out in the sun for the whole game...decide to go back home and pick up the umbrella stand
11:55am Leave and go pick up umbrella stand at home
12:00 Noon Arrive back at soccer field, game starts, family members start arriving and everyone is glad of the umbrella
1:15pm Soccer game ends...The Blue Torpedoes are  victorious for their first game...family and friends have all lost their voices from screaming and yelling.
1:30pm Everyone back at our house.  Time to visit and have a Fuzzy Navel before heading to Paso Bowl for Tino's birthday party
3-5pm Tino's party at Paso Bowl...7 boys, 1 niece, and a lot of family had a fun time bowling...eating pizza and chocolate cake
5:20pm  Everybody arrives back at our house for BBQ and the continuing birthday celebrations for Rog and Brett & Ryan

Oh, and around about nightfall, some of us got a crazy idea to go and check out a supposedly haunted house out on Santa Rita Road...and a hanging tree--you know just for good measure.  Santa Rita Road is quite a spooky, windy road that takes you way out into nowhere.  I mean, during the day it is a really pretty drive but at night...you feel like you are about to hear the banjo start playing right out of Deliverance--as soon as I find my camera I will have to take some pictures to show you. 

And yes, the girls got scared and we pretty much stayed in the car while the guys went and checked out the house.  But we did check out the hanging tree and you can see where the ropes left marks in one of the tree limbs high over head.

Anyway...Supposedly...the story goes...that a family with twin teenage girls lived in the house back in like 1950 or 1960 and one of the girls was messing around with her father's loaded rifle and ended up accidentally shooting her twin and killing her and then she turned the gun on herself afterward.  They say that you can still see the buckshot in the ceiling with bits of old blood and hair...and that workers had been working on the house years ago and something had scared them so bad that they left the house and left all of their tools and equipment behind and never returned.  Now, we are hearing all these tales from my daughter's boyfriend who also says that he had gone into the house a few years ago one night with friends and that he was the last one inside and that he believes that he was touched by something on his shoulder.  Now, I am not privvy to any knowledge of whether or not said boyfriend had been smoking some type of mind altering substances that night or not--he swears no, though. 

My brother-in-law, my sister and I did go back to check out the house the next day...yes, in the daylight, LOL...and managed to get in through a small window over the basement stairs.  The house is filled with old building materials but I did not see much in the way of tools--except for an old band saw on the front porch--BUT...there is a spot in the ceiling where there is either birdshot or buckshot (not sure what the difference is) embedded in it and the area looks spattered with a dark brown substance...old dried blood?...and something that looked a bit like hair?  Okay, it was dark...and it was hard to see cuz all the windows and door are boarded up...but....ya, we didn't stick around too long after that.  I did not get any bad vibes off the house--and I usually will in situations like these--and my brother-in-law who is Miwok Indian and very sensitive to vibes didn't feel anything much either.  Who knows...

And the rest of Sunday, after all the family went home, was pretty much about rest and recovery.  I miss them like crazy already, though.

And how was your weekend?  Any ghost hunting of your own?  Hope it was a great weekend for you no matter what you did.  Blessings...

Um, Where the Hell Have I Been?

Wow!! My last post was in March???  How did that happen?  I don't know...I can't say.  I can't even say that I was working on some big project that took up all my time.  Well, unless I can just say "life".  That is my only excuse.  But, the ol' Homestead has been calling to me.  I am back.  I am sorry for leaving anybody hanging.  And to those who stuck around and believed that I would one day find my way home again...thanks.  I look forward to getting to know all of you again.  To visiting your blogs again and reading your words.  I have missed you all.  Blessings....

She's Spreading A Little Sunshine Once Again

I feel a little sheepish getting two awards in the same week and from the same gal to boot.  But, shoot.  The way I see it is that life is short--and it can pretty much suck sometimes--but when a little bit of good comes your way you better grab a hold with both hands and hang on tight.  So that's what I am gonna do. 

So, thank you very much, Miss Willow, for this lovely award.  Once again you have brightened up my day.  Blessings to you, love!

Here are the rules:

1) Place the award on your blog or within your post.
2) Pass the award on to twelve Sunny Bloggers -- those whose positivity and creativity inspire others!
3) Link to the nominees in your post.
4) Tell the nominees they've received the award by commenting on their blogs.
5) Share the love and link to the person from whom you received the award.

And here are those blogs and their people who bring a little bit of sunshine into my life:

1)Deep Inside My Broom Closet
2)Hibiscus Moon
3)Life in a Cordwood Cabin
4)Little House in the Suburbs
5)Living the Frugal Life
6)Moontides
7)Octoberfarm
8)On the Way to Critter Farm
9)Plant Journeys
10)Ship Full Of Pirates
11)Small Farm Girl
12)Sunny Side Up

So enjoy ya'll.  And remember, I know some bloggers don't do the tags and award thingys--and that is totally cool--I still love ya anyway.

Waterfall Cub Scout Hike

Last Saturday, my friend, Mary, came along with Tino and I on a Cub Scout hike in an area near where we live.  The weather was perfect and the scenery was just gorgeous but in some places the trail was very muddy and we had to keep a close eye out for poison oak because it was EVERYWHERE!

My friend, Mary, in the foreground in the blue coat and Tino in the center of the picture in the dark sweatshirt

If you look in the above photo the little guy standing to the left of my son is only 3 years old and he was such a trooper.  He walked the whole way with nary a complaint the whole time.

Tino

There was a beautiful stream flowing alongside much of the trail. 

Mary and Tino

The Cub Scouts

The gentleman is the right of the photo above is such a nice man.  He is a wealth of information concerning the names of plants and what they can be used for and he has the patience of Job when he is talking to the kids.

Another shot of the hikers and the stream

This is a waterfall that is actually at the beginning of the hiking area (we did not share the waterfall with the Cubs until after the hike as we knew we would never be able to pull them away from it to do the actual hike, LOL)  It is so pretty.  I know it is hard to see but that dark area to the right of the waterfall is actually a cave.  The very nice gentleman I was talking about earlier led the Cubs in and showed them around with his flashlight.  Tino loved it!

Tino standing at the mouth of the cave with someone else behind him a little bit inside of it.

And this is Tino standing up above the waterfall.  I looked away for a moment and almost had a heart attack when I looked up to where he was.  Of course, I had to snap a picture before I hollered to him to get the heck down from there.

Miss Rocky

Miss Rocky is still with us.  She is still mighty sore but she seems to be doing pretty well.

W...T....F!!!!!!!

Do any of you know about this shit?  Pass this YouTube video around.  They aren't using any Vaseline folks but we are definitely getting f*cked.  Excuse my language but I am livid.  I know people who have lost their homes or who don't know if they will be able to keep them from one month to the next.  And to know that these people are so callous just makes my blood boil.  Our tax dollars bailed these banks and business out so that they would not go under.  Did they then turn around and offer help to the homeowners?  Not hardly.  How can these people live with themselves?