Moving Tarot

Webster and I have a big decision to make, and that is whether we should move to LA for work, Portland for work, or try to stay in the SF Bay Area despite a very unstable work situation.  Wherever we move, he will probably have to travel to LA off and on for work.  The advantage to living in Portland is that there is a good work opportunity there and we could be close to our older children and Webster's family, not to mention the lower cost of living and "green" friendliness of the place.  The advantage of LA is that he'd have steady work with no breaks and I'd almost always get to see him at the end of the day, not to mention the beautiful weather.  He'd still be traveling back to Oregon at least once a month, though, to visit the boys.  Staying in SF is tricky, because Webster would wind up mostly working in LA, and dividing his weekends between the Bay Area and Oregon.  There is no obvious winner to this decision making process, although I could talk your ear off about what's wonderful and horrible about each place.  SF has been my home for a decade now, and I never had any intentions of leaving.  My friends and coven are here, and I have a good job.  However, it is not looking sustainable any longer, so we have to figure out what to do.  Naturally, I wanted to know what my cards have to say.  It looks to me like they want me to stay in SF, but I'm open to other interpretations, so please feel encouraged to leave comments below!

7 of Swords

Moving to LA - Pros

7 of Swords

This card has to do with sneaking, deception, trickery, theft, especially of the mind and ethics.  I am not sure how this could be interpreted as positive?  It is the clever person who works alone and has to make sacrifices.

9 of Wands

Moving to LA - Cons

9 of Wands, reversed

Despite feelings of fatigue, efforts are about to pay off.  This is not a comfortable situation to be in, feeling that "failure is not an option," and we can't give up after all the effort made to get to this place.  Lots of efforts are made to keep guards up, but those efforts will lead to success.

10 of Wands

Moving to LA - Overall Picture

10 of Wands, reversed

This is a card of success, getting what one wanted to achieve, yet the final result is that there is little passion for the project due to so much burdensome responsibility.

Two of Cups

Staying in the SF Bay Area - Pros

2 of Cups, reversed

This is a card of sympathy, friendship, goodwill and understanding.  That makes sense, as this is where my friendship base is centered.  I feel "in tune" with this place. 

The Devil

Staying in the SF Bay Area - Cons

The Devil, reversed

This is a card of pleasure, sexiness, excess, power and control, and sometimes addiction and loss of control.  Questions to ask would be along the lines of "what is so tempting and do you really want to resist it?"

The High Priestess

Staying in the SF Bay Area - Overall Picture

The High Priestess, reversed

This is a card of instincts and self-knowledge.  It has to do with being still with one's innermost self and listening to the wisdom of the universe from within.  It probably is pointing towards my high priestess path that lies here, with CAYA. 

Page of Cups

Moving to Portland - Pros

The Page of Cups

This is a card of fresh and deep feeling, artistic and story-telling inclinations.  This is a card of sensitivity and creativity, but in with a dose of silliness and perhaps immaturity.  

Ace of Pentacles

Moving to Portland - Cons

The Ace of Pentacles

This is a card of the beginning of prosperity.  It's like the seed that will grow into fortune.  Since this is in the "con" section, I would venture to guess that it has to do with not having as much money, although the promise of growing wealthy is there. 

Queen of Cups

Moving to Portland - Overall Picture

The Queen of Cups, reversed

The is the card of the nurturing woman, the one who wipes your tears and bakes you cookies and folds your laundry.  She has deep reserves of intuition and creativity, and her emotional depth is uncanny.  I'm not sure if this card is meant to be me, who is usually the Queen of Pentacles, or the land itself, or a new friend? 



The cards for Portland look rather positive, too.  Like I said, I would love to hear what anyone has to say about this reading in the comments below.

Daily Practice 2011

This is the new daily practice the clergy of CAYA Coven will be using.  It's like a prayer that you say every day. It was written by the gorgeous and talented Lady Rown Nightshade.

Calm, centered, honest, and true,

I give my love in service to my community.

With open heart and open mind,

I guide and tend the seeds of possibility.

My magic serves the greater good

And my will makes manifest my truth.

All these things I do with mindfulness,

As I tend others, so do I tend myself.

Blessed be.

In the Mother

This is a poem which I wrote many years ago. I'm hoping that someone out there would like to set it to music so that it can be a song. Please feel free to contact me if you'd like to write the tune.

In the Mother

Sooner or later,

We will all discover,

In the Mother, in the Mother,

We're all bound to one another,

As sister to brother,

And lover to lover,

Forever evolving together,

In the Mother,

Revolving forever.

Daily Practice

For almost a year now, the clergy of CAYA Coven have been reciting this prayer every day (given the vagaries of human nature):

I am grateful for all of my blessings,

The earth and the sun give me all that I need,

With plenty left over to share,

My energy is strong,

I accomplish my goals,

My wisdom, joy and love expand

As I walk in respect with (the Divine),

Blessed be.

I wrote this prayer and, after the Lady Yeshe Rabbit set it to music, I choreographed yoga dance motions to go with it. It was part of the "Wake up to Spirit" ritual that CAYA hosted at Pantheacon 2011. That means that a lot of people learned it, sang it and danced it. It is my hope that it blessed their day and that it will continue on in the world, shifting the world towards the beautiful everywhere it goes.

Gender and Magic

I am a Dianic witch, and I also hold very dear the rights of all self-identifying women to have access to women's sacred space. I am personally committed to supporting all women, no matter what body they find themselves in, find magical space that honors their life.

Due to recent events at Pantheacon, there has been a lot of charged emotions lately regarding this issue in the San Francisco Bay Area pagan world. If this topic has affected you, please take a moment to read CAYA Coven's response to the topic of PCon, gender and the Amazon Rite of Lilith. It was not the intention of the Amazon Dianic tribe that anyone suffer. Any future women's ritual we may have the honor of hosting at PantheaCon will be inclusive of all self-identifying women.

It is my sincerest hope that all women have what they need to find healing and their highest good. I am more than happy to be of service to that end, whenever I am able. Dianic witchcraft serves only female-born women who have need of that blood mystery magic, because it is a specialized type of service. That does not mean that there isn't room for other varieties of women's circles, both in CAYA coven (which there are) and anywhere there are women.

I fully stand behind the rights of all witches to create mystery traditions around their own gender variance if they perceive the need to do so. There is plenty of magic to go around. Many people do not feel the need or the call to gender mystery magic, and that is also totally OK. It takes all types to make the world go 'round. I joyfully circle with all types of people when I'm not in Amazon space, and I also respect those circles which I'm asked to abstain from entering, like, for instance, the men's mystery group in CAYA called the Green Men. It gives me great joy to know that there are men circling together, re-envisioning the divine masculine and making a better future for themselves and other men. I learned recently of a coven that is only for men who love men. Good for them, I say. I hope they are finding what they need. If my trans sisters have or want a special tradition that is just for them, I'd cheer them on in their power, and also be honored to get skyclad and dance under the moon with them in another sacred space open to all women.

There is no lack of divinity, love or magic for all of us here. There is only a need for greater understanding and mutual support. Let's open our hearts to the infinite variety of love and magic possible, and remember that we are all in this together.

Fly Lady

Lately, I've been following the Fly Lady system and having a lot of success. Have you heard of Fly Lady? Www.flylady.com is a resource for people who need help organizing their lives, whether that be from excessive clutter, habitually getting behind on their housework or struggling to stay on top of life's demands. She starts you off with 31 easy "baby steps," the first of which is cleaning your kitchen sink, which is probably the hardest step I've seen so far, although I'm only on day 13. She asks you to make simple changes, like cleaning for only two minutes. Two minutes! I can do anything for two minutes, right?

I've had the biggest kick out of trying her decluttering system. Fly lady suggests that you grab three bins: one for trash, one for giveaway, and one for things to put away. Pick a room to declutter and set the timer for 15 min. Anything that you find in this area that doesn't belong there, but you definitely want to keep, goes in the put away bin. The giveaway bin and trash bin have uses which are probably pretty obvious. When deciding whether to keep something or not, Fly Lady suggests that you ask yourself some questions. One of these is, "Does this object make me sad when I look at it?" My husband and I were just discussing the other night how so many things we have around the house are just items we've kept out of a sense of obligation, even though the objects just depress us. We put lots of stuff out on the curb, which is perfectly acceptable in West Oakland, and we were so happy afterwards. It was surprisingly fun and a big relief to just get rid of stuff like that. She also suggests asking yourself, when you see that you have more than one of something, "Do I really need multiples of this object? Is there one I like best that I could keep and get rid of the others?" I know that we have multiples of many things for which we only truly need one.

Part of the Fly Lady system is the art of creating and following routines that help you approach your day with a certain level of grace. A good example is to simply pick out your clothes the night before. This is something I've always known some people do, but I had never done it, since I never perceived the value of the practice. I started trying it because it's one of the Fly Lady baby steps, and I wanted to give her suggestions the old college try, right? So, in trying out this little habit, I've discovered that getting ready in the morning is actually much easier. I never realized how much time was wasted in the morning just trying to figure out what to wear. In the evening, it's an easy thing to do, because I have the energy to have fun picking out clothes. In the morning, I'm tired, and there's so many demands all at once, like the three cats circling me like vultures, wanting breakfast, and all the various tasks of motherhood. I've been pleasantly surprised to discover that I pick out pretty outfits in the evening, much nicer than what I tend to pick out in the morning, when I'm bleary-eyed and cranky. In the morning, the clothes I decide on tend to be pajamas. I've realized that, by wearing a more attractive outfit, I respect myself more, and that certainly helps me approach the day with more zeal.

A word of caution, though... If you plan on trying the Fly Lady system, be careful not to go overboard. She is always saying this is a potential pitful for those who get overly excited once they start cleaning, because folks gets overzealous and then burn out. She points out that your house did not get messy overnight, so don't try to get it clean overnight. Just keep plugging away in small increments and developing good habits, and eventually you will have a home in good order.

Dragon

You haven't heard from me in a long time, mostly because I found the challenges of motherhood more of a priority than updating my blog. There have been hundreds of times though that I felt the urge to write something about my experiences, but those ideas remain in the head rather than making it to the written word. If you are familiar with my baby blog, you'll see that I only updated once in the past eight or nine months.

I'm not happy with this state of affairs though. There is a lot that has been missed along the way that I wish I had recorded. While I can't really go back, because what's gone is gone, I can start from where I am and move forward, right? To that end, I have started a new practice. This practice will allow me to keep up to date on a number of projects while doing the things that I do anyway. I bought some software called Dragon speaking naturally, along with a Bluetooth headset, which allows me to simply talk, and it does all the typing for me! In fact, I have not typed a single word that you are reading here today.

Right now, it's probably not as fast as typing. The reason for this is that it's still learning the way that I talk. However, right out of the box, it's pretty darn accurate. I still have to watch the screen as I'm talking but pretty soon I probably won't need to watch the screen at all.

I'm hoping that in the near future, I'll be able to dictate several things: this blog, my baby blog, my art blog and my novel. Theoretically, I should be able to dictate while changing diapers, making lunch, giving a bath and all the things I do throughout the day. I'm pretty sure that I can also just record things into my digital recorder and then feed that back to Dragon.

Stay tuned!

Love,

Ladybug