Be Strong Enough…

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Humble & Different

Do You Know The Hallmark…

“Do you know the hallmark of a second rater? It’s resentment of another man’s achievement. Those touchy mediocrities who sit trembling lest someone’s work prove greater than their own – they have no inkling of the loneliness that comes when you reach the top. The loneliness for an equal – for a mind to respect and an achievement to admire. They bare their teeth at you from out of their rat holes, thinking that you take pleasure in letting your brilliance dim them – while you’d give a year of my life to see a flicker of talent anywhere among them. They envy achievement, and their dream of greatness is a world where all men have become their acknowledged inferiors. They don’t know that that dream is the infallible proof of mediocrity, because that sort of world is what the man of achievement would not be able to bear. They have no way of knowing what he feels when surrounded by inferiors – hatred? No, not hatred, but boredom – the terrible, hopeless, draining, paralyzing boredom. Of what account are praise and adulation from men whom you don’t respect? Have you ever felt the longing for someone you could admire? For something, not to look down at, but up to?”

“I’ve felt it all my life,” she said.” ―Ayn Rand

 

I Wish You The Wisdom…

The Lotus…

“The lotus is the most beautiful flower, whose petals open one by one. But it will only grow in the mud. In order to grow and gain wisdom, first you must have the mud — the obstacles of life and its suffering. The mud speaks of the common ground that humans share, no matter what our stations in life.  Whether we have it all or we have nothing, we are all faced with the same obstacles: sadness, loss, illness, dying, and death. If we are to strive as human beings to gain more wisdom, more kindness and more compassion, we must have the intention to grow as a lotus and open each petal one by one. ” ―Goldie Hawn

Laugh…

“Laugh, even when you feel too sick or too worn out or tired.

Smile, even when you’re trying not to cry and the tears are blurring your vision.

Sing, even when people stare at you and tell you your voice is crappy.

Trust, even when your heart begs you not to.

Twirl, even when your mind makes no sense of what you see.

Frolic, even when you are made fun of.

Kiss, even when others are watching.

Sleep, even when you’re afraid of what the dreams might bring.

Run, even when it feels like you can’t run any more.

And, always, remember, even when the memories pinch your heart. Because the pain of all your experience is what makes you the person you are now. And without your experience—you are an empty page, a blank notebook, a missing lyric.

What makes you brave is your willingness to live through your terrible life and hold your head up high the next day. So don’t live life in fear. Because you are stronger now, after all the crap has happened, than you ever were back before it started.” ―Alysha Speer

Every Time I See This, It Reminds Me Of Who I Am

My sister-in-crime and best friend in Israel sent me the most awesome message for my birthday. Yes, it was last month, but I just have to share it now because it’s one of the only things that makes me feel SO good inside at the moment, and I’m going through some pretty rough shit, so certain things right now are my guideposts.

Birthdays are extremely difficult for me, and she knows how I feel about them, and why. So, at the end of the day when I came home feeling like death, unable to walk, really hurting physically, I put aside the gifts I had received (four bottles of nail polish, four CD’s I wanted {Alter Bridge, Cassadee Pope, OneRepublic, & Gavin DeGraw}, some candles that I am LOVING, the Divergent Trilogy, and season 1 of Sons of Anarchy on DVD, and this was the message waiting in my e-mail box: “Happy Birthday to the one and only! G-d blessed you with one of many gifts, and that is the ability to use words, mold them into sentences, and make the world a beautiful place. My wish to you is that people will come to know you beyond the words. See you for who you really are, a powerful woman, a kind soul, a true friend with a huge heart. Don’t be afraid to dream big because you deserve it! Love ya!”

That message means more to me than anything else on the planet right now. For those who’ve been trying to steal my voice and the core of who I am this past year, and those who’ve hurt and abused me in unspeakable ways, please know that my true friends in this world KNOW who I am, and they certainly aren’t afraid to tell me that you’re all WRONG.

Blessed Samhain & Happy Halloween

Today is Samhain. It is one of the most important of the 8 Sabbats as it is the Pagan New Year. The wheel of the year has turned full circle and a new year begins. The word ‘Samhain’ means Summers end. It is pronounced ‘Sowin’. Samhain is the third of the harvest festivals, only this isn’t a harvest of crops or grain, it is the harvest of flesh. It was the time of year when farmers and families would slaughter cattle and preserve the meat to last through the cold winter months. Samhain is a festival of death as it is the death of the year and of the waxing Sun. It is also the death of the earth when Plants, seeds, and acorns are now slowly descending underground to ready themselves to be reborn in Spring. Animals will start to hibernate, and the earth will appear barren as it sleeps through the winter months.

Earth energies are being pulled inwards at this time, and this is the time we should also be looking inwards at ourselves. Contemplate the year we have had and the lessons we have learned, whether they were good or bad, what can we take from them and use in the future. The God of the waxing Sun descends into the underworld opening up the veil between the two worlds of the living and the dead. At Samhain, spirits can commune with the living and visit us. We remember our ancestors, the people and pets who have died, and we honor them by placing pictures of them on our altars (you do not need an altar to be Wiccan) and invite them to join us. We should also adorn our altars with seasonal fare such as fallen leaves, twigs, acorns, nuts, turnips, and pumpkins and offer these as gifts to the Triple Goddess who is now in her crone phase. She is the wise, dark mother of knowledge and days past.

Although a time of death, Samhain is also a time of fresh starts and new beginnings. It is a time of ‘out with the old, in with the new’, to start looking forward to our future. On Samhain we should light a fire, as this is primarily a Celtic fire festival where the villagers and townsfolk would light giant bonfires to say goodbye to the God of the waxing Sun, and to thank the Goddess for her gifts bestowed upon the earth. There would also be big feast with stews, corn, and breads, and we would give thanks for people in our lives and show gratitude for all that we have, and give thanks to the people who are no longer with us and invite them to join us at the feast.

Light a candle tonight and put it, safely, near a window facing West to light the way for our lost loved ones and invite their spirits to visit us.

Today is a great time for divination, for doing tarot readings, looking to the future, and asking ourselves how we can improve our lives and move forward for the coming year.

Have a Blessed & Safe Samhain/Halloween.

*Written credit in full goes to Wicca Teachings*

Happy Full Blood Moon!

Tonight is the Full Moon, known as the Blood Moon because between now and Samhain/Halloween was the harvest of flesh, it was the time when the farming community would slaughter cattle and preserve the meat to last through the winter months. Poorer families would use the brightness of this full Moon to go hunting for their meat. So it became known as the Blood Moon, it is also called the Hunters Moon, the Shedding Moon, or the Falling Leaf Moon.

This Full Moon there is also a penumbral lunar eclipse when the Moon will appear much dimmer and redder than normal. The lunar eclipse will be visible to people living in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and parts of Asia just before midnight GMT.

The Full Moon is in the sign of Aries, making it all about pent up emotions and balance. The eclipse will also have your emotions reeling and will have you asking yourself are you in the right place you wish to be at this time and questioning your current situation.

The Aries Lunar Eclipse requires us to be balanced in our masculine and feminine energies. Masculinity is not better than Femininity. Femininity is not better than Masculinity. We need a balance of both male and female to be whole. This will bring you towards greater self-expression and freedom. You may feel a strong need to stand up for yourself and speak your truth. Let us remember to give others plenty of room to be who they are and speak their truth too.

You are born again in the Aries cleansing fire. Let go of the false self. Embrace who you really are. Be heart-centered. Liberate your mind. This is real freedom.

Lunar eclipses, which have a 19 year cycle, signal a completion and an awareness that could change the course of our journey if we let it. The heart may skip a beat as raw emotions surface now and energies are charged up. This is par for the course. Allow anger and agitations to rise up and clear out, without jabbing anyone with the energy. You don’t have to allow things to become volatile, instead use these emotions to look inwards rather than outwards by blaming others. Take positive action in advance by being responsible for your own emotions and reactions to things. Direct the pent up or stuck emotional energy into organizing, working out, or anything that burns off the ‘gunk’ and exhausts you in a good way.

This eclipse opens a window until November 3rd of a time that supports deep change. The energy of this Full Moon can be a bit challenging if you are not in alignment with what you need at this time. May you finally get the message and leave the past behind, honoring the experiences by making them conscious and giving them meaning. We are on the threshold of knowing things that will alter the course and direction of our lives, and how our minds are able to recognize signs and signals and bring forth messages from the Spiritual realms. This eclipse comes to remind us that who we are is written nowhere, but in our own hearts, and it is there that we will discover it.

This Full Moon, use the energy to heal, healing energies are very strong now, look inside yourself and ask what it is you need to heal your hurt, pain, emotions. Clear your mind of negativity and try to look to a brighter and more positive future in the year ahead, make the decision to make big changes, this Moons energy will help you achieve them. May you have a blessed Full Moon and may the God and Goddess watch over you.

(Text and the 2nd image are fully credited to Wicca Teachings.)

For the record, the eclipse and color of the moon are not visible on the East Coast (Is someone seeing it somewhere else in the world? If so, please send any photos you may want to share.). The moon is bright and high in the sky and is its usual, normal color. Nothing creepy is going on for those of you wondering why the moon can take on a red tinge. I have seen it in past years, but usually there is no change whatsoever in color. In fact, it’s so high in the sky that it doesn’t look completely full and there’s no cloud cover or anything to take away from it. Weird.  

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