Sooooo.... I'm still here

How about you??

I decided not to do a post before hand because I didn't want to be seen as someone making fun of the people doing this. I saw back in February a guy driving around town with his car covered with  the 'save the date' stuff i figured it must be a concert they were advertising, and chose not to pay anymore attention, then last week, the news began to run this story. Even my rusty Christian skills I still remember that NO one can predict the second coming of Christ. Even Christ himself stated that even He knows not when the Father would bring this battle between good and evil to a head.

The concept of the 'rapture' actually refers to a biblical text

 ".and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord" 1 Thessalonians 4:

Does anyone else notice the difference between what this Camping guy was saying and what the BIBLE actually says???? Yes dear readers it says the DEAD in Christ, as in those who are already dead, passed on, no longer of body and soul, but simply soul.  No where does it say God is going to start harvesting the alive humans and bring them along with him to heaven. The modern translation of seeing 'alive' Christians being 'raptured' is pretty new, this is a Puritan concept spread by Cotton Mather, in the 17th century(circa 1600s).
Now you have to be wondering why am i even taking notice of this??? For several reasons

1) every time someone has 'predicted' the end of days, or stated that there is a space alien ship coming to take them home an increase, either direct or indirect (either happening at the same time or within days of the failed prediction) of suicides, as people think they have to die along with their leaders to make it into heaven. O_o which is of course in direct difference from the Bible, and is infact considered a direct, one way ticket to hell, which of course is the opposite of the goal of getting to heaven. 

2) It was obviously a slow news week otherwise why the hell would every Gods blessed channel bring this shyt up??  It just shows how one 'news' channel (fox) showing this brings others around even thought they may have passed on 'reporting' this information because they recognized that giving fuel to the fire isn't right  This predicting the world is going to end isn't new, for as long as there has been faith, there have been people predicting the end, don't believe me take a look at the long list of Christians, Charlatans, and psychopaths who have predicted the end.

3) It shows humanities desperate need to feel, or be led even if it by a 89 year old man who has had many predictions not come through before.  It seems each generation must have one or two who are desperate to become someone and use Christianity as their vehicle of feeling and being 'important'.  there have been several men who have done this, creating cults which pull in those who want to feel needed, loved, and apart of something, so much so that they give up all their worldly goods to the leader and become victims in their desperation.

4) It truly brought out the immaturity of many of the 'heathens', those who decided to capitalize on those who were desperate to be apart of this. It started pretty simple with the people who created "After the Rapture facebook pages"; ok I will admit, when my friend invited me, I jokingly said I would rob a bank or two with him, maybe even a Cadillac dealership.  But as the week came to a close, the viciousness of some of the people posting to these events escalated.   With people stating they were going to sacrifice or desecrate churches, and altars.  I may not be Christian, but the concept of someone desecrating a sacred place, just because it isn't sacred to them, is very abhorrent to me.  
Do we know the guy was wrong?? Pretty certain, did it give us the right to call those who desperately need something they are missing and are seeking it from someone who says he has it 'pathetic, stupid" and all manner of other names?? No, this isn't fifth grade people, we don't have to go so hard to prove how much better we are because we don't believe him, or his faith.  


5) several young children I knew where afraid that they wouldn't be good enough to go to heaven, and were terrified of leaving their families, this kind of mass hysteria b.s has got to stop, even though their parents didn't allow the t.v to be on the news, it was on the radio, in magazines, other kids were talking about it, so much so that a 10 year old totally continent young man wet his bed three nights in a row, and his sister had nightmares for days.  Seriously was no one thinking what this was doing to young children who really haven't comprehend that this was a hoax??  Who think their parents were simply trying to make them feel better, because if it's on the news then it must be true right??


To me a lot of what happened this week smacked of some serious insecurity, immaturity, and pure unadulterated capitalism.  As well as proving that Fox news really is a "leader in news", they took a man who would not have reached as many people as he did without their help and made him into a international news sensation.  People quit their jobs, spent all their retirement money, and personal savings because they wouldn't have to face the world after yesterday, and now that the prediction hasn't come true are going to "gnashing their teeth and moaning".


As an empath this week has been trying, tiring and draining, many people wouldn't admit that they really gave him credence, but they were scared and you could feel it, the children who were old enough to know, but not quite understand he was a charlatan, were desperately afraid, and needed to be loved and told, to ignore the 'news' because he really couldn't predict it.  and then there was the constant bombardment of the people who were really afraid and vocal about their fear, who pulled you down with them in their fear.  I'm going to need a vacation from this, it seems mean to say it, but I hate people like him, who stir up the human emotion to the point that even the strongest shields can't hold out against it; 89 yrs old or not, he needs to have his butt kicked for this. ( I'm not advocating elder abuse, but I really wish the cops would show up and tell him to stop screaming fire in a crowded theater). It wasn't just me either, several little witchs I knew, especially those with psychic gifts felt the strong disturbance this brought with it. Several noted increased headaches, and one even had a full blown panic attack after being in a small crowd of people who where talking about the event (her gift comes from touching, she had touched and bumped several of the people including a little girl who was scared her dad wasn't going to heaven with them, because he had gone to jail)


Now that the egg is on his face, how is he going to fix this, maybe he will point these things out and say, see I told you something was going to happen:(taken from the news link above)

"a tornado killed one person and damaged at least 20 homes in Kansas, a 6.1-magnitude quake stuck 600 miles off New Zealand with no reports of injury, a much smaller quake, 3.6, was felt my many people Saturday evening in the San Francisco Bay area, and Iceland's most active volcano started erupting."


Several communities have set-up increased counselors, because as history has taught us, each time one of these predictions doesn't come true, people get desperate, and do things they normally wouldn't including ending their lives to get away from it all.  


To me it's sad to see that even in this day and age, their are still people who haven't learned to seek within before seeking without, as the Goddess says 

" And you who seek to know Me, know that the seeking and yearning will avail you not, unless you know the Mystery: for if that which you seek, you find not within yourself, you will never find it without."

Be Blessed

“I’ll Take care of you”

And the Greatest of these is Love

In my job, working with the masses, you sometimes are treated to the dregs of society, you sometimes see great heartbreak, and feel such deep loss that  you have to learn to harden your heart or the burdens of the people will burn you out. So when I’m out and about I create the NY city attitude, with the “don’t mess with me” face, the “I’ll kick your ass” body language and block out anything I can.

Normally when I ride the public transportation I ride with my ears plugged, and my music loud enough to drown the noise, but not enough to damage my ear drums. this is because sometimes the humanity that takes the bus or train is just too full of ignorance, despair or are sharing way too much info for me. It’s also a good way as an empath to aide in blocking the overwhelming amount of info coming in off the masses.

Today was different, it's a balmy and gorgeous 50 degrees outside.  At my stop was a mother and her  seven maybe eight year old son and they got on the bus with me (it's a stop many buses come to) Once we get on the bus I notice something immediately, perhaps the melting snow has made others feel nicer because the people on the bus are calm today; I decide to read. The mother sits in the seat in front of me, and her son sits in the seat in front of her.
When I'm reading i like to take little breaks to digest what I have read just to make sure the info has sunk in properly so I'm not too overwhelmed or miss the really good parts (plus it's good to look up every once in a while to make sure you haven't missed your stop). 

A few stops later, they took a seat together and I sat behind them, somewhere along the way I stopped to look up and was pulled in my the most amazing feeling coming from them and was treated to this piece of beauty

" One day mom I'm going to take care of you and you won't have to work"

and then he hugged her, and she said "awww" and returned his hug.

In that moment, I felt a sweet deep rush of love, and of hope. Turning on the news, sometimes sitting on the bus, you are bombarded with these horrible images of the future,and of humanity. It's sometimes enough to make you want to hand in your humanity card and tell the world to 'eff off', while you bury yourself in some log cabin in the woods. Yet, here in this moment, on a cool 'spring' day, a young man reminded me that like winter comes to an end, so too must the strife. And here was a little boy making a promise, a wish, to a woman who is his Mother, who has worked, and sacrificed for him, that one day all her hard work will come to fruition and it will be his turn to take care of her.

This dear readers is love, it's one that can't be fabricated, can't be purchased, and is very easily lost it's the love of child to parent, this is true "agape", as the Greeks would say.
There is a feeling of hope, and I sent a wish, with his to the angels, and to the Goddess, that one day his wish will come true, that he would live a wonderful healthy life and be able to make this wish this promise come true. This day I felt a lightening and knew that his wish had been heard. And for me, the guarded empath on the bus, i was given a sweet taste of love, all with sincere promise of a child, and like the snow outside, a small part of my 'hardened' heart melted. I didn't worry about what would come for him in the future, here was a shining light, a ray of hope, a promise of tomorrow:

"one day...... I will take care of you..."

There is no better 'love' tale than this.
Be Loved, Be Blessed

21 days of Yule: day 18: How an Empath does the Holidays

I love the holidays, I enjoy (some of) the music, the lights, the scents, there’s nothing quite like getting ready for Yule. The mad dash to have the cards out, the tree up the house clean, the cookies baked, ohh there is nothing quite like Yule. 
For me, this is for me is the first holiday of the new year  and that makes it a little more important because well, it sets the tone for the other Sabbats coming up after it.(as I count Samhain as my new year); so it has be done right.

Although I love this season, I  battle depression and Seasonal affective disorder or as I love to call it 'sadd' and sometimes it's a struggle to keep my self happy during the ‘winter-time blues’. This of course is made worse when I go into the mall;, I can feel the desperation of the shoppers as they seek that ‘perfect’ gift, not all of them but some can be a bit desperate as they scramble to find that gift with only a few days left.  then sometimes I can feel the depression that many are feeling at this time of year, especially when they don't have family or friends to celebrate with. There is a push within the media at this time of year for you to shop for that someone special and when many people greet the holidays without someone this can be a source of depression, it's well known among the medical community that this the highest times for suicides because people feel abandoned or alone.

 My favorite place to seek refuge in the mall? The Santa photo booth, Why do you ask? Quite simply because there is a lot children there, and children especially during this season are literally bursting with happiness, joy, innocence, and excitement. Just being near that source of energy is enough to aide in letting go of any of the negative feelings that have cloyed their way past my defenses. Hearing the squealing kids who are excited to see Santa, can be a good balm to anyone's battered defenses. And if there are too many crying kids, who a feeling distressed about sitting on a strangers lap, i seek out the serenity waterfalls our mall has (well had, they haven't put it back since the renovations started) 

To deal with all of that is simple really I don't go to the mall if I don't have to, or I go really early or really late so I'm not among the crowds,
But what about at your family parties? Or friends home or office party? Some place you can't get away? 
I have learned to batten down the hatches before going out by doing a centering and grounding ceremony, but sometimes there are people who are shouting at you without even knowing it, who are sharing all their emotions and feelings and no matter how much you attempt to avoid them they seem to be following you around the room. Another trick I have learned is to wear or carry a set of small prayer beads that I have blessed, or even a small stone citrine is great..

If you don't have any of those, then focusing on the music being played can help, allow the rhythm of the music to create a beat within and imagine as the beat happens that it is helping to cleanse you. Or if there are any bells near by (i have taken one off an office party tree before) make a beeline for a bathroom or a quiet corner and attempt to cleanse by ringing the bell..  there;s nothing like being around family and friends to stress you out and weaken the defenses you have in place. Ground and center as much and as often as possible, use the natural decorations such as the tree, if you can go near enough to smell it if it's a live tree, and let the scent help to clear away the negative feelings; do this as a  part of your grounding and you will be able to make it til the end, or until it's polite enough to escape. 

If your there with your partner they can also provide you with shelter.Lucky for me, my partner is a void. To me he's like a blank slate, I can't read him at all (which has both it's ups and downs, but I get it, his profession made him good at hiding what he's thinking) , but he's good at reading me, and can tell when I'm in deep, sometimes I seek shelter with him and he can aide in quieting the noise. If your partner isn't a void, they can still help, being with someone who you can trust and are secure in their love can act as a blanket, especially if they know how to do this, by simply sending their love to you, imaging it wrapping you up and protecting you, even the simple physical contact with that lover can help to strenghten your defenses (unless of course they are amplifiers, but that's a whole other story). 

And if all else fails, you can feed off the energy of the gathering, find the group that is having the most fun, or really having a good time, and simply allow what they are feeling to flood in, allow it to fill you up so much that the negatives emotions can't come in.
You can also allow the negative in, but simply become a conduit, allow it to flow through you but not into you, just act like a electric wire, the energy flows along it but doesn't stay within the wire, it moves on to a bigger charge. This particular effort can be draining, so it's better to try to 'feed' from the room than pull in the negative.
Caution you aren't targeting one person in the group,(so don't say later that I told you to do so) your attempting to pull the excess energy they are releasing into the atmosphere or the room into yourself, so your not harming anyone, and of course anything you don't need you release back into the universe.

Then of course if i know i have an issue with a particular personae, home, or event, I try to find some pretty good excuses as to why I can't go, or barring that why we can't stay.

I hope these suggestions helped, have a wonderful time at those parties my loves
Blessed Be

White Bath Ritual

I promised I would share my white bath ritual. I already shared what I say when I am cleansing myself, here is the altar setup (yes this altar stays in my bathroom) and the recipes for the bath itself.
Now you can make it with whatever you wish, I learned however that this is what works for me.
                                                           How to take a white bath
One of the first things I do is set the mood, I take down the general altar that is in the bathroom (mostly set there for Yemaya, more on that later) and setup for the healing ritual. For scented atmosphere I place Lavender essential oil (3 drops) and Spa wisdom from  the Body Shop (6 drops) in my soapstone burner with some fresh water.

Now its time to setup the altar. My bathroom altar contains a vase of shells picked up from the beach on many different trips, some are from as far as Jamaica. I have white candles four fresh candles, 1 green candle to burn for healing, a sage smudge stick with shell, rose petals from last Samhain's altar from my garden, the bowl of Epsom salt, my lavender essential oil, ground lavender bud powder, and  frankincense incense stick  as well as my symbol of the Goddess

Epsom salt is known for it's ability to purify the body, I place the salt surrounded by the candles and charge it by the elements to do it's job, 

then I add the essential oil, charge it again,

 add the bud powder charge it again. 

Before I add the rose petals, I sit and meditate, imagining the healing power of the herbs, the salt and the essential oil blending, I let them blend and charge until I feel the energy rolling around me and through me, my dominant hand generally gets really hot then I place it in the mixture and allow the energy to go into the mixture. 

Then I add the roses, these roses were on my altar last Samhain, and have a great deal of magic stored in them, they are also from my property so it has the earth flowing in them and this helps to ground you and strengthen the magic of your property, town and state, if you don't have plants, any flowers from a local garden will do.  Roses promote love, beauty, compassion, healing and protection, psychic powers (which fit in with everything we are dealing with).

I add these to the mixture and allow them to come together, as you can see I have one of the shells from the bowl in the mixture, this is to help mix the ingredients as well as to call the healing powers of the ocean, to wash away the negative feelings.  I then allow everything to sit together and charge.

In the meantime I clean the bath, if you haven't cleaned your bath now is the time to do it with baking soda, (no harsh chemicals, because you are going to be sitting/standing in it) 

Once you have allowed everything to charge, undress, move the bowl to the side of the altar

bring the healing candle forward and dedicate it again to the Goddess and God, bless it by each element and charge it to do it's purpose set it among the burning white candles. 

State the purpose of this ritual and light the candle. Once that is done get in the bath/shower, your going to do a quick cleaning first before we soak, imagine all the negativity swirling around you, running off your skin, if you have a soap that is for healing scrub your skin and allow the negativity to be washed away, let go of all the draining emotions, seek equilibrium. Once done, let the water collect into the tub (if you have one) and sit in it, let the smells sooth you and clear your mind, I like to lay back and cover every part of my body, then I use the healing epsom salt and soak in the tub.

For showers

The ritual will be the same, except, your not soaking in it. you cleanse first then rinse imagining all the stuff going down the drain, then scrub yourself with the epsom salt mixture while imagining the healing coming from it, scrub as many places as you can reach and just meditate on the healing aspect. Once done, rinse and imagine the water is the healing waters of the ocean and it is cleansing you (this one of the few times I will say you can let the water run as long as you need to)

Time Constraints & substitutions:

•  If you need the healing but don't have a lot of time, simply make the healing mixture and charge your candles ahead of time on the full moon, have them sitting ready for whenever you need them. 
• If you don't have a green candle, then yellow, white, or blue can be substituted for the can, even black to banish negativity.
• You can substitute your own healing herbs as you prefer, this is simply a skeleton ritual that you can adapt as you so choose.

Happy Healing my loves

Aisha

   

Empath

One of the reasons I am a loner is because I am an Empath. Even after 18 years in the craft, I sometimes still get caught by surprise when strong emotions hit. Like yesterday, after watching the Oprah show I needed a nap. I felt drained, and tired, I was distracted when I sat down to watch it and never warded myself, by time the show was over I needed that nap. I woke up feeling dirty, like I was covered in inky darkness; I felt like someone had used me as a punching bag, everything ached. I needed a white bath fast. 


Of Course, none of this occurred to me, while I wrote yesterday's post, I was crying so hard I couldn't see the words on the screen. Afterwards I went to sleep I was so deeply wounded and exhausted.  My empathetic abilities are severely strong.  It has played a massive role in what movies I watch, music I listen to,  & the books I read..


I get embarrassed by certain scenes in movies, (not that I'm a prude, but moments when a character is supposed to be embarrassed or even awkward moments, even sometimes the sex scenes because I can feel the actors' feeling towards each other) so much so that my family never lets me hold the remote when we watch movies, because I have been known to change the channel mid-scene to get away from the emotions.  Can I tell you how many movies and shows this has ruined for me?? Everyone would love the movie and I'm like no they didn't fit together well, or whatever reason I just wouldn't like the movie; even when there hadn't been a shred of evidence that the cast didn't like each other or get along famously.  


I don't watch the news because it just feels like one big wave of fear,anger, despair, and loneliness coming from the t.v. I sure don't watch horror movies, sometimes in the middle of action movies I get the urge to laugh because that was the emotion felt by the actor.  Movies with rape, or sexual assault get a massive pass, because I can feel it, and after a while it can only bring you down more. I haven't read a lot of the Oprah's book club books because many of her books have the same theme, like "where the heart is" I never got to the end of the book because of the graphic details of one scene.


I just couldn't, there are so many other situations like this, that i have found it easier to withdraw from some people and situations.  No matter how good my wards are I always feel the emotions especially in large crowds.  This led to me being socially awkward at times, because there is nothing like knowing what the person talking to you is really feeling to kill a good vibe. Even now, when i work with people I can sometimes tell when they are lying because their emotions don't match what they are saying. So saying all of this you know how awkward it is when I get hit on by a guy who's really smoking and all he's thinking about is hitting and quitting right???


Back to the white baths (more on that later) for me a white bath is a saving grace. It includes cleaning the bathtub to get rid of any negatively, lighting white candles that have been charged for healing, smudging the room, summoning up the angels for healing, playing either ritual music or meditation music and taking a bath in a tub full of Epsom salt and charged essential oils to help clear away the negative or cloying feelings. Since yesterday was cleaning day I already knew the tub was clean, I just needed my Epsom salt and essential oils. I wash myself from head to toe including my dreads, and chant or prayer while doing so, I never really remember what I say but I always end with a blessing which I will share here:

Blessed is my mind which knows the mysteries of the Goddess

and is blessed with calm and clarity

Blessed are my eyes which see all she allows me to see

may I see the truth, and not the lies

Blessed are my ears, which hear the words of the Goddess

and hear the whispers of my elders, 

may nothing I hear lead me from my destiny. 

May I hear the truth and know it

Blessed are my lips that speak the words of the Goddess

May nothing I say harm another, or lead them from their paths

May I speak truth always

Blessed is my heart that beats to the rhythm of the inner mysteries

may it recognize love, give love and be love

Blessed my womb, that holds the future generation, 

may I always have the strength of the Mother

and the ferociousness of the Maiden

& the Wisdom of the Crone within me

Blessed are my legs which guide my feet on this path

Blessed are my knees that kneel at the altar of the Gods

Blessed are my feet that walk the path of the Goddess, 

may they guide me deeper into your mysteries, 

and never stray from my journey.

my true destiny

Blessed am I, a child of the Goddess and God

May I be a Light and shining example for others to see

Surrounded and Protected by my Mother Goddess and Father God

I am Truth

I am Light

I am Love

I am Protected

I am Blessed

I then seal the blessing and quietly release any and all beings called to the ritual.. I would then (if it was spring or summer and early fall) go outside and put my feet in the ground (counter productive to a bath I know but it works) this aides in grounding me as, my property is also a part of my shield. if it's winter and it's not too cold I go for a walk around my neighborhood, and come back to myself, I may go to my woods and sit by the waterfalls, I unplug and allow myself the time to heal from such a moment, then I know that this is another thing (situation, emotion) that can slip in past my wards and can be better prepared next time.

I'm not saying this because I don't want to feel empathy or any of the emotions associated with dealing with yesterday's story, but such strong emotions will drain you and make it hard for you to carry on. It's one of the reasons many empaths who are untrained may become depressed or become addicted to things to aide in drowning out the sounds, feeling and impressions. Years ago before many knew there were websites for like minded people many who weren't able would unfortunately either be admitted to facilities to "help" them or some would take their lives.


This is how I heal and protect myself, and I wanted to share for those who may also be like me and needed someone to let them know that it gets easier, but it's a learning process and it can easily have slip-ups too.  I will post about the white bath later


Be Blessed my loves
May the Goddess and God protect and guide you