Programming note

As I have surfed the lovely blogs that I follow not only do I find others to stalk, I occasionally see these “lists” that ask the poster to expound on a suggested topic.  I have borrowed some of these topics for the occasional post.  Therefore, from time to time I will have a random entry with my thoughts on one of these tidbits.  Stay tuned for some random information about how my mind works.   

Where has common sense gone?

**BEWARE THIS IS A RANT.  If you do not want to read it, please leave now**

I have deliberately waited a couple of days after the inspiration for this before I posted it.  Better to calm down than come across as a raving lunatic.  Unfortunately, it has not helped.  

Recently we took a trip to the local (ha, ha 25 miles from here local) Wal-Mart and this trip just seemed more filled with idiots than usual.  Okay, I live in New Hampshire and, yes, there a times when you are not able to see the lines in the parking lot and inadvertently take up two parking spaces.  That is understandable.  However, when the ground is perfectly clear and the lines are visible?  Come on people, get your head out of your ass and learn to park.  I even saw one extended cab pick-up taking up three spaces.  Yep, he was pulled in diagonally into three spaces.  And it was not like the pick-up was in pristine condition and he was worried about getting it scratched.  This thing looked like it had been through the hay baler a time or two.

Then into the store to be thrown into the fray.  The foot travel was not too heavy, yet everywhere were people not looking at where they were headed and simply pushing their buggies willy-nilly into one’s path.  The Lycan hates when I am not able to keep up with him walking through the store, yet time after time, I have to jerk to a stop to avoid hitting someone with MY buggy as they just appeared into front of me as if from a transporter module.  

Once we were on the road home, I thought we were free…nope, drivers out there are idiots as well.  Why on the goddess’ green earth would you accelerate around someone who is going (admittedly) 5 miles ABOVE the speed limit only to reduce your speed to the speed limit once in front of them?  If you wanted to go 50, then stay behind the person who is going 55.  Stop being passive-aggressive and just take care of your own driving instead of minded everyone else’s.  

I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but with this sort of evidence, I am beginning to fear for the future of society.  If this is the kind of behavior that people are exhibiting, what does the younger generation have in store for us?

Happy holidays to all!

I know that those who follow blogs have seen a multitude of blessings this week ranging from Merry Christmas to Happy Yule, from Merry Kwanza to Happy Hanukkah.  I know that there are many forms of celebration going on at this time of the solar wheel and I find that heart-warming.  I will say that I am at a loss to explain the animosity between the various groups.  The reason for the season, no matter what your flavor, is to celebrate the wonder of life.  It matters not whose life you are celebrating, just that you ARE celebrating and that should not include a dissertation on who is right or wrong.  It should be simply an expression of joy.

With that being said, I will extend well wishes to all my family, friends, and cyber-friends.  May the season find you in good health and in the company of loved ones.  If your situation if not perfect, reflect on the fact that you are alive and loved.  No one need be alone at this time, if you find yourself without close family or friends, extend your hand to someone who is in the same predicament.  You never know, maybe you will make an acquaintance that becomes find a life-long friend.  I am a strong believer that things do not happen without a reason.  

Brightest blessings in all aspects of your life!

2012 Reading Challenges

So, I have neglected my reading lately and needed some motivation to get back into the habit.  I have joined a couple of challenges and want to get the word out there for those who might like to join me.  I have an entire page that will be dedicated to theses challenges.  So wander on over to My Challenge Page to check them out.

A funny thing happened to me at a wedding

I was recently stalking browsing my favorite blogs and saw a lovely ornament over at Cordelias Cauldron.  Well, I mentioned my love of peacocks to Cordelia and soon received some wonderful gifts from her.  So, I thought I would show them off here.  However, first there is a back story (isn’t there ALWAYS a back story?) that I have to tell before you get to see the goodies. It all came about one warm Wisconsin day while celebrating the love of a good friend:

My patron goddess made herself known to me during a catholic wedding ceremony I attended.  If any of you have ever been to one, you know about the kneeling, standing, kneeling, standing—well you get the idea.  There is another component to these as well.  At various times during the ceremony, someone will get up and do a reading from the bible, or from a poem, or they will express some lovely sentiments for the happy couple.  

So, during this celebration of a friend’s love, I heard a family member say very clearly (as if they were beside me) and loud enough for the entire congregation to hear, 

“Hera blesses this union.”

Now, I did not think anything of this, as it had been happening as different times throughout the service.  It was not until the reception that I found out there was no family member named Hera and, apparently, I had been the only one to hear this invocation.  What happened was this:

As I went through the receiving line with my daughter at my side, I mentioned to her that I thought it was very nice of the grandmother to bless the marriage.  My daughter looked at me with a strange look on her face and said OK.  Now, my daughter often looks at me strangely so I did not think anything of this. When we got to the couple (the bride was a co-worker and friend), I asked about the blessing and the bride said that there was no Hera in either family.  My daughter took this opportunity to look at me with a “see I knew you were going crazy” look on her face.  As we too our leave and were driving home, I insisted that I was not hearing things and that Hera had expressly given her blessing to my friend’s marriage. Again, my daughter proceeded with the rolling of the eyes and silent pleas to the goddess to take pity on the crazy lady.

So, once we got home I got onto the computer and typed in the name Hera.  I found out that she is the Greek goddess of, among other things, marriage.  She is the queen of the deities being Zeus’s wife (Lindemans, 2001).  Now, thinking that Hera was a peaceful goddess (who else would be the patron of marriage and birth) I was happy that she gave her blessing.  

However, after further reading about how Zeus cheated on her all the time and that she was a vengeful woman made me wonder about the implications of such a pronouncement.  Was this a good thing for the two lovebirds or did it bode ill will?  Would my friend end up sad and lonely or would she have a long and happy married life?

Considering that this was about eight years ago and the two of them are still so very madly in love with each other you can taste it...I think it was a great thing.  Maybe Hera, having been the scorned lover so many times, knew that those two people were each other’s destined lover.

Okay, now that you know the story, let me tell you a couple of things with which Hera is associated.  Her scared animals are cows and peacocks.  Other associations include the crow, pomegranate (Lindemans, 2001).   The Romans worship Hera as Juno and the most popular month for weddings, June, is named after her (Hera, Greek Goddess of Love and Marriage).  

Which brings us to the visuals:

A duplicate of the ornament that I admired at Cordelia's Cauldron

A beautiful candle

A clip of peacock feathers

 Thank you Cordelia for the wonderful gifts!!

References:

Hera, Greek Goddess of Love and Marriage. (n.d.). Retrieved November 26, 2011, from goddess gift.com: http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/greek_goddess_hera.htm

Lindemans, M. (2001, May 12). Hera. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from Encyclopedia Mythica™: http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hera.html

Better late than never, eh

"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew." ~~Saint Francis de Sales

The above quote is courtesy of Salem Witch Child from over at Salem's Creations blog  and says a lot about my current situation.  On this Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for my children, my family, and my friends.  I know that we all have these things, but mine have been working overtime recently for me and I cannot say enough how grateful I am for having them in my life.

Therefore, late that it may, I wish all a Happy Thanksgiving!

Please take a second to remember

Thank you to the soldiers, both past and present, who give up everything to defend our country. This is the greatest place on earth and it is because of these men and women who sacrifice so much , so we can have the things we want.

A big thanks also to their families for doing without them by their side so that they can be the line between us and the rest of the world.

<May the goddess hold each of you in her arms until you are returned to where you rightfully belong...at home!>

 

 

Complacency

 ...is defined as” a feeling of quiet pleasure or security, often while unaware of some potential danger, defect, or the like” according to dictionary.com.  The past couple of weeks has demonstrated to me just exactly what that means.

After the recent events that I posted about on here in the October 12 post, I never realized just how complacent I had become.  Then on October 25, the fact was slammed into me.  My husband said that he was leaving me.  He was nice enough to give me time to make arrangements for childcare, but in the end he will be leaving.  I hate that fact and I wish I could change it.

I am not going to go into the details here as they are still very raw, suffice it to say that this has lead me to do some serious soul-searching.  According to Iris Krasnow, author of the upcoming book The Secret Lives of Wives: Women Share What It Really Takes to Stay Married, the oft quoted statistic of “50 % of marriages end in divorce” is no longer true.  The divorce rate is now down to 43%, a 7% drop since the 1990’s.  WomansDay.com had an article on September 29, 2011 that detailed some unique approaches to making a marriage work.

Now, this all got me to thinking what I could have done better in my own marriage to keep it intact.  A lot of the things I did have stemmed from my past and I failed to let myself live fully in the present.  Things that happened to me were held like armor against a truly happy relationship.  I could not let myself really trust the man I love as a result of what others had done to me.  This was a huge mistake!!!  Everyone deserves to be judged on their own merits and not held accountable for the actions of others.  If you love someone enough to join together with them for what should be forever, they have the right to be trusted.

People need space, they need to have things that they do for their own sanity and sometimes that involve persons of the opposite sex.  If you have a real trusting relationship this should not be a problem.  I was always afraid for him to do this as I have been cheated on before.

I have a very cynical viewpoint on life.  My philosophy has always been, “Expect the worst, that way you are never disappointed.”  It has held me in good stead for over 30 years, but this time it may have been a factor in my being disappointed.  If you never look for the good things in life, they will just pass you by.  You have to allow some things in for you to have happiness.

The cynicism did not allow me to be an affectionate wife.  Many times I had tried to be playful only to be told that I looked stupid.  After hearing that so many times, you tend to shut it off.  It lead to me doing a big disservice to my husband.  I could never be the kind of lover that he wants.  This really haunts me as I would like to be able to do some of the things that men like to do.

So, after having time to analyze the events, I can only come to the conclusion that I have figured these things out too late.  Of course, I hope for a change of circumstance.  Having him decide that maybe this is worth fighting for would be a wonderful happening, but I am not holding my breath.

For those out there who are in a serious, long-term relationship:

Please stop and think about how your past affects the present.  Maybe you are insecure with friends of the opposite sex, maybe you are scared to give each other the time away to recharge.  Don’t be, you may actually be saving your self the heartache and anguish of being left behind.

As a child, Halloween was my favorite holiday.  I could dress up and get candy, what kid doesn’t like that??  I can remember going from door-to-door and yelling trick-or-treat.  I lived in  small east Texas town and we didn’t have to worry about things like child molesters, being snatched off the street, or getting into trouble (well, may be a little bit of trouble hee, hee).  Our roaming took place on October 31^st even if it was a school night and we always had a blast! 

As I became aware of my changing religious views and found my path, I found that Halloween changed for me as well.  Late at night (or whenever my work schedule permits) at home I have a private ritual.  It is a silent ritual with those who passed on in attendance.  I have often received advice from the others during this time.  

Samhain is the the time of thin veils, where our world and the other world can communicate with ease.  It is a time of endings and of new beginnings.  We may seek the counsel of those who watch over us in our next year’s undertakings.  It is a time of death and rebirth.