Great series from Wooden Books

Drrool over this fantastic series from Wooden Books. Their illustrations and choice of topics, research...oh...and did I say illustrations?????
In short, the presentation is fantastic, and they do have online download options. You can pay for the PDF file and down load it.

Link to the site:

Wooden Books    


Or you can buy it at Amazon with the following link:
The Alchemist's Kitchen: Extraordinary Potions & Curious Notions (Wooden Books)

Hate in the name of Jesus Christ

It saddens me to write this blog this morning. I use the blog sometimes as a tool to help me gather my thoughts and get my feelings out, as there are some issues which I do not have an empathic outlet for.

It hurts, when a family member takes the position that you are to be discarded from their lives because you do not believe the same things that they do. A relative, who I would describe as very close, has been growing increasingly distant because I do not conform to the "correct" cookie cutter lifestyle that they all subscribe to. You know that one...girl grows up meets boy, lives happily ever after with 2.3 children, sends all to the right Catholic private schools, goes to church every week, sticks to the marriage whether its healthy or not..gives the ultimate sacrifice of giving up themselves to take care of the husband and the kids......the type of life we were taught was the "correct" way to live.

I am sure they sit around that table at lunch central and list all the atrocious things I have done...divorced, moved in with a man, had children for two....threw the man out too.......oh the shock and horror!

Recently, the individual sent what I would describe as gay bashing hate mail, and asked several of our family members to pass it on if we stand up for Jesus Christ. I am sure Christ is "turning over in His grave" as they say here.

A few of us, in protest, questioned the individual's justification for it, and replied to the email expressing our thoughts and beliefs. The long and short of the matter ends in me being chastised for "lack of belief" and the individual "blessingly" attempting to manipulate as one would a child. Needless to say I responded.....as gently as I could, that I refuse to spread hate mail, and yes it irks me when Christians use scripture to justify hate and prejudice. And..I also have every right to believe what I believe...whether it is defined or not.

But the long and the short of it is that if you are asking me to hate in the name of Jesus, or to spread hate in the name of Jesus...then I would not ever subscribe to your idea of Jesus Christ.


House rebuffs claims of Religious Right in hate-crimes vote.(PEOPLE & EVENTS): An article from: Church & State

Wait a minute! I've been here before!

Talk about being trapped in a cycle. I am creating a book which pulls together essays from my blogs and journals, and had to browse through them to pull out the appropriate material. Most of my journals have mundane stuff and griping. Its how I relieve stress sometimes. But what was glaringly obvious is that, even after 5 years, the issues which I had then are the same issue I have now.

I haven't grown? I haven't moved forward? Such a revelation gave me another headache instantly! As if I hadn't already been battling headaches enough!Themes which came forward are:
1) Didn't like managing and working for people
2) I wish for enough money (in the millions) so that I could pursue my dream
3) The blissful state I feel when doing my biggest love and wishing I could do it full time

You know, I could kick myself. I haven't done anything in five years to say that I have moved on from those issues or grown. I saw where I kept going around and around in circles. Leaving the job, trying to start a business, not having enough money, having to go back to work, hating the job, leaving the job, trying to start a business, not having enough..... you get the point.

I know that I have to work for myself. I know that I can. What I have to plan is the products which I can create using these images that I paint. I also need to find some way to cut down my expenses to make it more feasible. Hmmm.... I must break this nightmarish cycle. Its starting to feel like a really bad dream.

Is the Universe trying to tell me something???

So recent events have had me wondering if the Universe was trying very hard to send me a message. Firstly, I was hit by this nagging desire to head further than I usually do for some shopping this weekend. All week, mind you, thoughts about whether I needed windshield cover added to my insurance policy flooded my brain. Heading up the highway with my friend, there was a loud "PAX" from nowhere, and a bird shaped crack appeared on the windshield of my car.

The following day, friend and I were delayed from going shopping again by a flat tire. While fixing the tire, we discovered the culprit was a large galvanized nail stuck right into it. I didn't really give it a second thought.

Wednesday...watering my plants (which I do everyday) I noticed a nail...similar to the above in one of my planters. Odd....I water this everyday and never saw that before. Could one of the children put it there?

Today, while waiting for my friend's car to be washed, he suddenly pounces on the windscreen and announces the culprit who caused the crack was still on the windscreen....and it was the head of a large galvanized nail.


So is the universe trying to send me a message? According to Liber 777, nail is associated with hook, or connection, the thing which hold it together. The body part which it corresponds to is the ear, of which both of mine have been paining quite strangely. I had just put it down to stress.

I am opening the floor to suggestions as to any hidden meanings here. Maybe someone could open my eyes?

Spell For Scorpio's Moon

~Magickal Graphics~

Wednesday 28th April will see a full moon in Scorpio at 8:18 am
I am posting spells which use this energy.

Moon in Scorpio. Spells involving secrets, power and psychic growth. It is also a good time to understand what issues need to be let go of, or they will drag you under


On a moon-in Scorpio Night to illuminate a secret bright
Mark a black Candle with the rune-sign Peorth.

Consecrate with Geranuim oil, that black candle for your toil
To bring hidden secrets forth.

Cast your circle good and clean, call the quarters to the scene
See the secret hidden behind a veil.

Allow the candle to burn through, the secret is revealed to you
The spell it will not fail.

Chant in the present that you see the secret’s veil now falling free
And all which is hidden is clear.

And it harm none so mote it be, is used as a precaution’ry
To keep your conscious clear.


This is my own spell. Enjoy and use it wisely. Not all secrets should be known.


Moon Magick Sitehttp://www.moonsmuses.com/moonphases.html

Family Relations

How do you handle a person who is supposed to be your guide and encouragement, but instead seems to delight in unsettling your peace of mind, or making you believe that your life is all wrong?

How do you handle a parent who seems to take delight in gloating when things go wrong with you?
How do you handle it when, whenever you are happy, they seem to want to ensure that you are rocked from your secure place?

This is definately a toxic relationship. No matter who the person is, anyone who fits this pattern cannot possibly have your best interest at heart.

The attempt to put distance between myself and this person has failed many a time. I have almost reached the stage of asking this person not to come near me again. The only thing is that I fear I may be over-reacting.

Again, I am reminded that my emotions are my own. It is my own fault that I allow this person to unsettle my peace-of-mind. It is my own fault that I allow this person to control my emotions.

Trapped - again

My life seems to be going in cycles. I have a clear picture of what I want it to be, but I seem to be reliving the same issues over and over again. Somehow, I keep feeling it would be different, but keep ending up in the same emotional and mental state. Feel clipped, my mind feels restrained. And then the madness starts setting in as I desperately try to twist and turn out of anything that feels restrictive.

And you know what....
Nothing is going to work.

Nothing is going to bring the thing which will release me from these mental bonds...except me. I have to work through the mental bonds and break every one of them. This blog, is my therapy sometimes. I have dreams that do not include a management board, a Cheif Operations Officer or a Deparment team. My dreams, are of my mind, and colour and canvas. And days alone converting an abstract concept into a two dimensional image.
I have been fighting for years. Struggling with several escape routes, always hoping it would be better, and always ending up right where I am. A yearning for freedom, for release from the ties that bind. A yearning to wake up every day and only focus on things that excite me. A yearning to get up everyday and have things that excite me. Otherwise what's the point?

What's the point of working your ass off, making sacrifices, and then having freedom only when you are too old to enjoy it fully? What;s the point of waiting around for a time when the responsibilities are not nessecary any more, waiting to live your life with resentment growing and growing? What's the point?

Freedom, happiness and peace of mind is so important to me. But no one seems to see that inner pain that I scream in silence tied down with all these chains.
Imagine being a bird, chained to a dry leafless tree, watching all the other birds fly away. That's how I feel......thats how I feel.