Did the EC card drops (and yes, I comment when a post "speaks" to me) and hit my day's 300 just by going through the cards that have been dropped on me since I signed up.
So now I wonder ... how do other EC participants pick and choose at this point? I suppose I can stop hitting the stock trading, sports and car blogs, since those things don't really interest me. Others, like crafting, diets, and pinoy, I like to browse, but I always feel something like guilt since I have nothing to add and can't much relate to. Same goes for the faith blogs - I'm spiritual but not religious.
How do the rest of you do it? (Those of you who, like me, feel compelled to be told "300 a day" otherwise you've let some blog down by not clicking.)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Hydrodynamics and Psychopomps
This morning on my way in to work the hydrants were having problems, spewing water all over the streets (possibly a planned flush, but I didn't see any Water Dept. trucks or workers around). The one on the next hill up from the office was attracting a lot of sparrows to the flow, which had just started to work its way past the corner as I got off the bus.
I slowed to watch the birds playing, and noticed one of them hadn't been quick enough and had been flattened by a vehicle not long before. Poor thing ... and then I wondered, Will a human spirit guide it to some avian afterlife?
In some cultures, birds (most notably the crow in North America, the raven in Europe, and the sparrow on both sides of the Atlantic) are thought to conduct the spirits of the deceased from one plane of existence to the other (brought to popular media by "The Crow" comic books and movies, and perhaps a lesser extent by Stephen King's The Dark Half). Generally speaking, the dark birds take spirits from the land of the dead to the land of the living; sparrows take them the other way.
And then I saw ... The. Coolest. Thing. EVAH. I was still walking slow, watching the water coursing along the opposite curb. It reached the bottom of the dip between the hilltops, shot past the storm drain, and started flowing uphill.
I had to stop to watch, then cross the street to observe more closely. This determined rill just kept going, getting thinner and shallower but still making its way uphill. Finally it reached another drain and that was that.
So now I have to revise my typical point-of-lecture on water and electricity: they usually take the path of least resistance, and flow in very similar manners, but as with most other things in this Universe, once you think you've got it figured out, it will show you how little you knew.
I slowed to watch the birds playing, and noticed one of them hadn't been quick enough and had been flattened by a vehicle not long before. Poor thing ... and then I wondered, Will a human spirit guide it to some avian afterlife?
In some cultures, birds (most notably the crow in North America, the raven in Europe, and the sparrow on both sides of the Atlantic) are thought to conduct the spirits of the deceased from one plane of existence to the other (brought to popular media by "The Crow" comic books and movies, and perhaps a lesser extent by Stephen King's The Dark Half). Generally speaking, the dark birds take spirits from the land of the dead to the land of the living; sparrows take them the other way.
And then I saw ... The. Coolest. Thing. EVAH. I was still walking slow, watching the water coursing along the opposite curb. It reached the bottom of the dip between the hilltops, shot past the storm drain, and started flowing uphill.
I had to stop to watch, then cross the street to observe more closely. This determined rill just kept going, getting thinner and shallower but still making its way uphill. Finally it reached another drain and that was that.
So now I have to revise my typical point-of-lecture on water and electricity: they usually take the path of least resistance, and flow in very similar manners, but as with most other things in this Universe, once you think you've got it figured out, it will show you how little you knew.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Headaches and Migraines
Doctors have yet to definitively decide the whys and wherefores of headaches. There are no nerve endings within the brain to create "pain," so why we can have headaches is a mystery. So, too, is a riddle that some people can have headaches and others - blessed that they are - never experience a single one.
Doctors do know some causes for headaches. Trauma - a bump to the head - can cause a headache; also hunger, dehydration, lack of sleep, too much sleep, hangovers (from alcohol, actually a combination of low blood sugar and dehydration), noise, eye strain, and muscle tension in the neck and shoulders (often caused by stress).
Aspirin - in its pure form a preparation of bark from the unassuming willow tree - is a known blood-thinner, and quite effective on most common headaches, which leads some to believe that headaches might be caused in part by increased blood pressure within the skull. (Of course, if your headache is caused by lack of food, water, or sleep, aspirin will not help you.)
More, on migraines:
Doctors do know some causes for headaches. Trauma - a bump to the head - can cause a headache; also hunger, dehydration, lack of sleep, too much sleep, hangovers (from alcohol, actually a combination of low blood sugar and dehydration), noise, eye strain, and muscle tension in the neck and shoulders (often caused by stress).
Aspirin - in its pure form a preparation of bark from the unassuming willow tree - is a known blood-thinner, and quite effective on most common headaches, which leads some to believe that headaches might be caused in part by increased blood pressure within the skull. (Of course, if your headache is caused by lack of food, water, or sleep, aspirin will not help you.)
More, on migraines:
Monday, August 25, 2008
Yeah, It's a Monday ...
Some random bits and pieces ...
My eldest daughter, Rose, really likes Gaia Online (no link for them! They've captured enough people without my help) - I'll be nice and not say she has an addiction. But I think I may be making headway in getting her to gain some self-control. Since I have family that uses Facebook^, the Hubby and I decided to let her get an account too. The upshot is, she's transferring some of her addiction to FB. But I also encouraged her to set up her own blog, and she's warming also to the idea of helping me do some reviews on my other blog.
Saturday the Hubby and I got to go out sans kids for the third time this year. It was the "Annual Summer Party" of some local friends; the husband thereof is a master meat-griller, and since the vegetarians that were invited didn't show, the only green in sight was the guacamole. The Hubby scolds me often for not eating better, but once in a while I get to indulge in a meal of just meat - especially since I was at my doctor on Thursday and have gained four pounds! (Yay, me - just six more to go, and I might have a butt again.)
This morning The Boy was complaining his hands were itchy; I suggested he wash them (which, with a nine year old, is always a safe suggestion). After he did he said his fingers still itched, and showed me some little blisters on the side of his middle finger. I recognized right away he'd gotten into some of the poison ivy that is all over the neighborhood; fortunately we have a bar of Burt's Bees Poison Ivy Soap^ and I told him to wash again using that. And then I discovered an interesting thing: my son didn't know how to wash using a bar of soap.
We've been using liquid soap in pump dispensers forever, it seems; generally we refill the dispensers with a 3:1 water-dish soap solution, since we use the antibacterial dish detergent, and that has been working great. But as I supervised his second washing, I saw he had no idea that holding the bar and both hands under a stream of water was not going to help him get the upper hand, so to speak, on the ivy oil. So I educated him on the "old fashioned" way of washing, the while marveling how the little things can seem like such huge, culturally significant changes.
And this afternoon I decided to take the new Flock^ browser for a test-drive ... it's built on the Mozilla FireFox^ technology, but is designed to work with many different social networking, file sharing, and feed aggregating sites and softwares. So far it works like a browser ... I'm not yet committed to an opinion, but rest assured I'll let you know when I form one.
My eldest daughter, Rose, really likes Gaia Online (no link for them! They've captured enough people without my help) - I'll be nice and not say she has an addiction. But I think I may be making headway in getting her to gain some self-control. Since I have family that uses Facebook^, the Hubby and I decided to let her get an account too. The upshot is, she's transferring some of her addiction to FB. But I also encouraged her to set up her own blog, and she's warming also to the idea of helping me do some reviews on my other blog.
Saturday the Hubby and I got to go out sans kids for the third time this year. It was the "Annual Summer Party" of some local friends; the husband thereof is a master meat-griller, and since the vegetarians that were invited didn't show, the only green in sight was the guacamole. The Hubby scolds me often for not eating better, but once in a while I get to indulge in a meal of just meat - especially since I was at my doctor on Thursday and have gained four pounds! (Yay, me - just six more to go, and I might have a butt again.)
This morning The Boy was complaining his hands were itchy; I suggested he wash them (which, with a nine year old, is always a safe suggestion). After he did he said his fingers still itched, and showed me some little blisters on the side of his middle finger. I recognized right away he'd gotten into some of the poison ivy that is all over the neighborhood; fortunately we have a bar of Burt's Bees Poison Ivy Soap^ and I told him to wash again using that. And then I discovered an interesting thing: my son didn't know how to wash using a bar of soap.
We've been using liquid soap in pump dispensers forever, it seems; generally we refill the dispensers with a 3:1 water-dish soap solution, since we use the antibacterial dish detergent, and that has been working great. But as I supervised his second washing, I saw he had no idea that holding the bar and both hands under a stream of water was not going to help him get the upper hand, so to speak, on the ivy oil. So I educated him on the "old fashioned" way of washing, the while marveling how the little things can seem like such huge, culturally significant changes.
And this afternoon I decided to take the new Flock^ browser for a test-drive ... it's built on the Mozilla FireFox^ technology, but is designed to work with many different social networking, file sharing, and feed aggregating sites and softwares. So far it works like a browser ... I'm not yet committed to an opinion, but rest assured I'll let you know when I form one.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Note to EC Surfers
Apparently some IE users cannot see the EC widget/current ad card. I don't know why this is, or if EC has plans to fix this issue ... so all I can suggest is a better browser.
Let me know (comment on this post or send a message at EC, my card in the right sidebar links to my EC profile) if you have problems viewing the widget or current ad card.
Thanks!
Let me know (comment on this post or send a message at EC, my card in the right sidebar links to my EC profile) if you have problems viewing the widget or current ad card.
Thanks!
Friday, August 22, 2008
A List: Blog Attributes That Bug Me
Given the popularity of lists, the fact that I am "dropping cards" at the moment, and my propensity to rant when things annoy me, here is a list, in no particular order, of:
That being said, please, if your blog includes any of the items on my list, don't leave angry comments about it or go out of your way to pick on my blog. Everyone is entitled to hir own opinion, and as an American I have the right to share mine fairly freely. If you see items on my list that could apply to your blog, and some one else comments that they agree that attribute is annoying, please, for the love of the blogosphere, consider a change.
Blog Attributes That Bug Me
- Blogs that have HUGE pictures at the top that fill the entire "first page" of the browser window. I don't care about your picture, I want to see what you wrote.
- Blogs that have bad Flash plug-ins that cause the browser to crash or freeze the whole computer.
- Blogs that are full of other people's content. If I have to scroll past that stupid "OMG this this so cute kitten scared of RC mouse" video one more time, I am going to blow up the Internet.
- Blogs that have horrendous typos or grammatic abuse in static modules (the titles, sidebars, etc.). I understand typos and so forth in individual entries, but spelling something wrong in your graphics or blog title is shoddy. (This of course does not apply to those blogs where English is not the natural language of the author.)
- Blogs that have so many ads in the sidebars it's an eye-straining nightmare patchwork of conflicting colors, designs, and themes.
- Blogs that have so many widgets, ads, plug-ins, etc., that they take forever to load.
- Blogs that say "subscribe to me and I'll subscribe to you!" If I like your blog I'll subscribe to it, maybe; or I might just favorite it so I can see the layout instead of just getting the content. And I don't want to just bulk up my feed subscriber count or inflate my hit counter numbers. I want readers who actually appreciate my efforts, and you should too.
- Blogs with the "pay me to write about you" ad buttons. I understand the "Pay per post" stuff is nice for some bloggers or whatever ... I have no problem, generally speaking, with affiliate programs and sponsored blogs. But, similar to #7, I don't want to buy your opinion. If some one is going to write about me, I want it to be honest and legit, even if the post isn't favorable. Own your opinion, don't let it be rented.
- Blog layouts in umteen shades of pink. I hate pink. Not only is it an obnoxious color all by itself, too often the people who use it have saccharine content.
- Blogs participating in the EC program that don't have fkg EC widgets on their blogs. That's not fair, guys. Also, EC "cards" that link to sites that are not blogs.
- Blogs by people selling blog layout templates that have lame layouts for their own blogs. WTF is up with that?
- Blogs filled with flowers or cats, or both. There is so much more to the Universe, and so many other symbols of peace, simplicity, comfort, humor, earthiness, etc., dare to be a little original. We don't see nearly enough turtles, platypuses, or loons. Hedgehogs are freakin' hilarious. Give the cats a a rest already.
- Blogs that repost "lolcats" from ICanHasCheezBurger.com without mentioning where they "borrowed" the image from. Seriously, give the cats a rest.
- Blogs that hotlink. Bandwidth theft is not only wrong, if the image gets moved, you get nothing. Host your own darn images. Photobucket is free.
- EC "cards" that use copyrighted material for their images. Intellectual property theft is still theft.
That being said, please, if your blog includes any of the items on my list, don't leave angry comments about it or go out of your way to pick on my blog. Everyone is entitled to hir own opinion, and as an American I have the right to share mine fairly freely. If you see items on my list that could apply to your blog, and some one else comments that they agree that attribute is annoying, please, for the love of the blogosphere, consider a change.
Musings on Bloggings
I wonder if, somewhere, somehow I am doing something wrong. Since I started participating in the EC program, I've seen a lot of blogs ... I'm delighted to have found some of them: excellent content, witty and talented authors, appealing layouts.
But what really puzzles me are some of what I've taken to thinking of as the "Pink Mommy" blogs. (Not all of them are actually pink; it's more a flavor of the blog than a literal hue.)
They blog about they did this, that and the other with their brood (often 3+ kids). They went shopping, they did crafts, they visited, etc., etc., etc.
They are also active in various blogger groups and activities: card drops, blog commenting, message boards, and so on.
What I wonder is, when do these women sleep?
I have four kids and a part-time job. I have two dogs, and the Hubby has a cat; we have a house with a yard; I have extended family to keep in touch with, groceries to buy, unschooling to guide the kids through, my compulsion to write, and my own need to periodically learn new things.
And, oh, yeah, now and then I have to eat, clean myself, and sleep.
I have been attempting all week to find a schedule for myself that allows me to do all these things in a timely manner. And my conclusion is that it is impossible to achieve with only 24 hours in a day.
So apparently the Pink Mommies have found a way to sideslip time, wedging more hours into their days than the rest of us have access to. (The ugly alternative is that some of them are stretching the truth about their offline activities, and I am not one to cast such stones.)
So, if you are a Pink Mommy Blogger (henceforth herein PMB) that has happened across this post, consider this an invitation to initiate me in the arcane skill of time-wedging. I could use it. Thank you.
expand
But what really puzzles me are some of what I've taken to thinking of as the "Pink Mommy" blogs. (Not all of them are actually pink; it's more a flavor of the blog than a literal hue.)
They blog about they did this, that and the other with their brood (often 3+ kids). They went shopping, they did crafts, they visited, etc., etc., etc.
They are also active in various blogger groups and activities: card drops, blog commenting, message boards, and so on.
What I wonder is, when do these women sleep?
I have four kids and a part-time job. I have two dogs, and the Hubby has a cat; we have a house with a yard; I have extended family to keep in touch with, groceries to buy, unschooling to guide the kids through, my compulsion to write, and my own need to periodically learn new things.
And, oh, yeah, now and then I have to eat, clean myself, and sleep.
I have been attempting all week to find a schedule for myself that allows me to do all these things in a timely manner. And my conclusion is that it is impossible to achieve with only 24 hours in a day.
So apparently the Pink Mommies have found a way to sideslip time, wedging more hours into their days than the rest of us have access to. (The ugly alternative is that some of them are stretching the truth about their offline activities, and I am not one to cast such stones.)
So, if you are a Pink Mommy Blogger (henceforth herein PMB) that has happened across this post, consider this an invitation to initiate me in the arcane skill of time-wedging. I could use it. Thank you.
expand
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Yesterday's Adventure
Brought to you in part by:
A few weeks ago I spotted an ambulance ... that in itself isn't astounding, I work at a hospital and I see them all the time. Except I'd never seen one in green and white. Then I noticed the hospital name on the side:
"Dark Knight" had some scenes filmed in Chicago, and the lot must have gotten hold of it after filming. (Yeah, okay, I'm easily amused.)
But yesterday on my way in to work, I noticed something else ...
See what I saw:
I pass a cemetery that's as old as the area's known habitation (pre-European), and there's a particular monument to a young girl:
How's this for ironic: Emma was at a funeral with her family, and died by electrocution during the service. Her father had the statue commissioned from a portrait that had been done of her shortly before her unfortunate death.
As you can see in the first photo, some one visits her grave and leaves trinkets, and recently a plastic rosary ... Well, yesterday I noticed that her stuffed animal had been knocked down. Having a touch of OCD, I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I went there after work to take care of it.
Her second necklace had also been broken, so I collected up all the beads I could find and stashed them in the crook of her elbow.
After that I had some time to kill before the next bus, so I headed to the back of the cemetery where the burial mound is.
The first time I was there, I didn't even know what it was. It's about four feet high, girded by three large trees (two oaks and a something-or-other), and although there is a post for a sign the sign itself is missing.
What I found online indicates it is estimated to be over 1,000 years old, the work of an "unknown Woodland Indian Tribe," with over 300 individuals noted (during an archeological excavation by the University of Chicago in 1928). There's indication that the burial was hurried, perhaps indicating en epidemic of disease.
Flowers on the mound:
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A Thank You (and a bit of a brag)
I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who have subscribed to my feed (13! in just two days!) and to my visitors (70! in two days!). I sincerely appreciate your visits and interest: of all the blogs out there, mine is one you found worth reading. It really does mean a lot to me.
I'll give a shout-out to the EntreCard program: it really is a boon for bloggers. I have found some great blogs I never would have seen otherwise, and I know I'm getting visits I wouldn't have if I didn't sign up.
And mad props to Sheta Kaey of Spirit Companion, for so many reasons: she encouraged me to get motivated, told me about EntreCard, and she made the "Dare to be Different" badge and blog-movement. (She's also a fab graphic artist, as well as being a real classy broad.)
So thanks again, everyone. It's an honor to be part of all of this.
I'll give a shout-out to the EntreCard program: it really is a boon for bloggers. I have found some great blogs I never would have seen otherwise, and I know I'm getting visits I wouldn't have if I didn't sign up.
And mad props to Sheta Kaey of Spirit Companion, for so many reasons: she encouraged me to get motivated, told me about EntreCard, and she made the "Dare to be Different" badge and blog-movement. (She's also a fab graphic artist, as well as being a real classy broad.)
So thanks again, everyone. It's an honor to be part of all of this.
About This Blog ... And Its Author
Oh, where to even begin? :)
I'm a wife, friend, daughter, sister, and mother. I write, edit, code and caption. I'm not always nice but I'm honest; I'm not always strong but I'm resilient; I'm not always focused but I have a good time anyway.
I like Wikipedia a lot - I know it isn't really an authoritative source, but it *is* an excellent starting point for learning stuff, or a great way to pass some time with a little light browsing (like appetizers for the brain). A lot of the time, I'll link to a Wikipedia article for more info on a subject; almost always, links open in new windows (or tabs, depending on your browser settings) and I'll try to remember to mark Wikipedia links with a ^ symbol, like this: Wikipedia^.
Still with me? Okay. Now it starts getting a little weird.
Curious? Read on!
So that's me: author, energy worker, mother, possible lunatic, linguistical artist, free thinker, mad genius.
Comments on posts are always welcome; questions about me, my experiences, or the bizarre bits of my life are fair game as well, but be sure you want the answer before you ask, because it's hard to unread something once it's been read. ;)
I'm a wife, friend, daughter, sister, and mother. I write, edit, code and caption. I'm not always nice but I'm honest; I'm not always strong but I'm resilient; I'm not always focused but I have a good time anyway.
I like Wikipedia a lot - I know it isn't really an authoritative source, but it *is* an excellent starting point for learning stuff, or a great way to pass some time with a little light browsing (like appetizers for the brain). A lot of the time, I'll link to a Wikipedia article for more info on a subject; almost always, links open in new windows (or tabs, depending on your browser settings) and I'll try to remember to mark Wikipedia links with a ^ symbol, like this: Wikipedia^.
Still with me? Okay. Now it starts getting a little weird.
Curious? Read on!
I have a high IQ - well above average, have tested at "genius" level (160+) - but I am also naive and make mistakes like everybody else.
I did well in school and was a lousy student. I emulated my Dad by being an agnostic, and in high school became an atheist, probably because I went to a Catholic school for a year and a half. Now I'm more of an agnostic pantheist with a side of apathy. I am spiritual but not religious. (I think religion can be one of the worst things to happen to spirituality.)
I have a Husband, Will (sometimes called "the Hubby"); we were married in 1994. Ten years later, give or take, we became polyamorous^. I know a lot of people have misconceptions about polyamory, but that's a post in itself. For now I'll just touch on the basics: it's not polygamy^, where one person (usually the husband) has many spouses (usually wives); it isn't swinging^, and it definitely isn't cheating. It takes a lot of strength and trust in a relationship to be able to consider non-monogamy; it also isn't for everyone. So far we are taking it slow and things have been okay.
I have in the past identified myself as bi-sexual, and have had romantic and physical relationships with other women. However, I'm not entirely sure "bi" is accurate; I think in my case I just am not mentally constrained by gender when I feel an attraction to some one; to me, personality counts for so much in regard to what I like in another person, so male or female doesn't always come into it.
The Hubby and I have four kids: Rose (14), Blossom (12), THE BOY (or Boo, he's 9) and Lily (6). I can't keep actual plants alive but my "garden" of children is flourishing. We homeschool^ - or more accurately, unschool^ - all of them, with help from the Internet. Rose and Blossom recently finished a summer class at the library for computer skills; Rose spent more time helping teach the class than playing the part of a student. Their neighborhood friends envy them for it; some days I envy the other mothers for being able to get rid of their kids five days a week. But generally I enjoy their company so much I can't imagine doing anything else.
I started writing stories when I was very young; they become more ambitious in theme and scope as I grew older, but I didn't finish my first novel until 2004. Then, a lot more frustration and false starts, until November of 2007 when I wrote a novel in 28 days. I followed that with another in early 2008, and since then have been working fairly steadily on my sprawling fiction project.
I began studying the occult at 13. I was Wiccan^ briefly, but grew out of that pretty fast. By the time I met Will, I was finding my own path, and when I began joining Internet groups in 2002 I identified myself as pagan, although I was already fairly agnostic by then, because those were the groups doing what interested me: they call it magic(k), I call it energy work.
After a few interesting attempts to participate in pagan magic rituals, I realized I'm better off working solo, so as not to disrupt other people's efforts. I also discovered that other people's energy (OPE) can trigger something like an allergic reaction in me, so avoiding high concentrations is preferable to throwing myself into the mix.
This spring I joined the team at Rending the Veil and became friends with the owner/Editor in Chief, Sheta Kaey. It is without a doubt one of the best decisions I ever made - not only is the website and magazine an excellent resource, Sheta is an intelligent, admirable woman (with a damn freaky blog).
I've always been weird. Even among "freaks" I was still the odd one. In 1998 I read the absolutely incredible autobiography Nobody Nowhere by Donna Williams^. And for the first time in my life, I realized that there were other people out there that experience things the same way I do, have similar hurdles and comforts, frustrations and elations. They're referred to as being "on the autistic^ spectrum."
I learned everything I could about it. And when the day came that I realized I could be diagnosed as "having Asperger's Syndrome^," I was both relieved to know I was not alone in the world, not an alien out of place, and horrified to think I was "disabled." I didn't *feel* disabled, although I acknowledged then and do now that I have a lot of hurdles in my life that many others do not, particularly in regard with interacting with other people. I became very depressed. I didn't want to be disabled. I wanted to just be me, and be able to enjoy this new understanding of myself.
Again, I turned to the Internet, and found many "Asperger Support" groups. I joined them and hoped for understanding and compassion. What I found were people complaining about "how hard Aspies are to live with" and the best ways to keep them "managed" - usually by heavy drugging, even in small children!
I was outraged. I complained right back that "neuro-typicals" (non-autistics) aren't any baskets of sunshine to live with either. They have an excess of social dependency, a fixation on superficial physical contact, and an appaling degree of xenophobia. One of these "supporters" called me a "wild Aspie" and told me to get medicated. I left the group in a huff, and the Wild Aspie was born.
I started my own group on Tribe.net, mostly as a place to sulk, in April of 2005. Slowly at first, without me inviting a single soul, the group grew. Membership has gone up and down, but has been holding steadyish around 100 for a while. One of the first members coined the phrase "self-identified" as a way to refer to oneself, and the group is a truly supportive, pleasant place for Aspies and non-Aspies alike. The ironic thing is, they get on so well I can't keep up with the messages, and rarely go there anymore.
I did well in school and was a lousy student. I emulated my Dad by being an agnostic, and in high school became an atheist, probably because I went to a Catholic school for a year and a half. Now I'm more of an agnostic pantheist with a side of apathy. I am spiritual but not religious. (I think religion can be one of the worst things to happen to spirituality.)
I have a Husband, Will (sometimes called "the Hubby"); we were married in 1994. Ten years later, give or take, we became polyamorous^. I know a lot of people have misconceptions about polyamory, but that's a post in itself. For now I'll just touch on the basics: it's not polygamy^, where one person (usually the husband) has many spouses (usually wives); it isn't swinging^, and it definitely isn't cheating. It takes a lot of strength and trust in a relationship to be able to consider non-monogamy; it also isn't for everyone. So far we are taking it slow and things have been okay.
I have in the past identified myself as bi-sexual, and have had romantic and physical relationships with other women. However, I'm not entirely sure "bi" is accurate; I think in my case I just am not mentally constrained by gender when I feel an attraction to some one; to me, personality counts for so much in regard to what I like in another person, so male or female doesn't always come into it.
The Hubby and I have four kids: Rose (14), Blossom (12), THE BOY (or Boo, he's 9) and Lily (6). I can't keep actual plants alive but my "garden" of children is flourishing. We homeschool^ - or more accurately, unschool^ - all of them, with help from the Internet. Rose and Blossom recently finished a summer class at the library for computer skills; Rose spent more time helping teach the class than playing the part of a student. Their neighborhood friends envy them for it; some days I envy the other mothers for being able to get rid of their kids five days a week. But generally I enjoy their company so much I can't imagine doing anything else.
I started writing stories when I was very young; they become more ambitious in theme and scope as I grew older, but I didn't finish my first novel until 2004. Then, a lot more frustration and false starts, until November of 2007 when I wrote a novel in 28 days. I followed that with another in early 2008, and since then have been working fairly steadily on my sprawling fiction project.
I began studying the occult at 13. I was Wiccan^ briefly, but grew out of that pretty fast. By the time I met Will, I was finding my own path, and when I began joining Internet groups in 2002 I identified myself as pagan, although I was already fairly agnostic by then, because those were the groups doing what interested me: they call it magic(k), I call it energy work.
After a few interesting attempts to participate in pagan magic rituals, I realized I'm better off working solo, so as not to disrupt other people's efforts. I also discovered that other people's energy (OPE) can trigger something like an allergic reaction in me, so avoiding high concentrations is preferable to throwing myself into the mix.
This spring I joined the team at Rending the Veil and became friends with the owner/Editor in Chief, Sheta Kaey. It is without a doubt one of the best decisions I ever made - not only is the website and magazine an excellent resource, Sheta is an intelligent, admirable woman (with a damn freaky blog).
I've always been weird. Even among "freaks" I was still the odd one. In 1998 I read the absolutely incredible autobiography Nobody Nowhere by Donna Williams^. And for the first time in my life, I realized that there were other people out there that experience things the same way I do, have similar hurdles and comforts, frustrations and elations. They're referred to as being "on the autistic^ spectrum."
I learned everything I could about it. And when the day came that I realized I could be diagnosed as "having Asperger's Syndrome^," I was both relieved to know I was not alone in the world, not an alien out of place, and horrified to think I was "disabled." I didn't *feel* disabled, although I acknowledged then and do now that I have a lot of hurdles in my life that many others do not, particularly in regard with interacting with other people. I became very depressed. I didn't want to be disabled. I wanted to just be me, and be able to enjoy this new understanding of myself.
Again, I turned to the Internet, and found many "Asperger Support" groups. I joined them and hoped for understanding and compassion. What I found were people complaining about "how hard Aspies are to live with" and the best ways to keep them "managed" - usually by heavy drugging, even in small children!
I was outraged. I complained right back that "neuro-typicals" (non-autistics) aren't any baskets of sunshine to live with either. They have an excess of social dependency, a fixation on superficial physical contact, and an appaling degree of xenophobia. One of these "supporters" called me a "wild Aspie" and told me to get medicated. I left the group in a huff, and the Wild Aspie was born.
I started my own group on Tribe.net, mostly as a place to sulk, in April of 2005. Slowly at first, without me inviting a single soul, the group grew. Membership has gone up and down, but has been holding steadyish around 100 for a while. One of the first members coined the phrase "self-identified" as a way to refer to oneself, and the group is a truly supportive, pleasant place for Aspies and non-Aspies alike. The ironic thing is, they get on so well I can't keep up with the messages, and rarely go there anymore.
So that's me: author, energy worker, mother, possible lunatic, linguistical artist, free thinker, mad genius.
Comments on posts are always welcome; questions about me, my experiences, or the bizarre bits of my life are fair game as well, but be sure you want the answer before you ask, because it's hard to unread something once it's been read. ;)
Monday, August 18, 2008
There are worse things to hear on a Monday morning ...
As I was walking down the street from bus stop to office on my way in to work, this guy drives past in the opposite direction, and calls out the window, "Nice tits."
Well, okay.
He must have been really looking, since I'm not wearing a particularly flattering shirt as far as enhancing the bustline goes.
But I'll take it as a compliment. Thanks, anonymous gawker.
Well, okay.
He must have been really looking, since I'm not wearing a particularly flattering shirt as far as enhancing the bustline goes.
But I'll take it as a compliment. Thanks, anonymous gawker.
Volcanoes and Coffee
I was telling Rose, my oldest daughter, about the Toba Event
"But life will continue," I reassured her. "Life will once again crawl out of the sludge, blink in the weak sunlight, straighten its spine, find its thumbs, and proclaim to the universe:
(Toba was a volcano in Sumatra that erupted about 73,000 BCE, with an explosion far greater than anything seen since. It produced a volcanic winter - ash and gas blocking the sun - that lasted six years. This caused a general cooling that plunged the planet into an ice age)
. I told her about the cycles of warming and cooling the planet has seen just in the last 75,000 years (a blink of global history). Then I concluded that this cycle will continue, and that sooner or later, another volcano, comet, or other dramatic event will once again alter the planet's climatic cycles."But life will continue," I reassured her. "Life will once again crawl out of the sludge, blink in the weak sunlight, straighten its spine, find its thumbs, and proclaim to the universe:
I'm gonna put a Starbucks right there.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Site Tweaks & Additions
This was to be my day of rest, but apparently I didn't know what I was talking about.
But that's okay! Good stuff happened.
A tale of tweaks
So in my new column (on the left, there) you'll see some buttons and badges and things. Having considered some off-hand advice from my good friend Sheta, I decided to go ahead and get a bit more serious about blogging.
More about those programs ...
Sheta is participating in Entrecard, and had made up some nifty badges - the "Dare to be Different" one - so I decided to join the fun. It's free and easy to sign up, and you get exposed to a lot of neat blogs, as well as getting exposure for your own.
Blogged.com is a rating site. My personal blog merited an 8.3, Great, and I'd really like to see this one inch higher than a 6.4. So do me a solid and vote there, 'kay?
I also signed up for Feedburner, along with their email-update service. That's another cool, free webtool. Who doesn't like free? Not only will they "burn" your blog feed, they make it easy to make sure the webcrawlers find it and keep it current. They also provided the active headline generator over in the right sidebar. Tech toys are so much fun. :)
As I sign up at more places, there will be more buttons, badges, widgets and updates.
It will be an interesting journey.
But that's okay! Good stuff happened.
A tale of tweaks
I learned HTML and CSS by taking webpages apart and then trying to put them back together. "Oops, I guess that code was important" was a common utterance. :)
Javascript was too much for me though. I'm not a designer, just a hobbyist, and there seemed to be no reason to work so hard on a webpage.
But today I realized I really, really wanted a three-column layout for this blog. I really like the template design, though, and it even came "out of the box" in a color scheme that pleased me. I didn't want to have to start over. I wanted to just add a column.
Easier wanted than done. But I did it! All by myself, even. Usually when I have computer trouble of any kind, I'll e-tap an online friend who's a whiz with this stuff and cry on his shoulder. Then he tells me how to fix it and everyone is happy. But today I wad determined to puzzle out the arcane coding myself and get that column in.
The end result isn't as polished as what I started with, naturally, but I am happy with it for now. After some more practice I'll make it sparkle.
Javascript was too much for me though. I'm not a designer, just a hobbyist, and there seemed to be no reason to work so hard on a webpage.
But today I realized I really, really wanted a three-column layout for this blog. I really like the template design, though, and it even came "out of the box" in a color scheme that pleased me. I didn't want to have to start over. I wanted to just add a column.
Easier wanted than done. But I did it! All by myself, even. Usually when I have computer trouble of any kind, I'll e-tap an online friend who's a whiz with this stuff and cry on his shoulder. Then he tells me how to fix it and everyone is happy. But today I wad determined to puzzle out the arcane coding myself and get that column in.
The end result isn't as polished as what I started with, naturally, but I am happy with it for now. After some more practice I'll make it sparkle.
So in my new column (on the left, there) you'll see some buttons and badges and things. Having considered some off-hand advice from my good friend Sheta, I decided to go ahead and get a bit more serious about blogging.
More about those programs ...
Sheta is participating in Entrecard, and had made up some nifty badges - the "Dare to be Different" one - so I decided to join the fun. It's free and easy to sign up, and you get exposed to a lot of neat blogs, as well as getting exposure for your own.
Blogged.com is a rating site. My personal blog merited an 8.3, Great, and I'd really like to see this one inch higher than a 6.4. So do me a solid and vote there, 'kay?
I also signed up for Feedburner, along with their email-update service. That's another cool, free webtool. Who doesn't like free? Not only will they "burn" your blog feed, they make it easy to make sure the webcrawlers find it and keep it current. They also provided the active headline generator over in the right sidebar. Tech toys are so much fun. :)
As I sign up at more places, there will be more buttons, badges, widgets and updates.
It will be an interesting journey.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Site Update
More Prohibition! (Since it worked so well in the 1920's!)
This is the way it goes. A vocal minority passes itself off as the righteous majority, stupid laws get passed, some people end up jailed at great expense to taxpayers, or dead, while others make ridiculous amounts of money (untaxed) by breaking the stupid law, or get killed.
Fab system, guys. Truly a wonder.
Let's review.
The U.S. Senate passed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917, and was ratified on January 29, 1919, having been approved by 36 states, and went into effect on a Federal level on January 29, 1920. It lasted until repealed with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, on December 5, 1933.
You couldn't legally make, buy or imbibe alcohol in this country from 1920 to 1933. And it worked great! Just ask the mobsters that ran the bootlegging enterprises. They made money "hand over fist," and fought bloody street wars to protect their empires.
Fast forward 36 years. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, claiming it has "a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical use." Suddenly a bunch of relatively harmless potheads are felons, and genuine criminals - much like the bootleg empires of the 1920's - suddenly have entry to a huge, lucrative (and tax-free!) market.
A few years later, enter, stage right, the "D.A.R.E." program. Lies, damn lies, and propaganda. I don't know of anyone personally who avoided drugs because of D.A.R.E., but I do know plenty of people who got so pissed off at being lied to that they DID experiment, and made their own decisions on whether or not to continue using drugs. (For the record, most of them tried many things but stuck with only one: marijuana.)
A few more years, and we get the ridiculous PSAs on TV about "smoking pot supports terrorism." Wut?! Smoking pot supports the snack industry, that's for sure, and probably MTV as well. Terrorists know the score, and the smarter criminals can do the math: cocaine and heroin products are more compact to smuggle and give a higher return on investment at street level.
Now a moment for comparison. How many people have been killed by drunk drivers in this country, plus the number of deaths from lung cancer in people who smoked tobacco (alcohol and tobacco being legal and highly taxed commodities), versus the number of people killed by drivers under the influence of marijuana, plus the number of people who have developed lung cancer from smoking marijuana? (I don't have the figures myself, but we can all estimate that set one is a significantly higher number than set two.)
And then you have incidents like what happened to Rachel Hoffman.
More here, including relevant links:
From SpiritCompanion.com blog:
"Police caught Hoffman with pot but promised to drop charges if she agreed to go undercover in a drug bust. She was killed soon afterward.
Rachel Hoffman is dead. Rachel Hoffman, like many young adults, occasionally smoked marijuana.
But Rachel Hoffman is not dead as a result of smoking marijuana; she is dead as a result of marijuana prohibition.
Under prohibition, Rachel faced up to five years in a Florida prison for possessing a small amount of marijuana. (Under state law, violators face up to a $5,000 fine and five years in prison for possession of more than 20 grams of pot.)"
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/NEWS01/805120325/0/COMP
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5442615&page=1
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4530
http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=5442615
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/VIDEO/80509031
http://stash.norml.org/2008/04/04/stoners-in-the-mist-more-prejudiced-propaganda-from-ondcp/
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5454035
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/63988/
And now, in the infinite wisdom of our government, we have a ban on contraceptives looming.
Seriously, people, am I the only one who sees something WRONG with this?!
We don't need MORE government in our lives. We need better education and more personal responsibility. The more freedoms we allow our government to take away, the less able we are to take care of ourselves, which gives the government more opportunity to restrict our freedoms. It's a cycle we need to break, and it's not like it's hard to see. They aren't doing this in secret. There's no back-room, clandestine operation here. It's going on RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU and only by speaking up, raising a fuss, refusing to be quietly complacent out of apathy, fear, or disgust can we stop this.
Please, people of America, if you love what this country should stand for, if you believe what we pledge about "liberty and justice for all," STOP BEING SO STUPID and take back control of our nation.
Fab system, guys. Truly a wonder.
Let's review.
The U.S. Senate passed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 18, 1917, and was ratified on January 29, 1919, having been approved by 36 states, and went into effect on a Federal level on January 29, 1920. It lasted until repealed with ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, on December 5, 1933.
You couldn't legally make, buy or imbibe alcohol in this country from 1920 to 1933. And it worked great! Just ask the mobsters that ran the bootlegging enterprises. They made money "hand over fist," and fought bloody street wars to protect their empires.
Fast forward 36 years. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, claiming it has "a high potential for abuse and no acceptable medical use." Suddenly a bunch of relatively harmless potheads are felons, and genuine criminals - much like the bootleg empires of the 1920's - suddenly have entry to a huge, lucrative (and tax-free!) market.
A few years later, enter, stage right, the "D.A.R.E." program. Lies, damn lies, and propaganda. I don't know of anyone personally who avoided drugs because of D.A.R.E., but I do know plenty of people who got so pissed off at being lied to that they DID experiment, and made their own decisions on whether or not to continue using drugs. (For the record, most of them tried many things but stuck with only one: marijuana.)
A few more years, and we get the ridiculous PSAs on TV about "smoking pot supports terrorism." Wut?! Smoking pot supports the snack industry, that's for sure, and probably MTV as well. Terrorists know the score, and the smarter criminals can do the math: cocaine and heroin products are more compact to smuggle and give a higher return on investment at street level.
Now a moment for comparison. How many people have been killed by drunk drivers in this country, plus the number of deaths from lung cancer in people who smoked tobacco (alcohol and tobacco being legal and highly taxed commodities), versus the number of people killed by drivers under the influence of marijuana, plus the number of people who have developed lung cancer from smoking marijuana? (I don't have the figures myself, but we can all estimate that set one is a significantly higher number than set two.)
And then you have incidents like what happened to Rachel Hoffman.
More here, including relevant links:
From SpiritCompanion.com blog:
"Police caught Hoffman with pot but promised to drop charges if she agreed to go undercover in a drug bust. She was killed soon afterward.
Rachel Hoffman is dead. Rachel Hoffman, like many young adults, occasionally smoked marijuana.
But Rachel Hoffman is not dead as a result of smoking marijuana; she is dead as a result of marijuana prohibition.
Under prohibition, Rachel faced up to five years in a Florida prison for possessing a small amount of marijuana. (Under state law, violators face up to a $5,000 fine and five years in prison for possession of more than 20 grams of pot.)"
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080512/NEWS01/805120325/0/COMP
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5442615&page=1
http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?wtm_view=&Group_ID=4530
http://www.abcnews.go.com/print?id=5442615
http://tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080509/VIDEO/80509031
http://stash.norml.org/2008/04/04/stoners-in-the-mist-more-prejudiced-propaganda-from-ondcp/
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=5454035
http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/63988/
And now, in the infinite wisdom of our government, we have a ban on contraceptives looming.
Seriously, people, am I the only one who sees something WRONG with this?!
We don't need MORE government in our lives. We need better education and more personal responsibility. The more freedoms we allow our government to take away, the less able we are to take care of ourselves, which gives the government more opportunity to restrict our freedoms. It's a cycle we need to break, and it's not like it's hard to see. They aren't doing this in secret. There's no back-room, clandestine operation here. It's going on RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU and only by speaking up, raising a fuss, refusing to be quietly complacent out of apathy, fear, or disgust can we stop this.
Please, people of America, if you love what this country should stand for, if you believe what we pledge about "liberty and justice for all," STOP BEING SO STUPID and take back control of our nation.
cross-posted at my LJ
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Nontheistic Energy Work Technique 1: Super-Green
Originally published in Rending the Veil Volume II Issue 5 (Lughnasadh 2008)
Click to read ...
Most of us have places to be, and must traverse public roadways to get there. A handy tool to facilitate these commutes is a technique we call “Super-Green.”
Super-Green encourages traffic patterns to be favorable to your transit: other vehicles will “magically” maintain drama-free, orderly procession; traffic signals will be green for you when you need them; your route, with practice, may even “fold” so that you can shave minutes off your commute time.
This technique is most effective when used with a locus, either physical or verbal, to reinforce the objective to the aspects of personality before the trip begins. Otherwise, Super-Green can remain in effect on a typically traveled route, but will begin to “stale” and become erratic and unpredictable if not refreshed.
Also, when using Super-Green, it is very important to recognize when the technique is “failing” for your own good, such as catching a red light just before an ambulance comes racing through on the cross street, or being forced to slow in traffic moments before you spot the officer at the speed trap.
Preparation
You will need:
* A familiar route
* At least two days of driving said route to lay the foundation of the Super-Green
* Clarity of purpose
* A locus
Your Route
Begin by traveling your route when you do not need to be at the destination – do not try to lay the foundation when you are concerned about getting to your job, for example – but, if possible, make the trip under traffic conditions similar to those of your typical commute. On these trips, pay particular attention to the location of the signal box at the light-controlled intersections, so that on later trips you do not need to look for them.
Many people try to “push the light,” but this is foolish, since the light is at the end of the circuit, and the box is what controls the light. Also, pay attention and give thought to the pressure plates on the road, as those sensors (when present) alert the system that a vehicle is waiting.
While it is obvious that inanimate objects like traffic light control boxes are not alive in a way we understand life, there does seem to be a perverse sort of humor exhibited by the inanimate at the expense of the animate. This seems to hold particularly true for traffic signals. In our experience, they also seem to respond to flattery regarding the wittiness of their humor.
Put this to good use in laying the foundation of your Super-Green. Encourage those boxes to change the lights when it would be funniest – that is, most annoying to drivers approaching the intersection. Then compliment them when they do so, offering your laughter in place of what they cannot give voice to.
Establishing a good rapport with the boxes will make it far easier to manipulate their actions when you need to.
Once you know where the boxes are and have begun to establish rapport, continue to drive the route with thoughts now on the road itself and the traffic you share it with. In most cases, many of the other cars will also be regulars on the route, and conditioning the others drivers to your Super-Green is a large part of a drama-free drive.
Your Purpose
Your goal is to arrive safely at your destination, with a minimum of drama, in the least time possible. But safety must be your first goal and you must allow “failure” of the Super-Green technique to preserve your safety. It will not get you to work faster to be struck broadside by someone else in a hurry.
Your Locus
Ideally, you should aspire to use of the simple phrase “Super-Green” (or similarly evocative word or phrase) as the sole necessary trigger or reinforcement for your drive. You should also recognize that this is a reminder for you, not a “magic word.”
If you have experience with servitors or have always wanted to make one, this is a good opportunity. A construct designed to engage the control boxes, whether joking with them or coaxing them to your will, could certainly prove useful. A fitting vessel might be found in any unattended precut metal, particularly at those intersections that seem most resistant to allowing your easy passage. A quick look will reveal a wealth of such objects in rectangles, pentagons, octagons, and more, although of course it should not need to be said that we do not condone nor encourage theft of municipal property.
A sigil is another possibility for your locus. If your usual discipline includes “forgetting” the sigil after completion, the glove box is a natural place to “lose” such an item, or beneath the driver’s seat is another handy location.
Alternatively, a small object in your vehicle – best, a green one – where you can see it while driving (such as suspended from the sun visor or rearview mirror) can be used as a visual focus/reminder of your clarity of purpose. If you are particularly artistic, you might consider creating a small object representative to you of your purpose, and even incorporating a sigil into it, and hanging the completed piece from the mirror or affixing it to your dashboard. (Don’t leave loose objects in the car – that would be contrary to the safe commute.)
In Practice
Before starting your vehicle, remind yourself of your purpose (invoke Super-Green). It is important to do this before you even start the engine, to ensure you can fully dedicate your attention to it.
As you drive, simply remind yourself (and the control boxes, your servitor, etc.) that your commute will be smooth and drama free. There are three main “troubleshooting” points to keep in mind:
First, if lights are seeming to delay changing, check your speed: if you are habitually driving more than five miles an hour over the posted limit, you are “overdriving” the lights and creating a larger obstacle for yourself. Keep your speed within five mph of the posted limit and you will find that the lights change for you in a timely manner, allowing you to minimize – even eliminate – stop-and-go driving, even when traffic is heavy.
Second, if you are driving the limit and a light suddenly goes stubborn, consider the possibility that something you would not expect might be poised to occur: an emergency vehicle, someone running the light in the cross direction, or trouble further along on your path that needs time to be cleared out of your way.
Third, if, for example, a certain intersection just will not cooperate with you, someone may have influenced before you did. You can either put more effort into overcoming their influence, adjust your transit to try to avoid coming into direct conflict with their timing, or select another route to avoid the intersection altogether.
Road Folding
After some successful Super-Green travel on a particular route, especially long ones, you may find that your travel time is dramatically reduced. If you keep track, you might even note that your mileage is less than what it should be.
This is due to a phenomena called “folding the road.” Reality has weak points (some call them “thin parts of the veil”) that can be exploited, including physical locations where an energy worker can access the infinite possibility of actuality and assert it on consensus reality. (Some people find weak points occur naturally along ley lines.)
Particularly on well-traveled highways, where many people have traveled wanting to get where they were going faster, road folding can be quite easy. It only takes a little extra effort. First, attune yourself to the road and the “weak” spots will become known to you. Then, a minor “push” will encourage consensus reality to fold at those points. You will usually still drive the same miles through the folded area, but even at the speed limit you will do it much faster than otherwise “possible.”
Parking Spaces
One you've nearly gotten to where you want to be, often the final snag is finding a place to park.
Super-Green can facilitate this as well, with only a minor addendum at the start of your trip. As described, before even starting the vehicle, remind yourself of (invoke) your Super-Green purpose, and with clarity of purpose and deliberate intent, add the knowledge that a convenient parking space will be available when you arrive at your destination.
If necessary, take the extra moment to actively visualize the parking space you want. Do not imagine it empty, as an empty spot will be snagged by someone else before you arrive. Visualize another vehicle there, but with the knowledge that as you near your destination, the owner of the other vehicle will be finishing up hir business and preparing to leave.
Conduct your commute as usual, knowing that your drive will be Super-Green and your spot will be waiting for you. When you near your destination, you should be able to see the person who is going to vacate “your” parking space getting into hir vehicle. If you cannot physically see it, actively visualize it without giving an iota of thought to any other possibility.
Be sure to give the departing person a wave of thanks as they pull out, even if you have to wait a few minutes as they fuss around – civility is in short supply nowadays, and a friendly smile and wave will possibly make hir day and help spread the ambient Super-Green further.
Conclusion
At the end of any Super-Green travel, whether it worked to your satisfaction or not, take another moment before jumping out of your vehicle and charging forth to business to appreciate a safe arrival and reflect upon the aspects of your commute.
As you consider any rough spots that might need refinement, keep in mind the following:
Super-Green does not replace responsible time-management. If you habitually leave late for work, for example, you need to take responsibility for that and leave home on time.
If you are prone to “road rage,” Super-Green will probably not work for you. Reckless driving, such as while impaired (by chemicals, distractions – like talking on the phone or eating – or lack of sleep), following too closely, too fast for weather conditions, or racing up to stop signs and so forth, is contrary to the purpose of a safe commute.
Finally, acknowledge that some things are simply beyond your control, and the only option you have is to control your reaction to them. Maintaining a positive attitude during your commute – no matter how contrary it seems on the surface – will only serve you well. Instead of fretting about time wasted in your vehicle, recognize that you have been allotted precious “you time:” you can think your thoughts, consider your plans, and contemplate past and future events without the distractions you will have upon your safe arrival.
Click to read ...
Most of us have places to be, and must traverse public roadways to get there. A handy tool to facilitate these commutes is a technique we call “Super-Green.”
Super-Green encourages traffic patterns to be favorable to your transit: other vehicles will “magically” maintain drama-free, orderly procession; traffic signals will be green for you when you need them; your route, with practice, may even “fold” so that you can shave minutes off your commute time.
This technique is most effective when used with a locus, either physical or verbal, to reinforce the objective to the aspects of personality before the trip begins. Otherwise, Super-Green can remain in effect on a typically traveled route, but will begin to “stale” and become erratic and unpredictable if not refreshed.
Also, when using Super-Green, it is very important to recognize when the technique is “failing” for your own good, such as catching a red light just before an ambulance comes racing through on the cross street, or being forced to slow in traffic moments before you spot the officer at the speed trap.
Preparation
You will need:
* A familiar route
* At least two days of driving said route to lay the foundation of the Super-Green
* Clarity of purpose
* A locus
Your Route
Begin by traveling your route when you do not need to be at the destination – do not try to lay the foundation when you are concerned about getting to your job, for example – but, if possible, make the trip under traffic conditions similar to those of your typical commute. On these trips, pay particular attention to the location of the signal box at the light-controlled intersections, so that on later trips you do not need to look for them.
Many people try to “push the light,” but this is foolish, since the light is at the end of the circuit, and the box is what controls the light. Also, pay attention and give thought to the pressure plates on the road, as those sensors (when present) alert the system that a vehicle is waiting.
While it is obvious that inanimate objects like traffic light control boxes are not alive in a way we understand life, there does seem to be a perverse sort of humor exhibited by the inanimate at the expense of the animate. This seems to hold particularly true for traffic signals. In our experience, they also seem to respond to flattery regarding the wittiness of their humor.
Put this to good use in laying the foundation of your Super-Green. Encourage those boxes to change the lights when it would be funniest – that is, most annoying to drivers approaching the intersection. Then compliment them when they do so, offering your laughter in place of what they cannot give voice to.
Establishing a good rapport with the boxes will make it far easier to manipulate their actions when you need to.
Once you know where the boxes are and have begun to establish rapport, continue to drive the route with thoughts now on the road itself and the traffic you share it with. In most cases, many of the other cars will also be regulars on the route, and conditioning the others drivers to your Super-Green is a large part of a drama-free drive.
Your Purpose
Your goal is to arrive safely at your destination, with a minimum of drama, in the least time possible. But safety must be your first goal and you must allow “failure” of the Super-Green technique to preserve your safety. It will not get you to work faster to be struck broadside by someone else in a hurry.
Your Locus
Ideally, you should aspire to use of the simple phrase “Super-Green” (or similarly evocative word or phrase) as the sole necessary trigger or reinforcement for your drive. You should also recognize that this is a reminder for you, not a “magic word.”
If you have experience with servitors or have always wanted to make one, this is a good opportunity. A construct designed to engage the control boxes, whether joking with them or coaxing them to your will, could certainly prove useful. A fitting vessel might be found in any unattended precut metal, particularly at those intersections that seem most resistant to allowing your easy passage. A quick look will reveal a wealth of such objects in rectangles, pentagons, octagons, and more, although of course it should not need to be said that we do not condone nor encourage theft of municipal property.
A sigil is another possibility for your locus. If your usual discipline includes “forgetting” the sigil after completion, the glove box is a natural place to “lose” such an item, or beneath the driver’s seat is another handy location.
Alternatively, a small object in your vehicle – best, a green one – where you can see it while driving (such as suspended from the sun visor or rearview mirror) can be used as a visual focus/reminder of your clarity of purpose. If you are particularly artistic, you might consider creating a small object representative to you of your purpose, and even incorporating a sigil into it, and hanging the completed piece from the mirror or affixing it to your dashboard. (Don’t leave loose objects in the car – that would be contrary to the safe commute.)
In Practice
Before starting your vehicle, remind yourself of your purpose (invoke Super-Green). It is important to do this before you even start the engine, to ensure you can fully dedicate your attention to it.
As you drive, simply remind yourself (and the control boxes, your servitor, etc.) that your commute will be smooth and drama free. There are three main “troubleshooting” points to keep in mind:
First, if lights are seeming to delay changing, check your speed: if you are habitually driving more than five miles an hour over the posted limit, you are “overdriving” the lights and creating a larger obstacle for yourself. Keep your speed within five mph of the posted limit and you will find that the lights change for you in a timely manner, allowing you to minimize – even eliminate – stop-and-go driving, even when traffic is heavy.
Second, if you are driving the limit and a light suddenly goes stubborn, consider the possibility that something you would not expect might be poised to occur: an emergency vehicle, someone running the light in the cross direction, or trouble further along on your path that needs time to be cleared out of your way.
Third, if, for example, a certain intersection just will not cooperate with you, someone may have influenced before you did. You can either put more effort into overcoming their influence, adjust your transit to try to avoid coming into direct conflict with their timing, or select another route to avoid the intersection altogether.
Road Folding
After some successful Super-Green travel on a particular route, especially long ones, you may find that your travel time is dramatically reduced. If you keep track, you might even note that your mileage is less than what it should be.
This is due to a phenomena called “folding the road.” Reality has weak points (some call them “thin parts of the veil”) that can be exploited, including physical locations where an energy worker can access the infinite possibility of actuality and assert it on consensus reality. (Some people find weak points occur naturally along ley lines.)
Particularly on well-traveled highways, where many people have traveled wanting to get where they were going faster, road folding can be quite easy. It only takes a little extra effort. First, attune yourself to the road and the “weak” spots will become known to you. Then, a minor “push” will encourage consensus reality to fold at those points. You will usually still drive the same miles through the folded area, but even at the speed limit you will do it much faster than otherwise “possible.”
Parking Spaces
One you've nearly gotten to where you want to be, often the final snag is finding a place to park.
Super-Green can facilitate this as well, with only a minor addendum at the start of your trip. As described, before even starting the vehicle, remind yourself of (invoke) your Super-Green purpose, and with clarity of purpose and deliberate intent, add the knowledge that a convenient parking space will be available when you arrive at your destination.
If necessary, take the extra moment to actively visualize the parking space you want. Do not imagine it empty, as an empty spot will be snagged by someone else before you arrive. Visualize another vehicle there, but with the knowledge that as you near your destination, the owner of the other vehicle will be finishing up hir business and preparing to leave.
Conduct your commute as usual, knowing that your drive will be Super-Green and your spot will be waiting for you. When you near your destination, you should be able to see the person who is going to vacate “your” parking space getting into hir vehicle. If you cannot physically see it, actively visualize it without giving an iota of thought to any other possibility.
Be sure to give the departing person a wave of thanks as they pull out, even if you have to wait a few minutes as they fuss around – civility is in short supply nowadays, and a friendly smile and wave will possibly make hir day and help spread the ambient Super-Green further.
Conclusion
At the end of any Super-Green travel, whether it worked to your satisfaction or not, take another moment before jumping out of your vehicle and charging forth to business to appreciate a safe arrival and reflect upon the aspects of your commute.
As you consider any rough spots that might need refinement, keep in mind the following:
Super-Green does not replace responsible time-management. If you habitually leave late for work, for example, you need to take responsibility for that and leave home on time.
If you are prone to “road rage,” Super-Green will probably not work for you. Reckless driving, such as while impaired (by chemicals, distractions – like talking on the phone or eating – or lack of sleep), following too closely, too fast for weather conditions, or racing up to stop signs and so forth, is contrary to the purpose of a safe commute.
Finally, acknowledge that some things are simply beyond your control, and the only option you have is to control your reaction to them. Maintaining a positive attitude during your commute – no matter how contrary it seems on the surface – will only serve you well. Instead of fretting about time wasted in your vehicle, recognize that you have been allotted precious “you time:” you can think your thoughts, consider your plans, and contemplate past and future events without the distractions you will have upon your safe arrival.
Nontheistic Energy Work, Part Two: Foundation
Originally published in Rending the Veil Volume II Issue 4 (Midsummer 2008)
Click to read ...
This article is divided into two sections. The first covers the underlying principles that, when competently understood, will greatly facilitate the successful execution of any energy work. The second provides guidelines on basic skills that will be useful, if not necessary. Another article (or, perhaps, series) will follow with regard to specific techniques.
Section 1 – Underlying Principles: Psychology, Energy, Possibility (Actuality)
1A. Psychology
The field of psychology is far too broad to be covered herein; most of it doesn’t apply to any one individual anyway. However, understanding one’s own psychology is imperative, whether or not one chooses to practice energy work.
Typically, a person is a highly complex system of tangibles and intangibles. The tangible part, or aspect, is the physical body (which is itself a complex system); intangible, but integral to every person, are the elements of personality. These personality elements are themselves easily grouped into discrete aspects, most often numbered at three. In this article, these personality aspects are the Red (preconscious/High Self/superego/Godhead), Yellow (conscious/Middle Self/ego), and Blue (subconscious/Young Self/id) – hopefully new, non-subjective terms that will allow unbiased consideration and application.
The aspects of personality can operate in conflict; each can be considered to have its own feelings, intentions, desires, and fears. A key to success is acting in consensus with the majority. As an example of a path of conflict, it is common for the Yellow aspect (the “I” of a person) to recognize only itself and its wants, and attempt to ignore or discount the other aspects.
Many systems suggest that the Red aspect (the spiritual self) is the gatekeeper of energy work, and perhaps even success in general. Without the consent of the Red aspect, it seems little can be accomplished without intense struggle. Therefore, it is in one’s best interest to understand this aspect of oneself as fully as possible, and to accept for one’s life path what this aspect seeks for the whole. (In other words, one’s “calling” is voiced by the Red aspect, and the path of least resistance is the one it suggests.)
Finally, the Blue aspect cannot be discounted. While its demands might seem base and short-term, they are as legitimate as those of the other aspects, and as important to consider when one is planning any kind of route to successful effect.
It is in the best interest of any individual to explore the myriad philosophical avenues available to garner greater understanding of oneself, and to recognize the different needs and abilities of the aspects that create a whole person.
1B. Energy
One doesn’t have to believe in magic to accept that energy exists, and that it is available in many forms. The energy spectrum encompasses waveforms from both organic and inorganic sources, but, generally speaking, organic energy is easiest to manipulate and poses the least risk to the user.
Light is energy; sound is energy; movement is energy. Light and sound are translated by one’s receptors (eyes and ears) into biochemical signals that are interpreted by the brain and the less tangible aspects of personality.
There are other waveforms less readily identified by current technology; this part of the spectrum is the domain of the energy workers. These include healing energy, growth energy, chaos energy, and decay energy, among others.
It is important to identify the the appropriate energy for the desired result. It is also important to understand that individual experimentation is necessary to identify various energies, as one person’s perception can vary greatly from another’s, which can result in radically different descriptions of the same type of waveform.
1C. Possibility (Actuality)
Accepting that anything is possible is a vital element to successful energy work.
Generally speaking, we are conditioned to accept that consensus reality – what the majority of perspectives agree is “real” – is all there is, and this reality is limited by the ability to perceive, understand, label, and explain. It is, however, imperative to understand that while one might be limited in the ability to perceive or understand the universe, that limitation does not restrict the universe to what is perceptible or understandable.
Beyond the human constraints of consensus reality lies actuality. It is in actuality that all things become possible, although, as in reality, some things remain more probable than others.
The key to breaking the constraints of reality to successfully evoke the possibilities of the actual lies in selective manipulation of probability. In other words, just because anything is possible doesn’t make everything probable. To attempt to force extreme possibility is far more difficult and will require far more from the energy worker than to encourage or nudge probability. It is a good idea for the worker to begin with small probability shifts – such as manipulation of traffic patterns to allow an easy commute – to become accustomed to the methods, experience and effect of success.
Section 2 – Basic Skills: Perception, Visualization, Actuation
2A. Perception
As a species, our primary sense for perception is sight; however, an energy worker might find that one of the other five senses is more “in tune” with the available energies. Sound, scent, flavor, texture and impression (so-called “ESP” or intuition) are all viable avenues of information for the worker. Further, with practice, one might find that different types of energy are best received through different senses; as an example, one might identify healing energy by texture and growth energy by sound. Many individuals have a natural predisposition to favor a particular perceptive sense, but this does not render the other senses inoperative, nor should it be an excuse to the worker to neglect exercising those other senses or discounting what is perceived through them.
2B. Visualization
Success in any context is dependent upon the recognition of success. Without a clear definition of what one hopes to achieve, success will remain elusive and frustration will be the end result.
The practice of visualizing success forces concrete definition of one’s desires. By establishing an absolute definition of intended result, the likelihood of achieving and recognizing that result increases.
The process of visualization can vary from individual to individual; what remains the same is the end result of a concrete, unambiguous definition of success. It may be necessary to break down a general idea to the components one seeks, a series of steps with each goal bringing the worker closer to the ultimate desire.
2C. Actuation
Actuation is the final step in successful energy work. Once the definition of success has been agreed upon by the aspects of the individual and the appropriate energy type has been identified, it is time for the energy worker to combine energy with intention.
A common method of actuation is “sympathetic magic,” the use of tools, herbs, stones, etc. to help the worker define and focus energy and intent. This is a useful technique, but use should be limited, as this technique limits the worker. It is, basically, a crutch: while one cannot be faulted for using a crutch while one’s leg is broken, to continue to use it once the leg is healed is irresponsible and counterproductive to the advancement of one’s development.
The actuation of energy work will require repeated attempts by the worker, as is the case with any new skill or refinement of skill already acquired. Again, it is best to begin with small, simple goals to allow oneself to become familiar with the process, as well as the experience of success.
Success is addictive. Once the worker has achieved a goal, all aspects of personality will desire the achievement of another, and then another. Be selective with establishing such goals (be careful what you wish for), since each success makes the subsequent effort easier.
Preview: Nontheistic Energy Work Technique 1
Most of us have places to be, and must traverse public roadways to get there. A handy tool to facilitate these commutes is a technique we call “Super-Green.”
Super-Green encourages traffic patterns to be favorable to your transit: other vehicles will “magically” maintain drama-free, orderly procession; traffic signals will be green for you when you need them; your route, with practice, may even “fold” so that you can shave minutes off your commute time.
This technique is most effective when used with a locus, either physical or verbal, to reinforce the objective to the aspects of personality before the trip begins. Otherwise, Super-Green can remain in effect on a typically traveled route, but will begin to “stale” and become erratic and unpredictable if not refreshed.
Also, when using Super-Green, it is very important to recognize when the technique is “failing” for your own good, such as catching a red light just before an ambulance comes racing through on the cross street, or being forced to slow in traffic moments before you spot the officer at the speed trap.
Click to read ...
This article is divided into two sections. The first covers the underlying principles that, when competently understood, will greatly facilitate the successful execution of any energy work. The second provides guidelines on basic skills that will be useful, if not necessary. Another article (or, perhaps, series) will follow with regard to specific techniques.
Section 1 – Underlying Principles: Psychology, Energy, Possibility (Actuality)
1A. Psychology
The field of psychology is far too broad to be covered herein; most of it doesn’t apply to any one individual anyway. However, understanding one’s own psychology is imperative, whether or not one chooses to practice energy work.
Typically, a person is a highly complex system of tangibles and intangibles. The tangible part, or aspect, is the physical body (which is itself a complex system); intangible, but integral to every person, are the elements of personality. These personality elements are themselves easily grouped into discrete aspects, most often numbered at three. In this article, these personality aspects are the Red (preconscious/High Self/superego/Godhead), Yellow (conscious/Middle Self/ego), and Blue (subconscious/Young Self/id) – hopefully new, non-subjective terms that will allow unbiased consideration and application.
The aspects of personality can operate in conflict; each can be considered to have its own feelings, intentions, desires, and fears. A key to success is acting in consensus with the majority. As an example of a path of conflict, it is common for the Yellow aspect (the “I” of a person) to recognize only itself and its wants, and attempt to ignore or discount the other aspects.
Many systems suggest that the Red aspect (the spiritual self) is the gatekeeper of energy work, and perhaps even success in general. Without the consent of the Red aspect, it seems little can be accomplished without intense struggle. Therefore, it is in one’s best interest to understand this aspect of oneself as fully as possible, and to accept for one’s life path what this aspect seeks for the whole. (In other words, one’s “calling” is voiced by the Red aspect, and the path of least resistance is the one it suggests.)
Finally, the Blue aspect cannot be discounted. While its demands might seem base and short-term, they are as legitimate as those of the other aspects, and as important to consider when one is planning any kind of route to successful effect.
It is in the best interest of any individual to explore the myriad philosophical avenues available to garner greater understanding of oneself, and to recognize the different needs and abilities of the aspects that create a whole person.
1B. Energy
One doesn’t have to believe in magic to accept that energy exists, and that it is available in many forms. The energy spectrum encompasses waveforms from both organic and inorganic sources, but, generally speaking, organic energy is easiest to manipulate and poses the least risk to the user.
Light is energy; sound is energy; movement is energy. Light and sound are translated by one’s receptors (eyes and ears) into biochemical signals that are interpreted by the brain and the less tangible aspects of personality.
There are other waveforms less readily identified by current technology; this part of the spectrum is the domain of the energy workers. These include healing energy, growth energy, chaos energy, and decay energy, among others.
It is important to identify the the appropriate energy for the desired result. It is also important to understand that individual experimentation is necessary to identify various energies, as one person’s perception can vary greatly from another’s, which can result in radically different descriptions of the same type of waveform.
1C. Possibility (Actuality)
Accepting that anything is possible is a vital element to successful energy work.
Generally speaking, we are conditioned to accept that consensus reality – what the majority of perspectives agree is “real” – is all there is, and this reality is limited by the ability to perceive, understand, label, and explain. It is, however, imperative to understand that while one might be limited in the ability to perceive or understand the universe, that limitation does not restrict the universe to what is perceptible or understandable.
Beyond the human constraints of consensus reality lies actuality. It is in actuality that all things become possible, although, as in reality, some things remain more probable than others.
The key to breaking the constraints of reality to successfully evoke the possibilities of the actual lies in selective manipulation of probability. In other words, just because anything is possible doesn’t make everything probable. To attempt to force extreme possibility is far more difficult and will require far more from the energy worker than to encourage or nudge probability. It is a good idea for the worker to begin with small probability shifts – such as manipulation of traffic patterns to allow an easy commute – to become accustomed to the methods, experience and effect of success.
Section 2 – Basic Skills: Perception, Visualization, Actuation
2A. Perception
As a species, our primary sense for perception is sight; however, an energy worker might find that one of the other five senses is more “in tune” with the available energies. Sound, scent, flavor, texture and impression (so-called “ESP” or intuition) are all viable avenues of information for the worker. Further, with practice, one might find that different types of energy are best received through different senses; as an example, one might identify healing energy by texture and growth energy by sound. Many individuals have a natural predisposition to favor a particular perceptive sense, but this does not render the other senses inoperative, nor should it be an excuse to the worker to neglect exercising those other senses or discounting what is perceived through them.
2B. Visualization
Success in any context is dependent upon the recognition of success. Without a clear definition of what one hopes to achieve, success will remain elusive and frustration will be the end result.
The practice of visualizing success forces concrete definition of one’s desires. By establishing an absolute definition of intended result, the likelihood of achieving and recognizing that result increases.
The process of visualization can vary from individual to individual; what remains the same is the end result of a concrete, unambiguous definition of success. It may be necessary to break down a general idea to the components one seeks, a series of steps with each goal bringing the worker closer to the ultimate desire.
2C. Actuation
Actuation is the final step in successful energy work. Once the definition of success has been agreed upon by the aspects of the individual and the appropriate energy type has been identified, it is time for the energy worker to combine energy with intention.
A common method of actuation is “sympathetic magic,” the use of tools, herbs, stones, etc. to help the worker define and focus energy and intent. This is a useful technique, but use should be limited, as this technique limits the worker. It is, basically, a crutch: while one cannot be faulted for using a crutch while one’s leg is broken, to continue to use it once the leg is healed is irresponsible and counterproductive to the advancement of one’s development.
The actuation of energy work will require repeated attempts by the worker, as is the case with any new skill or refinement of skill already acquired. Again, it is best to begin with small, simple goals to allow oneself to become familiar with the process, as well as the experience of success.
Success is addictive. Once the worker has achieved a goal, all aspects of personality will desire the achievement of another, and then another. Be selective with establishing such goals (be careful what you wish for), since each success makes the subsequent effort easier.
Preview: Nontheistic Energy Work Technique 1
Most of us have places to be, and must traverse public roadways to get there. A handy tool to facilitate these commutes is a technique we call “Super-Green.”
Super-Green encourages traffic patterns to be favorable to your transit: other vehicles will “magically” maintain drama-free, orderly procession; traffic signals will be green for you when you need them; your route, with practice, may even “fold” so that you can shave minutes off your commute time.
This technique is most effective when used with a locus, either physical or verbal, to reinforce the objective to the aspects of personality before the trip begins. Otherwise, Super-Green can remain in effect on a typically traveled route, but will begin to “stale” and become erratic and unpredictable if not refreshed.
Also, when using Super-Green, it is very important to recognize when the technique is “failing” for your own good, such as catching a red light just before an ambulance comes racing through on the cross street, or being forced to slow in traffic moments before you spot the officer at the speed trap.
Nontheistic Energy Work, Part One: Introduction
Originally published in Rending the Veil Volume II Issue 2 (Ostara 2008)
Click to read ...
Raised by an agnostic and an almost-agnostic Christian, my first religious schooling was provided by polytheistic mages (“witches”) when I was 13. They were nice folks, but nothing I gained from them touched me spiritually. After a couple of years, I got bored with the pageantry, frustrated with what I saw as an abdication of personal responsibility, and began exploring my own path to enlightenment.
I attended a Catholic high school, and what I learned of their faith was depressing. One friend there referred to me as the devil, and I accepted that moniker with the mutual understanding that the devil challenged Adam and Eve to think for themselves. She challenged the tired teachings to find within herself the Divinity and Love with which she had been created. As a result, she became a bad Catholic but a self-loving, empowered Christian (a true believer in the teachings of Jesus, rather than an adherent of the teachings of Paul), with a close, unshakable relationship with her God.
I was still searching. Monotheism didn’t ring true for me, and polytheism wasn’t really much better. I spent years as an agnostic, accepting Something Out There without attempting to resolve my spiritual questions. I learned about Deism, which seemed a bit more sensible, but still offended my need for personal responsibility. I settled upon agnostic pantheism, accepting the validity of all faiths without assumption of attachment to any. Clearly, there are Somethings Out There, but I simply couldn’t trust any entity that wanted me to worship it.
I began working with local groups, participating in their rituals with chaotic results. It was a fun time for me, and a definite learning experience for them; through one of the more capable mages, I made the acquaintance of an entity known to some as Discordia. I had never had an intimate encounter with a deity before, and the experience was impressive. But, being me, I couldn’t fall to my knees and humbly give praises. In our first moment of contact, which on Her end was clearly “Here I am, what do you want?”, all I could think of in response was, “How’s it going?”
I might be the only person to date to render a goddess speechless. I didn’t want anything. I wasn’t looking for proof of Her existence; I wasn’t wanting help for spell-casting. I just wanted to say “Hi,” and once I did, I simply expressed hope that all was well on Her end and that we might maintain cordial association in the future.
I felt Her presence often after that. I think perhaps there was something like suspicion on Her end, not trusting that I wasn’t trying to soften Her up for some huge favor. Months went by, and I continued to ask for nothing, only inquiring after Her state and sympathetic to what seemed to be complaints about what She was asked to do, and what was done in Her name. Then She began what seemed to be tests of my intent, flexing Her metaphysical muscles to perhaps prove She was worthy of my worship. I had to politely decline, as partly because of Her own actions, I had learned that worship (at least for me) is not an option for a healthy spiritual life. I cannot enslave myself to anything but my own potential, nor would any deity want my worship for anything but their own ends. She didn’t take my refusal well at first. The abrupt absence was a bit intimidating, but I remained firm. Finally, I did reach out to Her: “I don’t need you, but I do appreciate you, and I leave it to you to decide which is more important.” Apparently, She decided my knowing respect was better than blind worship, and we resumed our acquaintanceship with contentment on both sides.
Through all of this, I continued to study and practice alone, finding it too difficult to work with people who thought they needed a deity to achieve results in spell-work. I also felt no desire to debate with Discordians that would certainly challenge my views and experiences with ‘their’ goddess, especially since She seemed to think a significant percentage of them were whiny, demanding clods.
I challenged myself repeatedly, and found that the energies of the Universe are there regardless of what one believes. While some may require the assistance of a deity to access, harness, and utilize Universal energies, deities do not create, own, or fully control those energies. (Note: this does not apply to deific energy, which is of course the property of the entity emitting it.) I had achieved a level of enlightenment – finally, I understood why the Christian and the pagan could share certain ‘energy taps,’ such as healing, ESP, protection, and cleansing.
I still won’t work with deities for my needs, and it’s probably cheeky of me to be sympathetic to their frustration with humanity. But at the same time, when I feel the energies of the Universe at work, I also perceive a contentment that can only be the satisfaction of entities that want us to strive for our own perfection, rather than blindly follow another person’s idea of what a deity wants.
My energy works remain selfishly small in scope but unfailingly effective. Next time, I will share the foundation process for Nontheistic Energy Work (NEW), which is easily adaptable to any religious framework (for those of you that do have a close and personal relationship with one or more deities). Future articles will detail some of my favorite day-to-day ‘spells,’ including Aware-Web, Super Green, Well Red, and Don’t-You-Dare-Crash-You-Stupid-Computer.
Click to read ...
Raised by an agnostic and an almost-agnostic Christian, my first religious schooling was provided by polytheistic mages (“witches”) when I was 13. They were nice folks, but nothing I gained from them touched me spiritually. After a couple of years, I got bored with the pageantry, frustrated with what I saw as an abdication of personal responsibility, and began exploring my own path to enlightenment.
I attended a Catholic high school, and what I learned of their faith was depressing. One friend there referred to me as the devil, and I accepted that moniker with the mutual understanding that the devil challenged Adam and Eve to think for themselves. She challenged the tired teachings to find within herself the Divinity and Love with which she had been created. As a result, she became a bad Catholic but a self-loving, empowered Christian (a true believer in the teachings of Jesus, rather than an adherent of the teachings of Paul), with a close, unshakable relationship with her God.
I was still searching. Monotheism didn’t ring true for me, and polytheism wasn’t really much better. I spent years as an agnostic, accepting Something Out There without attempting to resolve my spiritual questions. I learned about Deism, which seemed a bit more sensible, but still offended my need for personal responsibility. I settled upon agnostic pantheism, accepting the validity of all faiths without assumption of attachment to any. Clearly, there are Somethings Out There, but I simply couldn’t trust any entity that wanted me to worship it.
I began working with local groups, participating in their rituals with chaotic results. It was a fun time for me, and a definite learning experience for them; through one of the more capable mages, I made the acquaintance of an entity known to some as Discordia. I had never had an intimate encounter with a deity before, and the experience was impressive. But, being me, I couldn’t fall to my knees and humbly give praises. In our first moment of contact, which on Her end was clearly “Here I am, what do you want?”, all I could think of in response was, “How’s it going?”
I might be the only person to date to render a goddess speechless. I didn’t want anything. I wasn’t looking for proof of Her existence; I wasn’t wanting help for spell-casting. I just wanted to say “Hi,” and once I did, I simply expressed hope that all was well on Her end and that we might maintain cordial association in the future.
I felt Her presence often after that. I think perhaps there was something like suspicion on Her end, not trusting that I wasn’t trying to soften Her up for some huge favor. Months went by, and I continued to ask for nothing, only inquiring after Her state and sympathetic to what seemed to be complaints about what She was asked to do, and what was done in Her name. Then She began what seemed to be tests of my intent, flexing Her metaphysical muscles to perhaps prove She was worthy of my worship. I had to politely decline, as partly because of Her own actions, I had learned that worship (at least for me) is not an option for a healthy spiritual life. I cannot enslave myself to anything but my own potential, nor would any deity want my worship for anything but their own ends. She didn’t take my refusal well at first. The abrupt absence was a bit intimidating, but I remained firm. Finally, I did reach out to Her: “I don’t need you, but I do appreciate you, and I leave it to you to decide which is more important.” Apparently, She decided my knowing respect was better than blind worship, and we resumed our acquaintanceship with contentment on both sides.
Through all of this, I continued to study and practice alone, finding it too difficult to work with people who thought they needed a deity to achieve results in spell-work. I also felt no desire to debate with Discordians that would certainly challenge my views and experiences with ‘their’ goddess, especially since She seemed to think a significant percentage of them were whiny, demanding clods.
I challenged myself repeatedly, and found that the energies of the Universe are there regardless of what one believes. While some may require the assistance of a deity to access, harness, and utilize Universal energies, deities do not create, own, or fully control those energies. (Note: this does not apply to deific energy, which is of course the property of the entity emitting it.) I had achieved a level of enlightenment – finally, I understood why the Christian and the pagan could share certain ‘energy taps,’ such as healing, ESP, protection, and cleansing.
I still won’t work with deities for my needs, and it’s probably cheeky of me to be sympathetic to their frustration with humanity. But at the same time, when I feel the energies of the Universe at work, I also perceive a contentment that can only be the satisfaction of entities that want us to strive for our own perfection, rather than blindly follow another person’s idea of what a deity wants.
My energy works remain selfishly small in scope but unfailingly effective. Next time, I will share the foundation process for Nontheistic Energy Work (NEW), which is easily adaptable to any religious framework (for those of you that do have a close and personal relationship with one or more deities). Future articles will detail some of my favorite day-to-day ‘spells,’ including Aware-Web, Super Green, Well Red, and Don’t-You-Dare-Crash-You-Stupid-Computer.
Contraception is NOT abortion!
Most people would never confuse the two; after all, that's why we have TWO DIFFERENT WORDS for them.
But SOME PEOPLE - not mentioning any names - *cough* Dubya *cough* - seem to think the terms are interchangeable and one the same as the other.
In case you are as easily confused as certain Oval Office oafs, let me explain the difference to you: "contraception" is a method - INCLUDING ABSTINENCE - that prevents pregnancy. Abortion is a method, medical or biological, that ends pregnancy.
Some idiots in high places, having solved all of the world's other problems, want to make it illegal for people - primarily women - to have access to contraceptive devices and drugs.
That's right. Condoms would be illegal.
Not only that, basically what the idea there is, having sex for any reason other than procreation would be illegal. You know, a sin.
Because, after all, this country is by, for, and of the Christian Bible, and a woman's worth lies in her ability to reproduce healthy offspring.
No matter what your stance on abortion - and I understand, I really do, the argument against (though I don't agree) - what person in hir right mind can look at the state of the world and say, "hey, yeah, let's outlaw contraception"?
Oh, I guess I answered it there, didn't I? No person in hir *right* mind would. It takes an idiot, a mental defective, or a religious nut (all of which *are* fairly interchangeable terms and conditions) to think that.
"WTF" doesn't even begin to cover this one.
MoveOn.org clued me in on this latest moronic move by our "elected" officials (more info under the cut). I encourage everyone - no, I beg, demand, plead and insist! - to sign the petition they set up to stop this nonsense before it gets any further.
You can sign the petition here. Already 200,000 people have signed, and MoveOn is hoping for a quarter million signatures before sending it on to the Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Leavitt.
MoveOn's emails
Email 1:
Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't cover it? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?
It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine "abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims.[1] Access to basic health care for millions of women would be jeopardized. And it's being pushed as a "rule change"—meaning, it doesn't need congressional approval.
Can you sign an emergency message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change right now? Tell him: "Contraception is NOT abortion. The Bush Administration's proposal to change the definition of abortion and reduce women's access to birth control must be stopped."
The best way to beat back this proposal is to show Secretary Leavitt massive public outrage—that's why today we're launching this petition jointly with Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Together, we'll deliver every signature to Leavitt. You can help add to our momentum by forwarding this message to friends.
Here's what some others are saying about this proposal:
The draft regulation would define birth control as abortion...it could deny access to critical family planning for women across the country.—Letter signed by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and 26 other senators.[2]
The draft rule could void laws in 27 states that require insurance companies to provide birth control coverage for women requesting it [and] laws in 14 states requiring that rape victims receive counseling and access to emergency, day-after contraceptives.—Houston Chronicle editorial[3]
The administration needs to stop playing word games with women's health and state clearly they will reject any regulations that will undermine women's access to basic health care.—Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.[4]
[It's] a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right... —RH Reality Check, Information and Analysis for Reproductive Health[5]
The birth control pill, the IUD, and emergency contraception might all become unavailable—illegal—as a result.—Brigid Riley, executive director of a Minnesota teen pregnancy prevention organization[6]
Can you help send a loud message to Secretary Leavitt that birth control is NOT abortion?
Thanks for all you do.
–Nita, Laura, Patrick S., Adam G., and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Redefining abortion; Federal officials considering a rule allowing health care workers to refuse to provide contraceptives," Houston Chronicle, August 10, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5935532.html
2. Letter to Secretary Mike Leavitt from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and 26 other senators, July 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4042&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=6
3. "Redefining abortion; Federal officials considering a rule allowing health care workers to refuse to provide contraceptives," Houston Chronicle editorial, August 10, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5935532.html
4. "Birth control: is administration backing down—or not?" Los Angeles Times blog, August 8, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4043&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=7
5. "HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion," RH Reality Check, July 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4041&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=8
6. "White House Considering Contraception Restrictions," Public News Service, August 11, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4040&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=9
Email 2:
Wow. In less than 24 hours, over 200,000 people have signed a message to the Bush Administration saying contraception is NOT abortion. Every signature will be delivered next week to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, and the media will be notified of our final signature count.
The more folks who sign, the stronger our impact together will be—can you help us break a quarter-million signatures? To do that, just think of 10 friends who care about reproductive rights and forward them the message below.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nita
But SOME PEOPLE - not mentioning any names - *cough* Dubya *cough* - seem to think the terms are interchangeable and one the same as the other.
In case you are as easily confused as certain Oval Office oafs, let me explain the difference to you: "contraception" is a method - INCLUDING ABSTINENCE - that prevents pregnancy. Abortion is a method, medical or biological, that ends pregnancy.
Some idiots in high places, having solved all of the world's other problems, want to make it illegal for people - primarily women - to have access to contraceptive devices and drugs.
That's right. Condoms would be illegal.
Not only that, basically what the idea there is, having sex for any reason other than procreation would be illegal. You know, a sin.
Because, after all, this country is by, for, and of the Christian Bible, and a woman's worth lies in her ability to reproduce healthy offspring.
No matter what your stance on abortion - and I understand, I really do, the argument against (though I don't agree) - what person in hir right mind can look at the state of the world and say, "hey, yeah, let's outlaw contraception"?
Oh, I guess I answered it there, didn't I? No person in hir *right* mind would. It takes an idiot, a mental defective, or a religious nut (all of which *are* fairly interchangeable terms and conditions) to think that.
"WTF" doesn't even begin to cover this one.
MoveOn.org clued me in on this latest moronic move by our "elected" officials (more info under the cut). I encourage everyone - no, I beg, demand, plead and insist! - to sign the petition they set up to stop this nonsense before it gets any further.
You can sign the petition here. Already 200,000 people have signed, and MoveOn is hoping for a quarter million signatures before sending it on to the Health and Human Services Secretary, Mike Leavitt.
MoveOn's emails
Email 1:
Can you imagine living in a place where birth control is considered an "abortion" and health insurers won't cover it? Where even rape victims are denied emergency contraception?
It seems unbelievable, but the Bush Administration is quietly trying to redefine "abortion" to include birth control. The Houston Chronicle says this could wipe out dozens of state laws that protect women's reproductive freedom and protect rape victims.[1] Access to basic health care for millions of women would be jeopardized. And it's being pushed as a "rule change"—meaning, it doesn't need congressional approval.
Can you sign an emergency message to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, whose department is considering this rule change right now? Tell him: "Contraception is NOT abortion. The Bush Administration's proposal to change the definition of abortion and reduce women's access to birth control must be stopped."
The best way to beat back this proposal is to show Secretary Leavitt massive public outrage—that's why today we're launching this petition jointly with Planned Parenthood Action Fund. Together, we'll deliver every signature to Leavitt. You can help add to our momentum by forwarding this message to friends.
Here's what some others are saying about this proposal:
The draft regulation would define birth control as abortion...it could deny access to critical family planning for women across the country.—Letter signed by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and 26 other senators.[2]
The draft rule could void laws in 27 states that require insurance companies to provide birth control coverage for women requesting it [and] laws in 14 states requiring that rape victims receive counseling and access to emergency, day-after contraceptives.—Houston Chronicle editorial[3]
The administration needs to stop playing word games with women's health and state clearly they will reject any regulations that will undermine women's access to basic health care.—Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America.[4]
[It's] a spectacular act of complicity with the religious right... —RH Reality Check, Information and Analysis for Reproductive Health[5]
The birth control pill, the IUD, and emergency contraception might all become unavailable—illegal—as a result.—Brigid Riley, executive director of a Minnesota teen pregnancy prevention organization[6]
Can you help send a loud message to Secretary Leavitt that birth control is NOT abortion?
Thanks for all you do.
–Nita, Laura, Patrick S., Adam G., and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Redefining abortion; Federal officials considering a rule allowing health care workers to refuse to provide contraceptives," Houston Chronicle, August 10, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5935532.html
2. Letter to Secretary Mike Leavitt from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and 26 other senators, July 23, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4042&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=6
3. "Redefining abortion; Federal officials considering a rule allowing health care workers to refuse to provide contraceptives," Houston Chronicle editorial, August 10, 2008
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/5935532.html
4. "Birth control: is administration backing down—or not?" Los Angeles Times blog, August 8, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4043&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=7
5. "HHS Moves to Define Contraception as Abortion," RH Reality Check, July 15, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4041&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=8
6. "White House Considering Contraception Restrictions," Public News Service, August 11, 2008
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=4040&id=13468-2980773-SO9Qp5x&t=9
Email 2:
Wow. In less than 24 hours, over 200,000 people have signed a message to the Bush Administration saying contraception is NOT abortion. Every signature will be delivered next week to Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, and the media will be notified of our final signature count.
The more folks who sign, the stronger our impact together will be—can you help us break a quarter-million signatures? To do that, just think of 10 friends who care about reproductive rights and forward them the message below.
Thanks for all you do.
–Nita
cross-posted at my LJ
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Connecting the Dots
Made myself a home-page, which you can visit here:
WildAspie.net
I also made a Facebook profile, as well as a list at 43Things.
And, you might have noticed, I updated my profile picture. Go, me!
So the idea is now to keep things current and coherent. We'll see how well that goes.
I also made a Facebook profile, as well as a list at 43Things.
And, you might have noticed, I updated my profile picture. Go, me!
So the idea is now to keep things current and coherent. We'll see how well that goes.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Local Events (Joliet/Chicago)
- Aug 11 7pm Human Rights and Mental Health - Sacred Heart Parish Hall (Will County Green Party)
- Aug 16 9pm WCGHS Open Investigation - Undisclosed (Will County Ghost Hunters Society)
- Sep 20 10am Fellowship of Isis Annual Gathering - Chicago
- Sep 23 6:30pm NEIS Forum - Joliet Public Library (Will County Green Party)
- Oct 25 10am Candidates Debate - Mount Olive Baptist Church (Will County Green Party)
My YouTube Count
106 Channel Views
2 Subscribers
48 Original Pandas (added 080429)
42 Improved Pandas (added 080430)
225 Ringo Buys a Rifle (added 080504)
20 For What It's Worth (added 080509)
619 Eat All The Old People (added 080511)
736 Obama - So You Want To Be A Boxer (added 080514)
306 If The Animals Could Talk (added 080518)
27 Bring The Boys Back Home (added 080521)
90 You Are My Sunshine (added 080525)
57 Bad Guys (added 080528)
183 Madman (added 080601)
96 Kill A Kitten (added 080608)
103 Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave (added 080611)
110 Hook In Mouth (added 080618)
279 Stuart (added 080623)
================================
2941 Total Video Views
2 Subscribers
48 Original Pandas (added 080429)
42 Improved Pandas (added 080430)
225 Ringo Buys a Rifle (added 080504)
20 For What It's Worth (added 080509)
619 Eat All The Old People (added 080511)
736 Obama - So You Want To Be A Boxer (added 080514)
306 If The Animals Could Talk (added 080518)
27 Bring The Boys Back Home (added 080521)
90 You Are My Sunshine (added 080525)
57 Bad Guys (added 080528)
183 Madman (added 080601)
96 Kill A Kitten (added 080608)
103 Do Not Go Quietly Unto Your Grave (added 080611)
110 Hook In Mouth (added 080618)
279 Stuart (added 080623)
================================
2941 Total Video Views
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Migraines are another matter. A migraine is a headache on steroids - bigger, stronger, with a nasty temper. Most come with extra concerns: sensitivity to light, noise, scents, even motion; nausea, dizziness, or light-headedness can occur as well. There are different kinds of migraines, and like their tamer cousins, not much is known about their causes. But unlike regular headaches, some migraines can actually cause tiny bits of damage to the brain as they occur.
I'm so special, I get to have three different kinds of migraines, and possibly a fourth (I'm still debating that with the doctors).
The "classic" or tension migraines are the most common type; they are usually caused by stress and can be treated with many over-the-counter (OTC) or prescription (Rx) painkillers, although there are also a multitude of homeopathic remedies and prevention techniques that involve ingesting nothing at all (like warm compresses on the forehead and|or back of neck, a nap, meditation, etc.). I started getting classic migraines when I was fifteen (about 18 years ago - egad, I've lived more of my life with them than without!). The likelihood of falling prey to them seems to run in families; when I got the first one, my mom knew right away what was going on. (Also, for some reason, if as a child you often got "brain freeze" from icy treats, you're more likely to suffer these kinds of migraines as an adult.)
Then there are "band" migraines (that's what I call them, I don't know if neurologists have a special name for them). A "classic" migraine usually hurts in a vaguely bandlike area of pressure across the forehead and around, like where a hat brim would be. But these others are more like a ladies' headband in placement of the pain, further toward the top of the head and just about following the hairline along the ears and toward the back of the neck. Where a classic migraine tends to be "stabbing" or "throbbing" in nature, a band migraine is, for me, more like a grinding sensation, and always comes with extreme intolerance of bright light (fluorescents are brutal) and sharp noises, and urgent nausea that never resolves into anything.
Then there are the "cluster" migraines. I've had these for a long time too, intermittently; for a long time I called them "Random Sharp Pains" because that's what they were: a sudden sensation similar to what I imagine being stabbed through the skull with an ice pick might feel like, lasting a few seconds, then passing without further effect. But about 12 years ago I learned that they are actually migraines, and when they do their stabbing act, they are actually causing tiny tears in the brain tissue. Contrary to what medical science thought for a long time, brain cells do grow back, so the damage can usually repair itself given time. And as I paid more attention to them, I realized they weren't so random: they only occur (for me) in four places, the parietal and temporal lobes.
I am fortunate to have found a medicine that prevents the cluster migraines, and another that prevents most of the classic and band migraines (and when I can't prevent those, I have another prescription to help, which doesn't get rid of the pain but does make it so I don't care that my head hurts).
But the last one, the one in contention, is the one worrying me the most right now ... it doesn't much feel like a headache, it's more like the feeling after a concussion, a ground-glass-in-the-head sort of sensation, and while I've had concussions in the past, I haven't had one in years ... and a couple of years ago, the first time I was getting these non-aches, I went for a CT-scan and I had a "hypodensate mass in the left posterior temporal lobe" - which is doctorese for "a hole in the language center" of my brain. It was unusual in that such things generally only occur in the elderly; it was downright bizarre that, at the follow-up scan two weeks later, it was gone without any sign of having been there, not even the light scarring that is usually found after such things heal.
On the plus side, with all the migraines, I don't much notice normal headaches anymore - usually one of my unfortunate family members points out (from a safe distance) that I seem a bit grumpy, then I think about it and realize my head hurts a little.