Love Songs for My Husband

Dedicated from Me to You, with Love x x x

Nora Jones Come Away With Me

Snow Patrol Chasing Cars

Darren Hayes Insatiable

Dinah Washington What a Difference a Day Makes

Nat 'King' Cole L.O.V.E.

Coldplay Yellow

Sixpence None the Richer Kiss Me

Eva Cassidy I Know You By Heart

Science and Magic

I see science as male, and magic as mystery, as female.

The two complement each other, and a knowledge of science can enhance magic. Together they can be spiritual. But science without magic is no longer spiritual.

However, magic can be spiritual without science. It has been so, long before the existence of modern science.

To me this is an illustration of how Goddess is complete in herself. The Divine can be acknowledged as either male or female. But religion without the Goddess is no longer spiritual.

Even in Christianity, the Spirit is Ruach HaKodesh, female. When she is no longer acknowledged, Christianity is no longer spiritual, just religion. Without Ruach HaKodesh, one can never reach true union with the Divine.

Without Her, it is just religion. Religion without spirituality is empty. It becomes destructive, as we have seen in Fundamentalism. It is religion for religion's sake, not true union with the Divine Creator. (Enlightenment).

It is neccesary to have the Spirit to commune with God. It is not neccesary to have a knowledge of Jesus. The Native Americans knew the Great Spirit. They knew God. They were close the Earth. Christians believe that their understanding of God is enhanced by a knowledge of Jesus, but even Christians I know acknowledge that people who haven't heard about Jesus can know God. That is because of Her.

I believe that equal representation of men and women in religious leadership isn't neccesary. As long as there are women in leadership, it doesn't matter if there is an equal amount of men.

I love men. I am married, I love my husband, my son and my father. What I am saying is not anti-male. It is pro-humankind.

It may sound a little extreme, and I am not saying let's get rid of Jesus. I am saying let's acknowledge Her how She needs to be acknowledged, for the sake of saving the human race, the Earth, and everything in it.

Women Rule The World

They say that man is mighty
He governs land and sea
He wields a mighty sceptre
O'er lesser powers that be
But a mightier power and stronger
Man from his throne has hurled
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

William Ross Wallace

Woman is the salvation or destruction of the family. She carries its destinies in the folds of her mantle.

Henri-Frederic Amiel (1821-1881)

We bear the world, and we make it....There was never a great man who had not a great mother- it is hardly an exaggeration.

Olive Schreiner (1855-1920)

I used to think these were pretty words, but, if they were true, and women are so great (which I think they are) why is the world such a mess? Either these words are patronising, and women have no real power, or these words are true, and women are devils.

I now believe that these words are true, and the problem is that women need healing. The healing of Earth will come through the healing of Womankind.

A woman who does not know how to love and heal herself cannot give love and healing to the world. She who does not love and respect herself will not attract a respectful and loving partner, and the next generation of that union will suffer from that legacy.

The last quote by Olive Schreiner is interesting. Churchill, Eisenhower, Edison and many more have all attributed their success to their mothers.

This is not to say that a woman's place is limited to 'behind the scenes', unless she chooses it. But it does reinforce the first quote, that ultimately 'the hand that rocks the cradle, rules the world.'

This is why women's healing and empowerment is so vital. We are the first teachers, spiritual guides, healers and leaders of humanity. If we are broken, humankind is lost.

Witches and Scapegoats

By Austin Cline

Jews and heretics were often treated as scapegoats for other social problems and witches ended up no different. Regions with the most social and political unrest also happened to be those with the greatest problem with witches. Every social, political, and natural problem was blamed on witches. Crop failure? Witches did it. Well gone bad? Witches poisoned it. Political unrest and rebellion? Witches are behind it. Strife in the community? Witches are influencing people.

Lest anyone imagine that the persecution of witches has been relegated to the distant past, it must be noted that witch hunts -- and killings -- continue well into our own "enlightened" times. The church's creation of witchcraft and devil worship has exacted a heavy and bloody toll on humanity which still has not yet been fully paid.

In 1928, a Hungarian family was acquitted of killing an old woman they thought was a witch. In 1976, a poor German woman was suspected of being a witch and keeping familiars, so people in the small town ostracized her, pelted her with stones, and killed her animals. In 1977 in France, a man was killed for suspected sorcery. In 1981, a mob stoned a woman to death in Mexico because they believed that her witchcraft incited an attack on the Pope.

In Africa today, fears of witchcraft cause the persecution and death of people on a regular basis. Parents who fear that their children are possessed or are witches either kill them or turn them out into the streets. Government authorities have tried to put a stop to such nonsense, but they haven't had much luck. Both traditional African religion and Christianity contain enough to feed people's superstitious fears and this leads to others being harmed.

It's not just allegations of witchcraft which causes people to behave like this. Many other things can become the object of hysterical persecutions and prosecutions. Sometimes the alleged threats are genuine and sometimes they are not; in either case, the threats are magnified to such a degree that people no longer feel bound by traditional standards of justice or morality in order to confront their enemies. The consequences are almost always violence and suffering pursued in the name of good and God.

The Cost of Sleep Deprivation

The 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tank disaster in Alaska, the 1986 space shuttle Challenger explosion, and the 1986 nuclear plant explosion in Chernobyl have all been attributed to sleep deprivation.

The mate at the helm of the tanker was severely sleep deprived and was therefore unable to respond to simple navigational directions. Two of the three top managers responsible for Challenger had had less than three hours of sleep for the 3 consecutive nights before the launch and performed poor last minute evaluations. The engineers at Chernobyl had been at work for 13 hours or more, and totally missed or were confused by the warning signals on their control panels.

Mood shifts, depression, increased irritability, loss of sense of humour, stress, anxiety, loss of coping skills, disengaging from the outside world, are all symptoms of sleep deprivation.

In the first year of your baby's life, his primary caregiver stands to lose 700 hours of sleep.

According to a Salary.com survey, stay-at-home moms work a 92-hour week, with more than half the workweek spent in overtime.

As I write this, it is midnight. My baby is kicking me and pooing in her diaper while I balance the laptop on my knees. I cannot sleep, though I am desperate for it. I do not know when I will finally be 'allowed.' Could be another hour, maybe two.

I will probably be woken again to feed baby at about 6:00.

And my other kids NEVER ever sleep beyond 8:00.

So I am writing this to remind myself that I am not an evil person, although I feel like it. I am simply suffering acute sleep deprivation and I no longer recognise myself. And I understand very, very well, those mothers that lose it with their kids. They are victims too. Do not EVER judge anyone, till you have walked a mile in their shoes (or lost 700 hours of sleep in a year).

The Shack

I recently read 'The Shack,' a novel about God by a Christian author named William P. Young. The book encourages its readers to go to the website and contact the author, which I did. Here is my e-mail:

Hello,

I was given a copy of 'The Shack' by my parents for my 30th birthday. I have long rejected the patriarchy of Christianity and my father, who is a very committed Christian, thought the book might change my view.

Although I did appreciate your comments regarding hierarchy and male rule, I am afraid I found the story to be a little paradoxical. It appears that you have made an attempt to disassociate the Christian God from the religion of Christianity, while defending it at the same time

One example is Papa's explanation for having emphasised himelf as a father. This is apparently because true fathering is 'much more lacking than mothering.'

Now if it is true that fathers have done such a poor job, it would not make sense for God to reveal himself as a father. He only associates himself with 'good' things such as lambs and doves, not snakes and dragons. The real reason, is of course, that it is partiarchal society who has chosen to acknowledge God as a father. Why would God take responsibility for that? He is not sexist! The creator has revealed himself as mother and father- but not in the Bible, as interpreted by Jews and Christians.

I guess what I would like to say is that Christianity, as revealed in the Bible, is patriarchal through and through. It is refreshing to see God portrayed as women, but at the end of the day, you have proven that partiarchy and Christianity can't be separated. That is, not without challenging the infallibility of the Bible.

I also have to say that I was amused to see the following quote by Eugene Peterson on the front cover:

'This book has the potential to do for our generation what John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress did for his. It's that good!'

John Bunyan famously attacked the Quakers for their non-hierarchal beliefs, including allowing women to participate equally in religious meetings. I certainly hope that this generation isn't affected by you as John Bunyan's was by him- by emigrating to find religious freedom!

I have only seen positive reviews for your book on Amazon, and on your website, so I am sure Christians love it. But I am no longer Christian, and your book reminds me why!

Best wishes,

Etc.

What is a witch?

There are many interpretations of what a witch is, just as there are many interpretations of what a Christian is. However, you should not go to a Christian to ask what a witch is any more than you should depend on a witch to tell you what a Christian is.

As a witch, this is how I see it:

I see the divine as feminine (Shekinah, Ruach HaKodesh, Ariadne etc). I also see the divine in nature.

Rituals are physical ways of connecting with the non-physical. Nearly every Christian practises Baptism and Holy Communion. Witches too may bathe as a symbolic gesture of inner purification. They may also eat cake and wine as part of a ritual.

Spells are prayers. Catholics and Anglicans light candles. Each candle is a prayer. Witches do the same. Spells do not require physical tools, but sometimes they help to focus intent. Everyone agrees, however, that the most powerful spells are the ones you make up yourself. Witches often have a personal record book, called a 'Book of Shadows.' It's a prayer diary.

A Book of Mirrors is simply a journal, not neccesarily a record of spells and rituals.

Magic is life. Quantam physicists tell us that everything is energy. Everything vibrates. Magic is everything and in everything.

There are many reasons witches are and have been persecuted. The main reason I can see is because the majority are women, worshiping the divine in their own personal way. There are no taboos and no methods of control. I am not Wiccan because Wicca is a new religion founded in the 1950s by a man who took elements from various pagan religions. The kind of witchcraft I subscribe to doesn't really need any books or rules. I've already been doing it all my life. It's just now I know it has a name and I've found other women doing it too.

The Way of the Green Witch

"Using the word 'witch' invariably brings us to the word 'magic.' This is a word that can cause confusion. Magic is not illusion, nor is it the artificial manipulation of unnatural forces. In fact, magic is perfectly natural: it is the use of natural energy with conscious intent and awareness to help attain a better understanding of the world around you and to harmonize yourself witht the world's energies.
Most green witches find the use of the word 'magic' to be irrelevant. Magic implies something out of the ordinary. But to a green witch the mundane is magical. When she senses, responds to , and gently nudges the flows of natural energy around her. She's performing natural magic. Nature itself is magical. The everyday is sacred to the green witch.

Arin Murphy-Hiscock, The Way of the Green Witch