Ice and Snow

For the past....5 days we have had snow on the ground. It fell on Thursday last week and hasn't left since. On the pavements it has turned to ice and is very slippy; it means that for the past two days I've been breaking two inch thick ice off of the top of the pond (I just did it for today, and two inches had come back since last night).

Now I love snow as much as the next person, possibly more, but five days entirely unmelting?! There hasn't even been any new stuff fall - it's all the same stuff from last week.

I wonder how long it will last.

Information from ‘The Orange One’

I was sitting in a nice spot near college, and thanked Her for my soup (very nice soup). He then started talking to me, in a young son form, from which I got the sensation of orange. He told me this:

Everyone is born with a certain nature, and when/if they commune with the Goddess/God, they are seen as having a complementary nature to the person. Not necessarily opposite or the same, but what that person needs at the time.

ANGEL embodies the male aspect of the Goddess and the female aspect of the God. All guardian angels embody the traits that their charge needs/will need. The Goddess and God are balanced like the yin and yang sign. One may be more female or male than the other, but they both embody traits of the both and together they are the Duality.

Currently the God is dying/going back into the womb, and therefore can appear as anything; She is the Wise Woman.

She is pleased when you thank them/Her for food personally; there is ‘Grace’ but that goes by way of a face given to them that they do not find ‘human enough’. The ancient pantheons were better, although not perfect, because they were very much human.

Do not forget them.

Question - Introspection

1. Why do I feel like I don't deserve things?
2. Why can I not ask for what I want, only what I would like?
3. Why do I feel that this holds me back?
4. Why am I afraid to disappoint people?
5. Why am I afraid people will be disappointed in me?
6. Why do I feel I must get high grades, else I am a failure?
7. Why can't I truly have faith in something?
8. Why am I afraid to show who I am to other people?
9. Who am I, anyway, to show?
10. Why do I restrict myself?
11. Why do I cry alone?
12. Why do I find it difficult to see the beauty that I know is in everything?
13. Why do I wish for something, then flinch when it comes true?
14. Why can I have a short attention span?
15. How can I believe?

How do you like your beef in the morning? I like mine pretty rare.

During the summer I had to research some stuff a lot for a big essay, and after I had photocopied what I needed (not quite the whole book, although it would have been cheaper than buying it) I sat in a local baguette shop typing/writing it up. The shop - Crumbs... - is what Subway pretends to be: they have a range of ingredients, and you can choose whatever combination you want.

One ingredient is beef - rare. I tried this the first time out of curiosity, and was hooked. It is so much better than well-done beef! Its bright pink and actually has taste! So now, whenever I go (which is not often enough, I must admit, this shop being entirely local) I have rare beef and blue cheese in my baguette.

The blue cheese naturally overpowers the beef most of the time, but the beef gives an essential under-taste that the bagguette would be lost without. And when I get bits of beef on its own...it's like some familiar piece of music that still manages to surprise you everytime with little nuances and twists.

The whole...well I hesitate to use the word cafe, as there is only room for ~15 people...is nice too. Everytime I've been in there I've been served by the same man - does he own the place? - who is very nice. I always take my plates back at the end (although I do that in any cafe, out of politeness) and he seems to be pleased.

"Have a good day!"

I always imagine I'm going to be swept off my feet by some stranger there - it is an intimate place and I can easily imagine in-depth and heartfelt conversation between two people, who will never see each other again, happening. That hasn't happened yet, but I still hold out hope.

Brigit

Brigit is the ancient Celtic goddess of Poetry, Smithcraft, healing, Childbirth, Inspiration, and the Fire and Hearth. When looking to invoke Brigit's healing aspect, she has been called "Nympha Brigantia". Brigantia had several rivers in Britain and Ireland named after her. This gives a watery facet to a fiery goddess. Brigantia and Brigit are related, or possibly the same goddess. Brigantia was the patron goddess of the Brigantes of Northen Britain, who herself seems related to Britannia, the namesake of Britain. Another slightly odd relation of Brigit is the Roman goddess Minerva (perhaps more famous by her Greek name, Athena). She was the goddess of was, wisdom and crafts. This also makes Brigit a protective goddess, a goddess of war. Support for this comes from the statue below (one of the few images of Brigit):

Brigit was also transformed by Christianity into St. Brigit, now one of the patron saint of Ireland. This shows how popular she was, that she survived into a new theology, into a prominent position.

Brigit is the daughter of the Daga, the 'good' great god of old Ireland. Or should that be daughters? For Brigit is either a triple goddess of poetry, smithcraft and healing (contrasting with Maiden, Mother, Crone) or one of three sisters, each called Brigit and attributed one of the above. As Cormac, a scholar from the ninth century, says in his Glossary:

 

Although Brigit was said to be present at every birth, as a goddess of war, she laments for the fallen warriors, a mother goddess weeping for her fallen sons. She had a son, called Ruadan, who was killed in the Battle of Maigh Tuiredh. When she found him dead, "for the first time weeping and shrieking were heard in Ireland" (The Battle of Maigh Tuiredh, 12^th century. In this text she is equated with another goddess, Bríg).

To look at another facet of Brigit, as a goddess of inspiration or the sister-goddess of poetry, she is a patron deity of language. She is said to have invented the Ogham alphabet, the alphabet of the trees.

To please this goddes of many talents, you can light candles or a fire in her honour for her fiery feature, or cast coins and rings into a well for her watery facet (make sure you have permission from the well owner before you do this though). Where three streams cross, you can also make offerings to her of flowers and milk. To invite her blessings into her home, make a small bed (some nice, soft material in a box) and place it above the mantlepiece, or the centre of your house/room. Invite Brigit to lay her blessings there, using your own words. Once Imbolc has finished, close up the box, and put it somewhere safe. Only use this box for this purpose. You can also make a cross of rushes, a solar sign, and hang it above your doorway for protection.

 

 

Little Mabon Personal Ritual

I just did a Mabon ritual tonight in my garden. It worked out that for enough time my parents were (are) out so I am alone in the house.

I cast a circle, called the elements, and then thanked the Goddess and God for their roles in the harvest. I sang a mixture of the Witch's Chant and We All Come From The Goddess. I said thank you for what I have and my new life to come. I asked them to bless the last corn on the cob (which I have now eaten as a starter) and to protect our home (both of which they did, very kindly. Thank you).

Blessed be the Earth Mother
The Goddess and Lady
Blessed be the Sky Father
The God and Lord
Thanks be for our lives now
Thanks be for our new lives to come

I asked them to please protect everyone this winter, even if they seem to be ungracious, which we never really are, we just have forgotten.

Then we had a personal conversation, before and during me doing the Tai Chi form I know (Ten Step). I thanked them, and my angel, for a lot of things. Later I am going to go into my inner temple. I hope to post a description soon.

I'm going to try to wear my pentacle until the end of the week. This is a lot for me because I usually don't wear it as it can get heavy and make me feel sick if I don't cleanse it much.

I hope you all have a good harvest festival, Mabon!

Blessed be us all.

Der Nachtvogel (Gesichte)

Es war einmal, ein Junge was allein. Er heiβ Rupert und seine Eltern sind wegegangen.

Donner und Blitzen was überall und Rupert hätte ein groβe Angst vor die schwarzer Schatten.

Der Wind haulte.

Plötzlich, eine reisiger schwarzer Vogel mit ein reisiger schwarzer Schatten flog gegen die Fensterscheibe. Sie zersplittert!

Rupert schrie! In seine Entsetzen, er wirft Blumenvase am die Vogel.

Blitzen! Und alles war Dunkelheit. Donner grollte. Rupert wimmerte und die Vogelhaupte hollte zum Vorhang.

That was a fun German lesson.

"My name is Corn. Sweet Corn."

We just took the first sheath (?) of corn from the plant outside. The others I am going to leave another couple of days, but this one is still good to eat.

We grew it! I almost can't believe...

I suppose it could count as sort-of organic...no, wait, I used some fertiliser, just home grown then (just!).

Not all of the corn developed, and its paler than its supermarket counterparts, but raw it nevertheless tastes good.

We've pretty much finished what we could from the tomatoes that were in the same grow bag - we lost quite a lot of them because, having gone away for two weeks, we hadn't watered them regularly enough. Still, we managed to get ~9 from it, which we took of when green and ripened in a draw with a banana (bananas release gas which help/case fruit around to ripen). Ate them raw too. They had a kind of lavender-coloured after-taste which supermarket ones don't have (more on coloured tastes later).

The corn had a slight after-taste that was different to supermarket ones too - kind of grey though. Not particularly bad, just unexpected.

Mabon is coming up, so now is an appropriate time to harvest, I suppose.

Thank you, John Barleycorn!

Hand Aura

Just a little while ago I found a tip to help you (me) see our hand auras. Unfortunately the bookmarking didn't save it properly (not happy...) so I can't link to the place. But if you recognise where its from, please say.

• Take a few breaths, and relax.
• Hold your hands a little way apart, and then rub them vigourously together until they warm up a bit.
• Then, hold them in front of a light/white-coloured surface, and soften your gaze.
• Your should see something like black or grey 'strings' joining the fingers (and possibly palms).
• This is (I think) where the energy of your two hands is interacting.
• You can then try and extend what you are able to see to the rest of your hands, and then so on.

Just a little tip I found. Enjoy!

First Day Back

I was hoping that today was going to be a sort of ease into having to do work again - i.e. admin, not actual lessons (I can't believe I just said I hoped for admin! Ugh!). But we actually had lessons today.
Still, they weren't the most difficult ever. Definitely beginning of year lessons.

Unfourtunatly, one of my favourite lessons has been moved to a classroom entirely too small - we are a class of 22, this classroom was built for 18. And I'm right by the door, so always have to lean forward when people want to get past.

One of my (not so favourite) lessons was moved to a bigger classroom - which completely unecessary, as we are a class of 10 and didn't even fill our last room. Ah well, the joys of being a second year.

Anyhoo, it was nice seeing people again - someone from the year below in my old school turned up, which was a surprise! Still a year below, so I shan't see much of her.

The boy I like is still there - why would he leave when he has someone like me to look at? (joke!) I began dreaming near the end of summer that he would come back and start to like me back. But, we are still just casual friends. Ah well, I wasn't really expecting anything to change, and I'm not going to kill myself because of it (still, if you could see him!)

We had work to do at home today. On the first day! But it's not hard. I'm just getting into my complaining routine. I'll try not to bore you with it too much.

Ah, I'll survive. I may even enjoy it! (on a blue moon with the stars in alignment perhaps!)

Toodles! (Toodles? Toodles?! Who am I?)

I can't decide whether you should live or die...

I've had this song in my head for the past few days.

I can't decide
Whether you should live or die
Oh, you'll probably go to heaven
Please don't hang your head and cry
No wonder why
My heart feels dead inside
It's cold and hard and petrified
Lock the doors and close the blinds
We're going for a ride...

Recently I've found that I like Scissor Sisters (or at least their Ta-dah! album).
Their songs have a happy, upbeat feel about them - rhythm-wise anyway. Each song begins with a different rhythm to how it will have, which, for the first time listener (or someone who hasn't heard it for a while), gives it a slight unpredictability.
Their lyrics, on the other hand, have a sarcastic, slightly crazy feel to them while simultaneously being catchy.

It's great!

If you just want to listen to make yourself happy, then you just ignore the lyrics (mostly) and listen to the rhythm; but then you listen to this lyrics, and you could do anything you wanted because you don't care what any thinks anymore. It seems the perfect album for a slightly shady Roaring Twenties -themed party.

There are also more touching songs, like I Might Tell You Tonight:

And I just might say it tonight
I just might say it tonight
I just might tell you tonight
That I love you
And you should stay all my life...

This song is like a couple waltzing on their roof in the middle of the city, so engrossed in each other that they fail to notice everyone else, moonlight and roses, pianos and sparrows.



There are a couple of song that I don't like on this album: Lights, Transistor, Land of A Thousand Words. They just don't have the same...clarity or panache as the other songs, and Lights is just the teeniest bit dreary.


I think I would give this album a 4/5 (or 8/10, if you'd prefer).
If these were the bad guys in a movie, you'd be rooting for them!

Dark Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake

I had an urge to create a cheesecake a few days ago - you know, just one of those things that you get urges to do, like wanting to wear a dress. So I searched on the internet for recipies and found this one. I can't exactly remember where I got it from, but it may have been Channel Four's food website, or 101 Cheesecake recipies (really not sure, but thanks to whoever posted it). I thought I'd share it here as well, along with a couple of (perhaps obvious things) that I didn't realise until afterwards.

Dark Chocolate and Orange Cheesecake

Ingredients

Base
125g digestive biscuits (put into a plastic bag and gleefully smashed into little bits with a rolling pin. I used plain chocolate covered ones)
4 table spoons caster sugar (granulated sugar basically)
75g butter (melted and probably unsalted. Don't let it burn. Later you can use this pan again.)

Filling
110g plain/dark chocolate (I used 50% dark chocolate, although you could probably use darker or lighter to taste)
675g cream cheese (I couldn't find any cream cheese, so I replaced this with 'soft cheese' and it still worked fine. It's basically the same thing)
200g caster sugar
5 eggs (this will make it seem quite runny, but I promise, it will set)
2 tablespoons orange juice (close enough to the juice of half an orange)
1/2 tablespoon orange zest (you can use one orange for the juice and zest. Use a cheesegrater to get the zest off, and don't get any white 'pith'. If it gets stuck on the grater, just bang it on the chopping board a few times)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 3 (not sure what that is in 'C, but there are probably convertors on the internet. Leave this on througout the whole process, except the chilling)
2. Big/medium-big bowl, mix the smashed biscuit crumbs, 4 table spoons sugar and butter until well blended (a wooden spoon will do here, although later you will need an electric whisk - unless you are super strong - so may as well get it out here).
3. Grease the bottom and sides of your springform tin (I forgot to do this, and am having alot of trouble getting slices off).
4. Press into bottom and sides of ~9" springform tin (if there is not enough, simply make another mix with the same amounts and add in - I had to do this).
5. Bake for ten minutes in the oven. Don't turn the oven off, take the base out when done.
6. Melt the chocolate by putting it in a Pyrex (or glass) bowl, filling the pan you used to melt the butter in with water, and resting the bowl on that (it should just have an inch or so of the bottom oif the bowl in the water, otherwise it will overflow). Turn on the heat to boil the water, which in turn will melt the chocolate.
7. Once the chocolate is melted, leave to one side to cool but not set.
8. Another big/medium-big bowl (or I suppose you could use the same one) and mix the cream cheese and 200g of caster sugar until smooth (you will need an electric mixer for this. Be careful not to splat it everywhere).
9. Mix in the eggs one at a time (it will get a bit runny here, but that's fine).
10. Gradually stir in the orange juice and zest (a wooden spoon can be used here if you want).
11. Split off 500ml of batter (use a jug) and pour the remaining batter over the base you made earlier.
12. Stir the melted chocolate into the 500ml of batter, and drop it on in big lumps.
13. Use a knife or spatula to stir pretty patterns into the batter (the white batter on the bottom will come up and make the patterns when you do this).
14. Bake for 60 minutes on gas mark 3 (see why you didn't turn the oven off? If it is not ready after an hour leave it in for five minutes and check and again, then another five if it needs a bit longer and so on).
15. Run a spatula around the edge of your cheesecake when you take it out, so that it is less likely to crack, and leave to cool completely (completely, otherwise it will melt your fridge shelves).
16. Put in the fridge for four hours (I left mine in overnight) and enjoy!

A New Beginning

Well how's this for a first post? Mam just got a new job (for the next six months anyhoo) and now we are all going out to dinner to celebrate! Her old job will still be there when she finishes this new one, if she wants it of course, or she can stick with the new one.



This news came just as I was wondering whether it was time for tea, and now we are going out to dinner. Also, when I went to get a bag to take my necessities in and decided to choose one that housed one of my Tarot decks (they didn't mind), the first card that was on top was the Princess of Chalices! I decided to take it with me because it symbolises new beginning, seeing clearly and hope for the future. Also, the design of the card is just so pretty!



I hope we go somewhere nice for dinner. Just last night I was thinking about wanting to wear my nice black and white dress, and today I get the chance too. Pity I cut myself when shaving, but it doesn't hurt.



I think this will be a very good thing for Mam, although a bit of a change. It's a slight pity that she will have to work in a building that she's not best fond of, but if she likes the job then it won't matter.


All these little things seem to bode well for her new beginning. Fingers crossed it stays so!