Pagan out of Place

Oh the weather outside is....ok weather man why do I predict the weather more accurately?

2015-06-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Before we start, I know I know the weather is a tricky thing.
Just ask my weatherman, he says that we won't have any precipitation for the next 48 hours...while I look outside at a thunder shower.

I should just listen to my gut.

I love hanging out my clothes but when I took my load outside to hang dry, the air just felt heavy. Barely a cloud in the sky, but the air felt heavy.
I turned on my computer and double checked, yup the sky looks right we shouldn't get rain. So why does the air feel heavy?

First load dried perfect no issues. Second load...OI it was almost dried!
the bad part is that it came on so quickly that I didn't get time to bring it all in before the clothes got soaked through again.

My lesson of today?
Go with my gut instinct, it's rarely wrong.

1 liners in emails

2013-11-25T18:21:00.000-08:00

Ok so I love hearing for people I really do and I occasionally get an email from people passing through our little municipality from time to time wanting to talk or hang out and they usually write their first email something like

" Hello,
my name is (so and so) I'm passing (through town/moving to town) and am looking for people to talk to and meet with other people of similar intests (lists off interests usually involving paganism, gardening or herbal healing) and have an (intelligent discussion/ mentor/ someone to chill with). ....."

ok that's awesome I'm starting out knowing something about them and we can start a great conversation and maybe meet up and hang out. I haven't really mentored or taught in a year or 2 but I'm always willing to start if the right person asks.
But lately I've been getting a few 1 liners, anyone who RPs or knows some RP terminology knows what a 1 liner is.

"Hello,
I (like you/ find you interesting/ think you're pretty) message me back if you want to talk."

Hey Thanks!...I think. I've heard the pretty/interesting line a few times before being told that I'm going to "go to hell" So that can make me a bit nervous. But besides that, how am I to respond? The writer did not give me even 1 thing to expand or start the conversation with, unless he/she wants me to puff up my chest and start bragging about why or how I'm so pretty and interesting.

Please just give me a topic!
Ask me about herbs, the elements, about gravity or why the sky is blue. ANYTHING! is better than nothing.

Now I still do respond to these people and I have made some nice acquaintances this way, but really responding hurts my brain sometimes. I want to write a unique response so everybody because everybody is unique, but it's hard when you see the same 1 liner everyday.

Anyways, I need to go make up a RP character now for a new game.

Blessed Be, and may people give you something to work with,
~Flaming

Back to nature? or just for show?

2013-11-13T19:39:00.001-08:00

Hey all! long time no see,

Again I have something on my mind that I've heard about lately, it could be easily be broken down into many layers but I'm going to try to be a little bit general instead of writing a novel or getting into too many details (for now but anything's open for discussion)

It all started while I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to advertise it so I won't.
But the topic was a fairly common one, but unlike many other blogs and podcasts, I did not hear accusatory notes from this person.

How are we pagans as a whole or as individuals helping the mother (mother earth)?
Now don't lie to yourselves, many of us live in cities and just like the rest of the earthly population many of us are also in apartments and condos, if we're working then we're working 40 or more hours a week and if we're working less or not at all, we don't really have any money to share, hell even some of us working over 40 hours a week have nothing after bills.
So with little to no room and little to no money, it's easy to get caught up in the loop that is " can't do nar ting, if ain't got nar ting, to do ar ting wit." (bonus points if you can guess what accent I have, and C of Ravens, you're excluded from this because of personal knowledge unfair advantage!)

So what am I doing to help out the mother?

when I lived in an apartment I
-grew veggies and fruits on my patio so that I could eat more sustainable (even if only for a week)
-I tried my best to buy local.
-garage sales and second hand stores are and were a great source to reuse and renew things.
-I tried to recycle (difficult back then before the city really cared)
- I kept worms for a vermiculture/vermicompost (is that the right word for it? worms in a box for a great non smell small compost?)
-I grew some herbs and spices in the kitchen for cooking and healing
- I helped out in other peoples gardens
-used more energy efficient light bulbs (wasn't allowed to change the hogging appliances)
-took the bus or walked when I could

and that was pretty much it

now I own a house so I added a few things to that list
-I grow a much bigger garden and doubling it this year though that garden will still not feed us all year.
-we have more energy efficient appliances.
-I found out about the wonderful world of freecycling facebook groups
- we took in a few animals
-we can add another person that I help out with in their garden.
-I have 2 very much huge composts
-I'm attempting to grow some larger veggies in my house over winter (lettuce, spinach and swiss chard) the house is heated for us and green plants will help with the air quality so might as well make them edible as well.

and I'm still open to ideas

What do I eventually want in the future?
maybe if we can get around to retiring early (unlikely) or if we can find employment that will make a change of lifestyle sustainable. We're thinking about owning a small hobby farm and trying our hand at some homesteading lite (if we like it and think we're up to it, then we can think about being more involved with it but until we get to that point, we still have debts and bills)

So I guess what I'm doing and hope to get better at is, being more self sustaining and making my footprint smaller. As well as helping other to do the same.

So what are you doing? what do you want to do? and are you stuck in that loop?

Now enjoy a picture I took of a tomato at my old apartment

NOW FOR THE JUST FOR SHOW PART

"It has come to my attention....."

lol

Ok now seriously, I've known about this issue for a while and have read and heard about it for almost as long. Pagans who are just pagans for show.

Honestly, I give up on the issue,
-As long as they aren't harming anything or anybody then they can have right at er.
- If they are helping out in some way? Then all power to them.
-If they're hurting something or somebody, well they should have been raised to respect other beliefs/cultures/the environment/etc better and I may go a little evil on them with a lecture ( I have a temper and little patience for much)

So with the exception of that last point, why the big fuss I keep seeing and hearing? I'm a bit confused.

Anyways

Blessed Be,
~Flaming

The wedding went well.

2013-09-04T10:33:00.000-07:00

+ 27 Celsius, not a cloud in the sky. The handfasting was...entertaining. rofl T our best man apparently can't count to 7 or tie a knot, but hey it all went well and hilarious. What good is a wedding if there isn't some comedic relief right?
My sis and I made each other smile during wedding pictures by yelling 2 words. Those 2 words are an inside joke that greatly disturbed the photographers and the rest of the wedding party and if they knew the story they would probably be more disturbed. Warped minds make great fun.
The after party went wonderful without a hitch as the two families mingled and my sis again helped scare people by telling the MC to announce that she had a special gift for us.

MC "L if it vibrates drop it and run!"
rofl
it was a cute monster onesie/footie pjs, but they played it up like it was scandalous.

Then we ran away to a cabin for the night before sleeping well past our alarms and showing up to the tear down with water and pop for everyone.

I'd like to thank everyone who helped set up and tear down, even though many of those people don't read this blog. we had something like 12 people help put up 2 tents, people I do not know well but are friends of the family came in and became family themselves. Those are very valuable people to have in your life if you can find them. We had a kitchen full of family and friends to help cater and people we barely know just show up to help.

If you're wondering about the supper, we had a giant BBQ before the ceremony, the only thing I would change is to add an extra hour so the wedding party has more time to eat. The supper before the ceremony keeps everyone happy and less bored though a bit more tired but that's ok, there were chairs at the ceremony.

Then a few days later...giant rain drops and bits of hail...wow we cut it close.

Now just waiting on the wedding pictures so we can send them off to those who want them, though the thank you cards are not going through the mail if we can help it. the mail lost over half of the invites so I'm not trusting them with the thank you cards.

Well that's pretty much it about the wedding

Blessed Be everyone
I'll try to be back soon

~Flaming

A thermometer up the ass, ok. but needles, hell no this act isn't taking that Sh*t / make up wonderings

2013-08-16T12:00:00.001-07:00

Well Wedding plans are going slow but that's to be somewhat expected the date is almost here and we are planning for another part of the province.

Oh you want to know about the title?
Well our cat needed to get boosters done since the last time was at the SPCA and they were overdue.
This cat has a long history of health problems and pretty much every time she goes to the vet she has her temp taken, and she's never fussed about it. But apparently a tiny little needle that you can't even see puts her into a fit of rage.
I find that a bit odd but hey weird things happen.

anyway, wanna hear a story that's bugging me today. Not bugging in a bad way but I just can't stop thinking about it.
I was cleaning out my make-up bag last night and ended up throwing out a lot of gifts that have gone expired even though they've only been used once or twice. L was watching this and made the comment that he doesn't actually remember what I look like in make-up, since I only wear it once or twice a year he mused whether I should wear it more often.
Now I know he wasn't being mean or insinuating about my looks, he was just making a statement about the waste. But it got me thinking about it.
My friends and family keep giving me massive amounts of makeup that I'll rarely use before the expiration date, I never buy it myself but, should I be wearing it more often to avoid waste and make use of a gift I would otherwise never buy? Some of this stuff I can't regift due to the nature on how these gifts are received. Food for thought even if it doesn't come up that often.

Oh and you may be wondering why a little jump away from pagan issues.
Well I'm still practising but many of the ceremonies can easily be found in different variations elsewhere. I just feel that maybe people can adapt their own.
Now the difference here is that if someone requests something I will more than happily post on that subject, I'm more of lets the question come to me sort of person, and I do realize I will learn from this experience as well so yay.

Any ways

Blessed Be
~Flaming

So apparently pagans can't get married in Canada...

2013-08-07T12:22:00.002-07:00

Ok for those of you who don't know, L and I are getting married (actually think cross between a handfasting and a christian ceremony. We have family that don't know or need to know things).

Late last month we went to the DMV to get our marriage license and were asked what religion we were. Well L identifies as a ChristoPagan(still deciding) and I identify as an eclectic Pagan...We must have gone through every pagan belief we knew including Wicca (Wicca being more known to the gov usually) and still the government computers would not accept it.
What would they accept?
All the Abrahamic religions, Hindu, Buddhist, Native and non denominational.

I admit I was a little surprised as many forms of paganism are recognised in Canada as being legit belief systems but honestly! I was more than surprised, I was floored! Not even Agnostic or Atheist made the shortlist and those have been recognised since what seems to be forever!
We eventually and grudgingly put down non denominational for government purposes.

Seriously does anyone else think the Canadian gov needs a swift boot to the arse?
I know they are insanely behind on many things and this is only a drop in the bucket for them, but still it makes me furious.

Anyways onto a light ending?
We have a officiate that is familiar with handfastings both "In Your Face" handfastings and the more "slightly in the closet" handfastings. The dress has been found as well as the natural venue, outdoor wedding YAY!
rings have been made and delivered (custom)
Though we are still looking for a long silver cord for the actual handfasting.

Not much longer to go now!

~Blessed Be
~Flaming

Yup, I suck at schedules

2013-08-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

So no I can't promise a schedule but I can promise that I will keep coming back. That and I have a few topics/experiences/rants that deserve their own title and attention so expect more today.

I disappeared again

2013-03-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

I went Missing again didn't I?

well yes, and I don't have a very good reason.
I just plain forgot, I am so busy at work pulling 10+ hour days for 10 day stretches, with my 4 days off I'm playing catch up with cleaning, cooking, teaching, socializing, and worshiping. Plus I have a new puppy which is like a child! I swear she needs all your attention all of the time.

But all that is settled a bit today, so here I am.

so what did I miss talking about?

IMBOLC (Feb 3rd)

I don't do much for Imbolc seeing as it's usually so close to yule and it sneaks right up on you as soon as your done all your celebrations, but that's ok relax. Imbolc is a time where things are becoming new again. animals are getting ready to birth and some are even lactating, they are nesting down for their future kids.
and I got a puppy and had to puppy proof the entire house (and failed).

Whats coming up fast?
OSTARA (March 20th or the spring equinox)
Light and dark are matching up equally things are being born and it's a good time to start something new...Like maybe your seeds?
Not only am I going to start me seeds but I'm also going to delve into yogurt making on my stove. I eat enough of it that if I can make it it'll not only cut down on my grocery bill but I will also know more about what I'm eating. Which is always a good thing.

Yogurt recipe I'm trying
-heat ~946ml of milk to 85°C on stove in double boiler (stir occasionally)
-let cool to 43°C then add warm starter ~2 TBSPs
you can get dry powder bacteria starter but I'm using a plain greek yogurt with live active cultures
-mix extremely well and incubate in oven at ~38°C using oven light and warming mode
-After 7 or more hours of incubation should have fairly decent thickness with possible curd floating on top (curd = clear yellowish liquid) can incubate longer for thicker or more tart tasting yogurt or use a cheese cloth to drain and have thicker yogurt.
-stick in fridge to cool...will last up to 2 weeks (unless I eat it first)
-save some for more starter repeat until not reliable anymore then get new starter.

add flavor or sugar as needed

Most of my directions came from here but others from random searches around google.

Wish me luck?

Blessed Be
~Flaming

Full wolf moon Jan 26th 2013

2013-01-27T20:08:00.001-08:00

Yup well the January full moon was yesterday...I personally know it as the wolf moon, other names I have heard it called by are the old moon and the snow moon though sometimes the February full moon is also known as the snow moon.

I know it as the wolf moon because many villages around the world where there are wolf populations hear the wolves more frequently as we are deep into winter and food in the wild is becoming more and more scarce. The wolves howl hungrily while moving closer and closer if not into the villages themselves looking for more food.

This also being the first full moon of 2013 there is some superstition attached. I haven't tested this myself but in certain areas of the world people believe that if the first full moon of the year is bright that it means the year will receive much rain and a bountiful harvest, but a red tinted moon at the beginning of the year means a dry and scarce year.
Well last night we had clouds and snow, but I did catch a few glimpses and it wasn't red. Does that mean I'll have a mediocre year for my crops? I have no clue but I think I'll keep the moon in mind a little more while planting and see what happens this year.

Well Blessed Be
~Flaming

well I moved so here's a quick summary

2013-01-20T17:15:00.002-08:00

Well as I have mentioned before I did move over Christmas away from my apartment and into a small house with my fiance.
Yay for more room and time to do stuff and less fear because I'm living in a safer part of town!

Well lots of things happened while I was gone and lots of people helped with the move and came to visit as well.

well first the move in mid December
We were supposed to have a hockey team help us...no joke a full college hockey team that L works with was supposed to show up and help us move everything. But they didn't show up.
Some of them slept in, some went on vacation, others just went and done whatever. A small group of them even went to the nearest big city (4-5 hours away) to go bar hopping...yup
So we had L who managed to get time off work early, my dad, one of my dad's friends, a friend we call TK, and later in the day/weekend my mother and my auntie TT to help clean up after.

Then unpacking...we managed go get 90% of the unpacking done before my grandmother flew from across the country to visit everyone and she stayed with us a few nights including Christmas eve and day.
Now most of my family is Catholic, with a few atheists but they all know our religious sway (even if some of them don't understand the concept that there are different religions. to understand that confusion go Here)
We ate many meals had many drinks and gave many gifts around 3 tree's. We're small town folks at heart where mummering was common in times past so we still have the tendency to wander to different houses to partake in celebratory awesomeness through out the day.
In my family we do avoid heavy talks of religion and belief though some outsiders might be shocked at some of the other things we say to each other and once you get some alcohol in us, well then all bets are off. But it's all in good fun.

found at http://www.tmacs.ca/cs_mummer.shtml

Took a few days to clear up and finish our random get togethers and get back to work . We're still even giving and receiving gifts to people we know so it's not over yet.

Now I finally have a few minutes to sit and write and reflect on how my mismatched family incorporates many traditions and beliefs to just fit.
It's lots of food and work but it's more than worth it.

Now time to eat and prepare for work tomorrow while still trying to plan my garden and our wedding.

Blessed Be
~Flaming

The mourning moon...or wait the beaver moon? full frost moon?

2012-11-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

So I missed the post about last nights full moon. yeah...I'm as sick as sick gets and under a lot of moving stress so you'll just have to forgive me, but I do have good news and info about last nights full moon so keep reading.

Last nights full moon I know of by 2 names, one name being the mourning moon and the other being the beaver moon.
The reasons behind the name mourning moon is because during this time of year before the winter solstice we have to look back and see our past selves. what did we accomplish? what fears did we face? did we gain or lose anything?

Needless to say most of what's been on my mind as of late has been my stress of moving to a new house and the stress of me being sick which causes me to be more sick (negative feedback loop). I have what we call a "giant ghost" in the making.

The other name being the beaver moon is quite interesting so I had to look it up. I've heard of the name before but never the reasoning so I read the farmers almanac (Canadian version) Where I also found out it was also called the full frost moon.

picture from http://www.martinezbeavers.org/wordpress/category/beavers/

Apparently this time of year was/is the last time to set beaver traps before all the water froze/freezes over. Pretty simple but hey paganism is usually nature based and you don't get much more nature based than the animals and the seasons.

Now for moving.
We bought a house, We bought a house *does happy dance before tipping over coughing*
We have been looking for a while but recently found an awesome house with a large yard and enough bedrooms to either have a renter or start a family.
Buying a house is stressful and expensive, lawyers fees, insurance, down payment, moving costs, changes in address, condo fees (yeah we chose to live in a housing association part of town cause we couldn't find a non association house that wasn't falling apart). And we're doing this all in November/December...right before yule and Christmas.
It feels like we're yelling "lets throw around all our money shall we?!?"
So yeah I'm happy, excited and stressed about that but thankful that we won't have to live in this horrid piece of shit apartment ever again. And I get to plan out for my little veggie garden, live closer to family and friends and live in a much safer neighbourhood.
We take possession legally on the new moon of December but don't start move in until the day after so hopefully as the moon grows into becoming full again so will we grow into this awesome house and have things work out for the better. Sounds like perfect timing, no? well it wasn't planned at all, we chose the possession date and move in date without even looking at the calendar and based off my work schedule, a few weeks ago, I only realized this week what phase the moon was going to be in.

So now what's on my mind exactly at this moment?
"how many people can we get/con into move heavy shit in exchange for pizza and beer?"
"what should the layout for my new home office look like for my webcomic design space?"
"raised beds or tilled garden beds?"
"what am I going to grow in those beds?"
"what kind of puppy do I want?"
"OMG how the hell are we actually affording this?" (money wise w're actually doing good, I just don't know how we managed it).

Well here's for a busy and exciting 2 and 1/2 more weeks.

Blessed Be
~Flaming

Sorry I'm late again, Samhain and the hunters moon

2012-11-04T10:05:00.000-08:00

Hey all I'm late I'm late I'm late, but I have work and personal issues in the way so you'll have to forgive me.

I'm lumping samhain and the hunters moon together in one post this year as they have come in the same week and close enough to affect each other.

The hunters moon came first on October 29th, I call it the hunters moon but I have also heard of it called the drying grass moon and the travel moon.

The hunters moon is named so because around this time people would be hunting to build their stores full of meat for the winter.

Oddly enough if you skip to Samhain, Samhain was also a time to slaughter and prepare for the winter (or maybe not odd?), Samhain falls on October 31st through November 1st though I have heard of people celebrating it October 25 through to November the 5th.
Samhain is also celebrated as the death night for the old year (the witches new year I've heard it called)
Samhain was often used for good celebration as well, people can and would tell fortunes about the coming year as well as some cultures bobbing for apples believing that the first apple caught would signify the first person to be married that year.

Samhain was/is also a time where spirits and ancestors from one's past can cross the veil and visit. People often leave out supper, or in the case of a serve yourself feist an empty plate would be left so the spirit could serve themself.
But just as a happy ancestor can come through the veil so can a murderer or other undesirable spirit so people must be careful. But hey that's where carving turnips came from. people use to carve turnip lanterns to light the way outside and to ward against malicious spirits. More commonly used now is the pumpkin which I am thankful for because turnips are hard to carve.
There are other stories about the carved turnip involving malicious fairies and also how people would leave food outside to gain the fairies favor for the upcoming year, but I don't know much more about that. I suggest any fairy work be researched elsewhere because I'm pretty clueless about fairies.
But here's a lantern for your enjoyment courtesy of wikipedia.

Blessed Be
~Flaming

Coming out of the broom closet

2012-10-20T11:07:00.002-07:00

Hey someone mentioned to me the other day that pagan pride days has come and gone and so has the coming out of the broom closet day.
Now I don't really observe/ take note of these days because personally for me there is no point. For some people they might be great and all wonderful but I tend to see the dark side of these days more often.

For pagan pride day, or any pride day really, all I see people doing is rubbing other people's faces in things. No really, have all the pride in the world, it's good for you to take pride in what you love but if everyone had a pride day we would run out of days really quick. Not to mention that pride days tend to piss off people and lead to greater inequality and greater prejudice.
To find true equality we have to act like equals and expect equal respect. If someone turns to me and is prejudice, I try to educate them but if they're stuck in their ways like one of my elder neighbors, then leave them. Don't let them do anything to bring you down and get proper help if need be but in the same breath don't give them ammunition by being all uber out prideful and rubbing their nose in it just to spite them. Just realize that their mind is refusing to open and there isn't much you can do about it except damage control and to be ready to educate if they are to ever change their mind.

Now for coming out of the broom closet day.
I'm fine with it, maybe it gives people that last speck of courage needed to come out and show their true colours, which is basically what this day's about but I just hope that it doesn't push people to come out at the wrong time. I hope people have common sense to not come out in a giant family gathering of highly religious priests unless they have a few on their side for back up but I do know that sometimes peer pressure can make people come out at the wrong time because "that's what the rest of my coven is doing". If your coven jumped off a cliff would you do it?
Maybe the best time to come out was a week before, a week after, a few months or years after....or not at all for some people due to violent circumstances. The best time to come out is when you feel comfortable and safe.

Hell 8 years later and I'm still in the process, you don't need to wave it around or yell it from the rooftops. Tell people you trust not to make a fuss first, then move on to harder and more stubborn targets, close minded people may need to be told while in a group of mutually supportive family or friends (please don't make the close minded people feel threatened, that makes it worse) then when you run out of close family and friends then you really don't have to do much else except tell people if they ask or make assumptions.

Coming out of the broom closet can be huge like putting out a giant book series and letting the world know, to a gradual thing where only people who are interested will ever find out.

I fall in the second camp I think, if people want or need to know yes I will tell them and I wear my pentacle with pride but on the other hand religion doesn't come up in most daily conversations so not everyone I deal with knows yet and that's fine as well not everyone needs to know your brand of crazy just like you don't need to know everyone elses brand of crazy.
If we honestly need to know what every last persons brand of crazy was then I think it would be a pretty good idea to tattoo is on people or at least ask everyone to wear a shirt, but again that can backfire and cause bad things like genocide, so lets keep that can of worms well away from people who should not tempt it.

So broom closet, everyone has one but not everyone needs to come out of it. It's all up to you and you're situation.

Blessed Be

~Flaming

Magical Turkey Bird. Canadian thanks giving

2012-10-06T11:11:00.001-07:00

Mabon/fall equinox and the harvest moon

2012-09-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

Hey I'm back!
After 2 weeks of vacation, tonnes of work, and injuring my hand I am back.

First course of action Mabon which is today Sept 21 Saturday! 2012...well actually the calendar I have says that it's tomorrow but I'm doing my stuff for 3 -4 days anyways because I have Fri-Mon this week off . I work a 10/4 schedule where I get every second weekend off after working 10 hours a day for 10 days.

Mabon is kinda supposed to be the end of the harvest that was started Lammas, the day and night are now equal and now starts the decent into winter and shorter days. The God prepares to descend into waiting for he will die during Samhain and wait to be reborn during the spring, The Goddess knowing that she is pregnant with the Gods new incarnation will also start to feel the shortening days as she prepares to say farewell to her God and give birth to him once again.
Nature, like the God is preparing for death by slowing down or stopping growth of its bounty and the earth waits for it's rest period when she can prepare to blossom once again in the spring.

Well here's the deal because of frost starting to become very real in the mornings where I live my tomatoes were done a week or so ago. The tomato vine is ~90% dead now with very little green left to it. I got quite a few fruit from that vine and my future in-laws are being buried alive with tomatoes so they sent us some. I know it's best not to store them in the fridge but they're ripening too fast for me to preserve them otherwise while working 10+hours a day. These are a mixture of beefsteak (the heirloom) and big beef (the hi-bred) Yes I do save my seeds for my largest and most delicious tomatoes using 2 methods as I am experimenting to see which will give me the highest fertility rate. I don't really care if I get hi-breds as long as they are healthy and delicious, and as we know through in-breeding and the banana population too much of the same genetics can increase susceptibility to bug and disease. I will make another post on which methods of seed saving I use and maybe later when I do replant I will show my results...if I don't forget.

Like the inside of my fridge? I think I can see pickled wieners, eggs, tomatoes, home extracted coffee extract for ice coffee, a random empty bread bag and I'm pretty sure that's marmalade.

I also brought in my herb shelves so that I can cheat the system and continue my harvest of herbs all winter long.
Top left is basil which this particular is 2 years strong, top left is garlic which is great because every part from root to leaf is edible.
mid left is white sage also 2 years strong with rosemary on the right that just exploded this year after almost dying during year one.
bottom left is parsley 2 years also and hanging on, with oregano on the right which was doing fine a few weeks ago but looks like is starting to dies off a bit. The oregano is two years old and seems to follow a odd cycle of 3 months good, a month die off then very slow growth the rest of the year until it feels ready to expand again. Is that normal?

In the background you can see my strawberry plant going strong but soon I will have to start cutting it back so that it can survive the snow and come back next year.

Now for next weeks harvest moon on the 29th. Also called the corn moon and sometimes the barley moon because it is now a great time to harvest those two, I personally prefer to call it the harvest moon because I harvest many of my plants around this moon.
Now the harvest moon in the northern hemisphere acts strange, no not all the creeps come out. The moon usually rises later each night but during the few days around the harvest moon the moon rises very close to the same time night after night. The almanac explains it better than I can -> here .

Well I'm off to do some laundry, bake bread and just general cleaning around the apartment.

Blessed Be
~Flaming

The full moons a commin! The blue moons a commin!

2012-08-27T13:03:00.001-07:00

And what am I doing for the Blue moon this weekend?
Trying to sleep because I have to wake up and drive early the next morning. That's right I need to drive across the province for my 2 week vacation/ wedding planning/ visiting relatives.
Hopefully my car will be fixed by then, because so far the shop is having a hard time finding the parts it needs.

That reminds me *note to self phone the shop for update on car today*

Well what will everyone else be doing? Well L is driving with me and C of ravens is looking after our animals. I have no clue who else is doing what though.

Maybe someone can leave a comment about what they're doing this weekend?

Blessed Be
~Flaming

fall gardening

2012-08-24T15:36:00.001-07:00

Does it sound odd to you that I'm having a gardening post so close to fall. You know the non growing season?

Well don't be scared I'm not sowing my seeds just yet, but I am still preparing my containers for next year.

I don't want to be in such a rush to get things done in spring so I do what I can in fall to streamline things. And with a container garden this can be easy, though you can do some of these things in a regular garden as well.

I just got back in from filling some pots with compost and small organic material for next spring. As pots become available due to fall death and harvest I can add the old soil into a compost heap for over wintering and refill these pots with matured compost that I had going over the year. This accomplishes 3 things,
1) I don't rush to fill everything in spring so I need only to add seeds/saplings.
2)The rich soil gets to freeze in uncovered or insulated containers during -40°C winters. This helps kill any harmful bugs/virus/bacteria that may have gotten into the compost during the year.
3) Allows me to compost previously used soils with other organics to re-enrich them for the next year (is re-enrich a word?).

you know what else you can do in fall?
Buy cheap seeds.
Seeds are usually good for up to 5 years (some types are exceptions but meh those are usually good for 2-3 years). Just check the package date on your seeds and you can stock up on cheap clearance seeds for the spring. Other gardening tools and items are also on sale during the fall so stock up if you have space. Anything that needs assembly or preparation can be done in fall so it is ready to go come spring.

re-organize your space during fall for less damage to plants as moving your pots around in spring can damage or stress your plants causing them to lose their fruit/flowers. And again it lightens the load to move around empty pots.

Fertilize your pots in fall so that the soil is rich for your seedlings. This can also prevent fertilizer burn if done properly because you are allowing time for fertilizer to spread out in the soil instead of being concentrated in one spot.

See plenty of things out can do to make spring less busy.

Blessed Be
~Flaming

it's weird

2012-08-17T04:20:00.002-07:00

it's weird when I wake up for work at 4 in the morning and see that I have 2 blogger visits already today.

learning new systems, taking your time vs. jumping head first

2012-08-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

Before I start typing much of anything I'm going to have to admit this.
My teaching style is next to non existent. I believe than one should learn 90%+ of the material on their own and discover it for themselves while the left over 10%- should be questions that the person is truly stuck on and has exhausted most if not all personal options. This ~10% needs a push from a peer or "teacher" to get the ball rolling again.
Why do I think this way?
Well in many cases (I can't quote an exact #) people learn both faster and learn more detail about the stuff they find out on their own through their own research and curiosity while people who are forced into lecture tend to have info go in one ear and out the other (think high school).
As long as there is someone available to help in tough times and to guide a person towards a safe path then there should be no problem in the student learning through their own means.

Now here's the story,

C of Ravens bought a new tarot deck this week and has/had no clue how to use them. He came to me to be taught and honestly I know that he is capable of learning on his own, after finding the book that came with the deck in his pocket (which he swears he never put there) he just started trying to do readings on L and himself.
Now avoiding the celtic cross because of it's complexity and the fact the C never really tried to understand tarot before, I suggested doing one card a day to get to know his deck better and to build a relationship with his deck (you know a small suggestion here and there never hurt anyone). C then continued to do a spread for L that I honestly didn't pay attention to because I was reading a book on the next couch. That spread was a bit complicated for C because he had/has no understanding on what his cards are trying to say to him so obviously trying to read this spread took over an hour with minimal results.
But that's ok! still a learning experience and I done the exact same thing when I was learning the first time, but I had a contrary deck while C has what seems to be a more understanding deck.

After this long spread he took it down a notch to a 3 card fan which worked a bit better, but by now he was noticing a pattern, so me and L injected the suggestion that maybe his cards and himself were speaking 2 different languages and that they needed to learn how to communicate with each other first before doing large readings.

Now he's doing the 1 card a day reading in the mornings to get to know his deck better.

Yeah it took him longer to figure out that the 1 card a day was a little easier system to get to know his cards better but he learned it on his own and he will remember it better from here on out.
Much better than doing homework and having the "what if's"

There is a difference between jumping head first and taking your time and while the vast majority of people would rather do it now, this approach tends to leave a lot of decks and other items gathering dust when the person deems it too hard to do.
and yes taking your time is usually better because you gain a greater understanding of the items you are working with.
But there are exceptions and I encourage people to try what ever may work better for them (under proper supervision of course, as some things may be dangerous).

Blessed Be
~Flaming

and I went missing, sorry

2012-08-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

I got a job this month that has me working ~10 days at a time with more than 8 hours a day...That is why I missed the corn moon and Lammas.

So yes great news, I am working again. This change for this month will have me open to update every 2 weekends. Bad news? The job contract expires at the end of the month, so I might be out of a job in September.

Now about the last full moon and Lammas. I'll post another piece on that and see if I can change the date to a previous one instead.

Another thing happened this week...I overdosed on ginger. My monthly was taking longer than normal and in an attempt to speed things along I increased my ginger intake a bit too much.

How do you know if you've had too much ginger?
easy you spend the next 12 hours on the toilet defecating non stop. Harmless but annoying and stinky.

well blessed be
~Flaming

Lammas and the corn moon

2012-08-01T15:48:00.000-07:00

Lucky this year that Lammas and the corn moon landed on the same day. roll everything up and work some powerful shit now because you have a lot at your disposal when two days like this collide.

Depending on where you live the corn moon can either be in august or September and it is pretty self explanatory. The corn will be ready soon.

For those of you who call this the sturgeon moon it's because they are easier to catch this month.

For those who call it the red moon it's because in some parts of the world the moon looks red in the morning due to the haze created when the sun rises.

And last but not the least in my mind is the name grain moon, similar to the corn moon the grain is also almost ready for harvest.

Lammas, well time for one of the harvest festivals I guess. Grain is the crop I will focus on because I love baking breads. various types of breads and sweet baked treats are delicious this time of year. This is a cross quarter between the solstice and the equinox. various places and people will be doing different things to celebrate while I'll be working.

All the seeds I have planted so far this year have come to fruit in the form of a new job. It's only a month long contract but it is still right on time. I need to thank the powers that be (gods and goddesses) for helping me in this and also celebrate with some good eats.

Oh and though I'm not growing corn or grains it is almost time to harvest my tomatoes.

Blessed Be

~Flaming

Favorite card spread

2012-07-15T11:42:00.001-07:00

Hey
Well C is sitting next to me right now and is asking me to post here about my favorite card spread.

Well C...

Celtic cross for the more complex looks and 3 card of general everyday shit.

Laters and Blessed Be

~Flaming

MY WEB COMIC

2012-07-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

It is up, online, advertised and the first page will be posted at 10pm my time tonight. after that a new page will be posted on the last page of every month.

Adventures in Silence

Blessed Be

~Flaming is dancing

where there's smoke, there's fire. And there is a lot of smoke

2012-07-12T19:22:00.001-07:00

A bit creepy now but when I look out my window all I see is smoke.
Why?

Well over the last few days this city has had a lot of lightning which has set off a total of 5 news fires in the surrounding woodland, these add to the other 7 fires already burning in the region. Yeah a total of 12 forest fires are raging near the city now and the city is full of smoke.

This happened last year as well and we didn't have to evacuate, though we were very close to having to evacuate last year. I hope that this year is less smokey and that again we do not have to evacuate.

Wish me and this little city luck?

Blessed Be
~Flaming Pagan threatened by her own element.

Pagan out of Place

Oh the weather outside is....ok weather man why do I predict the weather more accurately?

1 liners in emails

Back to nature? or just for show?

Sponsored walk for animals

The wedding went well.

A thermometer up the ass, ok. but needles, hell no this act isn't taking that Sh*t / make up wonderings

So apparently pagans can't get married in Canada...

Yup, I suck at schedules

I disappeared again

Full wolf moon Jan 26th 2013

well I moved so here's a quick summary

The mourning moon...or wait the beaver moon? full frost moon?

Sorry I'm late again, Samhain and the hunters moon

Coming out of the broom closet

Magical Turkey Bird. Canadian thanks giving

Mabon/fall equinox and the harvest moon

The full moons a commin! The blue moons a commin!

fall gardening

it's weird

learning new systems, taking your time vs. jumping head first

and I went missing, sorry

Lammas and the corn moon

Favorite card spread

MY WEB COMIC

where there's smoke, there's fire. And there is a lot of smoke