Day of Sand Day of Dreams

Dream 1: Last night was a busy dreaming night. I woke up in the middle of the night after dreaming that I was digging a grave with a shovel in the dark.  The soil was moist and easy to dig, and I had the uncanny feeling that someone had already been buried there and I kept peering into the darkness for bones.  Nearby a backhoe was also digging.  I became aware that the hillside next to me was about to give way. I could see sparks way above me.  I didn't know if they were explosions or static electricity but I knew we were in big trouble.  Nearby, in a derelict building I could hear Jack hammering away. So I yelled out 'Jack, Jack, we've got to get out of here'.  After much yelling I heard him yell back, "But I'm almost finished." I gave up on Jack. No time left.  I tried to run but came up against fences blocking my way.  I started kicking the rotted wood.  Finally I kicked a hole through and could see daylight on the other side. Then I woke up with my heart thudding in my chest like a freight train. Does my rapid heartbeat cause the bad dreams or is it the other way around?

Dream 2:  I was in an exhibit building at a fair. It was well lit, the displays were pristine, the people were clean and efficient. It was sanitary and boring.

I found my way to another older building made of dark wood. It was small and more like a display of indigenous people. I saw everything as I walked through and was just leaving when I got into a conversation with a bunch of hippy bohemian looking crafts people. They had older re-purposed clothes, circa 1970 maybe. Two of the men were healers and touched me and they were radiating heat. Nearby they had two buildings that looked like gypsy wagons where they put on little plays. As I got ready to leave one of them said he'd ordered a sandwich for me from the food wagon and I was to go get it because it was probably way past done.  So his girlfriend and his little daughter went to show me the way. It was a little embarrassing because they were dancing around and the woman kept trying to remove clothing both hers and mine. We got to the 'food' wagon and it wasn't food at all, but beadwork and jewelry. I asked for my sandwich and the man handed me this beautiful blue and white dangling beaded tassel looking thing instead. I tried to pay for it with paper money and he says, "No, give me the loose stuff." I didn't know what he meant. I only had about .75 in assorted change. I held out a handful of stuff.  Instead of the coins he took a wooden bus token. I got the impression that everything they did was on a bartering system. But when he went to hand me the item, it still had a string attached (how's that for a metaphor of gifts with strings attached). Ha. The clear thread was still attached to the beading spool. Then the man from the hippy tribe was there behind me trying to get everything all straightened out. That's all I remember of that dream. The cats woke me up wanting food soon after that.

I suppose on the Day of Sand it's appropriate to speak of dreams because they are the realm of Mr. Sandman after all.

Day of Flax

Today is the 12th, or the Day of Flax. Flax is a plant that is grown, left to rot (retted), and then made into fiber. Some of the archers have used flax to make linen bowstrings.  I have some flax cordage around here I'd like to use today to honor it. I'm just not sure where it is. If I ever get a bigger garden, I'll try growing some flax. It has beautiful flowers. And I just remembered flax seeds have health benefits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flax 
Did you know Linseed oil comes from Flax? I didn't. I have some flax seeds in my kitchen. Perhaps I should try growing some in a container.  It's the right time of year for planting things in S. Cal.

My Tribal Calendar

I've decided to name each day of the month in a tribal fashion to give me a witch's calendar of sort. Each day is named after an animal, a bird, a plant, a stone and so forth. As each day rolls around I will ponder and meditate on it.

I got the idea from a page in Crown of Stars by Kate Elliot, only I chose by intuition my own labels.

1. Raven
2. Sand
3. Dogwood
4. Rock
5. Snake
6. Cat
7. Straw
8. Rowan
9. Goat
10. Clouds
11. Egret
12. Flax
13. Chert
14. Hawk
15. Fruit
16. Daisy
17. Gourd
18. Sheep
19. Rice
20. Flute
21. Bread
22. Ship
23. Harp
24. Knot
25. Campfire
26. Dog
27. Bamboo
28. Crossroads
29. Drum
30. Star
31. Dagger

Pavilion Dreams

It's not the first time, but once again I'm thinking of having a product line of magickal lotions and charms and lip balms and soaps. Every time I think the market for that kind of stuff is glutted on Etsy and on the Internet, someone comes along, opens a new shop, and next thing I know they've sold 2,000 items.

I am thinking of setting up at SCA events as a gypsy fortuneteller (for donations only) at events that don't allow vending, and giving each person a free sample and then selling my line at events that do allow vending. Since the SCA tries to steer clear of religion, I'm not sure I'd be welcome with open arms, but it is my persona. And it would keep my psychic skills from getting rusty. There is a lot of stuff to memorize...all those tarot cards, the meanings or runes, lines on the palms, astrology, numerology. It's a lot to carry around in your head, and if you don't use it regularly, it's easy to forget. It's going to be a lot of work. I need to make signs for inside and outside the booth. I need to make a fantastic covering so it doesn't just look like an Easy-up canopy. Presentation is everything in this kind of business.  I could have my dream pavilion so to speak. I did offer tarot reading at Great Western War once, and no one batted an eyelash. No one hired me either though. I don't think it looked professional having me stuck beside the archery booth like some itinerant beggar. When I've read at the Halcyon fair I've always had at least 6 paid readings a day.

Awareness Cards

I can't believe it's been a year since I've posted to this blog. A year wasted in essence.
I've been working with Susan Halliday's Awareness Cards lately. I bought them years ago and found them buried in my garage recently in the bottom of a box of books. Every day I've been drawing one card. Then I read what it means in the accompanying book.

Tonight I can't sleep. I slept for about an hour and half and woke up again. I've been anxious. I don't know if it's just the anxiety of a new year beginning or the changes that I feel are in the wind right now. I feel like something has a grip on me. It doesn't help any that two days ago I drew the Alien Beings card and then a few hours ago I drew the Spiritual Gift card.

It's times like these that I miss having a dog to cuddle up with. There is something about dogs that is grounding and centering for me. Cats don't do it for me. Like this afternoon I tried to take a nap and the cat come in and stood on my hair.  Not very useful.

It's 2:30 AM. on New Year's Eve.

Opportunities Lost

For many years I was booked every year to do reading at parties.  Now I don't have the same connections I once had so I'm not being of service.  I just sit at home hanging out with my boyfriend, which is nice, but I miss the excitement. Maybe I should look for a new agent or work on publicizing myself.  I need to be more aggressive in 2011. In a few days I'll be 53, and maybe I've just gotten too laid back for my own good.

Full Solar Eclipse on the Winter Solstice

I hope some of you got to see the solstice eclipse. I'm in S. CA and it was pouring. It only rains about 10 days a year. How unfortunate it happened to be on the same night as the eclipse. I don't know why I didn't think to watch it live on a website. Oh well. Metaphysically, the meanings for eclipses are all over the place.  I do know I had trouble sleeping. I went to bed at midnight, woke up at 4 AM and was wide awake. I finally crawled back into bed at 6 AM and woke up at 10:30 AM fully rested. Weird.