Today is day 9 of my 7 week detox program and I am steaming ahead! As a double delight, I’ve finally reached my goal weight of 59kg so that’s 10kg lost over the last few months and I am feeling amazing!
I’m wearing my size 10 jeans and clothes again, my arthritis is nowhere near as painful as it was this time last year and I’m feeling energetic and on top of the world again. Life is great!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
We have a family of magpies who land on my back patio almost every morning waiting for me to give them breakfast. One of them is happy to eat straight out my hand but the others will let me put their food down, step back and then they will come in and eat it about a foot away from me. It’s such a special feeling having nature’s creatures interact with you.
This morning was a little different though for two reasons. The usual culprit came down and he’s the baby of the family. He often brings Dad with him too but this morning instead of there being two or three of them, there were six! We wonder now if there are two families rather than just the one and that we’ve been feeding both families thinking they were all one and the same!
The second point though that I’ve never seen before was one female magpie was crouched down, facing away from the others and at one point she almost laid on her side. Darling hubby and I thought she might be injured but as the male moved away from her, she stood back up again. This happened twice and I’m wondering if she was acting subserviently to the dominant male. I have no idea so today, as part of my down time I’m going to research magpie behaviour. Fascinating!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Well I’ve been 8 days on this very strong, very intense and holistic, 7 week detox program now and I’m feeling ok! I’m getting used to not having the foods I’ve been addicted to or been using for convenience and I’m really enjoying exploring new or revisiting foods like baked fish, rice milk, fruit smoothies and ABC nut mix.
Admittedly the first few days were hard but it’s getting much easier now and I’ve lost 2.5 kgs this week even after eating more food than I would normally and drinking much more water. I’ve made some delicious dishes for myself including fish pie and chicken broth and veggie casserole with white sauce and some yummy fruit smoothies for breakfast so it’s been great fun too! Will keep you posted.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
This last two weeks has been far less stressful for me now that I have taken a short leave of absence from ambulance duty and stepped down from a couple of committees I was on. My major assignments bar one for the semester are already finished and submitted and while I only have 2 weeks left before exams, after that I have 2 months break.
I’ve so noticed the difference in my stress levels and I’m now coping much better than I was thank heavens! My task now is to maintain balance in my life instead of loading myself up as I usually do but I think that will be a long, hard won lesson.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Well here we are celebrating another Mother’s Day here in Australia. My Mum lives on the other side of the world in the UK but she will so be in my thoughts today. My beautiful children, all in the Eastern states will also be heavily in my thoughts too bless them. My two darling youngest daughters are both Mums in their own rights and this of course shows how the generations carry on.
To all the Mums across the world today, may the sunshine bring you warmth and love. May the rain shower you with smiles and may the moon shine healing light upon you. Happy Mother’s Day.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
I’ve decided that when “treating” ourselves with chocolate, sugar, cakes, lollies etc, we aren’t treating our bodies at all, we’re abusing them. So I now term chocolate and sugar as “body abuse” rather than a “treat”.
Our bodies weren’t designed to ingest and thrive on sugar overloads and I know that I was overloading on refined sugar on a daily basis. It’s an addiction. In high and regular doses it becomes toxic to the body and withdrawal from sugar can be as difficult as any drug/smoking/alcohol withdrawal process.
I have had to make myself realise that I was doing as much damage to myself as an alcoholic was with excess drinking. I have had to understand and accept that for me, sugar was my drug of choice and my addiction to it was demanding more and more of my nutritional intake. In researching the impact of refined sugar on the body’s ability to function, I realised how it can damage the tissues, damage my pancreas and lead to long term health problems and even potentially decrease my life.
This week I took charge again. Cold turkey. This week I stopped my refined sugar intake as part of a thorough 7 week detox program. I had a withdrawal headache for 36 hours. I was miserable and snappy and tearful for 4 days. I have done nothing but think about what foods I will be eating that day. I have craved hot chai lattes. Strangely I haven’t craved chocolate or sugar really but I have noticed the craving for sugary drinks.
Today is day 5 and I’m feeling OK. No headache, no tears and the scales are showing I’ve dropped 2.5kg just in 4 days yet I’ve eaten more healthy foods and drunk more water than I would normally do so. Loosing that excess weight has brought a massive smile to my face and I’m proud of my determination to get through the first few days and not cave in to the craving. I am beating sugar!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
I had a really productive day yesterday doing a pile of much needed work plus doing several readings for clients. One of the joys of my week is to do readings, especially repeat readings for regular clients who come back every 6 months or so for some more guidance and insight. There’s something special about that relationship because there’s a bond which develops over time and I am always so grateful and humbled that my clients come back time after time for repeat readings.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
I have a tonne of things to get through today including the backlog of emails waiting in my inbox but it’s going to be a productive and positive day. My stress load is less than it ahs been with most of my big uni assignments now completed. Just some small ones to submit now inside the next 3 weeks. In addition, I have been given a leave of absence for a few months from ambulance duty and my role as the team’s Training Coordinator will be offered to someone else. Much as I love doing that job and being on ambulance shift, that coupled with all my other work was just too much.
I’m also cutting down on conducting weddings this year. I’m not advertising (but still getting enquiries) and I’m hoping not to conduct any more than about 4 the whole year. That will ease a huge amount a stress.
So while I am loving feeling a little more in control, I now have to learn to keep that balance. That’s a whole new lesson I think!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
I’ve been pondering on the loosely discussed topic of having an annual meetup/convention/get together weekend for both the online and face to face Oak and Mistletoe students and members. We’ve been blessed to have the gorgeous Phoenix, Sage, Crystal and TJay with us these last few days and they come from all different parts of Australia. We celebrated Phoenix’s initiation, a full moon and one of the Outer Court lessons and it was fabulous for the face to face folks to host them, work ritual with them and share laughter and magick.
I think it would be great if we had a weekend around Samhain time (or around Beltaine perhaps) when we all get together, folks from around the country and the world, when we share a sabbat together, perhaps have a couple of workshops, do an esbat and maybe have an outing somewhere as well. Each time we have had visitors, it has been an absolute joy and to have them back again is even more special. I’d love to expand that and do it every year. The brain is now ticking over the ideas….
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
It’s our third Outer Court lesson for this year tonight and the house will once again be full of people all eager to learn and share about Inclusive Wicca. Tonight is even more special than normal because this is the night when we show the new students how to cast a circle and how to experience the magic within that sacred space. It’s a great moment for us as teachers because we get to see the wonder on the students’ faces and for them I guess it’s often their first taste of a cast circle with a group of people around them. Always a special night!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Oh my giddy aunt! What a magickal weekend it has been! First we had the double initiation on Saturday night and then one of the best full moon esbats we have ever had last night. Still bathing in the delight of it all.
Sadly the esbat last night was the last we will share with one of our coven family. We say goodbye to Hotaru as he heads off for foreign shores in the UK soon and while this is terribly sad for us, the grieving process is also heavily coloured with delight and excitement for him as he takes a vocational step forward into the international world of marketing. It will be a wonderful journey for him and as much as I will miss him, I know he needs to spread his wings, see the world ad grow in the process.
So last night was such a joy shared with members from all over Australia who came to be together in circle and at the same time bitter sweet with Hotaru leaving us. I guess that’s life though. Ever changing, ever growing, ever evolving.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
There is something special, radiant and unbelievably spiritual about initiations and they’re even more amazing when you get to conduct two in one evening as we did last night. We welcomed the gorgeous Kylie and the lovely Phoenix into the Inclusive Wiccan tradition and it was magickal!
It was made even more special to have the beautiful Sage and Crystal with us who travelled from other parts of Australia to share this special moment with Kylie and Phoenix. I am so blessed to be surrounded by some of the most sharing, compassionate and loving people within this fantastic tradition. Together we have built a global fellowship and community that honours members as spiritual family. The trust and empathy and love truly inspires me.
Humbled smiles and blessings, Amethyst
An exciting weekend ahead with two initiations to conduct on Saturday night (tomorrow) plus our full moon esbat on Sunday. So its going to be a real ritual weekend. Initiations are very special events I think and worthy of lots of celebration and yahooing and hugs. There’s something very special about an event when someone commits themselves to a life of spirituality and devotion to deity. How exciting!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Today I must start a particular piece of work but other than that I shall be resting after last night’s fall. This morning I feel very sore and stiff and my left thigh is badly bruised. Am feeling rather sorry for myself but extremely grateful that I didn’t break any bones or do any more serious damage. Thank you Goddess for protecting me.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Some of you may have recognised the signs of stress creeping in to my blogs and comments. My panic and concern over excessive workload. Part of that has now been relieved because I’ve asked for and been given a leave of absence from ambulance duty for 6 months so that’s a help. However, the diary is still overloaded so now I really have to see what else needs to go or be delegated. Massive few weeks ahead and then a rest for a few weeks in between semesters so if I can just get through the next 6 weeks…
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Feeling very stressed and overloaded again. Please ignore me while I panic. Aggggghhhhhh!!!!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Oh my goodness, what an amazing time we had last night at our Samhain celebrations. The jack o lanterns looked fabulous, our time capsule is packed with goodies and sealed and once more we honoured the turning of the wheel.
It was such a joy to share the festival with coven loved ones, with this year’s new students, many of whom celebrated Samhain for the first time last time and with our guests. Yummy feasting afterwards and of course a dumb feast was laid out for spirits past. As we now move toward winter, we say goodbye to the sun as he sleeps for another cycle.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Our coven celebrates Samhain tonight and I’ve made pumpkin soup from the jack o lanterns I carved this morning. I’m ashamed to say I have never made pumpkin soup before and I’m amazed how easy it is! And yummy too, I just had some for lunch.
There’s something very special about eating the soup of the sacred jack o lanterns knowing that I’m about to celebrate the last harvest and the time of no time. The time when the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest.
The weather is fantastic, calm, cool and clear. The firewood is chopped and stacked ready for tonight, the ritual is written and prepared, the circle space is about to be swept and tidied and all’s ready for the onset of the winter. Roll on Samhain!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Samhain is almost upon us here in the southern hemisphere and this is my favourite sabbat of the year. I love the pumpkins and I love the final harvest. I love the smell of the balefire. I love the connection with the past, the present and the future all at the same time. What a magickal time of year!
This year, our coven will be celebrating as we usually do, together around the balefire in the Oak and Mistletoe sacred circle space. We have several guests planning to join us and of course we know that spirits past will also be with us. I’m looking forward to feeling the night air on my skin, feeling the tickle of the balefire fire flame, feeling the fellowship of being with like minds. What a fantastic sabbat celebration it will be!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
No, not a disaster at all but I realised that the end of my 4 year degree course is now in sight. Less than 5 months away till I complete the program and qualify as a naturopath to extend my existing qualifications. Very excited but also a little tense because the perfectionist in me doesn’t feel that I know half of what I need to in order to be a registered, licensed practitioner.
Our lecturers are saying (and rightly so) that our degree program is akin to an apprenticeship and that we have all the skills and knowledge we need, we now just need to put them into practice and gain our confidence. I’ve been seeing patients now in our supervised clinic for almost a year and have another semester of a full patient load so I am gaining the experience and getting great results for my patients but I’m still not 100% confident yet. The academic in me wants to know much much more and the perfectionist yells that even that won’t be enough.
So this coming semester, my final one, will be a time of consolidation and of preparation. I’m going to make sure I have the confidence to practice professionally and I’m going to win that battle!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Been a very difficult week for me in terms of competing priorities. With so many things on the “to do” list” I usually have to pick the most important ones and go for that but at times I realise just how many things are on that list. Then the crushing reality hits me that in fact I am not Superwoman or Mother Theresa but in fact I’m just little ol’ me and there’s a limit to my coping ability.
I don’t think I cope as well with heavy workloads like I used to. There was a time when I worked full time away from home mostly and for 12+ hours daily, then studied full time as well and ran a coven and I coped fairly well for a year or two. Admittedly I ended up rather sick and had to give up work but I coped quite well for about 4 years there. Now I work only part time, study full time, run a face to face coven, tutor to several hundred online students, run a charity, edit an international e-magazine, do ambulance officer shifts and provide free health care advice to those in need. Er…. hang on, I think I just realised I’m doing more now than I was then. Perhaps I do still cope the same way with heavy workloads but that my workload just got heavier and heavier… No wonder I’ve been feeling so overloaded again.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
It’s Anzac Day here in Aussie and almost Samhain too so a time for reflection and to give thanks to those who have gone before. This is a day and a time when I like to honour the sacrifices, and of course the legacy, left to me personally, and to us as a society, by those who taught and led and fed and cared for and fought for our nations, clans and our families. Every day our ancestors are honoured but today and on Samhain this week, they are remembered even more. Our loved ones, our heroes, our sages and muses. There blood runs through our veins and I am thankful every day but especially so today.
Smiles and Anzac blessings, Amethyst
Crumbs! After a long, warm autumn, Mother Nature finally gave us a taste of the winter yesterday and boy what a shock that was to the system! Winter PJs in bed last night, heater on for the first time this year and rugged up all day in woollies.
Anyone who knows me knows that winter is not the time of year when I shine but I had been wondering when the weather was going to turn. My Christmas Cactus can now flower at long last, my bulbs can get a real chill before the spring and my winter woollies can finally get their annual wearing.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
The start of a new working week and for the first time in many weeks, I am feeling in control again. No more feelings of being overwhelmed with excessive backlogged work because I managed to get through most of it over the weekend. Phew!
I notice that I get stressed far more easily now than I used to when work backs up. I know this year, like last year, will be a tough one being my final year of my degree plus working, ambulance duties, running the charity, coven and so forth but I am still grateful for the wonder that is my life. I need to make sure I keep a tight reign on the diary so I don’t overload myself too much. I also need to make sure the diary guides me so I don’t get as backlogged with work again either because that’s a real stressor for me. So trusty diary (which gets used sooooooo much!) come here my friend. We have some planning to do. 
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Sometimes I amaze myself. From my stupid days to my brilliant days, the difference is enormous!
On my stupid days (as these have been just recently) I have:
Then on my brilliant days (and yesterday was one of them) I’ve managed to:
My inconsistency amuses me. I’m a PhD educated academic so I ahve the title “Doctor” and yet I can still do such stupid things like wear my clothes inside out or forget to brush my hair! Go figure! On the opposite side I can achieve so much against all the odds so the differences in my outcomes are enormous. Must be menopausal, that’s my excuse. Giggle.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
I’ve started to feel overwhelmed again this week which is ridiculous given I just had a week’s holiday. However, having then got sick, that meant even longer without study and work related things not getting done and its piling up again. I’m now recognising that this is a major stress factor for me and so controlling either that or my workload, or both is clearly a healthy thing to do for me. Guess I’m not much different to most other people then eh?!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
Having had the best holiday last week with my gorgeous sister, I’ve spent this week rather ill with a cold but today I’m determined to feel better. I can feel a shift this morning so fingers crossed it is abating. The herb mix I made on Monday night tastes the worst ever in the history of the universe but it certainly has kept the symptoms and bacteria under control and stopped it from progressing too badly.
One of my silly little quirks is that I get annoyed when people say they have the flu when in fact all they have is a cold. Influenza can kill, is much more serious and is quite different in presentation, duration and impact than a cold yet so many people say they have that rather than a cold. Annoys the heck out of me! Ok, so that’s my infantile rant for the day done.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
It’s been almost 3 weeks since I spilt a full cup of chai tea all over my laptop and so far so good. The PC technician gave me a USB keyboard to use for 2 weeks (the keyboard is toast from the spill) with the instructions to wait and see if corrosion set in. So far, so good. So our next task is to order a replacement keyboard and he will take the chai corroded one out and put the new one in and hey presto!
The screen now has a slight fault in it too but that’s workable so my lesson from all this? NEVER place a cup of drink beside your laptop
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
What a whirlwind day it was yesterday. Sitting waiting at the airport to meet my amazing younger sister Deb, getting to hug her for the first time in 6 years, getting to share laughter, a cup of tea and more hugs with her. We went out for lunch together, Deb, her wonderful husband Bob and my gorgeous hubby and myself in the Adelaide hills, sharing more stories and memories and laughter.
Family is so precious, be it blood family or spiritual family or close friends who become more like your family. Every day I give thanks for my loved ones, for the love and laughter they bring me, for the lessons they teach me, for the time we share together. Family is so important. Please take a moment today to tell someone you love how precious they are.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
It’s D-Day or Debbie Day, 5:34am and I’m just waking up before going to the airport to pick up my gorgeous sister Debbie and her lovely husband of 25 years Bob. The last few weeks has been a hive of activity in preparation for this week when I get to share time with my most adored and loved sister. We don’t get to share much time together because she lives in the UK and of course I’m here on the other side of the world in Australia so what time we do have is very special.
So without much further ado, I say good morning world and in less than 2 hours I’ll say “Good morning” to my gorgeous sister Debbie.
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst
