Yep, I’ve been a bit quiet on this blog. It’s all because I’m furiously working on my new business “Natural Medicine and Health” which is a naturopath clinic. I qualified last year as a naturopath and now it’s time to focus on getting the clinic up and running.

Of course, I’m not neglecting my love of all things esoteric but I’m so loving giving my heart to natural medicine. Please come by and join me there. I have a blog running there too which gives loads of tips and tricks on caring for your health naturally. Subscribe by clicking the little orange RSS button at the top of the website there and we can stay in touch.

Looking forward to seeing you there.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

www.nmah.com.au

This week seems to have been one where I seem to have upset more people than I’ve pleased. This week I refused to teach a 15 year old about Wicca after she asked if she could be my “apprentice”. That was also after she asked me how to hex her ex-boyfriend! Er, nope, ain’t gonna happen on my watch!

In Oak and Mistletoe we have a policy of not teaching anyone under the age of 18 anyway and this is for a number of reasons. We don’t think that it’s appropriate to formally teach someone until they are mature enough to make an informed decision about their spirituality choices. That’s not to say that we don’t think youngsters shouldn’t be taught informally. I think one of the joys of parenthood in fact is to help young ones experience the activities associated with faith throughout the year but that’s the parent’s responsibility rather than a coven’s when that person is a minor in my opinion. I’d be keen to hear the views of others.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I’m human and like many folks, when the proverbial hits the fan or I get emotionally hammered by someone or something, I feel like giving up on all the hard work I’ve put into so many things and walking away from it. Of course the rational part of me says “don’t make rash decisions until you’ve thought things over for a few days” so that’s the point I’m at now. Thinking things over. And over…

Having been hit with a emotional sledge hammer yesterday, I’m feeling rather battered and bruised and I must admit that my calm and rationally thinking brain hasn’t fully kicked in yet. I’m struggling not to over react in retaliation. So far so good on that one but I can’t guarantee that at some point the emotions won’t take over and say something I might later regret.

In the meantime though, I remain calm, as unflustered as I can, wait out my time and I’ll just see what happens over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed, toes crossed and hoping that the Goddess will pave the way to a positive outcome for me, whatever that may be.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I’m having my contact lenses fitted today (I have odd shaped eyeballs apparently so I need special ones) and it got me thinking about how our witchy ancestors and folk healers would have coped with deteriorating eyesight as they grew older. Not only am I blessed to live in a time when glasses and contact lenses are available to help my own aging eyesight, but I also have electricity to light my reading and tasks at night. My ancestors had a candle to light the way in the evening or just the light of the fire and that was it. No desk lamp, no overhead light bulb clothed in a brand new lampshade. No. They had the bare minimum that nature provides and so I wonder how they coped with all of that.

Doesn’t it make you grateful for what we do have living in the 21^st century!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I love the feeling I get after I’ve completed a long task of duties. That moment when I can cross the last thing off the list. Yesterday was a massive day going through my ‘to do’ list and getting things done which had been piling up waiting for me. This morning I look at my desk and know that I can rest easy knowing I’m on top of the workload. Woohoo!!! That’s stress relief!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Yes, it’s been two weeks since I’ve made any post to this blog which is a reflection of how little spare time there has been this month so far. I am so looking forward to this next week with no uni expectations so that I can catch up on the emails that are piling up and have a couple of hours free each day just for me. What bliss!!!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Second day of Spring and thankfully that stinging cold wind seems to have abated. This is, without doubt, my favourite time of year when the bulbs are blossoming, when the lambs are being born, and finally when the cold weather relents. My arthritic joints and spine don’t handle cold and wet weather very well so Spring is a relief for me both physically and spiritually.

My garden is beginning to come alive again with the apple trees showing tiny buds peeping out from the new growth. The daffodils have flowered and my favourite flowers, the freesias, are bursting into bloom around the sacred circle space. The agapanthus are already sowing flower heads and the lawn is coming alive again. What a delight to se life and warmth once more!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

It’s the first day of Spring today and it was a beautiful blue full moon last night. Our coven celebrated the event on the beach with a wonderful circle and some time connecting to the cycle and rhythm of our amazing planet and our ever present deities. The slight drizzle of rain as we set up meant candle lighting was a little more difficult than we had planned but otherwise, this was a peaceful, relaxing, rejuvenating circle that lifted us all and made us smile. How wonderful to celebrate it on the beach, such a magickal place!

Smiles and blessings Amethyst

As I head into the last few weeks of my 4 year degree and my full qualification as a naturopath in November, I’ve been working on the business launch plan and the idea of offering a couple of pro bono (free) consults each week to folks in need. Obviously I cant do the whole clinic as free because I have to pay expenses myself but I think I could manage a couple each week.
I think it’s important to provide access to decent health care to all sectors of people and this may be one more way I can give back to the community I love. I already run the Food Pantry charity for folks in need and so also offering some free health care advice might round my community contribution out a bit more. My task now is to work out the details. Thinking, thinking…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Time is a manmade construct to help us better understand and mark the passing of the days and seasons and in fact there is no such actual thing as time. So the comments like “time seems to go so quickly” “time is dragging today” or “where has all that time gone” are silly really yet we use them so often to describe those feelings we have of our experiences.

I cannot believe it is August already when it only seems a few weeks since last Christmas for example. I can’t believe I’m more than 50 years old! That seems to me to be absurd because I just cannot comprehend that my body has experienced 50+ years and yet I still feel so young. In truth, this astounds me and yet I know it to be true, my birth certificate confirms it.

Time may not be an actual construct we can hold but it continues to pass by at a regular and predictable rate. I wonder how old I will feel once I reach 70 or 80 or…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I often wonder why weather forecasters insist on giving us statistics with a natural phenomenon like the weather. “It’s been the coldest day since…” or “the wettest winter in x years”. Does it matter? Really?

The weather is a natural force of her own making and we will always complain that the winter was colder this year or the summer was too hot or too short or too wet or too dry. The poor weather fairy has so many demands placed upon her with the wedding couple wanting a dry day while the farmer needs the rain. We don’t want too much heat because of bush fires but some trees need the fires in order to produce seeds.

In all seriousness, yes the weather may be gradually changing over several years but she will always produce superlatives. So each day or season will always be wetter or dryer or hotter or colder (or whatever) than we remember it being last year or last week. Poor weather fairy can’t win!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Photos of me annoy me, largely because they don’t show me the way I think I look but of course that’s ridiculous. Of course they show me as I am, it’s just that I’m not comfortable with my aging face and body so don’t like what I see!

My photo is in the paper again today (front page of the weekend supplement – http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/ipad/no-hex-please-were-witches/story-fn3o6wog-1226456625657 ) alongside a feature story about witches and magic and while I find the story a little patronising, it is quite positive about witches and what we do which is great. It’s in photos of ourselves like the ones in this article though that we’re really confronted with what we look like and I can see my skin aging, my girth growing, my eyes sagging, my jaw line dropping and all those other usual signs of aging creeping in. No longer do I see the lithe body of my youth and the taught skin with no hint of the wrinkles yet to come. Instead I’m confronted with the obvious manifestation of my croning years.

While I can soothe myself with notions that the croning years are also filled with wisdom and with a greater depth of understanding for life and others, somehow I’m not sure that’s enough compensation for the ever drooping features of my physical body (giggles at myself) and so I guess I just have to understand that the wisdom of age comes at a price. After all, our inner beauty is what really shines from us, not how perky our boobs are or how smooth our crow’s feet still are.

I think also my dilemma is around the fact that my mind still feels in its mid thirties while my face and body clearly and honestly reflect my much more advanced years than that! There’s this growing chasm between how old my brain feels and how old my body feels. Guess I just have to get used to it really don’t I?

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

This morning, I had two folks, claiming to be Christian who I had never met or ever talked to before, writing utterly rude comments and threats on my Facebook page without any provocation from me and I found it shocking, sad and upsetting. I have always tried hard to build bridges between faiths and while I don’t follow other faiths outside my own Wiccan choices, I genuinely honour the right of others to make a choice about their own faith as I have done. “Each to his own” as they say.

However, when someone of another faith (or in fact even my own faith!) is rude, threatening and makes utterly derogatory comments based solely on the fact that I follow a different spiritual path to the one they chose, that is inexcusable. To threaten me and demand I follow only their faith is appalling. To then follow that up with insults simply because I’ve made a choice to follow a different faith is absurd. And all this coming from two people I have never met and have never once talked to is nothing short of bazaar!

Please understand that I have no problem with anyone of any faith. I have some wonderful friends who follow faiths different to my own and I love them all dearly. I would NEVER insist that they change their viewpoint so that it matches mine much less insult them based purely on their spiritual decisions.

In fact I don’t even think this is about faith. I think it’s just about two very rude people who consider it acceptable to verbally attack someone with insults, with nasty and utterly disgusting comments and it doesn’t matter that their comments were aimed at my faith choices. The fact that they consider it acceptable to behave in such an appalling manner to someone they have never met or talked to and know nothing about other than my faith is disturbing!

So to you two gentlemen, I offer blessings for a peaceful life and having banned you from my Facebook page, I hope to never read any of your filth ever again.

Blessings, Amethyst

This winter seems to be dragging on for rather a long time and while the plants clearly think it’s spring, my aching bones don’t seem to agree! I’ve felt that spring has been rather cold so far this year and the biting wind is still very much apparent. My spring bulbs have all come up and the agapanthus are beginning to blossom but my Christmas cactus is also blooming and that only blooms when the nights are cold.

While I adore spring, (indeed, it’s my favourite time of year) I’m yet to feel the warmth of it this year and so I’m beginning to crave that caressing warm breeze. I’m still wearing winter woollies and thermal vests and thick socks. I’ve still got the extra winter blankets on the bed and my warm coat is still being worn every time I go out. Some on spring, I’m waiting for you!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Today is my fourth grandchild’s birthday. What a joy! When I say birthday, I mean the day of his birth. As I write he is less than 10 hours old on this earthly plane and he is a delight! My amazing daughter and son in law are such fantastic parents to two beautiful children so this is the third child for them and it makes such a perfect family for them all.

My first earthly impression of baby Flynn (who weighed 3.41kg or 7lb 7oz and was 51cm long) is that he’s such an old soul returning again. He has such a special part to play in the symphony of life this time round and he has an incredible amount to teach us. I’m looking forward to learning from him and I can’t wait till September when I finally get to see him, his big brother Emmy and his big sister Lilah and give them all a hug.

Such a wonderful day birthdays are!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Ah the serenity! 2 whole days without being on ambulance duty or with any appointments so time for me to catch up on much needed patient treatment plans and emails and guitar practice and anything else I want to indulge in. I am so loving having two whole days all to myself! Woohoo!!!

With that said, they are still busy days with several things on the list to get finalised but none the less, I can do them at my leisure and I can even do all my tasks in my PJ’s!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Our coven had another Outer Court lesson last night and it got me thinking about change versus static learning and Wiccan practice. Our Outer Court program content and process has been much the same now for 3+ years and I don’t see the need to change either the content or the process really but… (yes there’s always a ‘but’ isn’t there!) I wonder if we also need to be aware that our practice can become stagnated, and perhaps even boring, if we don’t introduce change and growth within it.

I’m not suggesting we should all go and find totally new ways to practice or to deviate from our chosen paths (although to do so sometimes often opens the doors to new ideas that can support our practice) but I am suggesting that adding new options to ritual, perhaps dropping ritual in favour of meditation sometimes, perhaps creating different styles of ritual, asking to observe the rituals of fellow covens close by and learning new techniques can be ways to ‘spice up’ your practice to keep your dedication strong.

As humans, we are not static beings. We grow and develop and change every day and I believe our practice can be a reflection of our human change as well such that its growth supports our growth. Trying out new ways to be spiritual and religious can often confirm that the path we’re already on is perfect for us at this time or it can show us that there may be other ways we can journey that bring fulfilment and a greater connection with deity.

So with that all said, while our Outer Court content and process will remain static for the time being given its basic introductory content, I personally continue to explore complementary ways of adding to my Craft practice so that I can enrich and develop it as I to develop as a human. What a wonderful journey life is

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Even as a senior member within my spiritual/religious community there are days or periods of time when my belief in deity waivers. Yep, I’m human and so I sometimes wonder what the heck I’m believing in and why I do all this ritual and meditation and teaching and constant ethical questioning about my behaviours and actions. For the most part, it would be fair to say that my belief is strong and solid but there are days, there are those brief spells of time when I seriously wonder what the heck I’m doing.

It doesn’t last too long usually and then I get back to ‘normal’ and realise that the occasional spiritual discontent is merely a way for me to theorise and work out exactly how deity fits into what I’m experiencing at the time. The periods of discontent and doubt aren’t related to times where things are difficult necessarily either so it’s not about “there can’t be any gods or they wouldn’t let this happen!” Personal and larger scale problems and disasters are part of being human so it’s not those that trigger my doubt in deity occasionally.

I think my rare doubts come about more when I question the purpose of my ritual activity to be honest. Sometimes I seriously wonder if deity gives a hoot whether we do ritual or not. I often consider that perhaps they are happy with us humans just knowing they are with us rather than them sitting and being present while we parade around doing a bunch of actions and saying a bunch of stuff that supposedly brings us closer to the Divine.

With all that said, my unshaken and core belief is that there is something, somehow, a force or energy source that created us, that fuels who we are and what we do. It serves us, feeds us, binds us with each other and our planet and in fact ‘is’ us and while I might occasionally doubt the reality of Gods and Goddesses, I never waiver from my belief in an underlying, core energy that holds it all together. For me, that’s a constant and one I’m very grateful to surrender to unconditionally.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I am so disappointed to see continuing arguments, bitching and fence building within the broader Pagan community. In a religion that is supposed to respect the views and rights of all, we apparently don’t exercise that right to our own. Makes no sense to me and I find myself aghast at the intolerance sown on occasions.

Yes I know I’m no saint and yes I know I can be very impatient at times with people so perhaps I should consider my own faults before I report/comment on the perceived faults of others. Additionally I know I’m an idealist and that in reality, we are humans and so we do make mistakes with one another. However, all that aside (although taken into consideration), I simply continue to fail to understand (no matter how hard I try) why a small minority of the Pagan community find it important to judge and ridicule other members of the same community.

I wonder if the answer lies not in our Pagan approach to life but in the obvious fact that we are human regardless of our spirituality, opinions and personality. By the very fact that we are human, we are not perfect and the human condition is often one which likes to assert its authority and position rather than respect the right of others to their opinions.

In a perfect and ideal world, where all humans regardless of their spirituality honour one another, there would be peace and mutual caring. Until that time, I will continue to do my bit by being tolerant and as respectful as I can towards others. If each one of us did that each and every day, we may one day end up with the peace and mutual caring that we all crave.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I love my life, I absolutely do and I know how blessed I am but sometimes things all come at once so instead of having a steady flow of things to deal with. I have a few days of R&R and then get swamped with “EVERYTHING” all at once. Then there’s a bit of peace again and then another “whamo” dollop of things to get through.

I know I don’t like routine and so a never ending stream of things to do/cope with/complete would get boring so having things come in stages stops that boredom of course but why does everyone want everything done all at once and at the same time?! Aggghhhh!!!!

I’m off to have a minor hissy fit and then prioritise and organise the current “whamo” of things to do

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I had a conversation with my guitar teacher yesterday about the limits of conformity that are imposed on musicians. Musical notes have a mathematic structure to how they are put together on the scale and it’s interesting that in the past there were certain expectations placed on composers about what notes could and could not follow one another in a sequence. It lead me to think about what is and isn’t art and how far past the norm can we go before something is considered no longer an art form.

I recall for instance over the last thirty years, mass uproar about ‘modern art’ with such pieces as the toilet exhibition in a london gallery being called “scandalous”. Yes, some ‘modern’ pieces have indeed pushed the boundary of what we have historically considered to be art but isn’t that part of the function of art and music, to make you think outside the square? Doesn’t art and music touch the emotions s that you respond to it in some way and so doesn’t that sometimes necessitate going outside what traditionalists would call ‘art’ or ‘music’?

With some pieces of music, we can be moved to tears. I still cry at a particular part of “Phantom of the Opera” and this is not as a result of bad memories but simply from the sheer beauty of the music itself. I still find the theme from “Twin Peaks” hauntingly beautiful and yet both these pieces of music extended the theoretical constructs of music beyond what was considered ‘normal’.

So what do I learn from that as I continue learning how to play the guitar? I guess I’ve learnt that music is an emotional journey and so if it sounds pleasing or creates a positive response then it’s music regardless of whether it fits the accepted theoretical structure or not.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

While the internet has been the vehicle for an explosion of exploitive scams and rip-offs, it would be fair to say that it has also enabled productive, positive and effective sharing and support for folks across the globe. Facebook is a free medium where likeminded folks can share ideas and support one another through times of trouble and celebration. There are software platforms that allow people to share documents with one another, all for free, that minimises the need to reinvent the wheel. There are networks and groups that provide fellowship to members regardless of where they live on our beautiful planet.

As a Wiccan, one of my aims has always been to provide support to community but community doesn’t just have to be the folks that live around me. It can also be the folks who live on the other side of the planet but who share a point of interest with me and of course the internet provides the vehicle for that connection. How blessed are we to live in an era when we have such instant and intimate connections with folks?! Amazing!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

As part of one of my uni subjects we’ve been discussing our motivation for working in the healing industry and it intrigued, and comforted, me to know that 100% of my class mates have chosen this vocation to help others rather than to make money. It set me thinking about why we chose the job roles we do and indeed why we chose to serve deity as well the way we do.

For me (like most people I suspect) while serving the community as a health therapist and in serving my spiritual family as a high priestess, not only does this offer services and value to others but it also beings me a great deal of pleasure and satisfaction. Thus, the motivation to serve others isn’t always purely altruistic is it?

I think there is nobility in service to others and of course there’s value and credibility in such a role. Without doubt volunteering and service to others is virtually necessary given the global financial crisis fall out, but I think that it’s probably a little naive to believe that the motivation for our community service is purely to support others. In honesty, it usually brings a degree of peace, of satisfaction, of happiness and of soul enrichment to serve others so what we give out to others comes back to us as well. (Familiar concept of course to most Wiccans!)

So while initially I considered my motivation to be primarily service to others, on reflection I now understand that this service to others brings me even greater reward and while that alone is not sufficient to motivate me to do what I do, I am grateful for that wonderful energy exchange that naturally takes place. The Law of Return in action, wonderful!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

What a very busy but wonderful day yesterday was. I had the pleasure of conducting a wedding in the covenstead’s sacred space here and followed that up by doing a bunch of filming on ritual work for our distance practitioners.

Today it’s back to reality with patient clinic and going through emails so I suppose I better get my ‘a into g’ as they say!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

My life seems to have reverted to its usual blur of nonstop activity since returning to uni this semester. Having just finished a night duty and with a string of things to do today, I must admit to feeling a little tired and lethargic. I have a stack of emails to get through, a wedding to perform later this morning, and then lots of videoing this afternoon. A good snack of protein and a long sleep tonight will fix that before the commencement of another week ahead I reckon.

Smiles and blessings to all, Amethyst

I spent the weekend on ambulance duty again which meant staying close to the pager and in fact yesterday was all day inside the station co-marking team assessments until 7:30pm. This morning I have withdrawal symptoms and need to sit amongst the trees for a wee while just to soak up some blue sky, some damp green grass, some earth below my feet and the touch of tree bark and leaves. Nature has a wonderful way of rejuvenating the batteries when my body has been confined inside the four walls of a building. Going to get my nature fix

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Creativity and inspiration doesn’t always come at convenient times does it? I was trying to sleep last night knowing that tonight I won’t sleep because I’m on ambulance duty all weekend. Anyway, right through till gone past 2am, my brain was creating songs and poetry for me to then work on with my guitar today. I’ve never written a song before and I have no idea why my brain decided that midnight onwards was a great time to become a musical writer. My musical talents thus far have been less than inspiring at the best of times so why they had to blossom at that time of night is beyond me! The Goddess works in mysterious ways apparently.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I lead an active face to face and online teaching coven and love it, I really do but now and again (only rarely of course) I sometimes wonder if it would be easier on my workload to just be a solitary. Let me stress that I’m not complaining and I LOVE my coven family and everything we do. I love both the face to face component and the online activity and we have a thriving, caring and nurturing group of people.

Sometimes though I wonder about spontaneity and just honouring the Goddess and God when I want to rather than also doing it when we as a coven have scheduled it. I frequently speak with deity throughout the day as a solitary and do solitary rituals and I love the group rituals we all do together. But being the leader of a group is amazing and such a reward but it can be time consuming and now and again I feel a little overwhelmed with the workload of that and my day to day/mundane duties.

I know I sound ungrateful and as though I’m moaning and I take that on board. These feelings are very rare of course and every time my coven family gather, they always rejuvenate me and for that I am so utterly grateful. They make everything worthwhile and without them I’d be so spiritually lonely. But just now and then when the workload gets a little too much…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Apparently the weeds haven’t been told that it’s winter because they are growing like… well, like weeds! My sacred space is full of them again and I must weed them out this coming week because next weekend I am conducting a wedding in the sacred space and it should look neat and tidy for the bridal couple.

It seems to me that weeds need to sit and listen to a good talking to. If the plants in the garden are asleep then it’s only fair that the weeds should sleep too over winter. Who gave them the ability to keep growing and flourishing even in the deepest chill of winter eh? Oh yeah, I guess the Gods and Goddesses did. So I suppose I better just go and weed the garden then and stop grumbling…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I was thinking about my life this morning and how “un-normal” it is. It’s not “abnormal” at all but it’s not a routine “normal” life either. One week is never the same as another and I’m blessed to have considerable variety and opportunities that come up each week (albeit sometimes overwhelmingly so).

This last week for example was a classic example in so far as I was expecting to get some prep work done ready for my final semester at uni next week but my ambulance duties took over instead. I had to jump on a plane at 2 hours’ notice to be on duty for 48 hours in a small country town in the south of my state. I had some other last minute requests to help with the charity I run with as well which meant the plans for “normality” went out the window.

Does it worry me? Am I upset by it? Nope! It does get a little overwhelming at times when my workload seems to be s excessive and I know I stress more than I used to but I love the variety and the I am so grateful to my deity for all the amazing opportunities they have thrown my way. I am in awe of the fact that I get to experience so many different ways of living life and to be a part of so many activities. Life is good.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst