It’s been a long weekend (and it’s still going) down here in the very south east of South Australia, close to the Victorian border. I’ve driven all over the place in our ambulance despatched to various places to provide cover and I’ve learnt a fair bit too along the way. Talking to others (and more importantly, listening) who have “been there, done that” is a great way to gather more ideas about how best to do your job. I love learning from them and incorporating successful strategies into my own practice.

Stay safe everyone!
Smiles and blessings Amethyst

I have always chosen to be a positive rather than a negative person but occasionally that determination gets a little tarnished. I’ve always tried to see the good in people, to see the best in a situation and to try and focus on what I’ve learnt from a difficult or traumatic experience. But I’m human and on occasions I despair of my abilities or of a situation, I think that makes me ‘normal’ in fact. I suspect even the most positive of people have moments or days or experiences when their outlook on life is less than positive.

One of the things I have learnt finally in my advancing years is that life is cyclic and that your attitude determines how you cope with the down part of the cycle. A positive attitude doesn’t always make bad things good but it does help you cope better and respond to a situation in a more uplifting manner. That alone helps you feel better about whatever crap is hitting you at the time. In other words, when the proverbial hits the fan, remembering that it’s only temporary goes a long way to helping me cope with the flying *^%# at the time.

So yes, I continue to be a ‘glass half full’ person most of the time. My limited patience on occasions, my tendency towards frustration when I’m tired, my annoyance at the ‘blindness’ of others sometimes, these are all my failings which eat away at that positive attitude I hold so dear but they are just little rust marks on the shiny and positive attitude that prevails.

The problem with rust though is that it can take over and destroy the shiny parts if left unchecked. That frustration, that anger and sadness and negativity can slowly creep up on you so that it takes over and eats away all the positive and shininess that was once there. That’s our challenge I think. That’s what we always have to be aware of. We have to remember that staying positive is like polishing our attitude to keep it shiny. It’s about not letting the frustration and the anger and the sadness get such a hold that it takes over and eats away at the bright and shiny positivity.

For folks with depression (yes that’s me on occasions too), that’s part of our battle. Eve in my darkest hours, I still hold on to the temporary factor of the situation. Life has its ups and downs and if I can just hold on long enough to reach the ‘up’ part of the cycle, things will be Ok. That’s keeping my negative rust in check so the bright and shiny attitude can keep showing me how precious and wonderful life is. Bring on the silver polish!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

My first Daffodil of the season has blossomed in the sacred space garden and while it’s not the most beautiful of flowers because the snails ate some of it, it is still my marker for the imminent arrival of Spring. The sour-sop weeds have gone a bit rampant and they are flowering with their little yellow blossoms too. The Calendulas are still blossoming of course and the red coleus is surprisingly vibrant which must be because of all the recent rain.

I really need to get in there and do some heavy weeding. I a hosting a wedding in the space in a couple of weeks and I guess it might be nice if the bridal couple were greeted by the beauty of the chosen plants rather than the chaotic survival of the weeds!
Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I’ve spent the entire weekend on ambulance duty and while I thoroughly enjoy it, it can be very tiring indeed. How the full timers do it is beyond me!

It did get me thinking about our emergency workers though and how dedicated and inspiring they are. Doesn’t matter if they’re fireries, ambos, police, SES, they are all amazing and here in Australia, particularly in the country most of those folks (except the police) are volunteers. They give up their family and working time to contribute to saving lives in their community and I find this jaw droppingly inspiring. Some of these volunteers have been doing this incredible service for 20+ years and I think they are unsung heroes. I lift my glassof apple juice to them all in a toast of their bravery and dedication.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

We’re half way through July and the days are slowing getting longer again thankfully. I’ve noticed those biting chilly nights seem to have abated although winter often delivers a late sting just to remind us of her power.

I’m on ambulance duty all weekend for 36 hours straight including Saturday night so I’m hoping it wont be too cold down south where I’ll be. Finger’s crossed.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

We had a great Outer Court last night with the students discussing tools of the Craft and their importance or otherwise to your practice. My gorgeous athame “Quercus”, made to my design by the very talented Brendan at Fable Blades in Western Australia, was on show of course and it reminded me again of the relationships we develop with our tools.

While I always say very loudly that we should never rely on our tools for our practice, it’s also fair to say that they are useful in enhancing that practice. Quercus is a very special athame for me and while I can cast a circle perfectly well without him, the relationship we have means that when we do it together, that circle has a certain extra boost. Quercus has an Oak carved and painted on one side of the handle and Mistletoe carved and painted on the other side. His handle is 3000 year old, naturally blackened bog Oak and his wavy blade has an amethyst set on one side. He and I work very well together and along with my Book of Shadows, I probably consider him my most important tangible tool. Love him!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

As Wiccans, we theoretically give respect to crones but I’m not sure I want to be termed a ‘crone’. Yes, my body is aging and yes I am definitely middle aged and on the downhill side of 50 but I still don’t see myself as a crone. In fact, I’m not sure what age/level to label myself to be honest.

I’m a grandmother (three gorgeous grandchildren and one more on the way) and I still be ‘feel’ old enough to be a Nanna either. My body with its spinal arthritis lets me know it is no longer nubile and therefore being a grandmother and a crone is a fitting experience but my head doesn’t match with my body somehow.

My head still thinks I’m in my mid-thirties and so these labels of crone and grandmother just don’t compute for me. Does anyone else have this brain/body mis-match?

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

The last few days seems to have been a blur of long hours work and so today is my day to catch up on what got missed. I’ve had several days of ambulance duty and although this is always good fun, it’s also been a time for me to start rebuilding my confidence again. Having taken 3 months leave of absence, my confidence in my emergency skills has suffered and so these shifts right now are so valuable in rebuilding that again. With that said, it also means my other daily tasks have been neglected so today’s jobs is to catch back up again.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

What a fabulous full moon ritual we had last night led by the amazing Lilah. Instead of the usual circle casting script, we cast a circle in silence so that we could try and better appreciate the power of silence as a meditative, nurturing, visualisation tool. Was a fantastic evening and sitting on camp chairs around the balefire inside a cast circle is always a relaxing, rejuvenating delight for me.  Ahhh, the serenity!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

If it gets any colder, my fingers will freeze! Winter is upon us and the coldest few weeks are still about to settle on us in fact and I’m already cold. The thermal leggings and vests are getting their annual wearing and I even sat and wore gloves this morning when I first got up until the heating kicked in!

Having lost some weight this year (thankfully) and now being at my target weight, I feel the cold a little more without the extra fat as insulation. I’ve always felt the cold anyway but this year seems to be worse for me and with arthritis I try really hard to stay warm to ward off painful symptoms. It’s only for a few more weeks though and Spring will be with us and that’s by far my favourite time of year.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Yesterday I put my pet cockatiel’s (he gets called “Bird-thing”) cage outside so he could have some fresh air and see the world a bit. He loves being outside but within the safety of his cage. He was happily sitting on his perch, in the cage on the lawn, chirping away and the local magpie family came to investigate. It was fascinating to watch the interaction between Bird-thing and the magpies!

Bird-thing was all excited and trying to have a good old chat and the magpies were equally as curious. However, one of them got a little too close, jumped on top of the cage and was sticking his beak through the bars. He was probably just after Bird-things yummy treats but it was a bit too close for comfort for me given the magpies beak was almost the same size as Bird-thing in total!

So now when Bird-thing goes outside, I will need to keep a close eye on his safety and his growing friendship with the neighbourhood magpies.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

It was back on ambulance duty for me after 3 months leave of absence yesterday and while I was pleased that I easily remembered most of my guidelines and protocols, I did feel very rusty. The next week or so I will be spending a fair bit of time with my head buried on books refreshing my memory on body systems, medication impacts and emergency protocols. Just when you think you have a couple of weeks rest….

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

The written word is powerful both in a good sense and also often negatively. Because the written word doesn’t also bring with it body language messages and voice intonation and volume and so forth, we can sometimes misunderstand the intention of the writer.

Personal communications like written letters and email and then social networks like Facebook are prime examples of when we write messages which are sometimes misconstrued. Do we have a responsibility as the writer to do our best to make sure our message is clearly understood but tactful and respectful? Absolutely! But the reader also has a responsibility to respond with equal respect and tact while also getting their message across.

So often I see emails and Facebook conversations that just get totally out of hand and become verbal sparring matches instead of respectful conversations because someone misread or misunderstood the intent of the writer. Often that writer was being deliberately provocative or rude and according to my ethics, that’s even more of an abuse of respect. Why on earth can we not have sensible conversations with one another without resorting to self defence mechanisms that develop into abuse? Yes, it’s a dream that I doubt will ever be realised but it would be great if we could all discuss things without resorting to snide comments and cursing wouldn’t it?
Pondering the world, Amethyst

With all the rain lately, the weeds in my garden have been having a party and my veggie patch and the sacred circle space desperately need a bit of TLC. The weeding and garden maintenance fairy appears to be on holiday however which is a bit inconvenient. To make matters even worse, the procrastination elf has come to visit again and the housework fairy is hiding under the sofa with the dust balls. I probably need to read the riot act to these ungrateful gremlins who are neither supportive nor encouraging dam them!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

In doing a clear up recently I found a wand that I’d had with the shop stock that never found his home and he’s such a gentle little Sheoak wand with a nurturing spirit. As a Capricorn and an Earth girl, wood has always spoken to me with great clarity and intensity so not only do the wooden Oghams speak to me easily as a divination tool but wooden wands also speak to me and show me their personality and strengths. This little wand, called memory is feeling very lonely though and really needs a home. I feel very strongly that I can’t sell him though and that instead he needs to find his home by other means such as through donation or gifting. So I’m going to think about how Memory can finally find his human partner and owner and let him finally feel his full strength and power…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

What an amazing Yule celebration we had last night! The circle was full of people, my house was full of people and we had the best time! In ritual, we burnt the last of the 2011 Yule log and used that to fuel the start of the burning of the 2012 Yule log. We have saved some of that log to use in next year’s Yule.

We used the quarter candle lantern holders for the first time and they were amazing!!! Brilliant idea Kylie, thank you! We watched as the Oak twigs burnt and everyone took some Oak ashes home to keep in their homes for protection, prosperity and good luck.

We feasted on tasty roast vegies, mulligatawny soup, choccie Yule log and drunk warm spiced apple juice. We gave pressies, shared stories and gave Yule hugs. What a wonderful night shared with wonderful folks.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Our covenstead circle space is out in my garden and has no pergola cover over it so when it’s raining, the circle space receives the gift of rain. However, when we want to do a ritual in that space and it’s pouring with rain, that’s not so comfortable and the repercussions for me in terms of arthritis having worked in the rain are not that enjoyable either. So given its raining and likely to be raining on Saturday evening when we celebrate the winter solstice, I’ve been thinking we may need umbrellas (thanks to Kylie for that excellent idea!) but in the long term, I still think we need a pergola built over the top of the circle space so that it becomes an all-weather space. My creative side is now thinking about how that could look…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Yesterday I started the final week of my 7 week liver and gut detox program and so I’m on the final home stretch now. I’ve designed the program from my final year uni studies (Bachelor of Health Sciences – Naturopathy) and I’ve been VERY strict on myself, far more than I would expect of a patient to be. However, I figured if I was going to do it, then I better do it right.

All this time I’ve excluded from my diet;

• refined sugar,
• gluten,
• tannins and caffeine
• dairy
• red meat
• sweeteners
• potatoes

There was 3 weeks of ridding myself of unnecessary gut flora and rebalancing that so I wasn’t craving sugar anymore. Then 2 weeks of probiotics and then now the last 2 weeks is prebiotics and gradually re introducing some of the banned foods back again. All the time, I also supported my liver with herbs and drank lots of water.

I lost 3kg during the first week or so and that has stabilised and I’m thrilled with that as it took me finally to my weight loss goal. I’m also hoping to keep dairy and sugar out of the diet for good from here on in. Dairy is easy as I prefer rice milk anyway and I don’t use butter or cheese and so forth. I don’t drink coffee or caffeine drinks anyway and I have very little tea so tannins and caffeine aren’t major enemies for me anyway. I also eat very little red meat so my biggest problem remains the refined sugar ad I’m constantly conscious of my previous dietary binging on anything loaded with sugar. With that said, I deliberately tried a sugar laden commercial chai tea last week and was very disappointed that it tasted so sickly sweet! Maybe I’ve kicked the habit? Not sure and I still don’t trust myself so I’m avoiding it as much as possible.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

P.S. I have had so many folks ask me what herbs I took and how I constructed the program that once I qualify in October, I will then offer the program for anyone who might like it give it a go.

The need to shield one’s self from emotional impacts by others during spiritual practice is something that’s really important and was evident for one of my dearest friends last night. When we open ourselves up to others either in ritual or perhaps just during a conversation about our beliefs, we really do open up and we can be vulnerable to opposing, aggressive (whether meant or not) and negative viewpoints, actions, emotions, words and so forth from others. If we don’t protect ourselves by shielding or with some other similar action, then we can feel not just our thoughts being stamped on but also our emotions. Our very hearts can feel abused regardless of whether the other person was intentionally hurtful or just over excited and opinionated.

This is true in fact of any conversation or action that comes from the heart and soul. When we open our inner most secrets to a lover, we bear our soul and can become vulnerable to their response if it’s not supportive. For folks dependent on alcohol, drugs or other substances who reveal their fears to others in rehab, I can only imagine how vulnerable and exposed they too must feel. In fact anyone who opens their heart to others for help and who do so trusting that they won’t be crushed, dishonoured, disrespected, rejected or hurt in return. We are all at times at the mercy of those around us at times when we especially need support and love.

I have frequently pointed folks to these shielding exercises in circumstances similar to this and again I offer these as a means of protection to anyone who feels a little crushed by the words and actions of others. There are many ways to protect yourself and this is just one and I hope that it serves a valuable purpose for folks.

http://www.oakandmistletoe.com.au/useful-articles/shielding-yourself-psychic-harm

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Last night I had the delightful pleasure of installing the new quarter lantern holders in our sacred space with my beautiful coven sister Kylie. Our quarter candles, in their coloured lanterns, will now hang from gorgeous, decorated poles at the circle edge to mark Air, Fire, Water and Earth rather than just sitting on the floor.

With my arthritis, kneeling down to light candles inside the lanterns on the floor has always been a problem but now we have the lanterns hanging at shoulder height so no more creaky knee bending and kicking them by accident as we cast. Woohoo!!!

I’ve spent the last few days pondering over which guitar to buy and have got my mind so befuddled and confused that I’m totally stuck on the decision. So that means two things for me. The first is that I need to stop thinking about either of them and just rest without a decision for a couple of days to let the universe help me work on this. Secondly (and I find this usually is the case for me) if I hesitate on something, it means it’s not the right one for me anyway and something better or more suitable is around the corner.

So many times in the past I have wanted to do something or buy something and I have hesitated and every time there has been a excellent reason for hesitating so I’m trusting my instincts on this and just stopping the whole process of these two for a couple of days. That will let my spinning head settle and allow whatever else is waiting for me to come through. Fingers crossed

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

In between doing readings for clients, I’ve been trying to research this vintage guitar I want to buy. It’s a 1989 K. Yairi classical guitar, hand built still with its signed label intact and it is nothing short of stunning to look at and amazing to play. Because it’s almost 25 years old its tone is just beautiful and it’s in near perfect condition. It’s a fair bit over my price range though so I have to really think through if this is the right guitar for me. With that said, I sat and played it and fell in love with it so I think it should be mine!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I had a very important exam yesterday, 3 hours long, and as I mentioned, dam important! Do you think I could study for it? Not on your life! The procrastination elf came to stay and I found any and every reason not to study. With that said, I aced the exam and with one exception I think I pretty much did everything and more required.

Now this is great in one aspect and a dam worry in another. On the good side, it confirmed for me that I do know my stuff and I can recall and utilise the information I need when confronted by a patient case. On the bad side it insidiously tells my mind that I don’t need to study for exams because “I know it all!” What rot of course!

I have another exam coming up shortly that I don’t know everything I need to know so I really should study for that one. There are chemical equations and diagrams I need to know (not my strength area) and some important details on chemical constituents. I really should get the books out.

One wonderful light at the end of the tunnel though is that next semester is my last semester and I have no exams that semester! Woohoo!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I have an exam tomorrow and it’s a fairly important and heavy one. 3 hours long and intense and do you think I can study for it?! The procrastination elf has well and truly come to stay and I keep putting study off and finding any excuse I can not to actually prepare for the exam. It’s unlikely I’ll fail but even so, I should have my “a into g” to try and get the very best result I can.

So today, I really do have to study. I might just go and do some housework first…

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Every winter I say this but oh my giddy aunt, I HATE winter cold temperatures! These last two mornings it has been only 4 degrees (centigrade) and it’s been hard to get out bed and face the cold. The days have been crisp with the sunshine and we haven’t had any winter storms yet (thankfully) and my hot water bottle has been getting its annual work out but actually getting out of bed or stepping outside is not a favourite task right now!

One thing I am thankful for is that my arthritis is in check (has been for about 2 years now) and while I know the triggers like being in rainy, cold weather, for the most part my herbs have controlled it. Winter used to be so incredibly painful for me and I remember the worst year, I actually ended up walking with walking sticks because the pain in my spine and hips was so bad. It seems much better now although I still avoid the triggers because a painful bout of winter arthritis is debilitating but winter in general for me sees me staying fairly close to home, rugged up in woollies with the heater anyway!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

I had my first guitar lesson last night and while I had been practising the hard way using traditional music score (which I read VERY badly), my teacher showed me how easy it is to practice and learn using tablature. My goodness! Within minutes I was playing (badly) simple tunes! Woohoo!!!

So now, my task is to learn the notes, perfect my finger techniques, work through the numb and sore finger tips till the skin thickens and enjoy the fact that I’m now learning much faster than I was before!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Today I’m having a session with my ambulance team manager to determine how much of the next qualification I can RPL and skip through given I have already almost completed my Bachelor of Health Science Degree. With any luck I should be able to avoid having to go through the next grade of ambulance training and that will save me a truckload of time. Fingers crossed.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

Yesterday morning I woke with a scratchy throat and the threat of a headache and the clear signs of a cold invading my body so luckily, as an almost qualified naturopath now, I have a stock cupboard full of herbs I can use to ward off the beastie cold bugs. I hammered myself with some particular herbs yesterday (and will do so again today just to make sure) and this morning those bugs seem to have abated. Yet another hooray for the medicinal power of these amazing plants.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

It’s Pagans in the Pub for us again tonight and we have a great speaker talking about herbs so of course, I’m going to be there! I don’t always get the chance to go to this event every month due to conflicting meetings and next semester I won’t be able to go at all because I’ll have patient clinic every Tuesday night (and every Monday and Wednesday night too!) so I’m making the most of the fact that tonight I can actually get there. Woohoo!

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst

It’s been a fun packed weekend at the Body, Mind & Psychic Expo and I had so many wonderful experiences across the two days. Working with the amazing Tracy from Paganchild again always makes me smile. She is so talented and creative and she just blows me away. It’s a privilege sharing a stall with her.

Having Kylie help us all day yesterday was simply amazing. She made such a huge difference to our workload with all her help and support and seriously, the day wouldn’t have been half as much fun without her wonderful smile.

Meeting the gorgeous Stacey Demarco after all these years of email correspondence and Facebook commentary was a massive highlight for me.  Stacey was the one person who really encouraged me to pursue my PhD in which I looked at how witches learn to be witches when no one else really thought it would work. Thanks to her encouragement and support, I did the PhD and can now proudly call myself Doctor. It was her support that spurred me on so for me she is my hero and my inspiration. To finally give her a hug after all this time was tremendous.

Being surprised right at the start with a gift from the beautiful Narelle and her Mum and Dad just rocked my world on the Saturday morning and brought me to tears. That folks so talented, so kind, so caring would go out of their way to give me such an amazing gift just blew my socks off and I was speechless. Narelle, Indira and Jasper are such generous and caring folks and I am humbled and blessed to know and love them.

Conducting another workshop this year on magic was so much fun and it was fantastic to meet so many people at that workshop who were interested in putting a little magic into their day. Once we overcame the technical difficulties at the beginning, we had a great time.

And finally, doing a tonne of readings for amazing clients across the weekend really stretched my energies at times but goodness, it was so fantastic! I met the most amazing people and shared stories and laughter and tears with them and they taught me as much as I gave them.

The next few days I will be slowly coming back down from this amazing high and all the while I am so grateful for the experiences of this event once more. Blessed dosen’t even cover half of it.

Smiles and blessings, Amethyst