Freaky Friday

Hello!  It's Friday!  What's freaky?

This:  Tonight is the first ever Cedar Valley Silent Supper.  I organized this event, so needless to say, I'm a bit freaked out today with nerves, anticipation and excitement.

This:  Tomorrow is Halloween!!!  Another really fun day.  Halloween is truly my favorite holiday and I wait with anticipation for it to arrive starting in September.  I can't believe it's actually almost here.  With the holiday comes our annual Halloween party for the girls.  I've invited a few adults this year as well and it sounds like there are several people attending.  Tomorrow will be a day busy with preparations.

This:  I hinted on Monday that KD and I had had a couple freaky things happen recently.  I promised to blog about them today, so here it is.

First, last weekend, KD and I were the only ones at home and we were getting ready for the Witches Walk.  I was in the bathroom (on our main floor), getting ready.  I heard KD in the living room talking, then went to see if she was talking to me but she wasn't there.  I went back to getting ready, when she came upstairs looking rather confused.  She said I had come out of the bathroom and walked through the kitchen to go to the basement.  She said she had commented to me that she would follow me downstairs since she had to get socks out of the laundry room.  She followed me downstairs and then couldn't find me.  That's because I had been in the bathroom the entire time. Truly freaky!! She has had experiences like this before.  One time she was outside waiting for everyone because we were going to go somewhere.  She saw Angelle walk outside and thought she was going to get into the van. Angelle had not walked outside and was inside the entire time.

Then, Sunday night last weekend, the girls and I decided to go to the "Waterhawks Haunted Hayride" in Evansdale.  This is the best that haunt has been in a few years.  If you haven't gone yet, I highly recommend it.  Great fun!  They even had a scene from "Carrie" at the end of the ride which was effective and delightfully creepy.  We left the hayride around 8:15 p.m. and were pleased that it was still early enough we would be able to get a few things done once we got home.  I remember going by Waterloo on our way home, then KD started talking to me about some things.  I remember listening to her and participating in her conversation, then suddenly thought to myself that it seemed like we had been driving a very long time.  So, I got the phone out with the maps and had the girls check to see where we were.  I was afraid that somehow I had gone the wrong direction when getting onto Highway 20.  That was not the case.  I had not gone the wrong direction, but somehow had missed our exit (which is a really obvious one), and two other fairly obvious exits (the Grundy Center one has that big truck stop you can see from the highway) and ended up close to the Wellsburg exit.  What???  There was no way I had just missed seeing those exits and had gone that far past them.  To make matters a bit freakier, Angelle had started watching a 20 minute show on her phone as we left the haunted hayride.  It didn't get over until we realized we had gone past the exits, which was at least 35 minutes from the haunted hayride, leaving 15 extra minutes of her show which supposedly didn't exist (those 15 minutes, anyway).  So, we turned around at the Wellsburg exit and headed for home, all pretty disoriented and confused about what had just happened.

Were these events glitches in the space time continuum?  Hmm.  I'm not sure.  I can't really explain them.  Why do they seem to happen around KD?  We left it up to the explanation that the veil is thinning this time of year and strange things can happen.  I researched it a bit and other people have had similar experiences.  This also led me to research the phenomenon of time a bit.  It's a bit mind boggling.  Apparently not everyone experiences time the same.  We think of time as being linear, and most of us experience it that way, but I guess according to physics, it isn't necessarily always linear. That's really freaky!!

I hope your Friday is truly freaky, but freaky in a good way.  If you are coming to the Silent Supper, I will see you tonight, and maybe some freaky things will happen there.  Otherwise, have a very Happy Halloween, a blessed Samhain and may you connect with your ancestors.  Check back on Monday to see how our Halloween celebrations went.

Witchy Wednesday

Happy Witchy Wednesday!  Are you wearing black?

The day after tomorrow is the Cedar Valley Silent Supper, an event I organized after reading a book by Christian Day, one of the Salem witches.  He described the event in the book and then I looked up the event they have in Salem and modeled the Cedar Valley Silent Supper on theirs.  Of course, in Salem it costs $90 to attend and I'm sure they get hundreds of participants. Ours costs $35 and this first year we have 29 living guests signed up.  At any rate, the girls and I are very excited and just yesterday a couple guests asked about attire.  I explained that Angelle and I are wearing formal black vintage dresses.  I also have either a vintage black hat with veil or a black and white fascinator witch hat with veil. Whichever goes better with the dress when I try them on.  Since people asked, I thought that today I would share a few ideas to hopefully inspire you.

 Here is a dress that is available from Target online for $29.99.  This means it might be at your local Target.  I love the neckline of this dress.















I got my dress at a vintage store for $10.00.  It is probably a 40's or even 50's ankle length plain black dress with a white drape cowl at the neckline.  I think it even has padded shoulders.  If you like to vintage shop, you can probably find something great to throw together at Good Will, Main Street Exchange, or Miss Wonderful (I was just at Miss Wonderful and they still had some of the dresses I had blogged pictures of about a month ago hanging on the wall).

The following pictures are a few ideas.  I think Angelle and KD both have fancy gloves they are planning to wear, too.  KD and I have vintage hats to go with our outfits.





I love the hat in this picture.  Very chic!

 I also love this Bohemian style.  In this case the headband is the perfect touch.

 Maybe you don't really want to wear a dress.  In that case there are several options for pants.  This Superman Boo shirt is from Kohls.  I saw it online, but you might be able to find it in store.  The cost is $14.99,

 This shirt is also Kohls.  It's hard to see in the photo, but it has a skull and roses on it.  The "Rock and Republic" brand at Kohls has many skull shirts.

This very elegant long black dress is available at Kohls as well.  Online the price is $79.99.  If you want to go elegant and modern, this would be a great dress.

Again, you do not have to dress up formal just because we are.  You also do not have to wear black just because we are.  To each his own and I am certainly not one to impose a dress code!  If you know me at all, that's just not me.  Wear a costume if you want to.  Wear a mask if you'd like.  Hats or no hats, gloves or no gloves.  Jeans, gowns, or pants...........whatever you feel like wearing.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Silent Supper if you are attending.  Have a very Witchy Wednesday!!

Tarot Tuesday - October 27, 2015

Today's card drawn is "The Fool".

"The Fool" card is number 0 in the Tarot deck.  This means that "The Fool" can either be at the beginning or the end of the Major Arcana.  This means he is ever present and it is his journey through the cards in the deck.

This card represents potential, new beginnings and innocence. It shows the highest potential for your life, reaching a state of renewal and new beginnings.  Each day is a new adventure and each moment is lived to the fullest.  It is the beginning of all creativity and the desire to accomplish new goals, or at least begin the process of achieving those goals.  "The Fool" means that anything can happen and you have unlimited opportunities and possibilities.

"The Fool" is all about starting on a new journey.  New experiences, personal growth, the achievement of big dreams, and new adventures are waiting for you.  It is okay at this point to take a leap of faith and trust in the Universe to bring you success if you begin a new journey.  He is carefree and free from worry and anxiety.  It is okay to face the unknown. Go forward with the excitement of a child to face the great adventures ahead of you.

It is possible you may have a decision or choice to make.  It is a rather important one and it must be made wisely.  The key here is to believe in yourself and follow your heart even if your impulses seem crazy or foolish.  Truly believe and have faith in where the Universe is taking you.

What a great card to draw today!  KD has been encouraging me to really pursue my dreams lately. As I've said before, this has been a year of me suddenly having many ideas and I have already made some of them come to fruition.  Sometimes embarking on these new creative journeys can be a bit scary.  I do doubt myself quite often, but this card is telling us all not to fear or doubt.  Be brave and go forward.  The Universe will make sure everything falls into place.  It is meant to be.

What are your dreams and goals?  What will you do today to take a step towards achieving them?  I would love to hear from you.  Here's wishing us all wonderfully big dreams and fun adventures. Enjoy your Tuesday!

Monday Musings - Tales From the Gypsy Wagon

Happy Monday!!  This is the last installment of "Tales From the Gypsy Wagon" this year.

Saturday night was the last night for us to read fortunes in the Gypsy Wagon this Halloween season.  Angelle had All-State chorus auditions (she made it in, by the way) so she stayed home that evening and just KD and I went.

It was a very slow start, but that's pretty typical.  Usually the ones who show up at the haunt at 7:00 go through the haunt first, then come in to have their fortunes told.  Also not everyone knows what is going on in the gypsy wagon, either, and they don't know if there is a cost or not.  At any rate, about 7:45, people started coming in for readings.

It was a great night of fortune telling.  Again, it is so fun when people are amazed by the cards and they feel like they are spot on.  I just love that!  I had one group come in and they were thinking of questions to ask, then they wondered if they could ask when they were going to die.  I explained that one person had asked how she was going to die before, so two of them got excited and decided that's what they would ask.  The first woman asked how she was going to die, and the center card that came up for her was "The Coffin".  She was amazed by that.  So was I.  The first woman's reading told her she was going to live a long life with good health until she was much older, then she would die of a sickness.  Then a man asked the same question.  His reading also showed a long life,  dying in an accident when he was older, but also being very much at peace when he did pass on.  After his reading I looked at him and asked what he was planning on doing for a living (he was a college student).  He said he was going to be a mechanical engineer.  I just was curious if he was going to do something in which an accidental death would be a possibility.  It turns out he was.  The lady then asked KD if the sickness she would die from was cancer and the pendulum said "yes".  I don't necessarily encourage people to ask how they will die when they get readings done because I'm not really sure that's something we need to know, but the readings were quite interesting.

We read for many groups that night.   I was reading for the last gentleman in a group and his cards definitely showed a lot of romantic love activity.  After I laid out the cards I asked him if he had a wife and he said "no".  So, then I asked him if he had a girlfriend and he said "yes".  Then I asked if there was a possibility they might get married.  He was pretty amazed by that and explained that while I was reading everyone else in the group, he was thinking to himself about whether or not he should marry his girlfriend, and was pondering whether he should ask me that question for the reading, but then decided to just do a general reading.  As it turns out, the cards answered his question, anyway.  The cards pointed to a "til death do us part" kind of a marriage and definitely said that she was the one. We swore his group to secrecy so as not to spoil it with his girlfriend, but he went away quite pleased and happy.

People love KD and the pendulum quite a bit.  Once they start asking those "yes" or "no" questions, they start to get into it.  We had more than one group keep on asking questions and say they could stay in wagon all night asking KD questions if they could.  It's a bit addictive.  KD has started throwing a bit of her own intuition into it as well.  If the pendulum is hesitant to answer, KD can usually explain why.  She will say "Yes, but not for a long time" or "Yes, but you are going to have to work at it".  It's very interesting.  She's truly a natural reader.  She also helps me interpret the cards when I'm having trouble figuring out what a card combination means.  She's very intuitive that way. I can see her reading the cards someday as well.

I personally feel like I have gotten much better at reading the Lenormand cards.  My Blue Owl deck is awesome,but is the kind with the poems written right on the cards.  I read somewhere that sometimes the poems can get in the way of the reading and be a distraction both for the reader and the querent, so I ordered a deck of the same Blue Owl Lenormand cards with pictures only.  No poems.  The deck I have has been great, especially when starting out, but now I know what the pictures mean and hardly ever look at the poems.  Still, if the querent is looking at the poems, it could be a bit distracting for them.  I'm excited to receive my new cards with pictures only and start reading with them.

We just got our very own business cards made.  "Three Witches" hopes to be able to read at expo's, fairs and parties.  I handed a lot of cards out Saturday night.  Business cards make it feel very official.

KD and I have had a couple of weird experiences the last two days.  In fact, they were so freaky, I'm going to wait until "Freaky Friday" to blog about them.  So, be sure to check back then.

Also, remember that tomorrow is Tarot Tuesday and I will be pulling one card from the Gilded Tarot and interpreting it's meaning on the blog.  Have a truly marvelous Monday!  It's Halloween week!!

Freaky Friday

TGIF!!  What's freaky?












This!  Tomorrow in Cedar Falls downtown is the "Witches Walk".  Put on your best witchy attire and a witch hat if you have one.  It's from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the various shops will have specials.  There are also drawings you can sign up for to win in different downtown shops.  If you go, watch for KD and I.  We will be there in our hand-crocheted (by DuRaae Davis and To Our Moon and Back) witch hats! What will you wear?









This!  As if the "Witches Walk" wasn't enough for a fall Saturday, at 3:00 p.m. is the "Zombie Walk" at Mohair Pear on College Hill in Cedar Falls.  They have been doing this fun walk for a few years now, I think about 6, and it's always great fun.  My daughters and I have always enjoyed it.  I believe it costs $5.00 and always benefits a great organization.  Sometimes it has benefited the Humane Society and other years it has benefited the food bank.  I actually just read that it has been taken over by "Octopus", the awesome bar owned by the same people who own Mohair Pear.  This year it is benefiting the food bank.  A great cause!  Yes, that's me in the yellow gown dressed as a zombie queen a couple years ago.  It's family friendly, so bring your kids for a great brain eating good time.  I believe they are even serving food at "Octopus" after the walk.  KD and I will be switching from witch mode into zombie mode tomorrow to attend both events. Freaky!

This!  My darling Angelle loves the zombie walk.  She has "All State" choir auditions tomorrow, however, so won't be able to attend.  That's freaky because I feel really bad for her.  Not because she has all state auditions.  That's a great thing for her, but because I know she will be kind of bummed to have to miss the zombie walk.  Angelle, I know you read my blog, and I'm really, really sorry, but I know you will rock the all state auditions tomorrow and know that I am very proud of you!  Silent Supper and Halloween next week!!  And maybe our next event to organize will be that Zombie Pageant we've always talked about.

This!  Next Friday is our "Cedar Valley Silent Supper" event we have been working so hard to plan since the beginning of summer.  Can't believe it's just a week away.  I'm so incredibly excited.  We have 29 living people who will be attending and of course, one place setting for the dead who will be there in spirit.  If you missed out on reservations this time around, I'm hoping to do another one next year.  It would be great if it turns out to be an annual event.  Other events I've thought about doing around Halloween time are a "Witches Mourning Tea" and a "Witches Ball", although that might conflict with all the great Halloween celebrations held at all the great night clubs in the area.  I suppose that would depend on when we do it.

This!  Tomorrow night (Saturday evening) will likely be my last night in the Gypsy Wagon this year. I will not be there tonight because we need to get a good night's sleep before Angelle's big audition day tomorrow.  She has to get up at the crack of dawn, even earlier, to start her day.  So, please, if you are going to do any haunted housing tomorrow night, head over to "Harris Haven Funeral Home" on Lafayette in Evansdale and be sure to come into the gypsy wagon to get your fortune told.  After that, I will likely not be back until next year.  That's freaky.  I love doing it so much, and this season has gone by so quickly!

Everyone have a very freaky Friday and an even freakier weekend.  Maybe we'll see you at the Witches Walk, the Zombie Walk, or in the gypsy wagon.

Witchy Wednesday

Happy Witchy Wednesday!!

To share with you this Wednesday, I first have a few odds and ends from the last couple weeks.

First, here I am as a gypsy fortune teller in the gypsy wagon.  It doesn't take a lot for us to come up with gypsy attire and I haven't ever purchased anything new.  One trip through our closets and we can usually come up with something.  I wear the copper crown with the quartz crystal over my gypsy style bandana that I bought from Zhana's Jewels.  I am holding my Lenormand cards.  I love them!  I have been told before that I remind people of  "Professor Trelawny" from "Harry Potter".  Must be the glasses.









And here's KD being a gypsy.  She doesn't usually wear anything on her head, but does have on a nice gypsy skirt and a gypsy looking jacket with a sparkly cape.  She is holding her pendulum in the purple bag and the book is the Birthday Fortune Telling book we bought in Minneapolis.  The birthday book is just a fun book that has a zodiac type fortune for every day of the year.  We find that most of them are pretty accurate except for mine.  My birthday in that book doesn't sound like me at all.

I went shopping last weekend for decorations for the "Silent Supper".  I went to Target first, then Michaels since it was right next to Target.  I rarely go there, but now I realize I need to go there more often.  I found everything I needed there and for not much money.  This skull centerpiece is gorgeous and was only $11 since the centerpieces were 70% off that day.  I bought two of these and they will be on two of the tables at the supper.  The picture doesn't do it justice. These are absolutely gorgeous.  And this is only one of the pieces I found.  Black flowers with skulls in vases will also be a part of it.  Black, red and gold are the colors I will be using.  So excited!






                                 

On Monday night Angelle had a concert.  While I was taking her to the High School, I drove by "Mohair Pear".  I've blogged about them quite a bit because we always find such great stuff there.  I noticed they had stuff hanging up outside on the sidewalk, so thought I would swing by there on the way home just to browse since I would have some time in between dropping Angelle off and picking up KD to go back to the concert.  While there, I found this great red and gold caftan/dress.  I thought it would look great on KD so I went ahead and bought it for just $17.  I took it home to KD and she was really excited about it.  And as you can see, it does fit her perfectly.  So pretty!!  I imagine she could wear it telling fortunes, either in the gypsy wagon or when we start reading for parties and expos.

Dressing like a gypsy for Halloween has to be one of the easiest costumes to come up with on your own. Here are a few ideas for very cute gypsy costumes.  I especially think the little girls is cute.  Using a tank top and a shawl is very simple, and you can make your own necklace like the purple gypsy did.

Have a great Witchy Wednesday.  Do something witchy today and stop by the Gypsy Wagon on Saturday night this weekend so I can tell your fortune.  We will not be there on Friday.  One night only this weekend.  Hope to see you there!

 



                               

Tarot Tuesday

Today's card drawn is the Knight of Swords.

The Knight of Swords refers to those times when you are obsessed with an idea and want it to become a reality.  You wish this to happen so badly that sometimes you are blinded by that desire and are unable to see the difficulties you may encounter along the way.

The Knight of Swords is a very powerful figure.  He is full of life and energy as he charges into battle.  This can be what it's like when you have a new idea that excites you.  You do not see or even care about the upcoming challenges or risks.  He moves forward with the strong intent to succeed and win. This ambition is a good thing, but needs to be tempered with patience and responsibility.  Balance the goal with the details and steps required to get to that point.

This sounds so much like me during the past year.  It seems like at the end of last school year and beginning of the summer, I had so many new ideas of things I wanted to accomplish.  One of them was "Dream Within a Dream", which has already been accomplished.  The next is the Silent Supper, which is just a week and a half away and for which plans are coming along nicely.  I still feel as if I am exploding with new ideas, so this was a good card for me to draw today.

The other meaning of this card is that it represents your need to understand the world intellectually. You enjoy intelligent communication and forming solid arguments.  You have strong opinions on current affairs and important matters.  You enjoy sharing your ideas and developing new points of view.  Yep, this sounds like me, too.  Sometimes I enjoy intellectual arguing to a fault.  As in I do it too much and never know when to just drop it.  Sometimes it's a good idea to find discussion groups with people who think like you do rather than those who come from an opposite perspective.  Like-minded people can fire each other up and motivate one another.

This card is perfect for an upcoming event in the Cedar Valley.  Next Tuesday, the 27th, from 6-8 on the UNI campus is the "Big Dream Gathering".  Have you heard of this?  I am intrigued by this event and am planning to go.  From what I've heard, if you have a big dream, this is the event for you. People at the event write out their dreams and goals and pin them up on a board.  Everyone looks at the dreams posted and figures out ways they can help each other to launch these dreams.  "Witch's Brew and Books" coffee house has been a cool dream of mine and my two friends for awhile now.  It was originally "Witch's Brew", but then my friend, Shelby's, dream of a used book store has been included with it, so "Brew and Books" became the new dream.  Hopefully I can get this dream up on the board at the Big Dream Gathering and come up with some steps to make it a reality.  It will be fun to try, anyway!

What are your big dreams?  I would love to hear about them!

Monday Musings - Tales from the Gypsy Wagon

Happy Monday.  Weekends go by way too quickly, don't they?  I really feel like I hardly had a weekend at all.  I did get to spend two evenings in the Gypsy Wagon, though, which I really enjoy.

Friday night, the girls and I first went to the "Zombies in the City" event at Adrenaline Laser Tag.  I had won two free entries for this event on Facebook, so only had to pay for one more. Angelle brought her two friends along as well, which made us a group of 5. It really was a blast.  It was kind of a cross between a video game, haunted house, and laser tag.  The zombie actors were great.  They were actually pretty scary.  KD and I shot a lot of zombies, but didn't find any "intel", which is kind of the point of the game.  That's okay, though, because the rest of our team found quite a bit and even ended up opening one of the super secret boxes with the secret message.  The message, of course, was "You are doomed.  There is no cure".  Rats.

Afterwards, KD and I headed over to the Gypsy Wagon.  Angelle and her friends came later on, too, but not to tell fortunes.  They came to go through the haunted house there and also the corn maze.  I think they had fun.  KD and I were that solid kind of busy from about 9:00 until after Midnight, meaning we had a line the entire time.  KD estimated we probably read for at least 20 groups.  I think maybe even more.  By the end of the night, KD was too tired to read the pendulum anymore, so I just gave card readings to the last few groups.  It was a very fun and interesting night.

With the line, and with Angelle and her friends using the gypsy wagon and me as their "headquarters", there were a couple of times when they needed to get in which meant excusing themselves at the front of the line and just coming on in.  They would try to explain to people that they were not cutting in line to get a reading, but just needed to drop something off with me or pick something up.  At one point, there was a group of people who had among them a couple of teachers. I will do my best to protect the identity of said teachers, but as the girls were excusing themselves to get into the gypsy wagon to give me something, one of those teachers said "What the f...?", actually dropping the "f" bomb, thinking the girls were cutting.  One of Angelle's friends recognized this person as a teacher and they were a little shocked to hear that come out of a teacher's mouth.  If you know me at all, you know that is one thing I absolutely do not do.  I do not ever swear.  I really don't. I certainly never will be heard dropping an "f" bomb unless I am quoting someone else.  I believe it gives other people an excuse to not listen to you.  But, that's just me.  I don't judge others if they do swear, and I certainly do hear it a lot. Especially late nights at haunted attractions.  So, I told my daughter that teachers are people, too.  I enjoyed reading for this group and it came out in the reading that two of them were teachers.  They were very nice and polite to KD and me.

Actually, I have never had a bad experience in the gypsy wagon.  I think people realize that the only payment we receive from doing this is from tips.  Folks appreciate the additional entertainment, and as such, they are very nice to me when I am reading for them.

One of Angelle's fellow high school students came in with a group of friends Friday night for a reading.  Part of this girl's reading included going on a trip or traveling somewhere and that something about the trip would give her a brief period of sadness or disappointment.  During the reading it was hard to ascertain exactly what the trip or experience would be, so we thought it might be her going to college next year and the sadness would be leaving her friends, etc.  Well, yesterday she and Angelle sang together at a retirement home and she told Angelle that she and her friends had traveled somewhere to go to a concert or performance.  When they got to the performance, (which might have been at a bar or nightclub?), they were not allowed to go in and then they were sad.  So, the reading really did come true.  I have to admit I love hearing stories come back to me in which the reading turned out to be accurate.

On Saturday night, KD ended up staying overnight at her friend's house and Angelle just didn't want to go out to the wagon, so I went alone.  I have not done that by myself yet, but all went well.  I was not as busy as KD and I had been on Friday night, probably because it was very cold that night, but I made a little more in tips than KD and I did on our busy Friday night, meaning I got some big tippers into the wagon.  It is much appreciated, especially since it did get really cold in the gypsy wagon.  I have a space heater in there, but I keep the door open when not reading, so people know to come in.

My first group on Saturday night was a group of elementary boys.  They were absolutely hilarious and cracked me up the whole time.  Turns out some of them go to KD's school, but since they are younger than she is, they didn't know her.  They noticed the voo doo doll prop on my shelf and asked who the voo doo doll was, but before I could answer, they said "You're husband?".  Ha ha ha ha. These boys were like that the entire time they were in there.  I laughed a lot.  One boy learned he was going to get a new girlfriend, which surprisingly made him really happy.  He is younger than 6th grade, after all, but apparently had broken up with his old girlfriend, so was excited about the prospect of a new one.  Another boy learned he was going to be very popular with girls.  He was also quite pleased.

The rest of Saturday night went very well.  I wasn't steadily busy, but it was sporadic.  One person told me that I was better than the haunted house itself and that if he'd still had his $13.00 admission, he'd have given it to me instead.  He was very interested in the cards and asked a lot of questions. Personally, I think the "Harris Haven Funeral Home Haunted House" is a great haunted house.  I certainly get people into the wagon afterwards who definitely had fun.  Still, I appreciated the compliment from that person.  It's nice to hear that people enjoy the readings.

Because Saturday night was so sporadic, I was able to quit reading around 11:30.  I will never quit if I have a line.  I don't think it's fair to people who have been waiting to get up there and then have us close the gypsy wagon.  As long as there are people waiting, I will keep on reading.

This weekend I will only be reading one night, Saturday night.  Angelle has All-State auditions, so I want to make sure all of us are asleep early on Friday night and well rested, especially Angelle.  They get up at the crack of dawn (or earlier) the day of auditions, meet at someone's house for breakfast, then get the audition cuts before they leave.  It's a long day for her, and she probably won't want to come to the wagon afterwards on Saturday night, but I will definitely be there.  That will probably be my last night reading there this year unless I go back on Sunday night, which is always a possibility. Sunday nights are hard, though, as we are all busy getting ready for school/work on Monday.  And I won't be reading Halloween weekend because of our events.  Friday night Silent Supper and annual Halloween party on Saturday.  I believe Shelby will be reading the Tarot on Thursday night the 29th. So, stop by then if you are out and about.

I'm hoping with the nice weather this coming Saturday night will be busy in the wagon.  Stop by.  I'd love to read the cards for you!

Freaky Friday

TGIF!  What's freaky?  How about a few freaky and interesting Halloween facts.

This:  At one time, you had to dance for your Halloween treat.  One part of our Halloween traditions has been traced back to a European phenomenon called "mumming" in which you went from door to door doing choreographed dances for treats.  Freaky.  I would love it if some trick or treaters danced at our house this year.  I'll give extra treats if you do this!

This:  According to tradition, if you wear your clothes inside out and walk backwards on Halloween, you will see a witch at Midnight. That's freaky, but to be honest, some of you will see a witch no matter how you walk or wear your clothes.  But this does make me think of the Silent Supper a bit, since we are eating our meal backwards and in silence.
This:  Halloween is thought to have originated in 4000 BC, meaning it has been around for more than 6,000 years.  That's freaky.

This:  In China, they celebrate "Teng Chieh", also known as the Lantern Festival.  During this festival, they release lanterns shaped like dragons and also leave food out for their deceased ancestors.  This is sort of "silent supperish", too, since one place setting will be for our ancestors.

This:  Both Salem Massachusetts and Anoka, Minnesota are the self-proclaimed Halloween capitals of America.  Anoka, Minnesota?  I'll have to look that up today.  Freaky.

This:  In Hollywood, there is a $1,000 fine for using Silly String on Halloween.

This:  It is actually rare for there to be a full moon on Halloween.  The last one was in 1974 and the next one is supposed to be in 2020.

This:  The largest pumpkin in the world weighed in at 1,872.  That is freakishly huge!

And finally, this:  Many humane society/animal adoption shelters will not adopt out black cats on Halloween because there are some sick humans who want to abuse or sacrifice them.  I really was not aware of this until recently, but PLEASE, leave black fur babies alone.  Black cats are not un-lucky and do not represent anything evil.  If you own a black cat, keep an extra good eye on them during these next two weeks.

I love Halloween.  I really do.  I always have.  It is just two weeks away and I'm very excited about our celebrations of the "Silent Supper" and our annual fun Halloween party.  We will be telling fortunes in the gypsy wagon tonight (not until around 8:00 tonight, Friday, because first we will be going to "Zombies in the City") and tomorrow night (7:00 until closing on Saturday night).  I'm hoping this Saturday night is like last Saturday night and I can tell fortunes for another four hours straight.  KD should be joining me with her pendulum, too, this weekend.  I honestly love it.  Stop by!

Witchy Wednesday

It's Wednesday!  Happy wear black day!

I have to laugh.  Yesterday I got a phone call from our local organization that runs the "Festival of Trees" at Christmastime.  They had me on a list somehow for doing a table setting for their contest.  It's true that we love Christmas, too, and have always loved the Festival of Trees and especially enjoy looking at the place settings.  So, I texted Angelle to see if they thought we should do this.  She said "yes", then proceeded to say that we should use skulls and do a basic black place setting.  We are SO into Halloween, that it's apparently difficult for us to get out of the Halloween mode and into the next season.

So, in the car last night as we were driving to various lessons, etc., we were discussing this place setting opportunity.  Angelle asked if I liked the idea she had texted me.  I said I did, but that this place setting would be for CHRISTMAS, not HALLOWEEN, and the theme for the festival this year is "Country Christmas".  So, then she and KD decided we should use deer skulls.  KD thought putting a red nose on a deer skull would be the perfect Christmas centerpiece.  Then she thought that wooden plates would really speak to the country Christmas theme.  She even said we could carve symbols into the wooden plates.  WHAT??  Yes, I know we are basically "The Addams Family", but really? So funny.

This got me thinking that for "Witchy Wednesday" today I would show different Halloween place setting ideas.  Especially with the "Silent Supper" coming up in just a couple weeks (yikes, just a couple weeks?), this would also help me to get my own creative juices flowing for how I'm going to decorate for that.  So, enjoy sitting back and looking at the following ideas for a spooky Halloween dinner.

 This is very cool and I love the use of the spiderwebs.

Vampire fan?  This beautifully gothic red and black place setting idea is just for you.

Of course, the cast and crew of "Dream Within a Dream" will love this one, and so do I.  I would love to incorporate crows and ravens into my Silent Supper decor.  The witch hats on the plates are adorable.

I think I'll be using a lot of skulls in my silent supper decor.  I'm not sure about the fuzzy owl, though, although it is pretty cute.

 This is really creepy.  I love it.

Mummies more your style?  I love that centerpiece and those candelabras on the buffet.

Do you like some of these ideas?  Which are your favorite?  I'm really feeling the red and black color combination for the silent supper.  I think I'm going to try to go with that color combo and then some skulls, crows, and black pumpkins.  We will see what the girls and I come up with, anyway!

Enjoy your witchy Wednesday.  Make it a great one!  If you have any great decorating ideas, please share them with me!

Tarot Tuesday, 10/13/15

Today's card drawn is "The Sun".

"The Sun" is a card of optimism and happiness.  It represents success, radiance and abundance.  This card tells you that wherever you go and whatever you do, your positive energy will follow, bringing happiness and joy to you and to those around you.

At this time you are feeling very confident.  Things are going your way and your goals are well on their way to being realized.  If you have been having a difficult time lately, the appearance of this card is a good omen.  It means that things are going to get a lot better!!  You can also expect to see an increase in your physical energy.  Think of a Saturday morning, the sun streaming in through the windows, and a comforting, steaming latte in your favorite mug in your hands.  The day ahead of you is yours to do with what you will.  Nothing can go wrong.  That's what this card is like.

The appearance of this card shows that you may be feeling enlightened lately.  The path ahead is clear to you.  You have endured the tough times and the hardships and greater things are in store.

The literal meaning of this card is that it can indicate travel to a warm or tropical location.  Are you planning a trip?  A winter get-away to someplace warm?  The warmth of this card is great to get on a cool, brisk, fall day such as today.

Enjoy your incredibly awesome and happy Tuesday and check back tomorrow for Witchy Wednesday.

Monday Musings

Tales from the Gypsy Wagon:

 On Friday night, KD and I told fortunes at the Gypsy Wagon.  We weren't terribly busy, and every single person we read for that tipped us tipped us exactly $1.00, which is just fine.  Tips are optional and we are happy to read even if you don't tip us.  We still ended up with a few dollars each.  Once again, KD's pendulum is proving to be very accurate with sports predictions.  We don't keep up with sports at all, but one guy asked if the Cubs had won that day.  Apparently they had already played but he hadn't yet heard the final score.  The pendulum told him that they did not win.  So the next day I checked and sure enough, they had not won on Friday.  They did win Saturday, though,  so Cubs fans are happy.

KD has made a couple of friends her age at the "Harris Haven Funeral Home Haunted House".  They are quite interested in fortune telling and visited us several times on Friday night.  They are really sweet girls and it has been fun getting to know them.  We also had some repeat visitors from last year.  The nicest group of college girls came in and they remembered KD and me and we enjoyed reading for them again.  I hope they come back again next year. 

On Saturday, KD wasn't feeling well.  Her throat was hurting and she had a horrible cough, so she stayed home that night.  Angelle came along with me, though, and brought a large bowl of candy to hand out to our visitors.  Saturday night was something else!!  I read cards for a little over four hours straight.  Wow!!  It was fun and awesome and I really enjoyed it.  Angelle said she couldn't believe I just kept reading without a break at all the whole night.  She would open the gypsy wagon door and I would see this incredibly long line and wonder if I was ever going to get through them all.  Most of the time the cards are spot on and I love seeing the reactions from people when they are. 

There were so many readings that night, that it's hard to keep them straight.  A couple readings do stand out.  There was a high school girl who the cards were so accurate for, she started crying.  Another man came in for whom the cards showed had some bad experiences in his life that have affected his whole outlook.  I think he got a little emotional, too.  It's very interesting to me that whenever I read for children, the "danger" card almost always comes up.  It's really a card that indicates a possibility of danger from strangers, so I use that as a teaching moment and remind the kids to be alert and cautious and remember all the stranger danger stuff they've learned.  It does make me wonder why that card comes up so much for children.

There was one very fun group of people.  I had already done a general reading for one lady in the group, but she wanted to ask a question.  She really had two questions she wanted answered in one reading.  Her first question was about her love life, but the 2nd was about "chaos".  I am familiar with chaos magick and do know what that is, so asked her what she meant by "chaos".  Her answer was so direct and took me so off guard I'm afraid I had a very surreal moment and reacted with surprise.  She was asking about working with chaos spirits, in particular, a Lokian spirit.  I had heard about Lokian spirits, but wasn't completely sure what one was, but did understand the whole idea of chaos.  I guess I was just surprised to have someone who does that come into the wagon to have her fortune read.  Once I recovered, I was able to read her cards.  The basic message to her was that it was working for her, she was noticing good things happening, but to be cautious and not delve too deeply into it for fear of losing herself in the process.  And if, for my readers, that is a little too spooky for you, I apologize.  It threw me off, too, although only briefly.

Some people we know came into the wagon.  That is always fun.  A couple of them confessed that they read my blog and wanted to know how I got into these things.  All I can really credit it to is having a somewhat unusual childhood surrounded by a bit of the supernatural (growing up in a haunted house).  And an interesting thing is that when I was very young, I mean in my earliest memories, I did see a shadow of some kind.  My family can verify that I definitely saw something and that I reacted to it.  My mother also screamed one day when she looked at me in the kitchen.  I asked her why and she said she'd seen a mouse.  Later I learned that she actually saw a shadow standing in front of me.  Spooky stuff, I know.  All I can really say is that I've been drawn to it my whole life.  I really enjoy reading fortunes.  I really enjoy this blog and I love wearing black.  And of course, I adore Halloween!  It's just who I am. 

Here's the deal, though.  I'll never claim to anyone that I am a psychic.  I am a card reader.  I am no more psychic than the next person.  It's funny because when people come in to the gypsy wagon to have their fortunes told, sometimes they will try to trick me by not sitting as couples to try to throw me off.  Sometimes they will ask KD an obvious question they already know the answer to.  When the pendulum tells them the wrong answer, it's probably because they are influencing it, wanting to prove that the whole thing is fake.  One man even asked KD a question he already knew the answer to, then chanted "say no say no say no" while the pendulum was moving.  Well, of course the pendulum said "no", and of course, that was the wrong answer. 

I'm really not making any claims that I know everything.  I don't claim that I will know which person is your spouse when you come to have your fortune read.  I'm going to tell you what the cards say, with a little intuition thrown in and that's it.  And I've found that the cards are very accurate. 

I'm very excited that the opportunity to start reading fortunes for parties ad events has popped up.  How exciting!  Taking the gypsy wagon on the road sounds like a blast, but we can't really take the gypsy wagon itself. 

As I'm writing this, it is Sunday, and an unusually warm day.  We can read fortunes tonight if we want to, maybe from 7:00 - 9:00, and we might just do that.  Maybe.  Last night did kind of wear me out mentally.  We will see how we are feeling about things later today.  They feel like they might be busy at the haunted house tonight because of the really nice weather and also because Waterloo schools don't have school tomorrow because of a teacher professional development day.  If we do read tonight, I might have more to add.

If you are reading this, thank you for being interested in what I have to say.  If you have stopped in to have your fortune read, I'd love to hear your thoughts about it.  If you have a chance next weekend, please stop by for a reading.  I will be there Friday and Saturday night for sure, from 7:00 until whenever.  Hopefully KD will be there, too, as I think she's the really gifted one.  And if Angelle comes along, she will have a bowl of candy for you.  All for the cost of whatever tip you'd like to give us.  Wishing you all good fortune.

Freaky Friday

It's Friday!!  What's freaky?

This:  The world was supposed to end yet again on Wednesday, but it didn't.  What is up with people making these apocalypse predictions?

This:  American Horror Story Hotel.  Wow. That's one freaky show.  I've enjoyed every season of this show and so has Angelle, but this one might be the freakiest one of all.  Seriously, if you are easily disturbed or younger than 16, DO NOT WATCH THIS.  Angelle had to cover her eyes a few times, and not because of the scary parts, but the other adult graphic scenes.  If you like horror and weird, though, then this one is for you.  Lady Gaga is awesome.

This:  Since it's Freaky Friday, I thought I'd share some freaky Halloween makeup ideas that I found online.  Just google freaky Halloween makeup and you can find these and many, many more.

I love this double vision makeup.  There is a tutorial on youtube on how to do it.  I think what really makes it is the false eyelashes on the eyes on the cheeks.

This one is just very pretty!

A mouth turned into an eyeball is extremely freaky.  Again, I think it's the eyelashes that make this work.

 Another very pretty one!  I absolutely love this.  I would do this.

And finally, I didn't find this one on google.  This is my own darling Angelle last year.  I think she did a great job with this makeup.  Super freaky!!

Have a very freaky Friday and a wonderful weekend.  If you go to Harris Haven Funeral Home Haunted House either tonight or tomorrow night, be sure to stop in the Gypsy Wagon to see us and have us read your fortune.  We will be there from 7:00 until at least 10:00 or maybe even later.

Witchy Wednesday

Happy Witchy Wednesday!!  I'm wearing black, are you?

Today Angelle and I are quite beside ourselves with excitement!!  The reason?  Tonight is the season premier of "American Horror Story, Hotel", with Lady Gaga!!  They say this season will be even creepier than past seasons. We absolutely can't wait!!

As I was looking for what to blog about for Witchy Wednesday, I thought about how cool it would be to have a Halloween masquerade party. Not a costume party, but a masquerade.  In the play, "Dream Within a Dream", there were many masks used in the costumes.  They created a cool effect and there's just something mysterious about people wearing masks.  So, I started looking on Etsy to see what homemade masks there were and found some great ones.

"Wild Rose & Sparrow" makes and sells some beautiful masks and shawls.  Here are some of them:

 I just love butterflies, so this really caught my eye.  I like the Monarch butterflies on this one.

If you love butterflies, but purple is more your color, you might like this one.  I also love the polka dots.

 Of course, I love black!  This is very dark, elegant, and mysterious.


















"Wild Rose & Sparrow" on Etsy also creates some beautiful headpieces.  I love this one!

















                                                                                 I love filigree and found this great filigree mask by another mask maker on Etsy called "The Craft y Chemist 07".  Very elegant, dark and mysterious.















Sugar skulls and "Day of the Dead" are two of my favorite things, so you know I love this mask, also by "The Craft Chemist 07".

And of course, the good old "plague mask". These are always cool to see.  I think they are some of the spookiest and most intriguing masks around.  This one is also by "The Craft Chemist 07" on Etsy.














Do you know what you're going to be for Halloween yet?  I'd love to hear about your costume ideas! If you are an AHS fan, be sure to watch this season.  I'm sure we won't be disappointed!  Enjoy your Witchy Wednesday!