Witchy Wednesday

Happy Witchy Wednesday.  Or rather, Happy Ugly Sweater Day!!  I am not wearing my usual all black or grey today because it is ugly sweater day for staff where I teach.  What fun!!  I am wearing an old sweater with elves on it, a new light-up vest I found at Claire's, a Christmas ball ornament head band, Christmas sweater leggings and fur topped white and red striped socks over my black boots.  Yes, I feel festive and I love it.

I've already blogged about ugly sweaters and where to find them. Today is also the Winter Solstice, or "Longest Night" of the year.  So, how about we look at a few cute "Winter Solstice" shirts?  Most of these can be found at Zazzle.


I really like the solstice t shirts.  I think today is also a good time to look at some unique Santa hats.


I love the idea of transforming an old witch hat into a Christmas tree hat.  So creative!!  My favorite Santa hat is one I commissioned from my friend, DuRaae Davis, at "To Our Moon and Back".  It's hand-crocheted and quite lovely!  So have some fun today.  Spread some warmth and good cheer.  Be festive because from here on out, the days get longer.  Merry Winter Solstice, everyone!

Tarot Tuesday - 12-20-16

Today's card drawn is "The Star".

With "The Star" comes inspiration and hope, confidence and capability.  Your future looks bright and feels bright. You may have recently felt unsure about your future, but now you will be confident that what you need will be there for you.  Spiritually, you might be feeling at one with all of the universe and creation.  This is a feeling to savor.

This is a card of good omen.  Stay positive and be optimistic.  This is a great time to look at your life and determine what changes you want to see and then to go make it so.  Right now, you can accomplish just about anything that you set out to do.  It's a great time to take action.  You will be very likely to succeed at most anything you take on right now.  You have to do your part, though. Take action to manifest this bright future.

While you are reveling in your own good fortune and bright future, be someone else's star.  What can you do to bring a blessing to someone else?  Can you perform some random act of kindness for a stranger?  Could you leave a small amount of cash somewhere for someone to find? Pay for the car behind you at Starbucks drive-through?  Any little thing could make a huge difference to someone else.  It could make someone's day or even save a life.  This is how you can be "The Star".  Just do it.  It's the best gift you can give yourself.

Look forward to the great things coming your way.  Do your part to make them happen.  Bring warmth to yourself and the world, especially now when it is at it's coldest.  Spread your warmth and light like the star you are.  Shine bright.  This is your time.

Witchy Wednesday - Ugly Sweaters

Wonderful Witchy Wednesday to you all.  It's a full moon, it's concert week, and it's realllly cold!

It's that time of year for ugly holiday sweaters.  I was thrilled when I found a zombie themed Christmas shirt at "Mohair Pear", one of my favorite stores.  It even says "Season's Eatings" on it.  Then at WalMart, I found a cool black Christmas shirt that says "BELIEVE" on it and features unicorns, jackalopes and Big Foot.  I love things that are just a little bit twisted and different, so today I looked for some twisted and different holiday sweaters and shirts.  I found a few good ones here at Middle of Beyond.  Check them out.


I love Krampus so much!!  If you don't know who he is, he is the shadow of St. Nicholas and on the night of December 5, (Krampusnacht), he beats naughty children with sticks, then puts them in his bag to take them to the underworld.  There was also a really awesome "Krampus" movie that came out last year.  I bought an awesome "Krampus" scarf at Mohair Pear last year.  It's a little different than the one above, but I love it!  The "Gingerbread" ornaments are the gingerbread men from the "Krampus" movie.  Scary.









I love skulls.  I won't lie.  But apparently some people think they are creepy.  Who knew?  I love this goth sweater.
















Yeti is always good on a winter sweater.

 These holiday ornaments are adorable.

 Did you love the Gremlins movie?  I did.  I've never seen them on a Christmas sweater before, though.

I have a cousin who would LOVE this sweater!  You know who you are.

So go ahead.  Think outside the box this Christmas.  Have a little bit of fun and be a little bit different.  If you want to get a GREAT ugly sweater locally, I strongly recommend Mohair Pear on College Hill in Cedar Falls. They have the best and the ugliest.

Tarot Tuesday, 12/13/16

Today's card drawn is "The Hermit".
But since "The Hermit" was drawn recently, I drew the next card, which is the "Four of Pentacles".
I will do a quick review of "The Hermit" meaning,
then interpret the "Four of Pentacles".  I was also thrilled that both cards are cards that have been completed by Cat Rocketship.  I am going to love this tarot deck when it's done.

"The Hermit" review:  This card has to do with spiritual growth and fulfillment.  The appearance of this card indicates that important spiritual events and steps will be occurring for you soon.  It is an excellent time for some introspection and examining your belief system and spiritual practices.  It is very possible that you might be meeting new people who will be important to your spiritual growth very soon. Since this card was also a recently drawn one, I would say that this trend is going to be a continuing one in your life for awhile.  Pay close attention to the connections you make over the next few months.  They may be significant to your spirit.  You also might be feeling very intuitive right now.  You might experience this feeling of being "in tune" growing for awhile.

The "Four of Pentacles" or according to Cat Rocketship, the "Four of Coins":  This is a card about holding onto things for longer than you should.  The appearance of this card is telling you to look carefully at what you are clinging to.  It could also be that others are clinging to you in an unhealthy way.  Sometimes this can mean you are clinging onto the physical possessions in your life, such as money.  This is an excellent time of year to let some of that go.  Have you practiced a random act of kindness yet today?  The best way to get more money coming into your life is to put some out into the world.  I know I've shared this before, but one of my favorite bits of folk magic is to very secretly place a $1 or a $5 attached to a sticky note that says "Enjoy this gift of money" someplace random for someone to find.  The important thing is to not look back to see if someone finds it once you have done it.  It will find it's way back to you in greater amounts.

In general, this card suggests there may be some anxiety or fear you are feeling regarding something you want to hold onto.  It could be money.  It could be a person.  It could even just be a ritual or a way of being.  Grasping at things does not bring security.  You can let things go.  If they are meant to be in your life, they will stay.  Money included.  It will return to you.  And in regards to people, if you let them go and they are meant to be with you, they will come back.

Hmm.  I'm going to get a little bit personal here.  We have a very sick dog at home.  She is 12 years old and on her 12th birthday started having heart problems.  We treated those, but the medicine for heart problems led to kidney complications.  The kidney problems are much worse than the heart problems.  Right now I know her time with us is limited.  We are giving her lots of love and bacon, the one thing she never refuses to eat.  And we are giving her subcutaneous fluids every other day. She's a fighter and although she's very thin and not doing the best, she has shown us she is not ready to go.  When she's ready, she will go on her own.  I firmly believe that.

My belief with my dogs is that they always come back to me.  The two dogs we own right now I can trace back two other incarnations.  The personalities and spirits are the same.  You might not believe in that sort of thing, but there is no doubt in my mind.  Ebony became Allegro who became Shadow.  Ajax became Dolce who became Princess.  And I know that Shadow will return again, either to me or to Angelle when she gets out on her own and is able to get her own dog.  Shadow, after all, was her dog this incarnation.  It's part of the reason why I always feel like I have to have two dogs.  The tarot card just made me think of this whole thing.  Even though Shadow will be leaving this life soon, I know she will come back to me, in a different, new and healthy body.  Ready for some new adventures.  So can it be with whatever you are clinging to.  Let it go and it can come back to you, new and refreshed.

Tarot Tuesday, 12-6-16

Today's card drawn is "The Moon".  I confess that this card has one of my favorite images.  I could analyze just the picture for days.

Have you felt a bit confused about things lately?  Is it difficult to understand where you are coming from and even more difficult to figure out why others are thinking and feeling the way they are?  This is what "The Moon" is indicating.  The appearance of this card today is telling you to sit back and roll with it for awhile.  Don't try to force others to do things before they are ready.  Give yourself and others a break and just breathe.

You might find you are coming into a more psychic and intuitive phase.  It is important for you to trust your instincts and first impressions right now, even if you're not sure where they are coming from.  It is possible that everything is not as it seems.  Proceed with a little bit of caution if your sixth sense is telling you to.  People might respond to you a bit more slowly than normal as well.  If you are waiting for an answer from someone, it might take longer than you would like it to.  Be patient.

At work things may seem very confusing.  This is a good time to ask questions and make sure you and those you work with understand each other clearly.  Be patient and stay calm.  Things may seem worse to you than they actually are, so give others the benefit of the doubt.

Your relationships might be extra emotional for awhile.  Disagreements might escalate quickly.  Again, be patient and give the other party the benefit of the doubt.  This is not a good time for you to end or begin a new relationship or friendship.  It would be better to hold off for awhile.  The main thing with "The Moon" card is to be patient and take things slowly.  Breathe deeply and stay calm.

Regarding your finances, the same advice holds true.  Make sure you know concrete facts before making any important financial decisions right now.  If you're waiting for news about finances, you will probably have to wait longer than you really want to.

While the above paragraphs might not seem all that positive, what "The Moon" does point to is great spiritual and psychic growth.  You are coming into a great time to get a reading, have healing done or get some helpful input from a spiritual leader.  Things in the spiritual realm will seem more clear to you while things in the material world will not.  You will find yourself more psychically open than usual.  You can pay attention to your hunches, thoughts and feelings.  You might get flashes of information that seem to come from out of nowhere.  You might also find you understand books regarding spiritual matters more right now.  It's a great time to read about these things.

In a nutshell "The Moon" is telling you to go with the flow, relax, breathe, and focus on spiritual and psychic matters.  Everything is going to be fine, even if it seems confusing for awhile.

Monday Musings - "show biz"

Happy Monday!  We had our first snow that stuck to the ground yesterday.  Krampus is coming and life is great!

We had a very exciting week last week all the way around.  First, Angelle auditioned a couple weeks ago for her high school musical, "Shrek", and got the part of teen Fiona.  She is very happy about her part!

Then Angelle and I auditioned for Rocky Horror at the Waterloo Community Playhouse.  Angelle is perhaps a bit too young for this show, so she didn't get cast, but gets to be a "planted" audience member with some fun things to do interacting with the Usherette at the beginning and helping the audience with their parts.  I got a call back and am thrilled to announce that I got the part of the "Narrator".  It is a fabulous cast and I am so excited and honored to be able to work on this great and fun show!  Performances are scheduled for the end of January with opening night on the 20th.  I hope you'll come, but leave the kids at home for this one!

Years ago Angelle was represented by a talent/modeling agency in Des Moines.  She got a couple of auditions, but I don't think she ever got an actual job through them back then, so we kind of let the photos and contracts lapse.  I still get e mails from the agency, though, and got e mails about a TV comedy series show being shot in Des Moines.  They needed high school age extras so I submitted both Angelle and her friend, Jessica.  They got to go to Des Moines on Sunday to be extras.  It was a bit overwhelming for them at first and they felt like the new kids who didn't quite fit in.  They got into wardrobe then waited around for a few hours.  Some of the extras got to do a "walk by" in the background of one scene, but not them.  However, they were two of four extras asked to stay for awhile while they sent the rest of the extras home.  That was pretty exciting for them to be asked to stay.  They waited around for quite awhile, then were told they were not needed and they were able to leave, but would still get paid.  Even though they didn't get any camera time, they had fun and were happy they were getting paid for it.  Well, they were asked back again for this weekend.  They will go be extras for sure on Sunday and hopefully get some camera time.  If they can use them Saturday afternoon, they will go then, too.

After the day of waiting around as extras, they changed back into their street clothes in the wardrobe trailer.  Then another actor stopped us as we were walking back to our van because his car wouldn't start and he wondered if we had the time to give his car a jump.  Turns out he had the jumper cables, so I pulled "Vanessa", the vanpyr, around to where his car was and with a little google searching and call to his grandparents, we got his car started.  It always feels good to be able to help other people.  It was also fun to talk with someone who has had a little bit more experience with being a screen actor.

We were hungry after the long day so ate at our favorite place, "Zombie Burger".  Yum!!

So, it looks like I'm going to be pretty busy for the next two months learning my long narrator lines and going to rehearsal.  I didn't get to be in a show at all last year because of directing the UNI Children's Chorus, so I am really excited to do this one.  Tonight is Krampusnacht, so I hope you've been good.  Tomorrow is St. Nicholas Day.  Do something nice for someone!