New pouch!

A surprise from my friend Diana who made this lovely pouch for me. The picture doesn't show the pretty green in the design.

Now, which deck to place inside this lovely case? Or, maybe an occasion to purchase new deck. Cosmic tarot, maybe?

Cosmic Tarot

Lucid Dreaming: Dog Again, Two Jacque Vallees

Lucid dreaming: awareness of the self or that you're dreaming within a dream. Here's one definition of lucid dreaming from The Lucidity Institute:

"Lucid dreaming means dreaming while knowing that you are dreaming. The term was coined by Frederik van Eeden  who used the word "lucid" in the sense of mental clarity. Lucidity usually begins in the midst of a dream when the dreamer realizes that the experience is not occurring in physical reality, but is a dream. Often this realization is triggered by the dreamer noticing some impossible or unlikely occurrence in the dream, such as flying or meeting the deceased. Sometimes people become lucid without noticing any particular clue in the dream; they just suddenly realize they are in a dream. A minority of lucid dreams (according to the research of LaBerge and colleagues, about 10 percent) are the result of returning to REM (dreaming) sleep directly from an awakening with unbroken reflective consciousness."

Dog: Spike Returns

Dog visited again the other night: repeating dreamscape of a dilapidated house, somehow ours. Lots more: I don't want to go into the house while Jim is away, the place is in a semi-rural area, lots of open lots with patchy grass, no trees, pretty ugly and bare. Front of the garage half gone, 2/3 seem to have been sliced in half so now it's a sort of lean to. I prefer to stay in there until Jim gets back.  Jim goes off for the entire day to return with a dog. Now our dog. 

Portrait eines Dobermanns, C. Reichert 1916 public domain

The thing about this dog is, the dog (Doberman) is from our waking life. Thirty years ago we lived in a place with this dog, who was great. Just a great, smart, sweet dog. In the dream, I say to Jim "This is very weird; Spike here would be over thirty years old, and dogs don't live that long." I was happy to see Spike again, but couldn't get past the strangeness of how it could be that he would still be alive, and healthy and young and happy at that.

(Dog, as dream guide and recurring image has been a recurring symbol in my dreams for awhile now. I've been working with Dog in my dreams; one, obviously the persistence of the image is important and two, I'm not a dog person. I love animals, and once I get to know a dog, I will often end up loving it. Oftentimes I wish I had a dog, but the timing and living situation is not right. At the same time, I've several extremely unpleasant and dangerous episodes involving dogs.)

UFO Researcher: The Two Jacque Vallees

A night or two after that, I had a dream about a golden UFO which I posted about on my UFO blog the Orange Orb. The UFO researcher Jacque Vallee appeared in the dream, but the man "playing" him was completely different in appearance. I comment to others in that dream that "This is very strange, in reality -- not here in this dream --  Vallee looks nothing like this. Vallee is tall, thin, has gray hair, this man is short, bald, not thin."

Dreaming is deeply intriguing. What lives in our subconscious, the levels and layers of dreaming (such as lucid dreaming), the recurring "dreamscapes" and symbols -- in my case, Dog -- and the frustrating and elusive nature of remembering dreams. It is fascinating to know that we had dreamt that night when we wake up in the morning, but just can't remember the dream. Or, we might have a few vague memories of that dream.  But those memories, that dream history, is still alive somewhere. Where? What part of the mind do these dream memories live? What part of the astral -- outside of us -- do they live?

What message are my guides sending via these lucid moments? What are the triggers that have caused these lucid moments to pop up in my dreams recently? No doubt meditation has been the cause; something I've just started doing again with intent, focus and consistency. (That last part … not easy for some of us.)

All this calls for a reading using the Angel Dreams oracle, which I will post here tomorrow.

Doreen Virtue and Melissa Virtue: Angel Dreams oracle

Sixteen Things Mentally Ill Pagans Have To Put Up With

Oh yeah. From Patheos.com -- How many times have some of us been at events and heard these, often from our fearless "leaders" who are supposed to be oh-so-damn-fucking-spiritual-more-than-you-that's-for-sure? Among my favorites are the following:

Sixteen Things Mentally Ill Pagans Have To Put Up With: 6. People acting like you somehow fail devotion to the gods if you have a mental health issue, especially if you are having a hard time and you are scaling back from your spiritual activities a bit for self-care, with bonus points if they say something along the lines of “I have a (minor) disability and I make myself get out of bed and do this and that and there’s no excuse for you!”

And this:

8. People saying “but you don’t look mentally ill!” or “you seem so high-functioning!”

Then this, which is something those pesky little debunker skeptoids like to say:

9. People treating you like any mystical experiences you have are invalid if you have a diagnosed mental illness, with the implication that your mental illness is creating hallucinations and delusions.

I admit I sometimes tell someone I'm praying for them without asking -- my intention is good, I just forget about the common courtesy of asking first. So when someone does that to me, I don't much mind.



However, it is interesting that the same holds true with readings. I would never do a reading on someone or their situation without their permission. I do not mean a reading for my own personal insight into the situation in the context of how I fit in; I mean a sort of "psychic spying" or intrusion. And in that setting, just how accurate could a reading be?


Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/paganswithdisabilities/2015/01/16-things-mentally-ill-pagans-have-to-put-up-with/#ixzz3PW8B7bh9

Apples and Orangutans: Traditional Witchcraft vs. Wicca

From Sable Aradia at Patheos.com. On comparing Wicca, or wicca, and witchcraft. Wiccan vs. witch. Witchery. Wiccery. All right, that last  is not a term.



But the diverseness and arguments continue with downright vehemence. Those of us doing our thing are accused by others, told we're doing it wrong, or don't get to, or …. you know.



I like what this author has to say about it all:

Apples and Orangutans: Traditional Witchcraft vs. Wicca: Traditional witchcraft is a folkloric magical practice (never magick with a K, that’s pretentious and would admit some kind of association with Aleister Crowley, who is icky like Gardner) based in European folk traditions and honouring European agricultural and seasonal cycles. It involves a certain degree of animism and respect for nature, but traditional witches can be of many different faiths. Often they regard themselves as shamans, animists, pantheists, panentheists, polytheists, and occasionally Christians or even Satanists, as the Horned God is equated frequently with the Devil in folklore. Those who descend from the work of the Clan of Tubal Cain often incorporate elements of The White Goddess into spiritual practice, as Robert Cochrane did. Some claim to be (and some are) witches as part of a family tradition. Its practices are similar to those of folk magic practitioners of other cultures, with a strong grounding in sympathetic magic.

And then there's this, which mirrors my own experience:

A valid argument of traditional witches that I do support is in saying that going to Sabbat circles eight times a year does not make you a witch; practicing magic does.  “Witch” is a calling and a job description.  Yes, I agree.  But practicing magic does not require you to have any faith in particular; or even to have a faith at all.
I was doing witchcraft before I even knew that it had a name.  I know some people claim they were taught in a hereditary tradition that goes back to the dawn of ancient history; I’m not claiming that, but I was changing the weather, seeing the future, and burning candles to influence Fate when I was ten.  I was doing kitchen witchery at twelve.  When I was fourteen, I was dealing with ghosts, spirits and the Otherworld in a manner that others would now recognize as hedgewitchery.  So I guess I’ve always been a “traditional witch.”

 I like her conclusion at the end of the article. You can be both, or one or the other. Solitary, or not.

Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/betweentheshadows/2015/01/apples-and-orangutans-traditional-witchcraft-vs-wicca/#ixzz3P3ioHMTg

Latest UFO News | UFO News Today | Recent UFO News | UFOs

Latest UFO News | UFO News Today | Recent UFO News | UFOs: Tim Beckley, the CEO of Inner Light/Global Communications, has always had a healthy interest in helping his customers make their personal spiritual journey to some kind of positive, joyful outcome. While Beckley resists some of the more “preachy” literary paths to salvation, he does inject into the marketplace a goodly amount of information intended to firm up your faith that there are patient, heavenly forces reaching out to those who are open to them. Not only do these heavenly force reach out to us, we are provided with a method of reaching out to them as well. Which is the subject of a recent release from Inner Light/Global Communications called “Angel Spells: The Enochian Occult Workbook of Charms, Seals, Talismans and Ciphers.” ENOCH’S LONG LOST BOOK
Perhaps some explanation about what the word “Enochian” in the title means. It refers to an “angel summoning” system first developed by John Dee, the most respected scholar of his day, in the 1500s when Queen Elizabeth I ruled over England. Dee, working with a psychic partner named Edward Kelley, attempted to open communications with the angelic realm. (UFO Digest)

Rabbit: Supernatural, Synchronicity and Strange

On my blog Animal Forteana, a new post about rabbit synchronicity. Last night's episode of Ghost Adventures explored the Bell Witch haunting, which includes the supernatural apparition of a hybrid entity that has the head of a rabbit and body of a dog. Bunny coincidences ensued. . . 

(By the way, just how many blogs do you have Regan, one might ask? About a dozen, I'd say. Check back for an updated blog list.)

In the context of card oracles, what messages does Rabbit bring? Depends on the system:

RABBITFertility and New LifeThe Rabbit is known for its ability to procreate, its fleetness, and its movement is by leaps.People with this totem may find that their endeavors go in leaps and bounds also.If a Rabbit totem has appeared in your life, it may indicate a need for more planning or to check those plans already set in motion.Do not box yourself in a corner.This totem may also bring a need to examine the kinds of foods you eat.Perhaps a vegetarian diet, if only for a short time, can help you strengthen and heal.Rabbit is associated with Eostra, the Celtic goddess of Spring, and therefore associated with Ostara (or Easter).This is the reason we celebrate with Easter eggs.Rabbit is also sacred to the moon goddess Andraste, the Norse goddess Freya, and the Greek god Hermes.The Hare is associated with the moon in many cultures including Native American, Hindi, and China. (from Medicine Card Meanings/Golden Mousedeer)

Medicine Cards tells us that Rabbit signifies FEAR:

The keynote here is: what you resist will persist! What you fear most is what you will become.
Here is the lesson. If you pulled Rabbit, stop talking about horrible things happening and get rid of "what it" in your vocabulary. This card may signal a time of worry about the future or of trying to exercise your control over that which is not yet in form - the future. Stop now! Write your fears down and be willing to feel them. Breathe into them, and feel them running through your body into Mother Earth as a give-away. (Medicine Cards,David Carson, Jamie Sams.) 

Medicine Cards oracle, David Carson and Jamie Sams

Gnome Visit?

I'm not that well acquainted with gnome lore. Just not an area I've explored or am into. But I had a weird little dream right before I woke up this morning that was a bit of a nightmare. (Or morning-mare.)

image:pixabay

Jim is outside working in the front yard. I'm inside, watching from the living room window. I see a short, plump man who looks to be in his fifties, maybe sixties, bright white longish and curly hair. He's wearing a dark blue baseball cap, bright red -- candy apple red -- t-shirt, and jeans. He's behind Jim, and picks up our cat by his leg and just starts swinging him and dragging him around.

I am horrified and furious, and yell to Jim "He has Mango! He has Mango!" and then the man looks up at me, gives a wild grin, and jumps onto our porch, thumbing his nose at me, and starts messing around with the things on our porch. I yell at him "Get away from here, get off our porch!" but he just laughs.

He's a nasty little bugger.

When I wake up, I'm breathing hard, I can't move even though I'm awake, and I'm feeling a little frightened. Later in the day, when thinking about how odd this dream was, I get "gnome." "But," I say to myself, "he wasn't wearing a red cap, his shirt was, but not his cap. And he was bigger than a gnome, even though he was short, about five feet at the most." That other voice just says to me "Sigh."

I came across this regarding gnomes and cats:

illustration: Brian Froud

Gnomes | Type of faeries: Males are the guardians of animal kind and show little preference for their animal friends, not withstanding their aversion to cats both wild and domesticated. (Monsters.com)

Well, there it is and as far as I care to go for now. The dream had a "pop in" feel, meaning, it came from "out there." I have had those kinds of dreams before, including this one that I call the "green warty man." (Come to think about it, that was a gnomish type of dream as well.)

By the way, the green warty man I saw was not as cute and innocent as the Brian Froud drawing. My green warty entity was ugly, and not nice.