Death and Rebirth All in the Planter

K, so I thought my little green growing plant friends had bitten the dust. All of this due to the fact that I put them out in sunlight WAY too early. Thankfully though, when everything looked grim and dead and dry, I noticed a few small roots in the bottom of the container and decided to try a last resort of soaking the dirt mass in its totality. Turns out, that was exactly what the little fuckers needed. So, I've lost three of the original sprouts, but the big long one in the center has revived and three new shoots have popped up. It's like an episode of ER- birth and death all in the same episode, only my story is more like birth and death in the same plastic planter. Sigh, drama of the little plant people. I should air a plant soap opera. I'm truly losing it now. Enjoy the pics!

Honey and Cinnamon

Yeah, I've been saying this for a while and now I've found some interesting information all piled into one article thanks to a friend of mine. I'll be putting a lot of these remedies to work in the next year. Check 'em out. 

As a bee-keeper, I can testify to the marvelous medicinal value of honey. However, I have never used it in conjunction with Cinnamon. Sounds like a great idea to me. 

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning to sugar. In reality honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call "crystallizing". 

When this happens I loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as good as it ever was. 

Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey. 

Cinnamon and Honey 

~ Bet the drug companies won't like this one getting around.~ 

Facts on Honey and Cinnamon: 

It is found that a mixture of honey and Cinnamon cures most diseases. Honey is produced in most of the countries of the world. Scientists of today also accept honey as a 'Ram Ban' (very effective) medicine for all kinds of diseases. 

Honey can be used without any side effects for any kind of diseases. 

Today's science says that even though honey is sweet, if taken in the right dosage as a medicine, it does not harm diabetic patients. 

Weekly World News, a magazine in Canada, in its issue dated 17 January,1995 has given the following list of diseases that can be cured by honey and cinnamon as researched by western scientists: 

HEART DISEASES: Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada, various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins. 

ARTHRITIS: Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain. 

BLADDER INFECTIONS: Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm water and drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder. 

CHOLESTEROL: Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 
16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol. 

COLDS: Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses. 

UPSET STOMACH: Honey taken with cinnamon powder cures stomach ache and also clears stomach ulcers from the root. 

GAS: According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas. 

IMMUNE SYSTEM: Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial and viral diseases. 

INDIGESTION: Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals. 

INFLUENZA: A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ' Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu. 

LONGEVITY: Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increase and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old. 

PIMPLES: Three tablespoons of honey and one teaspoon of cinnamon powder paste. Apply this paste on the pimples before sleeping and wash it next morning with warm water. If done daily for two weeks, it removes pimples from the root. 

SKIN INFECTIONS: Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections. 

WEIGHT LOSS: Daily in the morning one half hour before breakfast on an empty stomach, and at night before sleeping, drink honey and cinnamon powder boiled in one cup of water. If taken regularly, it reduces the weight of even the most obese person. Also, drinking this mixture regularly does not allow the fat to accumulate in the body even though the person may eat a high calorie diet. 

CANCER: Recent research in Japan and Australia has revealed that advanced cancer of the stomach and bones have been cured successfully. Patients suffering from these kinds of cancer should daily take one tablespoon of honey with one teaspoon of cinnamon powder for one month three times a day. 

FATIGUE: Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week. 

BAD BREATH: People of South America, first thing in the morning, gargle with one teaspoon of honey and cinnamon powder mixed in hot water, so their breath stays fresh throughout the day. 

HEARING LOSS: Daily morning and night honey and cinnamon powder, taken in equal parts restores hearing. Remember when we were kids? We had toast with real butter and cinnamon sprinkled on it! 

You might want to share this information with a friend, kinfolks and loved ones. Everyone needs healthy help information ~ what they do with it is up to them ~ share with your email buddies!!!!!

Reinvention 2009

Today I spent the afternoon deleting my accounts with various dating and hookup sites I've been a member with for the last three to four years. The reason for it was kind of obscure even to me. Each disconnect email asked specifically why I wouldn't be using their service anymore and all I had for them was "Other" or "No Reason." So why did I feel this need to wipe myself from the gay dating radar?

A few things come to mind and may help explain the reason. First, I really haven't gotten anything good out of them for a while now save a good short-termed dating relationship that ended with the guy moving away. Yes, they were all the source of some crazy, fun, and interesting hookups of which the actual number is even eluding me now, but none of them were really great. One ended up costing me a large sum of money and a horde of stress and drama that I never asked for. The first was somewhat life-changing as it was my first foray into sex and resulted in a regular fuckbuddy, but that got old quickly. And all the rest were odd with their own twist but taught me something else about life. 

The second thing that comes to mind is that my direction in life at the moment is focused more on coven, job, and rebuilding. Yes, people do carry on with dating and relationships even in situations like mine, but think of the energy I will save on a daily basis by not having to worry whether any of the ten emails I received last week will be "the One," "the Next Big One," or "the Disaster." Also, by taking myself out of the dating pool I eliminate, for the most part, the attachments that stem from curious and interested guys who won't let it drop or who haven't spoken up. So, for the benefit of my personal focus and the conservation of energy I took those steps. 

Third, by taking myself off the radar I now have the opportunity to work on me, both internally and externally, magically and mundanely. After getting to a point in my life where I have reinvented myself, I can decide to start pursuing dating again, online or in person. The new levels of confidence and the fresh perspective when I come back into those circles will have a great energy and will be productive instead of counter-productive like they are now. The image of the Hermit card in the Tarot keeps popping to mind today and I guess that is where my focus is right now. 

I can feel the positive effects of this decision already. I don't think I really had a grip on how much stress those sites were dealing me. I mean, who really thinks of those sites as stress bubbles? But I've dumped it, and I'm feeling great. Went through my email today on Gmail, Yahoo! and Hotmail/MSN and unsubscribed from tons of newsletters and junk mail and the odd assortment of product emails and cleaned out the trash. That also felt amazing! Who knows how far I'll take this Spring cleaning fever! For now this feels like enough. May attack AOL tomorrow. Lol

Yoga of the Rat

In the busy streets of a thriving city there flows a constant stream of traffic passing over miles of pavement and concrete every day. If you follow the dripping of the exhaust pipes and leaking trails of faulty oil tanks you'll find it flows into the gutters and down into the sewers and tunnels that spread beneath the city above. In this deep, otherworldly place you will find the denizens of the under belly. Bats, mice, the odd raccoon, a few pasty white alligators, the adventuring cat, insects of all kinds, and the rat. A rat that makes a huge discovery in this short story.

Don't think that this rat is the only one of his kind in the Underbelly. Of course there are others. Rodents are known for their ability to multiply in crazy numbers usually the fault of over active female rat partners, the ever horny guy rats, and the rat whores, a skanky brand of rodent that peddle their hairy butts around at bends in the pipe and intersections of tunnel works. Occasionally you may find a bit of lipstick in the bunch which they have copied from the gorgeous human females in the Above. But I've no desire to get into their trade here. That's another story. The point is, rats are many and constantly striving for a one up in the busy world of trash hording and refuse collecting.

Our rat was like any other out there. Working the daily grind, catching up on the latest news as it was passed around, venturing up to the city above for a new trinket or some spicy Indian food from a restaurant down three blocks from his house, and other odd daily activities. With these elements of his daily life came a certain amount of risk. The most obvious was the stereotypical menace of rodent life, Madame Pussycat. Many days seemed to end with a night at the local bar retelling the near misses of the day from a run in with the fuzzy pain in the butt. Life was good, but there was always something out there to make it tough or difficult.

It was at this bar on a Wednesday night that the rat met a cockroach tossing down a pint of whatever had been spilled in the street above when its prior owner leaned over the curb to blow his dinner into the street. This roach was definitely in an upbeat mood and when our buddy asked him what was good in his life the roach ranted and raved about his mad skill in avoiding the traditional dangers that come with everyday life. The rat couldn't believe there was a way to avoid the natural dangers of life on a daily basis and asked the roach to explain. The roach admitted he wasn't really avoiding anything, but with a new regime he did daily he had developed his senses and physical prowess to a level that gave him a one up on the gators, cats, and lurking birds. The rat was totally into this idea and prompted the creepy to give him an address where he could learn this technique.

Around the corner from the MilkBox Mansion and in a much more developed neighborhood complete with its own well maintained mold yards and automatic lighting for the street he found a small studio with a sign over the front that said SewerPrime Yoga. A new word, this "yoga." He checked himself in at the front desk and walked in to a class just getting ready to start. A very limber bat babe was stretching out at the head of classroom and immediately gave him a mat to plop down amongst the growing crowd of students. Positioning himself on the mat, the rat waited for the class to begin. With a quiet "welcome" the bat took her place at the front and began leading them through some quiet meditation. After the meditation began the most odd and disturbing sequences of bodily contortions you've ever seen and all seeming to be utterly pointless. Our rat didn't make a fuss though and worked through the random "asanas" and poses until it felt like his whole body was going to collapse. At the end of the class and with a parting namaste from the group the rat headed out shaking his head and wondering what the roach saw in this stuff.

The next day the rat noticed how much better he felt and how much more tuned in his ratty senses were. His altered state even allowed for him to finish up his daily dirty work early and stop in at the bar for a drink before heading home. The roach was there this evening and was impressed the rat actually went to the yoga class. The rat mentioned the pleasant side effects and the roach launched into another long rant about the benefits and pluses of his new way of life until the rat was finally convinced he had to go back to the class if for no other reason than to see what would drive the roach to such an obsessive love for this stuff. Which is what happened for the next four weeks until the rat started noticing how much more on top of his game he was and also how slow that fat gator seemed to be going these days. Life was getting a little easier. And with that he was totally sold on the idea and is still going as I'm writing this.

What's the point of this crazy ass story? Not really any point. I wanted a story about a rat that loved yoga. Hopefully I'll be taking yoga firmly in hand for a four week period myself which will then lead to a routine practice like my rat buddy.

Oh, and I don't have a rat. Just in case you were wondering.

New Friends

My little green things have sprouted! Who knows what the hell they are, but it's a grand total of four sprouts that I see in there. These are my seeds from Ostara's ritual, planted to bring an end to the old and birth to the new. I've decided I'm going to keep updating the pictures of my little green buddies and posting them here with updates. Stay tuned!