January is a Bitch...

...and so is February.

I can't tell you how much crap I've endured in the month of January in my life. When I was a kid it was just the pain in the ass drag of going back to school after the Christmas/winter break. As I've gotten older it's gotten worse and the pain in the ass quotient has skyrocketed. Serious relationships grinding to painful halts, drug addictions taking over the lives of loved ones, ice storms that turn a region into a disaster area and every form of sickness popular with the cool kids.

I've really spent most of these past two months sick as hell with one damn thing or another. Strangely enough, my personal life has taken a decided upswing at the same time as my body has been producing all kinds of disgusting things. My motto seems to be: "it could be worse." And that has proven true around these hills lately. But me being sick all the time coupled with one of my furry children sustaining an injury (that he's recovering from) has really made me hate January and February.

So, here's saying goodbye to January and February, welcome to March and "Come on Spring!"

Thoughts For the Season

I took this image more than a week ago and I think it's got some brilliant red colors to enjoy and mark the important, but often forgotten, point of the whole season of holidays: the return of the sun after the longest night of the year. Unfortunately, my monitor crapped out on me and I've had to temporarily replace it with an ancient Compaq monitor that only has 32 bit color. So, I'm not quite sure if this photo is very red or not. Either way I seem to remember liking this image, so I hope you do too!

I read on The Wild Hunt how some 300 people came to Stonehenge to celebrate the Solstice on the wrong day and I just couldn't believe it. Or, rather, I was incredibly dismayed by it. I know I'm a hardass about celebrating the solstices, equinoxes and cross quarters at the right time (I don't celebrate Samhain on Halloween, for example, but on the actual cross quarter which usually occurs a full week after Halloween) but come on folks! You call yourselves pagans? And you didn't even realize that our holydays are based on astronomical events and thus don't always occur on the same calendar date? You know so little about what it means to be pagan that it never once occurred to you to check the date? I wish I could meet those folks and slap them silly! I guess I wouldn't have to slap them silly since they are already! Okay, stepping off soapbox now.

I stayed up all night on Yule and kept the fireplaces and candles burning all night. I like the idea of making it a tradition; it's a beautiful way to not only recognize the solstice but show respect for the sun. I've read before how keeping candles/lights burning all during the Yule night will help draw the sun back or otherwise help the sun find its way back. I don't think the sun needs our help but I like the idea showing my support. There's also that little fact of it being seriously cold to encourage one to keep fires going!

Here's hoping you and yours stay warm and happy during this season and all the years to come!

Control

Idris over at House of Inanna recently wrote a blog post that really got my motor running about something I've been mulling over for a lot of years: control. Here's Idris:

Children had to [be] forced to the truth - and schools were created whose sole purpose was to break this natural urge to move to delight and love and force them to bend their knees to will of old and woman-denying men.

The above kicked me closer toward a conclusion that's been growing in the back of my head for most of my adult life: everything really is about control. It's not sex, it's not money or love, etc.; those things aren't secondary necessarily but are things to have control over. Starkhawk was/is very wise to discuss the idea of power over in her writings. (I really need to get her books off my dusty bookshelf!) And she's totally correct.

You know who else is correct? The BDSM crowd and the psychological folks: in every relationship there are dominant personalities and the submissive, weaker personalities. And some people just don't know when to quit or when to stand up and start. There are control freaks and those who don't want to be controlled by others but also can't or won't make hard decisions and stand by them.

The power hungry I can't really say much about other than that they've got serious ego issues that can, and often do, involve the domination of millions. They are of a breed largely unknown to me. I can only assume that those who feel the need to control many others are themselves very low in the self-esteem department and somehow think that if they dictate the actions of others than their own will be perfect. Or something.

Now the regular everyday controlling, bossy people are different. They like to keep their ducks in a row and have a handle on their particular situation. And I get that, I really do. Some people make better leaders than others. Some people are better under pressure and can make better decisions. And that's all well and good. My problem with some controlling people is their amazing ability to make everyone around them feel like stupid, barely evolved children who don't even have thumbs let alone the capacity for critical thought. I guess the only thing to do in that situation is to just ask them to lay off. At least, that's what I usually do.

As far as the rest goes, I've heard the phrase "passive aggressive" and always thought it was just a bunch of shit. I used to think, and I still do in part, that those who accuse others of being passive aggressive are just pissed cuz they don't get to rule the playground. And that is true, in one sense. But as I've gotten older I've learned that being passive aggressive can also be a wimpy, whiny ass way of doing your own thing while pretending to do what you know is best. And it's mostly a control and ego issue. There's a line in a Fiona Apple song that goes: "Do I wanna do right, of course. But do I really wanna feel I'm forced to answer you, hell no." And I completely understand that!

We've all got our own opinions and ideas and sometimes it's really damned hard to follow through on a stupid idea assigned by someone else. But being passive aggressive is agreeing to do something to a person's face and then doing something different once they've gone. Instead of having the guts to disagree with that person at the start the passive aggressive turd says one thing and does another. Passive aggressive people are experts at being two-faced. I oughta know, I've been one and occasionally still suffer relapses.

As I move further into the firey stage of my life I'm doing the passive aggressive schtick less and less. No, I'd much rather point out how wrong you are to begin with so I don't have to go through the charade of following your stupid orders. I'd much rather do that than add more bullshit to the already overflowing bullshit supply to be found in this world. I guess for many of us it's just a matter of age, experience and strength of character. I'm coming up with all kinds of new mottoes or mantras lately. My most recent is: I will not tolerate bullshit from others or myself.

Change is Good

I have a confession to make: My name is Livia Indica and I don't like Thanksgiving. In fact, I hate it. I've felt this way for most of my life but only recognized the reasons behind these feelings in the last ten years or so. It's a big frikkin' mess and worry and bother and stress and money spent and family irritations all to celebrate the subjugation and eventual extermination of nearly 20 million American Indians by militant invasion and disease. I know I'm not the only person who feels this way but that doesn't change anything or make the holidays, and all its headaches, any easier to handle.

"But that's not what I came to talk about. I came to talk about the draft."

Uh, I mean, I came to talk about change and how it can be a good, if painful, thing.

You see, I still don't like Thanksgiving Day all that much. It is my very least favorite of all secular or American or religious holidays, be they Christian or pagan or Spaghetti Monster-related, etc. But this Thanksgiving is different. This entire holiday season will be, and already is, different. Why? Well, to be quite blunt about it: there aren't any junkies doing everything they can to ruin it. It's amazing how people who can't accomplish anything useful, or much of anything at all, for years on end can still manage to ruin holidays for everyone around them. All it takes is a few choice words, a few thousand dollars stolen, a lack of consideration or participation and a general discourteous attitude to make everyone involved in the holiday feel like total shit.

And my family doesn't have to face that this year! Yay!

Sure, we're broke as hell. The junkies left us with a ton of drug-induced debt. We're worried about our loved one and what he's done to himself. But we are determined to have a happier holiday season than we've had the last two or three years. And while everything isn't perfect the mere fact that we are junkie-free will guarantee a pretty nice time for us. And I'm honestly excited and looking forward to it. So, here, have some traditional Thanksgiving Day carols.





And to all my American friends out there: Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your pumpkin pie and tryptophan-induced naps!

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Or, If You Still Aren't Recycling Here's a DAMN GOOD REASON to Start

What is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, you say? Well, it's a huge floating pile of trash all clobbered together in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. What is it? It's mostly plastics. Plastics like that water bottle you just threw in the trash. Plastics like that wrapper you just threw out the window. Plastics like that gallon jug you left by the creek at the camping area. It's estimated that only about 20% of the trash comes from ships. The other 80% comes from land sources, like through rivers, drainage, etc. And here's the kicker: it's big. How big, you say? It's ROUGHLY TWICE THE SIZE OF FUCKING TEXAS!

How does it stay in one general area? This article from the LA Times perhaps puts it best:

This is known as the Eastern Garbage Patch, part of a system of currents called the North Pacific subtropical gyre. Located halfway between San Francisco and Hawaii, the garbage patch is an area of slack winds and sluggish currents where flotsam collects from around the Pacific, much like foam piling up in the calm center of a hot tub.

Pretty scary, eh? And this is only the biggest patch! They exist in all the oceans all over the world!

If anyone ever needed a reason to start, and stick with, recycling this is a good one. Why aren't you recycling? Too much work, too much hassle? You have a busy life, you have lots of responsibilities, lots to see, do, learn, people to meet, etc., and you just don't have the time for it? It's not worth the effort? I wonder what the innocent animals who live in the water think of your rationalizations. Some animals, like this sea turtle, become trapped and deformed by the floating trash. Some ingest it and die either from starvation, suffocation or from the plastic painfully twisting their innards. Some get trapped in larger piles and simply can't get out, so they starve to death with a clear view of freedom and food. From the same LA Times article:

An estimated 1 million seabirds choke or get tangled in plastic nets or other debris every year. About 100,000 seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins, other marine mammals and sea turtles suffer the same fate.

And if that's not enough to get you off your ass consider this: the trash doesn't just hurt the animals within its immediate area.

Plastics are derived from petroleum. The heat of the sun, as well as ultraviolet rays, causes the plastics to break down into water and carbon dioxide thus adding to the problem of global climate change. While it's still floating the plastic blocks sunlight, interrupting the growth of algae, which also adds to the problem of global climate change. You see, algae eats carbon dioxide, loves the stuff. There are even experiments going on to feed iron to algae thus creating a boom in their growth and a lowering of carbon dioxide. It's not just the animals who are suffering. By refusing to recycle we are, in effect, killing ourselves.

If you aren't already recycling your plastics, numbers 1 and 2, start now! There's no time like the present! There are recycling centers all across this land and many, many larger towns and cities include recycling pickup with their regular trash service, often at no extra cost. What's stopping you? Yeah, it's a new routine but once you've gotten into it you will be amazed at how simple it is, how easy it is. Rinse things out, get rid of the lid and label and toss the item into a set aside recycling bin. Then, either put it on the curb or gather it all together every few months or so. You'll be doing your part to make sure the Garbage Patches of the world don't get any bigger. You'll make yourself feel good and you just might teach your kids something about environmental responsibility. Even if you don't give a shit about the animals of the oceans at least get to recycling for the sake of yourself, your own children and your race.

Know Thyself Deadbeat

From heaven descends the maxim Know Thyself - To be taken to heart and remembered, whether you're choosing a wife, or aiming to win a seat in that august body the Senate. Thersites never laid claim to Achilles' armour: Ulysses did - and look at the show he made of himself. If you decide to plead some touch-and-go case, where vital issues hang in the balance, take stock of yourself, get it clear just what you are - a talented, forceful speaker or a third-rate windbag.

- Juvenal, Roman satirist


The famous phrase Know Thyself was inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi in Greece. History tells us that Apollo himself imparted this maxim to one of the Seven Sages. Whatever the original source I think some folks need to revisit it and take some notes. I don't bring it up for any philosophical purpose. I'm not quoting Juvenal seeking drollery. I'm using it to illustrate that I have plenty of company when I become incredibly irritated when I come across certain individuals who, for some strange reason, behave as if they are a god’s gift to the rest of us smelly mortals despite the fact that they are worthless sacks of shit.

To begin with I must say I, along with the rest of the world, dislike being in the company of arrogant folks. It's just irritating and unpleasant no matter how you slice it. But, and this is a big but, some people can perhaps be forgiven for their arrogance if they have indeed achieved great things. If you've walked on the moon then, yes, you can be forgiven for a little arrogance. If you've saved a human life, then yeah, I think you're entitled to a pretty high opinion of yourself. But my willingness to forgive a little arrogant behavior is not usually extended to plain old ordinary folks. And it most certainly is not extended to flat out losers.

Now, for the sake of clarity let me define "losers". I'm not referring to folks who don't have a paying job yet still do lots of work in that they keep a clean house, lovingly raise children and maintain creative and intellectual interests; they're not losers, far from it. No. Rather, when I say "losers" I am referring to those who accomplish nothing day in day out despite the fact that they have responsibilities and are perfectly capable of fulfilling said responsibilities. I'm referring to people so worthless that they cannot be bothered to get off their asses to do anything constructive, positive or progressive. These folks are the lowest forms of bullshit in my opinion and have NO right to be arrogant. And yet some of these people consider themselves not only worthy of respect but deserving of adulation. These people are not only losers but stupid, deluded losers full to the brim with unfounded arrogance.

Fortunately for me I have only come across a few of these types of people in my life. But those few times have nearly driven me from irritation straight to rage. I guess I should be thankful that they are so easily recognizable. You know the type; we all do. They consider themselves above physical labor of any kind because they are too busy with their passionate pursuits of playing video games and whatever the hell else lazy, self-indulgent people do all day. They have no job and shirk their household or familial duties, however few or many they may be. They live with relatives or friends, contribute little or nothing and yet expect that everything will be, and should be, given to them. Why? Well, because they're special of course.

They had a rough childhood so they're entitled. Or not everyone liked them in high school so they are the exception to every rule. Or their dreams didn't come to fruition so they're allowed to do whatever they want - which usually means very little. They've got a limitless supply of ridiculous excuses involving convoluted tales of persecution. They're often full of sob stories that not only rationalize their lazy, self-centered existence but express their self-image as a put upon individual so complex no one can comprehend what they've endured. They can't lift a finger to actually accomplish anything and yet, for all this, they act as if their shit doesn't stink. They carry themselves with a heavy, dense air of accomplishment and expect the rest of us to defer to them in all matters.

Well, guess what buddy? Your shit does stink. In fact, you stink with the stench of lies, selfishness and Grade A bullshit. I don't care what so-called problems keep you from getting a job or picking up after yourself. If you feel good enough about yourself to demand the admiration of everyone you meet then you're obviously not so depressed that you can't get off your ass and do something constructive. There are plenty of people who have suffered but still most of them manage to drag their ass off the couch and take care of business. Do something with yourself. Prove you are worthy of life. Then we'll see if you deserve any respect and admiration.

There. I feel a little better now.

The Pope Did What?

So, we all know about the many cases of Catholic priests sexually molesting and abusing their church members, in most cases young boys. According to this AlterNet article there's been nearly 5000 priests officially accused of abusing children. When I first read that figure I wasn't sure I believed it, but this study commissioned by the US Catholic Church confirms it. While the number of cases investigated, and successfully prosecuted, is much lower that figure of 5000 accused priests is still pretty resounding. Imagine it: thousands of kids sexually abused by their only link with their God: a priest. And, lest we forget and the report points out, that abuse wasn't limited to inappropriately suggestive conversation or the viewing of pornographer. There was actual forced penetration being done against these children and some of them were younger than 7 years of age! And out of all those priests accused none of them have been excommunicated by the Pope. Some voluntarily went to counseling, some went to jail, some quietly retired from their posts and some just went on to find a new batch of victims in a different parish. But NONE of them were ever kicked out of the Church. Now, keep those facts in your head while I go on to the next bit.

From the AlterNet article:

"Nearly 5,000 Catholic priests [in the U.S.] have sexually abused over 12,000 Catholic children…but they were not excommunicated," says Father Roy Bourgeois, who faced the latter scenario after helping celebrate what the Vatican considers to be an illegitimate ordination mass in August 2008. Bourgeois, a Vietnam veteran with a Purple Heart who became a prominent peace activist, stood with the trailblazers of the female ordination movement in Lexington, Ky., to make Janice Sevre-Duszynska a Catholic priest.

For thumbing his nose at one of the most sacred tenets of the conservative hierarchy -- that only men are worthy of the priesthood -- Bourgeois was swiftly rebuked by the Vatican in a letter two months later, telling him he had 30 days to renounce his actions or face excommunication.

Yep, you read that right the first time. I had to read it a few times myself. It's apparently okay to willfully abuse a sacred trust by molesting and raping small children but if you place a woman, A FEMALE, on the same level as a man then you're out of the Church! Can you believe this shit? Perhaps I'm oversimplifying in an explicit way but what the Catholic Church is essentially saying is this: if you are a male, and a priest, it's perfectly okay to take a five-year-old boy into the confessional, strip his clothes off, hold him down, ignore his cries and pleas and purposely insert your penis into his anus with bloody force but if you dare to ordain a woman as a priest(ess) of the Church you will go to Hell and suffer eternal damnation. But go on permanently and irrevocably destroying the minds and bodies of children cuz that's just fine. Humiliate the kids, abuse them, dehumanize them, warp their developing minds, scar them physically and psychologically and as long as you keep women out of the Church it's just fine and dandy.

Obviously, it makes absolutely no sense at all. And so I have come to a perhaps radical conclusion: the Pope is trying to destroy his own Church. Think about it: Church attendance is in the toilet, churches are closing down left and right and the country, the world, is becoming more secular every day. So what does the Pope do? Why, give the child molesters and rapists a slap on the wrist and denounce with holy fervor a priest who dares include women. According to the AlterNet article well over 60% of American Catholics favor the ordination of women as priests so I guess the Pope is also getting the extra benefit of alienating the remaining faithful. So, what gives? What's the answer, the reason? Well, I figure there's only one of two possible answers for this craziness. One: the Pope is trying to destroy his own Church. Or, two: the Pope is batshiat insane. Or both.

Cannabis Law Reform

From NORML:

As for those tens of millions of you who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol -- and the tens of thousands of you who voted to make this subject the most popular question in the White House's online Presidential Town Hall -- well, your voice doesn't really matter.

Asked this morning whether he "would ... support the bill currently going through the California legislation to legalize and tax marijuana, boosting the economy and reducing drug cartel related violence," the President responded with derision.

"There was one question that was voted on that ranked fairly high and that was whether legalizing marijuana would improve the economy and job creation, and I don't know what this says about the online audience," he laughed.

"The answer is no, I don't think that [is] a good strategy."

Please, go read the entire thing. And consider adding your name to the well-written form letter, to which you can amend in any way you see fit. What follows is their form-letter with my own comments at the end.

Mr. President,

You pledged "to open up the White House to the American people." I'm one of the tens of millions of Americans who believe that cannabis should be legally regulated like alcohol. I'm also one of the tens of thousands of Americans who voted to make this subject the most popular question in your online Presidential Town Hall. I'm disappointed to learn that you believe that my voice doesn't really matter.

I understand that you may oppose this position, but that is no reason to deride this issue.

Mr. President, please tell me: "What is it that you think is so funny about the subject of marijuana law reform?"

Since 1965, police have arrested over 20 million Americans for violating marijuana laws, yet nearly 90 percent of teenagers say that pot is "very easy" or "fairly easy" to obtain. Do you find this funny?

According to your administration, there is an unprecedented level of violence occurring at the Mexico/US border -- much of which is allegedly caused by the trafficking of marijuana to the United States by drug cartels. America's stringent enforcement of pot prohibition, which artificially inflates black market pot prices and ensures that only criminal enterprises will be involved in the production and sale of this commodity, is helping to fuel this violence. Do you still believe that this subject is humorous?

Finally, two recent polls indicate that a strong majority of regional voters support ending marijuana prohibition and treating the drug's sale, use, and distribution like alcohol. A February 2009 Zogby telephone poll reported that nearly six out of ten of voters on the west coast think that cannabis should be "taxed and legally regulated like alcohol and cigarettes." A just-released California Field Poll reports similar results, finding that 58 percent of statewide votes believe that regulations for cannabis should be the same or less strict than those for alcohol.

Why do you choose to laugh at these people? Why do you choose to laugh at me?

The American public is ready and willing to engage in a serious and objective political debate regarding the merits of legalizing the use of cannabis by adults. The time for joking is over.

Please consider apologizing for your dismissive tone, and please consider treating those of us who believe that there are viable alternatives to marijuana prohibition with the respect we deserve.

Regular internet users were a great help to you in your run for the White House; deriding online poll results is the same as slapping your greatest supporters in the face. I recognize that, when it comes to cannabis law reform, there are many interested parties on both sides of the issue and that sometimes these parties must be assuaged of their fears and doubts, especially in a public forum. But please, don't make the mistake of alienating the largest demographic that placed you in your position.

The "War on (Some) Drugs" has been a massive failure and the inclusion of cannabis in the same category as deadly drugs is patently absurd. If you truly wish to lead this country out of its troubles and into the future you must recognize that cannabis law reform is one of the most important issues for tens of millions of American citizens. We are tired of being imprisoned for taking our medicine. We are tired of being imprisoned for years for possessing an ounce of an harmless herb. We are tired of being treated as second-class citizens because we would occasionally rather imbibe smoke than destroy our livers with the much deadlier drug of alcohol. The time for derision is over. I fear that if you do not rethink your position on cannabis law reform that you will lose a great part of your public support.

My comments are in bold. The tactics of the old regime of "cannabis is as dangerous as heroin, cocaine, etc." is over. It's time for a new, modern and progressive policy that has at least something to do with reason and, maybe, just maybe the wishes of the majority.

Graveyard Dirt for Magic

[Most of the following facts can be found at Lucky Mojo. And while my opinions and ideas are liberally sprinkled throughout the ultimate source is the Lucky Mojo page. I'm blogging about this mostly for my own sake; once I write about something I have a much firmer hold on it.]

I'm researching various magical methods of removing a particularly negative person from my life and that of my family. One of the things I'm currently thinking about a lot is the use of graveyard dirt in folk magic, specifically hoodoo. In hoodoo there are three uses for graveyard dirt: for protection work, for a trick involving an enemy and love spells. But there's more to using graveyard dirt than just the trick at hand. First of all, you've got to realize that by using dirt from a grave you are invoking the spirit of the deceased. You are seeking to employ the spirit of a dead person to do magical work for you. You must be prepared for this. If you use dirt from the grave of one who died violently, for instance, there's no knowing what kind of result you'll get. Some say that if you use dirt from the grave of a child the spirit will be more docile. Still others say that the grave dirt from a child will be weak, magically speaking. Most of the time, you just can't be sure. According to the Lucky Mojo section on graveyard dirt:

Unless the spirit of a grave mentally reaches out to you first -- which often happens -- the only way to learn what that spirit will or will not do for you is to approach the grave, state your proposal, and *listen* to what you are told.

If possible it is beneficial to decide, based on your intent, whose grave dirt you'll need. If you're intent involves love, protection or something positive for yourself then it's considered best to use dirt from the grave of a loved one who will kindly work for you. If you wish to do harm you might consider the grave dirt from an individual who was unjustly executed and would be filled with a desire for vengeance. The grave dirt belonging to a soldier is said to be particularly brave, strong and obedient. It really depends on your intent and what you can learn about the deceased.

Once you've made your decision, or been invited to a particular grave, you must buy the dirt. By doing this you are also employing that spirit to help you in your endeavor. There are several different forms of payment according to hoodoo lore. Some say a bright, shiny dime is appropriate, some say three pennies, some say 13 pennies, and some say a shot of booze. At any rate, the price is minimal. It is the asking and the gesture of offering payment that seems to be important.

As an aside, there is a weird story perpetuated by some new age authors that the term "graveyard dirt" is a euphemism for mullein or other herbs and has been such for hundreds of years. This is total bullshit. There are several problems with this "theory". First of all, this idea sprang from occult suppliers in the 1940s that feared the legal problems involved with interstate commerce and grave tampering and so discontinued offering real grave dirt through their catalogs. One could still buy grave dirt at a local shop, or through the local root worker, but not through the mail. What's more, there are many accounts of the use of actual, factual graveyard dirt.

Against a few modern white authors claiming that "graveyard dirt" is a secret code for mullein herb, we have evidence that the folklorist Harry M. Hyatt interviewed hundreds of black people in the late 1930s who told him the proper ways they knew to collect and pay for graveyard dirt -- and NONE of them mentioned mullein.

Take the dirt from the seventh grave from the gates, they told him, or from the third grave on the left, or from any grave; make sure you get it from the grave of a murderer, from the grave of a baby, or from the grave of someone who loved you; collect it at the foot of the grave, the head of the grave, from the head and foot both, from over the corpse's heart; pay for it with a dime, with three pennies, with a measure of rum, with a measure of whiskey; dig it with a silver spoon, dig it by hand only and use no tools -- their instructions vary, but they ALL are speaking quite frankly of literal graveyard dirt -- some even calling it "that old yellow graveyard clay."

The reason this myth has been perpetuated into the modern neopagan movement is kind of tricky. See, Europeans and Americans of European descent have a cultural taboo against messing with graves. And part of their way of dealing with that is to rewrite traditions from other cultures to make them more palatable. This is, in a word, bullshit. It is what it is and if you can't handle that you've got no business dealing with it. The way I figure it grinding up dried mullein or using talcum powder can in no way substitute for the employment of a spirit who will work for you. That seems to be a no-brainer. So, if some author makes the claim that the term "graveyard dirt" is a euphemism you can be sure they are only regurgitating what the unlearned have told them, have no real scholarship to back up this claim and are full of shit. Oh yeah, and they're probably in it for the money and their magic isn't very effective.

So, that's the basics regarding the magical uses of graveyard dirt in hoodoo. And while I think it sounds very worthwhile I have a dilemma. I live in a teeny tiny town with more churches than stores. And while I happen to live just down the road from a cemetery just across the quiet, little road are a whole slew of newly built houses full of yuppies. And I'm quite nervous about being seen, questioned and perhaps even arrested. There's actually another tiny graveyard a little closer to me, but it's fenced off out in a field. It's one of those little old family plots from an old farming family. I find those to be the most interesting cemeteries as they're usually very old and only include a half-dozen or so graves. I would like to perhaps use dirt from that particular spot but it's totally inaccessible. So, I'm in a conundrum.

After rereading the Lucky Mojo page about graveyard dirt I came across something I apparently skimmed over the first few times.

An African-American candle store owner in Oakland, California, back in the 1960s -- said to use the dirt from the grave of someone who had loved you in life. He said, "Your grandmother, mother, father; your lover, husband, or wife who passed on before you -- you get dirt from THEIR grave only, and not from anywhere on the grave either, but from over the HEART."

When I told him that all my relatives who had died were buried far away and I could not get to their graves, he said, "Everybody has had at least ONE person to love them, even if it was just a little yellow spotted dog." I told him I had once had a cat who loved me and that I knew where she was buried. "Then you can use the dirt from her grave," he said.

Now, the above is in reference to a love spell but I've been thinking about it and decided that I think I would prefer to use the grave dirt of some person or animal who had loved me for this, or any, working involving grave dirt. It just seems that, no matter what the magical intent, a loved one would be much more willing to work for me than a total stranger. Also, this idea of using grave dirt from a pet's grave could make things easier. Being that I have always lived in a zoo-like environment with many, many critters we have our own little graveyard. And as I consider animals to be just as important as humans I don't see why their spirits couldn't be of magical help. That said I'm also considering approaching my maternal grandmothers grave in the next town over. I feel pretty certain that she would be willing to help me with this particular problem. So, I've got some thinking and deciding to do.

What do you think?

Magic to Repel an Enemy

Without sharing too many gory, and somewhat boring, details I find myself in the position of wanting to rid myself, my home and my family of a very negative, poisonous leech-like person. I haven't talked about spell work much in the last year and there is a good reason for this: I've been so emotionally victimized that I've felt broken and helpless and incapable of working magic. I've prayed a lot but I have barely touched my altar in over a year. I haven't lit a ritual candle and I haven't picked up a gemstone or crystal except to clean it. I haven't done a lot of things because I just honestly feared/felt there was nothing I could do in the face of such overwhelming greed, self-centeredness, selfishness, discourteousness, laziness and general disregard for anyone unwilling to shell out more money for drugs. I kept waiting/hoping things would get better and instead they've only gotten worse.

Well, I've made a decision: no more of this shit. This person has got to go. Or, at the very least, this version of this person has got to go. I've spent the last year waiting for the situation to improve on its own and it hasn't happened. A year is long enough; its time for some magical intervention. So I've decided to employ what some people would call "negative" or "black" magic in order to make this person change or make this person leave. To me, a student of hoodoo, this is not an evil or taboo idea. It is what it is and it is necessary to preserve what's left of my family. I'm no longer of the mind that it is best to turn the other cheek. Anyone who has ever been grossly taken advantage of by a so-called loved one knows that turning the other cheek to preserve the peace can and will eventually turn into becoming a career or serial victim. Well, I'm sick and fucking tired of being the victim.

Now, before anyone starts commenting about the free will of others I have the following little rant to share. I don't think I ever was of the opinion that one should never seek to influence the will of another person through magic. Why shouldn't we use magic to influence the will of others? We try to influence the will of others through mundane means every day. Don't believe me? You ever try to talk your spouse into attending a gathering for someone they disliked? You ever try to convince your boss to give you a raise or a schedule change? You ever try to get your kids to eat their veggies? Ever try to get someone you love to stop doing drugs? You see where I'm going with this? We influence the will of others all the time through mundane means. Some people do it constantly, all day long as part of their jobs. By typing these words I'm trying to influence your will, dear reader, by attempting to bring you over to my way of thinking right now. We use words, reason, logic, body language, gestures, tone of voice, examples etc. to influence the will of others all the time. Why shouldn't we include magic in our arsenal of persuasive techniques? To exclude magic from our methods of persuasion is downright silly in my eyes. Also, don't bother telling me that this kind of magic goes against the Wiccan Rede because I honestly don't care. I'm not Wiccan. I'm not even Wiccan-esque. Using the Wiccan Rede to convert or condemn me is just as pointless as overzealous Christians throwing Bible quotes at any type of pagan. It does not compute; it is irrelevant. And, lest you wonder, I'm not planning magic to bring any harm to this person. I merely want this person to either change their ways or go away and leave my family in the peace we had before this person came along.

Now, normally when I work magic I create the ritual and spell out of thin air. Or, rather, I consult my pineal gland and use what I have on hand. I've always detested the idea of copying, word for word and ingredient for ingredient, the exact workings of another. I make up a rhyming chant, I make use of readily available gemstones, crystals or rocks, I use some herbs that I grew in my own garden, I light my altar candles and tea candles, I put on my ritual music, I invoke the elements, ask for the blessings of my patron deities and I go to town. But this time is a little different. Firstly, I'm out of practice; my confidence isn't at its highest. Secondly, I'm wounded in spirit. Thirdly, I've never wanted to do a working of this sort before. Sure, I've worked a little magic revolving around a specific person before but never something that was so important for the well being of my family. Never have I deliberately set out to get rid of someone. So, this will require some extra thought. This will require some research. And for that, I'll head over to Lucky Mojo for some ideas. Stay tuned.

A Prayer to Eris

To be quite honest, this past year has sucked, royally. I don't usually include personal stuff on this blog cuz I often find it dull when others talk about their personal lives and, thus, don't want to bore my own readers. But godsdamnit to hell, I've had enough! Our finances, which were more or less fine a year ago, have been driven into the ground by drug addiction (not mine, thank you very fucking much), our family has been stressed to the limit by the aforementioned addiction and its related lies and associated drama and to finish the calendar year off, our pipes have frozen and then blown up. It's been a helluva year and a helluva holiday season. So, in the hopes of receiving some mercy and a better year (and to make up for my apparently too casual discussion of the goddess Eris) I'm sending up this prayer to Eris. These phrases did not come from me, partly because I've no talent for poetry but mostly because my own phrases these days are chock full of expletives and I don't think Eris would appreciate them very much. So, I'm offering up words from Anna Livia Plurabelle (don't ya just love that name?) from Book of the Goddess.

Sing now, my muse, of the Goddess of Chaos,
Arising from primeval Quantum foam born,
Goddess of Entropy, Goddess of Anarchy,
She who creates and destroys innumerable cosmos
In the gap between dawn and the rise of the sun,
She who dances between unseen fractal dimensions,
In a small still place all enfolded in storm,
Where tempests so huge, lighting rends open the quasars,
So massive no light escapes from her shroud,
She who sunders our soul from our sweet earthly flesh,
And brings us rebirth with her ghastly sweet breath,
Lover of Death and Lover of Life,
She dances a dance on the edge of a knife,
A gulf of ten thousand light years on each side,
And She never misses one step in the dark,
Singularity bound, in a teardrop of light,
Cocooned in the smallest, suffused in the largest,
Immortal Chaos wreathed with broken planets and dust,
Thy name is Eris, world shattering Goddess,
We ride your wave breathless and are towed under again.
Singularity Goddess, you approach inverse zero,
Still more drowned worlds loom in Thy billowing shroud.
Asleep and awake she dreams our creation,
The sound of a bell in an dark empty cavern,
The scent of a rose in a room long abandoned,
The dance of the motes in the eye of the Goddess,
The touch of a breeze in the heat of the noon,
The taste of wine from an ancient tomb offering
She is there always, and not there ever,
Look and you will miss her,
Close your eyes and she is before you.
Most terrible and most beautiful name of the Goddess, Eris!

Please Eris, I'm begging you, some relief, please!!

Edited to add: You might not believe it but approximately 5 seconds after I published this post I heard a yell from the back of the house: "You have water!" Yay! After a few frantic hours scrubbing, mopping, washing this and washing that I've almost dug us out of the filth of the last week.

Airing My Grievances

The always amazing Hecate has turned me on to a little thing called the Airing of the Grievances which is a part of Festivus. Apparently this holiday was spawned by the insipid show "Seinfeld" but I don't care. I think we need a chance to get things off our chest. George Carlin once did something similar with a list of things he said he was "bored with, tired of and pissed at. So get ready for a little free floating hostility". So, I'm going to do the same now that the holidays are mostly over.

1. Fucking pipes. No, not pipes that fuck, but rather water pipes that burst after thawing from a freeze. In a time when people can live in space, we can crack the human genome and share orgasms with people on the other side of the world why can't we have water pipes that won't freeze and blow the fuck up once they thaw?

2. Unoriginal content on blogs. Come on, folks, we all include some historical information or poetry on our blogs but can't you say anything original? Yeah, it's nice to include the history of this tradition or that god, I do that too, we all do. But don't you have a sincere opinion about said material to go along with it? I have no respect for folks who do nothing more than copy and paste an encyclopedia entry and call it original. Pisses me off.

3.Lazy people who get angry and turn self-righteous and sanctimonious when asked to do something. So you don't want to expend energy on something difficult? So what? No one wants to work their ass off for nothing but we do it anyway. And, somehow, we manage not to grumble like pouting children who don't want to pick up their toys. Life IS work, anyone who tells you different is selling something. Get over yourself you lazy, do-nothing sack of shit. Don't be a waste of space; prove you're worthy of life.

4. Finally, my last bitch is for Israel. Ya know, I don't care that we're supposed to be allies. I don't care if the formation of the country of Israel was a sign that I will soon be left behind. I don't give a shit. 225+ people, mostly policemen but also civilians, are dead. Over 700 have been injured. And for that you suck.

There, just a few things that are currently boiling my brain. And, now that I've bitched a bit about them, I feel a little better. In fact, I think I may make this a recurring event on this here blog. What's pissing you off today?

Moonflowers in the Mouths of Babes

Or, Another Reason Why Harmless Cannabis Should Be Legalized, Regulated and Taxed

News from the Denver Post states that five local kids have been hospitalized for using, or rather misusing, moonflowers. This pops up every now and then. Kids are looking for a legal high and end up messing with a variety of moonflower and, in this case, wind up seriously ill.

The five lived within 3.5 miles of each other, the Jefferson County Department of Health and Environment said in a news release, and all have recovered. However, two of them were at one time in intensive care.

The flowers have large blooms and a delicate fragrance. The seeds, leaves and roots - when eaten, smoked or brewed into a tea - cause hallucinations...

Kids only seem to know that much about it and go no further. I bet they know better now!

Ingesting the plant causes agitation, confusion and hallucinations. Heart rate and blood pressure can climb, mouths can become dry, skin turns dry, hot and flushed, and vision is blurred. In severe cases, the plant can cause seizures and comas.

In addition to the five Jeffco teens, four other cases of moonflower toxicity have been reported to the Rocky Mountain Poison Control Center in the last month, the release said.

It's a shame.

Not only have these stupid kids been sick as shit but they've scared the hell out of their families and tarnished the already questionable reputation of the moonflowers of the world. I don't expect anything positive about the use of the plants to be in a cowan newspaper. Anything involving hallucinations is automatically evil in the eyes of most people, and with good reason: if these things are misused they are dangerous. It's even more of a shame because if these kids had waited until they were older, wiser and more knowledgeable the moonflowers could have helped them reach previously unreachable levels of awareness. It could have helped them learn about themselves and the world around them in a way their "normal" consciousness does not allow.

Too bad.

Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Anne, from The Gods are Bored, has tagged me to do something I've been pondering for a while now: blog about the dangerous Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin. To do that, I'd like to start with a tale from Aesop.

Aesop tells us that once upon a time a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing to gain better access to a meal. The wolf stayed among the sheep all day and was then locked in the barn with the sheep for the night by the unsuspecting shepherd.

If you haven't figured it out by now, Sarah Palin is the wolf. She uses the trickery of her all-American good looks and bright cover girl smile to fool the public into thinking she is a nice, sweet, smart woman with no skeletons in the closet.

This is patently false. To put it bluntly, she supports witch hunts. Yes, actual, factual witch hunts wherein pets are murdered and people are run out of their homes, smeared in the public eye and blamed, in true backwards thinking fashion, for the flaws and tragedies inherent within every society.

If you haven't heard of him yet then hears this now: Thomas Muthee. He is a charismatic, powerful preacher from Kenya. From The Huffington Post:

Muthee gained fame within Pentecostal circles by claiming that he defeated a local witch, Mama Jane, in a great spiritual battle, thus liberating his town from sin and opening its people to the spirit of Jesus.

Muthee's mounting stardom took him to Wasilla Assembly of God in May, 2005, where he prayed over Palin and called upon Jesus to propel her into the governor's mansion -- and beyond. Muthee also implored Jesus to protect Palin from "the spirit of witchcraft." The video archive of that startling sermon was scrubbed from Wasilla Assembly of God's website, but now it has reappeared.

I highly suggest you visit the above article and view the video; it is eye-opening and disturbing to say the least. Muthee is a witch hunter and proud of it. He publicizes it, he's coasting to fame on it. Which means he'll probably do it again and encourage others to do the same. This man is scary. And Palin adores him.

From Wikipedia:

Muthee and his wife returned home to Kenya from Scotland, where he had finished his graduate studies, in 1988. They soon felt that they were "called by God to Kiambu" and after six months of prayer, research, and "spiritual mapping," they came to believe that a witch known as "Mama Jane" was the cause of crime and spiritual oppression in the area. Muthee alleged that "top government and business leaders [were] afraid to do anything without her approval," that at least one person per month would die in a car accident in front of her "divination house" (otherwise known as Emmanuel Clinic), and that she harassed his congregation. According to Muthee, soon after his followers began to pray that God would either save or oust Mama Jane three young people died in another apparent accident in front of Mama Jane's clinic. The angry townsfolk wanted to stone her in retaliation, and when the police entered Mama Jane's home to intervene, they were apparently startled by what they believed to be a demon and shot her pet python to death. Mama Jane was then questioned by police, after which she left town. Since then, Muthee has frequently referred to his witch-hunt as an example of successful spiritual warfare.

The event was depicted in two videos by George Otis, Jr., in which Muthee claimed that the crime rate in Kiambu dropped drastically after Mama Jane left. However, Workgroup "Back to the Bible," headed by Pastor Rien van de Kraats of Kamperland, Netherlands, found no police reports or any other sources that backed up this claim.

If you don't believe this visit the Wikipedia page and view the sources for all this information. This woman was forced out of her home, her pet snake was shot to death, her rights were trampled upon and all because she practiced divination. THIS IS REAL. This really happened. And it's obvious that Palin is perfectly okay with this. I don't think it's much of a stretch to think she would support more witch hunts abroad or here in the States.

Don't just sit there and shake your head in disgust. REGISTER TO VOTE. You still have time. The deadlines differ by state so if you aren't sure, visit Rock the Vote. Tuesday, November 4 is Election Day; remember it folks. Decide your future: VOTE.

And maybe, just maybe, if enough freethinkers get out and vote this tale of a Wolf in Sheep's Clothing will end somewhat similarly to Aesop's Fable. When the shepherd went to the barn to pick a sheep to butcher he grabbed the wolf in disguise.

Syncretism, Or, The Fight Not Worth Fighting

There seems to be some talk about religious syncretism around the pagan blogosphere lately. And I've found it worthwhile to jump into the greater discussion. Now, I debated in high school, so I like to define key terms before I start shooting off my mouth. According to Wikipedia

Religious syncretism exhibits blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions. This can occur for many reasons, and the latter scenario happens quite commonly in areas where multiple religious traditions exist in proximity and function actively in the culture, or when a culture is conquered, and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in entirely eradicating the old beliefs or, especially, practices.

Jenavira over at Essais has recently reviewed a book which includes the subject of religious syncretism. According to her review the author misses the mark.

But he never gets syncretism, never seems to be able to move beyond “but that's not how Christianity works” and “but that can't really be real,” even though he obviously really, really wants to.

On the flip side, Celestite from A Pagan Tapestry takes a pretty strong stance against the syncretism of Wicca and Christianity.

How can you possibly be honest in your beliefs and say that you believe in both?
I know it is hard for some people, but you cannot walk these two spiritual paths at the same time.

Okay, cue the shooting off of the mouth. On the one hand, I can almost understand the frustration of seeing someone supposedly "pervert" one's personal religion but I have to throw my lot in with the pro-syncretism side. For one thing, no religion is entirely "pure". There is no such thing as a religion that is not, at least in some part, influenced by others. And we all know that when a religion is influenced by another various things, traditions, ideas, etc., get "borrowed". Even if the influential aspects died out hundreds, or thousands, of years ago and their meanings have been largely forgotten they're still there.

While I'm not a Christian or a Wiccan I can empathize with the desire to mix the two. After all, many of the Christian holidays are pagan in origin and those same pagan holidays make up the eight festivals of modern Wicca. I can clearly envision a Wiccan celebrating Christmas. Hell, for a few years I considered myself Wiccan and did just that. Trying to convince others to keep the two completely seperate seems a little, well, desperate to me. It stinks of some deep and unresolved issues with Christianity that one might be trying to distance oneself from. (Not that I'm a psychoanalyst or anything, this is just the coinage of my brain, to mutilate Shakespeare.) And just to be clear let's not forget that Wicca itself is a syncretic religion which draws on Celtic traditions as well as Rosicrucian, O.T.O. and other paths. Wicca itself is a perfect example of religious syncretism.

Now let's forget about Wicca and Christianity for a moment and consider other syncretic religions. How 'bout Voodou? Yes, it's a religion, not just a practice for those three of you who don't already know that. And it's a beautiful mix of African, Roman Catholic and American Indian traditions. What about the blending of the ancient Greco-Roman pantheons? What about the deities borrowed from Roman provinces that became established figures in the Roman pantheon? Can you say Cybele? What about Jewitchery, Rastafari, etc., etc.? The list goes on and on ad infinitum.

My point is that railing against religious syncretism is pointless; it's like trying to break a dam with a toothpick. Its rich history goes back to the dawn of spirituality. In fact, syncretism makes up the larger part of religious studies. You can't have religion without some form of syncretism; that's what some people just don't seem to grasp. That's why I made this rant, er, post; I'm here to help.

Sick, Sick, Sick

So, it's my birthday and I did something I've avoided for months and months. I watched the TV news, CNN to be exact. And I'm feeling shittier about the world and the human race than ever. I think back to something George Carlin said: that he felt betrayed by the nation, by religion and by the species. I'm really feeling like that these days too.

Firstly, and the most obvious, we've all been betrayed by our government. We're waging a war under totally false pretenses and the only people benefiting are the oily assholes making billions of dollars while Wall Street has suffered the worst June since the Depression. Meanwhile, ordinary working folks are suffering under mortgages pricier than their actual homes and selling everything but themselves to pay for gas.

Secondly, organized religion is the pits, no doubt about it. If the Rapture of the Christians actually comes to pass, what then? The pagans and the heathens and whatnot will be left with a trashed planet and a trashed atmosphere and tons of crap to swallow. And if the Abrahamic folks are right about who gets into their heaven and who doesn't we'll be left with all the evil criminals too!

Thirdly, between the murderous bulldozer rampage in Jerusalem and Esmin Green dying on a NYC hospital floor after waiting 24 hours for care that never came I'm just about ready to write off the entire human race. I feel bad for the folks who were run over and crushed in Jerusalem. But I feel especially bad for Mrs. Green whose last day was spent waiting and waiting and waiting for help and then falling, convulsing and dying on a waiting room floor while security guards and other staff came, looked at her and then walked off. She must have been in all kinds of agony and no one gave a single solitary shit. I can almost understand why her fellow patients didn't come to her aid; this is a psychiatric waiting room we're talking about here and those folks are each in their own personal hell, trapped inside their own heads. But for staff to come and gawk and then walk away nonchalantly? It's just unfathomable. I only hope that her death may bring a little awareness to the hideous way we treat our mentally ill in this country. They are the butts of a thousand jokes and in many places, not just this particular filthy hospital, they are treated like shit simply for being sick. They are the weakest, most defenseless and most vulnerable people at the complete mercy of their so-called caregivers and deserve better than to be treated like cranky babies. What happened to compassion? What happened to respect for our fellow human beings?

Carlin would say, and did say, that everything started going downhill when the priests and the traders started selling us out. I don't know, I just don't know. Here I am on my birthday and I'm ashamed to be a human being. I'm baffled at the depths to which we have fallen. We are so full of promise, technologically speaking. But in terms of human interaction we are the lowest of the low. Are we doomed? Should we hope to improve the way we treat each other? Is there any hope to be had at all?

Drowning in Rain

We've had so much rain this spring and early summer that it looks like most of our garden either washed away or rotted in the ground. What has come up is very, very spotty. And most of my herb seeds didn't sprout and the few that did died of the shock when I moved them outside. Mother Nature apparently doesn't want me and my family to have much home grown produce or herbs this year. So, while I'm pretty damned depressed about that fact I'm trying *TRYING* to see this as a good thing. Maybe since none of my herbs turned out I'll have more cause and chances to learn about the wild plants in my local area. And maybe since our vegetable garden isn't going to be very special this year we'll still have a few fresh things from the local farmers' market. I do wonder, however, how other gardens around here have weathered the damn near torrential rain we've had for weeks now. It seems like every week it's another 4 inches. As a watery soul I love rain but even I am sick of it. Sick, sick, sick of the rain. I guess the trees are benefiting as are the other wild herbs and flowers, which is a good thing. I'm just very bummed out over all our gardening plans going to hell. It's kinda set the mood for this summer: depressed and not feeling very green at all. But I'm trying to learn more about wild plants, as is evidenced by my recent bloggings, and hoping my general mood will improve.

Green Consciousness... or Use the Trashcan Damnit!

As a pagan, like many, I feel that caring for the Earth and its critters and atmosphere is just as important, if not more so, than taking care of each other. And I don't just feel this way because without the Earth we'd be wiped out but because our home planet deserves it. The Earth deserves our respect and reverence. I feel that honoring the Earth, and doing everything to preserve it, is integral to being a pagan. Ours in an Earth-based type of religion. You can't worship the old gods and help bring on springtime while living like an irresponsible lump. And I don't buy all that crap about recycling and reusing being too much work and too time consuming. If you really care you'd make the time and make the work a priority and be glad to do it even when you're tired. I imagine some people would call me irrational because when I see someone litter I literally become enraged. I quell it, I control it by not screaming at the offender but I don't let it slide. There are places for trash and cigarette butts; they're called trash cans and ashtrays. The ground is not a trashcan nor an ashtray. The creek is not your personal dump site; it is home to a myriad of creatures that can live quite happily without your refuse clogging up their habitat. It seems pretty straightforward and easy; even children understand basic things like that. But some people insist on throwing their trash upon the ground as some sort of declaration that they have mastered the planet. Well, guess what buddy? Your littering can in no way stand up to a tornado. You are powerless against the might of the planet so get over yourself, grow up, show some respect and use the trashcan like all the other kids on this playground. Even if you don't live greenly can't you at least agree that minimizing and then organizing your trash would make life a lot more pleasant? Even if the environment is fine and the ozone layer is okey dokey that doesn't mean we have to live like pigs in our own filth does it?

My Own Personal Inquisition

The last couple of weeks have been downright hellish for me and yesterday was the worst in some ways. And as the the day finally wound down to a close I thumbed through my witches datebook to realize that yesterday was the historical date on which the Inquisition was established by papal bull. How fitting. It's been really shitty to say the least. And I'm worn out in just about every way. That's why I'm not blogging much lately. But I'm still here and planning to return to regular blogging eventually.

Hallmark: "The Good Witch"

The Good Witch starring Catherine Bell from JAG as the title character turned out to be, like so many things regarding witchcraft, an over-hyped bit of fluff. Yes, the title character was something of an herbalist and proponent of aromatherapy. And she liked masks, crystals, Celtic jewelry and always had a broom handy and candles burning. Aside from that, the only thing she had in common with real-life witches was that her witchy store was vandalized and many of her neighbors sought to run her out of town. I was, to say the least, disappointed in the original film from Hallmark. It was geared toward a family friendly crowd and I can understand that. But I found much of it trite and downright silly in its oversimplification. The antagonist, wife to the mayor and head of a local citizens group, was a very transparent and unoriginal villain with textbook tunnel vision. The only truly interesting thing about the entire film was that said villain was played by Catherine Disher of Forever Knight fame. It was good to see her on the screen again, even though her role was lousy. But she made the best of it, as did all the actors. Bell's character never came right out and said she was a witch but the word was thrown at her enough in the form of an insult to make me wonder if Hallmark would take a stand. Instead, they wimped out and left things in an ambiguous state, which is understandable I guess, if frustrating. It is Hallmark, after all, not exactly an alternative network. And even though I wish the film had gone further I do grudgingly applaud Hallmark for taking this small step in an effort to promote understanding and tolerance. It wasn't great, nor horrible, just okay.