I was reading one of my favorite bloggers, Kitsch and Giggles, who recently posted about her plans for her body after her death. 

I have already made the decision to be cremated, and inspired by the movie Little Buddha (which is worth watching by the way) I want my ashes to be divided and dispersed in earth, air, and water that way I am “consumed” by each of the 4 elements.

I have accepted that I will have to have a “wake” to appease the relations, but it will be a closed casket and a DVD will be playing with my favorite songs in the background and pictures of me from my youth on up to the “present”.  My “prayer card” will simply say on the back the wonderful words from Janet and Stewart Farrar:

“Nor shall death part us; for in the fullness of time we shall be born again at the same time and in the same place as each other; and we shall meet and know and remember and love again.”

My husband knows that when my time has come that any part of me that is capable of being donated he is to do so.  The bone in my husband’s spinal fusion came from cadaver bone as was the femur used to replace my aunt’s when hers split due to complications of rheumatoid arhtirtis and an old artificial joint.  Surely something can be done with what will at that point be my “spare parts”.

The “hymns” will include some of my favorite Pagan songs (We All Come From the Goddess (of course) … The Heretic Heart(if I really want to piss of all my Catholic relatives) and even some traditionally Christian songs such as Brother Sun & Sister Moon  or  Morning Has Broken (which I adore), and just like my dear inspiration for this post …. Annie Lenox singing Into the West.

Readings will include passages from favorite bits of prose, poems (Death Be Not Proud; Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep, etc.) and yes even (probably) Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (to everything there is a season …).

Eventually I will have the whole thing planned and written so that all Hubby will have to do is hand a file folder, a handful of CD, and a collection of photos to the funeral director.  Not that I’m planning on dying anythime soon … but I figure my death is as good a time as any to say F the whole broom closet and “bury me” like the Witch I am.

If you are considering researching a Pagan burial for yourself or another I highly recommend The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over as well as A Witches’ Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook (it has a lovely Requiem ritual).

Blessings

Mama Kelly

5:54

Download it from Amazon for $0.99

Days of the Ring [Featuring Annie Lennox Performing "Into The West"]

Lay down
Your sweet and weary head
Night is falling
You’ve come to journey’s end
Sleep now
And dream of the ones who came before
They are calling
From across the distant shore

Written by Mama Kelly

Feb. 1 National Wear Red Day

Love your heart! The American Heart Association’s National Wear Red Day will take place on Friday, February 1, 2008.

Wear Red Day is part of the Go Red For Women campaign, a nationwide movement celebrating the energy, passion and power we have to band together and wipe out heart disease – the No. 1 killer of women.

Help spread the word and the awareness, and most of all take of your heart!

Health and Happiness, Lady Rose

(cross posted on Diet Pulpit)

Written by Lady RoseTags:heart health

Download some of her music from Amazon for $0.99 each:

My Heart Is Like An Open Flower

The Raven Song

Hail to the Moon

Hecate

Elemental Chant

and of course:

Artemis

Written by Mama KellyTags:music

Had a bit of creative inspiration yesterday (while pondering my current diet troubles of gaining for no reason) and I wrote a hiaku:

Life is not on hold
Waiting for some ideal goal
Go forth, and live bold.

I think I should stick to crocheting! LOL I’m much better with the hook then with poetry.

So far out of the 22 projects I have on my list to make for birthday and xmas gifts I have completed 14 – done are two blankets (3rd blanket is almost done), 6 scarves and 4 hats (2 hats left to make), and 2 out of 4 shawls I need to make, plus I still need to design the patterns and then make the two big projects for my goddaughters (a Ron Weasley sweater and a pink hooded cape) and a shawl\wrap for one of my friends at work. I have finished 14 projects so far and I have 8 more projects to go (out of a total of 22).

Here are some photos:

A blue and black (varigated) blanket for my niece for her birthday (Jan.09). I made her a poncho for this year’s birthday in a smilar yarn and she really liked it.

Big Orange – this blanket is for my youngest nephew. His favorite color is orange. His birthday isn’t until June, but I gave him the blanket now so he can enjoy it while the weather is still cold.

A Platoon of Hats and Scarves for the nephews (each done in a different camouflage yarn). I still need to make the matching hats for the two nieces. These will be xmas gifts (I’ll tuck the usual gift card inside the hat).

Yarn mountain (photo) is getting smaller, but it’s still pretty big!

I have a lot more ideas for things I want to crochet and I’m also jotting down a lot of ideas for a variety of arts and crafts with a pagan\wiccan flair. I hope to one day have a really nice collection that Mama Kelly and I can create together to share with every one.

Bright Blessings, Lady Rose

Cross posted on Diet Pulpit.

Written by Lady RoseTags:crocheting, gifts

Another lovely prayer from WorldPrayers.  I love how this one serves as a call …. to each of us, regardless of what faith we hold to …. to be grateful for the simple blessing of existance.

How often have each of us been guilty of missing the small blessings of our daily lives …. the shifting colors of the sky as we journey to or from work, the smell and taste of our morning beverage, the laughter of children (ours or others), the jobs that pay our bills …. even when we hate them.

This year is about my growing as a person, reclaiming my role as a Witch, and striving to be more connected to the world around me.  Part of that is about replacing resentment and disappointment in my life with gratitude.  It is a lesson I hope I can not only master, but pass on to my children.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama Kelly

I was tagged by one of my dearest online blogging friends, Juggling Cats.  I have “known” him and his wife SkyWindows for a while now and would actually consider moving nearer to my mother-in-law (shudder) as it would mean being in their neck of the woods and would mean opportunities for our kids to hang out (their oldest daughter and my oldest have talked a bit and share many interests) and … dare I say it ….. opportunities for the grown-ups to play D&D.

Anyway ….. on to the meme …..

5 Things I Want My Kids to Know:

Each of you is a miracle.

Each of you is beautiful.

You can always … ALWAYS … tell me anything.

You are loved more that you can possibly understand.

There is nothing you can do to change that.

5 things you want to tell your child when they grow up: 

Stay away from credit cards, and debt in general as much as possible.

Don’t let anyone … ANYONE … abuse you physically or emotionally.

Sex can be wonderful …. but you should allow it to be special …. don’t share your body with just anyone.

The person you share your life with should first and foremost be your best friend.

It is more important to have good friends than many friends.

5 things you want to tell your children before you die:

Try and find humor in the bleakest moments and silver linings in every dark cloud.

Life is not always fair, but each day is full of gifts and possibilities. 

I wasn’t a perfect mother, but I tried the best I could.

Even when I grounded you, or yelled at you, or was disappointed in you …. I always loved you and was proud that you were mine.

I hope that you will remember me with love and forgive me my failings.

5 things you want your children to know this lifetime:

That it is okay to be different from everybody else.

That sometimes the family you choose can mean as much as the family you are born to.

The wonder and joy of being a parent (and yes all the rest that goes with it), and not only because I want to be a Nana.

That death comes to us all, often without warning, so make the most of every day.

That death is not to be feared.

5 people I’m tagging …..

If you’re reading this and want to play just do so …. but come back and leave me a comment so that I know to come and read.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama Kelly

Lyrics:

Freya, Shakti, Hathor, Rhiannon,
Rhea, Maat, the Morrigan
Freya, Shakti, Hathor, Rhiannon,
Rhea, Maat, the Morrigan

Chorus:
High, raising up the Goddess
Oh, fill my soul
High, raising up the spirit
Oh, make me whole

She is a woman crowned with a crescent
She is the mother of all that lives
She is the Earth that is spinning in starlight
She is the Goddess of all that is

(chorus)

I know a woman stirring a cauldron
She is the source of the heart’s deep core
I love a maiden dancing in moonlight
She is the key to the ancient lore

(chorus)

Freya, Shakti, Hathor, Rhiannon…

Learn more about the band at their website.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:music

One of the blogs I read, Astarte Moonsilver, recently posted about her venture into crafting Pagan Prayer beads.  She has quite a few listed for sale on Ebay at very reasonable prices (be aware that some pieces make use of plastic beads) and so I forward you there if these are something you want to add to your own ritual work.

I read another blog as well, Cauldron Ridge Farm, originally I thought she was the creator of the pagan prayer beads available here, but she isn’t.  These beads are also lovely, though her pricing is higher.

My own set of prayer beads came from herchurch.org (for a dination of $30) who shares the follow prayer for its use:

Hail Goddess full of grace. 

Blessed are you

  and blessed are all the fruits

  of your womb.

For you are the MOTHER of us all.

   Hear us now  and in all our needs.

O blessed be, O blessed be.  Amen

       (adapted from Carol Christ)
author of Womanspirit Rising: A Feminist Reader in Religion 

___________________________________________

Prayer beads are a perfect way to integrate ritual into a life that lacks covenmates, privacy, space, or time. 

Prayer beads can be used in bed, during a commute (so long as you’re not the one driving), during your lunch break, etc.  If you can find 10-15 minutes you can, through prayer beads, find the sacred space within your own soul.

Insofar as how to use them?

• You can assign a phrase or chant to each bead
• You can write your own prayers
• You can use those written by others such as those available at sacredgrove.com (which are written so that they allow one to make use of a Catholic rosary).
• You can borrow lines from prayers of others faiths, such as those found at worldprayers.org or even recite meaningful quotes from books, poems, movies, or songs that move you spiritually.
• You can find books which are collections of prayers such as A Book of Pagan Prayer or WomanPrayers : Prayers by Women from throughout History and Around the World
• You can even browse through a collection of Pagan prayers, sorted by category, over at beliefnet

Whether you are looking for a way to bring daily ritual into your life or need a way to have a subtle form of practice for celebrating Esbats and Sabbats you may find that prayer beads will suit your need.

Blessings

Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:prayer

“I have faith in the future I cannot see”

Gifts of the Goddess

Affirmation Card deck

I had a very very tired day. One of those head could nod off any second practically swaying on my feet type of mornings. Eventually I got enough caffeine and calories in me that I woke up some but my ass was dragging nonetheless.

Lately I am caught up in a pattern of too little sleep. Unlike my dear friend (and co-blogger) Lady Rose I do not function well on 5 hours of quality sleep a night. How much sleep we need is somewhat variable and I definately fall on the higher end of the scale in that I am at my best with 8 (or more) hours of solid sleep under my belt. Between my anxiety and depression issues my usual insomnia is intensified and I have been waking up a couple of times a night as well.

I am getting significantly less sleep than I want … or need. I am often cranky and oversensitive. Tonight the plan is to try and turn in early with some Benedryl in me in hopes of offsetting some of my sleep debt and perhaps even breaking the cycle. Boy do I long for the times in my youth, or even my early 20s, when a weekend meant sleeping 10 or 12 hours. Waking up, stretching, and feeling refreshed and rested is something I desire so strongly that I can nearly taste it.

In spite of my fatigue, today I made more of an effort to be aware of my spirit. The card quoted above is one of my favorites to prop up on my keyboard during work as I try and take my focus away from survival mode into trusting that, regardless of what happens in the now, that I can still create a future that will be worth all the effort. I try and calm myself by reminding myself that in 10 years that all of this will be in the past and, hopefully, most of the negativity will be behind me.

In spite of my anxieties and my depression I am trying to be grateful for the blessings that are in my life.

For my husband who washed all our bedding today so that tonight I will be lying down in fresh sweet smelling sheets.

For my children who are beautiful (even when angst-ridden) and give my life purpose and meaning.

For a roof over my head and food on my table something that a woman I work with is currently lacking.

For friends like “M2″ who I can lean on and who trusts me enough to lean on me right back.

Maybe …. just for tonight …. I can hold on to the belief that I deserve a brighter tomorrow and can truly create one.

Blessings, Mama Kelly

Written by Mama KellyTags:insomnia

A Review of The Good Witch – a Hallmark movie.  On a scale of one to 5, I will give this movie 4 broomsticks.

The Good Witch is a very sweet, enjoyable movie, definitely a fluff piece – but who doesn’t enjoy a nice movie you can just escape into that is “kid safe” to watch too.

The main character Cassie is lovely (no warts!), believeable and likeable.  And the “witchiness” is not over done, and all the mystery and magic isn’t explained away either.   She has a way with animals, an understanding of people, a mysterious past,  lives in a very cool old house and I wish there was a shop like hers in our town. 

I felt that Hallmark did a very good job of portraying a witch, without incorporating a lot of unrealistic, over the top “tv magic”.

It will be on again this Friday (Jan. 25) night at 9 p.m. - so if you haven’t seen it yet, pop some popcorn, put the cauldron on simmer, and enjoy this delightful, feel good movie.

Here’s a link for the trailer on youtube:  The Good Witch Trailer.

And a link to the Hallmark synopsis: The Good Witch synopsis.

Bright Blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:movie review, TV, witches