A combination of experiencing Spirit of Womongathering earlier this month and celebrating Summer Solstice has me reflecting on what I want to focus on in my life and what may be ahead on my spiritual path.

For some time now I have been thinking about exploring the possibilty of starting a healing circle – wiccan\pagan based, but all spiritual paths welcome.  On Summer Solstice I put forth the idea to the universe and will see what signs appear and what doors may open and see what happens. I posted about it on Facebook, and there was some interest.  However, a place to meet on a regular basis is what is needed most to get started (no cost and available one day a month - for example the first Sunday of every month).  My approach to this is to let things unfold slowly and if it is meant to be it will. I am not setting a time table  and I definitely want to keep it stress free.

I’ve also been reflecting on what it means to me to be a Witch.  As we experience life, learn and grow in awareness I find it is very beneficial to revisit one’s beliefs, assumptions, etc.  It is beneficial to see how one has grown and evolved, and also useful to re-energize and renew one’s commitment to a spiritual path.  

This is the inspiration that came to me, putting into words how I’ve been putting into practice “magic” and transforming myself for quite some time:

I am a Witch – Mother Earth is my altar (sacred space), my body is my temple, my senses\imagination\will\passion\integrity\words\thoughts and deeds are my magical tools. Everything else is just window dressing – window dressing is fun and love to have a few nice things, but definitely not necessary.  

It is the basis for keeping myself on track for reclaiming my health, such as eating healthier food choices and resisting temptations when will power is no where to be found.  This has also helped me over the time to gently retrain my thoughts and emotions on a daily basis.  Sure, I still get nervous, worried, frightened, depressed. etc. - but FAR less then I ever did before.  Whenever I find myself drifting to the old negative internal patterns, I gently remind myself that “my magical tools” are too important to waste, take some cleansing deep breaths and center, and focus on sending forth love to Mother Earth, my family and friends or focus my energy on doing something positive even if it something as simple as enjoying the cool breeze, or relaxing my body.

For me being a Witch means how I live my life every single day, every single interaction I have, and every choice I make - not just about how I celebrate the full moon or seasonal changes.  I don’t need to be perfect at it, and I can forgive myself for the past – there is no need for guilt or regrets.  Each day is a new beginning and opportunity to connect with Mother Earth, contribute to the positive energies of the Web of Life,  love and be loved by those around around us, and to learn and grow in mind, heart, and spirit.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:inspiration, witch

This week on Thursday I will be leaving for Womongathering, a four day retreat - I’m so excited. I’m taking my mom this year and she is just thrilled. She has only been once before when we went at least 20 years ago (I don’t remember exactly when, it’s been that long). Two years ago Mama Kelly and I went together and we had an awesome time (see post: Highlights of Womongathering 2008). 

I am also getting healthy and feeling awesome!  I am now 25 lbs from goals! (5 more lbs dropped this month) Wahoo! As exciting as that is I am keeping in mind that NUMBERS do not count (not weight, not age, etc.) – yes it’s nice to have a visual goal to keep in sight, but my main focus is on getting healthy and enjoying life.  Two weeks ago at my checkup I got a clean bill of health from my cardiologist – the congestive heart failure is totally gone.  I no longer have to see him and I am off all medications. 

This weekend we started our farm shares – weekly pickup of lots of fresh, organic produce at a farm about 15 minutes from our home. This week the share included dark green lettuce, red lettuce, mixed greens, spinanch, white radishes, and we picked our own strawberries (3 pints). We also got to snip some herbs (catnip for our kitty, and some oregano and lemon balm). The farm shop also carries other items from farms in the area such as organic eggs, honey, and roasted coffee. We had a great time at the farm and are looking forward to visiting every weekend from now until November. If there are farms near you that you can buy shares from, I highly recommend it. It may seem like a lot of money to put out all at once up front – but over the course of the entire year it is a lot cheaper for all the wonderful produce you get, plus it is so much fresher and healthier for you, and better for the environment too since the produce isn’t shipped from all over the country.

The freshness of the produce makes such a difference; the taste is great. Even my daughter (who is 14), who used to eat only romaine lettuce as a salad has been enjoying a big bowl of mixed dark green salad every day (with very little dressing on it!). The white radishes were amazing and the strawberries were out of this world.

I have been keeping busy getting my new venture underway as a Slumber Parties consultant (offering education and quality products to empower women, and improve romance and intimacy), see introductory post Silliness, Secrets and Sexy Surprises. I am having a lot of fun, meeting awesome women, and looking forward to expanding my inventory over time.  I am truly enjoying  helping others achieve sensual empowerment.

Reminder – I am on Facebook (profile link) and have a new Twitter account too, please feel free to friend me and\ or follow me.

Wishing every one bright blessings, Lady Rose

Slumber Parties consultant contact information:

Cynthia King
Your Confidential Romance and Intimacy Enhancement Consultant
I want to give you a FREE shopping spree and discounted items for having a FUN “Ladies Night Out” get together. 
Website: Slumber Parties by Cynthia King – Shop my website 24/7 with confidential and secure orderin!
Email: cynthia.king@slumberparties.com
Facebook page: Slumber Parties by Cynthia (direct link: http://www.facebook.com/SlumberPartiesbyCynthiaKing)
“Like” my facebook page for HOT HOT deals and discounts!

Written by Lady RoseTags:organic vegetables, weight loss, women's health, womongathering

Update:  Follow me on my NEW Twitter (if you dare!  hehehe)  Lady Rose (CynthiaRKing)

Here I am at Mama Kelly’s. We spent the afternoon together sharing silliness and secrets while she did her weekly cooking of the meals for the entire week for her family – makes me tired just watching her. But her “magical” kitchen skills are definitely inspiring. We also took some time for Mama Kelly to take some very nice photos of me – like the one above and a few others for posting on my other blog, Diet Pulpit, that show how much weight I’ve lost in comparison to older photos.

Mama Kelly told me all about her secret plans she has been working so hard on, but she is not revealing it until June 1. (But for a bribe I will let you in on the scoop — just kidding!).

***drumroll***

However, the time has come to reveal my secret plans that were put into motion earlier this week. It is fitting that today is Beltane – the holiday of sensual friskiness – because my secret plan is all about passion, the sacredness of all acts of pleasure, and honoring the Goddess of Love within every woman.

I am now a Slumber Parties consultant – a merchant of assorted bawdy delights.  I will be able to provide the means to indulge in sundry sensual playthings; lotions and potions for slippery motions; various baubles, bubbles, and even some beads. **wink**

Within the next couple of weeks my official company website will be complete (it takes a few days for the I.T. team to get things up and running). Once the website is in place I will be able to put a link in the side column here and have an official grand opening special offer for all 2 Witches Blog readers.

For now dear readers, let your imagination run wild and allow yourself to enjoy the *spirit* of the day and remember to dance around any May Poles you may stumble upon.

Bright Beltane Blessings, Lady Rose  (and Mama Kelly too!)

Written by Lady RoseTags:beltane, sensuality, slumber parties

Excitement is here and there and everywhere! 

There is plenty of excitment over at Mama Kelly’s with her new phone, her new laptop coming soon and she has a secret plan in the works (I can’t wait to hear all about it!).  On top of that we have our long overdue visit coming up this weekend as Mama Kelly mentioned in her post yesterday.  Who knows what silliness and creativity will emerge when two witches put their heads together and add a webcam.   LOL

Here at my house the past few weeks the excitment has definitely been on the increase too with my new laptop,  qi gong classes,  133 lbs lost, increased energy and feeling healthy.

However, the excitment level just took a giant leap.  Today I officially signed on the dotted line and put into motion my own secret plan; the excitement meter has gone off the charts.   I’ve wanted to get into a fun part time businees for many years and have tosssed around a lot of ideas with Mama Kelly, my hubby and others.  This  plan is something that I have thought about doing on and off for a couple of years.  I am so exicted and proud of Mama Kelly for taking the plunge and putting her secret plan in motion, it gave me the encouragement and motivation to stop just talking about doing something and to take action too.  A friend and I had discussed this particular option a few times over the past two years but I wasn’t sure which direction I wanted to focus on – witchy, writing, arts and crafts, or something completely different. 

This week an opportunity presented itself for something different  and we decided to take the plunge together.  It  required a small  financial investment to get off the ground as most things do.  To make sure this plan works and recoup the investment I will have to put most of my time and energy into it for the foreseeable future. The good thing is I will have a partner to work with who is as creative as I am and has a lot of good contacts that will hopefully get the project off to a good start and in time who knows maybe we can make a little part-time income.   It isn’t “witchy” oriented, but it is definitely FUN! 

I will be able to unveil my secret project soon.  Items will arrive in the mail early next week and the website should be up and running in a couple weeks or less (I just need to finish filling out the website forms and it will go live).  I’m both a little nervous and excited, but the excitement is definitely winning out and on the rise.

Looking forward to sharing the excitment, plans, and who knows what else with all of you.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

UPDATE:  Mama Kelly posted the link to her facebook in her last post – what a great idea.  Here is mine – Lady Rose on Facebook (please mention 2 witches blog in friend request so know to accept it – thanks).

Written by Lady Rose

Guess who went belly dancing! Me! Shocking isn’t it? Last Friday night a belly dancing studio (Alexia’s Belly Dance & Beyond) right in my neighborhood held a fund raising class for the local Breast Cancer Resource Center. The class was so much fun and the teacher was great.  One of the women who came along with me signed up for classes that night.  I love belly dancing and have always wanted to learn.  I plan on being a drop-in for a class now and then.  My schedule is just to hectic right now to commit to taking classes every week.  For now my time, energy and funds are going towards qi gong classes.

It’s that time of year for planting and I was remembering how much fun we all had when we took Mama Kelly to Well-Sweep Herb Farm for her 40th birthday.  They have their events schedule up for the year (and a few events for the beginning of 2011 also).   The free Open House event is June 5th.   There is a lot to chose from and I am hoping to attend a couple this year (i.e. Herbal Treats; Herb Vinegars, Oils, and Pesto; Holiday Centerpiece).  There are other workshops I’m interested in too but my schedule is so busy these days that I have something else booked on those dates. 

Speaking of busy weekends, Womon Gathering is coming up soon and I’m so excited.  They have a list of workshops and vendors for this year up on the website.  As usual there is going to be a lot to chose from.  There is still time to register.  It is an awesome four days of spiritual renewal and all around fun.  My mom will be coming with me this year and she is very excited too.

This past weekend, we all went up to the new Giants Stadium – it was an open house event for season ticket holders to come see their seats.  Hubby was in heaven with a huge grin the entire day.  It was very cool to be able to go inside and actually sit in the 2 seats he will have.  It was a huge expense to get season tickets, but well worth it.  He never dreamed that in his lifetime he would ever get the opportunity to purchase them (he had been on the waiting list for decades).  When the new stadium was being built and he got the offer, there was no way I could say no.  With some careful budget planning and a new 0% credit card, he was able to have a lifetime dream come true.

I am having a few life time dreams unfold as well.  I am enjoying the weekly qi gong classes a lot and looking forward to learning and continuing to take as many available classes as I can.  I have been practicing every day and it feels really good to be both  improving my health as well as my ability to work with energy.

At my last weighin this past weekend, I am now only 34.5 lbs away from my goal, with a total of 133.5 lbs lost so far.  My extra large size clothes are now getting a bit too big on me and I’ve had to pass along a most of those too and started wearing large size.  Luckily a couple of women at work have passed on some clothes and a few months ago I had picked up some inexpensive pieces that were on sale from about $3 to $7 each so I able to transition into the larges without having to spend a lot.

This weekend coming up Mama Kelly and I have an overnight visit planned – finally!  It has been way too long since we have been able to get together for our overnight visit which usually are about once a month.  Our last quick visit was over the Christmas holiday when we got together for a couple of hours to exchange gifts.  Our last overnight get together was before that some time last year.  I’m hoping we can try out the webcam on my new laptop this weekend.

Bright blessings one and all, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:belly dancing, family outings, herbs, qi gong

As you know I’ve been away from blogging for the past several weeks because my old laptop bit the dust. Well today I ordered a brand new PURPLE (my favorite color) Dell Studio 15 laptop, with enough bells and whistles to keep me happy for a long time. However, it won’t be delivered until April 29. At least it will arrive in time for my overnight visit with Mama Kelly on May 1st (which is looooong overdue – the crazyness that is our lives resulted in our having to reschedule our visit the past few months). The laptop has a built in webcam so I am hopeful that we can figure out how to use it so that Mama Kelly and I can do a few webcams for the blog. Most likely we will start out with tarot reviews, but who knows what we will come up with eventually.

Angelgirl (my daughter) turns 14 next month (and starts high school next year **shudders at the thought**) - so we decided to surprise her on Easter by telling her we are getting her own laptop as a combination Easter and birthday gift. We found a really nice Dell on sale for her at Best Buy, so she was able to get her laptop last night. We have one happy teenager in the house! She is off this week for spring break and I’m sure she will be glued to the laptop and her drawing table (she got for xmas) most of that time.

I started taking an introductory qi gong class last Thursday and I LOVE IT! The class meets once a week for 13 weeks (I’ll miss one while I’m away at Womongathering in June). It is an introductory course. Each week we learn a couple of new movements. I am not sure if I will take a tai chi class next, but who knows. My primary goal for right now is to learn as much as I can about qi gong and practice daily. For those who are curious, the difference between qi gong and tai chi is: qi gong are movements taht are repeated a few times, whereas tai chi is a series of movements done one after the other.

My journey to getting healthy and losing weight is progressing, slowly of course – but that is the way body works. I’ve lost a total of 128 lbs so far since I started last March in preparation for the gastric bypass surgery that I had last August. So far I have given away a ton of clothes that I no longer can wear to my sister and Mama Kelly. A couple of ladies from work have passed on clothes to me that I can wear now so I haven’t had to buy much at this new size; which is a good thing since I still have another 40 lbs to go and will need smaller clothes in the coming months.

As a reward to myself, once I reach my goal (or close to it) I plan on getting all dressed up and having one of those fancy photo shoots done. I plan to include a medieval outfit (either buying one or borrowing the black dress my friend has) and a witchy look (perhaps bringing along a few props like a crystal ball and tarot cards).

As another reward to myself, this October I turn 55, and I hope to get my last tattoos – on the inside of my wrists. I am not sure what I’m getting yet – but it will be small (since that area is sensitive).

I’m looking forward to the new laptop April 29th, visiting Mama Kelly May 1st, and getting back to being able to blog on a more regular basis soon.

Wishing everyone bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:health, laptop, qi qong, weight loss

Laptop: My apologies one and all for not being able to post very much over the last several weeks, but my laptop problems continue – so with both my laptop and Mama Kelly’s laptop being out of commission things have gotten a bit quiet around here. 

It has been over four weeks now and about $500 spent so far to get my laptop repaired.  It started out being infected with a virus (due to logging into facebook – seems it is a very common thing to have happen).  After paying just over $200 to have it fixed and waiting for two weeks for them to get to it, they then informed me the laptop needed a new hard drive, which meant I had to order disks from Dell so all the original drivers and software could be reloaded – which meant another week of it being in the shop and brought the total up to almost $500.  Had I not already spent $200 fixing it from the virus, I would have just gotten a new laptop, which only would have cost me about $600.   So now I’m stuck with this one for another 4 or 5 years. we are planning to get Angelgirl a new one for her birthday this May. I had planned on getting myself a new one (with a webcam) at the same time, and passing this one along to hubby, but now that this one is “like” new I’ll just keep it for as long as I can to make the money spent on the repairs worthwhile.

Now that I have the laptop home, it only worked for two days and now it no longer connects to the internet.  The third day I woke up, turned it on, and now for no apparant reason msn (whatever that is) is the manager of my internet connection (no idea how that happened) so now windows diagnostic can’t help me, when I run “repair” it can’t “clear the dns cache,” whatever that means. When I try to get to the internet it just says I’m “offline,” even though the wireless router connection is strong.  I’ve tried everything I can possibly think of and so has my daughter, and at this point I think it is totally messed up. Since I have no idea what happened in the first place I’m sure whatever we’ve done trying to fix it (settings, etc.) has messed it up for good.  

So I am limited to snatching a few minutes here and there online since hubby and my daughter both need the desktop computer a lot in the evening for school work.

Surprises: On the bright side, last week I was totally surprised by having Thursday and Friday off because of the snow.  It was a huge surprise because my office hardly ever closes.  Thursday hubby (he’s a high school teacher) and Angelgirl had early school closing so to surprise them (since they didn’t even know I had the day off!) I bought lots of Chinese food and a few treats from the bakery for them to enjoy.  It was a big feast that they got to enjoy for both snow days and even into the weekend.

This month I am keeping busy planning a surprise birthday party for my youngest sister.  She is turning 40.  I’m planning to make her a huge brunch with stuffed french toast, spiral ham, a coffee and hot chocolate bar (with lots of toppings), smoothies (the smoothie maker will be her gift), hash browns, eggs (with a variety of toppings), cinnamon bun bread pudding, and few other things. I’m cooking almost everything at my house, but taking it all over to her house. My other sister and her family live across the street so they will be stopping over and I will ask her husband to invite the two neighbors she is friendly with too.

Qi Gong: Last week I had an appointment for a qi gong healing session with a couple who teach Qi Gong.   I found their website a couple of years ago and have wanted to take their classes and meet them ever since.   They are about an hour and 15 minutes away so it is driveable – though I may spend the night at a hotel when I take the classes so I’m not driving back and forth three days in a row.  I will be taking their healing qi gong class in July (Fri. evening to Sunday for two weekends).    I plan on taking the advanced class after that and whatever other classes that I can as they become available.   One of their instructors is also in New Jersey, and they recommended I take an introductory seminar with him on March 28 – I sent my registration in yesterday. 

I am thrilled to finally be beginning my journey to learn qi gong.  It is all about healing, working with energy, and to me any way, it is kicking my spiritual path into high gear.  Although different in philosopy and practice, it is similar in principle to wicca and takes the “work of a witch” to a whole new level beyond wicca 101 and I think even beyond advanced wicca. It is a moving meditation that is done daily to clear, balance and gather one’s chi energy. It is also system for promoting healing in others, as well as teaching them how to promote healing in themselves (which is one of things I like most about it, because it helps people to take care of themselves).

I will be posting more about qi gong as I take classes, read books, and learn more.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:computer virus, family, qi gong, snow days

This year I will be celebrating Candlemas by attending an open circle ritual this weekend on the 7th in a town very close to where Mama Kelly lives.  I’m looking forward to meeting fellow wiccans and pagans and enjoying an evening of ritual, drumming, and good company.

Later in the month I have a healing session appointment with a couple who teach qi gong.  I have been visiting their website for a couple of years now and planning to take their qi healing intensive class, qi gong therapist intensive classes and other classes they offer.  This year I am finally going to take the plunge.   The first class, qi healing intensive, is being taught in July.  In order to start learning now I have scheduled a healing session with them and afterwards I will be attending a basic class that they teach.  It is an introductory class that is held weekly.  I have also bought several books on qi gong.  I am very excited to finally meet the instructors and looking forward to learning some basic qi gong that I can do daily to improve my health and energy in preparation for the more in depth studies I will be taking later and working on getting my certification.

Wishing everyone blessings, love, light and creativity, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:Candlemas, qi gong

Life around my house has stayed a bit busy, mostly with meetings and things associated with Angelgirl’s middle school activities.  Her girl scout meetings have started up again after a break for the holidays and it’s cookie selling time.  She is rehearsing for the spring play (she is Violet in Willie Wonker and the Chocolate Factory).  There were also a few rehearsals to squeeze in for the orchestra’s concert performance last week (she plays the viola).  And of course we manage to fit in her karate classes too.

The big news this week is Angelgirl has her schedule for her high school freshman year that begins in September.  She is excited and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed – but also delighted that she is looking forward to it.  She is taking Honors Sophomore Alegra (by the time she reaches 12th grade she will be taking statistics!   **ooowww my brain hurts**), Honors English, a science class, a history class, gym and 2 electives – Tech 1 and a language – German  (even though she has had Spanish in middle school she wanted to take something new for language and wanted to something that wasn’t that popular).

To keep focused on my main goal for the year – organizing – I’ve been little by little sorting through clothing.  I have packed up several bags of 3x, 2x and 1x clothing and given them to my sister.  My daughter has also been going through a few things and passsed a couple bags of small clothing to her cousin.  There was a great sale going on (pants for $3 and $5, shirts $7 to $10) so I now have a nice small collection of clothing that fits me well now that I’ve lost over 100 lbs rather than the old, baggy stuff I had been wearing.  I also got a  small stack of clothing that is ready for the next sizing down phase – it fits now, but is just a bit snug.

One of my other goals is bringing more spirituality and health into my life on daily basis and one of the ways I want to do that  is by learning more about chi gong and hopefully find a class I can take.  I bought two books about it to get started.  Some where  have a dvd set that I bought about two years that I need to find – but in this house is could be just about any where so that will take awhile.    I also bought a few wiccan pagan type books that I’m looking forward to browsing.

Life may be a bit fast paced, but it’s moving along very nicely and I’m doing my best to not take on too many projects and get overwhelmed.  

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:daughter, family, goals, high school, middle school

2010 has started off with a bang, and the first few days have flown by. 

Also (**drum roll please**)  I’m starting the year 100 lbs lighter then I was last year.  As I mentioned before, I had gastric bypass surgery August 6, 2009.  Starting Feb. 28, 2009 with the  pre-op weight loss (a requirement to get insurance approval) and combined with the post-op weight loss the total weight loss is now 100 lbs.    My pain levels in my joints is much lower, I’m sleeping better, and as a result I have a lot more energy.  I still have about 60 more pounds to lose but the numbers on the scale are not what is important – I am focused on my health and well being.  I won’t bore you with all the details here, but if you’re interested in following my weight loss journey you can read my New Year’s post and other information on my weight loss blog Diet Pulpit.

Jan. 1 my good friend B. stopped over in the afternoon for a long over due visit.  She lives about two hours away, plus she has to take care of her granddaughter while her daughter works (long hours) so she doesn’t get to visit very often and it had been at least 4 months since her last visit.  When she does come to this neck of the woods she plans a two or three trip stopping in to see several friends.  We chatted, laughed, and enjoyed watching the movie Julie & Julia (one of my favorite movies and I got the dvd as a xmas gift from my hubby). 

Jan. 2 we all went to see Mama Kelly and spent a lovely afternoon and part of the evening visiting with her family, chatting, opening gifts and enjoying the ham, salads and snacks we brought.   I gave Mama Kelly a dvd of Julie & Julia – it’s about blogging and food so of course I had to!  *lol*    I also surprised her with her very own Season of the Witch calendar (in a leather binder), as well a few other things.    She got me a tarot deck (need to write a review), a cookbook for recipes after gastric bypass surgery (can’t wait to try some out), and other witchy goodies.   I’m already looking forward to our next visit for our regular overnight get together on Feb. 20th.

Jan. 3 was Angelgirl’s (my daughter) karate banquet – Angelgirl received her 2nd degree black belt.  It was a wonderful afternoon of karate demos and performances, a nice meal, and a bit of music played by a DJ and dancing afterwards.  I brought my mom and she really enjoyed it too.

This week we all went back to work and school and almost every night we have something going on – Monday Angelgirl had an eye docotor appt., Tuesday she had orchestra practice.  Today she has a school trip and needs to get picked up from the school since they are returning later and she will miss the bus and followed by karate class. Tomorrow night we have to go to her school for a meeting regarding her high school scheduling (she’s only half way through 8th grade – but they start the paperwork early for high school).

This weekend I am taking my mom and sister  to see the movie Avatar.  I am also planning on taking my niece if she wants to go, and taking her out to lunch and for a little shopping trip to the mall to celebrate her 16th birthday (which is Jan. 7) – I haven’t been able to reach her by phone yet so that part isn’ts definite yet. 

I already have a few things on the calendar for next week as well, so it’s definitely a bit of a whirlwind around my house but I’m enjoying every moment with family and friends and looking forward to a year full of surprises, laughter, and love.

Hope everyone is enjoying the start of their New Year.

Bright blessings, Lady Rose

Written by Lady RoseTags:family, friends, new year