Are you cyclically confused? In a ceremonial quandary? Completely clueless? Wonder no more.                                   *Ask Your Mama™                          Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Spirituality and Didn’t Know Who to Ask™   by ©Mama Donna Henes, Urban Shaman   A Question of Queendom   Dear Mama Donna,   In several articles I have read, you talk about becoming a ruling Queen in our midlife. This sounds good to me! How can I become a Queen?   Looking for power in Pensacola,   Dear Powerful One,   The idea that we might be Queens is intoxicating. Ever since I first started introducing The Queen as a helpful archetype for…

   “Ghost Hunting Doesn’t Involve Breaking the Law” It seems that no matter how much I or other professional paranormal investigators lecture on the subject, some immature and amateurish yahoos out there just can’t seem to get the message- if you have to sneak in under the dark of night and uninvited then you’re not real ghost hunters and you deserve all that is coming to you under the letter of the law. Lately there have been more than a few stories that have crossed my desk about so-called ghost hunters having run-ins with local law enforcement.         Let’s be honest. Kids have been sneaking into cemeteries…

  The Little Book of True Ghost Stories  by  Echo Bodine         © 2011  Hampton Roads Publishing (An Imprint of Red Wheel Weiser)    ISBN:  978-1-57174-650-4     208 pages                    Paperback $14.95 (U.S.)   Every once in a while, I enjoy dipping into waters which come dangerously close to purely entertaining without any connection to deep metaphysical topic, and ghost stories certainly seem to fall into that category.  While they touch on the paranormal, there are no deep lessons to learn, or wisdom to be imparted.  They exist simply to tell the stories, and sometimes that is enough.   Although I didn’t recognize the name of the author, my 30-something daughter mentioned that she…

Labor Day, Mars (Planet of Action) in Scorpio at 6 degrees Monday September 3, 2012 – 00:01 am EDT Kick off your shoes and pad around barefoot on the last holiday of Summer!! While in its ruling Sign, Mars wants to take action at home. Be impulsive on this day and take charge! As the evening winds down, take time to settle in for a nice relaxing evening. It’s a short work-week, so enjoy a moment of peace and quiet after the long weekend. Mercury Conjuncts the Sun in Virgo at 18 degrees Monday, September 10, 2012 – 8:24 am EDT The Planet of Communication chugs thru the Solar Express…

Spirit Animals – Guides for Our Lives Being raised as I was with Mesoamerican and Native American influences, I was taught from an early age about the importance of Spirit Animals or Animal Guides, what some today in Neo-Pagan circles call ‘totems’.  Actually, the word totem for an individual symbol is a misnomer, as a totem typically describes a symbol that represents an entire tribe, clan or community. When I was about 7 years old, I was bitten by a Brown Recluse spider, which can be deadly.  My dad said that the Spirit of the Spider had chosen me. I feel honored to have been chosen in such a manner. …

  Autumn Musings     There’s something very magical about autumn. Perhaps it’s the myriad of Nature’s colors; rustic oranges, hushed reds, and tinted greens. Or the faint whispers and soothing sounds that carry on the cool morning breeze, sending messages of times gone by. Promises of what is yet to come.   This is the season when my yearning to live deep within the forest is the greatest. To transform the siding and shingles of my home into a mystical stone cottage with thatched roof, where oak scented smoke billows from a great chimney. Lush, plentiful gardens of autumn splendor would grow in my woodland dwelling. Carrots, kale, winter…

MABON ~ A Witch’s Thanksgiving and a Time of Harvest In Every Area of your Life! This is a wonderful holiday that hasn’t yet been overcome by commercialism and this holiday still holds a great deal of self-reliance and dignity.  It’s a quiet time.  A time of change and is, in my opinion, one of the most colorful holidays naturally.  The new crisp Fall air, the twirling leaves, the warm days and brisk nights…. The smell of crisp apples, the gold, orange and rust colors of the leaves…it’s nice to have a cup of hot cider or hot chocolate in the evening and breathe in the magick of the evening…

I feel the urge to contemplate to take myself into an altered state where time, space and knowledge are free I need to find the spiritual me. I cruise along from day to day going with the flow in my own way yet I know it’s not enough for me . I need to seek, I need to see. The only way that I can find is to slow right down, still my mind, it’s in the silence the stillness bring I can hear the song my spirit sings. It’s strong and clear, it seems to hold the essence of what is yet to unfold. It beckons soothes, makes everything…

Herbs: Copal, fennel, rye, wheat, valerian, skullcap, acorn, benzoin, ferns, grains, honeysuckle, marigold, milkweed, myrrh, passionflower, pine cones, rose, sage, Solomon’s Seal, tobacco, thistle, vegetables. Foods: Breads, grains, seeds, dried fruits and beans, baked squash, nuts, apples, pomegranates, and vegetables such as potatoes, carrots, and onions, wine. Colors: Brown, yellow-green, yellow, red, russet, maroon, gold, scarlet, purple. Flowers: Narcissus, lily, aster, morning glory. Scents: Storax, mastic, gardenia, bergamot. Autumn blend made by combining: benzoin, myrrh, and sage, also these incenses separately. Stones: Blue sapphire, peridot, olivine, chrysolite, citrine, lapis lazuli, and yellow agates. Trees: Hazel, larch, bay. Animals: Snake, jackal. Birds: Ibis, sparrow. Deities: Bona Dea, Ceres, Ch’ang-O, Demeter, The…

Eight Steps for A Woman Dancing With Cancer   Submit. Give up. Make room for the miracle.   Inform yourself. Listen to your intuition. Examine all the options, but only use what feels right to you.   Accept support. Surround yourself with loving friends, healing music, special colors, prayer and affirmation. Create a ceremony of healing/wholing and invite your supporters.   Anoint your breast(s) with healing herbal oils such as calendula, dandelion, or poke. Visualize healing energies suffusing your tissues.   Maximize the healthy qualities of your diet:   ²  Use organic olive oil and butter to the exclusion of other fats. ²  Increase your use of beans, especially lentils,…