I saw this movie this past weekend. I remember when it was being released wanting to see it because of HIM. Then I got over HIM. Yes I mean Robert Pattinson! ~lol~ 

But really...even if you don't like him, but you kinda sorta maybe like romantic chick flicks, see this. It is a that....romantic, drama, chick flick. It has 2 past vampires in it! Pattinson...if you don't know him, then what rock have you been living under? And Lena Olin, who plays his mom in the movie. She played Maharet in Queen of the Damned. Anyways, the movie is kind of slow...I won't lie. And his friend...Aidan..I could swear he was related to Hal Sparks. Turns out, he's not but damn he must have studied him hard for this role!! I can't tell you much about the movie without giving it away. But there is a plot twist at the end that made me say "Are you fucking kidding me?" My husband said it was M. Night Shyamalanish. Watch it! 


Please, if you've seen the movie, do not give away anything in your comments!! Not everyone reading this has seen it!!

The Inner Temple of Witchcraft by Christopher Penczak

This is the first in a series of book by Christopher Penczak that I am reading. I've been a Pagan for a very long time now, but I always enjoy reading and maybe learning something I didn't before. Everyone has their own style of teaching, and this is no exception. I'm only 1/2 through the book, but I am enjoying it so far!! I wanted to share with everyone a piece I read last night that I think, no matter what path you follow, will do anyone nothing but good!!! 




AFFIRMATIONS 

Affirmations are beneficial statements we make to ourselves, out loud or silently, to reprogram our deep levels of consciousness. 

Daily affirmations are a great way to instantly reprogram the subconscious and gain greater access to our personal power. They can be done in meditation, to deeply implant them in your consciousness. They can also be done in a regular beta state with great effect. Here are some sample affirmations..... 


To build self-esteem and a sense of connection to your own spirit: 


   I love myself. I love all others. I am infinitely loved.
   I forgive myself. I forgive all others. 
   I am walking in the love of the Goddess, God, and Great Spirit.
   Everything I do is for the good of all involved, harming none.
  I am open to my highest guidance 

For prosperity: 

   I am successful and talented.
   I am prosperous.
  I have all the money and resources I need. 
  I am always in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing. 
  I am joyful in all that I do. 

To open and awaken psychic abilities: 

   All of my senses are growing stronger every day.
   I am safely opening and increasing all my psychic abilities.
   I am seeing, hearing, knowing, and traveling psychically. 
  I am psychic.

To create personal health: 

   I am completely healthy on all levels.
   I am in balance and harmony.
   I release all that does not serve my highest good.
   I am safely opening my healing abilities.




 


For obvious reasons, I've not posted all the information given in the book. If you want to know more, please look into this book!!

Cleansing a space

A friend of mine on another website will be moving. She is having current problems in the place she is in now, so I've been giving her tips on how to clear out any negative energy. This is part of an email I sent her this morning for cleansing the new place. You can also do this in your current place, even if you are not moving.  


The place you are moving to, have people lived there before and is will it be empty when you move in? If people have lived there before, you need to remove their negative energy.

First thing to do is open all the windows and doors. This includes to bathrooms and closets. Go to each room, walking clockwise with a bell. Ring the bell. It stirs up the negative energy and gets in moving. Make sure to get the corners and closets and even inside cabinets. Once you do all this, you can move on to the next steps!! But if you can't or don't have time, don't worry about it. You can do the rest also. But if you can, then do it. If you can't, definitely do the salt piece I talk about below.  


Get some sage and smudge the place. If you can't get sage, then sandalwood works fine too. Light either a stick or cone of it in each room or carry a lighted stick to each room. If you light a stick in each room, as you do, image the negative energy being drawn to the tiny fire of the incense and being burned away. If possible, have the windows open so the smoke can go out of it. If not, it's okay. Just image the energy being burnt up and disappearing as the smoke does. If you light a stick and go to each room, do the same thing. But instead, you are walking to each room. Once you've imagined the negative energy being burned away, imagine in it's place positive energy. Picture a large white light covering the entire room to protect it. You don't have to spend a great amount of time in each room while you are doing this. 5 minutes tops is enough. I would recommend doing this once a month to keep the place clean of negative energies. More if you feel you need it. 

If possible, another thing to do is using salt. Put a small amount, 1 or 2 pinches, in the corner of each room. If you can, it would be best to leave it overnight. It will absorb the negative energies. The next day, vacuum or sweep it up and throw it outside or flush it. If you throw it outside, make sure it in an area where you won't walk for a couple of days and make sure it's out back. If you can't leave it over night,  you can place a small dish in the window of each room with 1 or 2 pinches of salt over night. Dispose of it the same way the next day. If for some odd reason you don't have salt, but you do have vinegar, just replace the salt with it. With this, instead of putting in each corner, just put a tablespoon or 2 in a bowl in each window over night. You would dispose of it the same way as you would the salt.

Need help sleeping? Get a glass of water and an egg!!!

Meditation before bedtime. Are you totally alone at bedtime? If not, make sure you are. This would include any animals! You know that state you go into when you day dream? Get to that for 5-10 minutes. The way I do it is sit in the bed and focus on something across from me. I close my eyes to the point of blurring everything up and just relax. Try to clear your mind of anything and everything. It's going to be hard at first. But put an image in your mind to concentrate on. It can be an image of a leaf or a bird or whatever you want and like. When you find yourself veering off into thoughts or picturing other things, go back to your chosen image. As I said above, try to do this for 5-10 minutes, longer if it you need it. All this is doing is helping to relax your mind.
To help get rid of negativity while you are sleeping...this is something I do and it does help. Get a glass...make sure it's one you won't use anymore in daily life. Before going to bed at night, fill it with water and put it somewhere near your head. The water will absorb any negativity while you sleep. (You can do the same thing with the egg. I'll explain that one later) When you wake up in the morning, take the glass in your less dominant hand (left if you are right handed, etc) and pour the water in the toilet. Wash the glass 3 times with water and pour it each time in the toilet. All you have to do is swirl the water around in the glass. Once you've done this, flush the toilet. This will flush the negativity away! Repeat this every night and morning for as long as you need to. For me, it took about 2 weeks and I realized I was sleeping much better!
As far as the egg goes...get an egg and place it near your head (if you do the glass of water, you can place it next to it) Leave the egg there for 7 days. If it breaks before that 7 days, it is said that the egg as absorbed a LOT of negativity! Just toss it (described below) and get another one. If it lasts the full 7 days, on the 7th day, take the egg to the bathroom. Toss is hard enough into the toilet so that it breaks and flush it!! If it doesn't break the first time, try it again until it does break! You might notice that the egg is larger than it was when you first got it out. This is a sign of the negativity it's absorbed.

Herb pillows to help you sleep.

The pillows...better known as herb pillows!! They are made small enough to go under your bed pillow. They really aren't pillows. You can make it as plain or fancy as you want it to be. And as small or larger. Just remember, the bigger it is, the more herbs you'll need. Some herbs to use are chamomile, valerian, skullcap, and lavender. I've also heard that catnip can be used, but I haven't tried it. You can use a mixture of the dried herbs and oils. Or you can mix the oils to get the scent strength you want, soak it in the fabric and let it dry. Just remember to keep it slightly scented. You don't want to keep yourself away because it's so strong smelling!! Some people even use eye masks this way. Instead of putting it under your pillow, you cover your eyes with it to help keep the light out.
If you want you can use just one of the herbs above. Lavender seems to be pretty popular. You can use fresh or dried lavender. And you can keep the scent active with lavender oil. If you don't have an herb shop in your area, maybe you have a Hobby Lobby? In the candles and soap section, they sell both the lavender oil and herbs. If you have to get it online, I recommend these sellers on Ebay. I use them all the time and their products are great! sun_pure_botanicals sells awesome oils at cheap prices. athenas_garden sells great herbs at great prices.

Necessary Endeavors of the Spiritual Practitioner ~ Shedding and Cleansings

This blog was written by a real life friend of mine. I wanted to share this with the rest of the world who is not on MHS. This is a beautifully written piece. One that no matter what your spiritual life is, you might be able to follow and have remarkable results with.
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Sometimes life is just like a muddy river, things just don’t move the way you would like them too. And sometimes no matter what you do, you just can’t get very far for all of the muck you have to wade through.
What do you do then?
How do you clear things up and move forward??
Most would say a cleansing is in order…I agree, but what if you are the practitioner?
How do you decide what type of cleansing?
How do you determine if that is all you need??
I know from experience that helping clients with these issues can be very beneficial to their health, wealth and well being.
I tend to put it off, I have found that helping myself seems to be the last thing on my list of things to do.
I am not sure why, but the spiritual worker can often get so caught up in what we do for the outer world that we forget what it takes to keep ourselves straight.
I can confess that this is often a problem of mine. I may keep a clean house and office, but my own personal power gets laid by the side and can become tattered and muddy.

My best action at that time is to seek out the correct spiritual worker to help me.
Someone I would trust, someone who is wise, and someone who is powerful. This can be quite a dilemma, I do not trust too many people, especially spiritual workers…lol…(that I do not know)…
So putting this off and putting it off, easily becomes a bad pattern/habit.
This is not good folks, let me testify to that!!
You just keep saying “It’s Ok, everything will be alright.” but it is not alright…even if you let the joyous rays of the sun shine on you to bring strength and joy…the heat of that sunshine dries up the river bed and you get stuck “baked in”, your flow is cut off, and you are not going anywhere.
Things will get hot and troublesome, and ultimately you may very well burn out and wither before the river current returns and revives, cleanses and refreshes the cooling flow of energy into your life. By then it may be too late. A river can be turbulent and overpowering if you are stuck in one place. Water energy run amuck can bring lots of mental and emotional trials. Our feelings of helplessness and depression come crashing upon us, and once again because of our delays, we are handicapped.
Cleansings are important. Letting go of things that mean very little to us is imperative. If we choose not to release and clean out our environment and physical, spiritual and mental self we ultimately become buried by attachments that serve us no purpose. It can accurately be compared to being buried alive. There are several different degrees that this can take place in an individuals life, but can also end up affecting friends, colleagues and family members increasing the negative affects in our own lives and those we spend time with regularly.
I am sure most of you have seen or heard of the television program “Hoarders” this documentary series shows the extreme conditions of people that have or are dealing with the effects of not being able to let go of attachments in their lives and the effects that it puts on them and their familiars.
It can be devastating. These case profiles are definitely at the extreme end of the situational and mental processes, but my point is to help you see that cleansings and shedding are important and should be taken seriously if we are going to help ourselves physically and spirituality.

I want to define two terms before I move forward. First lets look at “shedding”.
Shedding is just as it sounds…basically it means to “cast off“.
Just like the winter coat of a furred animal or the shedding of snake skin. Leaving behind what no longer is necessary or what can be come counter productive to the livelihood of the being.

Every year, sometimes twice a year, I do a shedding. I go through everything in my home and environment and get rid of whatever no longer addresses my immediate needs.
Every drawer, every closet, every box is gone through and items are delegated to their appropriate disposal, whether that is trash, yard sale, or donation of the items. If incorporated into a spiritual practice this can become empowering and reveal a great deal about what has been going on in our lives, and lends itself to decisions about what we need and what we don’t in the future.
A shedding can also be very rewarding as well. The quote “One mans trash is another mans’ treasure” comes to mind.
We can use this opportunity to share with our community, because there is always someone out there that needs something, and being able to share what does not fit into our lives anymore may be a blessing beyond our imagination to someone else.
Another aspect of shedding is to let go inappropriate thought processes. This gives us a chance to heal issues that directly connect to mental and spiritual situations that affect the way we process the world and people around us.
To accomplish this I start by recalling all things that have been said or done to me by others, as well as what I may of said or done to others.
Most people would make a list, I personally draw a picture of all of these issues. Nothing fancy, just something that verifies that I have brought these things forward and recognized their power in my life.
You don’t have to write a book or do a fine art painting, but just create something that addresses an issue by putting it down on paper, canvas or whatever you choose. Even one word can strike the head of the issue. This type of work is meant for you alone so it does not have to fit any specific pattern it just needs to recognize a powerful source in your psyche.
I call up all of these situations, create my work, and prepare it for the healing that I want to take place. I start by taking the creation and affirming that these ideas and thoughts are unnecessary. I mentally and ritually take away their power. I transform them by giving them up and destroying the attachment they have in my life.
Me, personally, I like to burn them. Being a Leo, I am all about fire. But you could give them to a river or the ocean. You could bury your concerns, asking the earth to take them and transform them. There are many ways to accomplish this, I have a friend that has what she calls the “Sacred Shredder”, it may seem funny but she uses that little piece of office equipment in her magic, and it really does seem to be quite effective.

So in review, shedding is important physically, mentally and spiritually. Cleaning out the wounds and disturbances in our lives, allows us to open up pathways leading to our healing and empowerment.
Shedding is definitely the personal aspect of a thorough cleansing. It needs to be completed to allow any headway in the process of a cleansing for a person, and bypassing this step can cause whatever cleansing work you do to be diminished by a great deal.
Now lets turn our attention to the term or act of “cleansing”. The definition I find the most appropriate for this discussion is: to wash clean, purify, refine, revive, restore, purge and absolve. To spiritually take away the conditions that affect us.

This can be done in a number of ways, and for many reasons. A cleansing can be very specific or general in its nature.
So the issue of the client must be identified and addressed. This is where having a qualified and knowledgeable practitioner to assist you is necessary.
One who is excellent at examining, evaluating, and divining the conditions present.
It is definitely a multi layered process.
It could be counter productive or ineffective to allow someone to just apply an egg cleansing or a bath without knowing what is being dealt with.
That is why I never recommend that a client just go on the internet or to a shop and buy a prepackaged condition product. Divination is always required, and assures that we are focusing at causes and conditions that pertain to us as an individual. Knowledge, experience, wisdom, and trust are all aspects that need to be examined when finding the practitioner that will help you best.

Many of you are aware that my life has been very chaotic lately. The situations in my life had taken over and have effected me both spiritually and physically. My recognition of this has been ongoing for quite sometime. But instead of acting upon the issues, I let them override my life, and eventually paralyze my health, well being, and spirituality. I can testify that it is no use trying to help others when you are in need of assistance yourself. And given that this is my passion, to assist others and to channel inspiration through my art and associations. I had to make a decision to get myself straight. But what? And who? How was I going to accomplish this, being as I know very few practitioners of the caliber that I needed in my immediate area. I had some decisions and work to do. I did a shedding and it is on going. I am having to move from where I now reside. So this has fit right in with shedding. My porch is filled with items that I have available for sale to weekend yard sale seekers. The trunk of my car is filled with clothing to be delivered to the Goodwill station here in my town. I have confronted issues that have been destroying me emotionally and physically by resigning my position at a very toxic work place. And I have thrown up my arms and engaged spirit to move me forward and return the magical flow back to me in my life. With the world situation at hand and the economy being as it is, this was a tremendously scary action, but I made up my mind that I wanted to LIVE, and not suffer any more at the hands of what was affecting my well-being. It was time to get “UNSTUCK”. And I needed help.

As of today, life is moving again, things have broken open and opportunities are revealing themselves, and although my physical body is still stiff, sore and painful. Pathways to healing and reviving my life are coming into focus and are within reach.
Although at this moment I may be broke, I am not “poor”. I am asking the universe for funds and monies, and they are arriving. I am still in great need, but I have little fear, and with out the fear, I am not stifled or paralyzed, allowing me to work this energy and move forward accepting only the positive things that come my way.
I am empowered and powerful, I am clarified, I have returned to right thinking, and by asking for help I have acquired the assistance of powerful spiritual allies.
What did I do??
What choices did I make??
I want to tell you all about it, so watch for my next blog. I will reveal some very powerful things. Thank you for reading and joining me on this journey. Blessings and Light Mariah

I have been humbled by my friends here and the prayers and blessings that they have applied to my situation and I do want to take this opportunity to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart.
And for those of you that may consider a shedding, please take a look to see if there is a Free Cycle group in your area.
This is a great way to share what you don’t need with your community, and if there is something that you might need at this time, you may find it available on this site for no charge.
http://www.freecycle.org/
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The original of this blog can be found here  myhoodoospace.ning.com/profiles/blogs/necessary-endeavors-of-the  All words and images are copyright of Mariah.

8 Movies to Die For: Dread

Watched Dread this past Saturday night. It's one of the newer 8 Movies to Die For and it's by Clive Barker!
Here's a little sexy eye candy:
   

It stars Jackson Rathbone. Who is Jackson Rathbone you ask? At first I saw him and I was like "oh he looks familiar but I can't place him"

Anything yet? Does this help any?

  Yes, it's Jasper from Twilight! And lemme tell you, he plays a better down and out college boy than a wimpy, mood controlling vampire!! Yes, the movie was kinda slow. But it made up for it in other ways! Here's a synopsis from lionsgateshop.com:

"Stephen (Jackson Rathbone, the TWILIGHT saga) and Cheryl are college students making a documentary about what people dread in life. But they have no idea that their partner, Quaid, witnessed his parents being murdered by an axe-wielding lunatic and wants to make others experience his own personal horror. This stylish horror/thriller is produced by Clive Barker, the Godfather of modern horror/fantasy and the creator of the HELLRAISER and CANDYMAN series."

Ok this is more of a psychological, OMG-what-the-fuck-were-they-thinking-this-has-the-possibility-to-be-real movie. It's not horror if you solely define it along the lines of Hellraiser,  etc. It's mind fucking horror. There are a few grisly, gory scenes that I won't talk about here because it would kinda give it away. I can tell you that if you enjoyed Barker's "Midnight Meat Train" or " Book of Blood", you will most likely enjoy this one too