Oops

Blimey!

It's nearly a month since I was here last... which means one of several things. Either a) I've done nothing worth reporting, or b) I've been too busy to report on it, or c) I couldn't be arsed to report on either a) or b)!

Actually, I've had quite a busy month, all things considered. I've done another psychic fayre, done my first 'meet in a pub and hope not to get murdered' reading (it went fabulously and was for a thoroughly lovely guy, so I really hope it works out for him), worked out how to meditate without having a fury fit afterwards, booked my holiday, paid a small fortune to get my car back on the road, heard from someone I'd pretty much given up on ever hearing from again, acquired a couple more donkey-related items, sold some crap on eBay, did some readings on eBay, finished a short(ish) story commission, did a major overhaul of the poetry section on my website, started learning Italian and... well, I'm sure there's something else, but I can't think what at the moment.

It's been a busy old time, really, and I've got a busy weekend ahead. More writing projects on the go that I hope to find time for on Sunday, I really need to get out for a long walk if I can (and the weather holds) cos I haven't done a serious hike since about October cos of this poxy bronchitis, stuff to do around the house, more parcels to send, more meditational work to do, and all in just 48 hours. However am I going to fit it all in? (Answer: I probably won't.)

I've been feeling very upbeat since the equinox, despite all the hysteria and stupidity of people around me. I'm finally learning to shut out the mindless trivia of other people's lives, and listen instead to my inner sense. I'm rolling with the weather and the turning of the seasons, seeing the greater connection to the world at large, and realising that actually I do have a lot to be thankful for, not least my common sense and sense of proportion, and that no matter how crappy life gets, there is a core of me that stays upright. I'm a good deal more sane than most people give me credit for, and at least I know who I am. It's more than a lot of people can say for themselves, I'm realising.

Maybe that makes me a spiritual ego-tripper, but I don't care what other people think of me any more. I am at one with myself and my world and my gods... nothing else really matters.

Wow!

I got up at 215am today to witness what my Elfin diary called 'the most amazing astronomical event of 2007'... hmm, I fear they've been on the happy pills a bit.

What I saw was pretty, but not my definition of amazing. Amazing is Krakatoa going off, the Aurora Borealis, witnessing a supernova imploding, winning the lottery. The supposedly visible occultation of Saturn by the Moon (or vice versa, I can't remember) last night consisted to my view of a pretty ring of light shining behind the Moon like a corona or aura, electric blue at the 'south' and golden yellow at the 'north'. Pretty in its own way, and not something I've noticed before, but I'm sure come this afternoon when I'm flagging through broken sleep and wondering if I'm safe to drive home, I'll not be thinking 'that was amazing, I must do that again'.

Oh well, the total lunar eclipse on Saturday evening should be more impressive, and it doesn't mean getting up in the middle of the night as it kicks off about 930pm and goes on til midnight ish. Of course, I can now almost guarantee it'll cloud up at dusk and be pissing down by 9pm, but hopefully - the gods willing - I'll be able to see it.

Still, my life seems to be full of nice synchronicities at the moment, since the fayre in fact, including at least two today connected to dreams of last night, which is kinda funky. In one of last night's dreams I saw a girl I work with walking down the corridor in a particular shade of blue... and she was the first person I saw this morning on getting to work, and yes she was wearing exactly that shade.

The second dream I had involved me being followed about by a tiger, being scared, but eventually facing it and finding it was an ally/totem and not hunting me after all. Lo and behold, I go online today and find myself chatting to someone I haven't spoken to in a while, and he's changed his profile pic to that of a tiger!

This is just today's weirdnesses, but there have been a lot of similar incidents over the past fortnight or so, and especially since I properly entered Chariot year on my birthday. Everything from prophetic dreams to saying the same thing as someone at the same time, to knowing who's phoning from a withheld number, to opening random pages of a book and finding exactly the image or idea I was just thinking about.

The world is a place of high strangeness again, which is just how it should be. Hurrah!

Magick in the air

I seem to be having an oddly synchronistic day today, which is appropriate given that it's 56 years today since the repeal in the UK of the Witchcraft Act.

As I was pondering this fact, and trying to work out how many years it was without the aid of a calculator, a black cat shot out of the hedgerow in front of my car. Strange enough, and it cheered me up enormously to think that sometimes the fates/cosmos/divine knows how to throw symbols at one.

A little further up the road a trio of jet black and very large crows were skipping about in the middle of the road as I approached. Not so amazing you might think, except that crows have long been a familiar spirit of mine, and I often see them in trios, which to me represents the Triple Goddess.

Still further on my journey, a solitary crow flew very low from right to left in front of my car, and around the next bend another pair of crows did the same flight from left to right, almost scraping my bonnet with their wings. So, another trio.

By the time I got into work I was itching to work out some proper maths, and this is where the unutterable weirdness reaches its peak.

It is 56 years since the repeal of the Witchcraft Act. There are 22 years between the repeal year and the year I was born. There are 56 cards in the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. There are 22 cards in the Major Arcana.

This is totally my year, spiritually! In just a few days time I start at my first ever psychic fayre, about which I have been suffering some extreme cases of nerves and panic, wondering if I'm up to it, but all the signs are there that it's what I was meant to do, particularly this year.

Chariot year, and I'm picking up the reins and directing my own destiny. But it really is great to know that the gods seem to be supporting me and backing me up. Not for nothing did the inspiration occur to me at the turning of the calendar year to use one of my middle names as a 'trading' name for the fayres, a name which not only links me to my Egyptian/Hebraic past life, but which is an honorary title anciently given to prophetesses and seers.

I have hope, and a little fear, but I've seen enough odd signs - and today's given me a bumper crop of high strangeness to be getting on with (and it's only 845am!) - to make me believe I'm on the right track.

Blessed Be. All hail the gods!

A world in white

Is what I woke up to yesterday, and it was lovely. Not at all pleasant to drive in, especially on the bits with hidden ice on hills where 5mph and wiggling all over the road was de rigueur, but absolutely beautiful to look at. We had 3 inches of settled snow, soft as cotton wool, and more falling from the sky, and the trees and fields looked scrumptious.

This morning, it started snowing just as I was walking out to my car, so I've now experienced driving in a blizzard, which was actually pretty ok. Better than torrential rain, in my opinion, though not everyone would think so I guess.

Of course, yesterday, how predictably, some people took the piss opportunity for a day off, even though it was a) only 3 inches of snow and b) other people - even from neighbouring streets who use the same route, and those who come a lot further - managed to get in. It does irritate me when grown men behave like little babies just because of a bit of interesting weather. Still, this particular grown man would take any chance of a day off, cos he's a lazy, cretinous arse-wipe who's no damn use when he is at his desk which isn't often anyway even when he is allegedly at work... deep breath... so it came as no great surprise to any of us when he phoned in claiming to be snowed in so badly he couldn't get out of his road. Cobblers. Utter utter bullshit. But somehow he gets away with it, and him not being here made for a very pleasant and enjoyable day in the office for those of us who had bothered to come in, so there is a silver lining!

The question is, will he take the piss again today because it's snowing a bit (and let's be honest, because it's a Friday), or will he ruin the end of everyone's week and 'struggle in'?

Dammit, we've just seen his car go past the window.

Bastard.

The world in white is very lovely though, and I'll put up with a bit of scary and treacherous driving for the beauty of the place under its seasonal blanket. I hope it lingers into the weekend so I can walk down the canal and see the ducks in their frozen little world and see how they're getting on.

Oh and, just to put things in perspective, I spoke to one of my colleagues in Finland yesterday and told them we finally had a spot of snow over here, and it had dropped to -6C, and she replied that they also had snow, and had -25C the day earlier, and were lolling in something of a heatwave that day at 'only' -20C! So not being able to get out of your road under 3 inches of snow... yeah right. Ain't nobody believing that one.