Card of the Day: The Moon. Yeah, I got all that.

Fear

Illusion

Imagination

Bewilderment

Celtic:  XVIII Sadbh ~ Sadbh is lured away from Almuhin.  With an illusion which re-evoked the appearance of Flinn and of his hounds, his spouse, Sadbh, was lured far away and was never glimpsed again by mortal eyes.

Illusions, visions, dreams, gentleness, deception, night.

Viking:  XVIII Mani ~ The Vikings viewed masculine aspect in the moon and feminine aspect in the sun.  The moon is the nocturnal light that captures light and controls it:  A magical being who dies in is born again for all eternity.  According to Viking myth, Mani was also a man who, while he was dying, gave himself up to the sun and became its slave.

Visions, magic, eccentricity, mistakes due to whims

My book says this card represents fear, illusion, imagination, bewilderment. 

Feeling fear:  releasing inner demons, feeling a nameless apprehension, lacking courage, being overcome by anxieties... yeah, I got that.

Believing illusions: accepting a flase picture, deceivin yourself, having unrealistic ideas, misapprehending the truth, experiencing distortions... yeah, I got that.

Stimulating the imagination: having vivid dreams, entertaining unusual thoughts, being outlandish and bizarre... yeah, I got that.

Feeling bewildered: losing direction and purpose, having trouble thinking clearly, becoming confused, being easily distracted, feeling disoriented, wandering aimlessly... yeah, I got ALL that too.

Once again my deck nailed it. My card of the day... nailed it.

yay me.

My new crystals

Daughter just got back from the coast, and being the best daughter evah, brought me some gifts.

My new amethyst...

and my new fluorite...

They are so cool. Filled with rainbows and all kinds of beautiful things.

Best daughter, evah.

'i see myself': embrace the rainbow

In the past few days, we have been privileged to witness an increasing awareness and understanding within the m/m romance community about the complex issues of gender/s and sexuality/ies.

This has been a significant and positive step forward in healing a rift caused primarily by ignorance and bringing hope where there was once anger, turmoil and devastation.

This is by no means an end, however.

For if there is one thing we have all learnt is that a rainbow cannot easily be grasped or defined. 

Rainbows are constantly changing.  Rainbows are not fixed.  Even when an artist tries to portray them in a photograph or piece of work it is only one moment in time they are capturing, not the full journey of a rainbow.

It is this fluidity we need to embrace and encourage others to do so as well.

To this end, we are sending out a challenge.

A challenge to help us increase awareness, acceptance and support for the trans*, intersex, intergender and questioning people in the m/m romance community and broader community by adding this to your site:

We believe this will stand hard as a sign post symbolising hope as well as a safe space for GLBTQQ people to freely be themselves.  Whoever 'they' might be at that particular moment and whoever 'they' might be in different moments in the future.

We do this on the day which marks the 13th International Transgender Day of Remembrance; a day for remembering those trans* who have been the victims of hate crimes.

We also do this in association with the Safe Reading Zone campaign; a promise to those GLBTQQ people among us that we will support them.

So, will you accept our challenge?

Perhaps this excerpt from an interview in September 2011 between genderfluid Andrej Pejic and ABC’s Nightline Juju Chang will help you make a descision:

Chang:  When you see yourself in the mirror, do you think of yourself more as a man or as a woman?
Pejic:  I like to keep my options open.
Chang:  What does that mean?
Pejic:  I see myself.

‘I see myself.’

That, friends, says it all.

Please help us spread this message.

With hope and love, Aleksandr Voinov, Amara Devonte and Kris for 'embrace the rainbow'.

Freya's Scarves

I used to crochet quite a bit. Afgans, scarves, rag rugs, thread doilies, all kinds of goodies. Actually, that''s kind of a lie, I used to start to crochet quite a bit. I have a lot of 1/2 finished afgans, I think I actually completed only 3 or 4. A lot of 1/2 finished doily table runners and whatnots, that thread stuff takes a long time and is rather hard on the eyes. I keep telling myself one of these days I'll finish all these things, but, yeah, that's a lie too.

I do manage to finish my scarves. Just actually found the lastest ones I made the other day while I was cleaning out the closets last weekend. Kinda glad I found them, it's getting awfully cold here.

Mah scarves I made...

I don't really use the black and blue one, I think I made that one for daughter. I should prolly give that to her one of these days. The other one I wear sometimes, but it kinda sucks for the keeping warm thing. 

That one actually almost came out all snuggly warm. It's made from a yummy soft micro fiber type yarn. Unfortunately, I didn't really think that star thing thru and when I wrap it around myself... it has holes. Booo. So close on that bad boy.

That one doesn't have holes. It was almost a win too. Except... the cool funky yarn... sheds and gets in mah nose. That's kinda suck. But it looks nice draped on my long black wool coat. :D 

This year, maybe I'll actually make one that is decorative AND useful. 

That would rock. :D :D

Scarves by Freya. They don't keep you warm. But they are fun to make. :D 

The end.

Aromatherapy: Freya's New Headache Remedy

I spent the weekend battling back issues and horrible headaches. I try not to bitch too much about these things, sometimes I do ok at that, sometimes... not so much.  This post isn't for the purpose of bitching but sharing.

I found a wonderful essential oil recipe that really helped the headaches this weekend. When one's head feels like it is going to explode, one can use all the help one can get. On occasion, aromatherapy can work wonders. This was such an occasion.

After trying ibuprophen, darvocet, flexiril and... just about anything else I could get my hands on, to no avail, I decided to try a nice soak in a hot bath. It was either that, or lop my head off. Sadly, lopping off my own head is not a good idea. Seems I need it, for like... living. Living is important.

I was going to just use my lavender, but decided to go to the books and see if there was something more I could try. Aaaaand, voila. I found one that worked almost like magic. And left soft and silky and smelling good too.

Bonus. :D

I deviated a little because I didn't have everything, and can't measure or count when my brain feels like it's bleeding, so here's what I ended up with.

Freya's Headache Bath Soak

• 3 drops chamomile oil (Roman)
• 3 drops chamomile oil (wild)
• 3 drops lavender oil
• 3 drops marjoram oil
• 2 drops clary sage oil

Water as hot as I could stand it, closed curtain to keep all the steam from escaping, soaked and breathed it all in and... left that bath headache free.

Twas marvelous.

I'll have to remember to try that next time the horrible headache is an actual migraine. I bet it would work for that too.

I'm trying a new one for my back/neck today. Hoping it will ease the pain some before I get to the back lady this afternoon. If it works, I may blog that one too.