Witchcraft shouldn't be a sales funnel trapping stupid people.

 Blessings Darlings!

I'm not a nightmare person.  I virtually never get them anymore, since I'm old and I just face and deal with problems in my life.  That said, I certainly get dreams full of frustration, or things that anger me.  THAT is the type of dream I had last night.

The Chubby Hubby and I were at some big hotel.  I assume that we were there because he had a conference there, since we have a long history of staying at big hotels for that.  We spouses (almost all women, since these are high tech conferences, and women are still ... ahem ... sidelined as much as possible in tech) are encouraged to 'enjoy the amenities'.  So in the dream, I tried to.

What I discovered was that while their 'self care' center said that services came with your stay, the services were stupidly minimal.  Skin care!  Only of your hands.  Sitting thru' videos of what they offer ... for pay ... was one of their 'free services.'  

Fundamentally, all of the 'free amenities' were ads.  I walked out - so angry that I changed from my 'draping' for all the services (like in a spa) where everyone could see my fat pasty white ass, rather than in a dressing room.  Then thought about dinner.  I looked at the big posted menus, and got even more pissed that all the options for food there were over $50. 

Now, I totally know what triggered this dream.  Yesterday I watched the first 'educational unit' in the FB group of the woman who made the meme I trashed all last week.  It's a fucking sales video, not an 'educational unit', for her $900+ course.  On having a daily practice.  Bitch, I don't need a course on getting up, drinking some water, brushing my teeth, meditating, moving a little, and eating a healthy breakfast that costs over $900.  For that price, you'd best be here pouring me the water, cooking me the breakfast, and bringing the ingredients for that breakfast.  And she's calling this witchcraft.  I'm calling it a sales funnel aimed at stupid people.

Putting on my marketing hat (and I actually do have quite a lot of training and experience at marketing) it's really clear that this is yet another person who is working the Clickpages model.  If you ever get a chance to watch one of Mike Filsaime's rants about Clickpages (and I like Mike's stuff on marketing, but don't 'love' his stuff) check it out.   And for best digital marketing ... go with Ryan Diess and his DigitalMarketer.com (I get no $ from referrals, just from using the system).

Frondly, Fern

In the kitchen with lots of veggies.

 Blessings Darlings!

Welp, I HATE the new interface here at Blogspot.  It does less than the old one. It gives less info than the old one.  We hates it, we do.

Anyway, it's before 10 am.   Dishes done, garden done.  Will roast home grown veggies for a pasta dish to have with dinner soon.  Maybe I'll roast some beets, too.  Or at least some turnips.  The harvest is on, for sure.

 Yup. Spent the day cooking and cleaning.  More focused on the cooking than the cleaning.  Also paid the bills and ordered a fill for our propane tank.  

That's it.  Life just ... goes on.  

Frondly, Fern

Endless Unemployment Wednesday

Blessings Darlings!

Today has been a boring day.  Gardening/harvesting, first full meal salad based on the Swiss Chard, housework, husband spilling coffee ALL over a counter full of stuff, etc.   Spawn made dinner - breakfast burritos.  Tomorrow the left over enchilada sauce will go on the pasta/veggie mix we're having with dinner. 

Spawn did the pick up from Walmart, and the rest of the shopping.  We'll still need milk again this week, but that's no real problem.  Interacted with folks from work online, all hoping we hear that we'll be going back, and no one optimistic. 

Onward towards tomorrow!

Frondly, Fern

Today is for the birds.

Blessings Darlings!

Yesterday I did the "Juno Rite for Finances" from Jason Miller.  Things clicked really well while doing it - no candles blew out, the chanting came naturally, and within minutes of finishing rain started.  As I mentioned yesterday, we're on the Edge of Drought here.

After that rite, I cleaned the part of the patio that is protected by an overlay of roof.  I was given 'word' to put up a second altar out there, but I don't know why yet.  The area needed sweeping anyway, tho.  Today the back is full of swallows flying around, so I cleaned the bird poop (softened by the storm) from under the swallows nest there.  The babies are now living in the air just like grown birds.  The wasp nest is still in heavy use there, of course.  I'll knock that down around December.

While doing the preparation for yesterday's ritual, I realized that the wine in the kitchen had been open, but not used, since March.  Which means it was vinegar at best, and I don't need yet more wine vinegar in the house.  It was painful dumping it, but ... that's life.  I meant to use it for daily offerings, but have been using whiskey instead due to Reasons.  Obviously I've not been doing much cooking with wine for the last 5 months, and instead of wine I've used dry Sherry.

Today is being a Day With No Energy.  Did dishes, worked with the drying herbs, had conversations with Spawn and Chubby Hubby, cut up a lot of fruit, took lots of stuff to the compost bin, watched the swallows, listened to the wrens.  Will do more in the kitchen after dinner.  But not doing a whole lot of stuff today. 

Frondly, Fern

Lughnasadh, Pandemic, economy, garden - SSDD

Blessings Darlings!

Now, back to life during Coronavirus.  And now a rapidly weakening hurricane.  And protests continuing.  And the President talking about delaying elections.  

This is the Irish holiday of Lughnasadh.  Depending on your POV, it could be about the harvest.  I see it as the funeral games honoring Tailtiu, Lugh's foster mother.  She died from overwork, clearing the land for agriculture.  So for me - it's ALL ABOUT THE FARMWORKERS.  Of course, the farm workers are not being protected from Covid 19.  http://www.ncfh.org/msaws-and-covid-19.html

Speaking of Covid 19, since the US fucked up the last 6+ months, and didn't put any organized efforts into control, we're hitting new highs in cases and deaths daily.  According to Dr. Birx (the Coronavirus Response Coordinator for the White House Coronavirus Task Force since February 2020) it's too late to talk about 'hotspots', it's now widespread - it's everywhere.  There is no sign of when it will end.  It might well take years before it's under control.  And ... darn few of us are going to trust vaccines that are rushed on to market, especially since the govt is going to release them even if they are only 50% effective, and there haven't been long term studies on side effects. 

The 'Covid stimulus' money that had been given to those of us on unemployment - an extra $600 per week - has now ended.  Our congresscritters are at a stalemate on replacing it with anything, especially anything that helps people instead of corporations.

Agriculturally - my area is between 'abnormally dry' and 'moderate drought'.  This is likely to change tonight and tomorrow, as we're getting rain from the remains of hurricane/tropical storm/tropical depression Isaias.  We have flood warnings for tomorrow, then a day off, then more rain from it.

My first planting of green beans is almost played out.  The second planting was totally eaten, probably by returning voles.  Swiss Chard is doing well, I have beets, and today I picked the first two tomatoes.  The yellow squash plant is on a break, which is nice so we MIGHT catch up on eating the harvested ones.  I harvested the first of the potatoes today, too.  

That's the 'quick' summary.

Frondly, Fern

Witchy Wellness part LAST. Finally.

Blessings Darlings!

Here we are, at #25, Devotionals.  Welp, around there HERE parts - as I keep saying - Witchcraft isn't a religion.  It's a skill set.  Just . like . knitting .   You don't have any devotionals to do to be great at knitting.  You don't have to do any devotionals to be great at witchcraft.

And they ain't part of 'wellness', either.

#25 Skincare.  Look, bathing regularly IS a wellness issue.  Common sense says to wash what is dirty, and moisturize what is dry.  As pointed out a few days ago - ashiness is not 'spiritual'.  But FFS, you can witch just fine with dry skin or zits or whatever.  Being moisturized or not has no impact on your witchcraft.  Zero, zip, nada. 

We're skipping line items that we hit earlier, lumped in with other ones.  So ...

#28 - Trust intuition.   How about DEVELOPING your intuition before trusting it?  Like learning to drive before trusting your ability to drive?  And while this IS witchy - it's not Wellness.

#30 is Meditation,  which I did mention before.  But I want to give it a bit more time, especially since this is the last thing we're going to cover (the last list item I covered DAYS ago).  Focused mind meditation is wellness, and is witchy.  So focus on that candle, or your walking, or that mantra, or follow that sound, whatever.  Don't confuse this with guided journeys, or pathworkings, or 'meditating to stop abuse' or whatthefuckever. 

Whew.  Finally.  Done with this crap. 

Let's summarize my points:  Wellness has a definition.  Witchcraft ... has a lot of definitions, but most of them are at least in the same ballpark.  "Witchy Wellness" is a stupid concept.  Especially when you set too many goals for too short a time.

2 to 4 goals a month, some of them to add things, some to drop things, is a good monthly 'goal total'.  And quantify those goals, make them measurable, so you can tell how you are actually fucking doing.

That's it, my dears.

Frondly, Fern

Witchy Wellness, Part 8. The bullshit goes on and on.

Blessings Darlings!

Yes, this does feel like it's going on for ever.  The meme had you doing things every day for a 31 day month.  If you think that my commenting on it is overwhelming - holy fuck, what must it be like trying to DO this?  I'll tell you - it would be overwhelming and impossible, it is set up for failure.  Even with days thrown in to 'soak'.  Now - back to analysis!

#21 Connect with nature.  Oh, I'm sure that she means hang out with plants outside.  Maybe with a stream or river.  Barefoot, if possible.  And, yes, being out in open green spaces is related to actual wellness.  It could be argued that such acts are witchy.

Statements like this have some level of implication that you aren't already surrounded by nature.  Humans are totally a part of nature, after all, and I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean throw a pot luck party (in times of pandemic safety) and connect with other humans.

This isn't 'realize your role in nature', either, tho.  It seems unlikely that she's asking you to check your impact on the environment.  To stop eating as much meat (I live in a cattle grazing area, on a beef cattle farm. Ground too full of boulders to plow.  If the focus is to farm (and this is permanently protected farm land) beef is it's best use.   To use less electricity, AC, heat, buy less things, etc.   I could go on about this for days. Probably for a full book, mostly filled with how I fall short on this.

Back to 'connect with nature' ... if you're not doing it by joining Sierra Club and working to actually protect the land, and 'just' going for a walk somewhere green that you didn't have to drive TOO far to get to ... I'm going to suggest that you Give an Offering first, before you expect Nature to connect with you.  Humans are an animal that leave garbage everywhere, so bring a couple of garbage bags and pick up trash, THEN work on connecting.  Carry the trash out when you leave. 

Next up is Crystal healing.  Crystals are lovely, and can be witchy useful.  Alas, the vast majority of them are unethically and taken from the earth, rather in violation with the previous point.  Also - not only are you not going to learn about crystals in one day, or understand how to use them for healing in one day, you're unlikely to be able to buy them all in one day.  We're got yet another task that will take a whole bunch of time, added to a list of other tasks doing the same thing.

Seriously check if any crystals you buy are ethically sourced - no slave labor, no strip mines, etc. 

I'm certainly not saying that I have zero crystals.  Heck I have a gallon bucket filled with quartzites, from chips to ones bigger than my fist.  All 'gifts' for working my garden with hand tools - I dig, they are in the ground.  It's a quirk of this neighborhood.  But I'm not out buying crystals of unknown origin. 

Next us Love your body.  Okay.  Again, an ongoing challenge that might take oodles of time.  It's another thing that shouldn't be on a 'monthly challenge' to a internet full of folks in varying states of health and different stages of their lives.  Some of us are going to have to start with 'stop talking negatively about your body' or 'tolerate your body'.  Then go on to 'accept your body'.  And this shit is going to take lots of time for most folks. 

That's it for today.  There are only 3 or 4 items left (I'm not sure if I'm going to do Meditation again, since I touched on it in another post earlier).  I might get to finish this tomorrow!  Yay!

Frondly, Fern