new things and returning to old ways...

good morning out there in bloglandia,

i meant to be here yesterday, but the day ran away from me and by the time i'd sat to write it was so late and i was sooo tired, i just went to bed.

i think i mentioned in my last post that i had started something new and wanted to share here. 

Several months ago, after i emerged from zombie world, i began to light my ancestor altar every day.  i was worried they'd be pissed as i'd neglected them (and other altars) for many months.  but they were not mad. they were actually happy to see me back and doing the things i needed to do.

i also returned to my regular morning ritual of journaling and pulling a tarot/oracle card every day.  as i was swapping out decks* to start a new week i had the thought that the ancestors needed a deck.  i flipped through my cubie of decks and found one i thought would be perfect for the altar. it is the Moon Witch Oracle by Cosmic Valeria. i acquired it on a trip out west either in Colorado or New Mexico.  so, i set it on the altar and went on with my day.  the next morning after my daily journaling and card pull, i was drawn to the ancestor altar to pull a card.  the message i received was amazingly accurate to what was happening in my life at the time and was just the advice i'd needed.

of course, after that, i had to pull a card from the deck every day.  i called it messages from the ancestors and would record each days message in my bom (book of me - collective just wasn't working for me - my planner/journal/calendar/everything book).  early in february i started feeling a push from the ancestors that i needed to share these messages out in the world. i pondered and argued, yes...i argued with the ancestors that i was not the person to do this (imposter syndrome, anyone?). but they gave me what for back and kept sending stronger and stronger messages. 

so.  i've created a substack "Messages from the Ancestors" where i post the days message/card pull and will sometimes add my thoughts on the cards and any additional words the ancestors want out there.  it is brand new as i started it the 1st of this month.  i'm still getting acquainted with substack, so it is a little tricksy right now. i'm doing my best to post in the am (US Eastern time) and if i can figure out how to do it from my app it won't be too hard. anyhoo...if you are on substack and would like a daily little gift from the ancestors, head over here.

As these are gifts from the ancestors, my substack will always be free. no subscription fees will be required to read it.  there are a few other things the ancestors have been pushing me to do, but i'm not there yet. if and when i am, i'll share with you here and maybe, depending, over on my substack.

well, that seems like a lot for today.  i need to sign off as i've bedroom walls to paint, bills to pay and laundry to sort. :-)

i'm working on the flip video of my feb art challenge and hope to post it next and as for cheesecake.  let's just say, that will get its own post soon, too.

how are things in your neck of the woods?  have you stepped outside your comfort zone lately?

thanks for sticking around.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

always & forever...

~*~

*as for "swapping out decks", i have collected so many oracle and tarot decks over the years that it feels weird to only use one or two, so i've taken to working with a different deck every week but now i'm sticking to one a month.  i've found some wonderful decks that i've had for 30+ years.  more about all that in another post. :-) xoxo 

hello there march...

goodbye February, you lovely thing you...

and hello March.

spring is springing here, at least a little bit. I saw a photo this morning that I'd taken last March 1st and the difference in the growth of the early spring blooms (daffies) was shocking.  they are barely out of the ground here and not ready quite yet to bloom.

I'd hoped to be here yesterday to share my February challenges, but by the time I finished the last one, I could barely keep my eyes open.

There has been so much happening around here that I can barely keep up. So, my February challenges: art every day, yoga every day, and a daily meditation session.

That is 28 days of at least two things I know very little about and have not had much luck in.  Can you guess which two?  haha

Let's talk about the least successful first, shall we? Yoga. I have a very difficult time with yoga.  I don't know the poses; most times I can't get my body to move into the poses, not even close to the correct position.  And can we say ADHD?  I get so frustrated and distracted so quickly that I end up giving up.  This is not the first time I've tried to start a daily or even just couple of days a week yoga practice.  Unfortunately, I only made it four days this round.  I kept finding that by the time I thought to do it, it was 10 at night and I was exhausted.  (But...I'm trying again this month.)

Next up, daily meditation.  Remember the aforementioned ADHD? Right, meditating for me in the past has been a wash as my mind just will NOT shut up.  It didn't calm, it didn't quiet, it didn't do any of the things I thought it was supposed to do during meditation.  If you use the Chani astrology app, you'll know that each day on the page that lists the days horoscope, down at the bottom there is a short meditation to listen to.

Y'all...it has changed my life.  No joke.  I actually started listening to them around the time I came back to life last year (oct/nov). I love them. They are not so long that I fall asleep nor so short that I receive no benefit from them.  I did them every day in February just after my morning journaling.  

Then, somehow, in the middle of February I came across Insight Timer.  Y'all. Y'all!  I love it.  I have had some amazing experiences on it using the boatload of free offerings.  So now I'm up to two meditation sessions a day.  It is helping me learn to calm down when the rage monster wants to erupt. (let's not bring up the traitor on his self-appointed throne.)  I am sleeping better and find myself calmer in general which is an amazing thing for someone with severe social and general anxiety.  I'm keeping this in my toolbox for sure!

Lastly, we have the art challenge of February.  I did it.  I painted every single day.  And most day's I finished an entire painting.  They are kind of mid-sized on watercolor paper, except for the one I did on wood as a gift to my mum for Valentine's.  I'm going to try to put a little flip through video together to share all the paintings.  It may take me a little bit, but I'll share them, I promise.  I've already decided I might frame a few and hang around my house.

                    February Art Challenge: day 1 painting

Oh, and I forgot all about mentioning my no spend February.  That's right. I did not shop.  The only money that went out was if it was a medical expense or a bill. And I completed it and made it the whole month.  Yay me!

                               February Art Challenge: day 28 

I had such a good time doing my February challenges that I'm going for some for March.  I'm also keeping them a secret until it's over.  There will be a different art challenge this month but something fun and I'll share, eventually I promise.

Oops...time to make a cheesecake.  My sis-in-law just showed for our every other month cheesecake making session today.

I'll be back tomorrow to share something new.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

love & kisses & magical wishes...

~*~

ps...sorry if this post is a mess, spelling off, etc. i'm too hyped about cheesecake to proofread.  :-)  i'll check it later and fix stuff. xoxo