Autumn Wynd

Witches and Mundanes - A Virtual Village!

2006-12-26T18:09:00.000-08:00

Merry meet!

Well, the great wheel of life and time will soon turn a cog to usher in another New Year on the Mundane calendar. The cold wind blows, yet the days are growing longer, and soon the Lord will be reborn with the promise of green grass, warm sun, fertile gardens and harvests to come!

You are our family, our wider circle. We are connected by friendship, love, respect, magick and common interest. We are a virtual village of folks, both Mundane and Magickal. Rowan and I often find ourselves wishing that we could be with one or the other of you, or are traveling to visit, yet we know that the probability of ever being with all of you at the same time is pretty low.

So, we have concluded that we need to, as my sweet daughter Heather says, do a better job of staying in touch with one another. To that end, I have offered up a website and hyerlinked blog so that we can all have letters, rants, news, or ideas posted. Meanwhile, Rowan has developed a site for photos and writtings which might be better served by being more or less permanately on display. Rowan's photo library is also hyperlinked to the website.

So, send us your writtings and digital photos and we will make sure that we get them posted.

Rowan's website www.clanstormdancer.com has been delayed as Rowan has developed her very own digital artwork and website layout. However, it is very close to completion - Blessed be!

I finally had the painfull screws removed from my left ankle. But there must be something in my karma that needs attention as within four months I slipped on the ice in our driveway and broke my right arm. I now have a titanium plate and a whole new group of screws to learn to live with!

We visited Colorado in November. The Mountains were awesome and the weather hauntingly asked me why I failed to bring my bike!

Please send Blessings and kind thoughts to Tom & Dina as Tom will soon depart for another tour in Iraq. William is a senior and is contemplating college and the life beyond!

John, Kim and the guys are all doing well. The sled dogs are as wonderfull as always!

Rowan and I are planning on retirement in Colorado and hope for a sort of co-op with those in the the area with similar interests. Rowan made four trips to Colorado in 2006 in support of her business and family. With the exception of her Kansas speeding ticket her travels have been very rewarding and she smiles and laughs more as a result.

Our relocation to Colorado, which will put us both closer to our children and grandchildren, will be postponed by a couple of years. A friend of mine, the Boeing IDS Supplier Quality Manager for the states of Colorado & Kansas, promises me first call for the next Colorado position but needs me as Supplier Quality Lead in Kansas until the position opens. I am also being considered for the position of Team Leader of the Boeing IDS Western Region Supplier Improvement Team. The current plan is to be onsite in Kansas starting in April or May 2007. One state closer to where we want to be!

Gizmo (Allayne) has finished up at St. Charles Community College and starts at Patricia Stevens College of St. Louis in January. Giz will study Interior Design. After graduation in 2008 Giz and her boyfriend Kurt will head for Colorado.

Bren has moved back to Texas where he can be closer to old friends and hopefully take advantage of college opportunities available for him there.

BJ is scheduled for a maddening spring schedule. He will be teaching hip-hop at Cal Poly Pomoma, Citrus College and Chaffey College. Meanwhile he is scheduling gigs dancing and choreographing in Los Angeles, Seattle, Tucson and who knows where!

I'll share news about my daughters, their families and others in California in the next post.

A note to those in Colorado. I too have 'seen' what happens to the mountain and it's not Pikes Peak! Email me for information.

Okay, so now you know what's up with this web site, so please email us your pictures and writtings and let's make this Virtual Village a reality! As soon as I receive your input I will get it posted.

Until next time,

Brightest Blessings,
Stormy )O(

Witches in a Mundane World

2006-09-16T11:54:00.000-07:00

Hail and welcome!

I have had to have surgery! I had a screw loose in my ankle. Of course those who know me always figured I had at least one screw loose.

I get the stiches out next week. Lady, will I be glad. Then I will be clomping around for a week or so in one of those stylish velcro and strap moon boots! Great time around here.

Anyway, the beauty of fall is all around these parts. The sky is blue and leaves have begun to fall while gardens ready for the coming rest. This is to me the most perfect time of year. You can open the windows and hear birdsong on the cool breeze. There's time for a peacefull bicycle ride or just sitting out enjoying your favorite friends and whatever.

Harvest time is all the proof anyone should ever need to know that the Gods made us for this place!

Speaking of the Gods. Have you heard that the astrophysicists have finally figured out how much matter & energy exist in the universe!

A number of super computer simulations were used to fast forward from the big bang to today. Only one recipe produced a map of the universe which matched ours.

It turns out to be rather surprising. The matter and energy that we can see or measure are called brite. While the matter and energy we can not see or measure, yet, is called dark. So the simulation works out this way: Brite matter and energy constitue about 4 percent of the universe. Dark matter is responsible for approximately 21 percent. The remaining 75 percent of the universe is Dark energy!

There has been theoretical speculation that brite matter is a projection, like a hologram, from dark matter and/or dark energy.

By the way, with this information and M theory, the grand unifying theory of everything, simulations have now been run backwards in time to the big bang and beyond!

The results tell us that our universe is a bubble, called a brane, which floats in an ocean of other similar bubbles!

All of this makes forgetting to take out the trash hardly worthy of lifting an eyebrow.

With 96 percent of the universe made up of dark matter and dark energy there is plenty of room for things we don't yet understand from a scientific perspective. So perhaps the muggles will come to be a little more accepting of Goddesses, Gods, Magick and all of the rest. My fear is that they will only become more fearfull of what they can't grasp or understand.

With religous zealots everywhere we will need to be sure to practise our Craft, follow the Reed in all things, celebrate the seasons and speak to our Gods. We need to be grounded and clear as tough times are coming.

The pause in gas prices is a sucker punch for the masses! The intent is to crush the move to clean renewable energy and to help Republicans win in November. Are we really that foolish?

Leading up to the elections I will post weekly speaking to topics I think are important to Witches in a Mundane World!

Stay tuned.

Until next time,

Blessed be,

Stormy

Witches in a Mundane World

2006-08-27T09:16:00.000-07:00

Hail and Welcome!

Happy Harvest Moon, it’s time for a great and beautiful Esbat. The gorgeous Lady gazing down as we work our magick. Mabon is just around the corner. Look around your neighborhood and see how many scarecrows you can count. Leaves have already begun to fall, holly berries are turning red and early harvests have begun!

Walk out into the late summer, early harvest, evening and let your gaze move to the full moon of our Lady. Now visualized a red string from the moon to the tip of your finger. Focus and feel the energy flow as it enters your core. You are drawing down the Moon to perform your magick in the midst of the harvest beauty. It just doesn’t get better!

As for today’s news and my editorial rant:

Ford is shuttering plants while the rest of Detroit is cutting back. No surprises, as I have been prophesizing the fall of Detroit for years. It’s gas mileage, pure and simple. The fat cat old men running Detroit really believed that cheap oil would last forever and alternative energy was bogus. Surprise, you’re wrong! By the way, great business plan there, guys!

So where are we, on energy? The truth is we simply must move on and away from conventional thinking. Anyone who says that s/he has the answer to all of the energy needs has probably got a pair of rose-colored glasses somewhere. There is no single answer and no single energy source.

First, let’s talk cars. Modern people must have private transportation, end of subject. Modern people need energy. Do we need to destroy the planet to enjoy our lifestyle? Absolutely not! If we don’t change our thinking, and approach, will we destroy our civilization, and perhaps the very planet? Absolutely yes to the former, and probably yes to the later.

We need to break the topic of energy issues related to cars into categories: Clean fuels and miles per gallon.

What is a “clean fuel”? You must start at the source and work your way up to have a clear understanding of what this means. Where does the fuel come from? Did we have to cut the top off a mountain and dump it into a watershed to access the fuel? Did we have to pollute the air, stream, ocean, or natural preserve for the fuel? If we must bankroll terrorists for this fuel, can you call it clean? The fuel must also not emit anything other than water vapor and carbon dioxide when burned. We have just ruled out Coal, Oil Shale, Middle East Oil and a lot of American resources! So what in the world is left? I do not want to talk theory or “what ifs” so hydrogen is out. I only want to talk about what works today and is already available. Neat approach, I say.

Small electric cars for around town are great in limited applications and should be encouraged. The compressed air powered MIDI is awesome and available and Detroit could take many pointers from this car. Another great car available is the Carver, three-wheel fun at over forty mpg! How about the TWIKE? It may be a silly name, but it is a serious solution. The TWIKE runs on batteries and human powered pedaling. That’s right, a human electric hybrid with no pollution and you can even get a workout if you like! Any diesel or gasoline car that gets greater than 30 mpg should be encouraged and those with less mileage should be subject to a carbon tax! Cars rated at 40 or more mpg, renewable fueled, electric or compressed air cars and the like should be subject to federal and state tax incentives. They are here now and each can play a role in breaking the chain of Middle East terror, war, oil shortages and global warming. But where is the Government? Why are there no politicians taking up the banner?

As for fuels, let’s look at a country about to claim energy independence, Brazil! Brazil grows sugar cane and turns it into alcohol, which is then blended with Brazilian gasoline to stop imports of foreign oil. Guess what, it works! So, lets see how that might work outside of Brazil.

In the USA or Canada sugar from sorghum molasses or sugar beets would be converted, not into alcohol, but butanol. What is butanol? Butanol is a complex alcohol like liquid, which burns clean, like alcohol, but is not corrosive and can go straight into the tank with no conversion. Butanol delivers much better miles per gallon than alcohol. In fact most drivers would not even notice the difference gasoline and bio-butanol.. Bio-alcohol is usually fermented near farms with yeast by farmer-based coops. Bio-butanol is made by the same farmers and fermented using bacteria instead of yeast. We could be making farmers wealthy instead of paying for unholy wars! These are not laboratory hopes or theories, all of the technology is already here and available.

In 2007 British Petroleum (BP) and Dupont will begin building Bio-butanol fermentation refineries in Great Britain. The source will be British farmed sugar Beets. This will start the nation of Britain down the road to prosperous farmers, clean air, Kyoto Protocol compliance and Energy Independence like Brazil.

Another clean fuel is bio-diesel. Again, made by farmers in farmer owned coops. This fuel has no sulfur or nitrogen compounds to pollute! Another good candidate fuel! Vokswagen New Beetles commonly achieve forty plus mpg on bio-diesel, darn nice cars too! Honda sells wonderful diesel cars around the world with high mpg, no smell, no smoke and no rattle! Honda can’t sell them in America because our fossil fuel diesel has so much sulfur and nitrogen compounds that pollute and supplies of bio-diesel are not yet adequate! Good job American oil companies! Hey, but don’t you guys also sell the clean diesel in Europe? What’s up with that? Why is BP the only major oil company working with farmers? What’s up with that?

So what is the down side of bio-fuels? We as a nation have been the world’s, breadbasket for a very long time. But we now need to choose between the role of feeder of the world, while our farmers go broke, or energy independence with robust farms, prosperous farmers and a clean environment.

A serious side effect of the use of bio-fuels is that the carbon locked in the fossil fuel would remain stored underground for as long as we remain intelligent enough to leave it alone. Additionally, the carbon we burn will have been taken from the air and stored in a massive system we call commerce. During this time of storage it will have been out of the global warming process. We burn the carbon (fuel) and then reclaim it for re-use, nice!

So we have addressed cars and their fuels, so let’s go to electricity. Like auto fuel there is no single source but many. I will eliminate from this discussion those sources like coal and petroleum, which destroy nations and the environment and only speak to “clean fuels”.

For a lot of the USA there are places appropriate for wind farms and that should be a national mandate. Nonpolluting, beautiful and renewable! I have seen Native Americans with growing, profitable wind farms on Tribal lands, outstanding! Every wind farm I have ever visited is a beautiful study of kinetic motion, gently pumping out the energy we must all have with no harm and no fowl.

Then there is nuclear. Yes, I know, I said nuclear and clean at the same time. Please don’t throw anything at the computer! The Canadian designed reactors called CANDU cannot melt down! Further, CANDU reactors run at such low levels of radioactivity that they can actually run on American “spent” fuel rods. CANDU reactors use a much cheaper fuel, as enrichment is not needed. The CANDU reactor is cheaper to build, easier to build, cheaper to run, cheaper to maintain and so very much safer. I simply can’t understand why CANDU is not the world standard for nuclear power generation! But then there are those who need an excuse for nuclear enrichment technology and there you go!

Solar energy is back with a vengeance! Technological advances have resulted in cheaper and better solar cells. Printed paste nano dot solar cells on plastic substrates and metallic alloy plated onto sheet metal with uses in roofing and siding are two examples of cheap and available solar cells which are three times more efficient as those made of silicon. A ten-foot by thirty-foot panel of either noted example will power your entire home! Finance a second panel and sell the excess to your utility! How’s that for smart, every home generating enough power for another home. Perhaps we could have enough left over for those electric cars!

Unfortunately, we have reached a bottleneck with hydroelectric power as there are only so many locations suitable for this power type and I don’t think we, as a people, really want to make salmon extinct so that we can light our homes, though some might consider it just collateral damage.

Natural gas, methane, now here is a fossil fuel, which already burns clean, but it’s carbon comes from fossil fuel and should be left underground! We have sources like garbage dumps and sewers where we can collect our own natural gas. But we also have, since at least 1900, another source of natural gas. Bioreactors where we ferment sugar beets, waste from breweries and every other type of organic waste, to natural gas! Yes, it’s true, we already have all of the proven and off the shelf technology to begin replacing Middle East fossil fuel natural gas with our own, made at home, natural gas with no destruction of our environment and all of the money stays here!

I am not just talking about a single piece of the power palate, I am talking about the entire energy spectrum for any country, our country or yours! Think of the impact to a nation’s economy if all of the money spent on energy were to stay at home. Meanwhile the terrorists would have to beg for money to buy weapons and no one would ever consider war for oil. Change to bio-fuels and other clean fuels across the board and you will gain prosperous economies, smaller armies, lower taxes, cleaner air, fewer natural catastrophes, and fewer droughts. It sounds like paradise, but isn’t that what we started out with?

The choice is now up to the people, you and me. We simply must demand that our companies and governments give us what is available today and not talk of promised breakthroughs decades from now. Let’s break the chain of fossil fueled terror, war and environmental destruction and rebuild our countries now! When clean hydrogen is finally available it will become a part of an already robust clean energy scheme where everyone including GAIA wins.

Until next time ~

Blessed be,

Stormy

Readers,

Please email me, stormy@autumnwynd.com, with your comments, rants, ideas, thoughts or articles for post.

Thank you!

Witches in a Mundane World 08-15-2006

2006-08-15T19:02:00.000-07:00

Hello again and Merry Meet!

Well, I have taken a little time off to renew and refresh. The news has included so much negativity that I needed to look away from it all for a brief time as I felt I was being consumed.

But the batteries are now fully recharged and I am ready to get her done! The candle is burning, so let's just jump right in!

The Muslim zealots, fascists, terrorists, or whatever label suits, are waging war around the globe. Africa is ablaze with death and destruction, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, America, India, England, Spain, Russia, Israel, Lebanon, Afganistan, The Phillipines, just spin the globe and stick a spot with your finger and you are probably near a war zone. Of course we Americans had to take on the bully of Iraq instead of putting Osama out of business, so we add to the insanity.

I suspect that unless the world politic unites there will be an axis of aligned interests which will form, sooner rather than later. It will consist of radical Muslim factions, radical Muslim states such as Iran and Syria, radical communist states such as Cuba, North Korea, and perhaps Venezuela. Should these armies unite under the protection of China and or Russia the world will be ripe for plunder.

What can we do? Light candles, form circles, work together in a concerted focused spell fest to break the money chain which pays for these unholy wars.

Next we really must cut the strings to foreign fossil fuels. Every time we buy gasoline the war mongers and terrorists pocket part of the profit. So, what breakthroughs have made it out of the labs to assist us in this quest?

Well, how about two different types of solar cells which are running at 50% efficiciency, are cheap, and available! Printed paste nano dot solar cells on plastic substrates. Or how about a new metallic alloy on stainless steel sheet metal useful as siding or roofing! Either of these products are capable of running your entire home with only 300 square feet of solar cell. Finance another 300 square feet and sell the excess to your local utility.

And how about Biobutanol? Alcohol is made from sugars by fermentation with yeast. Butanol is made from fermentation of sugars with bacteria. Alcohol has considerably less energy per gallon than gasoline while butanol is only slightly less energetic that gasoline per gallon. Like alcohol, butanol can be made in farm based cooperative fermentaion refineries. Also like alcohol, when butanol is burned only water and bio-derived CO2 are generated. Alcohol is corrosive and cars must be modified to prevent damage while butanol is noncorrosive. Pure butanol can go straight into the tank, while alcohol must be blended with gasoline up to 85% alcohol.

British Petroleum and Dupont will be opening fermentation refineries in Great Britain in 2007. The British will be fueling their cars with bio-butanol made from sugar beets grown in Great Britain by British farmers. The British will not give a farthing to terror, they will clean their air and help keep jobs at home while saving British farms. The benefits are totally amazing! Brazil will soon have bragging rites for an economy free of foreign oil by converting to sugar cane based alcohol. This is a model to study. I salute Brazil and celebrate what they have done for their country and for Gaia!

Pagans, Wiccans or Heathens, it doesn't matter, we all love our Mother Earth and we all want to treat her with the respect she deserves. So join the Gaia Revolution. Turn your back on dirty oil, politics and terror and go green! The Goddess does not need another oil spill in Alaska, or for Greenland to melt.

If not us, then who? If not now, when? Come on, follow me, go green, go Gaia green!

Until next time,

Blessed Be!

Stormy

Witches in a Mundane World - May 13, 2006

2006-04-30T20:36:00.001-07:00

Life Changes

When we find ourselves experiencing one of life’s sometimes surprising turns, we often find an empty place in the fabric of who and what we are. It is as if a thread has been pulled in the fabric.

For Witches, and some who don’t yet know they are Witches, when something happens to someone else, with whom there is a connection, there is often a similar connected feeling of emptiness. This feeling happened to me recently.

A few years ago I read the Wiccan Way, by Sally Morningstar. It touched me in a very special way. I researched Sally’s other works and her website. I consider the Wiccan Way to be one of the best of modern writings on Wicca. So impressed am I with this book and this Witch that I have included a link on my website to hers. We only corresponded briefly yet, for me, a connection was made Witch to Witch.

I have known that something life changing was about to happen to Sally for sometime. However, in the high-pressure day-to-day muggle existence in which I live, I failed as a Witch and did not make time to reach out to know first hand what was up.

Sally’s website is now down and I am concerned.

Please join me and include Brightest Blessings in your circle for HPS Sally Morningstar.

Also, please pick up a copy of Sally’s book the Wiccan Way and check it out. Sally also has other wonderful books regarding Magick. New Witch or experienced Witch, Sally has written something for each of us. I know that you will love her writings as much as I.

To the Goddess and all the Mothers everywhere ~ Happy Mother’s Day!

Blessed be,

Stormy

Witches In A Mundane World - 04/10/2006

2006-04-10T20:11:00.001-07:00

I have traveled much during the past year. Some might say too much!

I was in Berkeley, CA on Sept 11, 2005. The Solano Stroll was in full swing. The Solano Stroll is a Street Faire on Solano Avenue in Berkeley. Food Booths, a few Pagan Booths, Musicians, Dancers, Political Activists and People of every color, nationality & creed together in the breeze from the Bay. From the top of Solano Avenue down to San Pablo Avenue a river of humanity shoulder to shoulder and you would never have known it was the anniversary of a terrorist attack!

Later we toured Sonoma County, tasted incredible wines, played on the beaches and toasted sea lions, otters and salmon in their own worlds.

I have been to North Dakota when it was –10 degrees F and the people were sweet and good.

Nebraska, California, Texas, North Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, everywhere I go I meet wonderful folks and I can say that we as a people are okay. We go to work and raise families pay taxes and love our families. Does it get any better?

Perhaps we, as Wiccans, face challenges the Muggles don’t. We must rise above our life’s worth of emotional baggage and treat each and everyone we meet with fairness and friendship.

Perhaps your parents were cruel, or maybe a family friend or member molested you. Yes, it is painful and not right, but you must be above the anger. Wiccan’s can’t be sexist or racist or anti-gay or discriminatory against any group. If an individual or identifiable group of individuals has caused you harm the courts and polls are there, go for it. But not all people of a given color, sex, preference, religion or whatever are necessarily evil. A person must be respected or not, based upon who they are and what they do, period!

The President, Vice President, their cronies and henchmen come from many ethnic backgrounds and all have a few common traits. Love of power, love of money, profit at any price, demagoguery, and deceit.

The President & Vice President exaggerated and lied about Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, spying on Americans, the deficit, you name it. Did you know that when the World Bank refused to loan the USA money, we borrowed $202 Billion from Red China? So much for tax relief!

The Government is just like you and me. If we spend more than we bring in we must borrow to cover our expenses. Well the World Bank says that we, the USA, are a bad credit risk, so we borrowed from the “Evil Empire”! These things must be “Family Values”, isn’t that what the Republicans and the Religious Reich promised us? Isn’t that at least part of the reason most of us voted for the current regime? Or did we?

Are we that dumb and gullible? Are “WE” going to vote for another Republican puppet to Pat Robertson? Who will we bomb next? Who will we assassinate next? Why are there 20 Million illegal aliens in America today? Why does Bush oppose a wall with Mexico to secure our borders?

We all know about these things and that is the way it is, but there is more! Recently the President in his State of the Union address spoke of our addiction to petroleum and his plan to save us. Yet at the same time Mr. Bush was hawking a tax break of $25,000 for businesses to purchase three ton SUVs. Additionally the businesses will be able to deduct the depreciation for amounts over $25,0000 over 6 years. As my grandmother Dora used to say “White men do tend to talk from both sides of their mouths”! Grandma Dora was a Cherokee who survived the Trail of Tears and she should know!

Once again, more lies!

Is this worse than getting a blowjob? Yes, Clinton lied about having sex with that “Lewinsky woman”, but look at what Bush has lied about!

Now that we can, hopefully, all agree that Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney are liars, do you think for a moment that we should believe what they say about IRAN? Would you send your son or daughter, to die in another war for oil, or control, or domination or just because the President, Vice President or Pat Robertson doesn’t like their leader?

Did you know that the tax breaks given to the wealthy and the war with IRAQ have erased the surplus from the Clinton years and put the USA into debt for $725 Billion (US) with $202 Billion (US) owed to China alone!

I don’t care if Mickey Mouse is in charge of Iraq, or Palestine or Iran. We can’t afford any more of this! The solution is rather simple. Let’s help Israel build their wall to keep the suicide nuts out, build a similar wall with Mexico, staff the Canadian Border as it deserves, and tell each and every middle-east government that any attack on Israel will be considered an attack on America and reserve the right to use nuclear arms. Mutual assured destruction – nasty words to be sure, yet they have maintained the status quo (for the most part) since World War II.

Next let’s start making ethanol from every source available and the same for bio-diesel. Farmers get to growing our fuel and making money! Now let’s tell the middle-east nations and all of OPEC that they can drink their oil for all we care. Thank you very much!

Somewhere in the midst of all of this let’s do another radical thing! Let’s charge our prisoners or let them go. Are we Fascists or what? Did the Constitution and the Bill of Rights just evaporate? Where is the Democratic Party and everyone else? Hillary where are you?

How about this, let’s not wiretap, search a home or in any other way violate the privacy of an American citizen without a warrant. I think this is covered in the Constitution and Bill of Rights, see searches and seizures etc…

I recently discovered that the US has finally found a way to dispose of radioactive waste! We turn it into bullets called depleted uranium and fire them at our adversaries around the world. It pollutes the water, soil and air. It causes deformities in babies, cancer and death to innocents. Did you know that depleted uranium dissolves in human blood?

Now, how about we get really radical and expose every swinging jack who has participated in orchestrating or ordering torture and all other crimes against humanity and impeach them! Then, let’s turn them over to the World Court. Did you know that, Vice President Dick Cheney, is already wanted by the World Court for Crimes Against Humanity?

The time is now friends. How much will we take? When will this garbage end!

When will we Pagans stand up and do what we know the Gods expect of us? If we don’t act we will enjoy the fruit of our labors times three! Remember “An it harm none, do as you will!” These are the very foundations that separate us from the unwashed, uneducated Muggles, the minions of the Religious Reich & the Republican Party!

If the Republican Party remains in control of this country, my future posts will come from Vancouver, B. C. Canada! That sucking sound you hear, will be me and many other Pagans heading north!

Blessed Be,

Stormy

Remember:

If you or a loved one suffers from snoring, sleep apnea or fibromyalgia, let me know as I can help!

Witches In A Mundane World - 04/21/2006

2006-04-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

I have been doing so many things and having so much drama in my life that I feared that this blog would die on the vine. However, my heart palpitations have been resolved by a better design of my sleep apnea mouth guard (Sleep Guard).

The doctors did everything they could and all they could tell me was that I have an episodic irregular heartbeat. As if I didn’t know! It turns out that my old nemesis sleep apnea (SA) & fibromyalgia (FM) were the culprits.

I had to make an adjustment to the design of the Sleep Guard I sleep in to prevent snoring & sleep apnea. It turns out that I needed to move the lower piece forward by 1/8 of an inch to move my jaw forward and keep the airway open more. Better oxygenation & more rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and my heart is doing much better. Of course the doctors can’t give me an expensive pill so they just shrug their collective shoulders and say “Okay, whatever!”

If I weren’t a technical tinkerer I might be dead or disabled because the doctors were unable to help me even though the event recorder EKG documented the irregular heartbeat! Wow, go figure.

By the way, if you snore, have obstructive sleep apnea and/or fibromyalgia let me know. Short of surgery, if you can find a surgeon that is, there is no cure. However, there are appliances like my Sleep Guard, or Snore Guard and Noiseless. These appliances fit in your mouth and keep the airway open while you sleep. I can even provide you with your own Sleep Guard if you like!

Another way to go, if you have insurance, is you can have a sleep study ordered by your doctor. Then after your sleep apnea is verified and if you don’t have a need for surgery forTonsils or other obstructions, you will be fitted with a CPAP machine. This device will pump air, under low pressure, through your nose and keep you breathing while you sleep. While the CPAP is invasive, looks weird and takes some getting used to it works. However, if you are single a CPAP may not be for you!

The main thing is if you snore badly, kick your feet in the night, scare you spouse by gasping for air, fall asleep during the day or have Fibromyalgia (FM) you probably have sleep apnea (SA). SA/FM is a lethal combination. People with FM already know how painful it can be. People with sleep apnea will eventually develop or already do suffer from FM. Most people do not realize that they have FM and try to live with the pain and mood swings and sleepiness. FM can kill you! Don’t wait, do something today! Get an appliance or see a doctor for a sleep study as soon as possible. Don’t wait for a major medical problem.

When you start feeling better your life will change dramatically! Get out in the Goddess’ Garden and soak up some energy. Talk to the Lord & Lady and let them know how much you appreciate being healthier. Enjoy yourself and take your life back! The Magick is everywhere, just waiting for you!

Brightest Blessings,

Stormy

Witches In a Mundane World - 08/30/05

2005-08-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

We simply must make some changes!

Well, New Orleans is soggy toast! Do not blame Mother Nature, The Goddess or The God! Look long at that person in the mirror.

Global Warming is the cause of Katrina. The water in the Gulf of Mexico was 91 degrees F. And it spawned a monster. But how did the water get so warm?

Greenhouse gases, that's how! If we continue to use fossil fuels we will see many more Katrinas and one day we will see a huricane, which fills the Gulf of Mexico! Trust me, you can take it to the bank.

Katrina is just a prelude to a super storm and when it comes it will destroy the Southeast. Watch the movie "The Day After" and think of the Super Storm coming from the South!

I have a suggestion, let's create a new tax! Oh my Goddess I said the "T" word! Hang on a minute, hear me out. I am talking about a small tax on every unit of energy sold. The money collected would be used for two and only two purposes: To create an economic incentive for the development of renewable energy sources and the planting of trees to reduce CO2 levels. It would work along this model:

Nuclear generated electricity - 5% tax on each kilowatt
Coal generated electricity - 4% tax per kilowatt
Diesel generated electricity - 3% tax per kilowatt
Natural gas generated electricity - 3% tax per kilowatt
Hydro-electric - no tax
Wave, Tidal, Geothermal, Solar, Wind - no tax
Bio-fuel - no tax

Diesel fuel & heating oil: 3% tax per gallon
Gasoline: 3% tax per gallon
Gasohol: 3% with a equal reduction by percentage of renewable source alcohol
Natural gas: 3% per gallon
Bio Diesel - no tax
Any other fuel derived from renewable sources would be tax exempt.

Investors in renewable energy sources would receive 110% tax deduction for investment.

Farmers would be subsidized to grow fuel crops. Companies making Bio-Diesel could receive seed money. Trees would be planted where morons have cut and run.

CO2 would be removed from the air and converted to millions of barrels of fuel and beautiful forests. While being processed and stored this CO2 would be out of the environment allowing the earth to cool.

We can make changes that will save us, and our world. If we don't what will we leave for our children?

Now, please re-read my last Post.

We are living in a world of extremists, and some are simply not sane! We can't change that.

However, we can change things for the better and in the process reduce the immense cash flow to the Middle East oil and jihad rich countries that threaten us with terrorism.

First we can put our farmers back to work growing our fuel. Crops such as rape seed, sugar cane, sugar beets, corn and even the lowly gopher weed can and should be the source of our fuel. Windmills need to replace coal burning and nuclear power plants. There are enough natural gas reserves in North America to heat our homes for dozens of decades to come.

At the same time we must conserve. Driving gas guzzling cars must become an excess of the past. High mileage cars like the new hybrids, European style diesels, and smaller Japanese cars must become the norm. Each time a driver puts 24 gallons into the tank you are indirectly funding terrorism!

What would be the impact of this agri-fuel revolution? There would be a near net zero addition of CO2 to the environment helping to delay and perhaps stopping global warming. Our economy would explode as our cash remained in circulation at home. Our military could return, as wars for oil would not be contemplated. Our farmers would prosper as we re-greened North America.

Then, we as a people must back ideals and policies, which we know are correct. Britain must leave Ireland and Israel must be encouraged to continue on the path to peace by giving the Palestinians a homeland. We as a people need to be the facilitators of this type of action around the globe! Imperialism leads to war, pure and simple. We are members of international bodies intended to deal with rogue countries and we must give them every chance to succeed. We must never create another Noriega or Hussein for when we do atrocities and zealots come home to roost. Only a nation intent on harming none will flourish.

Let us throw no more stones at our neighbors! Let us seriously work with the nations of North America on concerns of immigration, border integrity and trade. When was the last time there was a true and meaningful meeting of NAFTA to discuss these topics. Yes our borders are porous, but all we really do is jump up and down and spit at one another or even worse let anger spill over into trumped up trade disputes between cousin nations and long time friends. Enough already. We must create a full time NAFTA that has a home and operate daily. I suggest a Toronto location.

When the world knows that we intend no harm and there is insufficient cash flow to fuel terrorism we will become a safer people.

Blessed be!

Stormy

Witches in a Mundane World 08/24/05

2005-08-24T19:21:00.000-07:00

Let us throw no more stones at our neighbors! Let us seriously work with the nations of North America on concerns of immigration, border integrity and trade. When was the last time there was a true and meaningful meeting of NAFTA to discuss these topics. Yes our borders are porous, but all we really do is jump up and down and spit at one another or even worse let anger spill over into trumped up trade disputes between cousin nations and long time friends. Enough already. We must create a full time NAFTA that has a home and operates daily. I suggest a Toronto location.

When the world knows that we intend no harm and there is insufficient cash flow to fuel terrorism we will become a safer people.

Blessed be!

Stormy

Witches In a Mundane World - 08/09/05

2005-08-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

Hello again!

Yeah, I'm back! My mundane job has had me on the road and I have had some experiences that have made me set back and get grounded! The job is good but I am running out of steam and passion. Politics and B.S. on the job have a way of deflating dreams and ideals created in college!

Then, my good neighbor verbally assaults me for not being Christian. She actually challenged me while refering to the Bible! I don't get it - I just don'e get it! Why do Christians have to be so judgemental and condemning? Why do religious zealots get in somebody else's buisness?

To top it off, while surfing the net, I stumble onto a website from some Baptist Reverend Zealot who offers up "Open Season on Wiccans"! He actually preached the killing of Witches and Wiccans specifically. No wonder people drop out of society or live in the "Broom Closet"!

I can not hide in the Broom Closet and I am not the type to go quietly into the night and disappear. So, what should I do? Keep on keeping on, that's what.

However, I can choose where I live and I am ready to move to a community with other Pagans and Wiccans. Give me Witches, lots of Witches! Then, let me choose the mundanes I wish to associate with.

I am not saying that some Witches may not be open minded or judgemental or whatever. I am not foolish enough to think that we are perfect, no one is! We are simply a cross section of society and we are as much like others as anyone else. I would just like to live in proximity to others with the same or similar beliefs and values.

So, does anyone know of a Pagan or Wiccan community where I could move into or next door to? Maybe a Retreat or Purpose Community. Washington or Colorado would be nice.

Meanwhile, we Pagans simply must support the Civil Rights of everyone! Support the ACLU and vote for those politicians who support our rights! That may be hard to swallow for some since the terror of the 9/11 attack, bombs in London and Spain. The terrorists have done their bloody best to destroy just one thing, our civil liberties. There is no doubt in my mind that terrorists are sick criminals who need to be prosecuted. But the rest of us need to strive to get along.

However, we must always watch our backs! If we don't protect our freedoms what will happen to our children? Canada is a great country but is leaving America necessary? I don't think so! Let's do what we can do to keep what is ours, here and now! Canada will still be an option!

One thing is for sure, if we keep electing right wing Republicans we will not be safe in this country. If we are to stop the hate and and assure no more burning times, we need to take action. Speak up about Civil Rights for everyone and that includes law abiding Muslims. Elect no more Repulicans and get away, far away from oil and an oil based economy. Dependence on oil only assures more terror and war. We have got to stop the madness!

Support WitchVox too! WitchVox does more than most to support all Pagans, Wiccans and Witches everywhere.

Then, you me and all of us need to get involved. Particpate, speak up, get a blog, respond to a blog, write books, give speaches, sponsor or participate in retreats and gatherings, celebrate the Esbats and Sabbats. Practice our ways and teach your children!

Please, let me know what YOU think. Your comments will be published. (Although I reserve the right to edit any that must be in order to be acceptable to my readers!)

Brightest Blessings,

Stormy

Witches in a Mundane World

2005-06-02T16:02:00.000-07:00

Wiccan Parenting!

Two years ago I married the woman I fell in love with when we were 16 year old high school students. We had been apart for decades when I found her. She is a wonderfull Lady and she is the love of my life!

However, she came with two teenage children. A sixteen year old daughter and a 18 year old son. These young people had endured a rough time with my wife's former being an abusive control freak. So I become a step-dad to two teenagers who are concerned about everything and had emotional baggage to deal with in addition to their concerns.

The step-daughter and I have developed a really nice relationship. Like any parent - child relationship we can get on each other's nerves or cross wires and have a bobble. But we are both Wiccan and we own our mistakes and do our best to harm none. This young woman has now graduated from high school, has a nice job and is preparing for college. I am proud of her, proud for her and think she will make some lucky person a wonderfull spouse and I know that she will succede at whatever she choses to do!

Then there is the step-son! He arrived with an attitude and physically attacked me within two months. I understand that he had a bad time with his mother's former but wow! I had to teach him to close the bathroom door when using the facilities, to flush the toilet when finished, explain and enforce a rule that men do not parade around the house naked in front of others, break a long time habit of fondling himself through his clothing in public, and try to instill some semblence of manners into this young man. Through all of this, I had to fight him and my beloved with every turn and every step forward.

Tears, fights - in general a mess. Then he get's arrested for shop lifting "Magic Cards"! Now, you know that I am Wiccan and so is my wife. My step-son claims only to be Pagan and disavows the Law of Three. So he doesn't get it that his life and karma are being damaged as he storms along harming anyone who gets in his way or disagrees.

At first, I tried to punish him for his stupidity and foolishness. That resulted in nothing but fighting. So I suggested counseling, both individual and family. No dice.

However, eventually I did force him into individual counseling or he was out. Unfortunately the counseling focused on areas other than family dynamics and respect for authority. I do think that for the most part my step-son is calmer than he once was and perhaps that in itself is a victory for all of us.

To date, he has made four attempts at Junior College and currently has a GPA which puts him in Academic Probation, along with his Criminal Probation. By the horns of Herne I get a headache just thinking of all of this!

Anyway, the problem with college is that he will not do homework properly. It's his nature. Ask him to do his laundry and he'll do half or perhaps most but never all and someone else often ends up folding his things. Ask to take out the trash and some will be left behind and cans will not be relined. So homework is done half heartedly, like everything else. Raise the question and you'll have a fight and then things get broken or turn up missing!

So I decided to prevent him from staying up every night untill 3:00 or 4:00 A.M. Timers were installed to shut down TV, stereo, computer and game devices at 12:30. Lights went out at 1:00 AM. World War III broke out immediately. Our house was a war zone!

My poor wife was caught between her misguided son and her well intentioned husband. She loves both of us and it really hurt her to be in this situation. She would rather put up with her son's preferences if it would mean peace in the household for the year or two he has left with us. I do understand her point of view but lying, stealing, cheating, etc, are not Wiccan values.

So to make a more peacefull home for all, I backed off. The guy has continued to fail in college, do his chores half heartedly, stay up all night, quit his job. In general, he has continued his self destructive ways. I on the otherhand can now sleep at night and my wife and I get along much better.

This compromise did not come without a price however. My step-son has lost his privilege to drive, has lost his health insurance as a 20 year old student who is on Academic Probation when only taking one or two classes at a time and has lost his access to the internet and his pornography.

I am amazed at how the situation with these two young people is so diametrically opposed. It's like she is a High Priestess while he is a beserker! Me, I am just the poor Witch who tries to hold it all together.

One thing is for sure, my wife and I have survived all of this in only two years because we are Wiccan and we are stubborn. It helps that we are very much in love and always have been.

I have tried to be a good Wiccan Step-Father and I have tried to learn and adapt as the wheel of the year has gone round. I do pray that I have been a positive influence in this young man's life, but I wonder.

We Wiccans are not perfect but when we come, we do so in perfect love and in perfect trust and we harm none. Nobody ever said living up to the Wiccan ideal would be easy. However, as I said, I can sleep at night and I know that we have done everything possible to help this young man as he prepares to make a life for himself. This is because we have stayed the course and have been true to ourselves and our way. My "Christian" father would have beat the kid to a pulp and thrown him and his mother out in the street. I know that our way is better, kinder and will eventually produce a man who will look back and know that those who loved him did all they could for him!

By the Lord and Lady I bless my step-son, my wife and all who struggle with this type of family issue with the brightest of blessings.

If you know of someone who is dealing with a troubled child let them read this and then perhaps we can email. I will do all that I can to assist other parents in like circumstances.

Until next week:

Blessed Be,

Stormy)O(

Parenting a nice child is a dream. Parenting a mean child is a total nightmare.

Witches in a Mundane World - 05/20/05

2005-05-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

JAVA!

I read a news brief about how the people who pick and initially process the coffee beans are mistreated. So I started researching the whole process. Lord & Lady was I amazed!

First of all, the wages are often next to nothing and work conditions are worse. Then there is the damage to the environment. Cutting down the rain forest, clogging streams and rivers with silt and fertilzer. In some cases the loss of habitat due to coffee growing has been a contributing factor in edangerment of species of birds and animals as well to reduced rainfall!

However, there is now a solution, thank the Goddess! It is called the Rainforest Alliance. The Alliance works with the growers to pay better wages, have better working conditions and change the way the coffee is grown such that the environment is not harmed.

What they do is grow the coffee under a canopy of native trees. Less fertilizer and pesticides are needed. The Alliance even monitors and certifies the farms for biodiversity to assure that the farms are not damaging the ecosystem! The coffee cherries are even sun dried rather than using ovens. It is incredible and heart warming to me that people are doing these kind of things.

It turns out that that the resulting coffee is superior to that produced using the peasant powered rape and plunder approach to coffee farming that is being fazed out by the good work of the Rainforest Alliance!

I am heartened to find that many coffee roasters are embracing this top of the line coffee. Some examples are: Starbucks, Seattles Best, Elan Organic Coffees, and many others.

What can we Pagan folk do to help? When we shop for coffee, look for Rainforest Alliance Certified, or Shade Tree, Fair Market or something that indicates that the coffee you are buying came from these types of farms.

Pagans can contribute to saving the Lady's Garden by simply buying products like "Dolphin Safe" Tuna and "Certified Rainforest Alliance" Coffees. I know that these products may cost a little more, but what a difference we can make if we all join in a united circle to do what we must to assure clean air and water for our children and theirs!

Join with me and pledge to the Lady that you will do what you can to save this paradise from ruin!

Blessed Be,

Stormy)O(

Witches in a Mundane World 05-14-05

2005-05-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Evil people create viruses and then innocent Witches and Mundanes are affected. That is what happened to me! I missed last week's posting as I was having my computer repaired and rebuilding websites. I believe that those who write virus and spyware code are terrorists and should be treated as such! Tomorrow, I will cast my circle - thank the Lady for all Blessings and Shield my Webs and computer from evil!

Speaking of Blessings, I am so very Blessed. I have a mundane job which pays for my lifestyle. I am enjoying having a on-line web store which may some day provide dependable income. My wife, The HP Lady Rowan, is busy buying herbs, salts, oils and containers in preparation of the grand re-opening of her on-line store. Lady Rowan will be selling herbal bath jells, bath salts, bath oils, soaps, incense, charms, and more. So we are moving away, slowly and logically, from our mundane sources of income. Our children, for the most part, are Wiccan. Of those who are not Wiccan, one is Pagan, one is Jewish and one is Episcopalian. We have seven children between us and are proud of them all! Our next step will be to purchase acreage for a Pagan Retreat, campground, herb farm and meadery.

We have our plan and are proceeding along a trail towards independance and self dependance. Our ultimate goal is to be free of the aspects of the mundane which assault our senses and sensibilities while maintaining a modern lifestyle.

Today, the government has stolen $3.8 Billion from Social Security for other purposes like IRAQ and the war for oil and Halliburton. Meanwhile, corporation after corporation is walking away from the underfunded employee retirement programs they have raided over the years. This boils down to the fact that there probably will be many retirees who have no retirement at all! So, we will work our herb farm, host Pagan retreats and campers, make mead, sell herbal products and Pagan eBooks on line and in this way, support ourselves such that should there be no Social Security for us we won't really need it!

What about you? Are you ready for your retirement? Do you have a 401K? We Pagan folk must take care of ourselfs and network together.

If you have questions regarding Pagan retirement, send me an email and let's kick it around.

Does anyone have information on Pagan Neighborhoods or Communities? I am interested in purchasing property near or adjacent to other Pagans and am having difficulty finding them. Not everyone came out of the broom closet and decided to broadcast it to the world, like me!

Well, I must tend to the garden. The sun is shinning, and it is a beautiful spring day - the Goddess is everywhere, so I must go out and enjoy her presence!

Next weekend I will return to my normal editorial News related format. I wanted to change gears this week and focus on my many blessings and get grounded again after the past few weeks of techno terrorism.

Blessed be!

Stormy )O(

Witches in a Mundane World 04/30/05 - Beltane

2005-05-01T11:17:00.000-07:00

Blessed be and Happy Beltane (or Beltaine) the great Fertility Celebration of Spring!

Beltane is associated with love, handfasting, sex, fairies and Magick! No Mundane or Muggle, in my opinion, can appreciate being Handfasted. When you jump over that broom with your loved one, hand in hand, a very Magickal spell is cast. This spell is so very powerfull that just writting about it gives me chills. The day I was handfasted was the most wonderfull day of my life!

My wife is the wonderfull Lady Rowan. Rowan and I dated in High School when we were 16 years old. We were very much in love and were suddenly torn apart by apparently well meaning but foolish mundane parents. We were a sort of 60's Romeo and Juliet if you will.

Rowan and I went our seperate ways, unlike the characters in Shakespear's play. I found her again after being seperated for thirty years and still we loved one another. We were handfasted during a snow fall in Colorado Springs, CO. The circle was cast by a dear family friend and the ritual was performed by my son-in-law. For those of you reading this, I do hope that you were blessed with as wonderous and Magickal a handfasting as we. For those of you who were handfasted this Beltane Blessed Be!

So, what then can we Pagans, Wiccans and Witches show or provide to the mundane world regarding Beltane?

Perhaps we can find ways to show that in creation fertility and love are everywhere. Without these aspects of our creation there would be no life, no beauty, no spirit. I am sure that many of us are comfortable in keeping a lower profile than others, like myself!, but even then we can celibrate what the Lord and Lady have given us in all it's splendor.

Even an activist Witch like myself has to admit that there are some things that the mundane simply have difficulty appreciating. Physical love, sex, procreation, fertility and sometimes even emotional love are things mundanes and especially religious mundanes are uncomfortable speaking of or celebrating openly. So, perhaps there isn't much that we can provide in the way of help or leadership in regards to Beltane.

However, I am of the opinion that Beltane is a time for celebration and joy! The Lady has given so much to us. We really are children of this fertile planet and we have much to celebrate! So jump a broomstick, light a fire of celebration, cast your circle, love your special one and magick will definitely happen!

Blessed Be!

Stormy

Note:
Sleep Apnea, Fibromyalgia ? Try Snore Guard or use a $1.00 Athletic Works Mouth Guard on the bottom teeth. Snoring can ruin relationships, hurt your career and even kill!