Sister Bridget's Blog

How's it going???

Hey there!

How is it going? Are you all still busy taking out the trash - both physically and energetically? So far, I have totally cleaned out my kitchen, all the cupboards and drawers have new shelf paper, all my cups and dishes and pots and pans are in nice neat rows. The floor is sparkly clean. I have also cleaned out the dining room, which was in pretty good shape -- just got some new curtains made and cleaned the rugs :) So, my downstairs is nearly done! Yippeeee!

So, whats next?  I mean, once we have all cleaned up our enviornments physically, what can we do magickally to complete the cleansing? We have quite a few options:

Marie Laveau House Blessing Kit is a one time use kit which takes a few hours but will give you a really thorough cleansing and blessing of your home space. It can also be used at an office or workspace (so long as no one is around :-) ) or just in one room (like the room you sleep in or spend the most time in)

Do you have any leftover incense cones from your candle magick kits? Either the Black Banishing Incense or the Chango's Mystic Chrysalis Incense would be very good for removing negativity from a space or cleansing. The Black Banishing is the obvious one. But the Chango's is for change - so you would focus on releasing the old and icky stuff and getting ready for new and wonderful stuff (this is the change). Burn a cone or two in each room, in just the room that you spend the most time in. As Always --- Never leave burning incense unattended!

Marie Laveau House Blessing  Solution can be purchased seperatley. It can be used to clean your voodoo workspace, or use it as a *touch up* around the house to clean up spots that might feel funky or are just dirty.

So, please please please let me know how you are doing with the takin out of the trash!

Stay tuned, because soon we start the inviting in or the totally wonderful!

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Hay House Radio

Hay House Radio is by far one of the best kept secrets on the internet!

Hay House Radio is an internet radio station -- you listen to the programs on your computer or you can download the programs into ITunes and then listen to them on your Ipod.  And best of all, its FREE!

Many popular authors you are familiar with have weekly shows on Hay House Radio:. Esther and Jerry Hicks, Louise Hay, Caroline Myss, Doreen Virtue and many others.

There are literally hundreds of hours of programs for the taking. Lots of good information. I personally listen to Sacred Contracts by Caroline Myss, Angel Therapy by Doreen Virtue, and Your Soul's Compass by Joan Borysenko. I listen to them on my Ipod while I drive back and forth to work.

Check it out! You will be glad you did!
Light and Love,

Sister Bridget

And in with the New!

Hey there fellow Spellcasters!

Its almost Febuary! Now that we have cleaned up our enviornment, a bit physically and energetically, its time to start inviting in new and wonderful things.

If you havent already heard, this year will be Spellmaker's third year of holding a special ritual for Erzulie Freda for all who would like to participate.   I am very excited this because this year the ritual will be a family event!  The whole family - Marran Sam , Parran Matt, Sister Candi and myself will each be working hard petitioning Erzulie on your behalf. It is such an honor and a priveldge to be able to assist every one in this great month long event.

Marran Sam has put together some packages of items for folks who would like to add some of their own energy to their cause. Of course, so purchase is necessary to participate. But for those who want to, the special packages are helpful and specially priced.  Marran Sam has even put together some suggestions and helpful tips on how to use these items.

So, I have been busy takin' out the trash myself for the last few weeks! For Christmas my father have me a gift certificate for LLBean. I just LOVE Bean! So, tonight I decided to use my gift certificate and get me some things that are , well, lovely!

So, what did I get?

A wreath made of dried roses in the shape of a heart.  I am putting this wreath in my kitchen, where it can be seen as soon as I come in thru the door from the outside. So that the first thing everyone sees when they come in are roses!

A set of flannel sheets with tiny candy hearts on them.  Who can resist???

And a really lovely pink bathrobe.  No way to not feel warm and fuzzy wearing this robe ;-)

And my personal "plan of attack" for Febuary magickally (aside from the ritual being done by our family):

Erzulie Pink Bath on Feb 1st.

I have a quite a few straight pink spell candles and two bottles of Erzulie Marriage Oil and some Love Magnet Incense.     With this combo of products, I can send ALOT of warm, pink fuzzy thoughts all over for a long long time!

Sweet Feelings Bath Crystals and Phraeda's Tea Rose lotion are on the bathroom shelf! My plan is (as of now, until real life hits me hard in Feb.) to use the Pink Bath Crystals and tea rose lotion every morning in Feb (OK, stop laughing, really, Im going to give this a good ripple!)

So, that's my plan as it stands now. I have already ordered a couple of Sheer Goddess gift baskets to send to two friends that are alone this Valentines Day, and wanted them to know someone was thinking of them. And they get the added benefit of Erzulie's lovely energy as they use the products themselves! So, maybe next year, they wont be so alone!

So, that is my plan of attack (or maybe something else?) for next month.

Let me know what you are planning. Leave me a comment and lets get some chatter going here!
Light and Love,

Sister Bridget

Anam Cara

I am in the middle of the great book about Celtic Wisdom and Spirituaity called Anam Cara. The title itself means "Soul Friend".  The author, John O'Donoghue , passed away earlier this month. I was listening to an interview with him on NPR and was very sad to hear about his death. I wish I had found his books and poems sooner. They are really quite wonderful. Here is one poem I especially enjoy:

Beannacht
("Blessing")

On the day when
the weight deadens
on your shoulders
and you stumble,
may the clay dance
to balance you.

And when your eyes
freeze behind
the grey window
and the ghost of loss
gets in to you,
may a flock of colours,
indigo, red, green,
and azure blue
come to awaken in you
a meadow of delight.

When the canvas frays
in the currach of thought
and a stain of ocean
blackens beneath you,
may there come across the waters
a path of yellow moonlight
to bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
may the clarity of light be yours,
may the fluency of the ocean be yours,
may the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
wind work these words
of love around you,
an invisible cloak
to mind your life.
.
John O'Donoghue
~ Echoes of Memory ~

That Famous Speech.

Happy Martin Luther King Day!

I know you all have heard the quote from Dr King's speech ...."I have a dream". And those of you who have done the Lady Samantha Hex Removal Kit   are familiar with the very last line of the speech, but how many of us have really read thru the whole thing, and weighed the meaning and power of these words?

They are here for you to consider:

Dr King's Speech

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

~Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963, Washington, DC

Quote for the day!

At first dreams seem impossible, then improbable, then inevitable.
  Christopher Reeves 

 

Feng Shui Tips for Your Dining Room

We're getting there , folks! How are you doing? Let me know!

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Feng Shui Tips for Your Dining Room
by Stephanie Roberts

In ancient cultures, "breaking bread" together, whether as a family or with strangers, was a honored way to build community. More recently, potluck dinners, pancake breakfasts, and company picnics have continued this tradition. We haven't done so well at maintaining this important ritual in our homes, however.

Today, the dining room is often one of the most neglected rooms in the house; either it is a formal space that is rarely used, or it has been taken over for use as a home office or projects space. Busy schedules and multiple-careers can make it almost impossible for families to share dinner together on a regular basis. From a feng shui perspective, we are missing out on an important and once-sacred aspect of life. Paying attention to the feng shui of your dining space can help to remedy that.

A cramped dining room can create a feeling of pressure in family relationships and interfere with good digestion. Too much heavy, dark, old furniture - especially when it is squeezed into too small a space – also creates a heavy, dark feeling and blocks the flow of chi. Boxes and bags of clutter have a similar effect. The older the clutter, the more stuck the energy will feel. De-cluttering your dining room is an important first step in improving the feng shui of this space.

The dining room is an exception to the feng shui guideline of aiming to leave some open space in the center of every room. Here the dining table itself should occupy the center position, with equal space on all sides (if possible), and plenty of room for each person to sit down at and get up from the table.

The flow of energy through the dining room should be gentle but not stagnant. It's good to have two doors to the dining room to allow chi to circulate, but if doorways on opposite walls are directly in line with each other chi will move straight through the room too quickly. A faceted crystal ball or crystal chandelier over the center of the dining table will help to balance chi in the room, and also helps people with eating disorders embrace healthier habits.

A mirror is also helpful for improving chi flow in the dining room. Make sure that the mirror reflects something attractive: a nice piece of furniture, a view out a window, or painting or other artwork. A mirror that reflects what's on the table visually doubles your food, and symbolically doubles your money. Keep in mind, though, that if your dining table is covered with clutter or unfinished projects the mirror will doubling the mess and workload.

If your family is managing to dine together but the conversations tend to focus on the past rather than sharing current issues, try clearing all old objects from the dining room. Boxes of old papers and photographs especially will contribute to holding the energy of this room in the past. Getting rid of them will encourage your family to open up about what's happening in their lives right now. If you want to keep a few ancestral treasures or portraits in the dining room, place them together in the Family sector of the room rather than distributing them throughout the space.

EATING IN PEACE

The dining room should be a calm and peaceful place. Warm, soothing earth tones such as soft yellow, peach, and beige are good colors for this room. Curtains soften the cutting chi of mini-blinds, and a thick rug or carpet adds a soothing texture that helps to absorb sound and keeps the atmosphere of this room tranquil. If you don't have a formal dining room, do what you can to make the area where you have your meals as separate and quiet as possible.

Lighting is an important element in creating a good dining atmosphere. Use candles, lower wattage bulbs, or a dimmer switch to bring the energy level down a little, especially at the end of a hectic day.

If your evening meals often feel rushed or if time pressures from the day carry over into the dinner hour, try removing all clocks and calendars from the dining room and reposition those in other rooms so they can't be seen from the table. This will help you slow down and enjoy a calmer dining experience.

At least once a week turn off the TV and allow yourself to enjoy the process of physical nourishment without any distractions other than conversation with your family. Good manners dictate turning your cell phone off when you dine at a restaurant; why not apply this rule at home, too? Treating the dinner hour as a special time for relaxation and nurturing is a good feng shui practice, and will help both your mood and your digestion.

Your beautiful table linens and good silverware should be used from time to time, so you can enjoy them in the present instead of always waiting for some future date. Plan a special sit-down-together dinner with your partner or family one night a month (or more often, if you can). Making this a regular event reinforces how special your loved ones are to you. Using a tablecloth, rather than individual placemats, encourages closeness among family members.

Take a moment before beginning the meal to give thanks for the abundance on your table and for the family and friends who are sharing the meal with you. Saying grace before the meal - in whatever form you choose - fills the dining room with the energy of love and appreciation.

Excerpted from “The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui” by Stephanie Roberts (Alpha Books, 2004)

Copyright © 2004 Stephanie Roberts

Feng Shui for the Heart of Your Home

Great Tips for your kitchen! Hope you all are doing well!

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Feng Shui for the Heart of Your Home
by Stephanie Roberts

The kitchen is sometimes called "the heart of the home," and with good reason; in ancient cultures the hearth was a sacred place representing the life-giving sustenance of Earth's bounty. Feng shui recognizes the kitchen as one of the most important rooms in the house because it is where we connect with the energies that nourish us physically (food), financially (money), and emotionally (family). It reminds us to see the kitchen not just as where we put the groceries away and dish up dinner, but also as a place where we receive blessings and express gratitude for the gifts of life, health, and prosperity.

The kitchen should be bright and sunny in feeling, evoking the warmth of the sun and hearth. Reds and earth tones are good here, while green accents add wood energy to feed the stove's fire, and touches of purple help to support prosperity. Dark, cramped kitchens can be transformed with warm white or pale yellow paint, brighter light fixtures, and cheerful accessories that bring reds and yellows into the room. A kitchen with lots of black and chrome appliances and fixtures will benefit from touches of green, purple, and red to support health and prosperity.

When you come home from the store and put your groceries away, think about the health and vitality these foods will bring to you and your family. As you reach for a snack or prepare a meal, take a moment to focus on how fortunate you are to have this nourishment at your fingertips. Visualize your kitchen always filled with nature's bounty, and say a quiet "thank you" for the food that sustains you and your family. This moment of awareness and gratitude will help to keep the chi of your kitchen supportive and strong.

One easy way to improve the chi of the kitchen is to make sure that everything involved in food preparation and serving is attractive and pleasant to work with. If you are cooking with pots that you don't like, eating from dishes that you do not love, or using paper towels for napkins because the good ones are put away in the back of a closet, each seemingly minor incident is detracting from your ability to enjoy and benefit from your meals.

Get rid of the stuff you never use, start using the things you love, and fill your kitchen with accessories that you really enjoy. This is feng shui in action, and it's a wonderful way to transform the energy of your kitchen so you can receive the support and comfort that the heart of your home should provide.

Feng shui reminds us that in order to prosper, we need to be healthy. The feng shui of your kitchen - especially the stove - can have a big influence on your financial situation, even if you rarely or never cook.

In feng shui, the stove is your "wealth generator." It is the most important symbolic factor in your ability to prosper financially, so make sure it works the way it should. Any problems with the stove can indicate problems with money or limitations to your ability to bring home a good income. A burner that doesn't heat could be a sign of fruitless effort, and an oven that runs too hot could be burning up your money. Dirt and grime are also signs of negative energy, so be sure to keep your stovetop and oven clean.

One easy way to activate money chi is to use your stovetop at least once a day, rather than always relying on the microwave to boil water for tea or heat up a cup of soup. Vary which burner you use, so that all are used regularly. If you don’t use your stove, or use the same one burner all the time, symbolically you are limiting your ability to benefit from financial resources.

When the stovetop is not in use, put all pots and pans away. Unused pots stored on top of the stove can squash prosperity chi, especially when they cover the rear left burner; if you visualize the ba gua over the stovetop, with career in the center front, the rear left burner is in the Wealth position.

To support prosperity, place something that symbolizes wealth or abundance in the Wealth area of your kitchen [the back left corner of the room if you are standing in the doorway], such as a basket or bowl of fresh fruit. Purple and green grapes are especially good abundance symbols for the wealth area.

Another good feng shui tactic is to keep kitchen canisters and other containers more than half-full as much as possible. Every time you see these containers, your subconscious mind will register plenty rather than the implied lack created by an almost empty jar. Get in the habit of restocking your food supplies before you run low, and you will fill your kitchen with the energy of abundance.

Excerpted from “The Pocket Idiot's Guide to Feng Shui” by Stephanie Roberts (Alpha Books, 2004) 

Copyright © 2004 Stephanie Roberts

Feng Shui Money Tips

Here we are! Finally at some Feng Shui tips to help us help ourselves. Hope you all are doing well!

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Feng Shui Money Tips
by Stephanie Roberts

Do you know where your financial "power spots" are? The contemporary methods of feng shui associate prosperity issues with the back left corner of any space. Stand at your front door facing into the house; your wealth area is at the back of the house on the left-hand side. There's also a wealth area within each room: facing in from the doorway, it's the corner area in the back of the room on the left-hand side. Where are the wealth areas within your office, living room, kitchen, and bedroom? Now that you've identified your money power spots, here are some quick and easy ways to apply feng shui to these spaces:

1. Clear out any clutter from these important areas. Clutter is a sign of stagnant energy, and clutter in your money power spots can clog up your cash flow. Getting rid of clutter is one of the most powerful ways to shift the energy of your power spots into high gear.

2. Fix things that are broken. Anything that doesn't work as it should is a sign of something wrong in the area of your life that corresponds to that part of your space. Examine each of your money power spots to look for anything that needs repair. It's time to do something about that loose doorknob, non-working light switch, stuck file drawer, or clock that doesn't keep correct time, to name just a few possible examples. Remove items like these from your power spots or fix them so they work properly.

3. Enhance your power spots with symbols of prosperity, such as a bowl of coins (add your loose change to it every day), a "lucky bamboo" plant, or anything that symbolizes success and prosperity to you. There are lots of Chinese luck symbols available, but you don't have to use them unless you want to. A picture of your dream house, or a model of that luxury car you long for, is an effective money symbol because it has personal meaning for you.

4. Accent your money areas with the colors green and purple. Green symbolizes vitality and growth, and purple is the color of wealth. Place a bowl of green and purple grapes (real or artificial) in the wealth area of your kitchen, to symbolize abundance filling your home. If you use real grapes, it's okay to eat them, just add more from time to time so the grapes remain fresh and the bowl is always more than half full.

5. Pay attention to how you handle money every day. Do you keep paper money neatly sorted in your wallet or money clip, or is it jammed in there any old way, or crumpled up at the bottom of your pocket? Clean the clutter out of your purse and wallet, and start handling your money as though you value it.

6. If you neglect your money, it will neglect you, so be sure to balance your checkbook regularly and pay your bills on time. Put your checkbook in an attractive cover (choose green, purple, red, blue, or black) and keep it in the wealth area of your desk - that's the rear left corner again -- or in the wealth area of your office.

7. Live generously. Money is a form of energy, and it needs to flow through your life, not just into it. Hoarding and scrimping work against more coming in, while giving generously within your means makes space for even greater abundance. If you don't yet have ample money to share, give as generously as you can of your time, energy, compassion, and appreciation.

8. Take a few moments every evening to think about all the good things that happened to you today and to express your gratitude for what you have received. Small things count, too, so it's okay if there's little of the spectacular on your list most of the time. It's not what happened that's important; it's getting in the habit of focusing on the positive side of things every day that matters. The more you notice, appreciate, and express gratitude for blessings received, no matter how small, the more good things will come your way, including money.

A true experience of prosperity is determined not by how much money you have, but by how well you notice and enjoy what is already present in your life. The formal name for the wealth area is "fortunate blessings" - as you de-clutter, repair, and accessorize your money power spots keep this broader meaning in mind. When you celebrate being rich in friends and family, or rich with laughter, or the richness of your spiritual life, or even being rich in air and sunshine if nothing else seems to be going well for you today, material blessings will come to you more readily as well.

Copyright © 2005 Stephanie Roberts

Conquering the Clutter "Yeah, Buts"

So, I hope you all are doing well with this little endeavor! I am! Every day I thow out or rehome one grocery sized bag of stuff :) I am doing really really well with it. Know a quick and easy way to rehome that stack of romance novels you have on a shelf? The local public library or nursing home just love used paperbacks! Nursing homes, especially the Activities Department, are always looking for donations and are really grateful for whatever they get!  And dont forget the Salvation Army for those clothes that just dont fit right anymore. Keep plugging!

Light and Love

Sister Bridget

Conquering the Clutter "Yeah, Buts"
by Stephanie Roberts

Is your home filled with a lot of stuff that you don't really use or need, but that you just can't seem to part with? Do you make quick progress in the first stages of clutter-clearing, only to hit a wall when the easy stuff is gone and you're faced with difficult decisions about what really counts as a "treasure"?

If you are challenged by clutter it's likely that your inner voice is saying "yeah, but..." a lot as you try to make your keep-or-toss decisions.

For example, you might pick something out of box or a closet and say to yourself, "I guess I don't really need to keep this," but before you can get it into a things-to-give-away bag, your inner voice pipes up with "Yeah, but..."
- "...it's pretty"
- "...it was my grandmother's"
- "...it was a gift from so-and-so"
- "...I paid a lot for it"
- "...I haven't used it yet"
- "...I might wear it again someday"
- "...it will fit after I lose some weight," or
- "...I'll feel guilty if I throw/give it away.".

Every time you pick something up and can't decide what to do with it, stop and listen for a "yeah but" comment from your inner voice.

Once you start listening to your "yeah buts", you'll get a clearer idea of the particular language of concern that stops you from letting go of things. Probably you will find that certain clutter decisions are much more difficult for you than others. For example, I have no qualms whatsoever about tossing out old letters and greeting cards, but getting rid of clothes that I haven't worn in five years because they are a size too small is very difficult for me. What this really means is that I am secure in knowing that the people who love me love me, but I am not at peace with the changes that middle age has brought to my body and don't want to accept that I'm not as slim as I used to be.

Someone else, however, might make quick work of cleaning out their clothes closets, only to come to a dead stop when faced with a 20-year collection of postcards and greeting cards. Their rational mind says, "this is a box of paper clutter, I ought to just toss it out." Their heart cries out, "I can't throw away my friends! I can't throw away my relatives! What kind of an unloving, ungrateful person would that make me?!" So back the box goes, into storage, and another would-be declutter is left feeing guilty and confused - guilty for holding on to clutter, guilty for wanting to throw it out, and confused by why it's so hard to get rid of things they'd rather part with.

With postcards and greeting cards, it really is the thought that counts. A greeting card is just that: a greeting, a paper "hello there." It deserves to be appreciated, but appreciating the gesture doesn't mean you need to keep the card forever. The same is true of gift items that don't suit you or your home. Ask yourself what your friends and relatives intended by sending you those cards and gifts; did they want you to know they were thinking of you, or did they intend to fill your home with clutter? Anyone who cares for you enough to send you a card or gift also wants you live comfortably and happily in a well-kept home that suits and supports you - and that means getting rid of your clutter.

So many of our "yeah, buts" have to do with past memories or potential future usefulness. Holding on to this stuff fills our heads and hearts with "what if" and "if only" messages, which make it harder to live fully in the present. When your closet is full of "skinny" clothes, for example, every time you open it to look for something to wear you are reminded that you used to be slimmer, that you're not happy with the size you are now, and that you're still hoping to lose some weight "some day." As a result, each time you reach for a "not-skinny" garment, you feel like a failure. What an unpleasant emotional message to burden yourself with every day! When your closets contain only clothes that are the right size and that fit your lifestyle and personality as well as your body, choosing an outfit becomes self-affirming and empowering instead of belittling.

Consciously remind yourself that you need to make a choice: are you going to go on living with clutter, or are you going to choose to move closer to your clutter-free goal? The clearer your vision of how you want your life to be without clutter, the easier it will be for you to make those difficult decisions.

By paying close attention to the "yeah but" messages that are keeping you from making clutter-clearing decisions, you gain insight into the emotions that contributed to all this stuff piling up in the first place. The key to conquering the "yeah, buts" is to remember that these are the second thoughts that pop up in response to your first thought, which was, "I guess I don't really need to keep this." That's the voice you should be listening to.

© 2005 Stephanie Roberts