Google Page

Yesterday I got an email from Google. They enabled my Page Creator account to test a new feature. Google Page Creator is an experiment still in early testing phase: a free online tool to create and publish web pages in just minutes using WYSIWYG. I have 100MB to create a website. I've made a start yesterday. I will be adding more of course, any ideas are welcome. It isn't much yet, but for now I present you:

~*~Tink's Niche~*~

Witchy Girls Night 5

Last Saturday the Witchy Girls did the first extensive ritual. We always cast a circle, but this time we went a step further: walking the circle, cleaning it with the elements, calling the quarters, etc. I called the west (element water) and did the libation with Lothanna. The altar was beautiful as ever.

Tanit guided us in a beautiful pathworking to meet our inner child, wounded child, wise woman (of love & compassion) and wise old man (who has all the knowledge of your life). It worked very well for me. My inner child was very happy and surrounded by animals. She laughed and pointed out of the window; in the distance stood the red deer. I expected my wounded inner child to talk about certain things, but she just told me "I'm so lonely and alone". That surprised me somewhat and got me thinking... The wise woman was just pleasant to be with. The wise old man was my dad and it was great to see him again.

The theme was "Gods". Luna recited Pan in a great way, but for me he was in the circle already. We talked about what each of us has with male deity. Pan is "my" god, there has always been something with him for me I can't explain. He was there, made me giggle and play jokes on the girls next to me. For the funny note Sorcha and Luna had a surprise. Look here! We all ate a piece, I had part of the white top... ;-)
In the cauldron everyone had put a little something that showed her view on god(s). We took another something out of the cauldron. Ron had helped me to make 2 little candles with the male symbol on one side and the god symbol on the other. I had wrapped them in a Robbie Williams picture, couldn't resist. *lol* I got a wonderful little box with a cover of the sun(god); I love it!

At Sorcha's request my brother had designed a Witchy Girl logo to put on a black t-shirt. We liked the idea very much, so we all ordered one. This week the shirts were ready, my brother delivered them at my place and I took them to the Witchy Girls. They look great and everyone was very enthusiastic. We made a group picture in the garden.

Afterwards we had some drinks and snacks. Claudia had made "Haagse Bluf", very airy and delicious! The translation would be something like Hague Bluff. You can find the recipe and an explanation here.

Acupuncture part 3

Time for the Rangkuti clinic again, part 3 of 5. This morning I had a headache again, but through the morning it disappeared. I had an appointment at noon. When they checked my pulse, I still had a "pain-pulse". My pulse is always fast and tense. It seems I can't completely relax. I guess that's true, except for when I meditate. I should do it every day, but it never comes of that. I feel too tense to begin meditating, but I should meditate to lose the tension. Et voilà, there's the vicious circle...
The treatment helped me relax, or perhaps I should say: just lying there helped. I knew I wanted (and had) to do a lot more today, but that half an hour was occupied by the treatment. So why not take advantage of it and relax..? It worked, I felt calm afterwards. I drove back quietly. Still wanted to do as much as possible, but one thing at a time... Unfortunately the supermarkets were packed with people doing the last shopping for Easter. It looked as if the shops would be closed for a week! Pfew... glad I'm home, time for a nap!

Dusty Miller

Yesterday I went for a special walk in the Vondelpark in Amsterdam. The walk was organized by Jeroen Heindijk of Geronimo's Natural Gallery. He invited Dusty Miller the 13th to walk with us and tell about his family, the trees and Tree Dryads. Dusty is the current patriarch of what is believed to be the oldest Elfin Tribe still surviving in the British Isles, the world's leading authority on Tree Dryads and internationally famous as a Shaman, LiveWood Sculptor and creator of Elfin Art. Click on the links in the preceding lines to read more about all of this; it's very interesting stuff!

Around 25 people assembled in Het Blauwe Theehuis (The Blue Teahouse, no. 4 on this map). The weather forecast wasn't very good, but fortunately all wrong; we had great weather! Jeroen and Dusty guided the walk. We stopped from time to time near a special tree to listen to Dusty and/or Jeroen. Dusty is a very nice and funny man and he's a natural narrator. He had so many interesting things to tell; trying to reproduce that here wouldn't do him justice. If you ever get the chance to meet and walk with him, be sure you take it! I asked one of the others to take a picture of Dusty and me (I was looking straight into the sun, so my eyes are almost shut). I have made a lot of pictures of all the interesting trees we met on the walk. At the end of the day I was exhausted, but it was well worth it!

(click on the "Dusty Miller"-label under this post to see more posts about my encounter(s) with the Dusty's)

Acupuncture part 2

This time I had an appointment at noon. The traffic was quiet and the weather sunny, so I could drive relaxed and easy. I decided to park at the same spot like last week: a company car park nearby.
I didn't have to wait very long. One of the doctors asked how I had been. Well, it was a very stressy week. I was very very tired, slept bad and had a lot of headaches. Not a good week at all... She felt my pulse and looked at my tongue. Later another doctor came in and felt my pulse too. He asked me if I had pain somewhere, because I had what he called "a pain pulse". He was right (I had a headache), but he couldn't have known. How strange they can feel you are having pain in your pulse!?
The first doctor connected me to the machine, same routine like last week. Time to relax... Boy, did I need that! I felt the stress slowly leaving my body and the headache faded. I should really take more time to relax and meditate again. After the treatment I felt a lot better.

I'm back!

Yay, I'm finally back online! I'll spare you the details, but with lots of help from a friend and a bit from MyCom (I still had guarantee) I am on my own computer again. After struggling with the old laptop and using the computer at my neighbour's that is a big relief! It took some time to put all my backups and programs back, but that's almost ready.
What a stress, what an irritation... I knew I'm addicted, but I found out my computer really is a necessity of life to me... I have a lot of online contact (also with real life friends and family) and I do our financial administration and other stuff on the PC, so I'm very inconvenienced by the lack of it. I am so spoilt!

Daddy

10 years ago today we celebrated my father's last birthday, his 61st. He was already ill, but we still thought it was a nasty flu. A month later he was in hospital with what turned out to be aggressive cancer, spread all through his body. May 10th he passed away...
I still miss him every day...

Bleh...

Computer isn't ready yet.
Will be after the weekend, hopefully Monday...
:-((

Acupuncture part 1

Today was my first appointment for the chronic fatigue study in the Rangkuti Clinic in Koog a/d Zaan. It was a half hour drive and a quarter to find a parking space...
I was tired and still a bit nervous when I arrived. While I was waiting I filled in a questionnaire about my medical problems, treatments, medicines and some personal questions (among them: how often do you have sex? how often do you masturbate? *lol*). It was very thorough. After I filled it in someone went through it with me to fill in the blanks.
Then it was time to enter the treatment room. I undressed to my underwear and lay down on a bed. I was covered with a big soft towel. There were three doctors. They felt both my pulses and looked at my tongue. After some consideration one of them placed 8 laser-acupuncture wires with tape: one on each foot, one on each hand and four on my right ear. I got glasses to protect my eyes and all I had to do was relax for 30 minutes (?). No problem there! After they checked my pulses again I was ready for today. I felt relaxed and good.
Next Friday new appointment at noon!

Update mum

Tuesday my mother did the extensive lung function test in Haarlem and yesterday the lung specialist had the results. She has 50% lung capacity left. That won't become more, but the decrease would go a lot slower if she'd quit smoking. She says she is going to quit after the surgery. I'm a bit sceptic about it, because she has said it so often before, but I really hope she'll succeed this time! I'll do my best to support her all the way.
This finally was the last step. Now we have to wait for the hospital to call when she has to be admitted. A week before that she has to take Prednison and the first days in hospital will be used to prepare her lungs for the surgery. Mum is afraid and pessimistic. I understand that, but I'm trying to get her a bit more optimistic. Power of thought is very strong!

Cafe

Yesterday evening a SFGA delegation brought a visit to the witches cafe in Utrecht. Not official or something, we just agreed to go at the same night. I have been there before, but that was on another location. The new location is private and very nice. The cafe is run by people from the Silver Circle and the Pagan Federation. I saw some old acquaintances, but also new people. I found out that Mandragora is giving his workshops in Beverwijk, which is very near to IJmuiden. I took his flyer and will certainly look into it!
We had a great time and left around 11 o'clock.

Hope

Last Sunday I visited the Onkruidbeurs (Onkruid is a spiritual magazine, beurs=fair) in Houten with my sister Joke and WonderWillow. There were two big halls with lots of stands, varying from publishing companies to colleges to shops etc., all in the field of spirituality, new-age and the like. Upstairs were two rooms for lectures.

We met a lot of friends and acquaintances. Vrouw Holda (my friend Renee) had a wonderful stand, where Wonder and Joke both drew a personal rune which Renee explained to them. It was great to see, hug and talk to her again.
Wonder had a meeting with Benjamin Two Bears about a future project. I had met him before, but this time he brought his wife Margot, a (drawing) medium. She is a very nice person and I'd like to make an appointment with her.
I have bought a book on the recommendation of Wonder: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen. He said it was the best book he ever read and his taste in reading is similar to mine. I wanted to buy a beautiful water fountain (table size), but when I went back to do so the last one had just been sold. Pity!
We visited a lecture/workshop on Tai Chi. That has always fascinated me. We did a few basic positions and movements. Very difficult, but a challenge and it felt great. I hope it will be taught in my neighbourhood one day.

The title of this post is "Hope", I'll explain why. We attended a lecture about integration of eastern and western medicine by Dr. Sofyan Rangkuti (doctor, surgeon, acupuncturist and herbalist). He first told about what has been achieved so far. Then he talked about two projects/studies in which patients can take part for free; one for back issues and one about... chronic fatigue. After the lecture I asked him about it. An assistant told me to call the next day, so I did. Guess what... they have place for another patient! My first appointment is next Friday, March 31st, in the clinic in Koog aan de Zaan. It will be a multidisciplinary treatment. I'm curious, but also a bit nervous!

Computerprobs

My desktop computer is away for repairs. Most likely the motherboard needs replacement, but it's busy in the store so the technical support department won't have time until Friday or Saturday. Luckily I have a three year garranty that hasn't expired yet.
In the meantime I'm on the laptop, but that's sloooow and sometimes the connection fails. I'll try to post updates anyway, but I won't be online very much. 'Til later!!

Things

Spring is in the air! The sun is shining, lambs play in the meadows, crocuses and other bulbs come up. The world looks brighter. I didn't do anything special for Ostara, but that's okay for now. I am too busy with other things. I've decided not to put extra pressure on myself about it until I have my own space and more time to celebrate.

Yesterday my cousin Sandra got married. My mum was invited and I accompanied her. The bride (and groom!) looked marvellous and very happy. I'm glad for them and hope they'll continue to have a great life together. I didn't know a lot of the guests, only the family. It was nice to talk to them again. I also felt the presence of my grandfather (my mum's dad). He didn't communicate much, just let me feel he was there. The last time I felt him was at the funeral of my cousin Hans years ago. It's such a pity I haven't known him that long. I would have loved to get to know him better, but he died when I was 7 years old.

This morning my mother had an appointment with the lung specialist. We thought this would be the last step before surgery, but no such luck. Next Tuesday she has to do an extensive lung function test in Haarlem and Wednesday we have to see the lung specialist again for the results. The severe pulmonary emphysema is an extra risk in surgery. Normally he would advise against it, but the replacement of the aorta valve is essential. To reduce the risks my mother will be admitted to hospital a few days earlier, so the doctors can give her lungs extra medicine and care before the operation.

Happy Ostara!

An Ostara Tale

It was long ago, and it was the time of winter. Snow covered the ground and the chill in the air made this a harsh and unforgiving time to be about. Whiteness everywhere. The world slept.....
A little girl had strayed from her home (a very bad thing, but such as children are wont to do) and she found herself wandering about in the woods; alone. She was cold and tired, and afraid. In despair she dropped down in the snow and began to cry. She cried for her home. She cried for her mother and father. She cried for her life.
Then she saw it - a bird - a frozen bird - lying, dying in the snow. She jumped up and rushed to take the bird into her arms. She held it close to herself; wrapping it tightly in her arms. She tried to warm the bird and thaw its frozen wings, but it was too cold and life was quickly leaving the bird's body along with its warmth. She was beside herself! She thought only of the bird now, not seeing that she herself would soon be in the same situation that this small bird was in now.
She cried out for help! "Help! Help this bird to live", she cried. "Goddess Eostara, please help this bird!"
Now, Eostara was one busy Being about this time. Under normal circumstances the Goddess of Spring and Warmth would have dismissed this cry for help and continued about Her more important business. But it piqued Her interest that this girl was calling on Her to help a bird instead of herself. She decided to investigate and perhaps lend a helping hand.
Eostara came to the girl. She floated over the snowy landscape. In Her wake flowers bloomed and sweet-scented blossoms burst open as colors blazed into view. Spring followed in Her path and the sound of laughter and gentle breezes could be heard on Her breath. She was glorious to behold. Rebirth and new life radiated about Her. The girl was astounded.
She jumped up and thrust the bird at Eostara. "Save it!", she cried. "Make it well!" Using the demanding tone that only a child would have the nerve to use in the presence of a Goddess.
Eostara took no mind of the girl's inappropriate behavior. She knew of her intent and her motives. The girl was sincere... the girl was unselfish.... the girl was so very young.....
Eostara reached out Her hand and touched the bird with one delicate finger. Light flowed through Her, warming the bird. Its eyes opened suddenly. Its foot twitched. It hopped out of the girl's hand and began to flop about madly in the snow. The girl squealed with delight. "You saved it! You saved it!", as she danced about in the snow, overjoyed. But wait --
"Hey....." the girl said after watching the bird for a while. "Its wings are still frozen to its body. It can't fly! You didn't do it right!!"
Oh my. Now, Eostara surely wasn't used to this kind of response when She had just performed a minor miracle. But with Her infinite patience (which by now was wearing thin) intact, She gave the bird one last effort, another chance at survival. She reached over to the hopping bird and touched it again gently with Her hand, turning it into a bunny. "There!", she said to the girl, "Now it has no need of its wings".
And as the now totally confused bunny hopped off into the brush, Eostara drifted away to perform other tasks of sunshine and light (as far away as possible from this girl). The girl was delighted at the sight of the bunny scrambling into the snow-covered brush. "All better", she smiled. She suddenly knew the way home...
Now, all this was fine for Eostara and the girl, but what of the bunny? Well, now, this is one totally confused little animal here. This rabbit still has a habit of laying eggs! And to this day, when the snow begins to melt, and the flowers begin to bloom, and the air is filled with the sweet scent of blossoms and warmth, the bunny begins to lay its eggs. Oh, and these aren't ordinary eggs either. These eggs tell of color! Of Spring! Of Eostara and her gift of renewed life and release from winter's chill. They are tokens of recognition and gratitude to the Goddess Eostara for the gift of Spring.

Author: Scoutghost
Source: WitchVox