Hello everyone,
It's been about a week since I've written my tarot book. My cat, Josephine, was in for surgery earlier this week and the house has been kind of crazy. She's doing well, and thank you for all of the Reiki, positive energy, and good wishes that were sent my way this week.
I wrote another card or two tonight and hope to get one in maybe tomorrow morning. We shall see. But I've definitely slid backward on the progress, and that's not good. It's almost like Saturn himself is throwing obligations in my path to keep me from writing; at least he hasn't slowed me down in the act of writing, so I'm grateful for that.
Anyway, falling asleep in front of a keyboard does not make for great blog material. So I hope to have another more filling blog for you soon.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
ROW80: Progress Report
Hello everyone...
Things are moving along fairly well with the tarot book. I'm 26 cards in now and feel like I'm just starting to get the rhythm of it.
I'm hoping to be a little bit ahead as we hit the 40-day mark because August and September for me will be very busy--reading cards and teaching classes with the Tradition of the Witches Circle (www.themagickshop.com) will occupy quite a bit of my time.
Without really thinking about it too hard I've been writing what I'm feeling. That seems to be working so I'm not going to mess with it. I'm also trying not to come up with the idea of what the whole book will look like, which has gotten me into trouble in the past. Those details will have to be sorted out later.
Anyway, I wish all of my ROW80 colleagues good luck as we head toward the halfway point in our journey.
Things are moving along fairly well with the tarot book. I'm 26 cards in now and feel like I'm just starting to get the rhythm of it.
I'm hoping to be a little bit ahead as we hit the 40-day mark because August and September for me will be very busy--reading cards and teaching classes with the Tradition of the Witches Circle (www.themagickshop.com) will occupy quite a bit of my time.
Without really thinking about it too hard I've been writing what I'm feeling. That seems to be working so I'm not going to mess with it. I'm also trying not to come up with the idea of what the whole book will look like, which has gotten me into trouble in the past. Those details will have to be sorted out later.
Anyway, I wish all of my ROW80 colleagues good luck as we head toward the halfway point in our journey.
Friday, July 22, 2011
Giving Metaphysical Professionals a Bad Name is Too Easy
Hello everyone,
As a professional in the metaphysical field, you figure out there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. I'm not just talking about tarot readers, of course--we are astrologers, mediums and other psychics, Reiki masters and herbalists, and Ministers without brick-and-mortar churches. We're all lumped into the same category.
Many people have negative opinions of these professions, and sadly, they are well-earned. Years of people posing as "psychics" fleecing people out of their hard-earned cash, removing bogus family curses and casting spells to remove bad omens from desperate clients leave a bad taste in many people's mouths. And if you're not part of a religion that people aren't familiar with and are a Minister, they think you paid some fee through an online church that must be disreputable. Of course at that point you're just pretending to help people, right?
In some cases I can't say I blame them; like any stereotype there is an element of truth. Of course, we're not all crooks...many of us are hardworking, ethical professionals who want to earn an honest living helping people. You'll get assholes in every line of work, but those people are remembered and we are all tarred with the same brush. So that's one big hurdle. The only consolation is that many other professions--lawyer is the first one to come to mind--have as bad if not worse reputations than we do. [As my dad used to say, "All lawyers are assholes until you need one."]
Get over that one and you've got religious discrimination to deal with. I'm not talking about the overt kind that makes headlines; I'm talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff. People who feel the need to come up to you to "save your soul" because they feel you're on the road to hell or other such nonsensical arguments. There are lots of different scenarios but it comes down to people who are closed-minded, and there are plenty of them out there, especially in small-town America.
Once you're over that hurdle you begin where most other professionals begin: Trying to earn the trust of their clients. You build a nice practice and love your work and you feel like maybe, just maybe, you've overcome the hurdles through your persistence, dedication to others, and ethical conduct.
And then you see crap like this: http://www.regretsy.com/2011/07/20/crack-head/
WARNING: Please ensure that if you go to this site you do so in the privacy of your own home, because 1) You will likely laugh so hard that your colleagues at work would wonder what you were doing, and 2) There are pictures of naked asses on this page. (Don't get your hopes up about this, either.)
The fact that it's a Regretsy post should tell you something already. Regretsy is not known for pointing out the good and noble things it finds online.
I saw this and all I could do was sigh and shake my head. RUMPOLOGY?? Come on now, people. And people think that telling the future with cards, crystal balls, and tea leaves, as well as consulting astrological charts, is bizarre? What do you think the average person will think when seeing RUMPOLOGY? I'll give you a hint: It starts with "They are all crackpots!" and goes downhill from there.
I wish Regretsy hadn't pointed out this lady's site; it is probably getting a lot more hits now since they did it. The fact that Sylvester Stallone's mother is the "expert" on this form of predictive metaphysical analysis is also scary. How many people will look at this site and say, "They are all just freaks anyway!"?
Despite all of these hurdles, I sincerely thank those of you who consult metaphysical service providers on a regular basis and treat us with the respect that we deserve. As we've seen, it's way too easy to be down on us.
As a professional in the metaphysical field, you figure out there are a lot of hurdles to overcome. I'm not just talking about tarot readers, of course--we are astrologers, mediums and other psychics, Reiki masters and herbalists, and Ministers without brick-and-mortar churches. We're all lumped into the same category.
Many people have negative opinions of these professions, and sadly, they are well-earned. Years of people posing as "psychics" fleecing people out of their hard-earned cash, removing bogus family curses and casting spells to remove bad omens from desperate clients leave a bad taste in many people's mouths. And if you're not part of a religion that people aren't familiar with and are a Minister, they think you paid some fee through an online church that must be disreputable. Of course at that point you're just pretending to help people, right?
In some cases I can't say I blame them; like any stereotype there is an element of truth. Of course, we're not all crooks...many of us are hardworking, ethical professionals who want to earn an honest living helping people. You'll get assholes in every line of work, but those people are remembered and we are all tarred with the same brush. So that's one big hurdle. The only consolation is that many other professions--lawyer is the first one to come to mind--have as bad if not worse reputations than we do. [As my dad used to say, "All lawyers are assholes until you need one."]
Get over that one and you've got religious discrimination to deal with. I'm not talking about the overt kind that makes headlines; I'm talking about the behind-the-scenes stuff. People who feel the need to come up to you to "save your soul" because they feel you're on the road to hell or other such nonsensical arguments. There are lots of different scenarios but it comes down to people who are closed-minded, and there are plenty of them out there, especially in small-town America.
Once you're over that hurdle you begin where most other professionals begin: Trying to earn the trust of their clients. You build a nice practice and love your work and you feel like maybe, just maybe, you've overcome the hurdles through your persistence, dedication to others, and ethical conduct.
And then you see crap like this: http://www.regretsy.com/2011/07/20/crack-head/
WARNING: Please ensure that if you go to this site you do so in the privacy of your own home, because 1) You will likely laugh so hard that your colleagues at work would wonder what you were doing, and 2) There are pictures of naked asses on this page. (Don't get your hopes up about this, either.)
The fact that it's a Regretsy post should tell you something already. Regretsy is not known for pointing out the good and noble things it finds online.
I saw this and all I could do was sigh and shake my head. RUMPOLOGY?? Come on now, people. And people think that telling the future with cards, crystal balls, and tea leaves, as well as consulting astrological charts, is bizarre? What do you think the average person will think when seeing RUMPOLOGY? I'll give you a hint: It starts with "They are all crackpots!" and goes downhill from there.
I wish Regretsy hadn't pointed out this lady's site; it is probably getting a lot more hits now since they did it. The fact that Sylvester Stallone's mother is the "expert" on this form of predictive metaphysical analysis is also scary. How many people will look at this site and say, "They are all just freaks anyway!"?
Despite all of these hurdles, I sincerely thank those of you who consult metaphysical service providers on a regular basis and treat us with the respect that we deserve. As we've seen, it's way too easy to be down on us.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
ROW80: Update from Neptune
Dear Old Man,
Your departure has left both John and I happier than we could have ever hoped for! Oh, damn...I'm sorry...I made part of that up. John is pining for you, and can't wait another day for your return into his life. Yup...I made that up, too. I've got to keep polishing my title of "Great Deceiver"...I know how important titles are to you.
Seriously, though...John's making great headway. He's 23 cards in now and really figuring this shit out. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that his work will not be polished without your nitpicking, critical, overbearing...WHOA I got carried away. I'm sure his work will be well-polished when it needs to be. Just so we're clear, Saturn, that time is NOT now.
I've told John he can take the rest of the night off to play Civilization V. He's over 30% done now so he's earned it. He's going to play as the Japanese tonight since they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat earlier today in Frankfurt. And you can't even complain about the ref, can you, you rules nazi? Ooops...maybe considering where the game was held that wasn't very PC of me.
I hope you will wait longer for that $100. We started off doing great at the casino but then Jupiter told me to put it all on 7. The number didn't come up 7. So I'll see if I can scare you up that C-note soon.
Believe,
Neptune
Your departure has left both John and I happier than we could have ever hoped for! Oh, damn...I'm sorry...I made part of that up. John is pining for you, and can't wait another day for your return into his life. Yup...I made that up, too. I've got to keep polishing my title of "Great Deceiver"...I know how important titles are to you.
Seriously, though...John's making great headway. He's 23 cards in now and really figuring this shit out. I'm sure you'll be happy to know that his work will not be polished without your nitpicking, critical, overbearing...WHOA I got carried away. I'm sure his work will be well-polished when it needs to be. Just so we're clear, Saturn, that time is NOT now.
I've told John he can take the rest of the night off to play Civilization V. He's over 30% done now so he's earned it. He's going to play as the Japanese tonight since they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat earlier today in Frankfurt. And you can't even complain about the ref, can you, you rules nazi? Ooops...maybe considering where the game was held that wasn't very PC of me.
I hope you will wait longer for that $100. We started off doing great at the casino but then Jupiter told me to put it all on 7. The number didn't come up 7. So I'll see if I can scare you up that C-note soon.
Believe,
Neptune
Friday, July 15, 2011
Shameless Marketing and a postcard from the edge of Neptune
Hello everyone,
Neptune has allowed me a brief respite from my creative activities to let you know that I am doing well and making lots of progress on my book. He's carefully watching how much time I spend writing to you--at least I think he is--or he may be contemplating his true essence. Who is to say? All I know is that I'm glad I don't pay his bar tab. That man can put away his Patron.
Anyway, I've found a new perspective on writing that is serving me quite well, thanks to Neptune. I've been writing a lot--almost 20% of the rough draft of the tarot cards is done--and I haven't gone back once to edit what I have done. I couldn't be more pleased and I'm making the most of Saturn's vacation, wherever he is.
Luckily Neptune is not a difficult taskmaster so I get to take breaks. If you want to find me reading cards at 13 Magickal Moons in Occoquan, VA, here's when I'll be there:
Saturday, July 16 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, July 27 6-9pm
Saturday, July 30 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, August 3 6-9pm (Open Lammas Ritual)
Saturday, August 13 11:30am-5:30pm
Saturday, August 20 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, August 31 6-9pm
Saturday, September 3 11:30am-5:30pm
Saturday, September 10 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, September 21 6-9pm (Open Mabon Ritual)
Saturday, September 24 11:30am-5:30pm
I'm going to have to continue to make headway on this manuscript, since I'll be teaching Witchcraft 101 for the Tradition of the Witches Circle starting on September 2. It's going to be an amazing class that I am very much looking forward to teaching!
Anyway, come on out and see me soon! I'll keep you updated on my progress on this book.
Brightest Blessings,
John
Neptune has allowed me a brief respite from my creative activities to let you know that I am doing well and making lots of progress on my book. He's carefully watching how much time I spend writing to you--at least I think he is--or he may be contemplating his true essence. Who is to say? All I know is that I'm glad I don't pay his bar tab. That man can put away his Patron.
Anyway, I've found a new perspective on writing that is serving me quite well, thanks to Neptune. I've been writing a lot--almost 20% of the rough draft of the tarot cards is done--and I haven't gone back once to edit what I have done. I couldn't be more pleased and I'm making the most of Saturn's vacation, wherever he is.
Luckily Neptune is not a difficult taskmaster so I get to take breaks. If you want to find me reading cards at 13 Magickal Moons in Occoquan, VA, here's when I'll be there:
Saturday, July 16 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, July 27 6-9pm
Saturday, July 30 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, August 3 6-9pm (Open Lammas Ritual)
Saturday, August 13 11:30am-5:30pm
Saturday, August 20 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, August 31 6-9pm
Saturday, September 3 11:30am-5:30pm
Saturday, September 10 11:30am-5:30pm
Wednesday, September 21 6-9pm (Open Mabon Ritual)
Saturday, September 24 11:30am-5:30pm
I'm going to have to continue to make headway on this manuscript, since I'll be teaching Witchcraft 101 for the Tradition of the Witches Circle starting on September 2. It's going to be an amazing class that I am very much looking forward to teaching!
Anyway, come on out and see me soon! I'll keep you updated on my progress on this book.
Brightest Blessings,
John
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