The Truth about Witches

witch- noun \ˈwich\

: a woman who is thought to have magic powers
: a person who practices magic as part of a religion (such as Wicca)

: a very unpleasant woman

-Merriam Webster Dictionary

I have always loved witches. As a female role model they offer many delightful facets of being an alternative woman no matter what century, culture, fairy tale, or ghost story they are featured. They represent the 'bad' side of women frequently reviled in male dominated stories and historical facts. As the shadow side of a 'good' woman, witches are portrayed as wicked (my favorite word), profane, duplicitous, scheming, self-serving, and nefarious. Witches are the antithesis of how nice, maternal, nurturing women should be. How could I not be attracted to them?

As independent women, witches are usually linked to dark forces, special magic, and pagan religions. Christians they are not. This had me hypnotized when I was a small parochial school girl. Brujas do not act like the saintly women martyrs I studied in catechism. Witches defy convention, carve out their own lives as outsiders, and are a force to be reckoned with. They make good look boring. Being a CEO of a odious empire requires confidence in your curses, spells, and Machiavellian cunning. Daring to be different, witches reject the approval orientation that decent girls embrace. However, they do pay the ultimate price for their nonconformist ways by being burned at the stake, drowned, or hanged. 

"Éva Pócs states that reasons for accusations of witchcraft fall into four general categories:

1. A person was caught in the act of positive or negative sorcery
2. A well-meaning sorcerer or healer lost their clients' or the authorities' trust
3. A person did nothing more than gain the enmity of their neighbors
4. A person was reputed to be a witch and surrounded with an aura of witch-beliefs or Occultism

She identifies three varieties of witch in popular belief:

• The "neighborhood witch" or "social witch": a witch who curses a neighbor following some conflict.
• The "magical" or "sorcerer" witch: either a professional healer, sorcerer, seer or midwife, or a person who has through magic increased her fortune to the perceived detriment of a neighboring household; due to neighborly or community rivalries and the ambiguity between positive and negative magic, such individuals can become labelled as witches.
• The "supernatural" or "night" witch: portrayed in court narratives as a demon appearing in visions and dreams." -Wikipedia

Some of my personal favorite witches are:

• The Wicked Witch of the West. Margaret Hamilton's portrayal of a sinister hag jonesing for revenge cannot be beat. Her frightening demeanor and deviousness are mesmerizing. I loved how she addressed the naive Dorothy mockingly as "my pretty". All that wrangling over the symbolic red slippers gives us a clue that prepubescent hormonally-charged girls are also a force of nature.
• Dame Gothel, the witch from "Rapunzel". This Grimm tale starts off innocently with a man whose pregnant wife insatiably craves rampion (aka Campanula) which only grows in Dame Gothel's garden. When the husband is caught absconding with some of the witch's rampion, a deal is struck: he will get all the rampion he wants for his expectant wife but the unborn baby she carries will be given to Dame Gothel at birth. The baby, taken by the witch, is named Rapunzel and is endowed with long golden locks of hair. When Rapunzel turns twelve, right about when she would be getting her first period, Dame Gothel locks her away in a castle with no doors or stairs. To visit Rapunzel, the witch summons her to let down her 'golden hair which is used as a rope. 'Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair." Eventually a handsome prince observes the witch  and attempts to liberate Rapunzel. Alas, he is cast down the castle onto some thorns and dies. So much for males outmaneuvering a superior witch.
• The witch from "Hansel and Gretel". Even in these days of horrific child abuse stories, this Grimm tale takes it up a notch. Here we have a poor widower with two small children who marries a woman (stepmothers always get a bad rap in most stories) wanting his children dispatched because they are a resource drain. The stepmother convinces her husband to take the two kids deep into the woods where they get lost and stumble upon a witch's candy house (witches know what attracts). The witch captures them, makes Gretel her slave, and plans on fattening up Hansel for her own Hannibal Lecter-like feast. Gretel, the heroine of this story, manages to push the witch into the fiery hot stove, incinerating her before Hansel becomes an entree. Immolation is part and parcel for most fairy tale witches.
• "The Witches" by Roald Dahl. You can't go wrong with a story about convention of witches called, "The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children". When a young orphaned boy and his ailing grandmother visit a hotel on vacation, they discover the creepy convention. Investigating the witches intent, the boy is is caught and turned into a mouse by the Grand High Witch. These wily witches with a loathing of children turn the youngsters into mice so that they are killed by frightened humans. Though Roald Dahl did not care for the film version, Angelica Huston made a stunning sorceress. The author took offense at the sanitized movie ending in which the boy is transformed back into being human. Witches, after all, are not the sanitary type.

Seeing the happy go lucky young witches at Hogwart's is too sugary for me. I like those gritty, gnarly, loathsome witches who wreck havoc on our natural world.

All Hallow's Eve

"The word Halloween or Hallowe'en dates to about 1745 and is of Christian origin.The word "Halloween" means "hallowed evening" or "holy evening". It comes from a Scottish term for All Hallows' Eve (the evening before All Hallows' Day). In Scots, the word "eve" is even, and this is contracted to e'en or een. Over time, (All) Hallow(s) Eve(n) evolved into Halloween. Although the phrase "All Hallows'" is found in Old English (ealra hālgena mæssedæg, all saints mass-day), "All Hallows' Eve" is itself not seen until 1556."  -Wikipedia

Felicitations for a Michigan Man

Today my friend Greg is celebrating his 60th birthday. Why is this such an important occasion to note? Because Greg is no ordinary man. His affability and positivity are an outward aura which camouflages his humble, yet fierce intelligence. He is of Scorpion birth, meaning one can know Greg for years and still not truly know all the hidden facets to his persona. As with most Scorpios, these facets do leak out occasionally, making each missing piece of the puzzle intriguing. This agrees with his Myers-Briggs profile, an introverted intuitive thinker using perception (INTP). They call INTPs the architects of thought and language consistency, probably because they rarely leave their heads. However, they do have an adroit sense of humor which makes up the heavy intellectual overlay. Fortunately, Greg is too self-effacing, humble, and sentient to be arrogant.

Greg and I have never met-he lives about 340 miles north of me. Our relationship is a product of electronic communication. In May, when we first started communicating I was immediately drawn to him by his witty writing, sincerity, and Midwestern demeanor. Having been raised on the western coast of lower Michigan, he embodies the clever dry humor and polite charm of Midwestern civility. This blends well with my Minnesota upbringing. Plus, we both enjoy primarily  communicating via writing (although we have spoken on the phone). It is his philosophical style of writing and texting I find so engaging. When I began writing to him I had no idea this pen pal relationship would last. Today I find his daily texts and emails refreshingly novel and fun. There is something special about getting to know someone from writing. These little snippets of his observations, quips, comments, and encouragement make my day. 

Greg is the only person I have met that has a personal mission statement. When he shared it with me it was like reading a personal pledge of allegiance to life. This simple but powerful missive gave me the sense of how committed he is to his personal integrity, contributions to his profession, and society. This impressive declaration made me realize how little I have taken my own standing in the world seriously. This is one of the reasons I like Greg-he has these surprising aspects about himself that touch, move, and inspire me.

For as brilliant as Greg is outwardly, personally he is an incredible example of triumph over adversity. As a victor over devastating circumstances, I find his pathos most inspiring. For it is not our accomplishments or laurels that define us, but thriving after eviscerating catastrophic events
which measures our character. Maybe this is what makes him such a terrific life coach.

What else do I like about Greg? He is a creative thinker, a good writer, kind, has a penetrating mind, is curious, likes humor, is respectful, can sometimes be ridiculously bawdy, and I enjoy that he is an introvert as well. He is a unique and special man.

Happy 60 Birthday, Greg. May this be a year of health, prosperity, and happiness.

The Edge of the Scorpio Solar Eclipse

October 23, 2014 at 2:56 PDT a new moon solar eclipse will occur in Scorpio at 0 degrees. The last time a similar event occurred was on October 23, 1995 when there was a total solar eclipse at also 0 degrees in Scorpio. Are the two events connected? We shall see but it's a safe bet to reexamine what was going on with your life in 1995 to prepare for a quantum leap. This eclipse is putting its foot down. Expect a now or never stack of choices before you.

'In with the new, out with the old' will be the calling card of this solar eclipse. Those with natal planets within 0 degrees, especially if in Scorpio, will be most affected. Scorpio is the most mysterious and sexual sign of the zodiac. Will this solar eclipse in Scorpio portend sexual temptation and seduction? Does the secretiveness of Scorpio suggests something illicit or lascivious will transpire? Or will this influence have the Scorpion spiritual connotation, asking us to transform lead into gold?

Because Scorpio is concerned with dichotomies, we will be seeing plenty of choices between how we should behave versus how much we are going to behave. With the angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, we will be pulled by both light and dark. Questions that we should be asking ourselves are: What is being hidden from me (either by yourself or others)? What do I need to see or have emerge in order to change? What is the cost of avoidance? What is underneath my restlessness? What do I need to let go of in order to move forward? What does moving forward look like?

Whether we believe it or not, this eclipse will let us know we are ready.

Ebola and the Fear of Fear

Behold the pale rider. Only one death and three US cases treated and we already have an Ebola Czar. Why? Because the grisly hemorrhagic deaths are more newsworthy than morbidity from other infectious diseases, say like flu and pneumonia. And, there is no vaccine....and, ebola carries a high death rate....and, no one is certain what the best treatment is....and, Flu and Pneumonia are more boring, and, Ebola makes good press. Thus is the political reality of what gets people frightened and why we fund certain diseases.

I find the Ebola hysteria ironic working in Public Health. Slowly but surely, the personal belief exemption rate is climbing for children whose deluded parents see vaccines as not green, containing deleterious preservatives, causing autism, etc. However, these potentially deadly and disabling diseases are preventable. But throw in a lurid, exotic disease in a continent an ocean away and the panic builds. We are not vaccinating against disease what we can prevent; we are more concerned about being infected with a remote disease because of frenzy. Great, now everyone who did not get a flu shot who gets flu-like symptoms will think they have been exposed to Ebola.

Should we be concerned about Ebola? Yes, we should be concerned with the management of the disease, loss of life in West Africa, and what Ebola is doing to bankrupt those nations trying to manage the outbreak. But we should also be concerned the global community did not act swiftly enough to recognize how deadly this outbreak was and mobilize a contagion strategy. This is the sad reality in public health: finding funding to combat diseases before they become epidemic.

While the world is looking at West Africa, unfortunately no one is looking at Asia. For decades now, there have been numerous avian flu viruses wrecking havoc all over the world but primarily in Asia. The perfect storm of incubating a pandemic is people, poultry, and pork. Avian flu viruses assimilate easily in pigs, making these pandemic viruses a convenient route for humans. Though H5N1 did not become the global human pandemic that was feared, hundreds of people died and millions of birds were culled or succumbed to the disease.

 But the untold story which continues out of Asia is the emergence of multiple strains of avian flu viruses. H5N1 continues to circulate in Asia (Russia, China, and SE Asia), however, there is also H5N2, H7N7, H5N6, H3N2, and H7N9. Of course, not all of these avian flu viruses are alike-some are more deadly than others. When H5N1 began circulating, telltale signs of the disease were the droopy beaks, fragile egg shells, pin point hemorrhages in the feet, and the cyanosis of the chicken's wattle and combs. The avian viruses looming on the horizon are becoming more lethal and show less symptoms in their hosts before they die. Added problems include third world farmer's hiding sick chickens from inspectors and a fairly high level of secrecy in identifying and managing the disease from countries like China. Here's a quote from Food and Agriculture Organization from the UN:

"Influenza viruses are constantly mixing and recombining to form new threats," said FAO's Chief Veterinary Officer, Juan Lubroth. "However, H5N6 is particularly worrisome, since it has been detected in several places so far from one another, and because it is so highly pathogenic, meaning infected poultry quickly become sick and, within 72 hours, death rates are very high."

The CDC made this same mistake with H1N1. In an attempt to get the public to take H1N1 as a serious threat and get the vaccine, they launched an ambitious public health campaign outlining the risks of getting this disease. Grandiose promises were made that vaccine would be available to stem the tide of the epidemic. It worked, but there was a big problem: by the time the vaccine was available, it had to be given to first responders and the most vulnerable population first. People who did not fit into those categories became angry and frightened about not being able to get the vaccine. When vaccine finally became widely available, people lost interest, got the disease (I did), or gave up trying.  It was an eye opening year and an intense time to be working in immunization. In spite of mobilizing a huge vaccination campaign, that year saw millions of dollars wasted in H1N1 vaccine.

But let's get back to Ebola because it's scarier. We now see how a regional problem with infectious disease becomes a global threat. But this time there is no vaccine. The media is fueling anxiety because it's such a good horror story. And we all know some of the best horror stories are based on anxiety and not reality. The reality is one person died, three are currently infected from Ebola, and we now have an Ebola Czar.

Distracted by Bliss

My connection to you is not based on reason or logic.
Mostly it defies a rational explanation.
We are as different as two people can get.
Yet we are drawn in by an ineffable magnetism.

There is a strong undertow to our union.
Lacking is the safety of sound judgment.
Infused with pleasure and sensuality
Driven, we are, by our ardor.

How many lifetimes have we done this?
Abandoned stasis for intensity
Chosen arousal over coherence
Experienced climax instead of love.

When the dopamine rush is over
The tide of emptiness foments
Returns us to analytical lucidity
Dismissing fusion's fervor.

The Tale of an Extinct Cougar

It started out with a funny email.

The jeune homme wittily remarked that in my search for a seasoned man I was overlooking flavor.

I was taken by his humor, entranced by his intelligence.

For being young, he was self-assured, sweet, genuine, and warm.

His words drew me in.

When we first met, I was struck by how handsome he was.

As a marathoner, he was in perfect bodily form.

I couldn't believe me eyes-I felt I won the fairy tale lottery.

But what seduced me about this Prince Charming was his beguiling manner.

He made love to me so tenderly it make me weak in the knees.

Such unbounding joy should occur on every birthday.

 Our clandestine affair continues in correspondence.

The second jeune homme was different.

Tall, sweet, but not as skilled in the art of seduction.

His Midwestern style was simple, direct.

What he lacked in savoir faire, he made up for in technique.

But there was something about him that did not fit with me.

His words fell flat; his demeanor more hewn.

The relationship disintegrated under the weight of the blood moon eclipse.

I am now a cougar without any cubs.














































kay, my foray as a cougar lasted a couple of months. Granted, I only experienced two jeune hommes during this period but they were enough to give me my cougar thrill without the cub hangover.

I See A Blood Moon Rising

Darkness, darkness, be my pillow..... Time again for disrupted communications, electronic failures, travel mishaps, and a general severance from life running smoothly. Mercury is in retrograde in Libra until Oct. 24th and this week we have a full moon lunar eclipse in fiery Aries on October 8th, 3:50am PDT. It sounds almost like a perfect storm, but actually this may be an opportune time to throw down the armor and start reconstruction. That is, if one can balance, juggle, and do cartwheels at the same time.

This reconstruction will start with some fireworks. Being combustible, Aries likes forcing issues and moving them forward, so we will need to swallow our pride and learn to adjust for the sake of our relationships. This isn't a humiliating carpet cleaning or bad thing, it is just an airing of entrenched gripes and obstinate attitudes which need to be exorcised for the good of the whole. Regurgitating emotion is never pleasant but one does feel better after hurling.

Like last April's eclipses, this lunation has the same power to make life changing events happen. This full moon forms an alignment with the dreaded Uranus-Pluto squares that have been plaguing us since 2012. It will impact stale relationships, off-kilter power structures, and anything we don't consider fair. With Mercury being in retrograde, take anything said with a grain of salt because back peddling and feeble attempts at superficial placating will remain in high gear as well.

"Full lunar eclipses are often called "blood moons" because of the reddish tint they adopt as sunsets and sunrises seen from Earth reflect onto the surface of the moon.

Because this eclipse will happen two days after a lunar perigee, which is the point when the moon is nearest to Earth, NASA says the moon will appear 5.3 percent larger than the previous "blood moon."
-CNN

A Woman of the World

Being a woman is my biological destiny.

I inherited my physical looks from my mother and my tempestuous personality from my father.

I have been a granddaughter, daughter, niece, a Catholic, and a wife but not a mother.

I am a Virgo, a lover, a worker, a sister, a friend, an aunt, and a Buddhist wannabe.

I'd rather be walking in the woods around Lake Superior or trout fishing in the mountains.

Underneath, I am an introverted intuitive thinker.

Every day I am reminded on some level of my gender.

Some days are better than others.

Being unencumbered by a husband and children gives me more freedom than most women.

Even so, I do not have the same privileges as most men.

This is not a safe world for women (or for gays, minorities, and children for that matter).

I have been trained that my words, behaviors, and dress can affect my security.

Continually I am reminded to be nice, good, approval-seeking, quiet, apologetic, and obedient.

This has made me unrepentant, contentious, impertinent, defiant, opinionated, & rebellious at times.

Conforming to limited cultural, gender, religious, and sexual edicts are of no interest to me.

My wicked sense of humor frequently bails me out of trouble caused by my hubris.

Having keen strategic thinking makes me a force majeure.

Being adventurous makes me happy, being uninhibited makes me feral.

Having a spiritual base keeps me grounded.

I do not think anyone is inherently better or less than me.

I do not define myself in context of men determining my role in life.

However, I will cooperate with men from time to time because I enjoy them sexually.

Conventional relationships and marriage do not work for a nontraditional woman like me.

A woman like me is an rarity, if not an oddity.

My free spirit embraces copious creativity, laughing heartily, dancing daringly, and loving recklessly.

I can exhibit poor judgment, make bad choices, and behave questionably but I am solely responsible.

Bravely I step forward reinventing who I am as a wise woman.