Well, things have gotten better on the homefront. We had an appointment with the county on Friday. We filled out all the required paperwork, got fingerprinted, and then waited to see if they would get the case sent through that day. Turns out they did! I wasn’t expecting any money until sometime this week, but since we did come in 2 weeks prior and we really needed money now, they pro-rated us back to the 15! We got the money that same day! And we were told that since we had no food 2 weeks ago when we went in, they should have given us emergency food aid. Housing and food is the most important…well our housing was covered for the month, but we were just about out of food! And they were supposed to do something about that…but they didn’t.

So anyway, we have a kitchen full of food, and the bills are getting piad on the 2nd when we get the money for August. And our rent wil be paid, too. ‘J’ said we’ll be able to pay the bank the money we owe and then pay for my domain name on the 2nd as well….so it seems I won’t be losing it after all!

This all happened so fast…and I’m sure at least some of it had to do with the ritual I performed in the early morning hours before the appointment on Friday (and the with the help of those people who were keeping us in their thoughts and lighting candles…I thank you all!). I set about performing a money ritual and asked for any help the God and Goddess could give. And They gave us the help we needed!

Our money situation has been pretty bad, lately…what with ‘J’s workman’s comp checks suddenly stopping mid-month with no warning. We went to try to get emergency aid from the county that Friday when we found out we wouldn’t have an income anymore (2 weeks ago), but they turned us down, saying we weren’t considered an emergency. So we scheduled an appointment and that was this past Friday.

In the early morning hours (about 3am) on Friday, I set about getting ready for a desperate money ritual…to ensure that the county would indeed be getting something to us…at least to pay rent and buy food.
Everyone was sleeping out in the living room (since the bedrooms get so hot), so I took my ritual items back to my bedroom and set them up on the bed-shelf that is the headboard.

• white candle (for the Goddess)
• green candle (for the money)
• patchouli incense
• pentacle

I set up the pentacle in the middle and put the white candle on the left side and the green candle on the right side. I put the incense in front of the pentacle.
I lit the white candle and cast the circle around me…inviting the God, Goddess, and Elementals to attend. I meditated on why I was there and then lit the incense and green candle. I meditated on having enough money to pay rent and the bills and to buy food. I asked the God and Goddess for help should they feel I truly needed it, as long as it harmed none. I meditated until both candles burned down to the nub and the incense burned out. I then thanked the God and Goddess and Elementals for attending and uncast my circle. I spread the ashes of the incense in my bed, visualizing it was money and that when I laid down for sleep, it was money I was rolling in.

A few hours later, we got up to go to the appoinment. After all the paperwork was done, we were granted money that very same day! The ritual was a success and the God and Goddess were smiling on us that day. I thank Them for Their help, and I thank anyone who was thinking of us and lighting candles in our behalf.

Let’s hope that Discovery is safe from the same fate as Columbia. With more foam falling from the shuttle during lift off, NASA has since grounded all other space flight missions. This is not looking good for the future. What needs to be done is to design and get a few new shuttles and retire the old ones (that are 20 years old, and were only built to last about 10 years).

SPACE CENTER, Houston - Space shuttle Discovery escaped damage from the potentially deadly chunk of foam that broke off from the fuel tank during liftoff, but may have been struck in the wing by a much smaller piece, NASA said Thursday.

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After 2 1/2 years of no space flight since Columbia exploded on re-entry and a few technical difficulties, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off this morning at 10:39 am EDT.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Discovery and seven astronauts blasted into orbit Tuesday on America’s first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster, ending a painful, 2 1/2-year shutdown devoted to making the shuttle less risky and NASA more safety-conscious. At stake were not only the lives of the astronauts, but also America’s pride in its technological prowess, the fate of the U.S. space program and the future of space exploration itself.

“It’s about hope, it’s about imagination, it’s about the future, and when you take away a great space program, you take away a lot of people’s future,” Griffin told the AP. “What’s riding on this flight is people’s hope for the future.”

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AP Photo

Ok, so today hasn’t been the best of days. I’m emotionally worn out. I’ve been worried about losing my domain name, among other things. It’s supposed to be renewed tomorrow, but we are about $155 in the hole to the bank…and no money to put in. We have the money for the domain renewal, but not the extra to put in the bank so GoDaddy.com can automatically charge the account. I have a total of 10 days after the expiration day before my domain is cancelled. I’m really, really hoping we can get the money within that time frame. After all the work I put into my sites, it would be a shame to have to change the urls just because I was an idiot and didn’t pay it last month when I had the money and we were fine with the bank. I could just kick myself for not paying it then.

That on top of not having a lot of money to buy food with until either we get county aid or ‘J’ gets paid from his new job (did I tell ya he’s got a new job and started tonight? well, he did). But he doesn’t get paid til the 10th. In the meantime….not a lot of money for food and no money for rent. I tell you what…the county better give us something to at least pay rent with.

So, I’ve been in a funk all day. Been stressing pretty bad. I made a tag for my current mood….though it’s no indication of anything serious. Just that I feel let down and life sucks right now. Gonna go make some more tags…perhaps a bit more upbeat…lol.

Funny how I was just talking about the December quake and tsunami in my last post……and then read the news today and find out that a 7.2 magnatude quake hit in the same area. There was a tsunami warning posted, but was canceled 90 minutes later when no significant rise of the ocean was detected.
Read more about it here: Quake Hits India; Tsunami Warning Lifted

While skimming through the news on Yahoo last night, I found an article about the December tsunami. Apparently there’s a device in the depths of the ocean that’s meant to pick up sounds from a nuclear explosion….but on December 26, picked up the rumblings of the earthquake that caused the destructive tsunami.
Eerie Underwater Recording of Deadly Indonesian Earthquake
The sound file is about halfway down the page. It’s very surreal to hear what the earth was doing to cause that giant wave.

Just after hearing about the second wave of bombings in London on Thursday, we now hear about a wave of car-bomb attacks in Egypt that killed 88 people when the front of a hotel was targeted, as well as a minibus lot and a beachway boardwalk. The attacks seem to be picking up pace….coming swifter. Let’s hope this does not mean something bigger is brewing.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - Egypt launched a massive hunt Saturday for terrorists who set off multiple bomb blasts that killed at least 88 in this Red Sea resort packed with European and Arab vacationers. Just days after the latest London strike, the world reeled from yet another attack with possible links to al-Qaida.

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LONDON - Police in London have arrested two men in connection with four attacks on three subway trains and a double-decker bus on Thursday, a scene hauntingly similar to deadly explosions set off by four suicide bombers exactly two weeks before. It was an inescapable message that life in London now means living with the threat of terror. The explosive devices were either faulty or too small to cause bloodshed, and the only reported injury turned out to be an asthma attack. But the lunch-hour blasts rattled a capital already on edge after the July 7 explosions, which killed 52 people and four suicide bombers.

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I performed a full moon ritual for the first time in months, in the early morning hours. I also added to it a plea for money, since we are in dire needs right now.
I have been so distracted by other things latley, that I really haven’t been doing any of my rituals. And it’s hard to do a ritual when my 3 year old is sleeping on the couch. But this time I figured out what I can start doing….instead of saying the words out loud, I can visualize what I want to say and say it my head…then I get the ritual done, but I don’t wake my 3 year old in the process.

So……
I set up my alter as follows:

• salt was at the North end (for Earth)
• incense (rose) was at the East end (for Air)
• red candle was at the South end (for Fire)
• water was at the West end (for Water)
• silver candle in the middle to represent the Goddess
• wand was on the left side near the incense
• green candle was in front of the salt (for money)

I stood in front of the alter, held the wand and meditated on the purpose of the ritual. I then cast my circle, concentrating on the power of the wand. I lit the candles (all but the green) and set the incense smoking. I then followed an outlined full moon ritual I found online.
I faced South (my window) and thought something like this:

My Lady of the Moon,
I come to you to bring you my love and my devotion.
May you grant me the joy of your presence.

Then I mentally divided the circle into four quadrants by visualizing a line of silvery moonlight from the Southeast to the Northwest, and from the Northeast to the Southwest. I went to the East, taking the incense with me and thought:

Sweet Goddess, the gentle breeze is the touch of your loving hand,
the wind of storm a reminder of your strength.
The sound of the trees in the wind is your voice,
and the fragrance of the flowers borne on the wind is your gift of
beauty.

I then visualized the quadrant filling with moonlight.
Next I replaced the incense on the alter and took the red candle to the South. Again visualizing the quadrant filling with moonlight, I thought:

Most loved Lady, the light of the candle
is a guide along our path leading to you;
its warmth the reassurance of your presence and your love.
The light of the sun is the knowledge you impart to us,
driving out ignorance and those things which can survive only in
darkness.

At the West with the water:

Lovely one, the quiet pool is the serenity of your being.
The vast sea where life began on this planet is the
vast sea of your being whence all life came;
its waves are the ebb and flow of the universe you rule.

At the North with the salt:

Goddess of all, the fertility of the earth is a sign of your fertility,
whence all life rose.
The solidity and permanence are still of it are still less than yours.
The earth’s fertility feeds our bodies, and your fertility feeds our souls.

I then went to the center of the circle, which was now filled with moonlight. I sat down and felt the moonlight all around. This is the Goddess. Breathing slowly, I visualized the moonlight not only surrounding me, but entering me … becoming one with the Goddess. I sat like this for a little while, then began to slowly come back to myself. I visualized the moonlight leaving me, flowing out of my body.

At this point, I lit the green candle and meditated on having enough money to buy food and pay our bills. No more, no less…just enough. I sat and meditated on that for a little while.

Once done, I stood up and I pictured the moonlight leaving each quadrant, flowing back to its source and thanked the Goddess for Her presence.

I felt energized afterward and at peace. And this was the first ritual I’ve ever done that I have more at ease….probably because I was following my heart in what I did and thought instead of ridgedly following something out of a book. It was organized…but more loosly than before….and it made me feel more comfortable doing it.