Melody that I can't get out of my head!

Kate Earl is not a new face on the music scene, but I've just discovered her new single "Melody." Yes, it was a free download on iTunes, but that just goes to show that sometimes, just sometimes, they get things right! Below isn't the music video - because Miss Earl doesn't want you to be able to embed her video on your blog...boo - but it is the single! Listen and enjoy. Unfortunately, it is no longer free on iTunes, so you'll have to buy it, but it's totally worth the 99 cents.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Jaguar Inductee: Dan Payne

Feast your eyes, ladies and germs, on our latest Jaguar inductee: Dan Payne. He's an actor whose roles are larger in small movies and smaller in large movies. However, he was in Watchmen, and played hot, gay daddy Nathan Davidson in the movie Mulligans.

Yum!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

God Commands You To Kill Gays

THIS IS EXACTLY WHY CHRISTIANITY IS GIVEN A BAD NAME. ITS ADHERENTS HOOP AND HOLLAR AMEN TO THIS SORT OF DISGUSTING TRIPE.

Right Wing Watch has posted up two 3 minute audio clips (linked above) of pastor Steven L. Anderson, who leads a church he founded in Phoenix, AZ in 2005. The clips are of pastor Anderson inciting his congregation, urging them to kill homosexuals, because - of course - that's what God wants.

The same God who instituted the death penalty for murderers is the same God who instituted the death penalty for rapists and for homosexuals - sodomites, queers! That's what it was instituted for, okay? That's God, he hasn't changed. Oh, God doesn't feel that way in the New Testament ... God never "felt" anything about it, he commanded it and said they should be taken out and killed.

I think that little bit speaks for itself. A bit of Googling will take you to Anderson's church website (linked above), and further link you to both his blog and his wife's. His wife's blog is titled StevenAndersonFamily, and is supposed to be about her family and its various comings and goings. Strangely enough, its top story focuses on a so-called "perverted OB/GYN." The real gold is the husband's blog.

Remember the post I did concerning the various gun-toting, right-wing protestors outside of Obama's rally? Apparently, one of the guys carrying an AR15 assault rifle outside of an Obama rally in Phoenix, AZ is a member of Mr. Anderson's church. Anderson calls him Brother Chris. Poking around a little bit more finds that Mr. Anderson apparently urges his congregation to carry guns outside of rallies in which President Obama is known to be in attendance. So, the homosexuals aren't the only ones that deserve fear and death. Apparently the President of the United States is on this nut job's list. Oh, this man is also facing several charges, because he decided a border patrol agent didn't have the right to search his car...at border patrol. That's his job, I believe. (And, for added bonus, Pastor Anderson will show you step-by-step how to save a damned soul the Steven Anderson way!)

The obvious here is that this man is a Christian, right wing, bigoted nut job who constantly urges his congregation, the media, and anyone he can reach through his blog, radio, and television appearances to violence against particular groups of people. I think the more far-reaching ideal is that of The Christian Fanatic. This person is one who uses the Bible as an excuse to discriminate against others. These are the people that give the simple and, otherwise, beautiful religion of Christianity its bad name amongst non-Christians. I suppose that's what happens when you're the largest religion in the world. You have the largest number of nut jobs.

His god may command my death, but my Goddess expects my love, and my God commands balance and tolerance. I'll pick mine any day.

What do you think about all this? Just another story? Or, is this a harrowing sign of things to come? It is historically factual over the last half century or more that conservative media outlets use highly volatile and inflammatory language to describe various groups of people (homosexuals, abortion doctors, Democratic politicians, the President, etc.), and when these urgings are acted upon by a listener, they deny culpability. It is about time that we take a serious look at these conservative attention-grabbers, and attempt to silence their violence.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Can the news media ever learn?

Have you seen the news about the slaughtered swimsuit model, Jasmine Fiore? It is believed that her former husband, Ryan Jenkins, was the one who killed her. However, what is a bit more gruesome about this particular case is that Jenkins had obviously been a fan of CSI, and other similar shows. It seems that Jenkins believed that if you remove things like fingerprints and teeth, you can't figure out who a person is. Well, he was really, really wrong.

Tragically, Jasmine Fiore was found stuffed in a trunk with her teeth pulled out and her fingers cut off. While it is true that this makes it difficult for investigators to run fingerprints or dental records to ascertain an identity, it's not impossible. My degree is in criminal justice, and I have some minor knowledge of investigatory techniques. Fingerprints and dental lookups are not the only ways to identify a body, though they are arguably the easiest. What happened in this case is that the swimsuit model's breast implants had a unique serial number, and the police used this to track down her identity.

Excellent, right? The family can begin the process of grieving, and the investigation can begin. (Except for that tiny part about where her killer already hung himself.) My problem with the fact that the news media - including this blog you're reading right now - is reporting these details is the obvious: people are listening. This guy murdered this woman and then proceeded to disfigure her due to a heavy influence of Hollywood style CSI shows, believing he made the body untraceable. Now that there's a new method of tracking someone's identity, how long until bodies are just found chopped into little bits and pieces, or hacked up to look like some perverse version of a child's doll?

The media is a two-edged sword. On the one hand, it can make smaller precincts aware of new methods in investigation. (No, they're not all linked up to some giant investigatory network in which the latest methods of ascertaining identity are immediately uploaded and reviewed. Typically they find out like everybody else does: news, articles, etc.) On the other, it can make potential offenders aware of new ways to occlude the identity of their victims, and thusly themselves. It's a precarious line, but I think we should err on the side of non-information.

How much do the people have a right to know, anyway? Let me know.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

The Pagan Secret

I feel something needs to be addressed. There is a secret that the modern pagan movement doesn't want you to know. This secret is so dangerous that it would utterly change what it means to be neo-pagan. While simple enough the secret is angrily and hastily defended, mutated, added to, and only spoken about in hushed voices by others in the know. The secret?

Pikachu isn't real. Nor are Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, hobbits, Gandalf, or Merlin (or his lost book, currently available for purchase for $12.71 at Amazon.com).

What in the hell am I talking about? Well, it has been bothering me for a long time that pagans have this idea that nearly anything you can conceive of as being a pseudo-religious experience, is real and irrefutable as long as the person claims they believe it happened. People say "If it works for you, go for it." Neo-paganism is a buffet religion. We know this, but we are so willing to allow people to claim the title pagan, with little to no study, and then go off and say things about their White-lighter or that the guided meditation cd they bought at barnes and noble helped them visit Merlin and gain the knowledge of the universe...but they weren't allowed to remember any of it.

I'm talking about the New Age, fantastical world in which every animal, rock, dragon, Otherkin, and anything else JRR Tolkien could come up with lives on some astral plane and they've all got super magical secrets to tell you and treasures to share. It's bullshit, and it's time we called people on it.

There was an excellent podshow called deo's shadow that had an excellent episode about calling bullshit and how we're all afraid to do it. This is supposed to be an umbrella religion where you can believe what you want and have your own spiritual journey to whatever god, gods, goddess, or non-deity you want, right? Well, if that's true doesn't the meaning of neo-pagan get watered down? Isn't it quite impossible to begin establishing some credible history?

Furthermore, what does it teach our children? I've heard some well-respected and otherwise thought-provoking podcasters say they have a Santa Claus altar, and in a previous episode one caster channeled Santa Claus. And he was serious. He taught his children that a spirit named Santa Claus was real and that you could contact him. Santa was even a part of his spiritual practice. The argument can be made that there are similarities between his most modern myths, and they oldest myths of Odin. However, if you're wanting to worship the Norse Father God Odin, then do that, not an amalgamation of holiday myths, children's stories, and 19th century cartoons. If you read meditation 101 books, they'll take you through these guided meditations where you end up learning some secret or gaining some tool that supposedly stays with you forever, but it's invisible in everyday life except to you. Do we even know how off the deep end some of us are getting, because nobody will call bullshit?

We've knocked down the myths created and spread by Margaret Murray and Gerald Gardner. History refutes the idea of ancient Wiccan witch-cults. Can't we use the same sanity and level-headedness to address this invasion of New Age pseudo-spirituality into our religion that actually has a lot of legs to stand on as it is? One of the main criticisms of the religion is that it's a place for people to go when they want to escape reality, to believe in a world of fantasy and myth. If you want that, please delineate your religion from a delicious fantasy novel, such as the ubiquitous Harry Potter. (who is also not real...sorry) Because, otherwise, you're proving the criticism true.

If we teach our children that everything is real on some plane of existence, we're setting them up for failure, disappointment, or ridicule in their lives. I understand that reality isn't fun sometimes, but it's what we've got. We need to live in it. There is a difference between New Age universal spirituality and neo-paganism, and we need to start coming back on this side of the pool before what little strength and legitimacy we have is lost forever because we were too scared to question one another. There's enough gorgeous, legitimate, provable, historically parallel practice already abounding. Must we muddy it up with these flights of fancy, because we're afraid to call out the bullshit? Well, neo-pagans... Something stinks, and I'm saying so.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Economic Downturn

If you're like millions of Americans around the country, you're unemployed. Or, if you're like millions more you're working an unbelievably low-paying job that's barely making ends meet. I fall, currently, into category number 2. While I'm optimistic that my situation will change soon, it cannot be denied which category I'm in. Often, lately, I get pretty upset about it. Just a few short months ago I was pulling in a decent salary; I had great benefits, and I had money left over at the end of each month. Right now is a very, very different story. I have a crappy part-time job. I live in an area where hardly anyone is hiring, and those places that are offer equally crappy part-time jobs. And, I barely have 2 pennies to put together at the end of each month.

Out of my frustration and angst came this poem. I've been really upset for a long time over this, and some really small part of myself finally clicked this morning. A switch was flipped. I think I'm at the very beginning stages of not feeling so bad about my predicament. I still have food in my belly. I still have a roof over my head. I have clothes on my back, and I'm not sleeping in a shack in Uganda. I can be thankful. So... here it is. New poetry.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Economic Downturn

A prayer, a plea, a promise

to myself and, of course, to the

white milky center of the universe

which giveth and taketh back to the store.

A prayer to pray for blessing and to rid

of worry, to pray for stability and

smiles inside my wallet. For

a bit of joy that money can by - or

at least offset the cost of.

A plea for pity and expedience

for assuredness for the end of waiting

and the beginning of satisfaction.

A knees on the ground, forehead pressed

on wood floor, guttural plea for

better times.

A promise to the Great Return Desk

in the sky and to myself - the last one

most of all - that I will not break, but

bend like the reeds of the Nile,

change course like a swan in spring.

A prayer, a plea, a promise for joy

in my belly, stability in my heart,

and warm bliss in my mind - with

fiery spirit to guide and to make the

bending all the more painless.

Sending Energy

I've been asked recently what it means to "send energy" somewhere. You'll see me request things like "send energy and blessings" or something along those lines, and I suppose I take for granted that everyone knows what that means. However, I should probably remember that, in the grand scheme, very few people know exactly what I mean when I ask for a sending of energy, or thank someone for doing the same. So, a brief definition is in order.

Sending energy, according to Ye Olde Tyme Fire Lyte Dictionary, is akin to praying for someone else to have strength to perform a specific action. Like, my mom might tell me that she's praying for a speedy recovery if I'm sick, or a prayer for someone to have enough energy to make it through finals week, etc. As a magical practice, it is typically thought that instead of praying for something to happen, we can directly send that energy to that person for whatever need they have. While it sounds a bit esoteric, a quick explanation or how-to might allay any confusion.

1. Raise energy. Before you can send energy to someone, you have to have extra energy to send. If you're not used to doing this on the fly, you'll want to start out initially by meditating on the kind of thing you want to happen. Say you're wanting to send your friend some healing energy to assist them with their recovery from the flu. You'll want to meditate and visualize your friend in a really healthy state, then you want to focus on what it means to be healthy. See yourself as healthy, your friends, family and loved ones. Focus on "healthy" and feel the energy, the flow, the feeling of what it's like to be healthy. If you can visualize this energy, try visualizing it flowing into the palms of your hands.
2. Focus the energy. Once you have this extra energy, you'll want to tell it what to do. So, you've got this feeling, this focused idea of "healthy," but it doesn't really have a purpose yet. You've just raised it. Quite literally, you can just voice your intent. "I want to send this energy to my friend to help her quickly recover from the flu." Be specific.
3. Send the energy. Now that you have the energy raised, and you've given it a purpose, you're going to want to send it to your friend. Here's the thing about energy: there's no distance too great. It's not like sending energy is something you have to work up to doing. If you have a strong connection with your friend or loved one, the energy should arrive instantly. This can be done as simply as standing, face the direction that the person is, and blowing the energy from your palms into the wind - knowing it is done. I'm more of a fan of one extra visualization. I give the energy in my palms a shape. I've seen this done several times with other people, and it seems to be just a bit more effective. Give it the shape of something that you like, something that can travel quickly. I like the shape of a swarm of fireflies. There's something beautiful and magical about fireflies, and it's easy to make the stretch from pool of energy in my palms to 100 dancing dots of light that are sent out on swiftly buzzing wings. However, if you happen to like parrots, you can send it as a parrot, or a hummingbird, or a ladybug, or whatever you like. I like things that fly, as it seems to make more sense, but do what feels right to you.

If you're like me, you like a little rhyme to go with your Sending. When I officially send the energy, I'll say these or similar words:

Firefly, Fireflies through the air.

Take this healing energy from here to there.

Go to [person's name] and while you dwell

treat her, mend her, make her well.

Again, that's just a simple way to finalize your Sending. I hope I've helped. As I've said, I think it's an excellent way to send an extra boost to someone when they need it. Try it out. Tell me what works for you.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Get Out of the Broom Closet

Drake Atlas, host of a great podcast called Get Out of the Broom Closet just gave a great comment and shout out of this little blog on his show.

Each time I hear this blog promoted on a well-liked podcast, I truly feel blessed. It was recommended that since readers seem to be growing that I start trying to turn this into a financially lucrative blog... I was like, no. Then it wouldn't be fun. So, thank you to everyone that reads, and thank you to the fantastic shows that give this blog shout outs. Much love and blessings right back.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

PS. Check out Get Out of the Broom Closet on iTunes.

Hundreds of Men Tortured and Killed in Iraq

This is an article posted today on the CNN website. The link is here. However, because I feel the news story is so important, I am posting the entire article below. I know...I know... It's a gay rights article, but look past that at the human rights issues, at the deplorable behavior in other countries. Could it get this bad here? Comment below.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Hundreds of gay men have been tortured and killed in Iraq in recent months, some by the nation's security forces, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

Iraqi clerics say homosexuality must be eradicated but warn against anti-gay violence.

Interviews with doctors indicate hundreds of men had been killed, but the exact number was unclear because of the stigma associated with homosexuality in Iraq, the New York-based watchdog group said in its report.

"Iraq's leaders are supposed to defend all Iraqis, not abandon them to armed agents of hate," said Scott Long, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Program at Human Rights Watch. "Turning a blind eye to torture and murder threatens the rights and life of every Iraqi."

Four victims who spoke to CNN gave accounts of the attacks, which they say have intensified in the past few months.

"In 2004, militias and unknown groups started to go after the gays ... but the peak was six months ago," said Qaisar, who uses a pseudonym for fear of reprisal. "It has become wide scale war against gays in Iraq."

Iraqi officials acknowledged that the nation's culture stigmatizes homosexuality, but said the government does not condone such attacks. Authorities are unable to provide homosexuals with special protection, said government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh.

According to Human Rights Watch, which is urging a government crackdown, attackers target people on the streets or storm homes, where they conduct interrogations and demand names of suspected gay men. Many end up in hospitals and morgues, the organization said, basing its conclusion on reports from doctors.

Men have been threatened with "honor killings" by relatives worried that their "unmanly behavior" will ruin the family's reputation, Human Rights Watch said. Watch Iraqi men discuss attacks »

Killings, kidnappings and torture of those suspected of homosexual conduct have intensified in areas such as the Baghdad neighborhood of Sadr City, the watchdog said.

"The Shiite people started this war and especially what happened in Sadr City," Qaisar said, adding that his sister-in-law had warned him against going to the area.

Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, which is active in Sadr City, has joined in the attacks and defends its actions as a way to stop the "feminization" of Iraqi men, the report said.

"We have testimony that indicates that the nation's security forces are taking part in the attacks," Long said.

The group interviewed more than 50 people who gave accounts of abuses, beatings and stops at security checkpoints, he said.

"When the gay killings started and when they started go(ing) after them at checkpoints ... we started to change our look," said Basim, who also used a pseudonym.

"These killings point to the continuing and lethal failure of Iraq's post-occupation authorities to establish the rule of law and protect their citizens," said Rasha Moumneh, Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch.

A provision from the Saddam Hussein era endorses crimes committed "with honorable motives," according to the organization.

The government spokesman said the provision was popular during the Saddam era, but is not used today. He added that there is a push to educate police about human rights.

Attacks against civilians, including homosexuals, are not allowed, al-Dabbagh said.

Watering the Tree of Liberty

I've done very good, I think, about staying away from the current healthcare debate raging around the country as of late. I'm just a dumb, 23-year-old kid with a Criminal Justice background. I don't honestly know much about healthcare. And, I'm not going to start talking about it today, nor will I, most likely, ever get into the gory details of various House bills that may or may not exist. Though, once it's all said and done with you can bet I'll be inciting a riot about those very same subjects right here. (See how I used the blog name in a sentence?)

What I would like comment on are a few things I heard while listening to the August 11th edition of the Rachel Maddow show - available for podcast download on iTunes.

1. 76% of Republicans in North Carolina do not believe President Obama was born in the United States, ergo he is not the President. Any .04 second Google search will point you directly to Obama's Hawaiian certificate of live birth (like this one! conveniently handed out by the White House for rumor patrol). To go even further 12% of North Carolina Republicans believe that Hawaii isn't even a state in the United States! Apparently, these people did not pass 4th grade social studies.
2. A man in a Pennsylvania town hall meeting about healthcare reform stood up and told the congressman that "One day God's gonna stand before you, and he's gonna judge you, and the rest of your damn croneys up on the hill." (Video of these fun times, as well as a slew of other ridiculous outcries at town halls can be found by clicking this sentence. For the quote above, race ahead to the 1:31 mark.) I don't really know that God much cares about the healthcare debate. I think that the policies of man are just that: rules we made up. I think the fact that we even have such rules is funny in God's eyes. I'm not against them, because we need to live by them in order to not have complete chaos in a world of nearly 7 billion people, but I think he (and she) have much bigger fish to fry than sit in town halls hearing trivial mess being shouted back and forth. Again, I'm not much for healthcare details before there's a complete healthcare bill, but let's just try and leave theology out of politics. The two are diametrically opposed things, and they should stay that way.
3. A man named William Kostnic stood outside a town hall in Portsmouth, New Hampshire with a gun strapped to his upper right thigh, and he carried a sign that read "It is time to water the tree of liberty." The crazy thing about this particular town hall rioter was that the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES was set to arrive there to give his own town hall meeting with the people. If you don't know, as I didn't, the quote about the tree of liberty comes from a blurb originally said by Thomas Jefferson, "The Tree of Liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." One can only assume that Mr. Kostnic meant to spill the blood of one he considers a tyrant. Oh, and get this, he was allowed to stay there...yeah...he wasn't arrested. In New Hampshire carrying a concealed weapon is illegal, but parading it around in the open is just fine. A picture of this fine gardener is below. Tell me, patriot...or tyrant? Incidentally, this same Tree of Liberty quote is frequently used by a group called Stormfront, whose motto is White Pride World Wide.

I'll let you all draw your own conclusions about these news stories. I'm disgusted. There was a time when a a man like Thomas Jefferson, admittedly imperfect, knew that there was a time for war and there was a time for democracy. However, it seems that in modern bi-partisan politics, we're just focused on making one side or the other out to be Nazis, which is sadly a recurring theme in town halls as of late. Democrats are elitist Nazis bent on killing grandma and babies with down syndrome led by a middle eastern terrorist who infiltrated his way into the US political machine, and Republicans are crazed torch carriers bent on tearing apart Frankenstein's monster in order to water the garden of bad intentions, to borrow the euphemism. I'm disgusted. I just want to shove all this craziness off the edge of the world and discuss things with the rest of the simpler-minded folks. Then, I realize we're not living a thousand years ago, and we should know by now that the world's not flat. We should know these things, because we've learned the difference between fact and fantasy. When you can see it, smell it, touch it, taste it, measure it, weigh it, and bump uglies with it, it's real. Like birth certificates, like guns, like videotaped riots. They're real things. Shouldn't we know the difference by now?

I'd say write your Congressman, but at this point...give them a break. Let them go beat off on the Appalachian Argentinean trail or whatever they want to do. They're not even able to do their jobs right now anyways.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Are you kidding me?

I was sent this video as a supposed joke. It's not funny. I can't even comment. If anything, this only proves that if you really want to, you can connect anything to anybody that you desire.

Vomit.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Easy Being Easy

I was talking to a dear friend of mine today, when she told me about a girl she worked with that everyone referred to as "easy." We all know what this means. The girl has a reputation, at least, for having sex with a lot of guys. While she may or may not actually do this, I would like to address the idea of what it means to be easy.

If you look at Urban Dictionary online's definition, it would seem that one who is easy is someone who will pretty much sleep with anyone that makes them an offer; for free, or through being charged. I would like to object to the common idea of someone that is easy. Most people find it sweet or romantic to kiss on the first date before departing. There is a beauty to slowly grasping your date's hand and walking with them in innocent comfort. These are seen as natural parts of dating. However, sex is so taboo as to make someone a harlot or a whore when it is enjoyed in the same sense of romance and comfort as any other part of dating.

There was a time, though it was rather long ago, when sex was done for the glory of God and the blessing of the Goddess. Though modern Christianity has done a good job of demonizing such acts, the ancient temples of Aphrodite, Adonis, Bacchus, Dionysus, and more were places where the priestesses and priests communed with the Divine through what is now called The Great Rite. Celtic traditions have held for thousands of years the great fertility rites to keep crops growing and households prosperous.

Until quite recently in human history, men and women allowed the pushes and pulls of the God and Goddess, as well as their own bodily desires, to be fulfilled. However, this concept of easiness, of not being allowed to sexually enjoy yourself with a willing partner, seems to stem from recently created Christian morality. While morals and values are excellent things to have, I think that we shouldn't look down our noses at those of us who indulge in consensual acts with a willing partner. If it's not rape, and it's completely desired by both parties, then go ahead...live it up. However, there comes a point where you're not fulfilling a divine, romantic interest and you're just being greedy. Learn where that line is.

What do you think? Am I wrong? What is your definition of being easy, or do you not have one? Let me know!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Movies at home

So Partner and I watched quite a few movies this weekend - greatly at the expense of time at the gym (sigh). There were some excellent choices, so I thought it was time for some movie reviews!

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

After watching this touching portrayal of the Holocaust through the eyes of two eight-year-old boys (one German, one Jew), I told Partner that I wouldn't be able to see another Holocaust film for a long time. It's not that the movie is bad, on the contrary, it does its job too well. If I say too much, I'll give the ending away, but if you've not seen the movie, I recommend that you do. The characters are rich, the story is lush, and they don't beat you over the head with the horror of the times. It is much more a story about innocence, friendship, and learning that we're all the same.

The Crow

Had Brandon Lee not mysteriously died on the set of this film, it would have been lost in the shuffle of bad, overly-CGI'd, Batman rip-offs of the early to mid 1990s. One word: Vomit. If you've not seen it, don't. Watch any anti-hero film from the last 15 years, and you've got the basic storyline. In fact, the strange Catwoman movie is pretty much the same exact storyline, but has Halle Berry and great leather. This one doesn't even merit a trailer. Moving on.

The Good Witch & The Good Witch's Garden

These are two unbelievably adorable Hallmark films that center around a woman named Cassandra Nightingale, who may or may not be a witch. Or, that's how they present it. It's quite obvious that, yes, Miss Nightingale is a witchy, neo-pagan chick with a penchant for helping out the townsfolk. The plots are not necessarily Oscar-worthy, nor are the characters dense and rich enough to be considered fully developed. But, hey, it's a Hallmark channel movie; what do you expect? They're cute, and present modern witchcraft in a really realistic light. It's practical, magical, and can be done by anyone. It's not out on DVD yet, but it regularly plays on Hallmark - so set your DVR to record both of them. They are popcorn and comfy blanket on the couch quality films to watch with a good friend. (Lacy, I know you're in Texas, but I was definitely thinking how you'd love this film.) Thanks to Oseaana from the Get Witchified podcast for turning me on to the films!

Happy movie watching! Tell me what movies you've been watching lately. I'm always up for some fun in a cinematic form.

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

2nd INTERVIEW!!!!!

I went to my interview yesterday, and apparently I nailed it. The assistant superintendent of the facility said it would be at least 3 weeks, but probably 6 weeks, before I knew if I'd been approved for a second interview.

Well, apparently, I made such an impression that the assistant superintendent called me TODAY - just now - to let me know he wanted to set up my second interview for the 18th!!!!!!!!! That's two Tuesdays from now. 11 days!!!! Thank you to everyone who sent me prayers, well-wishes, good energy, and blessings. I'll need them again very soon, but for now I'm celebrating small victories!

Thanks and praise be to the Lord and Lady for allowing me this opportunity!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Turning a bit crazy

Lughnasadh was great. It was simple; there was great food, and can I just say two words: Honey Cornbread!!!! Unbelievably good.

I've spent the last few days building furniture and decorating the downstairs apartment. Troll queen is supposed to be out by the 6th. Yes, that's tomorrow. BLISS!

So, I was at the grocery store yesterday (the big, evil grocery store that's taking over the world), and my mind began to wander to my interview coming up tomorrow, the rest of my shopping list, other stuff I needed to get done, etc. You know regular mind/thought fodder. Well, if you know me, you know that I tend to musically ramble. Like, I'll just sing little hooks or lyrics from songs that I've been listening to. Not the whole song, but while I'm thinking or doing something, I typically will be humming along to songs. Well, apparently while I was getting lost in thoughts yesterday, something a bit...crazy happened. I stopped thinking about extraneous stuff and pseudo-checked back in on reality only to find that I'd stopped singing lyrics from actual songs. Instead, I had apparently been musically narrating my shopping trip.

That's right. Musically narrating my shopping trip. There were such hit tunes as "I need to get a measuring cup" and "Now it's time to get jalapenos!" I have a feeling that this is the beginning of my mental decline. Now, I suppose, I should get a bunch of cats and push around a shopping cart while drooling and talking about the end of the world.

What's worse is the question of exactly how long I had been singing my shopping. How many people heard me singing about shopping? :::sigh:::

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Happy and Blessed Lughnasadh!!!

I, unfortunately, will not be able to celebrate fully today - though my family celebration will be put on tomorrow - but I wanted to put up the Lughnasadh/Lammas ritual I use. It's quite easy to adapt to your personal desires, and my rituals are always quite simple and quick. (It just doesn't serve to be sitting outside all night chanting and counting and double-checking your BOS for precision.)

I'll be making cornbread, so I'll save a good, buttery chunk of that along with a glass of red wine. As we have a lot of dog neighbors and no fences - along with other wildlife - I typically dig a small hole for my offering. While I'm performing the ritual, I bury the cornbread with the honey butter and pour in the red wine, then finish up by covering it over again with the final blessing.

There's just so much power in simple rituals that get you back to nature. Add to this or take away whatever you want. In fact, I recommend it as my ritual may not work perfectly for you. Blessed Lughnasadh!

Love and Lyte,

Fire Lyte

Lughnasadh Blessing

Blessed be this season of Lughnasadh, time of the first harvest, the blessing of the Grain Goddess and the sacrifice of the King God.

The Great Mother Goddess has blessed us with a bounty of grain and corn, yet is still pregnant with the future harvest.

The Great King God has sacrificed his body and spilled his blood so that his people may eat and live well.

Praise be to the Great Mother who has given us a great bounty.

Praise be to the Great King who has given to us his body that we may thrive.

Bless our home, our hearth, and our family that we may know only prosperity, safety, and love.

Thanks be to you, Great Lord and Lady, for the blessings we have been given that have come to fruit.

Blessed Be!