Suzie's Halloween Necklace Giveaway Begins!

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I hope everyone has a fantastic Halloween/Samhain this year! May we all have good weather, delicious food and lots of spooky fun. I am giving away this necklace to people who leave their name and a way for me to contact them in the comments, either a blog with an email address attached to it or your actual email address. Only one comment per person please. Comments for the contest will be open only on Halloween. I will pick the name from my cauldron and announce the winner on Monday!

And if you have some fantastic Halloween photographs you would like to share on my foodie blog of your pumpkins, candy, feasts, drinks...please make sure to add the link there on Sunday! Lets hang out and recover from our Halloween hangover together.

The veil is almost torn

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Last year's jack-o-lantern

I am one of the last generations of children who grew up with complete freedom. After age six, I used to trick or treat on my own with one or two friends. We would run through the dark night of Halloween by ourselves, wondering who else was out there? What scary things lurked in the night around us? On Halloween, we went rogue. Going to strangers' houses all by ourselves at night with zero parental supervision, taking food from them. It was delicious.

I still remember walking home late at night by myself after saying good-bye to my friend Rhona, amazed that I was out there all alone with the spooky leafless trees and jack-o-lanterns getting snuffed out by the late night wind or their wicks naturally coming to an end. I felt so adult, so rebellious, so connected to the evening and the dead leaves following me home. I so wanted to connect with what was out there, so close to me on this special night.

Now, we are the light in the dark for children. We will put out of jack-o-lantern and share candy with the few around here brave enough to go door to door, holding hands with their parents. I do not expect many rings of our doorbell tomorrow night but do hope that a few will come and take some of the candy we have for them, waiting for them.

We have friends coming over for a beef stew feast. Lots of snacks and treats to munch on and maybe even a chocolate cake for dessert. I can still feel the veil lifting like the many times I walked home as a gypsy or a witch as a child to my house in North York. I still yearn for the connection to the other side, the secret whispers through the darkness. I wonder what they will have to tell me tomorrow night?

Halloween is almost here!

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Yesterday I dragged my sorry sick butt out of the house and went to the Superstore to look for our Halloween/Samhain pumpkin and pick up some candy. The weather forecast has been calling for rain on Halloween but suddenly that rain has moved and the sunshine is going to continue so we had better have some candy for our ten Halloween trick or treaters!

It was not easy to find a good pumpkin. It has been so cold here that the early nasty frost has ruined so many of the pumpkins. Last year there were only maybe 10 left by the time we went to pick one out. This year there were many but most of them rotten.

Yay! A total winner! We found the PERFECT pumpkin. So sweet and look at that handle?! It is too cute and so is my hubby, hehe.

I am still sensing super dark energy these days, even though the sun has been shining. More mean anonymous comments on my foodie blog (I have officially turned off the anonymous comments option there) telling me my food is an abomination and gross. So I am no longer giving them the opportunity to be nasty to me. This year I want to carve out one mean and scary looking face on my pumpkin to scare away the nasty spirits, ghosts and energy that may come my way.

My new year is almost here. I am going to continue cleaning and purging crappy energy from my space and welcoming in the new year and encouraging all happy, healthy and prosperous energy to come our way. It has been another challenging year that I am happy to say good-bye to. But I do not want to miss this moment. This moment of transformation called Halloween/Samhain.

Can you feel the magick crackling in the air?!

Wishcasting: What treat do you wish for?

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This week Jamie is asking: What treat do you wish for?

Is it so terrible to say, I am wishing to make more of my own treats? These last two weeks I have had a brutal cold and normally would be spending time going off to scary places or making spooky treats. It has not been until the last couple of days that I have done anything Halloweeny at all. I did manage to make these mini ghost meringues and my scary peanut butter eyeballs but I want to make more and I am running out of time! So I wish to find energy and health so that I can make the most out of the time I have left before Halloween is here and make some pretty cool treats to share.

This time of year is the last treat for me for the next six months. I am not a winter person, I do not really celebrate Christmas and my birthday in January is usually the coldest day of the year. Halloween has always been my favourite time of the year. You can feel magick in the air and I love all things spooky. I hope we all have a fantastic Halloween this year!

Please feel free to vote on my foodie blog which Halloween treat is your favourite! I am so curious. Are there any other licorice junkies like me out there?

Paranormal Subject #11: Psychic Attack

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Compliments Glitter-Graphics

I often wait until the universe tells me what to write about. I get signs. Even though not a heck of a lot happens in my life these days, sometimes events occur and the lightbulb goes on, yes, this is what I need to tell people today. Well this is one of those posts!

Yesterday morning I was writing up my post about the film Paranormal Activity when there was a knock on the door. I had a bad feeling. It was too early for my postal carrier and my neighbours know about my sleeping disorder so I knew it was not going to be anyone who knew me.

Sure enough I open the door to find an older lady on my deck with religious pamphlets in her hands. This particular church has previously shown up on my doorstep three times since I moved here. She asked me how I was today. I told her I was sick. She smiled a weird smile and said, "Aren't we all?"

Creepy!

Then she started asking me if I had found the truth yet? So I told her the same thing I have said to all the people who have shown up on my door, "I am not religious but have a great day."

Normally they smile and say OK and walk away. This lady did not. In fact, she started moving faster and tried to get the brochure through the small hole I had left open between her and me. I had this sense that if I did not do something right away she was going to try and get inside my house.

That's it! I thought to myself. I am so done.

I told her, "I know my truth" and closed the door on her face.

I got this sense of snakes trying to make their way through my door and me shutting off their entryway. Her energy was still trying but I turned my back and gave her none of mine. Then I sensed her move on.

Psychic attack comes in many different forms. You have the energy vampires from dark entities but you also get attacks from people who think they know better and try and change who you are and the path you are on. When people pray that you find the light and start walking on their path, they are in a way attacking you. They think they are helping but they are not. If someone does not accept who you are, stay away from them.

Another psychic attack happened to me on a walk one day. I had just royally pissed somebody off and they knew a lot about magick and used it against me. I went for my walk and was almost attacked by two dogs and then bees swarmed me. I told my husband when I got home completely shaken up that it was like I had been under attack. A spiritual friend of mine dreamed about this person attacking me the night before and when she tried to protect me her daughter woke up with scratches.

Dark personalities can dabble in magick too and use it as a weapon. This person knew I was not practicing at the time and took advantage of that in order to hurt me for standing up against him.

The best defence for psychic attack is not to be around these people. Do not give them energy. Do not participate in dialogue. Do not flirt with their little snares. Close the door in their face and keep your energy clean and full of light. Ask for protection. Wear a pentacle. Cleanse your home on a regular basis. Surround your house with salt.

On the Night of Hecate, November 16th, I invite you to participate in a group cleanse. In order to prepare I am going to be cleaning my house from top to bottom and if there are items you need to purge, I suggest you do so. There is a lot of weird energy brewing these days, can you feel it? I for one know I need to protect myself from psychic attack. Group energy is powerful. I hope you will join me in clearing our your space, wiping your home clean of old energy and spiritually cleansing your space as we go deeper into the dark part of the year.

Paranormal Activity

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Despite being super sick, I dragged my sorry butt out on the weekend with a giant bag of Ricola throat lozenges to see the movie Paranormal Activity. I found out about it via Twitter and then when Shannon the Movie Moxie reviewed it and said it actually was one of the scariest movies of the year, I knew I had to go before I found out too much about it!

It is incredible they made this movie for only $15K and yes, it was scary. There was tension so tight I covered my eyes at one point. Very clever, it felt very real and sucked me right in. Of course I am a freak for all things paranormal, I am their demographic, and so I had a lot of fun getting scared. I thought it might be a tad more scary than it was but still, I did jump here and there.

The fact that this movie has already become a huge hit shows the movie industry that people care about paranormal stories. I am so done with the torture-fest horror movies out there. Blood does not always equal scary and there are a lot of people out there who prefer spooky to gory. In Canada the TV channel Scream has re-branded itself to Dusk and is now all about the paranormal and is also geared to finding a female audience. I can tell you that I certainly watch this channel way more than before, even though I do like horror movies I love their paranormal programming even more.

It amazes me just how much more paranormal stuff there is on TV and I am so happy to see it showing up in the movie theatres as well. I hope that is a trend that keeps growing. It takes a lot to get my sick butt out of bed and into the theatres but Paranormal Activity did it. At least I did one spooky thing on the weekend before Halloween!

Halloween Giveaway! Enter October 31st!

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Please make sure to comment on my blog on HALLOWEEN to enter the draw! I will have an official page up then where I will be getting the names for the contest, on Halloween. Of course you can also comment now, LOL, but come back to the blog on Halloween to enter! Thank you!

So I think after much debate this posy holder is holding heather! As a result, I have decided that this necklace is a good luck and joyful amulet. I have added rose quartz and amethyst chips to the necklace and finished it off braiding good luck and happiness into the cording. I put the necklace in my cast iron cauldron with three quartz crystals and nutmeg to help enhance the good luck.

My crow Percy is perched on top of the cauldron and will be there guarding the good luck brew until Halloween when I will gather the names that show up on my blog and pick a winner of my Halloween giveaway. Good luck to everyone!

Creating Sacred Space & The Night of Hecate Nov 16th

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Well all your wishes are working! Thank you all so much. I have been too sick to stand and cook or bake in the kitchen so I have found myself drawn to my crafts room to make myself a spiritual earthy necklace with jade, apparently it invokes wisdom, peace, harmony and devotion to one's higher purpose. Sounds perfect to me!

One of the reasons I avoid my crafting room is I do not like mess and it is impossible to make jewellery without making mess, at least it is for me, as you can see from the photo above. About six months ago I went through everything and let go of about half of what was in the room. When I was done the room was essentially empty of everything except some artwork, my paperwork and jewellery making supplies.

I find purging an important practice. Yes, now there are some things I wish I had held on to but that is OK. I had to clear the room in order to see what it is I really want to focus on, what I can not let go of no matter what. Now when I make a mess it is much easier to clean up and put everything away until the next creative idea comes to me.

Winter is in the air here and perhaps when the snow begins to fall, as we all know it will very soon, that I can find refuge here as well as the kitchen.

I am going to be doing a big cleansing in November after Samhain, anyone want to join me? In her book Sacred Space Denise Lynn suggests that before you do a big spiritual cleanse of a space you should do a physical cleansing first. I have already given away a lot of stuff so I am going to try and clean my house from top to bottom slowly over the next little while and then on Monday November 16th, the Night of Hecate, we will celebrate together by sweeping out the spiritual debris of our lives.

Paranormal Subject #11: UFOs

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Image compliments of glitter-graphics.com

I will admit, the paranormal topic of UFOs makes me uncomfortable. First, I am actually not super interested in the idea of aliens. Mostly because of movies and TV, there is never a win win situation. Knowing us as human beings and how we tend to handle things we do not understand, I can not see the outcome for the alien or the human race resolving into a happy ending. Also, I am mostly enthusiastic in things in life that have to do with our planet. This is why I am pagan. Leaving our planet? No thanks. Unless the sun is going super nova and I have no choice, then, maybe.

The other night I had so much fun watching the episode Mr. Monk and the UFO that I knew I had to tell my own UFO story. And yes, I watch a lot of TV and really love watching a lot of TV.

One night in Toronto I was coming back from seeing a play with my sister Shannon and a friend of hers. We were going to cross the street when I saw lights in the sky above the convenience store ahead of us. Yes, they were spinning and the object looked like a saucer. It made me laugh, I pointed it out to Shannon and her friend and started to cross the street towards it, watching it hover. I felt no fear, figuring it must be some kind of aircraft or hobby craft of some kind someone was playing with. Until it suddenly shot over North York, then Scarborough and then was gone all within three seconds.

That is impossible!

I knew how far that was and how it was not possible for any aircraft to do such a thing, there was no way! And yet, it happened.

When I watched the movie Fire in the Sky and saw D.B. Sweeney's character pointing at the aircraft, walking to it with no fear I knew that would be me. That confronted with the same situation I would do something just as stupid, walk into a dangerous situation with an open heart. And I would have that night, completely riveted by the unexplained. Thankfully no tractor beam picked me up and took me away...but they could have!

Now I am not saying that I believe there are aliens around us. That what I saw was something out of science fiction. I just do not know what really happened, what I really did witness that night. As far as I am concerned, that is the closest I ever want to come to this kind of paranormal phenomenon. You just need to watch a trailer for The Fourth Kind which is based on a true story to learn that alien abduction equals scary. Ghosts, I can handle. Aliens stealing me from my home and doing god knows what with me? No thanks!

I am so curious, am I the only one who has seen something in a night time sky that they could not explain? Have you had an encounter with an unidentified flying object or am I the only one?

Paranormal Subject #10: Pets & Animals

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Angela from Blessed Be asked if I thought that animals could communicate with us from the other side? My answer: absolutely! In fact, animals are way more in tune with the paranormal than we are. They sense and see so much more than we do. They definitely have spirits and are capable of coming to visit us from the other side. I believe they still watch out over us even after they have passed. I have no doubt that our connection to animals is just as strong as humans, for some perhaps even stronger, so why would this be different after death?

My favourite episode of the original Twilight Zone has a man walking down the lane with his dog in farm country. He comes across a gate with a man there who tells him he is dead and that he is welcome to join the rest of his family and opens up the gate for him. The man is about to walk down the path but the gate keeper will not let him pass with his dog. The man gets very upset and tells the gate keeper that if heaven does not allow animals then heaven is not a place he wants to be. He continues his journey down the lane and comes across another gate and gate keeper. He tells the gate keeper, don't bother, I don't want to go to a place that won't allow my furry friend. The gate keeper smiles and says that of course, he is allowed to bring in his dog. It is in hell that pets are not allowed.

That story is a little religious for me these days but the sentiment still rings true. For me, animals are more spiritual and connected to the divine than we are. They are true spirits, they hide nothing and are pure. I often feel more connected and inspired spiritually by animals than human beings. I strive to be more like them and less like us. I believe their spirits ascend and that they keep an eye on us and still love us on the other side.

I have heard of stories of people taking pictures at houses where people have own pets but they have passed on and yet you can see the animal in the photograph. Our connection to these loving creatures transcends time and space. They are always with us.

Wishcasting: What do you wish to say yes to?

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Please help me identify these dried flowers, heather or lavender?

Jamie asks for Wishcasting this week what we wish to say yes to.

It has been almost a year since I did anything really creative and spiritual with jewellery. I am starting to miss it. I did not think that would ever happen again. But I feel the desire budding like a tiny rose and I say yes to this flower, yes to its creative and magickal re-emergence in my life. I do not know what this means or if it should have meaning at all. I just know I want to say yes to creative and spiritual energy returning to my life.

I picked up this keychain of dried flowers and want to turn it into an amulet and give it away on Halloween here on my blog. Hard to make an amulet when you do not know what flowers you are working with. Any ideas? These dried flowers come from the UK and I know it will make a powerful ritual necklace for someone special. I am going to give it away as a way of saying thank you to my blogging friends for sticking with me despite the darkness I have been living through.

Making magick with flowers, stones and beads is so special. There must be spiritual energy brewing inside me once again for me to feel this inspiration and I want it to continue. Perhaps it is all the writing I have been doing this October on the paranormal that has helped me get back into the magickal spirit of things. Whatever the reason, I say yes, yes please. I would like some more.

Missing Fall

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October is my last month of freedom. We got snow at the beginning of November last year and so this is the month I go out and check out spooky stuff around town and head out to scary movies and enjoy maybe a couple of long walks in the leaves. Not this year. I am sick. Super sick! A sore throat that has lasted five days, keeping me up all night thanks to the fibro exasperating the pain so I can not sleep. The congestion is coming, it is only a matter of time. And soon Halloween will have passed by me.

What a total bummer! I am doing my best, resting, getting Vitamin C... but I feel autumn is slipping through my fingers. Since I got back from Toronto I think I have left my house three times. I did go out to see Zombieland which is a bunch of gory kick-ass fun but that is pretty much the extent of having a good time that I have had since my husband and I came home.

So I have been writing up all of my paranormal posts, trying to engage with Halloween/Samhain via my writing and thoughts and ideas. It seems like you are all enjoying these posts which makes me very happy, that I can contribute and do something spooky while stuck in my home, sick. I will do my best to recover from this illness so I can get out there and do some real spooky autumn stuff and share some new stories with you soon!

Paranormal Subject #9: Ghosts vs Spirits

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This topic may be a no-brainer for some people but I figured with Halloween coming up it is a good time to mention the difference between ghosts and spirits. Ghosts are what most people are afraid of because they are people who have not made it to the other side after their death. Their presence stays in the same place and sensitive people can pick up on their energy which can be frightening.

Some of them think they are still alive, living out their daily lives like normal. Then there are those who just can not leave their loved ones behind and stay and get lost as those loved ones move on with their lives. It is one of the reasons I feel quite strongly for ghosts, their situation is usually quite sad and tragic.

The "bad" ghosts, the ones people are most afraid of, were usually bad people in life. They do not want to move on, afraid what they will find because of the "sins" they have committed. They are terrified of going to hell. So they stay and torment us.

Spirits are simply people who have successfully made it to the other side which is what happens most of the time when people die.

With Halloween coming, the veil is thinning and communication between the worlds is more possible each day. This is good news for ghost hunters looking for signs on their ghost hunts. If you want a sign from a loved one who is now in the spirit world, it is a good time to ask for one. Say it aloud, spirits and ghosts are not psychic. It is always more powerful to say what you want aloud. If that makes you uncomfortable, then write it down instead but make it clear what it is you want.

I would also like to mention the power of candlelight. I know that during ghost hunts people use flashlights or no light at all but ghosts and spirits are drawn to candlelight. They can see it and they move towards it. You have to be careful for obvious safety reasons and because candlelight can play tricks on you but if you doing a vigil or an attempt to communicate with the other side, ghosts or spirits, light a candle.

A great way for the other side to communicate with you is with a voice recorder. Preferably the "old fashioned" kind that uses magnetic tape, it is supposed to pick up more, but many ghost hunters successfully use digital voice recorders. You can try just asking questions and then leaving some time for the spirit or ghost to answer and see what happens. Another powerful way for them to communicate with you is before bed, go to an empty room that is furthest from where you will be sleeping and explain aloud what you are doing. Leave the recorder taping for the night and the next day listen for any voices.

Shannon found this classic t-shirt at Value Village when I was visiting in Toronto, wish they still made Boo Berry, it was my favourite cereal growing up!

Only do this if you can handle getting a message like that. I mentioned this idea to my husband who asked me not to do it because if anything turned up on the tape we would have to move! So I have never tried this myself but thought I would share the idea with you in case you really need a sign from the other side from a loved one.

Take advantage of the thinning of the veil, this is the time to step into the void and connect with those who have passed on.

Paranormal Subject #8: Dark Entities

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Dark entities are people who have consciously decided to turn away from the divine. They are all about themselves. They love getting attention. They are usually quite beautiful and entrancing. Sometimes they like to be doctors or caregivers because it makes them look good. Deep down, they are psychotic. Some people who have psychic noses will smell sulphur when they are around. For me, it is in the eyes. In the eyes I will see whether or not a kind spirit lives there.

What bothers me most about dark entities is they can be very cloaked. There have been times when I have sensed them immediately. Throughout my teens I ended up starting to have allergic reactions to the "pretty people". I did not know why, I had no idea what this reaction was about at first. I just knew there were a lot of pretty people that seemed to have no souls. Later on I realized that there were pretty people with them, I just had to be careful.

They are not all pretty, some can seem completely ordinary. They seem like good friends but for some reason when you come home from spending time with them, you are exhausted. It takes you a long time to recover and you have no idea why. But they draw you back in with their problems, they need you and you do not want to abandon them. Sound familiar? They are psychic vampires and they want you to feed their egos.

Because you are a child of light, you want to help. Perhaps it is an abusive husband? Or a friend whose life is always just a mess? You think to yourself, I can not leave them. They need me.

Yes, they need you. To steal your energy.

These people do not change. Once you start standing up for yourself you may be shocked at their vehement reaction. Deep down they are selfish and do not care for you the way you care for them. I can not say run away any louder, they are not worth losing your energy for.

They will not make it easy. They will use guilt, fear and all sorts of techniques to keep you a part of their lives. A good test is to ask something of them, start off small, and see what happens. Do they come up with excuses? Do they make themselves out to be the victim? Do they ask the question, who do you think you are?

As I said before, they will never change. Stay away from them. Get away from them. You deserve to be with other people of light. To be with people who help you shine brighter, not drag you down into their abyss.

If getting away is not a plausible option, I want you to start focusing on yourself. Start making things about you, not them. Make your life better, sign up for a class, buy YOUR favourite food, go to your favourite places...if you keep it up, they will lose interest but they might strike out at you for it so be ready.

To protect yourself from them, cleanse your home and put up psychic mirrors by visually mirrors facing outwards around your home. This will reflect the true image of the dark entity, not the one they show to the world and they do not like their true reflection.

I know you are a good person and want to help and be supportive but if you have this type of person in your life, I promise you that no matter what you do they will stay the way they are and be happy in their misery and want to take you down with them. You deserve better. I know it is hard but you can do this. The good news is the brighter your light and the more aware you are of them, the less they will be attracted to you.

Once they are gone, do not give them energy. Pay no attention to them at all. Close off and they will walk away because they are no longer getting what they need from you and will move on.

The more of us who know about dark entities the better we can protect ourselves from them. They are the true monsters in our contemporary society.

A sign from the other side???

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When I pulled my iPod out of my fall jacket yesterday, I said over and over again, "This is not possible."

Just over a month ago, I lost my iPod on my wedding anniversary and cried and cried about it. I felt like an idiot, completely irresponsible and accident prone. Loser.

Two days later it was the anniversary of my friend Kathy's passing. I asked Kathy to give me a sign like she had the last two years and I jokingly said, "Returning my iPod would be nice." I sensed her laughter at my silliness. Futile! I had called everyone I had seen that day and no one had my iPod. It had vanished.

I did wear this warm jacket that cold morning I went to the medical clinic for blood work on my anniversary. Perhaps when I came home and went out later it had warmed up and I had changed my jacket, thus being completely convinced the iPod had fallen out of my pocket at some point? It is possible. I never want to admit that something is paranormal until I am sure.

Yesterday after I had discovered the iPod, we had finished grocery shopping and my husband had had his fill of teasing me about me "losing" things (it's true, one time I lost my Visa card in my desk for over a year) he made a paranormal comment about it suddenly turning up. The entire time we had been grocery shopping I had been mulling the situation all in my head and knew it was time to tell him what was really on my mind.

"Actually, I asked Kathy to return my iPod to me as a sign from the other side on the anniversary of her death."

Silence.

"Holy shit honey! I didn't know that!"

No kidding. I had almost forgotten.

Still, last night, I wondered if this was all coincidence. That maybe I had given Kathy an easy way to blow my mind this year since she knew I was inevitably going to find it.

Until I turned it on this morning, knew I just had to take a picture of it for this post and it was playing the song, "Three Wishes" by The Pierces.

This was my wish, to have my iPod back. I have no doubt she is making cackling laughter on the other side at my absolute astonishment, yet again. Thank you Kathy, you totally rock!

Paranormal Subject #7: Astral Projection & Sleep Paralysis

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One night when I was 11 years old I woke up and could not move. The blind in front of my window had suddenly crashed off the wall exposing the window and what my family referred to as "the poltergeist tree". Normally I am friends with all trees but there was something about that sumach that had scared all of us. Plus, I am absolutely terrified of faces in the window, ever since I was a young girl.

So there I am, suddenly awake right underneath the window with the scary tree outside, convinced there is probably also a face staring at me but I can not even move my eyeballs. My heart was exploding with panic, I had never been more terrified. This seemed to go on forever until I somehow finally found momentum to stiffly roll out of bed and crawl using my fingertips into my parents' room.

Decades lately I discovered Sylvia Browne who talked about astral projection and sleep paralysis and suddenly, I felt so much better. She said that we often astral project in our sleep and sometimes returning ends up being quite difficult. People who experience what they think is someone attacking them as they sleep is actually themselves trying to return to their bodies, not possession. As a result, we watch this happening to ourselves completely paralyzed.

I think what happened to me was I was out travelling and for some reason came back too strong, knocked over the blind and woke myself up before the transition was complete.

What a relief it was for me, to realize this. It was all just coming from me because this bird flew too passionately. I can live with that!

Sylvia recommends that if this is happening to you and it is too traumatic and you want it to stop, tell the higher power out loud that you do not want this to happen again. Decide to either stay in your body or that you want a smoother landing, no sleep paralysis anymore.

I know this knowledge made such a difference in my life, answering a paranormal question I have had for a long, long time. Bringing peace to one of the most terrifying things that happened to me as a girl.

Just keep going...

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Jamie and I took a walk in "The Beaches" and saw this little guy brave the cold water and take a swim. Lately, this is how I have been feeling since I came back to Nova Scotia. What the hell am I doing?

Within one week of my return I am filled with the cold and shocking realities of life here and wish I could just take a few steps back and shake it all off and be back on my merry way. But I can't. And somehow, I have to deal with it.

There is a flurry warning this week and my house is already freezing. Painful drama is going on around me, fear of the security of our future and what that means keeps me up at night and just an overall feeling of dread follows me everywhere. So I baked a pumpkin pie and hoped for the best.

Then I get poked for calling my pie homemade when I used canned pumpkin filling. Recently I have also been getting snarky anonymous comments criticizing me in a passive aggressive way and you know what? I have kind of had it. My life is crap most of the time but to get bullied in my sanctuary? That just sucks.

It is funny that here on this blog and on my other blogs I wrote about controversial topics and only had to delete one comment. But on my foodie blog? What gives?! So I addressed it head on with my post on what is homemade, hopefully creating a dialogue and letting the food judgment crap go.

I will keep going, step by step on the crunchy leaves which will soon be replaced by ice and snow. One month of sun and warmth was not enough but there is nothing I can do about it.

Paranormal Subject #6: The Ouija Board

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Every single spiritual book I have ever read has said, stay away. Stay away from the board, nothing good will come of it. The board opens you up like a beacon of light for the darkness to enter. By participating in the ouija board you are giving permission for energy to enter you, use you as a conduit. Sadly, most who would take advantage of that are not positive people or energy.

Due to my empathic nature, I have been forced to shield myself all of the time. It sometimes makes me a cold individual, this protective shell around me, separating myself off from people. It is necessary and important for me to do this, even if I sometimes come across as bitchy. I do not let the supernatural in very easily, I prefer to watch it from a distance. I think it is one of the reasons I have a sleeping disorder, I am reluctant to become vulnerable to the energies out there. Considering I have been plagued with nightmares so much of my life and when touched by the Other Side, it usually happens while I am asleep, I am sure you can see why I shield myself most of the time.

One day when I was 13 I was at a party and there was a board there. For some reason, I was not afraid. I sat down and the board told me I would marry someone named Malcolm and I knew it was all lies. Lies! In fact, I sensed no real spiritual energy there. People were screwing with me. I was left untouched by the paranormal, thankfully.

I did know one boy who went on a school trip that I could not go on because my feet had frostbite and came back changed. Before he left, he was a total goof. He always made me laugh. I heard during the trip the board spoke to him and freaked him out. He came home, different. No longer a goofball, the light in him damaged.

Since then, I have had zero interest in the board. I refuse to be damaged by tricky spirits who play with our energies. I have no interest in giving my energy away. So I watch from my spiritual walls of strong gold light and listen to my dreams instead. I am not a conduit for anyone. If they want to speak to me, they will have to find another way. This vessel is closed.

Thanks goes out to Bohemian Mom for this paranormal subject suggestion! If you have any questions or suggestions of your own, I would love to hear them. Please feel free to comment! I would love to help in any way that I can.

Happy Thanksgiving

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To my fellow Canadian bloggers out there, I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving. The leaves are quickly disappearing here and the first few days were like the day I left, dark and crazy wet and windy. I took this picture after flying through a black cloud back to Nova Scotia, greeted by more stormy and dreary weather.

There have been a few pretty moments since I got back but most of my time has been spent resting. The day before I left to come back to Nova Scotia the arch in my left foot gave way. Filled with old pain, threatening to put me in a wheelchair, I have taken it easy ever since. I am lost without my feet, my only means of mobility. My husband finally came home with a very bad cold, we are quite a pair. I did make it to the grocery store the other day when my hurricane rations of canned food ran out. I am looking forward to a full fridge one day soon.

I took this picture of the sad decomposing penguin in the ditch before I left.

He seems to be doing much better now that the autumn rain has hydrated him a bit.

Nothing changes here. All over Toronto I looked for garbage, the same kind of casual garbage that I see here. In nine days I only found one abandoned Tim Horton's cup. Even on busy streets, nothing compared to the crap I see here.

So what am I grateful for this Thanksgiving? I am happy my husband is back with me. I am grateful for all the amazing experiences I had with my family in Toronto. I am thankful for my house which shelters us from so much. I appreciate the future food I will make through the dark winter and keep our hearth full and warm.

There is always something to be grateful for. That is a lesson I am working on.

Night Life

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After going for a family dinner at Cafe Diplomatico we spontaneously took a streetcar home instead of the subway. It was a Saturday night in October, October 3rd to be exact. And the night was alive!



An event call Nuit Blanche Toronto was just starting to take place and the streets were full of people!

From sunset at 6:55 pm on Saturday, October 3, to sunrise on Sunday, October 4, 2009, Toronto's playful overnight celebration of contemporary art once again takes over the streets for ONE NIGHT ONLY.

Nuit Blanche is a free evening of spontaneous art all over Toronto with over 130 projects to explore. Just on the streetcar we must have seen three different events going on. Had I not been so tired, I would have jumped off the streetcar and explored all night.

Toronto does many things right but night life is its specialty. There is always somewhere to go, something to do. Back in Nova Scotia in my suburban home, I have spent days listening to the rain pounding in the darkness. Today the sun has finally shown up. Maybe soon I will have a night life here too?

Paranormal Subject #5: The Thinning Veil

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As Halloween approaches the veil between our world and the other side thins. You do not need me to tell you this, it is palpable. You can feel it. Just being outside listening to the wind rip the leaves off the trees and hearing them scrape their dry fingers across the concrete, you know you are not alone.

I am a big fan of the psychic Sylvia Browne. I have read almost all of her books and agree with her on many levels when it comes to spirituality. She has brought me much comfort during times of despair. I found it quite humorous to see her on Montel one day and "poo poo" the idea that there is such a thing as the thinning of the veil. I am sure for her as a psychic, it means very little since she is in contact with the other side on a regular basis.

What was ironic is that I had just finished reading a part in her book that was written as she channeled her spirit guide Francine who, during her short time on earth was a Native woman, discusses how yes, the veil does get thinner at Halloween! Funny that this added some credibility to Sylvia since she always insists she truly does not remember the channeling sessions and that when it comes to this topic she is actually wrong.

So what does the thinning of the veil mean for us? For those who want to connect with people who have passed on to the other side, it means the channel for communication is much more open than at other times of the year. Pay attention to your dreams, your internal voice, your instincts...we are closer to receiving messages than at any other time of the year.

Get out your tarot cards, runes and any other kind of divination tools you may have and listen. Let go of the images a little and really listen to what the universe is saying. Unfocus your eyes, let go and see what happens.

Ask a question aloud that you need answered and see how the answer comes to you. Tell your departed loved ones how much you love and miss them. Reconnect with your spirituality and know that life is mysterious and beautiful. That magick is all around us. Connect with it and listen to the crows. Find your own special ritual. Walk through the leaves. Touch the other side with your open heart.

October Dreamboard

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Click here to see image full size

One of my favourite activities while I was in Toronto was getting to participate in Jamie's Dreamboard Workshop with Jamie, Shannon, our mom and other fabulous dreamboarding ladies! Jamie brought all sorts of magazines for us to go through and pick out imagines from, something I had not done in a long time. Normally I have one image to work with like the one at the top in the middle, the spooky house. That is my photograph. But this time I got to work with all sorts of other pictures too and it was a moving and almost unnerving experience. When I was done I realized there was very little there that reminded me of BC which kind of freaked me out. I think I am getting ready for the winter, making light at my hearth in my home as the darkness approaches.

How wonderful to do this project surrounded by great women listening to awesome music, getting to hang out with each other and support one another.

Even Mom came and played with us! She has been our inspiration for making collages since we were very young. She is the visual arts queen in our family. Truly a creative Goddess.

It was so great to give each other feedback, support and comfort (OK, I'm the one who needed the comforting) from all of these wonderful women.

So I am a little late posting my dreamboard this month but I am sure you can understand why. Although the full moon is well behind me, my sisters and I were very aware of it every night we were out together having fun and being creative.

I am back!

I landed back in Nova Scotia last night through crazy bad weather and even got a little sleep last night. My husband will be home in just a couple of hours so all is good right now. I hope you enjoy me sharing my Toronto adventures with you!

I saved the Halloween Martha Stewart 2009 edition of her magazine for the flight. I had bought it weeks ago! Talk about discipline. I am not terrified of flying but I really do not enjoy it so it was awesome to have spooky stuff to keep my mind off the flight.

Mom and Shannon picked me up from the airport and took me out for Thai food in downtown Toronto, alright! That's the perfect way to start a trip. Family and food!

My first full day in Toronto we spent at the movies in downtown Toronto. All the Ridler women went to go see Fame!

Although the movie was not half as good as the original, I still enjoyed it and had a lot of fun. Who couldn't with Jamie spontaneously dancing and singing from the original down the aisles?!

My amazingly talented and dear friend Michelle took me out for a lumberjack breakfast in the Beaches (yes, I still call it that and will always call it that, never The Beach) at Sunset Grill. Sadly our friend Steve could not join us, we missed you Steve! Then she took me to an area of Toronto I kept hearing about but was not familiar with even though I had lived in Toronto for 19 years...but I did leave 14 years ago!

The Distillery District! What an amazing place. Toronto is really known for its red brick buildings and this area was no exception. So unique too, I have never been anywhere quite like it.

You have this old world feel and yet there was this giant alien structure that felt right out of the show Futurama!



Now that's a cafe! Balzacs Cafe actually. Considering Starbucks is a high class cafe around here in Nova Scotia in comparison to the gazillion Tim Horton's, how inspiring to discover such a beautiful place to hang out and drink coffee.

In just a couple of days I had already lived a lifetime, at least for me. Back to my urban roots and already exhausted but having the greatest time with the women in my life, I felt like I was connecting with a younger part of me I had left behind when I said good-bye to Toronto. There is a part of me that would love to go back but I know my body will not let me. I will just consider myself lucky that I get to keep going home to connect even if the trees are metal:

I'm OK

For those of you who wondered if I made it to Toronto on my trip OK, I did! I had the most miserable weather taking off and landing with lots of stomach-churning turbulence but other than that, things are going smoothly and awesomely! Been having a fantastic time hanging out with everyone here, exhausted already but living on adrenaline like a true Torontonian. That's OK, I will go home and collapse later.

Hope everyone's doing great! Didn't want people to worry. Will write more later.

Hugs
Suzie