My book is now available on Amazon.com! I was wondering if maybe somebody could post a (hopefully nice) review there since there's nothing so far?

Link here.

Thank you!

Chas set up this altar for his mom the day after she died. Some flowers, a glass of water, a white candle, some lavender flowers in some Florida water, her wedding album from her second marriage turned to a page with pictures of her with Chas, her eyeglasses, and a dish of her favorite treat: Rocky Road ice cream.

Blessed be, Patt. You are missed.

( Long... )
  

Yesterday Chas' mom died.

( Read more... )

Patricia Bogan Murray (born Patricia Mae Wellbrook), 1941-2009.
May you find footing on your continued journey, and may it bring you much peace, joy, and happiness.

Because a long-time massage therapist recently left due to an injury, Chas and I find ourselves needing to completly rennovate one of the practitioner rooms in the back. This hasn't been done at least since the '80s; bad pastel wallpaper being the first clue to the decade of its origin. So imagine our surprise when it was torn off the wall to reveal:

( Read more... )

**EDIT: The signature from the piece reads "Betty Pleshe '60", so I imagine that means it was sketched in 1960 when the building was a law office. I looked up Ms. Pleshe and it would appear that she passed away in 2002 at the age of 79. To think that her artwork has been hidden here for all these years... Thank you, Betty. Wherever you are.

It's been a long time since I have written. Life as a store owner has been far busier than I could have imagined, though despite the stresses of covering shifts and hiring people whom I hope I can trust, I am still loving every bit of it. We really have transformed that place. We're both really proud of what we have done with it.

In other news, I just got back from Austin, TX where I basically taught a "Feri Boot Camp". The theme was "A Journey into F(a)eri(e)" and was an all day event. We started with the basics: grounding, breath, alignment... then moved into the Iron and Pearl Pentacles, then we began some work with the elements. We do a lot of work with inner temples in our line, so we did trance work there before discussing and invoking the Guardians, the Goddesses, and the Elemental Beasts. (I'm working on an article about working with all three of the Elemental Beings that goes into how they relate to the Three Worlds of folkloric faery. Stay tuned!) after that we did work with our own fetch-beasts and then finally a journey into the faery realm of the underworld in order to work with the Queen and King, and to make a faery contact. A lot of work for one day, but it felt right to do, and it was well recieved.

Day two was for more long term students and focused on the Divine Twins. We connected to them as fear/lust/life-force and aspiration/love/spirit; the red serpent and the blue dove. We experienced them merging within ourselves and becoming the Peacock God, Melek Ta'us. Later we journeyed again into the faery realm to meet the Queen and King again, this time knowing them as a particular manifestation of the Divine Twins, and doing some more personal work with them. Again, I think that it was well received, and that people got something out of it.

And now I am back... at home resting, preparing some materials for next month's Feri Camp, which should be awesome (as always). I'm really looking forward to seeing some old friends again, as well as to make some new ones.

“Each point of the compass has its own explanation and these inner sanctum asides I do not feel important for the uninitiated. I feel also that some part of the belief of real believers should be left in reserve. I have no feeling of guilt, or punishment, or mystic retribution should I disclose these secrets. If any one of my readers could receive satisfaction or find the end of a quest in what I have experienced I would be more than happy at some time to make these revelations. But if a curiosity is for neither scientific records nor self-examination these things are best left within their sacred environment where for those who experience them they represent truth.” -Katherine Dunham, Island Possessed

We just received word that one of our part-time employees will be leaving us in a couple of weeks to pursue her jewelry-making business. We are very happy for her and look forward to seeing (and purchasing!) her new designs in the future, but we are also left with some pretty big shoes to fill. So I find myself once again turning to my blog to put out the word that we are hiring.

We are looking for someone who wants to work part-time (like 18 hours per week, part time) and who has knowledge in various areas of spiritual, magical, and occult interest. If you have been to The Mystic Dream, then you know that it has a pretty wide range; Paganism/Witchcraft, Occult, New Age, Buddhism, Hoodoo, Aromatherapy, Feng Shui, Angels, Crystals... to name some of the more popular interests. We have people coming in who will want to know what they need to perform a money spell... a love spell... or how to drive away an enemy. People will want to know how to perform a spiritual cleansing... how to break a curse... how to attract abundance. A potential employee will need to know at least a little bit about crystals, herbs, tarot, astrology, and natural magic... as well as meditation, visualization, and the like.

In addition to the spiritual side of the job, the usual retail mundane details apply: we need someone who will clean and restock shelves, polish jewelry, and generally keep the store looking and operating nicely. Clerks are expected to answer phones, ring-up sales, take appointments for readers, and even clean the kitchen or bathroom as their shift dictates. There are a lot of things to clean in a store like ours, so slow times are generally spent alphabetizing the shelves, or rearranging product.

The current hours that we are offering are a closing shift on Friday nights (5:30pm - 9:30pm) and opening shifts on Saturdays and Sundays (9:30am - 5pm). As the economy gets better we may be able to offer more.

So... if you think that this is the job for you, then please send (or fax) us a resume to the address below and we will schedule an interview. Likewise if you think someone you know would be a good candidate, please pass along this information.

If anyone has any questions about this, please email: info@themysticdream.com or leave a message with our staff by calling the number below during business hours.

Thanks!

The Mystic Dream
1437 N Broadway
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925) 933-2342
(925) 933-9250 (fax)

I've been crazy busy with the store lately, and haven't had any time to update my blog. Well... I don't have time now either... but I did want to let everyone know about my new classes for this quarter.

( Spring 09 Class Schedule... )

As always, if you would like to join my email newsletter list, please just send a blank email with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: list@faerywolf.com

I will be teaching some new classes this quarter.

I just created a new email update list which I will send out every so often with updates to my events schedule. If you would like to join then please send a blank email with "Subscribe" in the subject line to: list@faerywolf.com

In the meantime...

( Winter 08-09 Schedule )

Repeal Prop 8!

http://www.couragecampaign.org/page/s/repealprop8

Because a friend was talking about it today:

The Forgotten Ancestors
by Storm Faerywolf

They are without name and number
without face or memory
Or shade
Or form
But still they live
As hungry ghosts
feeding on the crusts of bread
And the kindness of strangers.
But they are not unknown to us
Not completely.
The men and women of secret passions
The man who wore a dress and was arrested
Taken away in a wagon of queers
The woman
With hair cut short and wearing slacks
Like any gentleman on the town.
They are still here with us
Wandering lost.
Wander no more for we remember
Though we know not your names, we remember!
You who lived your lives on your own terms
Who broke the molds and lived
And suffered
And laughed,
And died
All in the name of love.
We honor you.

Several people have offered to assist me with any magical workings that I might be doing to help defeat the oppression of Proposition 8. What follows is a spell that I wrote based on one that I performed along with Chas and a good friend of ours prior to the election. Since the central modality of the spell is that of the thing "rotting away" it is a decidedly "slower" spell in terms of time for results, although it is also a much more thorough one. (I figure that "fast" is less important than "effective"... I'm confidant that the spell we did is still working as the petition paper rots in the ground, but the more power lent by other practitioners the better.)

I call for a lot of ingredients in this spell, but feel free to use your own intuition. Nothing is written in stone. Feel free to adapt or change this spell completely. Use in accordance with your personal deities or practices. (We opened the Western Gate in our rite, and asked the Queer Ancestors to assist us.)

( Triumph over Marriage Inequality Spell )

Comments are welcome.

In addition, please support the ACLU.

** EDIT: Permission granted to share. Please provide a link back or at least my copyright notice. I'll likely be including this (or some form of it) in my book.

A friend of mine posted this in his Facebook and I thought I would share. It is from the original CA Supreme Court decision from May 08 that struck down the same-sex marriage ban. This will ultimately be Prop 8's undoing. Pay particular attention to the last two paragraphs.

"In recognizing, however, that the right to marry is a basic, constitutionally protected civil right -- "a fundamental right of free men [and women]"...--....this right embodies fundamental interests of an individual that are protected from abrogation or elimination by the state. (p. 61-2)"

"None of the foregoing decisions -- in emphasizing the importance of undertaking a " 'careful description' of the asserted fundamental liberty interest..." -- suggests, however, that it is appropriate to define a fundamental constitutional right or interest in so narrow a fashion that the basic protections afforded by the right are withheld from a class of persons -- composed of individuals sharing a personal characteristic such as a particular sexual orientation -- who historically have been denied the benefit of such rights" (p. 71)

"...by reserving the historical and highly respected designation of marriage exclusively to opposite-sex couples while offering same-sex couples only the new and unfamiliar designation of domestic partnership -- pose a serious risk of denying the official family relationship of same-sex couples the equal dignity and respect that is a core element of the constitutional right to marry" (p. 81).

"In sum, we conclude that statutes imposing differential treatment on the basis of sexual orientation should be viewed as constitutionally suspect of the California Constitution's equal protection clause" (p. 100).

"On the contrary, under "the constitutional theory of 'checks and balances' that the separation-of-powers doctrine is intended to serve"...a court has an obligation to enforce the limitations that the California Constitution imposes upon legislative measures, and a court would shirk the responsibility it owes to each member of the public were it to consider such statutory provisions to be insulated from judicial review" (p. 109).

"The question of access to civil marriage by same-sex couples 'is not a matter of social policy but of constitutional interpretation.' It is a question for this Court to decide" (p. 110)

Pay special attention to these:

"Although California decisions consistently and vigorously have safeguarded the right of voters to exercise the authority afforded by the initiative process..., our past cases at the same time uniformly establish that initiative measures adopted by the electorate are subject to the same constitutional limitations that apply to statutes adopted by the Legislature, and our courts have not hesitated to invalidate measures enacted through the initiative process when they run afoul of constitutional guarantees provided by either the federal or California Constitution" (p. 112).

"As the United States Supreme Court explained in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943): "The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One's right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly, and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote; they depend on the outcome of no elections." (p. 113).

This gives me some more hope. That, and the spell I'm working. ;)

Even if you have already done so... if you can, please make a donation to help defeat Prop 8.

You will either laugh or cry.

http://palinaspresident.com/

I knew I mostly agreed with him... but really?

You preferred Obama's statements 100% of the time Voting purely on the issues you should vote Obama Who would you vote for if you voted on the issues? Find out now!

Well... I already knew how I was going to vote. ;)

And while we're talking politics:



If you haven't already (or even if you have) please consider donating to put this ad on the air.

Marriage equality in California is now losing by 5 points, according to the latest poll numbers, and I'm barely even back from my honeymoon. I just made a donation to fight the bigotry and lies that the right-wing anti-LGBT groups have been spreading. Even if you are not in California, please join me in standing up for equal rights by donating to the Human Rights Campaign California Marriage PAC. If you donate TODAY then your gift will be DOUBLED. Just click the link below:

https://secure.ga3.org/03/caequalpac_match

Here's some other (free!) ways that Californians can help:

Download and print a No on 8 bumpersticker!
Download and print a No on 8 Window Sign.

Not registered to vote? It's not too late! You still have a few days left! (Deadline: October 20, 2008) Click HERE to get a form to mail in. (At this point you will likely want to print out the form yourself so that you will have time to mail it in by the deadline.)

And probably the most important step that each of us can take is to simply speak out. Be visibly progressive. Don't accept intolerance as being inevitable. It is up to each of us to make a stand and embody those values that we hold dear. Because if we don't... who will?

Lynda Carter on Sarah Palin