Monthly Archives: October 2011

For my sweetie: our ‘gateway’ band

How we both found rock n roll . . .

Styx.

As unlikely a gateway band as they are, both J and I didn’t deliberately listen to anything but ‘soft pop’ until we heard Styx. This song, “Renegade” was the one I remember hearing first; J. thinks “Lady” (or it may have been “Crystal Ball”) was his entree.

From there on, we were drawn deeper into the multiplicity of the rock n’ roll genre.

Thank you, profoundly, Styx.

Private Ritual for the Death of a Parent

We don’t do grief.

~Joan Didion

For most of us, talking about how we feel is difficult, and doubly so when we are grieving. We are in pain, often combined from sorrow and anger to varying levels, and we are alienated from others because of that pain. We may feel guilty, with lots of unfinished business we didn’t have time to take care of in our relationship. Or we may not feel much of anything at all; it’s too distant. People avoid us, or are deeply awkward in our presence. Social niceties encourage us to make it easier on them, which is exhausting, so instead we project a sense of calm, or of not needing sympathy, or of having ‘moved on’ – as if the death of our mother or father was a minor part of our lives.

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Flowers for Chemo

Having cancer is like no other experience we ever encounter, and it is a remarkably unique process despite having so many similarities. Based on personal experience, there are a number of herbs (including flower essences, and essential oils) that support a person going through the cancer experience, including chemotherapy.

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October Update at Facing North

This month we have a great collection of books from a number of genres:
Dion Fortune’s Psychic Self-Defense and The Secrets of Dr. Taverner
The Guru Question: The Perils and Rewards of Choosing a Spiritual Teacher
72 Names Oracle Cards (our 2nd review of this item)
Wheel of Wisdom
Barbarian Rites: The Spiritual World of the Vikings and Germanic Tribes
Phantom Armies of the Night
The Yin Yoga Kit 
The New Orleans Voodoo Handbook 
Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (our 2nd review of this item)

We have several excerpts. Two from Barbara Ardinger’s new book, Secret Lives (we’ll be reviewing her book next month); we also have an exceprt from the forthcoming Silence of the Mind.

This month we are also offering the first of our semi-annual music reviews! Twice a year, in October and April we’ll publish reviews of all of the music we’ve received to date.

This month we have 12 albums:
Uwe Gronau’s Midsummer
Josh Johnston’s The Shape of Things
Janice Faber’s Carried Away
Eddie Gip Noble’s In the Lite of Things
Mike Longo Trio’s To My Surprise
Bell Book and Canto’s Invocation
Annette Cantor’s Songs to the Earth
Moonstruck’s Witch of the Wildwoods
Legend’s Cardinal Points
Aomusic’s …and Love Rages On!
Luna Blanca’s Provence
Tomas Michaud’s Beauty and Fire

The Torch Passes

On Wednesday afternoon my grandmother (mother’s mother) died. She has been dwindling for more than a month now, so it wasn’t unexpected, just (as death always is) a surprise. My mother was there, singing songs to her (Angel Band, apparently) and was able to witness the moment. It was quiet and peaceful.

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Since my vacation . . .

Presenting for your admiration 🙂 . . .

Roland!

 

Kit!

They were cautious kitties at first, but Roland was soon purring like mad and playing with me.  Kit is a bit mor reserved. Sasha is *fascinated* by what is behind the closed door. She barked a couple of times, but has learned that we don’t allow that. So now she lies down with her nose right at the door sill and tries to sniff out what’s happening.

We showed everyone to each other yesterday afternoon. Roland was curious. Kit hissed and got puffy in my arms. We tried it again this morning with Sasha lying down and everyone was very calm; the cats were far more interested in what was behind Sasha — more rooms to explore.