Volume III, Issue 2, January 11 ,2002 Hello once more, The January thaw has hit with a vengeance this week. This is January in Iowa, walking outside without a coat is just damn weird but I'm not complaining. It's much better then the subzero degree temperatures I was complaining about all last winter. This is also the time of year I'm starting to think about plants for my garden. Gardening catalogues get marked up with wish list ideas. I usually pick out a couple thousand dollars worth and narrow it down to well 30 bucks at the most. OK I have a very Small gardening space and big dreams. Whenever we finally make our move out into the country we better have plenty set aside for all the plants / herbs / flowers / trees / bushes etc I want. I did receive a postcard in the mail in a packet of gardening stuff from a place, which sells sample- sized packages of seeds for 30 cents. They are at http://www.artisticgardens.com There order form for herbs was down the other day and I'm not sure how reliable they are as yet but I plan on checking them out here or this growing season. (Yes I'm starting on the yearly obsession with herbs. It will be over sometime next fall.) Anyway this week's issue has no theme like last week's did but if you are into belly dancing your in luck for links. That's it until next time, Sheila K. Watkins ~*~*~*~ Strange Energy By Sheila K. Watkins Wandering along in the dark of the night Stopping cause the feeling's not right Arms wrapped around me oh so tight Looking around but nothing's in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night And nothing quite feels right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night Why the fear of what haunts the night? Mysterious alone without the moonlight Pulling back from fear, feeling contrite Wondering what is haunting the night Strange energy in the middle of the night And nothing quite feels right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night Why this feeling when it's usually delight? Damn it I know something's not right Strange feeling shades roaming the night Strange energy feeling energy in the moonlight Strange energy in the middle of the night And nothing quite feels right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night Strange Energy part two By Sheila K. Watkins Wandering along in the dark of the night No stopping cause the feeling's so right Arms wrapped around me strong and tight Looking around, no one's in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night Strange energy feels so right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night Why fear powers who haunt the night? Mysterious alone in the moonlight Pulling back from fear, feeling contrite Wondering what is haunting the night Strange energy in the middle of the night Strange energy feels so right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night What is this feeling of primal delight? Damn it I know something's just right Strange feeling shades roaming the night Strange energy feeling energy in the moonlight Strange energy in the middle of the night Strange energy feels so right Strange energy with no end in sight Strange energy in the middle of the night ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: Belly dancing links by the handful http://www.lifestyle.ninemsn.com.au/goodmedicine/Factsheets/db/fitness /fitness/1142.asp http://www.chatelaine.com/article.jsp?page=health&cid=2276 http://www.middle-east- online.com/English/Features/Sep2000/Belly_dance.htm http://www.bdancer.com/history/ http://www.folkdancing.org/folk_vs_ethnic.html ~*~*~*~ The Allure of Crystal By Sings With Coyotes /Kevin Romaine Born in Fire, birthed by a convulsion of the Earth, and washed and polished by Water through countless aeons, the first crystal ball discovered by man was probably thought to be a marvel. Like ice, but unmelting, warming to the touch of the hand, he wondered at the impossibility of it. But alone, in the silent depths of a cave, with only a fitfully burning torch to bring light into the darkness, the natural inclusions and inner texture of the crystal came to life, leading his already spirit-driven intuition into the sunless sea of the minds' eye. Perhaps he was a shaman, knowledgeable in the ways of those spirits, trained to interpret the visions that were the bailiwick of his craft. The inward path this crystal led him down was not new to him, but the crystal afforded a greater clarity than he had ever known. Pondering the deeper mysteries he had tapped into, the discipline he exercised may have been among the very first formal meditative traditions. The crystal ball, made in ancient fire or crafted new by the hand of skilled artisans, has survived as a divinatory tool through the ages. There have been times when its use has gone underground, but it has endured. In recent years, the use of crystals for healing, soothing frazzled nerves, calming the mind, warding away negative influences, realignment of the psychic and physical elements of the body and as a meditative focus has seen new vitality. Practitioners of new faith systems utilize them for all of the aforementioned purposes and more. Scientific study continually attempts to disprove their effects, to no avail; believers will not be dissuaded. All that these attacks prove is that the allure of crystal is alive and well. Introduction to Crystal Ball Reading Why are we here? The oldest question Man has asked himself. Every step in the great journey of human civilization is the legacy of mystics and seers, scholars and laborers, all people striving to determine the greater meaning of their lives, how to place themselves in the grand scheme of the Universe. And for the most part, we are no closer to finding the answers we seek than those who were first to wonder. A few, a very few, have been granted a gift, which allows them, in some small way, to brush aside for a moment the veils which occlude our knowledge of the future, and of our inner selves. The mechanisms they employ are as varied as all the snowflakes of winter. Some use the Tarot, which are easy enough to obtain, and for which there are a great many books detailing the interpretations of the Major and Minor Arcana. Paralleling the Tarot are a fanciful diversity of divining cards, each of which are as valid to their user as any other. Rune stones, crystals tossed like jacks (also based on a divination tool), bones, sticks, dice and myriad more artifacts from the spectrum of our cultures may be employed to cast away doubt and fear of the unknown. Larger pieces of rough crystal may be the focus for a meditative trance, for healing and calming, for absorbing negative energies in ones' environment, and for scrying. A piece of quartz or amethyst might represent a significant emotional resource for someone living a harried, hurried existence. Our focus here is the crystal ball, which can take on many different aspects. The popular image of the crystal ball gazer is one of the incense-heavy atmosphere of a room entered through a curtain of beads and spangles. Within, a massive orb awaits upon a black-velvet covered table, glimmering in the light of many candles. Images of Tarot cards and astrological charts add to the magical nature of the setting. On the other side of the clear globe, shrouded in veils and swathed in a rainbow of color, wreathed in an air of ancient mystery, sits an enigmatic figure; a few questions are asked, and the seer consults the ancient sphere. Words of encouragement, omens of things to come, the fate of the querent is revealed. In truth, one may establish any kind of setting one wishes; you may sit in the shade of a tree or in the bright sunshine. Under starlight, beneath the pregnant Moon, or even in the shadowy depths of a smoky room. Wherever your psychic balance is strongest, and you are emotionally at rest, there you will find your way to inner sight. Crystal ball reading is unlike most other divinatory methods in that the impressions are not guided by a set of psychic packages, such as Tarot cards. The gazer induces the querent to go into the place of visions within themself, follows them, reports what they see, and returns with them to the world of the waking mind. You, the crystallomancer, are responsible for elucidating and evoking the psychic process, and are also charged with the safe return of the querent to their own mind. You are a medium, a conduit, a facilitator, not a ruler of the Inner Realm. You must learn to leave your ego, desires and emotional baggage behind, these only introduce confusion into the reading. The visionary phenomenon of seeing with a crystal ball is much like looking into a mirror; you are seeing not into yourself, but into the causal connections the querent themself is making with the world. Making yourself into the best possible mirror takes time and discipline. Courage and confidence are also necessary; the world at large does not often take seriously the soi-disant seers and psychics that arise from time to time. Some are in it only for fame and their own aggrandizement and financial gain. Some few, as noted previously, are for real. Taking your psychic circus on the road is a sure way to leave behind the mental and emotional focus that made possible your inner sight in the first place. At the same time, it is not discouraged if you make enough to pay you for the time you give to another, as the psychic process takes away even as it provides. I do not believe that it is feasible to do readings of any intimacy over the phone, except in the case where the two parties are well known to one another. If you charge a fee for a reading, be consistent; charge one rate if the querent comes to you, and double it, say, if you have to go to them. After all, you are expending the effort to go to their place, away from your established comfort zone, and then make your way home. A heavy session can be very draining. The effort of being a crystal ball divinator is well worth it, in terms of your being more in touch with your own psychism, and also the way you see the connections between the planes of existence. ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): this place reserved for announcements and press releases I find of interest. I'm pretty lenient about what I place in here but please no Spam that's been around the world so many times everyone has it memorized. I will consider books release announcements, local and national event announcements, and noteworthy news applicable to those in the pagan community among other things. Thank you. Sheila ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: Sings With Coyotes /Kevin Romaine lives in rural Iowa. He is a well- regarded reader of the Tarot and crystal ball. He likes cooking for Pagans, sews his own and others' ritual garb, and is the newly minted organizer of BBMMDM for 2002. Sheila K. Watkins knew from the time she was 15 that she wanted to be a writer but did not really start writing until she entered college where she worked on her college newspaper and also worked as the editor of the feature section for one semester. She was also introduced to the love of writing poetry at this time. Fortunately for all of us most of the poems have been lost to the world of men. After college she worked several jobs during the next few years but none included writing. It wasn't until after both of her children had started school in 1998 that she went back to her love of putting words on a computer screen. Her first submission was accepted by publication by the IOWAN newsletter and it started her on the path of truly honing her work. In October of 2000, she founded and became editor of Whispers of a Stone Circle. ~*~*~*~ Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: Zeliziw@n... In submitting materials writers are agreeing that if accepted I may post them in the newsletter and on the web page (whenever I finally get back to work on it.) Works submitted must be the writer's own work and they must still retain the copyright OR it must be verifiably public domain. Works can have been published before but please nothing that has been around over and over again. Copyright remains in the author's possession. The Author also realizes that they will not be paid. (If I had money I would be hosting this on something other then Yahoo.) If a submission is accepted, I will check for punctuation, capitalization and spelling in submitted articles. I will fix minor errors if they are present. I will NOT reword things (except for an occasional "an" for "a" and vice versa.) Poems are published as submitted. All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers of said items and are used with permission. They are not to be republished without the express permission of the writers. Contact information may be obtained by contacting the editor of Whispers of A Stone Circle at Zeliziw@n... Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watkins All Rights Reserved.