Hello All Well, Mercury in retro is playing havoc with my server today. I was booted off-line so many times it wasn’t even funny. I finally gave up trying to connect again after 5 minutes of the computer I was dialing not answering. What really sucks is I planned on having this mailed out early today. Well we shall see what happens. Well the see what happened is my server was acting up for several hours. I had this ready to send by 9:15 P.M.my time. I am not sure when it will get out as I am adding this note at 11:32 A.M. I finally got my garden weeded this week, I had been putting it off. Weeding is not my favorite part of gardening. But still I had to pull the wild geranium before it took over my garden then the world. For those who don’t know, wild geranium spreads like crazy and has roots almost as long as dandelions. We have had enough rain that the ground was just soft enough to yank them out but not so soft I was sinking into the mud. Next week is the final week of school for the summer and already I need a vacation. Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids but with my husband on the road all the time now it is pretty hard and would be nice to have a real break. I have also got hooked at window shopping on eBay, it is all Kate’s fault. I haven’t bid on much, but I think I am doomed. They have herb plants for sale. ‘Nuff said. Earlier this week I spent a while wandering around the local nursery and picked up some parsley plants, some flowering plants that the girls immediately claimed for their planters and a belated Mother’s day plant for my Mom. I probably should get the parsley planted today, as well as a few other things. So until next time, Sheila K. Watkins Editor: Whispers of a Stone Circle See last page of this newsletter for submission guidelines, forwarding guidelines, where you can subscribe to Whispers and copyright information. ~*~*~*~ Healer’s song and Warrior’s might By Sheila K. Watkins I’m tired (So tired) Of all the lies Of all the hate And she wonders why (Oh yes why?) I can not trust again Whispers reaching me “She does black magic you know.” If I did black magic Believe me she would know She isn’t banished to Timbuktu (At least not yet) I’m tired (So tired) Of all the lies Of all the hate She worries about me And All I want is for her To leave me alone (Or maybe just leave?) Rumor lies and slander Aimed at my door For two years or more I’m tired (So tired) Of all the lies Of all the hate But this is not my fate Even a healer can stand and fight If pushed too much (It’s been too much) And the time is right (The time is so right) So fight I will If fight I must Healer’s song and Warrior’s might ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: I was hunting up recipes this week for a pot luck which required German or Scandinavian foods and thought I would post a couple of the links. German Recipe index http://www.acplace.com/World/german.htm Arielle's Recipe archives German http://recipes.alastra.com/german/default.html ~*~*~*~ Banishing an addiction By Sheila K. Watkins Items needed: Water proof container Water (a gallon jug would work very well.) Sea salt (a few grains) or regular salt (1/2 a teaspoon or so) Chemical item you are addicted to. (Cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, etc. Any pills crush into a powder beforehand. Cigarettes unroll and use the loose tobacco.) Timing: On a waning moon or on the dark of the moon. Location: An outside location a good distance away from your home or your regular ritual place. This is symbolic of putting the addiction away from you. This is also intended for chemically addictive substances. Note: You also need to follow through by getting help with the addiction problem. Counseling, Alcoholics and Narcotics anonymous, nicotine patches or whatever other help you need to fight it. Cast the circle widdershins (east, north, west, south, you are doing this because you are trying to banish a habit.) Call upon the elements in this way. Spirits of the East I call to you come and be welcome Spirits of the North I call to you come and be welcome Spirits of the West I call to you come and be welcome Spirits of the South I call to you come and be welcome Call upon the Deities in this manner: Gratis Goddess I call to you come and be welcome (substitute the name of the Goddess you wish to call upon.) Benevolent God I call to you come and be welcome (substitute the name of the God you wish to call upon.) Note: Healing Deities are a good choice. Take the container you are going to use and add the water to it. Add the salt saying: “with this salt I purify the water as I wish to purify my body from the effects of my addiction.” Add the substance you wish to be free of to the water saying: “I offer a sacrifice of this _____ , Lady Goddess, Lord God, I wish to be free of my addiction from it. From the control it has over my life. I know that I will need your help and ask it.” After you say this dump the water and addictive substance onto the ground. Note: for tobacco or plant matter you may wish to dig a small hole and bury it. For powdery substances make sure they are completely dissolved before doing so. Pour some fresh water into the container to rinse it out well and dump it out as well saying: “As I rinse out this container so too do I rinse ______ out of my life.” Simple feast of juice and something healthful to symbolize your new lifestyle. Benevolent God, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. (Substitute the name of the God you have called.) Gratis Goddess, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. (Substitute the name of the Goddess you have called.) Note: you are moving deosil to symbolize the start of your new life free of your addiction. Spirits of the South, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. Spirits of the West, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. Spirits of the North, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. Spirits of the East, I thank you for your help in this matter, if you must leave I thank you for your time and if you wish to stay I am glad of your company. Gather any tools you have with you. Open the Circle deosil (South, West, North, and East) and walk away not even looking back. ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): Did you know there is a Pagan Census on line? It is certainly not a surprise to many of you, but for those of you who may be new to the Pagan Path there is a website at http://www.geocities.com/pagan_census The census is informal; it was started to try and get some idea of the amount of folks in each state that follow various non-traditional faiths. One of the nice things that has been done in addition to this site, is the site owner has made e-groups for each state. These groups are being used as an informational forum to get news about events and issues out in individual states. Some of these groups have generated into marvelous lists for statewide contact. I am trying to get the word out to as many Iowa Pagans as possible of the existence of this list, as well as other states. When the census was first established the eGroups for individual states were not in effect. So, if you have already been counted, that's marvelous, but please consider joining the eGroups for your particular state (especially Iowa!!!) You can join that group by going to: pagan_connections_iowa-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Hope to see some new faces on the list in Pagan Connections Iowa! And, please feel free to forward this to your friends who may not know about it! Blessings, Kate Cheyney Moderator, Pagan Connections Iowa ****** I just sent a petition to Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior, urging her not to weaken federal protections for gray wolves. The new plan would once again make it easier to kill wolves throughout most of their historic range in the Lower 48 states. Once all but wiped out in the by extermination campaigns, wolves are just now struggling for survival again in the wild. Please help keep the wolves safe and free! Go to http://www.savewolves.org , send your petition, and pass it on!!! Please help keep the wolves safe and free! Go to http://www.savewolves.org , send your email, and pass it on!!! Kate Cheyney ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: 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@netins.net 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. Forwarding information: If you chose to forward this newsletter, do so in its entirety, including copyright and contact information. People may subscribe to Whispers of A Stone Circle at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WhispersOfAStoneCircle/ All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers 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@netins.net Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watson. All Rights Reserved