Oh no. I think chili is an ingredient in mace! Something like that. I once was chopping raw jalapeno peppers and I didnt realize I was supposed to rinse them well and remove the seeds inside first and I got that oil all over my hands. You can actually wash your hands several times and that residue still remains. I ended up getting it in my eyes somehow and it burned.

YEP! the chili peppers are what they use to make OC spray, which is what you can get legally instead of mace, which is usually illegal to carry. I carry it in my purse all the time.

The pepper oil does NOT wash off easily. I'm sure you were in a lot of pain.

I sure was. Luckily I had washed my hands probably twice before rubbing my eye so it wasnt full strength but it made the white all red and the actual tissue surrounding my eye swelled up. Bad news!. My own stupidity though. I didnt realize jalapenos were quite that powerful because I didnt really have experience in preparing raw ones. I like their spicy flavor in food and soup however.

I have no excuse as I was issued and used OC spray as a cop. It was a major "DUH" moment.

You were a police officer?

Yeah. You didn't know that? I was for 13 years with the LAPD. I resigned when I got pregnant with my first daughter to be a stay at home mom.

No, I never read that. Interesting.

You mean you haven't followed my every post in every thread religiously???

Na, I skip around so much and then I lose track. I used to be better about reading every little thing but that just becomes impossible.

Ello everyone,

I just finished a bunch of artwork to hang on my walls to help assist me in rituals. The artwork is designed to help me remember various chants and affirmations.

I actually printed out the four winds in 8 x 10 pictures to hang on my four walls.

But then I thought I'd make a web page whilst I'm at it.

So here it is for anyone who's interested. This is actually my Affirmation Meditation for 2009.

http://www.csonline.net/designer/spirit/winds.htm

Here's a slightly better picture of the Goddess and God. This will be on my North wall just above my altar.

I wanted to choose some images for the Goddess and God for visulization purposes.

These are both paintings I found on the net. The upper one is the Moon Goddess holding a crystal ball, the bottom one is the Horned God sitting in the Lotus position.

I put those to pictures together and then added my own oval vine border.

So when I begin a ritual and chant the songs of the Goddess and God I can visually look at this picture as a referrence. Kind of like idol worship but not really.

I guess anytime we make Gods into dieties we turn them into idols. I'm only doing this for the purpose of facillitating a better communiqué in my mind. It helps to give me something to visualize. This was also suggested by my literary gurus.

Look what you did to me Ruth!

You turned me into a witch by suggesting that I should read Scott Cunningham's book.

Truly that's what did it. If it hadn't been for Scotts totally abstract approach, or if you had suggested a different book that presented witch craft in a different light, I might have been turned off to it and still be searching for a better system of spirituality.

Scott got me off on the right foot, and your second suggestion of Christopher Penczak's book was also a very superb recommendation.

These styles of witchcraft just fit me like a glove.

I know that Jeannie was trying to get me to read some books on the law of attraction, and I never even read them.

But somehow I intuitively know that they wouldn't have had the earthy attraction that witchcraft has for me.

I'm not saying that the other methods are valid spiritual methods. I'm just saying that the romantic, and earthy, even alchemy ways of witchcraft are just primordially suited to me.

I truly feel like I've finally found home base. I must have been a witchdoctor in a past life.

And these shamanic journeys that Penczak has designed his book around just couldn't be more suited to me.

This isn't like I just now discovered the true nature of God. I've always knew that God was like this. What I've finally found is a system of spirituality that simply matches up with how I've always known God to be.

This is a far cry from what I used to think witchcraft was all about.

Both Scott and Christopher explain this stuff extremely pragmatically. No hocus pocus. Yes, it's magick, but it's serious magick, not just a bunch of hoopla to sell books.

So you started this Wiccan thread in a very timely manner for me.

I may never consider myself a 'Wiccan' formally as a religion, but I'm definitely a natural shaman. No question about that.

So thanks again.

Very nice James! You are quite the artist. I didnt realize you were that good. You often dont see the God and Goddess depicted side by side like that. It seems like people usually keep them separate. I also like that last photo on your web page of that piece of jewelry. Its looks like the pentagram but with the caduceus laid on top. Like so:

James, you are very welcome. You didn't turn into a witch, you were already. It's a calling. Either you play with it for a while and then walk away or you find that you can't live without it. The latter is a witch. I have known this about you from day one.

Wow. That was beautiful. I use pictures and statues as well. And, just as Catholics aren't worshipping a statue of the BVM or Jesus, we aren't worshipping statues of other gods and goddesses. We are visual creatures and having something to look at helps focus our meditations and thoughts.

I think this is why symbols are so powerful. When you look at one they conjure up all kinds of thoughts, feelings, emotions, reactions and memories. They are very powerful. Just ask any corporation. They use them all the time to get us to buy their products.

Oh Im sorry, I thought you had painted that God and Goddess. Sorry I missed that. I like the web page and the meditation chant though which you did make.

No, I didn't paint those pictures. I just stole them and cut them up.

I did put the vine around them. Although I confess that I also used a black and white outline of a vine. Then I colored in the flowers and leaves.

I do dabble in watercolors though. And I ultimately would like to paint my own pictures.

I can do birds pretty well though as you can see in this picture I painted.



Here is a web page of some other paintings I've done. I know they are pretty amature looking, but I'm working on getting better.

http://www.csonline.net/designer/paint.htm

Those are good James. Here is a book that might help you also. This helped me become much better artistically. Before reading this, I was one of those people that used to only be able to draw stick figures and so forth.

This really helps tremendously. It helps you unlock the creative right side of the brain. You do exercises like copying something by looking at the drawing upside down. That shuts off left side of the brain because it cant tell what you are looking at and allows right to take over. Right likes shapes and detail regardless of what it is.

It shuts off the "symbolical" left brain and allows the right to take over.

http://www.drawright.com/

JAMES! Those are great! I'm not just trying to be nice, either.

My mom is an artist and she has actually sold a few of her paintings. They are weird and some are a bit disturbing.

www.lsimages.com

I can hardly draw a stick figure. Okay, I have done some art, but I always destroy it later. Same thing with my journals. I'll keep one for a year and then go back and read it and destroy it. I think that's why I don't keep a Book of Shadows. I really need to get over that and start keeping these things.

Krimsa, I like that idea about the book. I went to Amazon and they have the latest edition for $12. I think that's something I should do.