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Number one rule of SNARK CLUB.  There is NO Snark club.

Number two rule of SNARK CLUB. Never talk about SNARK CLUB.

Number three rule of SNARK CLUB. If someone cries or essentially just curls up in a corner after being exposed to the snark, it’s time to move on because there is essentially no entertainment value there.

Number four rule of SNARK CLUB . Don’t overload the conversation with snark.  While sarcasm and snarkiness have their place, too much of a good thing just crates a fight when a good snarky comment would have sufficed.

Number five rule of SNARK CLUB. If you have one conversation going, stick with it.  Sometimes it’s tempting to try and take one more than one conversation, but in the end, the snark becomes stale and ends up being a rehash of both conversations.  One cannot mix potatoes and grapes after all(unless you are making latkes and drinking wine, then its perfectly acceptable).

Number six rule of SNARK CLUB. Bare knuckles is all that is required to be a confident snark master.  Gritty truth wrapped in a little sarcastic humor goes a long way to saying what is needing to be said.

Number seven rule of SNARK CLUB. Snarky comments WILL be the norm.  It’s in our nature and by damn we WILL unload our brand of truth/humor upon the masses even if it kills them!

Number 8 rule of SNARK CLUB. If this is your first time visiting our little establishment, You MUST post a snarky comment, or you will live to regret it…maybe.

DEUCES

 

 

You know sometimes I just have to shake my head at some people.  they go from group to group demanding help, but the first time one gives a viable answer they run off in a huff because it wasn’t “magical” enough.  Such is the case of one young woman.  She claimed to awaken with blue under her fingernails several nights a week, and had no idea where it came from.  It was suggested that perhaps she was sleepwalking or perhaps trying to clean her nails, and was in fact using a pen or something.  Reasonable responses in fact.  Oh no, that wasn’t doing it for her.  She had to be involved in some otherworldly endeavor and we were just being obtuse.  She apparently is a “real” witch(whatever in the fuck that means) and transports herself to other places.  Ok, astral projection I understand, Otherworld I am more than a little familiar with.  Witch I know I am..but seriously? Why would one not rule out something here in the physical before going off on a tangent with people who know their shit and refuse to listen to them?  This is exactly why so many pagans are considered fluff.  Too often they have read one too many cotton candy books that are all “love and light”, so they tend to look for things that are not there.  Noise in the dark?  spirits speaking.  Letter in the mail from unheard of relative.  Omen.  Fired from job?  Someone hexed them.  Seriously people.  Look for the mundane in your life before trying to add “magic”.  We live in the physical..perhaps some of what you are doing here on this plane is affecting other areas in your life.  I know, it’s not anywhere near as fun or exciting to think spirits might be trying to contact some fluff who has no clue how to have a discourse with them, or that finding a penny heads up will bring you luck or some such shit.  Don’t even get me started on those who think it’s unethical to charge for services..or as one told a friend “inethical”..Yeah, if you’re going for words out of reach of your vocabulary..use a dictionary.Sometimes one just gifts to others..it’s who we are.  Other times we charge for our services and products.  Nothing wrong with that.  But to try and convince others that our way of doing things  is perfectly fine is harder than trying to hitch a mosquito to a wagon pulling watermelons(yeah I know its weird imagery…go with me on this).  They just do not want to listen.  The reality is that to them it all has to do with the magic(k)–pretentious with the “k”, but I digress….  Even when its happening in the here and now there MUST be a magical reason for it.  And of course THEIR way is the correct way.  Get a grip people.  It is what it is and not everything is about you or about some unexplained magical thing.  Check your reality meter..It is obviously on the fritz…but then, maybe I hexed it 🙂

 

DEUCES

Ever notice how others seem to judge us by their own yardstick?  If you don’t walk, speak, practice according to their views, then of course you are either totally wrong, sorely lacking in knowledge or just fluff.  If you have deigned to write, voice your opinion or just put out there for public display, invariably there will be someone who either doesn’t agree, wants to tweak how you think, or wants to argue the validity of  your own personal point of view.  Then there are the ones who demand that you share any and all of yourself on said path. If you don’t do it this way, give up any knowledge gifted to you, or constantly speak out on said path..then they want nothing else to do with you.  WTF?!?! So let me get my head wrapped around this.  You want me to either do it EXACTLY as you say to do it, AND to constantly flap my gums about it so that others also do it that way.  Am I getting this right?  Well, who died and left you heir to the throne?      If I don’t do this that you demand, you will have no use of me?  Really.  Kick rocks then.  If all I am to you is a means to an end, a way for others to be deluded into thinking that you as “god” are indelibly correct in all you speak or do, then you better get on down that road and find some other indolent moron to fulfill that role.  It has taken me a long time to learn to be true to who I am.  Some days I’m still a little unsure as to the right direction, but that hasn’t stopped my feet from moving forward.  I am learning that I cannot listen to the noise around me because when I do, I lose myself in the cacophony of  other people’s views.  My world becomes jumbled and filled with flotsam that serves no purpose to me, other than to tilt me off center and we all know it never bodes well for me to be that way..for anyone.  So you can either accept that I will be who I am..a snark filled witch with a path that is intensely personal. Loyal to those I gather near and consider family, loved for who they are, no matter their walk. One who will continue to speak as I see it..even if that opinion is different than yours…that is what makes us interesting.  I cannot worry that what I say or do will hurt your feelings.  This isn’t about you.  It’s about me and for finally realizing that we all are different, have different ways of coming at things.  It’s about breaking the ruler and not worrying about “coming up short” according to others definition of who I am.  I know I’m not the only dealing with this after conversations with others, but now is the time of year that I do this type of reflection and I am finally strong enough to stand up and say to those cynics, detractors, disparagers, and general asshats.  Fuck you…and everything that makes up you..your path, your dress, your speech…in general YOU.  I don’t need you to validate me or anything I do.  And on that gem of a note…I bid you au revoir, beannacht, orevwa, good riddance, kick rocks.

DEUCES

I’ve been reading couple of  close friend’s blogs.  One speaking of a dream she has often, that I have spoken my POV on..the other who defends our friend against the judgmental asshats who also have taken a turn.  My view was that she needed to listen, and banish the negative…I was close in that train of thought, but I think she might have misunderstood about what I meant to banish..it wasn’t the voices in the winds, but other negative that I can see.  But then, who am I to judge that something is a negative.  For her it might work, just as I have things others kind of look askance at because they don’t understand how I work either.  The asshats?  Someone suggests she has “shamanic” leanings she needs to acknowledge.  WTF?!  What kind of new-agey shit is that?  First, “shaman” isn’t a word that any  self respecting Native American uses, and the way its tossed around in all these different fluffy groups, makes it akin to someone claiming a title…ANY title, from High Priestess, Druid, Witch, etc etc .  I could tell you I am a pilot..would you care to climb on my broom and go for a flight?  I haven’t had any formal training, but I’ve read a lot of books on the subject.  No..wait!  don’t call the men in the white coats just yet.  Hear me out.  There are spiritual wise ones , but they often have no label to fit them.  they also have no set deity.  WHAT?! No one to follow?  How can that be?  It’s simple really.  One admits that in any given time, one or more would be beneficial in what we are attempting to do.  I do not have to have one particular god that I follow…I believe that god exists in all things..for all people.  Why limit it?  Why when you do not have a set in stone set of rules do people seem to think that you are lacking or that you must be severely disturbed in your walk?  The people I know come from all walks.  They choose when and where to interact with deity and  on what level.  I don’t make that choice for them any more than they have the right to do so for me.  The dreams that some of us set down to paper..those are for our benefit..a way to come back to analyze and hold it close in a tangible way so that we can decide what parts are relevant for us.  It isnt open for discussion from asshats who think they know all there is to know about us or decide “this is where you’re going wrong”.  Fuck that.  Fuck you and the rabbit who brought you down the wrong hole.  Nothing is as it seems.And yet it is.

 

DEUCES

Today was a long sucky day in hell(which is what I call where I work).  I might have mentioned before, but if not, it’s a sewing plant that makes uniforms for the military.  a sweatshop of a general sort with a lot of rules in a “right to work” state, with little representation for issues that might arise.  I had problems with machine I use, the quality woman is new trying to prove a point, so I got handed some back(I pride myself on doing a good job so never get any back).  I didn’t get anywhere near what I usually get sewn done so that puts me behind for the week.  Typical Monday?  Probably, it’s just that after I’ve whined about  being tired, I thought maybe I would be cut some slack.  Yeah right. So off I went for some sustenance(cooked by someone else thankfully), hot shower and hot drink laced liberally with some spiced rum.  Yeah, I know, playing with fire, but I figured it couldn’t get any worse, right?  So I lie down to go to sleep..drifting deep because I am cold, tired and stressed.  I never even  saw the dream coming.  So here is what I remember of it.

The girl is walking along a path.  She is cold, wet and more than a little ticked off that she is out here.  The rain trickles down the neck of her cloak and she pulls it closer to her and pulls the hood up more firmly.  “Great” she thinks,” more rain. Just what I need”.  As the rain  begins more of a torrential deluge, she looks for a place where she can wait it out.  As she walks, she soon spies an opening in the hedgerow on the right, so she decides to take cover there.  As she moves into the space, she soon sees that it goes into a small clearing , secluded from the outside.  There is a small fire going, and she doesn’t give much thought as to who it belongs to or that she might be invading their space.  She is tired, and cold so sits close to the fire.  “How are you a chara?” asks a voice behind her.  Whirling around, she sees a woman, taller than herself but also in a cloak, dark as midnight, her voice smooth as honeyed syrup.  “I am well”, says the girl.  “I was seeking respite from the rains, and have availed myself of your fire.  I apologize if I am intruding”.  The woman laughs as she too steps closer to the fire.  “We were expecting you, so prepared the fire”, she says. “We?” thinks the girl.  Before she has time to wonder who else might be there, the wolf sits beside her.  “What do you think you are doing Cher?” he asks, using the familiar way she is usually addressed by those closest to her.  A little taken aback at his familiarity, she stammers..”I….I was waiting out the rains”, she said.  The wolf smiles.  “Has it been so long that you do not remember who I am?” he asks.  Looking into the wolf’s eyes, the girl sees him as he first appeared to her long ago on that river bank.  She smiles.  “I remember”, she says softly.  “It has indeed been a long time and I apologize for not knowing you at first”.  The wolf smiles back.  “I understand that things have been moving pretty fast for you, but it will slow down for a bit now”.  The girl breathes a sigh of relief.  “I was beginning to get seasick from all this spinning”, she told him.  The woman laughs.  “You created the spin..it’s how you work, always have”.  “Then I need to find another damn way to work”, the girl says a little crossly.  The woman and wolf both laugh.  “You would get bored if you didn’t have so many directions to choose from”, said the wolf.  “I would like to try.  Just. Once.” says the girl laughingly.  she props her hand under her chin.  “So why am I here on this path? sightseeing?  slumming?” “A little diversion.  A chance to look back over some things”, says Wolf.  “You needed a reminder that you aren’t really out in the cold and alone”.  “Inside I know that others are near, am just tired ….”, her voice trails off.  “Sit and rest” says Wolf. He reaches out to stroke her hair.  “I missed you petite amie”, he says.  The girl smiles. Yeah there is more to this dream.  Nope that is all for public consumption.
Let’s just say that I am in better humor than when I first came home and is giving thanks to the universe for providing things in a timely manner 🙂
DEUCES

I’ve written before about living in the south(Mississippi to be exact), but that growing up on military bases all around the world afforded me a greater view of humanity.  I have been reading commentary in the morning paper by various leaders, preachers.  Tomorrow is the 3rd Monday in January, so it is a national holiday celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, renowned civil rights leader.  While on a national front, his accomplishments are well documented, it is his personal life that resonates with those who knew him best…his family.  Dr. King was a preacher, becoming co-pastor with his father over a small Baptist church in Atlanta that his grandfather had been pastor of, then moving on to his own church.  Quite a feat actually in a time where smart black men where looked at as suspect, and often harmed by those using hate and ignorance.  Was he perfect?  NO.  There were documents by FBI as well as biographers who suggest he had extramarital affairs.  Something he did not deny, but did admit to it being a hurtful situation.  His family however, loved him and overlook that fallibility in the interest to push his legacy of being outspoken and correct in his push for equality for all races.  I like to think that even in his office as minister, that he would also agree that civil rights applies to ALL humans.  Not just on race issues, but for faiths, sexuality and gender.   It was his outspokenness that helped shape our country into forming a basis for civil right laws that has continued to develop.  He even spoke on what he would really like to be remembered for:

I’d like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to give his life serving others. I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King Jr. tried to love somebody.

I want you to say that day that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try to feed the hungry. I want you to be able to say that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say on that day that I did try in my life to visit those who were in prison. And I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major. Say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter

Now what I get from that?  He TRIED to do the right thing.  Was he successful?  Somewhat, although a great many strides of what he tried to accomplish was done after his untimely death.  The fact is, he could have gone on and become one of these major players from elaborate churches and ministries that one sees today, and filled his pockets, but he saw injustices, not just for his family based upon color, but for others as well.

A Russian proverb says, “Tell me who your friend is, and I will tell you who you are”.  That says a lot.  When Dr. King was working to motivate people to see past color, there was a wall of segregation built by people who used ignorance, and hate to spew their vile version of truth.  It was a rarity to see a mixture of people getting along.  I can remember things from those turbulent days that scared the hell out of me as a child. Who, after living on secluded, isolated bases where everyone was  treated the same no matter what because it was all affiliated with the military, had no idea of the hate in the “real world”.  My dad would be off to foreign places that we could not accompany him to, so we came back to Mississippi with its history of bad behavior well documented,  I saw first hand the ignorance of adults when the schools were forcibly segregated. Nobody taking into account that children could be harmed when buses were overturned, Molotov cocktails thrown , people beaten, angry, vile hate speech  tossed carelessly.  All those things left me with an impression.  It also left me with nightmares, as I’m sure it did others who had to experience it.  It also left me with a LOT of questions for my mother. “Momma, how come those people were angry that I was sitting with Patrice on the bus?” “Momma, why did they call her that word”(I am sure ya’ll know the one, but I will NOT allow it to appear in my personal space).”Momma, you said that we are all the same. Why do these people here think we aren’t?” “I play with others from all over the world, black, brown, yellow, white…is that wrong”? Yeah, my mother had a LOT of work to do in trying to explain the ignorance of others.  She had a lot of work to do trying to protect us counting the days until my dad returned and we could go back to that insulated world of the military.  Only it wasn’t ever quite that way after that year.   In truth, the school I attended in Ashland was desegregated because its located in a mostly rural county with lot of farming, but with forced busing, the kids from that school were going to be bused to predominately black school that was about 45 minutes away.  Make sense?  Not to anyone else either.  Parents(predominately white) decided they would NOT be forced to send their child that far from home from a school that they had grown up in as well as several generations of family.  Sometimes government in the guise of “vested interest” does some stupid things.  National guardsmen were sent into the fray.  What to do?  Close the school.  Teachers stopped showing up for work, parents didn’t send their children.  A forced vacation.  I was out of school for over 6 weeks. I was one of the fortunate ones, I loved to read, so kept up with things that way. Soon,  my dad was sent home from Korea and we moved to Oklahoma.  I could hear my parents sometimes speaking softly about the tensions still back “home” ,as it was always called.  It wasn’t until the next school term that things quieted down and the state upon looking at the dynamics of students, opened back up the doors of the school.  So what was learned from this?  That one does not truly know how deep feelings run about other’s rights until drama is brought to the forefront.  I was not allowed to go down the road to my friend Patrice’s house even though previously I had walked it often after we got off the bus.  Not because my mother would not allow it, but because her father would not.  My grandfather told me it was no longer “safe” for girls to be out alone.  I was a confused 8 year old, believe me. Now my grandfather and my friend’s father had sharecropped many years in that cotton field down below their homes.  Times were tense.  Grownups speaking in hushed, angry, tense voices.  I have no recollection of how that was solved.  I lost track of my friend.  I have no idea how her life turned out.  I hope that she is happy in hers.  That she too has family, is loved by her friends, maybe even her own little people to drive her to distraction as mine do at times.  What I wish most of all is that she too, having seen the horror of other people’s version of “truth” set out to be the change she wished to see in our world.  I try to set the tone in my home of respect for all(I try and save the judgments for those who refuse to educate themselves).  I also pass that on to the little ones.  I want their world to be mush as Dr. King envisioned it.  A world of equality for all, based upon love, compassion and respect for ALL people.  We are ONE race…HUMAN.

 

DEUCES

chair de la chair,
les os de l’os,
le balayage des dragons d’où ils errent.
Du brouillard à la vallée,
les montagnes à la mer,
des mystiques sages,
la connaissance est recherchée.

 

The song is often sung to me by Brin.  It’s the only words I have learned, although as often as I beg her to sing it to me, one would think that I would know it all.  Maybe it’s that those are the ones that seem to resonate with me.  Seeking knowledge from those who have always held it within their very being.  She sings it in a language that I don’t speak, but often sings it again in french which I do get, if it’s kept in a simple form.  It fills me with a peace that seems to permeate my soul.  I’m connected somehow even if I cannot remember how that came to be.   When I am stressed and seem to be unable to figure out what I am doing or where I am headed next, the song is sung, almost as a reminder that I am where I am supposed to be and going in a direction that is for me both spiritually fulfilling and familiar in its journey.  Even the tune of the music is enough to soothe me, as its hummed.  Like my spirit is seeing all that knowledge and love reflected back into it.  I’ve been out of sorts past few days, so those who love and have always cared for me use the tools they have at their disposal to pull me back into an upright position.  Yeah, almost back to center and that feels much better than that dizzying upside down feeling that seems to invade my very core.  It makes me feel terrible when I’m like that..the bones ache, my body temperature goes wonky,  I seem to stay cold with a bone-chilling death kind of cold that will not go away no matter how hard I try and warm myself.  My snark level..well let’s just say it goes straight to” mutherfucking life threatening, this bitch will kill you if you don’t run away very quickly” kind of mood.  So this week has been a little more stressful to say the least, and not just for me, but for those with the misfortune to encounter me in the throes of the “don’t even look at me let alone open your mouth to speak to me” kind of moods.  That I seem to have been righted on a day that most have silly superstitions about amuses me in its irony.  I have never had an trepidation about Friday the 13th, nor do I follow any superstition to will away any misfortune.  Timing is left up to when it’s needed…I dont concern myself too much at that.  I always seem to be able to find a place to set my feet at the appropriate time..usually about when I start to yell “ENOUGH”.   So today, I feel better than I have in a little while, and now back to the work at hand…..Friday the 13th..gotta love the humor ~GRINS~

 

DEUCES

Damn what a day!  It’s been a long ass week in hell and still not over, and everything that can make that job stressful happened pretty much.  On top of that it snows..like here in Mississippi we need or want that shit or the cold weather that came with it.  The kids will appreciate the time off, as Im sure with the icy bridges, for safety’s sake they will be out.  One would think that I would just relax and chill. I would do that if I didnt feel so off kilter.  I feel like Im walking by myself out in the middle of nowhere lately.  For what purpose I have no idea.  Drinking with the Baron tells me that there will be major doings soon…will he wait til I’m not quite so tired?  Not damn likely.  I feel like running to be consoled by Maman, who will welcome me as always, but I’m not a damn child so keep telling myself to suck it up and get on with it!  Ok, maybe I need to just take a day to myself and see where this is all headed.  But then that might be as relevant as asking which alcohol will get me drunker fastest.  Moot question if that is my intent, not to mention about as productive,lol.  I’ve learned that questioning just makes me crazy, and I probably am just tired and stressed from other commitments that I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and alone right now.   Yeah..I admitted it.  alone. I don’t usually mind it but today I do. Funny how pictures that reflect that flit through one’s mind huh?  Barren, dry, desert …Right in the middle of the dunes.  Why would I not find myself in familiar places that are also solitary in nature, such as the wheat field or swamp? Maybe because even in that solitude, I am not alone nor feel isolated.  Everyone has been running in different directions so there is a disconnect, especially on my end.  So while I’m not a child, I seek closeness from those who understand me best.  Here’s looking at a brighter tomorrow and no bloodshed for those around me while I sort myself out.  à votre santé!

DEUCES

So you ever get tired of the endless questions, conversations of how all pagans, Wiccans, Heathen are alike, all are witches, and from an “ancient” faith?  I roll my eyes and want to cut out of them as soon as they start, but I have witty friends and sometimes I hang around  just to watch them try and explain for perhaps the millionth time that unless one is following a specific path with set rules and guideline, that particular path isnt any more ancient than say the 1950’s(or yesterday).    There are no ancient tomes upon which to base one’s path on, unlike other more secular faiths.  There are a plethora of authors who have written things, and while some are knowledgeable in their works, the majority would fall under UPG(Unverified Personal Gnosis–personal experience or opinion).  So unless one is in a group with set rules made up by said group…we are definitely NOT all alike, nor are we all witches.  I shake my head at those fluff who claim that it’s all about love and light.  Really.  Is the world not balanced?  Is that “balance” you speak of in the universe depicted by the yin/yang, male/female , dark/light form of balance?  Then explain how in hades everything is one form?  To have all light without shadow is out of sync..out of balance and harmony.  Take a look at nature and see the shadow on the path as you walk in the sunlight.  I’m trying to make this as simple as I can because obviously some out there are not getting the concept.  And don’t look down your nose at those who want to toss in some chaos in their path.  Even nature destroys things in order to create.  I just want people to take some time and stop lumping everyone into the same mold.  We don’t fit!  It’s the reason why some of us don’t walk a secular path anymore, why we are the square pegs in the round holes. It’s why we often color outside the lines or take roads that very few are willing to travel.  It’s why there are those who put themselves out there trying to educate others.  Don’t quibble over labels that some feel the need to slap over themselves.  Most are just pretentious titles that aren’t worth the paper they print them on.  If you don’t have the education to go with that title, then drop it.  It just makes you look stupid, and believe me when I say that others can see that. I hear from some that they don’t get the dreams I sometimes write about based upon my path.  My response is “AND”? I write them down so that I have a place to go back and revisit some of the things I was told by those who guide me.  The blog is just a personal outlet to let off steam.  It’s not meant to educate everyone.  If you find something that helps..great..if not..kick rocks and move along.  Not everyone practices the same nor do we all have the same deities/entities in our lives as we walk these paths.   We aren’t stepford pagans, walking in lockstep with one another.  Believe me when I say that there are some I would not cross the street to have a conversation with because of fear of being inundated by a fluff ball between the eyes.  Yeah, I know it’s pretty judgmental of me, but seriously if you listened to them for yourself, You’d probably want brain bleach yourself.   It’s scary sometimes how simplistic and innocent  views are brought by some people come into this path.  It’s like one can simply say “I’m am(insert current path here) and be done with it.  Believing everything others tell them.  It’s how they get hurt…badly.  So what do I advocate?  EDUCATION.  Learn from those who have been on the path for some time.  Read authors that give you a historical insight into how things began and how its evolved.  Try things for yourself.  Experience is a damned good teacher.  Even if you “fail” you have learned a lesson.  Stop trying to be the same as someone else.  It’s nice to have an idol you want to emulate, but try to watch how they learn and use that instead of trying the “twin” routine.  Learn something new every day.  It keeps the brain active and one never knows what can be applied to the path you have chosen.  Stop thinking we are all the same.  Just as you have your own personal view of the world, so does everyone else.  We all come at things from our own perspective, so things will not all be the same..even in a coven setting.  One can have the same rules, learn the same things and still have a different view…That is the beauty of being you.  Enjoy and embrace that.

 

DEUCES