3/20- 4/5

Each day I have completed a 5 minute breathing meditation with candles, incense and oat offerings.

March 23rd was my 30th birthday complete with a 30 hour hangover ( just kidding it wasn’t that bad.) On March 26th we went and Saw Neil Degrasse Tyson at Kingsbury Hall. He is one of my heroes.I wrote him a note…”I know you probably won’t see this but I’d like to say it. It was a great night last night.You took your shoes off on stage. comforting, real, familiar. You wanted to speak with us-not from your books or to us…but with us. Although the ushers hustled me thru the line so fast I didn’t get to say anything or even say “thank you” ( although you did sign my book.) I wanted to say to you that you changed my life. You and Carl Sagan brought science to me, made it not scary. I can carry on conversations with engineers, scientists, doctors, and people much more educated than me because you helped me not to be afraid. Thank you for illuminating the connection I can share with my husband, family, and friends through the cosmos. Thank you for showing me another side of the beauty of nature, engaged by science and knowing. Your words encouraged me to look up and around me with wonderment. And I do my best, as you challenged ” to make it my own and show it to others” . You gave a wonderful speech challenging Americans to be great again, to be curious, to go towards solutions instead of running away from problems. Once again in my life, I am reminded ” Why not excellence?” You challenged us to take care of our pale blue dot, as Carl Sagan said, it is the only home we’ve ever known. Thank you for taking the time to come to Utah and speak. It is a wonderful experience and one I hope to repeat.”

I wish words could describe getting to hear such a remarkable man whom I respect so much and who hold the torch for knowledge and exploration so highly.

I’ve missed Spring Equinox as it is so close to my birthday and I worked very late that day but I’ve always felt a deeper stirring and connection with that celebration often without ritual. My internal clocks seem to be set much closer to that day of awakening and joy. I did leave seeds and some water out for our local birds.

Adding to the busyness of life, I took on the training and care of a friend’s therapy dog. We rescued Mouse, and have been working with him daily to become a service dog for a dear friend of mine with Tourette’s. Here is his fundraising page and more of his story. Mouse is a 3 year old Newfoundland mix. He knows all his basic commands and has great manners. T & Mouse bonded almost instantly. Those of us in the dog world (I train and breed German Shepherds) talk about “Heart dogs” and Mouse could very much be this for T.

Nothing would aid T more in developing a higher quality of life than a service dog. I have watched as T go from being able to work only 5-10 hours a week to reliably working 20-25, he has pursued every medical option to help him, and is working closely with both his primary care doctors and therapists.

T’s medical team has all agreed that a service dog is the right choice for T, another very important tool in his wellness kit. Mouse would help get T to the point that he is working full time!

Mouse would support T in several ways:
– Remind T to take his medication
– Provide support and calming when he faces panic attacks associated being in public while ticing.
– Provide compression. Mouse would lay his body across T’s chest and arms, stopping the tics cold in their tracks!
Those specialized services are in addition to all of the physical and mental health benefits that being a dog owner provide! All excess funds after we pay for Mouse’s purchase and initial needs will be placed in a veterinary fund/feeding fund for Mouse in the future. Thank you so much! 

Now for a switch in topic….As most of you know I was raised Mormon in the wilds of the Carolina woods. I never doubted until I moved to Zion, which is another world for Utah used by the faithful. I’ve been out of the church for nearly 11 years and really have never been happier. finding my Pagan path 9 years ago was illuminated and wondrous and I love my journey! For those of you that don’t know “the church” ( LDS/Mormons) is in a massive upheaval between Gay rights and Women’s rights. What I’d like to speak towards in particular is the Ordain Women movement. From their website:

The fundamental tenets of Mormonism support gender equality: God is male and female, father and mother, and all of us can progress to be like them someday. Priesthood, we are taught, is essential to this process.  Ordain Women believes women must be ordained in order for our faith to reflect the equity and expansiveness of these teachings. Last year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reaffirmed its commitment to equality: “The Book of Mormon states, ‘black and white, bond and free, male and female; … all are alike unto God’ (2 Nephi 26:33). This is the Church’s official teaching.” Ordain Women embraces this statement. We are committed to work for equality and the ordination of Mormon women to the priesthood.Based on the principle of thoughtful, faith-affirming strategic action, Ordain Women aspires to create a space for Mormon women to articulate issues of gender inequality they may be hesitant to raise alone. As a group we intend to put ourselves in the public eye and call attention to the need for the ordination of Mormon women to the priesthood. We sincerely ask our leaders to take this matter to the Lord in prayer.

I honor my sisters in Zion for their bravery and courage to stand up and ask for what is rightfully theirs. Yes they are “upsetting the status quo” but what is wrong with a little anarchy? Isn’t that how change happens? Isn’t stagnation the death of all things? Let’s look at other churches and organizations that allow women in leadership positions? Have the Episcopal and Unitarian churches collapsed into chaos? No, if anything they’ve been strengthened by allowing women to lead and manage priestly duties!

 I’m grateful I can be a powerful leader in all my own divine rights and glory as a free woman. Nothing stands between me and my connection with the holy and complete universe. I am my own conduit, vessel, priest, guardian, and guide. First rites or last, I am fully capable, sovereign and independent-and so are each of my partners, friends, lovers, children and charges.
My sacred connection is not based on my ability to procreate or be with my counterpart in creation. I AM creation with each breath I destroy and construct the universe. We are infinitesimal and INFINITE.

My sacred connection is through my breath and my body. My awareness and laughter. I do not wait for others to tell me when GOD speaks. I speak to HIR directly. I do not wait for others to bless me, I anoint my own self with the breath of life, with the sunrise beams of the star of life. By opening my eyes each day I connect with all this is, was, and ever shall be in the vastness of time, space, and the cosmos.