Month: February 2012

Green Tip – 9 Uses for Old Jeans

9 Uses for Old Jeans

  • Chaya, selected from Networx

By Adam Verwymeren, Networx

There are few things more comfortable than a beloved, broken-in pair of jeans. But some day, when the denim’s faded, the seams have split and the cuffs have frayed, you’re going to be faced with a harsh reality: All good jeans must someday meet their end. But rather than let that precious fabric go to waste balled up in the back of your closet or, worse yet, getting tossed in the trash, you can (and should) repurpose and reuse those precious pants.

The durability, heft and stylishness of denim make it a great and versatile fabric for a variety of projects and purposes. Here are some great uses for your old jeans.

Coffee Cozy: Cut down on wasted cardboard coffee sleeves by making your very own denim coffee cozy from an old pair of pants. Simply snip the fabric to fit your favorite sized cup or mug and hem the top and bottom. [via Doctor Popular]

Knee Pads: Gardening is a great hobby, but sometimes digging around in the dirt all day can be tiring on the knees. Transform an old pair of jeans into a padded mat to spare your tired limbs while you garden. This handy guide will show you how to make a handsome knee pad, but for a quick and easy alternative that requires no sewing, simply cut off one pant leg, stuff it full of something soft and tie off each end with a zip tie. Of course, another way to save your knees is to hire a local landscaper. [via Martha Stewart]

Patching Other Jeans: Don’t let a small tear force you to toss an otherwise perfectly good pair of jeans. Cut patches from an old pair to fix up a current pair of pants. Use a bit of fabric glue to adhere the patch, and just like that, your pants have been fixed.

Sharpen a Razor: Stropping, the practice of removing microscopic burrs from a razor, is essential for getting a close, smooth shave that doesn’t leave your skin burning. Usually done with a piece of leather, stropping can also be done with a pair of old jeans. The coarse texture of denim smoothes and polishes the surface of a razor, extending the life of a disposable blade. [via Instructables]

Desk Organizer: Using the back pockets on a pair of blues, you can make a handy desk-side organizer with a board and a glue gun. The pockets are a great place to store pens, pencils and other office supplies. Or use it in the garage to store tools, nails and other hardware.

iPhone Sleeve: Cut up a pair of blue jeans and resew them to fashion a cheap, effective sleeve for your iPhone, iPad or other gadgets. Use a swatch from the jeans’ rear and the back pocket can double as a storage place for credit cards and cash. It’s an iPhone case and a wallet.

Heat Pack: Cut off a pant leg, tie off or sew up end and fill the leg with dried rice. Seal up the other end and you have a convenient hot pack to soothe achy muscles. Simply pop it into the microwave for a couple of minutes and apply wherever it hurts. A homemade heat pack would be perfect in a DIY gift basket for someone who deserves a little TLC. We’d like to give these (as well as a huge pat on the back) to the Dallas roofers who helped to rebuild several Texas churches that were lost to arson.

Make a Quilt: Anyone who has had to part with an old pair of jeans knows that it’s hard to let go of such a well-loved and well-worn piece of denim. Transform that soft, supple fabric into quilt so that you can continue loving those jeans long after they lived their last day as a pair of pants. [via HGTV]

Keep Out the Cold: Fill a pant leg with sand and sew it up. Slide it against the base of a door to insulate your home in the winter months.

Your Home is Attracting Your Future!

Your Home is Attracting Your Future!

  • Erica Sofrina

A missing component from the popular book The Secret is the important role our environment plays in manifesting the life we desire.

According to the laws of attraction, every thought radiates a signal and attracts a matching signal. Every object in our homes is a physically manifested thought-form of our conscious and unconscious belief system about what we believe we deserve to be, do and have in life. The single woman who desires a relationship but surrounds herself with single objects and pictures of single women is vibrationally anchoring into her home unconscious affirmations of the opposite future she desires.

Feng Shui is powerful because it teaches us to become conscious of the hidden messages in our physical surroundings that may not be serving us, giving us valuable insights as to why our lives may be headed in the directions they are! It provides valuable tools for getting our lives back on track and teaches that we can literally shift our future by shifting the vibration of our physical environments. As we arrange our space to reflect what we truly want, our lives follow suit. It is simply the law of attraction: like attracts like.

Feng Shui addresses the subtle things in our environment that wear on us over time and bring our chi (energy) down. Examples might be clutter piles, the sharp-edged furniture that can injure, plants dying or limping along, objects from past relationships that bring us down, dis empowering or disturbing art, heavy objects like beams or ceiling fans overhead create a feeling of being unsafe. Beds and key pieces of furniture placed with our backs to the door will also create a feeling of dis empowerment. Highly manufactured products like plastics and synthetics not only pose health issues because of the out-gassing, but will also carry a denser vibration.

Once we clear our space of the things that are depleting our chi or energy we bring in objects that enhance it. Pictures and fabrics depicting nature and especially live plants and trees, will always raise the energy. Bring in objects you love such as shells from favorite beaches, palms and orchids that remind you of Hawaii, inspiring nature photos that uplift. The more passionately you feel about these environmental affirmations the more chi they will generate for you.

In western Feng Shui we recommend clients use symbols and objects from their own culture rather than Chinese cultures, unless of course, the client is Chinese. Things that resonate personally for you will carry a much higher vibration that those superimposed from another culture.

Strategically placing these objects in your home in accordance with the Bagua map will give it even greater energy. An example might be placing an inspiring picture of Tuscany in your Wealth area with the intention of going there every year. This strategically placed object, infused with your passion and intention, is sending a vibration into the universe that is attracting a similar vibration, literally drawing this future to you.

Feng Shui is neither about magic nor superstition. Neither is it about hanging crystals and wind chimes in strategic places that mysteriously bring us good fortune. It is a powerful teaching about how to focus and direct energy in our physical environments to produce the maximum benefit in our lives.

By creating a beautiful, organized and safe living space that is infused with the higher vibration objects from the natural world, and then strategically placing objects that reflect our deepest desires, we create a powerful energy vortex in our homes.We can become conscious co-creators of our own lives by creating homes that broadcast messages to the universe that attract our intended futures to us!

9 Feng Shui Ways to Enhance Your Wealth

9 Feng Shui Ways to Enhance Your Wealth

  • Erica Sofrina

By Erica Sofrina, Author of the book Small Changes, Dynamic Results! Feng Shui for the Western World.

Welcome to my series on how to locate and enhance the nine key Feng Shui energy centers of your home. In this article I will show you how to identify and activate the area that corresponds to your wealth and prosperity.

Feng Shui has many practical applications that are logical, simple and even obvious, of which I have written many articles about. The more mysterious and esoteric part of Feng Shui is the study of the Bagua. This wisdom comes from the I Ching, or The Book of Changes.

The ancient Feng Shui masters felt there were certain parts of the home that corresponded to key areas of the lives of its occupants. By working with these energy centers you could A- identify what was going on in that area of your life, and B- enhance it by putting objects there that would encourage the chi (energy) to become activated.

The I Ching is a profound and esoteric study in its self, and has been used over the centuries as a method of divining right action. It incorporates both yin and yang expressions and is used to study and contemplate the process of change and inner development.

The portion that relates to Feng Shui has to do with charting the nine energy centers of your home by using what is called the Bagua Map.

By learning how to work with and identify these energy centers in our homes, we can become conscious co-creators of our lives.

Bagua translated means eight trigrams. These trigrams refer to important areas of our lives such as wealth, health, love, career, self-cultivation, fame, creativity, helpful people, etc. In this article I will talk about how to locate and activate and enhance the wealth area of the Bagua.

Wealth and Prosperity Defined

The trigram connected to wealth and prosperity in the I Ching is called SUN. It is about the deep roots of financial stability and calm security in terms of one’s personal wealth. A key component is gratefulness; being grateful before as well as after the money comes. It is not about fast money but the slow, steady, honest accumulation of wealth, along with the things we truly value in life. It is not about making the monthly bills (this is connected to the Health and Family area) but the abundance of prosperity, such as luxury items, vacations, those seminars you have been dying to take, and anything that is a want rather than a necessity.

 

Nine Suggestions to Enhance Your Wealth Area

Once you locate the wealth area of your home (directions below), take a look at what is happening there. Is this where there is a lot of clutter, or where the junk closet resides? Perhaps it is in a dingy bathroom or missing all together from the Bagua of your home? (this is addressed in the Bagua lay-out section)

Feng Shui teaches that the outer environment will always reflect our inner environment. By cleaning it up, clearing it out, making it beautiful and adding the enhancers, you activate this area of the Bagua and thus the extra money area of your life is activated as well.

Environmental affirmations are objects we put into our space that either reflects something we want to bring into our lives, or keep there. Use these environmental affirmations to vitalize the wealth area of your home once you have taken care of the ‘splinters’ such as clutter, broken things, missing areas, etc.

Here are nine suggestions of objects you can add to your wealth area that will activate the chi:

  • Items that call in the Chi (energy)
  • Inspiring Art and other items that depict the things we want to bring into our lives in terms of wealth. An example might be a favorite picture of Tuscany if you wants to travel there, the tropical paradise picture for a much-desired Hawaiian vacation.
  • Quotes and affirmations pertaining to wealth written in present tense, as if it is true now!
  • Fountains, waterfalls and water features or pictures of flowing water. (Flowing water represents money in Feng Shui)
  • Articles you love that you might have paid a lot of money for, i.e., a favorite vase, coin collection, jewelry or artwork. (Or items that look like you paid a lot for them!)
  • Healthy plants with shiny, round coin-shaped leaves such as jade plants.
  • Personal wealth symbols reflective of your own taste and culture. (If you are not Chinese, symbols from your own culture may have a deeper meaning rather than Chinese coins, gold fish or ‘lucky bamboo’)
  • Objects in purples, reds and greens symbolizing wealth and money. Purple Amethysts and crystals are wonderful wealth chi enhancers. Add purple accessories, colors and fabrics to this area, provided you like the color purple* (Purple includes plum, lavender, lapis blues, etc.)
  • Create vision boards and collages depicting the objects you want to bring into your life in terms of wealth. * Note: never put anything into your space that you do not love just because a Feng Shui book or article told you to do so! The goal of Feng Shui is to create a living space that feeds your soul and uplifts your spirits. Objects you don’t love will have the opposite effect. The more personal the objects are to you, the more chi they will generate.

How to Put the Bagua Map onto your Home and Identify your Wealth Area

Here are step-by-step instructions for how to put the Bagua Map onto the floor plan of you home and locate your personal wealth energy center:

1. Draw a sketch of the floor plan of your space. This should be the birds-eye view as if you are looking down on it. Include all built-on decks, stairways and attached garages.

2. Draw a square or rectangle over the floor plan in the shape of the Bagua map. All of the areas of the home need to be within the square or rectangle. If your home is an irregular shape, still draw the rectangle or square around it.

3. Stand at the front door with the map perpendicular to the floor with the Entrance Quadrant touching your stomach. This will tell you the direction to overlay the Bagua map onto the floor plan of your home.

4. Now divide your home with the Bagua map overlaid on it in nine equal sections. This will identify for you where all of the key nine areas are of your home are. The wealth area will always be the far left quadrant of the home and the Love and Marriage the far right section, etc.

5. If your home is not a rectangle or square, you may be missing areas of the Bagua. If this is the case, you can do a mini-Bagua for each room of your home and enhance the wealth corner of each room. Treat the main entrance to the room like you would the front door of the home and lay the Bagua accordingly.This energetically brings back into the space the missing area.

6. If you have more than one floor of your home, what ever is below is above. You do not turn the Bagua differently for each floor. In which case you may have more than one wealth area, the same rules of enhancement apply to all areas!

Cosmic Calendar for Monday, February 6th

Love vibrations are increasing in frequency – courtesy of a Moon-Venus flowing trine in water signs (1:29AM PST). While romance appears to be promising, surprises and shock waves can easily pop up due to a frictional, 45-degree connection from the Sun to radical-change agent Uranus (2:05AM PST). Expecting the unexpected is more the rule now than the exception. A short void lunar cycle from 4:32AM PST to 5:25AM PST is a reminder to finish old projects on a high note. Once the clock strikes 5:25AM PST, the Moon enters warmhearted and outgoing Leo for a change of pace. Advances on the cutting edge of science and metaphysics can suddenly show up as the Moon trines Uranus (9:01AM PST). Become more familiar with new technological marvels entering the marketplace and be fearless about exploring the ever-expanding online universe. However, more topsy-turvy conditions are likely to spontaneously manifest around the time that Mercury makes an abrasive, 45-degree link to its higher-octave planet Uranus (12:03PM PST). When Uranus begins to throw its erratic, iconoclastic and revolutionary weight around, stability and comfort are hard to find. Instead, you need to periodically check in with your intuitive awareness and fly more by the seat of your pants. Keep preparing for tomorrow’s enlightening Full Moon energy-field and Saturn turnaround in motion.

Calendar of the Sun for Monday, February 6th

Calendar of the Sun
6 Solmonath

Day of Aphrodite Genetrix

Colors: Sea green and white
Element: Water
Altar: Lay with a cloth of sea green, strings of pearls, white lace, many scallop shells, colored glass sea floats, abalone, small shells with hearts and fishes painted on them, and a large chalice of Greek wine with frothy sugared egg whites floating in it.
Offerings: Shells. Fishes. Promises to aid expectant parents.
Daily Meal: Ocean fish. Shellfish. Sweet things, especially desserts. Whipped cream.

Invocation to Aphrodite Genetrix

Lady of Sea-Foam,
Green as the ocean from which
You sprang, with pearls
Of whitest foam,
Aphrodite Genetrix
Love that creates all Life,
We thank you for the Love
That sparked our existence.
We remember that we were all born of love
Whether it was brief and poignant
As a firefly’s courtship
Or solid and lasting
For half a century,
Whether it sprang from the body
Or the heart, or the soul.
You who bind the proton to the electron
And so bind the world together,
May we never forget your gift of attraction
That makes us all human
Even as you are divine.

Chant: Amor Invictus Amor Invictus

(The ritual for this day is the Great Rite, performed by one man and one woman, as Aphrodite Genetrix is the matron of procreative sexuality. If done symbolically, the man plunges a blade into the chalice held by the woman, and then it is poured as a libation. Ideally, it should be done literally, either by members of the house or by two who have come in for this purpose. If outsiders, it would be an auspicious time to conceive a child. All sit facing outwards in a circle and chant as the couple are wrapped in a red cloth and lay together in the center, and when it is done all repair to their rooms and either contemplate love or have ritual sex, alone or together.)

The Wiccan Book of Days for Feb. 6th – Lady of Love and Magick

Lady of Love and Magick

So compelling was the cult of Isis, the greatest of the Ancient Egyptian Goddesses, that her worship spread to Greece, and thence to Rome, and indeed, she continue to be venerated today. “Isis of Ten Thousand Names” is often invoked on this day in her incarnation as the Green Goddess, a young and beautiful Goddess of nature who broadly corresponds with the Greek Aphrodite, is especially associated with love and sex, and has the blessing of fertility within her gift. In this aspect, Isis’s primary symbol is the tyet, a red talisman worn by her followers that is thought to represent her knotted girdle and menstrual blood.

 

“Tarot Teachings”

On this day, meditate on the fifth major-arcana Tarot card, the Pope, or Hierophant (V), representing spiritual authority. Revisit or explore the tenets and teachings of traditional religions to see if they could add a rewarding dimension to your life and beliefs.

Guess What? It’s Monday Again! Have A Great One!

Monday Pictures, Images, Comments, Graphics
Today’s Affirmation for Monday, February 6th

“When I look into the future, I see a vista of challenge and resolution. I venture forth with strength, hope and faith.”

 

Thought of the Day for Monday, February 6th

“Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”

Anonymous

 

Meditation for Monday, February 6th

A Map of Life’s Road

Perform this meditation to help you negotiate your way through various options. First, sketch a map of the paths available to you, and the potential paths these may lead to in the future. Illustrate each path with relevant images or symbols. Meditate on the map through half-closed eyes. Notice whether particular images draw your attention, or new images occur to you, suggesting alternative courses of action. Allow your inner sense of direction to speak to you.

Alternatively create a collage of your future. Leaf through magazines, holding in mind the question “Where do I start to go?” Cut out appealing images, stick them to some cardboard and use the collage as a focus for meditation.

RITUAL TO FIND YOUR SPIRIT GUIDE

RITUAL TO FIND YOUR SPIRIT GUIDE

Items Needed
Altar Candle
Day Candle (Monday-white, Tuesday-red, Wednesday-purple, Thursday-blue,
Friday-green, Saturday-black, Sunday-yellow)
Offertory Candles – 3 Violet Candles
3 White Candles

Tools
Athame to inscribe candles
Crystal ball or clear glass of water

Incense
anise, cardamom, and coriander.

Oil
jasmine, lemon, rose and sandalwood

Timing
Best done during the Mercury hour of the day, although any hour should work.
Any moon phase is appropriate.

Preparation
Breathe deeply and build a ball of protective light around you. While soaking
in your ritual bath, meditate on the whole ritual: the steps you will take
and what you wish to say to your spirit guide when you make contact.

Ritual
Enter the circle in the Hour of Mercury. Light the incense. With the oil,
dress the Altar Candle and the Day candle while concentrating on the purpose
of the ritual. Light your Altar Candle and Day Candle and state your intent:

I am here to make contact with my Spirit Guide, and to acknowledge him or
her.

With your Athame, inscribe Violet Candle #1 with the word “Spirit.” Dress it
with oil. Light the Violet Candle #1, direct your energies into it and say:

Here do I light the first Lamp of Spirit.
May its light reach out across the barriers from this world to the next.
May it make contact with that World of Spirit into which we will eventually
enter.

Take your censer or incense wand and swing it around, sensing the whole area
around the altar while rhythmically repeating the word “Merge” and building
up energy to focus. Replace the censer and pick up Violet Candle #2.

Inscribe it with the word “Spirit” and dress it with oil. Put it back on the
altar, light it and say:

Here do I light the second Lamp of Spirit.
May its light also reach out across the barriers from this world to the next?
May it make contact with that World of Spirit and help spread the light,
illuminating the passageway between our worlds.

Again take the censer or incense wand and sense the entire area around while
chanting the word “Merge.” Build up your energy to focus. Take Violet Candle
#3, inscribe it with the word “Spirit,” dress it with oil, charge with your
energy, light it and say:

Here do I light the third Lamp of Spirit.
May the light from these three lamps blend and grow, dispelling all darkness
and lighting the way that my Spirit Guide may come to me and speak with me
here today.

Inscribe the three white candles with the word “Truth” and anoint each candle
with oil. Light the three candles in the order of 1, 2, 3, and say:

Here do I build Truth.

As these candles burn throughout this ritual, their power generating nothing
but truth in all that transpires between this world and the next. Through
these candles there is truth in all communications that come to me. Again
cense the altar area while chanting “Merge.” Replace the censer and continue
chanting. Sit comfortably while chanting, and gaze into the crystal ball, or
the clear glass of water. Continue chanting until you feel it is right to let
the chant taper off. Continue to quietly look into the crystal ball or glass,
not trying to picture anything. Keep your mind blank, so whatever comes will
appear and will come in it’s own free will. Gaze into the center of the
crystal, there is no need to try not to blink. Look into the crystal and
blink naturally. Try not to notice anything in your peripheral vision, just
the center of the crystal. Eventually a face or figure will appear. This may
take a long time, or it may appear almost immediately. If it doesn’t come at
all within approximately 20 minutes, abandon this attempt, extinguish the
candles in the order in which they were lit, leave the altar set up, and try
this ritual again in three days.

You should have results within a month at most. When a figure does appear,
ask if he/she is your Spirit Guide. You will hear an answer, you may not hear
it out loud, or even see the figures lips move, but you will be aware of the
answer. This is how most conversations will proceed. You will ask your
questions mentally (or out loud) and the answer will be clear inside your
mind. Ask if you have more than one Spirit Guide. If yes, ask them to appear
also. You may ask anything you wish to know, but it is better to establish a
connection first where your Spirit Guide may appear to you at any time, or at
specific times, so that you can converse with any other spirits through
him/her. When you have finished speaking with your guide, thank him/her, then
sit for a moment with your eyes closed, meditating on all that you have
learned. Extinguish the candles in reverse order to clear the circle.

Meet Your Spirit Guides

Meet Your Spirit Guides

Before retiring, or going to bed, spend a few minutes in bed relaxing. Just
focus on being relaxed. Be relaxed…
While relaxed, imagine a Veil in front of your eyes. A curtain, or a wall.
Imagine the Veil, or the wall, as being void, black. Accept the Veil, or the
wall. Do not be threatened by the Veil, because you are relaxed, and because
you know the Veil is an illusion, and serves purpose. You are still relaxed.
Then, you visualize the Veil (or wall) slowly lifting. You see the Veil lifting,
and you see stars, you see lights. You know you can see things you haven’t seen
before. You are still relaxed. When you are ready, you ask for Spirit to join
you. You ask Spirit to touch you, and to embrace you, because you are ready to
embrace Spirit. You know that Spirit is Divine Love, you know you are safe, you
know you are loved. You know you are ready to meet Spirit. Hold your hands out.
Let your fingertips feel the touch of Spirit. Know that when you are ready, you
can ask Spirit to embrace your arms; ask for Spirit to give you a huge hug. You
will feel it. Accept the love that is given to you, and know that you have
earned it, that the love is yours. You may feel many things. Electricity, and an
urge to cry, is what I felt, and great joy. There are many methods regarding
meeting your spirit guides. I met my guides in delayed stages. I had two human
guides and three critter guides. This is not “common” but is also not unheard-
of. What is common is for people to have two human guides. For those who study
critter-paths, I believe that they also have two human guides, but that they are
working more consciously with critter-wisdom, and therefore it is likely that
they have “critter-medicine”, and may actually have critter guides, as I do.
Names? Gender? These are generally the first two issues we would like to
distinguish within our guides. What I would recommend, as a matter of deduction,
is that you ask your inner voice, if your entity is Male or Female. You WILL
receive a definite impression. Lesson number one – learn to trust yourself. (I
like to ask the gender question first, as it’s an easy one-two, this or that
approach, and helps to distinguish our own emotional responses.) When it comes
to names, let your mind be open to receive impressions. When I first met Elmo,
my bear, I had a hard time believing that was his name, because I am a “serious”
person, I associated “Elmo” as being playful, and therefore antithetical to what
I thought his name should be. (Yet, I’ve learned a lot from Elmo, including “not
being so uptight” I also learned more about not judging a person – or entity –
by their name.) When I first met Garulf, as a spirit, I thought he had a
fascinating name. Weird name, dynamic personality. This was the label I hanged
on him. How was I to know Garulf was a fairly common, respectable name several
hundreds of years ago, in Denmark? How was I to know Garulf was actually a Soul
name, befitting him perfectly as a spirit, and as a person? So, in other words,
whatever name you get in meditation, or whatever, really is their name?
Sometimes, the names of your spirits will help you bust up your own
preconceptions of what names mean – or what roles people should play in your
lives. What it all really comes down to is trusting your impressions. If you can
do that (we salute you!), but more, you are already on a healthy journey of
rediscovery. Your spirits will help you find the way.

WHAT CAN ANIMAL GUIDES DO– AND HOW DO I WORK WITH THEM????

WHAT CAN ANIMAL GUIDES DO– AND HOW DO I WORK WITH THEM????

Animal guides can help you in many areas of you life whether they are of the
physical or astral plane.

They can help focus and raise the energy of a ritual or magickal circle.

They can protect you in your dreams, meditations and quests, as well as in the real world.

They can teach you how to take on their abilities through shapeshifting.

They can help you learn to take yourself less seriously (or more so if needed).

A guide can be your friend, confidant, sister, brother, teacher… They can be
playful, loving, protective and supportive. They will change and grow with you throughout your life.

You work with spirit guides the same way you work with anyone else, ask them for help, advice, or support, whatever you need. They will decide if they will do what you ask.

If it is for the best they will almost always help.

To talk with a guide, do a visualization in which you call to them.

They will come if they choose.

If they do not, try again later or try to work out the problem on your own.

If your guide is a physical one just talk with it. It will help if it chooses.

Talk with your guide. Ask it to teach you. Get to know your guide as you would get to know any close friend. Spend time with it.

You will learn how to work with it as you get to know each other, as you learn to become a team and understand each others needs.

Just remember to always, always, treat your guide with respect and gratitude for the help it gives.