Today at 4:33 am EST the planet Venus entered the fiery and enthusiastic sign of Aries, giving us the perfect recipe for a fiery romance!

Venus, the planet of attraction, harmony, refinement, beauty, and sensuality brings all of these attributes into any sign that she enters. Sometimes, her energy will be more cautious and practical, like when she is in Virgo. At other times she will be sensitive and nurturing, like when she is in Cancer. But in Aries, she is bold and daring, not at all fearful of going after what she wants and expressing her deep affection, attraction, and desires.

To read more please go to http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/.

Yesterday, at 4:40 pm, the moon reached its fullness in the Earth Sign of Virgo. As an Earth sign, Virgo corresponds to the physical/material realm and asserts itself cautiously, as it as not as moved by inspiration (like the fire signs), emotions (like the water signs), or ideas or theories (like the air signs) as much as it moved by practicality. Earth signs (the other two are Taurus and Capricorn) concern themselves with practical needs, not possibilities.

As I consciously grow and develop myself spiritually one area that I do not want to neglect is my physical body. It can be very easy, especially for someone like me who has no Earth in her natal chart (the earth element corresponds to the physical body and environment as well as the ability to be practical and grounded. I have no planets in the Earth signs, which makes these areas and attributes difficult for me) to neglect my physical health and well-being.

But not only do I want to take care of my body, I want to cultivate my relationship to the earth. I not only want to make good choices for my body but I want to make eating choices that are good for Her body as well.

To read more please visit http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/.

On February 18, the Sun entered the sign of Pisces…meaning that for those of us who live in the Northern Hemisphere, spring is just around the corner!

Pisces is one of the three water signs (the others are Cancer and Scorpio), meaning that it corresponds to the realm of the emotions, feelings, and the subconsciousness. I like to think of the water element as relating to the soul, the part of ourselves that relates to that which lies deep within and holds every memory, those from this life and from past lives. Pisces is also a mutable sign (along with Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius) which means that it is constantly adapting itself so that it can learn and absorb more information. Pisces wants to learn and become more effective in the spiritual realms.

To read more please visit: http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/

Peace everyone!

I sometimes get questions about how to set up an altar. For me, creating an altar is based on two things: 1- the spiritual work you are doing and 2 – personal preference.

For instance, if you are intending to attract love in your life, then you would want to decorate your altar with colors that reflect love: pinks and reds (though red can mean intense passion so be careful) would be ideal. However, if you can also decorate the altar with personal symbols or objects that correspond with the love principle, like a ring or a heart-shaped charm. So really, it’s up to you.

To read more and see a pic, please visit: http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/.

On Saturday at 9:51 pm EST, the moon moves into the sign of Aquarius, marking the beginning of the new moon phase for Aquarius 2010.

The New Moon brings fresh, vital energy that is perfect for starting new projects and new beginnings. This is a perfect time to consciously attract anything new that we would like to bring into our lives.

Oshun, Yoruba orisa of love, beauty, and the New Moon
The New Moon phase is related to the orisa Oshun, the orisa of sweetness, love, and beauty. Like Yemoja, Oshun is associated with water but unlike the salty waters of othe ocean that contain Yemoja’s energy, Oshun’s energy is found in the “sweet waters” or lakes, rivers, and streams. Like new moon energy, her waters bring vitality, freshness, and renewal. In many of the patakis, or stories, about Oshun she renews humanity with her energy.

To read more, please visit http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/. And don't forget to leave a comment! :)

I’m bald and I really want my hair to grow!!!!

Well, the truth is that I am not really bald. But my hair is really, really short. I had long natural hair until my head was shaved during my initiation into the orisa priesthood. And though I feel that the sacrifice was well worth it I am starting to realize something:

I really miss my hair.

It’s coming in slowly and I am loving the little curls that I now feel on my head (feel because I cannot look in the mirror yet to see them). But a few nights ago I had a dream I had big fat juicy twists and I even felt the weight of them as I moved. I was a never a fan of doing hair but I realize that I miss washing, conditioning, and styling my hair, as well as making my homemade hair products.

Rosemary Oil
Then I remembered something. I used to make a hair growth spritz made simply of water, hair conditioner, and rosemary oil that I combined together in a spray bottle that used to contain Bath and Body Works’ Sweet Pea Body Spray (I miss perfumes too. *sigh*). The conditioner helps to keep my hair soft and the rosemary oil stimulates the scalp and helps hair to grow.

Today the planet Venus enters the sign of Pisces. Venus, the ruler of Taurus and Libra, symbolizes personal love, intimacy, attraction, and eroticism. It is often associated with femininity and female beauty. In Taurus, Venus expresses it sensual side while in Libra, Venus expresses refinement and harmonious relationships. The planet Venus is associated with the orisa Oshun, the orisa of beauty, love, joy, and attraction.

Pisces, the water sign of compassion and unconditional love, is ruled by the planet Neptune. Pisces is the sign of personal sacrifice and surrender. Pisces is symbolized by two fish tied to each other, one representing the soul and one representing the personality. If the soul captures the personality, the personality becomes spiritualized. If the personality captures the soul, the soul seeks escape from the world.

To read the rest and leave a comment, please go to: http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com/

I’ve recently finished reading A Taste of Power, an autobiography of ex-Black Panther Elaine Brown. It was truly a fantastic journey; I loved traveling with her as she recounted her days as a youth in North Philadelphia (not too far from where my own family lived) who desired to use her education, light skin, and “good hair” to assimilate into whiteness, her days of “Becoming Black” (one of the chapters in her book) when she finally understood her own oppression and was able to connect that to the oppression of her people, and her rise to power in the Black Panther Power, the vanguard of Black Revolution in the 1960s and 1970s.

I’ve been thinking about this question for the past few weeks. What is spirituality? People define spirituality in many different ways. There were many people at the church I used to attend who understood the words “spiritual” or “spirituality” to mean that a person was not willing to take a firm stance on the side of the truth. To them, when a person said. “I’m spiritual,” they were saying that they make up their own way to God, basically refusing to believe in Jesus Christ, which to them is the only way to God. Some people view spirituality as a road to discovery, discovering yourself and discovering who it is you are becoming.

Even while attending church, I began to see spirituality as something of a contrast to “religiousity.” “Religiousity” felt like attaching myself to dogma instead of being open to all that Spirit has to offer. It felt like putting myself into a teeny-tiny little box in order to hold onto “truth” that was created with someone else in mind.

Please read the rest of this blog and leave a comment at: http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com.

Thanks!

It’s a brand new year (and decade!) and, as always, people desire to start the year with a sense of purpose as they establish goals for themselves. Like many people I took some time to think about the changes I want to bring about in my life this year.

Currently I am an iyawo, a newly initiated priestess in the Orisha tradition of West Africa. Being an iyawo implies that for a year and a week, I seek to put 100% focus on my spiritual growth and development. I am almost in my third month and I am just started to really understand the weight of what it is I have done as a new initiate. Though I always took the orisas (the spirits of Olodumare/God that do Her work on this earth) seriously, I suddenly have a stronger sense of my responsibility in my role as a priestess. I actually carry the energy of my head orisha (for me it is Oshun)! I knew that fact before the weightiness of it is all of a sudden very striking.

To read more, please visit http://riverofhoney.wordpress.com and please leave a comment!

Welcome to Scorpio!

Yesterday the Sun entered Scorpio, the zodiac sign related to transformation, regeneration, resurrection, and spiritual “being.” While Taurus, Scorpio’s opposing sign, is related to physical and material “being” –loving and enjoying the beautiful things in life while resisting the temptation to be held captive by them — Scorpio is related to spiritual “being,” seeking spiritual transformation and growth, seeking to rise above the material in order to reach one’s own enlightenment. Scorpio is ruled by Pluto, which represents psychological blocks that we have to push through in order for us to have that spiritual evolution that we are all on this planet to pursue.

As this current Mercury Retrograde period comes to an end (on September 29 in Virgo) I’ve been thinking much about the energy of Mercury Retrograde and how I have personally been affected by it. The one major thing that people say to describe the energy of this period is that communication goes awry — don’t sign legal documents because you will be screwed, don’t argue because you will say something that will be irreparable, don’t do spells because the opposite of what you want will occur, etc. I’ve always been on this tip, trying to get my spells in before Mercury appears to move backwards.

But this time, I tried to look at Mercury’s backstroke a bit differently. I read an article (I wish I could find it so I could site it) about how Mercury’s backward motion reminds us to review, reevaluate, reestablish, remember, etc. Basically, to go back and finish up things we have left undone. This same article also said that spells relating to that “rewind” energy of Mercury, particularly spells dealing with communication and thought, could be extraordinarily helpful.

Peace Sistren!

I feel so wonderfully and beautifully blessed! Last autumn, I was initiated into the Orisha tradition. I received my elekes and was marked as a daughter of Oshun. This autumn, almost a year to the date that I received my elekes, I am making Ocha, or beginning the process of becoming a priest in the Orisha tradition.

I am extremely excited and blessed because it feels like I am coming home. It feels like I am doing just what I should have been doing all along...that I'm fulfilling my destiny.

I'm thankful for all the people and the experiences in my life that have brought to this point. I'm thankful for Olodumare and all of the orishas for their blessings and their favor.

Ase! Ase! Ase!

Peace Beautiful People,


As I develop myself spiritually and try various exercises for spiritual growth, I always find myself going back to working with my chakras. Chakras, a Sanskrit word meaning "wheel" or "disk," refers to the subtle energy centers in the body that correspond to various nerve centers and glands. Understanding the energy of the chakras and working with them to balance their energy will lead to a increased balance, wholeness, and understanding of self.


Though there are some disagreements as to exactly how many chakras there are, there is widespread agreement that there are at least seven chakras, and these seven chakras are the major chakras: Root, Sacral, Solar Plexus, Heart, Throat, Brow, and Crown.


The chakras were named and developed in India, though it is believed that many ancient cultures had knowledge os the chakras. The chakras are energy centers that draw universal energy -- called prana, chi, and ashé by some cultures -- and distribute it out through energy pathways, called nadis or meridians. These energies inform and affect the mind, the nervous system, and the endocrine glands.

I keep a deck of Power Thought Cards by Louise L. Hay at my desk at work to keep the positive thinking and inspiration flowing. I keep one taped to my computer until I feel the need to refresh its space with a new one. Today was that day.


Like I always do, I closed my eyes and allowed the spirit to move me to the right card. This is what it said.


The front said:


I am open and receptive to new avenues of income.


The back said:


I now receive my good from expected and unexpected sources. I am an unlimited being, accepting from an unlimited source, in an unlimited way. I am blessed beyond my fondest dreams.


I so needed this right now, as I am launching a new business and saving for a new house.


We always have exactly what we need.

I often feel like I have an invisible wall around myself, a shield that keeps me from the barbs that can be thrown at you from the various encounters I face every day. I suppose a good amount of shielding is a little necessary--it's important to guard our hearts and not let other people's issues become ours. At the same time, though, I feel I do this a little bit too well...I don't always feel as though I am living as authentically or vulnerably as I could be with those in my circle.


I saw a friend on the train last week and we had the best conversation we ever had. We talked about our issues and our hopes and our fears...and in such a public space as the Broad Street Line made the experience that much more liberating. After our conversation, I felt really elated and wished that I could have even more conversations with my friends like this...that I could just break down the walls and truly let people in...not worrying about how I look or what people will think.

I've been reading Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das for the past few weeks and, I must say, that I find Buddhism to be fascinating and much needed in my life. For awhile now I've felt the need to explore my spiritual beliefs outside of the confines of dogma but with this exploration comes the feelings of uneasiness and a lack of grounding. For about two years I've studied numerology, astrology, tarot, magic, Wiccan, African religions, Kabbalah, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism, and almost everything else related to spirituality. However, I feel like I've become jack of all trades and master of none and after meditating or where I should begin to really settle down and do some serious and grounded studying, I was led here.

I'm not even at the middle of the book yet but the message is very clear: we largely walk through this world in a dream, with our vision obscured by our ideals, our clinging desires, and our attachments. In order to be free from these entanglements we have to make a commitment to be enlightened. How simple--yet profound! Profoundly simple, without the flowery language or religious dogma.

The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism. Here's the first one:

Technology issues have prevented me from blogging since my last post (I feel like Mercury is retrograde!!) but I brought in the New Year wonderfully, peacefully, and purposefully. On New Year's Eve, I had friends over and we ate, drank, and talked about the changes we would like to make in our lives. Some of the major changes I've decided to make this year is to stay in touch with the people I care about, to be honest at all costs, and to be more open and vulnerable with those in my inner circle.

I also brought in the New Year with a banishing ritual. A banishing ritual is a time of release...releasing those habits, qualities, and people who impede our growth. New Year's night was the perfect time for such a ritual, with the waning moon in Scorpio, the perfect sign for efforts of transformation.

2008 is here and I am SO excited! I feel so sure that this year has so many amazing things in store for me!

Starting tomorrow, January 1, 2008, I will be launching into the world of raw-food, with most of my diet consisting of raw fruits and vegetables, and of course no meat, no dairy, and very little processed foods. I have been a vegan for a year, a vegetarian for 3 years before that, but this indeed seems to be the most drastic of changes. I'm excited though, because I know I am going to look and feel great.

Here's some pics of some of the fun recipes I made already:

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This is a picture of all of the ingredients for my Green Juice. The ingredients include kale, cucumbers, parsley, Pink Lady apples, and ginger. I like to add more ginger for an extra kick.

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Here's how the ingredients looked when juiced. For non-veggie lovers this recipe is an acquired taste but your body will feel SO energized and vibrant after just one glass. I think this will be my new breakfast of choice.

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