Author: Paula Cas

I write fiction, non-fiction, verbiage for all our websites, and have been publishing my fan fiction on my various sites for many years. https://paulacas.com I am a Spiritual Medium and use Tarot cards as one my primary tools in doing readings. For 30 plus years have been doing readings in settings from my living room to truck stops. I tell you what Spirit wants you know for your betterment, not what you think you need to know. I’ve worked on computers since before there was such a creature as Windows. A Mountain Maryland native, but have spent years spent living in Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. My husband, Oro Cas, and I spent 10 years driving tractor-trailer across the 48 contiguous states. Oro Cas and I produced and hosted Internet Radio shows on BlogTalk Radio, video productions on KDCL Media and Oro Expeditions YouTube Channels.

BLM claims selling wild horses to kill buyer Tom Davis was selling them to a “good home” | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

On the Bureau of Land Management’s new website, on the Program Data page for the Wild Horse & Burro Program (under the Wild Horse and Burro Sales to Private Care tab), the BLM claims “It has been and remains the policy of the BLM, despite the unrestricted sales authority of the Burns Amendment, NOT to sell or send any wild horses or burros to slaughterhouses or to “kill buyers.”

The BLM claims “Wild Horses and Burros Sold to Good Homes” but then includes a total of 402 wild horses and burros sold in Fiscal Year 2012. (In this 402 total, 320 were horses and 82 were burros.)

BLM sale logs obtained by us in Freedom of Information Act requests indicate that in Fiscal Year 2012, the BLM sold 239 wild horses (about 74% of the 320 horses that were sold) to kill buyer Tom Davis. Many, if not all, of these wild horses went to slaughter in Mexico.

Does this look like a “good home” to you?

BLM states it has a policy not to sell wild horses and burros to kill buyers, but:

On 1/11/12, Lester T. Duke (BLM Burns, Oregon) sent an email to BLM’s Bea Wade, regarding 50 sale authority horses, noting that a “large portion”of the mares were “possibly pregnant.” Lester asked if they should ship to long term holding or hold them at the corrals for sale. Bea responded that she forwarded the email to Sally Spencer. After a couple of more emails regarding this, Sally finally sent email on 2/23/12 that Tom Davis would purchase the horses, starting with the load of mares from Burns, Oregon. (About a week later, BLM sold 32 horses to Tom Davis from Burns, OR. 19 of these horses were mares)
On 4/19/12, Deanna Masterson, Public Affairs specialist for the BLM Colorado state office, sent an “Early Alert” email to “WO BLM/DOI Officials” (Jeff Krause, Leigh Espy, Helen Hankins, Steven Hall, Tom Gorey and Sally Spencer) that “The Colorado Department of Agriculture notified the BLM Colorado State Office of a Colorado Open Records request from David Phillips, a freelance journalist, for brand inspection and transfer paperwork for horses the BLM sold to Tom Davis of La Jara, Colorado. Phillips indicated he suspected Davis of selling these horses for slaughter to Mexico.”
On 4/24/12, the BLM, alerted that Tom Davis was suspected of selling horses for slaughter, still sells 106 wild horses to Tom Davis.
On 5/17/12, Sally Spencer sent out an email, marked “High” importance, to 21 people (Joe Stratton, Roger Oyler, Amy Dumas, Fran Ackley, Karen Malloy, Christopher Robbins, Jared Bybee, Robert Mitchell, Alan Shepherd, Rob Sharp, Robert Hopper, Gus Warr, June Wendlandt, Joan Guilfoyle, Mary D’Aversa, Dean Bolstadt, Jeff Krause, Tom Gorey, Debbie Collins, Lili Thomas, Bea Wade) and BLM_WO_260 WHB Communications, telling them a reporter was calling about Tom Davis. Spencer asked Joe Stratton to send out a message to all facility managers and the state leads to send a message out to all WHB Specialists that if they were asked “specifics” about a purchaser, they shouldn’t respond for privacy issues…”

If BLM personnel were so convinced that they sold the wild horses and burros to a “good home,” why all of the urgency and secrecy?

If the BLM truly believes these horses were sold to a “good home,” why isn’t Tom Davis’ photo featured on the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program page on the BLM’s new website, instead of the photo of the young blonde girl? After all, the BLM sold Tom Davis 1,794 wild horses and burros from 2008-2012.

If the BLM thinks they’re fooling us, they’re only fooling themselves.

All documents referenced above can be seen HERE.

Source: BLM claims selling wild horses to kill buyer Tom Davis was selling them to a “good home” | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

time to win some books! – Natalie J Case

Are you ready for two new giveaways?

I certainly am! Opening for entry today are my two latest Goodreads Giveaways. I have two copies of both of my books available to win.

To sign up to win a signed copy of Forever: Click Here

To sign up to win a signed copy of Through Shade and Shadow: Click Here

Are you excited? I know I am! I love the feeling that comes when I drop a book in the mail for someone.

Source: time to win some books! – Natalie J Case

Wyoming opinion differs on leaked BLM talking points and expanding energy development | Energy Journal | trib.com

In Wyoming, where the BLM manages 17.5 million acres of public land, any changes in how the agency permits and leases land for drilling oil and gas, or digging coal, sparks debate between those seeking to do business and those who want to reserve more land for public use and conservation.

The five-point draft from the BLM lists a number of priorities for the agency, like promoting energy independence for the U.S. and developing habitat improvement projects. The majority of the bullet points concern fossil fuel development. They include streamlining the drilling application process, opening new lands for drilling and addressing a “backlog” of industry requests. E&E News obtained a copy of the document and reported on its contents April 10.

A spokeswoman for BLM said the list reflects the multi-use responsibility of the BLM but emphasized that it is not a final draft.

“While these documents are still in draft form, these talking points are being assembled by the team at the BLM to clearly lay out our continued commitment to ensure opportunities for commercial, recreation and conservation activities on BLM-managed lands,” said spokeswoman Megan Crandall in a statement. “Our multiple-use and sustained yield mission for managing public lands on behalf of all Americans supports an all-of-the-above energy plan, shared conservation through tribal, state and local partnerships, public access for recreation and other activities and keeping America’s working public landscapes healthy and productive.”

The apparent energy-first platform reflected in the agency’s talking points has been expected by both industry and environmental advocates since new leadership arrived in Washington.

The new Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, formerly a congressman from Montana, has repeatedly expressed his belief that increasing energy development on public lands can be done without harming conservation commitments.

“Let me make one thing clear: The Interior Department is in the energy business,” he said in March, after approving a $22 million coal lease in Utah. “It is my hope that working together he will help identify areas where we can expand responsible mineral development while still conserving habitat and wildlife”

***

Not everyone shares the secretary’s confidence that uses of public land will be balanced.

“The bullet points for the conservation stewardship section are incredibly minimal,” said Chris Merrill, director of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

One priority laid out is to increase volunteerism. Another professes to develop priority habitat plans, which pleased Merrill. There is no specific mention of issues like sage grouse, which has dominated habitat conservation goals on public land in places like Wyoming.

“In a larger sense, the protection of habitat should be a key priority for the foreseeable future,” Merrill said. “When it comes to wildlife, habitat is everything … not just improvement projects, but protecting the habitat we already have, and it doesn’t seem to be in this document.”

Merrill takes issue with the energy aims, and the attitude that there is an overwhelming backlog of requests to drill.

“The first thing that struck me is that [the talking points] seem to ignore the reality of energy markets,” he said. “The reason, for example, that the price of natural gas plummeted is we have a glut on the market. It’s not as if there is this huge desire on the part of energy companies to be drilling more. They have so many leases that they could be drilling. They are not because of market decisions, not because of anything the BLM is doing.”

Yet the idea of streamlining processes for drilling or for permitting could be viewed as simple “good housekeeping,” said Charles Mason, an economist at the University of Wyoming’s Center for Energy Economics and Public Policy.

“I don’t know how you are going to make a compelling case for retaining or reinforcing (bureaucratic) frictions of that sort,” he said of the BLM’s plan to increase efficiency.

From an economic standpoint, however, the list reflects a shortsighted outlook on how to deal with federal mineral resources, he said.

The Trump administration is taking the view that increased leasing and drilling is a way to boost economic activity, he said. Another way to look at it is how increased drilling or mining can impact the supply and demand cycle, he said, echoing the concern that Merrill voiced on overproduction.

The government is a proxy agent handling public assets, and their end goal should be getting as much of a return on federal minerals as possible, Mason said.

“The question for me becomes, are we doing the right thing in facilitating the acquisition of maximum dollars?” he asked. “Do we make that happen by dumping a lot of that stuff on the market at the same time?”

***

Yet, there are some in Wyoming waiting for an open door from federal regulators, and the talking points speak directly to their hopes. Many in industry believe federal agencies had marching orders from the Obama administration to inhibit energy expansion by increasing red tape.

The good housekeeping, described by Mason, the UW economist, would potentially decrease the time it takes to process expressions of intent, the first step operators make when scoping federal land for potential drilling.

It’s imperative to streamline that process in Wyoming, said Steve Degenfelder of Casper-based Kirkwood Resources.

“It currently takes 1.5 years, BLM will say 56 weeks minimum, from receipt of the EOI to those lands being offered at an auction,” he said in an email. “The time period should be less than 3 months. Conducting such a thorough analysis on leases just being offered for sale has resulted, as the industry predicted, [in] a scheme to reduce the number of acres being offered for sale.”

By the time the paperwork is filed, some operators have moved on and given up on the tracts altogether, eliminating that potential state and federal revenue, Degenfelder added.

Applications for permits to drill are similarly backlogged, while federal fees have skyrocketed, he said.

The BLM’s first lease sale in 2017, one of four that take place per year, sold more than half the amount of acreage sold in all of 2015. Oil and gas operators were ecstatic at what they hope is a new direction for federal leasing in Wyoming.

If the trend is toward development, it’s a directional change that industry has been waiting for.

Thought the U.S. experienced a historic drilling boom under Obama, including on federal land, the on-the-ground experience in the last eight years has been one of frustration for people like Degenfelder.

Now, BLM’s steps are being closely watched by competing interests, with both sides concerned about whose political influence will be the strongest.

“My biggest fear is that the more environmentally acceptable points of the agenda will be followed first, and those dealing with oil, gas and coal will take a back seat,” said Degenfelder.

Land advocates like Merrill fear the reverse.

“There is a need to strike a balance and that means allowing for development in some places where it make sense and not allowing for it in other places where the other values are so important that they should be protected,” he said.

If the leaked draft is a fair sign of where the public land management agency’s is going in the next four years, then a friendlier environment for oil, gas and coal developers may be at hand. The impact on environmental agendas, however, is less clear.

Follow energy reporter Heather Richards on Twitter @hroxaner

Source: Wyoming opinion differs on leaked BLM talking points and expanding energy development | Energy Journal | trib.com

Connection as the Core Spiritual Philosophy in the Druid Tradition | The Druid’s Garden

It seems that religions/spiritual paths have a set of core orientations or philosophies that form the underlying foundation upon which the religion/practice rests. This core philosophy is like the seed from which the entire “tree” of the religion grows–the tree might branch in different directions, but all of those branches eventually lead back to that single seed. For example, in many forms of Christianity, we might see that core seed as salvation; this seed forms the bulk of Christian thought, belief, and action. In some forms of Buddhist thought, the seed is freedom from suffering. These underlying “seeds” or philosophies makes that particular path unique, form the foundation of what is considered right thought and right action on that path, give the path purpose, and that offers particular gifts to its practitioners or to the broader world. And most importantly, this seed drives a number of underlying morals, values, and assumptions that practitioners of that path hold.

Druidry is many things to many people, and the joke is that if you ask five different druids about what druidry is, you’ll likely get seven different answers. As scattered and diverse as the modern druid movement seems to be–I believe, we too, have a core philosophy (with at least three expressions of that philosophy), and I’m going to explore this underlying “seed” of our tradition in today’s post.

Sources of Inspiration

The flow of awen for this post comes from a few places, and I want to acknowledge those first. Part of my insight comes from being in a leadership role in a major druid order in the US. I serve as the Archdruid of Water in the Ancient Order of Druids in America, and in that role, I interact with a lot of different kinds of druids at multiple points along their paths. I interact with people when they find druidry for the first time–what they are seeking, what they hope to find, and later, I see them as they move through our curriculum deepen their own understanding and interaction and the insights they have. I get to read their exams at the end of their time working through parts of our curriculum–so I’m hearing of the experiences of many on the druid path who have taken up this spiritual practice in a serious way. Additionally, part of my inspiration is personal – it comes from my experience in working through the complete curriculum in two druid orders, the AODA (1st, 2nd, and 3rd degrees) and the OBOD (bardic, ovate, and druid curricula) and coming to deep understandings over decade of time about that work. Finally, I have attended and been part of a lot of gatherings, online groups, and various initiatives, so I interact with lots of druids frequently. This is a synthesis of what I’ve read and conversed with others, and what I’ve generally understood over a period of time. But there is also another piece here– I’m also considering the overall trajectory of the druid tradition itself–not what we are, or were, but where we are heading and what potential exists for druidry in the future.

Therefore, this post is my take on the “seed” of our tradition, the underlying or core philosophy that drives much of druid practice. You might disagree with me, or want to add or subtract from this list–please do so and share in the comments what your own thoughts might look like.

On the Druid Revival

To understand the underlying core philosophy of druidry, we first need to delve back into the history of the druid revival and then move into the present day.

It is no coincidence that the very roots of the druid revival came about at the same time that industrialization rose in the British Isles. Farmers and peasants who had lived, sustained, and tended the land for countless generations were driven from their homes to work in factories (see, for example the “Highland Clearances” and “Enclosure Acts” in Scotland). During this time, the rise in machine-based worldviews, that is, that humans are machines (and cam work like machines, act like machines), and that nature is just another machine, became dominant (we see the outcome of this thinking everywhere today, particularly, in industrialized agriculture).

Our spiritual ancestors watched this scene unfolding: the land stripped of her resources for industrialization and progress, the growing emphasis on produced goods over communities, the rampant pollution and exploitation industrlization was creating, the relegating of humans, animals, and the land to that of a machine. It was during this period of time that our spiritual ancestors reached deep–and creatively–into their own history to return to an earlier time where humans and nature were connected. The druid revival movement, then, sought to reconnect with nature throug ancient roots in a time where society was heading in the opposite direction. I believe it is the same reason that people today are so drawn to the druid tradition–there is “something” missing for them and it is that connection to nature.

Now, a lot of the early druid revival works and authors have been discredited for creating “ancient” texts, drawing upon “found” materials that they had created, I find these attempts to discredit them problematic because they do not understand the context. These early attempts at bringing back the ancient druid traditions had a lot to do with people’s response to living in an age that was quickly stripping the lands of their resources and filling the skies and rivers with pollution. The important thing here is that druid revival tradition that we practice today was a spiritual response that emerged during the very beginnings of this current age of industrialization, and, therefore, offers us much wisdom as we are living with the outcomes and consequences of this same movement.

Industrialization, with so much promise at the time, much harm not only to our living earth, but to the pre-industrial communities and customs of the common people (a topic I picked up in some depth in my last series of posts on “Slowing down the Druid Way”). It is unsurprising, then, at the persistence and growth of the modern druid tradition in these times. For over 300 years, the ancient druids have offered our tradition sources of inspiration and reconnection. It is in this perpetual seeking of reconnection that we can see how druidry is, in some ways, a very human response to the larger wheels of industrialization that have been thrust upon most of us in the Western world.

[…]

Source: Connection as the Core Spiritual Philosophy in the Druid Tradition | The Druid’s Garden

The Easter Bunny’s “Horse Cousin” – WARHorses

The Easter Bunny’s “Horse Cousin”

They look like BIG bunnies but we can attest that they are pure genus equus – meet the Poitou donkey.

Poitou donkeys originated in southern France, developed from donkeys imported from ancient Rome. They are the largest donkey breed historically used as breeding stock to produce working mules. Their coats are dark brown and black, they have white underbelly, nose and rings around their eyes. They have large features – heads, leg joints and ears. Some ears are so large that their weight causes they to flop sideways. The Poitou’s most distinctive feature is their matted coat, hanging cords of soft hair called a “cadanette”.

Poitou donkeys became status symbols of the wealthy during the middle ages – the shaggier the coat, the more highly valued the animal. By the 18^th century the breed’s characteristics were well defined and a studbook was established. As many as 15,000 were sold annually. By the next century mechanization (and war) obliterated the breed. By 1977 only 44 donkeys survived and the mortality rate for foals was nearly 30%. Public and private breeders joined forces to save the Poitou. The studbook, abandoned for nearly a century was reestablished and split between pure and part breds. By 2005 there were 450 registered purebreds.

The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy lists the Poitou as Critical, a category for breeds with less than 2,000 animals worldwide. Science has certainly impacted efforts to save the breed. In 2001 Australian scientists implanted a Poitou embryo in a Standardbred mare resulting in a healthy birth. More recently, establishment of a sperm bank coupled with improved means for artificial insemination using the frozen semen has helped conservation efforts on a global scale.

Source: The Easter Bunny’s “Horse Cousin” – WARHorses

The Bureau of Land Management is scrubbing their trail on the internet | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

After NBC News wrote about the Bureau of Land Management featuring a photo of a coal bed at the top of their website, the BLM changed it… to now feature this photo of an oil & gas pipeline.

The Bureau of Land Management is scrubbing most of its links off of the internet, and in doing so, erasing much of its history from public view.

Many of the blm.gov links that are still remaining on the internet at this point say “page not found,” or the links are no longer cached.

The BLM also suddenly removed state and district websites. Instead, you will now find “landing pages” that direct you to only one main Bureau of Land Management website. (You can look at the new BLM website HERE.)

I called a BLM Public Affairs Specialist to ask some questions about the defunct websites and links. This person said in the past there were about 90,000 pages (and then a bit later stated that it could possibly be only about 60,000 pages) of BLM content on the internet, but that all of these pages couldn’t be maintained or updated, and weren’t centralized. This person said the BLM’s prior content management system was outdated.

Most importantly, this person also said there were now standards to reduce the amount (of pages/content).

Who made the decision to even have a standard to reduce content available to the public on the internet? During this website transition, who is making the decisions, and on what basis, of what data to migrate, or not to migrate, to the new BLM website? These decisions cherry pick what information will be available to the public in the future.

Make no mistake, this “reducing the amount” of content on the internet is erasing many of this agency’s past actions, activities, and government documentation. Many of these links had historical value. For example, the BLM activities of BLM employees Sally Spencer and Lili Thomas over the years are now gone. These types of links on the internet didn’t need to be “maintained” or “updated.” They were historical in nature.

In the past, in doing a google search for Sally Spencer (a longtime BLM employee, and the Marketing Specialist famous for selling so many wild horses and burros to kill buyer Tom Davis), she was included on many, many BLM government links. I went to the BLM’s new website and searched “Sally Spencer,” and only 3 items appeared. When I searched “Lili Thomas” (another longtime BLM Wild Horse & Burro Program employee who oversaw the BLM’s Long Term Holding facilities for wild horses for many years), only 4 items appeared. And when I searched “John Neill” (a longtime Palomino Valley Center manager), all that came up was “No results found.”

These individuals are BLM personnel who have been central in management issues in the BLM’s Wild Horse & Burro Program, as evidenced by FOIA documentation garnered by the late Dr. Patricia Haight of The Conquistador Program.

Even when I searched the new BLM website for “Dean Bolstad” (the Division Chief of the Wild Horse & Burro Program) only 2 items appeared.

(Although, luckily, thanks to In Defense of Animals, you can still go online and see this youtube video of Lili Thomas saying “working with wild horses is not a pretty sight” at a public meeting.)

What I can’t understand is, if the new content management system is bigger and better, why couldn’t the new content management system have contained all of the old data along with new data? If this agency were truly transparent, they would add data, not reduce data, available to the public on the internet.

At first the Bureau of Land Management only removed the Directories for District offices and Field Offices, making it difficult, for example, to find out who was the Wild Horse & Burro Specialist, Hydrologist, Range Management Specialist or other personnel in any particular district or field office or to find an email address or telephone number for them. BLM personnel frequently transfer to other offices and states, so it was already hard enough to try to keep up with who was where. But now the public really doesn’t have a clue who is doing what or where.

You used to be able to go to the home pages of BLM state and district websites, and get a quick overview of not only roundup plans for wild horses & burros, but mining expansion plans, oil & gas lease sale plans, and other uses of our public lands in that area, all in one place.

Now, the BLM has divided these by topics or by “regions,” on their new website. Under the “region” of Nevada (we call them states here in the U.S.A.), there isn’t a box for wild horses & burros (only oil and gas leasing, greater sage grouse, Great Basin Landscape Conservation Cooperative, Information Access Center, Nevada Resource Advisory Councils & Federal Register Notices).

By scattering information all over this one “centralized” website, the BLM has made it much harder for the public to put together the pieces of information for a clear picture about the multiple uses of our public lands in any one area.

The Program Data page for the Wild Horse & Burro Program is HERE. When I clicked on the box for Historical Program Data and Public Lands Statistics, I noticed something was missing that used to be available to the public. It was the column on Adoptions by Locations & Date. Information from the years 2009-2015 were previously available.

The biggest reason this data was important is because it let the public know the dates of adoption events (including internet adoptions), the locations of the events, the number of the wild horses and burros offered for adoption (until Fiscal Year 2014) and the number of wild horses and burros that were actually adopted at each event.

The BLM likely stopped reporting the number of horses & burros offered at adoption events in Fiscal Year 2014 because it didn’t want the public to know how many horses & burros were racking up “strikes” by not being adopted. When a wild horse or burro isn’t adopted after 3 events and gets 3 “strikes” it can be sold without restriction (to slaughter), no matter how young it is. Even this seemingly small reduction of data indicated a lack of transparency by this agency.

Another reason this data is important to the public is because it let the public see what areas of the country adopt the most (and the least) wild horses & burros.

While the new BLM website contains a lot of information, it seems we have lost much more information that was once available on the internet, but was not migrated to the new BLM website. For example, the BLM News Release on its promised investigation into the deaths of wild horses at the Scott City feedlot is on the internet, but as of today, is not one of the 63 News Releases available to the public on the BLM’s new website.

We will never know how much, or what, the BLM has removed from the internet. The BLM’s scrubbing of their trail on the internet has not only erased part of the history of this government agency, it is censorship, and it is the equivalent of a modern day book burning.

SEE EXAMPLES REFERENCED ABOVE HERE.

Source: The Bureau of Land Management is scrubbing their trail on the internet | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

The Holy Grail – secretsoftheserpent

By gserpent

images

The Holy Grail was basically started by the Arthurian legends. The legends were coded with heretical information about the blood line of the biblical Jesus. That is why medieval writers came up with an alternative for the Holy Grail. San greal means “Holy Grail” and sang real means “royal blood”. I’m going to give you the true meaning of the Holy Grail and it was around way before Christianity or any other patriarch religion.

Different traditions describe the Holy Grail as a cup, dish, stone or bloodline. I have shown you that the biblical Jesus was royalty and he had several children, but I also showed you that he did not die on the cross(see His Royal Jesus). The legends saying that Joseph of Arimathea used this cup to catch the blood of christ is code. Joseph of Arimathea is Josephus Flavius and he is the one the devised Christianity and the bible. The code is showing who wrote the bible(see Ralph Ellis’ work). These legends have grown men running around looking for a physical cup. The number one way I know the cup legend is not real is that Da Vinci left the cup out of his Last Supper painting. Da Vinci knew it wasn’t a cup, but he did know the true history. That is why Mary Magdalen is in his painting. The other clue he left was the V shape of empty space between Jesus and Mary Magdalen.

When the Holy Grail is referred to as a bowl it is vessel or womb. It is not only referring to Mary Magdalen’s womb caring the blood line of Jesus, but also to the boat that carried her to France. The legends say the boat was without oars or mast. This means there are no men on the boat. The oval-shaped boats were always considered female, while the forces that make them move and steer were considered masculine. This is why all cars, boats and planes are known as she. But were back to the heretical bloodline of Christianity and that is not the original meaning.

When stones are referred to in the legends of the Holy Grail, they are referring to stones that fell from the sky. Most of all the religions have their own sacred stone. The Shetiya stone, the sacred stone at Mecca, the Omphalos stone, the Lingam stone and the Benben stone to name a few. All of them were meteorites and probably were magnetic. Why would all these religions have sacred stones that fell from the sky? As I showed in Lemurian Magic, meteorites fell from the sky as a result of the destruction of Tiamat. These stones could be sacred because they are a remembrance of the history of this world or they could see them as a piece of the actual remains of Tiamat. Most researchers will say they saw the meteorites as a piece of the sun, but Tiamat was known as the second sun.

The original meaning of the Holy Grail has to do with the sacred feminine. The ancient symbol for the sacred feminine was always a V shape or a chalice. This is why Da Vinci put the V shape in his last supper painting. The legends of the Holy Grail usually say that it has miraculous powers that provide happiness, eternal youth or sustenance in infinite abundance. That is just what happens when you find the sacred feminine. You don’t search outside of yourself for happiness, you feel young and you have an abundance of love, forgiveness and energy . The sacred feminine is the key to the underworld(see Goddess Maat). You communicate with the sacred feminine subconsciously. The sacred feminine is your higher self. No matter what these patriarch religions have told you, spirit is feminine. The ancients knew man(and woman) came from the Goddess and would return to her. They even buried people in the fetal position. Nature is the living subconscious and the living sacred feminine.

To see how to really connect with your subconscious or the sacred feminine, see my Magic post. Be warned, you have to be ready to be seen. Seen by yourself. Are you ready to be alone with yourself? Are you ready to monitor your thoughts? The true meaning of baptism was symbolizing the soul falling into the amniotic fluid, then the person being born and taking your first breath as a child of the Goddess. This world does anything and everything to whip you into the masculine to lose that connection. The masculine human has thrown out the feminine. All humans are in masculine. This causes people to fear the feminine because they don’t understand it. When a person reconnects with the Goddess(sacred feminine), the ego or masculine becomes and agent for her. They find their authentic self. They start to see the lies of this world, which there are many, and they don’t fall for them anymore. They become an individual and take their first breath again. They are no longer the autumn leaf that can’t hold on, They are the tree of life. To the ancients a holy person was a whole person. The Holy Grail is the sacred feminine.

“The human child is born into the very lap of nature, his nurturing mother, and he accepts her fostering ministrations gratuitously. His relation to her is instinctive and spontaneous, and most intimate. But when with maturity and the emergence of intellect and reflection, the matter of maintaining his salutary relation to his benignant mother becomes an obligation demanding the exercise of a phase of his genius which is little known to average humanity and is developed only by the highest culture of his psycho-spiritual capability. It was never enough simply that he dwelt with nature as a chick under her wings, that he partook of her lavish gifts for his sustenance, that he accommodated himself harmoniously to her requirements, or even that he received her bounty with gratitude and delight. For the ultimate exaltation of his being from his cradling in her lap there is demanded a refinement of his aesthetic and intellectual faculties that is beyond the attainment of common humanity and has been rarely achieved by exceptionally evolved souls”.- Alvin Boyd Kuhn

Source: The Holy Grail – secretsoftheserpent

Handmade Wands – Good Witches Homestead

The wandmakers fellowship is simply a gathering of websites where other wandmakers advertise and sell their wares. I have compiled the list over the years and evaluated the sites to some extent. However, their appearance here does not necessarily constitute a recommendation.

ACME Wand Supply, Ltd.
A truly exceptional crafter of wands in wood, stone, crystal and silver. Breathtaking designs but no prices listed, and I expect they are very high for works of this detail and quality. Truly deserving of the name “Acme.” I have included seven examples below because each is truly unique and the variety is so amazing. My pointy hat is off to Acme.

Dragonmother Wands

A sample of Dragonmother’s excellent designs. There are much more on her website.

Kurth Works Wands and Staves

Combinations of wood and clay or resin with stones produce marvelous wands of great beauty offered at $150 and up.

Magic Wands of Wizardry

Some fine examples of wands from Merlin’s Realm. Very inexpensive.

Lathe-Turned Wands

Alivan’s Wands

If you are looking for lathe-turned Harry Potter-style wands and other Potter paraphernalia, like hats, brooms, and house scarves from Hogwarts, this place is probably the biggest producer of that sort of thing, selling in retail outlets around the country. The wands are hand-turned by many different wood crafters out of hardwood, so are a cut above the resin replicas sold elsewhere. Wands are priced according to the type of wood used. Price range: $17 to $165.

Magical Alley Wands

Offers a selection of lathe-turned and fashioned wands that are modeled on the wand in the Harry Potter movies mostly. A unique feature is their “made-your-own wand” page at which the client may choose, wood, length, handle type, shaft type, and magical core material (though these are mainly from invented creatures from J.K. Rowling and some I could not recommend). Many exotic hardwoods are offered.

Whirlwood Wands

For the lathe-turned wand, one can do no better than Whirlwood Wands. Usually combined with two types of wood — one for the handle and one for the shaft, these are offered in many standard lines, including pocket wands. The scabbards are a welcome addition to anyone’s wizardly apparel.

Leather Wand Scabbard. Nine inches long. $15.

Non-Wooden Wands

Azure Green

A retailer of metaphysical items of all kinds, Azure Green has a selection of wands made of metal and clay. I list these although I do not know who actually makes the wands. Some of this type may come from India. Below, from left, a chakra wand made of clay and stones ($12); one made of faceted agate sections ($77); and a copper healing wand ($32). You will also find a variety of handmade wooden wands and very small, lovely wands used for healing energy work.

Willowroot Magic Wands

Pewter and crystals for an entirely different effect. Medium to high price range. Splendid designs.

Other Magical Accouterments

Brahm’s Bookworks

Superb and precious handmade black books for use in creating your own magical notebook, or grimoire. Brahm now offers hand-sewn bound books as well as codexes with removable pages. Expensive but entirely worth the cost. There is nothing else like these books. Meant to last forever and be passed on to your descendants.

Touch Wood Rings

Truly exquisite works of art, these rings are made from wood and artfully crafted in British Columbia by David Finch. The touch of wood on the hand conveys the power of that tree to the wearer. If you need a magic ring, think about one made from a tree of art and power. The birch ring with braided birch bark inlay strikes me as perfect for the Bard beginning her or his studies in Druidry.

Source: Handmade Wands – Good Witches Homestead

WWP Wins Ban of M-44 Wildlife ‘Cyanide Bombs’ in Idaho | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

News Bulletin from Western Watersheds Project

“Our delight with the statewide ban on M-44s across Idaho is tempered by several factors…”

When Canyon Mansfield and his dog were sprayed with cyanide by a Wildlife Services M-44 “coyote getter” near Pocatello three weeks ago, Western Watersheds Project convened a group of conservationists and animal welfare groups to to draw up a strategy. As part of our strategy, WWP filed an Administrative Procedures Act petition on behalf of ourselves and 19 other groups demanding that the agency to cease the use of M-44s statewide in Idaho, and remove those that were already deployed. Much to our surprise, yesterday we received a letter from Wildlife Services committing to exactly these requests.

Our delight with the statewide ban on M-44s across Idaho is tempered by several factors. The new ban doesn’t bring Canyon Mansfield’s dog back to life, nor can it take away the trauma this 14-year-old boy has experienced as a result of this wildlife-killing device. And it isn’t necessarily a permanent ban – Wildlife Services committed to informing WWP at least 30 days in advance if they ever deploy M-44s in Idaho again, but we don’t know if the reprieve for wildlife and public safety will last a month, a year, or a decade.

In writing the petition and generating the media around it, WWP was able to draw upon a wealth of knowledge assembled over decades by Predator Defense, the organization that leads efforts to ban these devices at the nationwide level. Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen and Pocatello Mayor Brian Blad spoke out strongly against M-44s in the media. The Idaho State Journal issued a blistering editorial condemning M-44s, and journalists across Idaho and throughout the country elevated the tragedy and the need to get rid of M-44s to a nationwide issue. And the Mansfield family themselves had the strength an endurance to bring their personal tragedy into the national spotlight in hopes that what happened to their son would never happen to anyone else’s children ever again.

This is an important, if temporary, victory. But there is a long road ahead. We hope to make the Idaho ban on M-44s permanent, and to see the manufacturing facility and storage depot in Pocatello permanently closed. We are advocating to eliminate the use of the deadly toxin Compound 1080 and its poison baits that likewise kill family pets on an all-too-frequent basis. We are pursuing legal challenges to shut down killing programs of all kinds pursued by Wildlife Services, from aerial gunning to traps and snares, that target our native wildlife for eradication. And we are pressing for federal legislation to end these taxpayer-funded killing programs.

We want to be sure we recognize each one of our conservation partners who joined us in the petition that brought this victory: Predator Defense, WildEarth Guardians, the Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Clearwater, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Western Wildlife Conservancy, Nevada Wildlife Alliance, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Environmental Protection Information Center, the Wolf Conservation Center, Wilderness Watch, Klamath Forest Alliance, Northeast Oregon Ecosystems, Yellowstone to Uintas Connection, Footloose Montana, Animal Legal Defense Fund, Project Coyote, Voices of Wildlife, and the Mountain Lion Foundation.

But we also want to thank, you, our members and supporters. Without your generous contributions, there would be no Western Watersheds Project to fight these battles. So give yourself a pat on the back, because today you have made a wonderful difference in the world we share with our native wildlife.

http://mailchi.mp/fad0343a19b8/wwp-wins-ban-of-cyanide-bombs-in-idaho

Source: WWP Wins Ban of M-44 Wildlife ‘Cyanide Bombs’ in Idaho | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Get real, John Ruhs | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Source: Get real, John Ruhs | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

John Ruhs, BLM Nevada State Director

Yosemite Sam, Ruhs’ doppelganger

Dadgummit! After John Ruhs, Nevada’s BLM State Director, said that he wanted to round up 4,000 wild horses in Elko County last summer (supposedly in response to the continued lies blaming wild horses and burros for the “deterioration of drought-stricken rangeland”), we’re noting that many mines that will use billions of gallons of water are now on the verge of expanding in Nevada.

Ruhs recently spoke at the Elko Convention Center, and stated that “We are pretty proud of the fact that this last year we have worked with the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association, the Nevada Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and NDOW to provide some public opportunities to talk about sage grouse land use amendments and what they mean to the grazing program. A lot of work still needs to be done.”

The BLM ALWAYS works with the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association. And the National Cattlemen’s Association. Actually, the BLM works FOR them. Notice that the focus of talking about sage grouse land use amendments is all about what they mean to the grazing program?

Ruhs also lamented that wild horse and burro issues dominate a large part of the Nevada BLM and Ruhs went on to talk about the difficulties in wild horse management.

Wild horse and burro issues dominate? Like, bigger than all of the mines and outnumbering all of the livestock?

And talk about difficulties? How about all those abandoned mines in Nevada, John?

And management? There is only wild horse and burro “MISmanagement.”

Ruhs then said “We are somewhere in excess of 37,000 horses on the rangeland that is a big priority for us and it’s one of the things that I hope in the new administration that we will see some changes that will finally allow us to get some work done on the ground.”

We hope that the work that Ruhs is referring to getting done “on the ground” will include getting an accurate count of the wild horses and burros, rescinding some livestock overgrazing permits and making sure the extractive industries don’t use every last drop of water.

Why even bother to imply that the BLM “manages” anything, except impending environmental damage from the “multiple uses” that make a buck? Don’t stash the truth, John.