as some of you already know I belong to the anti-niceness brigade (although I TOO admit to enjoying niceness at times, it is rather like enjoying artificial perfume--- clouds the senses, suffocates, and can leave you downright queasy.)

in case you have been thinking of succumbing, here are a couple thoughts to ponder:
never do something to be nice--- if it is worth doing then there are better reasons for doing it.

And, from a brilliant supporter of the anti-niceness league who dropped by this week: Niceness is all about saving face, so you've gotta wonder, what are they trying to cover up?

aahhhh, am listening to Indian jazz,
just finished a bowl of homemade lentil soup cooked with my daughters,
side dish of favourite Middle Eastern pepper and eggplant spread.
now sucking an ouzo candy, drinking Salt Spring Island roasted coffee,
soon I will go outside and plant my pick of herbs and flowers---
grown for me by the labour of others, as my cosy, sunny house was built well for me---
if I decide not to do that then I will go watch the reds of sunset from the beach,
aaaahhhh, the life of a goddess is rich and rewarding,
tomorrow I will go to work and sit around and see who I can inspire....

and every Friday, when my weekly work is done, I go to drumming and chanting
where the bliss of the divine trickles like honey into my heart...

The leaves of spring are sap rising and spreading into the visible web of the tree of life,
each one a minature reminder for us that we belong here in this sun

Blessed Be

here,back in the van city, and I am being asked to do a cleansing ritual again--- by a group of mostly aetheist artists. One of their group of friend/family/roommates took his own life at Easter. (Thay are planning a wonderfully creative and loving memorial over which I will preside.)
Lo, and behold, I remember that I was given just such a cleansing ritual in a book by Robin Skelton, my dear friend the poetry professor who was also a practising witch. (Beware of accepting an invitation to a glass of wine in the faculty club; you never know where it will lead...)
And I had the honour and benefit of watching Musqueam Elder Vince Stogan do a cleansing ritual yearly of the F.N. college where I taught.
So, perhaps it is my turn...

oh yes, combos are possible too--- a little garden variety troll of darkness with a dash of ogre and deceptively silvery deep darkness of sorcery could very well make the leechlike vampire (I bet they hate that word LEECH.) Personally, my view, based on what I've seen is that we all have all the forms of darknesss inside us, but we also have predilections for our own favourite flavour. Just as we all have all forms have madness in us, but a definite leaning towards being more psychotic, neurotic, schizo, or manic/depressive. I even think we need these things inside us to stay sane.

Always look on the bright side of life ...whistling heard... always look on the bright side of life...more whistling

(unless it's giving you a serious crick in the neck; then, perforce, the other side will do...)

If your dark side is an ogre then you will say, "I am twisted and in darkness; I cannot bear the pain of you seeing me, so I must obliterate you..."

or, if a troll, you would be inclined to say, I am hungry and getting hungrier and hungrier, if the world inflicts this hunger on me then it owes me satisfaction, so I must consume you..."

or, perhaps you find yourself inclined to agree with sorcerers who say, "Either I have power or y0u do, so you must fall under my spell and serve only my desires..."

or, if you find a ghost inside, then you may hear yourself say, "Only you can save me from fading away, weighed down by the burden of my tragedy, so you must sacrifice yourself for me...."

and, hey, lest we forget the Modern Age, there are zombies who say, "I exist only to follow orders and serve my master; therefore, you too must follow all the rules, written or unwritten, or I must destroy you, bloodlessly..."

Analyze yourself, your loved ones, and enemies, for fun, fair game and profit...

this stuff comes to me in the middle of the night and won't let me sleep...