Prayer Request & Pink Candle Vigil Service

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer about a month ago. I've been putting it out of my mind because denial is far easier than having to deal with the reality of the situation. Or should I state that denial is perhaps the first phase of accepting a harsh reality.

My mother and I have bumped heads continuously throughout my life. We are very much alike. I think I'm more like her than my father. Sometimes she makes me so freaking angry that I want to tear my hair out. For example, she doesn't tell me stuff. Technically, she has yet to tell me she even has cancer. Of course I knew from other family members but the fact that she withholds information from me just drives me bonkers. She's my mother and we only get one. She is the one who bore me and brought me into this world. We can all exist without a father being present in our lives but for the majority of us our mothers are the only thing that stood between us and certain doom in this life.

My mother is having a mastectomy on Tuesday. I know she's a fighter and she will pull through. However, I would appreciate any prayers, well wishes and positive energy that my readers would like to send for her. Her name is Linda.

As a man I know that I'm going to be oblivious to many of the struggles that women have to endure in life. I also know that women are likewise oblivious to many of the struggles that men face. I hate the fact that cancer is one of these. The very notion of cancer linked to just being female (or male) is just absurd to me. I mean, I think we all can understand lung cancer from decades of smoking or liver cancer from decades of alcoholism. But to develop cancer that is linked to just being "XX" is freaking nuts. I don't understand what mother nature was thinking when she concocted that aspect of human existence. I feel the same way about prostate and testicular cancer for men. I feel even worse for children with cancer.

They did tests and determined that the cancer was fueled by her hormones and so they told her that her choices were chemo followed by being on hormone blockers for the rest of her life, which is completely horrible because it transforms you into a different creature and also effects your mind, or she could have surgery. She chose the surgery. We are also looking into options for reconstruction. They have made a lot of advances with that aspect and now it's routine for tummy tucks to be done and the tissue used to reconstruct the breasts so that the results are surprisingly realistic and natural looking. The only thing I'm concerned about is that they are only doing one breast. I mean, I can only speak for myself but if I was a woman and was diagnosed I would want the peace of mind of having a full mastectomy and not having to possibly go through round two at a later time. But it's not my call.

Next Sunday, July, 31, 2016, at 7:00 pm CST, I will be holding a pink candle vigil service for any woman who has survived breast cancer or reproductive cancer. I will also be setting angel lights in memory of the brave women who have passed on. Any of my readers can participate by sending me an email to MySecretHoodoo@mail.com with the subject line of "Pink Candle Vigil Service", along with the name of the woman. Pictures can also be included if you so chose. If you have a loved one who has non-reproductive cancer, feel free to join in as well as I won't turn away any request for this. If any of my readers would like to join me by setting their own lights in their homes that would be wonderful as well.

Additionally, if you can afford it then please consider donating to the Susan G. Komen foundation or similar programs and charities that help combat breast cancer with research and prevention. There are also programs that provide free mammograms to women who may otherwise not be able to have one. It's extremely important that we support each other, men included, as we are either women ourselves or we owe our lives to women. One in eight women will develop breast cancer in their life time and we need to drastically reduce this number.

God bless each and every brave woman touched by this. You were heroes long before this and will continue to be such.

(For the men out there who have been diagnosed with breast cancer, feel free to join in as well. Although statistically smaller with only one in one hundred men diagnosed, your struggle is the same.)

October is breast cancer awareness month.

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Had To Cross Up A Client

I had a client do a chargeback on their credit card for a reading. The client gave me the excuse that the chargeback was done in error and that they would make sure I got paid. I gave the client ample opportunity to make it right. So after a considerable amount of time without the client keeping to their word I was forced to cross them up. Additionally, I feared that the client may be performing credit card fraud so I contacted the client's local police.

So let me state that there is a reason why I ask for your full name, birth date and a picture for your reading. Not only does it help me to tune into your energy for your reading but if you decide to screw me over because you don't like what you were told during the reading then it gives me recourse to do what I have to do to make sure you get what's coming to you in return.

It always amazes me how a certain percentage of people seeking a reading somehow think that we readers are supposed to tell them exactly what they want to hear instead of what we honestly pick up on. They then think they are entitled to a refund or believe they have the right to badmouth a reader because of such.

This is the second time I've had to cross up a client, with the first being an insane transgendered prostitute who hired me for a one question reading for $15. She was upset that a wealthy, elderly client broke off contact with her because she truly thought that this guy was going to financially support her for the rest of her life. She was mistaken. I was honest with her and told her there was no hope in the situation and that his health was not good. She went 100% psycho, ranted, told me that not only was I wrong but I was the worst psychic ever, demanded her money back and threatened to talk shit about me everywhere she possible could online, etc. She is the reason why I no longer offer one question readings. I crossed that whore up good and I sure as hell would not shed a tear if she is currently in her grave as she was seemingly racing toward it at full speed even before she crossed my path.

So bitch, let me get this real clear. Not only did you do the chargeback and then not keep your word to make it right, but a chargeback is not free. I additionally had to pay $25 for the chargeback fee, meaning I ended up paying you for your reading. So I want you to know that I crossed you up something fierce and I am more than happy to keep hitting the work for as long as it takes until your life is transformed into a steaming pile of shit. :)

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Witch Ball

Witch Balls, a.k.a. glass floats, originally were hollow spheres of glass that were used by fishermen to keep their nets afloat. In the 1700s such devices began to be re-purposed as charms that were believed to protect against witches, spirits, curses, and general evil. With time spheres of glass were being deliberately made for use as witch balls. Most were traditionally blue, the color of protection and especially protection against the evil eye, and possessed strands or webbing inside which were believed to trap any witch or evil spirit that ventured too close. Witch balls were often hung in eastern windows where it was believed that the rays of the rising sun would kill or destroy any trapped spirit within.

Today, witch balls are made in a variety of colors, designs, and sizes. Many people are attracted to them for their artistic appeal. Popular also are the gazing balls, close cousins of the witch ball, being large spheres of glass that were generally displayed in gardens to catch the light and dazzle the eye.

I picked mine up last year from Iron Elegance. I stumbled upon their website after purchasing a blue witch ball from another website and being horribly disappointed with it. It was such terrible, shoddy work that I can't believe the company really had the nerve to sell it. It contained massive air bubbles in the glass and large cracks that were not part of the design. The top part of the sphere, where one would hang it, was not attached properly and at a weird angle, making it impossible to hang . I seriously don't understand why they just didn't recycle this piece. Even the blue color seemed fake, as if it was painted on and not genuinely tinted glass. So when I found Iron Elegance I was entranced. Their witch balls are very beautiful and professionally made. You can tell they truly care about their products. Too bad I didn't discover their website first. If you are looking for a place to purchase a witch ball for yourself then I strongly recommend them.

http://www.ironelegance.com/maintemplate.asp?category=Witch+Balls

As far as my personal opinions on witch balls, I believe they became so very popular in the 1700s as this was the time that most prosecution of alleged witches were coming to an end. However, the belief in witches was still widespread. As such, people invented all sorts of rituals, devices and apotropaic charms to keep witches at bay. Witch bottles also developed and became popular at this time as well.

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Look What I Found Behind My Shed!

It's a giant Polkweed. You can't tell from the pic but it's very tall. It's well over my head and I'm 6 ft. I bet the root must be massive! I'll harvest some of the leaves but I don't want to harvest the taproot because it will kill it. I've never seen one this big before so no sense in destroying it.

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Making Your Own Powdered Incense Blends - The Easy Way

Like many people, I hold to the belief that hand-made spiritual products are more personal and powerful than commercially bought, mass produced products. Here is the method I use to create my own powdered incense blends.

1. Buy mass produced powdered incense, such as 7 Sisters of New Orleans powdered incense! I know this seems to contradict my opening statement but I can assure you that this is the most cost effective method for creating one's own unique blends. One can purchase the individual cardboard tubes or the bulk bags. Most business that sell their own line of powdered incense buy the bulk bags. Below are some links to such.

https://www.wisdomproducts.com/category/7-sisters-of-new-orleans-incense-powders/241

https://www.wisdomproducts.com/product/indio-incense-powder-5lb-bag-perfumed/569

2. Purchase the essential oils you will need and/or use custom blends of oils you have already prepared.

3. Purchase and or obtain the herbs and roots you will need. Powder or grind the herbs to the size you prefer.

4. Purchase container for your finished product. If you bought the powdered incense that comes in individual cardboard tubes then you can reuse these.

5. Get a bowl, spoon, and zip lock bags.

6. Portion the powdered incense into zip lock bags and set aside. If you are using the individual cardboard container variety then make sure to save the containers.

7. Place the ground or powdered herbs and roots you are using for your custom blend into the bowl.

8. Add the essential oils or custom oil blend to the bowl by allowing it to drip onto the herbs directly. I don't use a set ratio but just wing it based on scent. If you want to create your own specific ration of oils to use then so be it.

9. With the spoon stir the ground or powdered herbs to distribute the oil as thoroughly as possible.

10. Spoon the herbal mixture into the zip lock bags of powdered incense.

11. Knead the zip lock bags to distribute the herbal mixture throughout the powdered incense.

12. Pour the contents of the zip lock bags back into the cardboard containers the powdered incense originally came in or else new containers.

13. Create a label with the information you desire it to have, name of custom blend, time, date, moon phase, astrological info, etc., and attach it to the container.

Voila! You are done! :)

This is a very simple method of creating one's own powdered incense blends. Now, from here it's not that difficult to create blends without any base at all, blends that just contain the herbal matter. Such would be burned on charcoal, of course. Also, if one wants to make their own powdered incense from scratch one just needs to get a hold of wood shavings and then add salt peter to it to make it self-lighting. If this is not desired then one can leave it out and just burn it on charcoal as well. The wood shavings can be dyed if one so chooses.

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Product Review - 7 Sisters Of New Orleans Powder Incense

Brand: 7 Sisters Of New Orleans
Type: Powder Incense
Name: *ALL*
Package: Cardboard Tube
Color: Various
Label: Various
Link: https://www.wisdomproducts.com/category/7-sisters-of-new-orleans-incense-powders/241

So I recently bought a very large order of 7 Sisters of New Orleans powdered incense. Due to the sheer number of items I decided not to do individual reviews over each one. I purchase this large order because I use these to create my own incense blends. By themselves, I'm only moderately satisfied with this line of incense powders. The labels are nice. The powdered incense itself is brightly colored. The fragrance is not good. Some are very faintly scented. Others have no scent at all. For those that are scented their fragrance does not match the scent of their corresponding 7 Sisters of New Orleans oils.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I give this a 8. I would definitely purchase this again, especially for the purpose of creating my own incense blends.

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Than You For Your Prayers

My Schnauzer, Pepper, is back from the vet. She seems to be almost back to normal. However, she looks horrible. I'm still shocked by her appearance. They had to shaver her and the dermatitis patches on her back make her look like she has a horrible case of mange. Even more shocking was the vet bill. Almost a grand.

So a huge thank you for my readers who took the time to prayer for my beloved pet.

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Prayer Request For My Dog

I constantly get requests for prayer from readers and now it's my turn to ask the same.

Three days ago my Schauzer, Pepper, developed dermatitis near her tail. She had this before in the past and I still had medicine left over from before so I didn't think much of it. Dermatitis causes dogs to bite and gnaw off the fur on the infected area. So she had gnawed off the fur near her tail and so the next day I went and bought a collar from PetSmart to prevent her from doing it. I put the ointment on her and figured that in a few days things would be fine. The next day the situation appeared a bit worse and the area had spread a bit. Again, I wasn't alarmed and continued to treat her. Yesterday I came home to find that it had spread to nearly her entire back and the fur was falling off except for a strip that was weirdly wet and stunk horribly. So I got a wet rag and was wiping her down and to my horror all these maggots started falling out of the patch of wet fur. I keep my dogs outside during the day so little did I know that my dog had actually caused herself wounds from her gnawing on her skin. While she was outside flies came in and laid their eggs on the wounds and she developed a horrible case of maggots. Maggots can be good temporarily to debris a wound but their waste is toxic. I took my dog in to the vet today and he said that she may not make it. I was completely shocked. He told me that if I didn't bring her today then she would not have survived the holiday weekend but even still because of the toxins she may not survive. She is on IV and is being pumped full of antibiotics but is deteriorating. The vet says that it's the worst case he's seen.

So for my readers out there, please say a prayer that my dog survives and heals quickly.  Thank you.

Also, a warning to people who may be in a similar situation. Because we are in the Summer months when it's warm day and night, flies develop extremely quickly. So if your dog develops an open wound it's important to keep him/her inside until it heals. In my case maggots took over in just a couple of days, so be warned.

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