Butter Mochi

I made this absolutely amazing cake the other day with glutinous rice; the results were so good I just have to share it, especially since the holidays are coming and who doesn't love cake?
I thought so *wink*.

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

1 can coconut milk

1 cup of milk (I used 2%- some people use evaporated milk for a richer, denser cake)

1 lb (in my case one package) glutinous rice flour

1 tsp coconut extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup butter

2 cups granulated sugar (you could even do 2.5 cups f you want it sweeter, but 2 cups was enough for me)

1 cup shredded coconut (I used unsweetened, but you can use any variety of dried coconut)

a pinch of salt 

Now I just want to say that all these ingredients can be found in nearly any grocery store, with the exception of the glutinous rice flour. I would highly suggest that you head to your nearest Asian grocery store/market to find this. They will definitely have it. 

To prepare, pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees, and grease a 9x13 cake pan ( I used my trusty Pyrex). 

Making the cake is very simple. Combine the baking powder, glutinous rice flour, and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. Whisk the dry ingredients together to sift and blend. 

In a separate container, mix the wet ingredients together, meaning the sugar, the eggs, the milk, the coconut milk, and the extracts. Whisk until everything is completely blended. 

Separately, begin melting the butter ( I like a quick zap in the microwave). 

Now combine the  wet and dry ingredients and mix together to form a thick batter. Work out the lumps slowly, though they will work themselves out as you continue to whisk. 

Finally, add the shredded coconut to the melted butter, and add both together to the batter.

Whisk until smooth.

Now, pop into the pre-heated oven and wait 1 hour. 

Done!

Doesn't that look amazing?

I hope you like it :)

Tea and Tarot Tuesday

Being back at blogging has given me a few ideas in the last few days, and I think I'm going to start a weekly posting about the Tarot. That way I can certainly be assured to give you, my valued readers, at least one guaranteed post per week. Plus, it's a topic I can relate to well and use it for ideas on my YouTube channel, Saphira Blue Tarot.

Okay, let's start with a little tea.
I'm feeling a bit mellow tonight, so I think a nice cup of Darjeeling would do the trick. I'm one of those milk-tea types, so I put a little milk in my black teas. I think it adds an extra dimension to the flavour. Darjeeling teas are very complex and flavourful, so I'm definitely in the mood for something complex tonight.
Normally I use loose leaf tea, but tonight I'm a bit lazy, plus I don't have any loose Darjeeling right now, so teabag it is. The company is called 'Steven Smith Teamaker', and it was created by the same tea blender of
Stash and Tazo Tea companies. I would highly recommend his teas, they are very well blended and very high quality. You've heard it from the tea snob herself. This blend is called "Bungalow", and I love it. Okay, enough about tea. If I don't stop I'll continue on ad nauseam. 

There you have it- a cup of Darjeeling with milk and a little sugar. Done.

(Don't you just love the Roy Kirkham mug? I adore birds on teacups.)

And now, on to the Tarot. I like this part. A lot.
Enjoy, everyone!

Watch the video here :)

Welcome to Saphira Blue Tarot

I just uploaded this video tonight to my new YouTube channel. For any future videos I will also add them here on my blog as well.

If you're interested in having your reading done on YouTube, be one of the first 5 readers to comment on this post and I'll give you a complementary 3 card reading.

Thanks for watching and enjoy!

Fear and Loathing in YouTube Land

I did something last night that I've wanted to do for a long time. I changed my YouTube channel so that I can post videos on the Tarot and get my Etsy shop back on and running.
The past year has left me itching to do something fun and interesting, put myself out there in the online world and see what happens. Yet, as always, I face feelings of apprehension and anxiety at putting myself into the public eye. As a shy person by nature, this is expected, but adding my Pagan outlook to the mixture does not a good recipe make. For the most part (and I'm just generalizing here) most Pagans I know of are a bit scared to be publicizing themselves to the mundane world. Yes, people nowadays are more tolerant, accepting, and educated- for the most part- than they were even 50 years ago, but stigmas still hold tight in many eyes. Perhaps it is because we feel the need to keep secret about what we do, our beliefs, and our unique outlook on the ways of nature that make us seem set too set apart from the rest of society to actually integrate our inner-selves with our public personas. It is a hard thing to do, which is why I've been battling this inner debate with myself over whether I should have my real name out there or not. For the record, all you Pagans, Witches, Wiccans, Shamans, Druids, Vodou practitioners, Root workers, Ceremonial Magicians, and any other domination of Pagan that belong to nature-based spirituality, if you have our real name out there I salute you, because I don't know if I have the stamina for that at this point in my life. I would love to be footloose and fancy free to tell everyone about my spirituality, but many things hold me back from doing so.

Anyways, back to my point, I am scared to put myself out into the real world just as much as I am apprehensive about putting my viewpoints into the internet world. This blog is more of a private space, but I want to branch out and be more than that. I want to blog so that people can read my posts and know me. I blog so that others can feel a bit less afraid to bring their ideas to the world and maybe feel less alone out there. I'm solitary (in many ways) so I pretty much know what I'm talking about. Don't get me wrong, being solitary in my craft is my preference, but I would like to have more exposure to other Pagans. I want to have a community I can be apart of,  which is why I have created a YouTube channel. The only thing is, I have reservations about being a part of the Pagan YouTube community. In the beginning of my learning about the craft, YouTube was my sanctuary and learning tool. I watched so many videos to try and learn more about what I was actively seeking, and I fell in love with so many Pagan YouTube personalities. I liked that they were all different but heading in the same direction, and they all had wonderful things to offer to my learning. YouTube Pagans helped me grow as a Pagan, so I want to give back the community in a positive way. Unfortunately, criticism runs pretty high on YouTube, and I know of many Pagan YouTubers that have closed their channels or changed channels often because of the high rate of criticism. I'm not afraid of being criticized, but I am worried about the ensuing drama that nearly always occurs.
So I have made my channel, I will upload my videos, and I will see what happens and learn from my experience, as we all should in life.

To my readers, do you feel the same as I do on this issue? Please let me know I'm not alone on this or if you like, give your take on this situation. If you have had any kind of similar experiences or know of someone that has, post in the comments below. I love hearing what other people have to say on this subject.

The Moon and the Darkness

(This is a post I wrote quite a few months ago, around March. I had just finished this book, and it had made quite an impression on me. As I had experienced the passing of a loved one, my beloved grandmother, I wanted to delve more into understanding death from a Pagan perspective. Her sudden passing was very hard on me as I had never experienced death or dying before in my life. This book helped me cope with the aftermath of her passing and my grief. It also introduced me to a Goddess I had never had a connection to before- the Queen of the Night herself, Hekate.)


A few weeks ago I finally finished reading a book that I had felt drawn to for some time.
Its quite popular in our pagan circles, so I've heard, and many have read the book and garnered much healing and self-discovery from it.

"Mysteries of the Dark Moon" by Demetra George was a very profound read for me. Now it was my time to work through my own inner understanding of darkness/death in it's many forms.

Having not explored or worked with the "dark" Goddesses before, I was not fully educated on, nor aware of, the deep-rooted connection our path of spirituality has to the crone/death/end-of-cycle aspects of life and the wheel of the year.

Perhaps it is my tendency of liking the so-called "fluffy" side of Paganism that made me unable to completely appreciate and know my true perspective on the aspect of death and ending.

Throughout my learning of Wicca and witchcraft there has been much emphasis on the "new" and "full" aspects of the cyclic patterns life takes form in.

But when you reach past the beginning stages of learning about Wicca and paganism- when one begins to transition from the neophyte to a true practitioner, then you see the need and benefit of learning from the dark moon.

The dark moon, in my very humble opinion, tends to get overlooked in the practice of Wicca and witchcraft.
Perhaps it is because so many of us fear and loathe the stereotypical labels of "devil worshipper", "black magician" and "wicked witch", that Neo-Pagans unconsciously distance themselves from these "unconventional" aspects of their practice.

Now it was my time to do the same, and work through my own inner understanding of darkness/death in it's many forms.
So in order to learn and further my spiritual progress, I decided to hold an esbat honoring the dark moon.

It was a very, very intense experience, and I have had a few of those to date. This experience, however, just blew me away. The energy was very raw, and very pure, and my mind went on a very interesting journey which I will blog about very soon, but not today.
The least I will say about the entire experience is that in my meditation I met with Hekate and became one of her initiates, and for the record, I did not expect to do that at all.

Hekate, by the way, was awesome.

A Personal Thanksgiving

Hello everyone!

Today is American Thanksgiving, as I'm sure most of my readers know, and I don't usually have many things to do on Thanksgiving but I felt a blog post was in order after my very long hiatus.
Most people today will be spending the day with family, cooking their Turkeys (or what have you), eating, talking, enjoying a nice glass of wine or a beer to celebrate the end of the harvest season and the coming winter months and just enjoying this once-a-year day off to relax at home and have a very nice meal.
Usually I would be partaking in these activities as well, but this year Thanksgiving day has been one of internal enjoyment. Not really a day for talking or joviality, but a day of, quietly, giving thanks for the small things I still have. Not that my life is terrible, but there have been many set backs and upsets in the last 16 months of my life, and now they slowly have been coming together again. I don't think my life can be mended completely after what I have been going through for the past year, but I can bring some semblance of normalcy and happiness back to my soul.
Taking moments to yourself are integral to keeping your sanity in these situations- I've learned this from experience. I should really pluralize this and say 'experiences', because they really have been that.
As I'm not having a big turkey, not socializing with family, or enjoying a glass of something nice and alcoholic,  I figured a good, long blog post was in order. So this Thanksgiving I'm thankful for my blog because I like writing and it's nice to have refuge in words. I'm thankful that I can cook relatively well; I made a nice beef stew tonight. I'm thankful for my spiritual path, which has led me towards more interesting times and a better view of myself and the world. I am thankful for my friends and their wonderful support- without them I would not be as happy as I am sitting here writing this evening. I am thankful for my health and minor weight-loss, a never ending saga right now but good nonetheless. I'm thankful for my witchyness, it has helped my more times than I can count on this year (chakra clearing and calming charms worked wonders for my blood pressure). And finally, I am thankful for me. That may sound strange, but it's the biggest part of my existence. I am who I am because of so many things, and while I'm not always happy with some of those factors, I am happy with how I deal with those situations and the ways I cope to make life better.

Happy Thanksgiving and to all a good (and stuffed!) night.

Root Work

It's been a very, very long time since I've been here on my blog. I missed the calming familiarity of typing out little articles for others to read and to help me vent some of my ideas and frustrations into the world.
So I'm back now, trying to once again blog as a way to clear my head. Active meditation through typing, and yes, I'm even trying my hand at branching out in the online world and being of service to those interested and seeking out advice. I'm a bit shy by nature, and the Craft helped me move through that and become a stronger and more outspoken person. Believe it or not, witchcraft does wonders for self-esteem! The word 'self-empowerment' (is that a word?) comes to mind.

My intent is going back to basics- back to my early roots and starting a new adventure with a familiar path. By my early roots I mean the Tarot.
Just in case you didn't know I love the Tarot, let me tell you now. I love the Tarot. I love the Tarot and everything about it. Tarot just draws me in and grabs my attention and interest like a wormhole. In fact the Tarot is what led me to my current spirituality. The Tarot is my wormhole. It's a not a very attractive-sounding analogy, but to me the Tarot does symbolize this inwards progression through my spiritual plane of activity. When I do Tarot readings for others and myself, I sense my mind drifting into another wavelength of thinking-mode. My synapses get into gear and go until they can't connect anymore dots, which is not a huge deal. My Tarot decks are like an extension of myself sometimes. My nearest and dearest have been very pleasantly surprised by my accuracy, and I have even been known to surprise myself on occasion with some of the more direct readings I've had over the years.

So in honor of getting back into Tarot, I'm giving away 3-card Readings to the writers of the first five comments on this post! I will message those who comment for their reading specs and off we go!!!

I hope you're excited :)

Back again (from a sneeze!)

It's amazing how the smallest things can make you change for the better. For me, it was a sneeze.


And yes, I do realize that I have said this before, but I'm back. Really, I am.
I'm so bored of the doldrums and tired existence I've been shuffling through for the past year now that I've once again thrown in the towel on doing nothing. For good.

But let me get back to my 'semi' interesting story.

Last night I was sitting, reading a book. Not much of an evening, but hey, my life has been that way for awhile now. Anyhow, I was reading, reading, reading, and reading....and then all of a sudden I sneezed.
It was one of those 'once-in-a-life-time-knock-your-socks-of-and-blow-off-your-nose' sneezes, which I've only had once before and let me tell you it hurt like hell with a capital H!
And then, after the pain subsided, I realized that what I felt in that single moment was the most alive I had  felt all day.
Yes, it was a very sad moment of truth. I don't know how often those epiphany-sneezes occur in a lifetime, but the one I had last night was the most pathos-inducing I possibly could have felt. I knew a change was coming. The Goddess doesn't give me subtle messages anymore. Not that I was so inclined to feel anything less than a swift kick in the astral butt! I've let my Goddess and God given spiritual gifts go by the wayside as of late, due to my depressing situation (which I cannot elaborate on right now due to very close constraints), but I see the light at the end of the tunnel, which should be a lot more witchy-looking considering my state of spiritual affairs. But that's what stagnation does to people. Turns your psyche into mush, and then the astral garbage builds up until you are standing shoulder deep in your own mess of emotions and problems- caused by no one else but yours' truly!

So what led me here now do I sense you asking? Time. I have so much time on my hands it's killing me. I never thought I would say that, but yes, I have nothing to do but wait. And it's slowly driving me insane.
Goddess-knows I've been up to my elbows in a bad situation this past year, but now I've come to the point where I must either change myself for the better, or let myself change for the worst. I'm not picking the latter option at any cost. Stagnation will lead to my destruction.
So here I am, and to whomever is reading this, here you are, too.
I don't want to be trendy and cliche, but the phrase, "Be the change" is echoing through my head and I needed to heed the call. Like I once heard a very wise woman say, "No one can do it for you, so do it yourself."
Well I'm doing it now. I'm back to bring myself to world and give whatever small nuggets of wisdom I offer up to the internet gods and to my readers. If I can make someone's day more interesting or a little bit brighter I've done my part in giving back for the day. I have more the offer, but in due time. There's a lot to catch up on right now.

Once again, I'm back, baby. And I come bearing gifts. You'll read more about those in my next blog installments. Stay tuned for an upcoming Tarot talk!