Volume III, Issue 3, January 18 ,2002 Hello and welcome, Well the January thaw has retreated a bit but I still feel we are going to have an early spring unless winter decides to slam into us finally. I still haven't sent away for my herb seeds that I am planning on buying. I think that's going on the agenda for this weekend. I need to order them soon if I'm going to be starting them inside. We will see how many I actually manage to get to a transplanting size without killing them. There is a reason I garden outside. Inside plants for the most part are doomed. Mother Nature does a much better job then I do at keeping things alive and green. This week has been a fairly prolific one with my poetry writing. I'm actually a bit ahead although please don't let that stop anyone from submitting something. (Major hint here folks.) I also finally posted the website link for Whispers to the Witch's Voice. In today's issue we have a submission for an elemental catcher, which I haven't had a chance to try to make but I thought it looked very interesting and I plan on doing so here soon. It's not as if I don't have plenty of different type of crystals around my home. My poor husband he's surrounded by rock suckers. (Although admittedly he has maybe a half dozen of his own. He's still strictly an amateur.) Anyway that's it for now. Sheila K. Watkins ~*~*~*~ The Muse For Her By Sheila K. Watkins She comes to me Dangling a bit of poetry Offering gifts Snatching them away Makes me want to scream Fickle bitch Damn tease Tormenting me With but a few soft words Then dancing merrily away Promising Yes Maybe on another day But the words they haunt me I long to make them mine So I struggle Sweat And cry And sometimes Just sometimes She dances back by ~*~*~*~ The Muse's kiss For Her By Sheila K. Watkins She comes to me Kissing me with poetry Making magic with that kiss Stroking my soul Tormenting me with words Words so beautiful They couldn't come from me Hands sliding through my soul Intimate words For my ears alone Words to good not to share Stroking passion to a flame Magic's in the very air Poetry a lover's gift Granted with a single kiss ~*~*~*~ Cool Link(s) of the week: Tolkien, J. R. R. -- 1892-1973 - http://www.onering.virbius.com/ One Ring: The Complete Guide to Tolkien Online is a directory that includes sites on: the author, his Lord of the Rings trilogy and other works, the 2001 movie and more. ~*~*~*~ Making an Element Catcher By: Mairwen You will need: Votive candle and votive candle holder/cup Lighter, or matches Five clear quartz crystals Five strands embroidery floss - red, white, green, yellow, blue - about 24" each (white needs to be a bit longer) Small, wand-like twig Cording to hang the catcher Making the catcher: Make sure everything is within reach. You will be using one crystal at a time. Decide which crystal is best suited for each element - they'll let you know. Sit however you're most comfortable. You will be channeling elemental energy with your hands into the crystals. Light the candle. Holding the crystal in your hand/s, merge deeply with the Earth element. Raised energy will be channeled and stored in the crystal. Take as long as you need. When you are finished, lay the crystal aside. Continue with the rest of the elements using the same steps each time. You'll be going around from Earth, to Air, to Fire, to Water, then to One. You will take the red embroidery floss and secure it to the fire crystal, and so forth; a series of wraps and knots seems to work well. Make sure to leave two "tails" at least 6" long. You will use the tails to tie the crystals to the "wand", arranging them in a manner, which you find appealing. Hanging the catcher: I used narrow leather cording intended for necklace making. Knot the cord to each end of the "wand", leaving enough excess to hang the catcher in a window or from the ceiling, or wherever you choose. (About 30" is ideal to work with) Note: to merge: to become aware of your connection with the One that is All Things and extend your conscious awareness into that. ~*~*~*~ Announcement(s): To the United States Citizens on the list: There is a vote coming up concerning oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, please click here; http://www.defenders.org/den to go to a site that will send a letter to your Senators on your behalf. American Religious Identification Survey: http://www.gc.cuny.edu/studies/aris_index.htm What religion do Americans consider belonging to, how many of them attend church, temple, mosque or synagogue, and other findings about religious attitudes. Includes comparisons with the same survey from 1990. Hunger in America, 2001: http://www.secondharvest.org/whoshungry/hunger_study_intro.html who uses emergency food assistance? Far more people than in 1997, nearly 40% of them are working adults. Research by America's Second Harvest. IDEA Practices: http://www.ideapractices.org/ Answers questions and provides compliance resources about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. ~*~*~*~ Writer's Biographies: Mairwen has been a Craft Practitioner for 13 years, and was formally initiated into Trefn Gwyddoniad at Beltaine 1995. She co-founded The College of the Blue Butterfly with her High Priest at Bridget's Fire, 1996. As of Yule 2000, she has been a High Priestess of the Craft for three years, and was recognized as an Elder of the Gwyddon Craft. More information on the Gwyddon Craft may be found at: http://www.dream-weaverz.net/gwyddon/index.html Sheila K. Watkins knew from the time she was 15 that she wanted to be a writer but did not really start writing until she entered college where she worked on her college newspaper and also worked as the editor of the feature section for one semester. She was also introduced to the love of writing poetry at this time. Fortunately for all of us most of the poems have been lost to the world of men. After college she worked several jobs during the next few years but none included writing. It wasn't until after both of her children had started school in 1998 that she went back to her love of putting words on a computer screen. Her first submission was accepted by publication by the IOWAN newsletter and it started her on the path of truly honing her work. In October of 2000, she founded and became editor of Whispers of a Stone Circle. ~*~*~*~ Submissions are always welcomed and can be made to: Zeliziw@n... In submitting materials writers are agreeing that if accepted I may post them in the newsletter and on the web page (whenever I finally get back to work on it.) Works submitted must be the writer's own work and they must still retain the copyright OR it must be verifiably public domain. Works can have been published before but please nothing that has been around over and over again. Copyright remains in the author's possession. The Author also realizes that they will not be paid. (If I had money I would be hosting this on something other then Yahoo.) If a submission is accepted, I will check for punctuation, capitalization and spelling in submitted articles. I will fix minor errors if they are present. I will NOT reword things (except for an occasional "an" for "a" and vice versa.) Poems are published as submitted. All articles, poems, etc, except where noted are copyrighted by the writers of said items and are used with permission. They are not to be republished without the express permission of the writers. Contact information may be obtained by contacting the editor of Whispers of A Stone Circle at Zeliziw@n... Copyright (c) 2002 Sheila K. Watkins All Rights Reserved.