Where D'Ya Go, Rho? Ep12 Bubble Bubble

Here we are again. My HRT patch on my arse has been refreshed so it must be time for another blog. How do? It’s Rhona, yer wee Scottish middle aged wummin trying to negotiate the hurdles and obstacles of losing yourself and becoming invisible at this stage in life like a horse giving it good gallops round Aintree at the Grand National. Gotta say I thought I had ‘come a cropper at Beecher’s Brook and had become a jumbo Pritt Stick but here I am. Still standing and still trying to figure out where the feck I went and calculate when I’m coming back.

Today I thought I would let you in on one way I am trying to make sense of this weird, wee world we live in. I have been looking into modern witchcraft, avenues of divination and spiritual healing as a potential source of answers and understanding. Some of my nearest and dearest are devout Christian so may readily dismiss this as bunkum (which is their opinion and ay okay by me- each to their own). Others I know may want me burned at the stake. Not necessarily for witchcraft but for jokes I’ve told, sarky comments I’ve made or just because my face is fit for burning. That as it may, I thought I would give you a wee update on what I’ve found out so far on this journey into the lesser understood practices.

Many clump this area of belief together whether it be Wicca, Paganism, The Old Religion, Alternative Spirituality or whatever subsect you find. Some consider it the occult without exploring that many white witches consider their gifts to be God given and God driven so aligns with a Christian conscience. Some prefer to align more with the thinking of Mother Nature being the God like figure and see the seasons, moon cycles and sabbats making us one with nature. Anyone who, like me is a fan of the cult 70s film, The WIcker Man may be stricken in fear for dread of becoming mad enough to want to sacrifice Edward Woodward in a huge, burning wicker man in the hope of a good harvest. Others would fear Christianity itself for worry of being the next poor sod the Summerisle dwellers put in the wickerman in hope for the next harvest. My sitooterie by the sea is a stone's throw from Culzean Castle, the very site of the imagined Summerisle. Between the Wicker Man and Halloween I get why people associate witchcraft with dark arts. Look, the likes of Aleister Crowley and his ilk put the shits up me too but my form of witchcraft is so far removed from that. I’m not like the witches of Macbeth giving it bubble bubble, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble but I may be looking to nature for solutions to health issues. Some lesser understood than others but all safe and not from a place of ill will.

I am a qualified reiki practitioner which is energy work. Treating the 7 body chakras (energy centres) and the many more around the body (aural planes). By dealing with blockages in these areas and finding balance in the chakras you can find physical and mental equilibrium too. Yeah it sounds airy fairy but you only need to see in action to know something is happening. I have had some good results with people I have used reiki on. Some believers and some not but afterwards feeling sensations they had never encountered before. Healing has been a calling and my interest in medicine and holistic therapies such as aromatherapy and reflexology has allowed me to study it in detail. White witchcraft is using herbs and natural remedies to cure the self. It’s early medicine and given I currently healing nicely on CBD, its one I don’t intend on stopping any time soon.

I may make myself safe by putting someone in the freezer. Not in a Glasgow gangster kind of way but by metaphorically placing them in the freezer, away from me and keeping me out of harm's way. If I wanted to be mean I could wish Ill on them but karma comes back threefold so bad intention stays well away unless you want it to bite you on the arse. If visualisation and such help then great if not it’s only my own time and energy I’m wasting so what’s the harm?

I get a lot of joy from keeping my grimoire, or book of shadows. It’s like a self-made instruction manual of witchery practices. It can be a very decorative piece like something from Hogwarts or can be an A4 binder or scrapbook full of instruction. I have my own personal areas I use so may not have a load of spells but each person’s book is their own and focuses upon their own interests. It’s only in its early stages but it’s very therapeutic and can be as arty farty as you want. It’s expressive yet instructive and a good way to check your progress and log your journey.

One of the most feared is divination practices. It’s a form of intention and manifestation. I have read tarot cards in various forms since I was a young teenager and I not only get joy from doing the cards but I also seem to get clarity of thinking and direction from readings. Some don’t always make sense at the immediate time but do later. I read classic Rider Waite tarot and Astrotarot as created by Russell Grant that use the images of major arcana cards, astrology and chinese astrology in a combined fashion. I also have a number or oracle card decks I can pull from depending on what area I am looking for guidance on. I have crystals that I use daily and some such as pendulums for questions I may be seeking guidance on.

Spirituality doesn’t mean devil worship. I believe in God, first and foremost and spirit from those we know who passed and those who went before. I think we are not alone and I do think my soul will meet others again. I just don’t necessarily sit with organised religion as I find most end up bastardised into creating division and hatred rather than unity and love. I think most religions are starting from a good place but get lost somehow in the dogma.

I have always been fascinated by the coincidences and synchronicities in life. I get great comfort by being left pennies in unusual places by those who have dies. They often appear when I am in need of reassurance or help when I am not feeling myself or feel alone and removed from the rest of society. I associate pennies from my wee granny who died when I was 15. Some who knew her would think it would be 5 pences she would leave because she gave the great-grandkids hers out of her purse claiming them to be too footery. No, pennies she leaves for me. I love when I am going about my day and a penny appears in my periphery. I once was explaining this phenomenon to my Aunt on the way to the football and I was getting pelters from brothers saying it was hokum when I looked down and lo and behold there was a penny to be picked up. I picked it up and passed it along and smiled at the thought of the auld yin keeping her eye on me. My mammy is found in feathers, my Dad is magpies who appear on the regular and I have others who appear when needed. It’s like a hug from beyond and whether hokum or not it keeps me going in this life so what harm is it doing?

I have met some amazing white witches, I suppose you would call them in my life. One of which was clairaudient (could hear voices), and clairvoyant (see visions from beyond). She was a 90 plus year old lady and a beautiful soul of a woman. She was well read and had studied many differing religions. She felt they all got it wrong with the exception of the North American Indians and would tell me tales of Cochise and how fair their Apache system of governance was to the Chiricahua tribe. She had a shrine type nook in her home not devoted to one religion but with a smattering of many. She said many had good ideas but man often spoiled it with greed and selfish intentions. We would sit of a night with only the gas fire for light chatting away and now and again there was a feeling that we were not alone. I would sometimes go frozen cold as she spoke to someone that wasn’t me. It wasn't frightening as she was calm in her manner and it was like talking to a friend the way she did it. Sometimes these messages were very specific to me or for me.

She had seen family of mine who have passed on and some whom I have never spoken of because they died before I was born. She would be able to give pinpoint descriptions of them that I have never iterated to her in past conversations. I would sometimes be frozen cold down one side as she spoke directly to them and I would be given messages that often made me smile rather than instil fear. One such message was from a wee woman making a huge pot of soup stating that myself and my next eldest brother should eat better and suggested a good bowl of soup. Way to get a telling from beyond the grave. I have never enjoyed soup, its a texture thing so avoid it at all costs. Since my message, I have progressed as far as Chicken noodle on the soup front which I enjoy most when under the weather health wise.

Another was a man saying he wished I would acknowledge him. She said he said I was one of his and that he is watching over me. He was wearing a blue serge suit and stating he was the only one that survived. The description of this military man meant nothing to me but I was told to keep in mind and it would reveal itself in due time. Months later, I was at my Dad’s house and he had old photos out that my brother had been scanning. Many I had never seen before as my Dad was quite private about his past and family history, I don’t know why and I didn’t like to bother him by asking. He showed me one of a group of guys in a hospital with a couple of nurses in the back. One man in front had a tooth missing and looked vaguely familiar. I asked who was in the photo and he said it was my grandad, who died before I was born. He was a driver in the military and a device went off landing them in hospital. My dad then said “He was the only one that survived” and my skin got goosebumps. Was this the man who was keeping an eye on me?

I have been looked after from beyond I’m sure. One occasion was when travelling back alone from an acting job 5 hours from home. I was ill and running a temp. Friends had offered for me to stay with them to recuperate but I was adamant I was heading home. I left in the dark as I preferred to travel in the dark when the roads were quiet and I could focus on the drive alone. An hour in I was at services being sick and regretting my choices but stubbornly I was set to batter on. From approximately Cumbria to home I struggled to recall much of the drive as I felt delirious from fever, however I felt a strange sense of calm when mid-panic as to how I would make it home as I heard the words I’VE GOT THIS.

My recollection returns around Lanarkshire as I am 22 miles from home. I felt that someone else was assisting me to drive home. I swear down it was my Dad or Grandad at the wheel and I thanked them when I turned the corner for Mosspark home, still sick but safe and sound. The rational part of me firstly knows I should have not driven full stop and the secondly I should have pulled over until fit to do so and thirdly how likely is it that a spirit drove you home? Dismiss it as you may and mock me if you must but I know what I heard. I didn’t take my hands off the wheel and say “Okay then, Home Jeeves!” but I did relax into the drive and as I say I can’t recall how the hell I got to the outskirts of Hamilton without so much as a thought passing my head. I was thankful just to have made it one piece and not caused an accident in the process.

This is an example of many incidents that have happened in my life whereby I have been given a helping hand from beyond. It intrigues me that Maidens is also a place my elderly friend held dear to her heart also. She and her husband had a caravan on the seafront here and yes, it is a lovely coincidence that in such a small village she would have an affiliation to the same one as me. We may even have passed by each other when I was little not knowing that years later we would be friends. As I type here in that very little village, surrounded by nature I revel in the beauty of my surroundings and it lifts my mood. Compared to how lost I have been, this feeling can only be a good thing can’t it?

I have returned to my faith and in doing so I think I have more confidence in the universe. I feel bolstered by family throughout the generations being behind me even when they have crossed from this world makes for increased confidence. Given that the news is a pretty bleak affair, to have any faith in this world can only be a boost. I want to find my ikigai (Japanese for life’s purpose) but that may be for another day…and another blog.

So mote it be.