Dear Rosie, There are no words adequate to express my sorrow at reading this tragic news. I am so terribly sorry and am keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. Heartfelt condoloences to you and your family. Beth

Gone, gone, gone beyond , gone beyond beyond. Hail the goer, beyond even conceiving of a place beyond which you can go beyond. Ram Dass Sending you peace, love and light. Bill, your father was an extraordinary man. I can only imagine how deeply he will be missed. My deepest sympathies to you and your family. Elizabeth

Twinkie cake, red meat and jelly beans regularly cross my lips and then are forever anchored to my hips. I am a very good cook so that is problematic as well. I can make brussels sprouts that make your heart sing! And I will share the recipe. I drink whole milk with hersheys syrup too! And if it is a hot flash day then I go to raw cookie dough. :lol:

Oh Motherpeace is amazing! That, I think, is the first deck to be produced in a shape other than standard rectangle. Here is the link for those who want to see the images. I had forgottten how lovely these were. My favorite art deck is the St Petersburg but I cannot read from it. The new trend seems to be crafting your own spreads for interpretation. Symbology is my passion thus I was destined to love reading tarot! http://www.motherpeace.com/

I love the RW deck and especially the Grim Reaper. This is a perfect example of what makes Tarot reading such an interesting and varied practice. One likes the RW , the other, Sacred Rose , yet another prefers Druid deck. There is room for every aesthetic and interpretive style and that appeals to me as a reader and to my sense of aesthetics. I cannot say how many decks I have purchased and then they did not read well despite my love for the artwork. Several if memory serves. Here is a great new deck that will appeal to many who enjoy learning about and working with saints. http://www.holycardtarot.com/

Here is the hermetic link for some reason it is being obstinate. http://www.hermetics.org/pdf/tarot_history.pdf

The Rumi deck is beautiful as well. http://www.aeclectic.net/tarot/cards/rumi/

I am a professional reader. This is a fairly accurate depiction of the history of tarot. http://www.hermetics..._history.pdf��. A superb book for understanding the tarot meanings in the Rider Waite system is this by the lovely Rachel Pollak. http://books.google....id=t3sBB0u8zUwC . I have about 50 decks and read for parties, individuals and the like. They are not used for divination in a specific manner as in thi scard refers to that. It is far more a tendency of certain choices and behaviours will lead to x outcome if you continue doing what you have always done. It is one half interpretation of the person being read for, the querient, and one half several years of study and practice to recognize the connections between the cards once they are in relation to tone another their meanings can change 180 degrees or more. My word, this will be the year of elizabeth flying her freak flag ever higher. I welcome any and all questions about tarot as a practice not about the morality of the practice as I am not interested in others opinions on that question. And yes, I am also a lawyer. A lawyer who not only writes her own briefs but scrubs toilets in the office because damnit I have standards that no one else can meet! :coolgleamA: I read on Saturday afternoons and Sunday evenings at a couple of locations and might do a Renn Faire this year. It is delightful, quite fascinating and I have done this for 32 years now. If you want to look at many different types of decks try Aeclectic tarot as they picture many decks online so you can see the wide variety available. here is the link to Aeclectic http://www.aeclectic...c.net/tarot/��. http://www.hermetics.org/pdf.tarot_history.pdf

Jesuits are Jedi Masters. I was educated by them for over a decade, trust me on this. :lol:

Jesuits are Jedi Masters. I was educated by them for over a decade, trust me on this. :lol:

Several family members have Aspergers. This is one of the most horrific pieces of bull**** gonzo fatalistic malarkey I have yet had the discomfort of watching. Thank God a man of the cloth is calling this what it is. Horsepuckey meant to terrorize, further traumatize and shake already stressed families to the core. For the record our high functioning Aspergers include two Anglican priests and a Brigadier General. Don't feed the fear.

Endometrial ablation is the best gift ever. I have my life back.

I had mine cut out in a doctors office. It was the best thing EVER. In the history of the world. It was just fine and actually they are dangerous as they can thrombose. Get thee to an MD one shot and it is all gone. If I could write a song about the wonders of a hemorrhoidectomy I would. You should be seen especially if there is more than one. I am sorry. They are truly painful and miserable.

I googled the phrase Romeike homeschooling brief and DOJ . If this case were worthy of an appeal or had any merit whatsoever legally there would have been a mention on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, The Justia website, the American Trial Lawyers website something somewhere...NOTHING. For 7 pages at least nothing but HLSDA, blogs by homeschooling mothers who believe anything the HLSDA puts forth and far religious right websites. Not one news source refers to it, not one legal website nothing. Because it means nothing as it was a Potemkin Village a hideous ruse and play for the hearts and minds of homeschoolers to make them fear that their right to homeschool was in jeopardy based on this nonsense case of asylum seeking that had no basis in Federal law on Immigration nor any purpose except to instill fear in homeschoolers. And by golly it worked.

It is not a homeschool case at all that is the point and why HLSDA should not be involved. An immigration lawyer would have refused to take the case based onone fact: this is not where case law and statutory law in the US of A rest their laurels regarding who may seek political asylum. I have no idea what you refer to wherein you claim that the US courts are using the laws of other nations to interpret our law. And I practice law. In the USA. We use legal precedents, called case law and statutory law to conduct relations between states, persons and legal entities such as a corporation. There is however one time befre the courts or the government was created where I can recall the law/legal writings of another government were used to interpret and construct our founding documents. John Locke's writings in the Two Treatises of Government were the backbone and nearly entire structure of our Bill of Rights. They were no more written by a founding father than the man on the moon. They plagarized Locke shamelessly. Locke was English. Ironic eh??

That is beautiful!

If you don't have inlaw issues you do not fit in here. We all have issues about something or other. This is the safe place to vent, fly your freak flag, carry on, commiserate , collaborate, remediate and have a good time mulling it all over.

Look up Reconstructionist Hellenistic for a sample of what early pagan practice might have looked like. A rather well known poster here wrote a book on the subject that is considered the best and most comprehensive ever written. Other nature based spiritual practices would be hedge witchery, Balkan witchcraft, Appalachian granny magick, African American Hoodoo(I am a practitioner) Celtic Reconstructionist, many ATR(African Tribal Religions) that found their way into Cuba, Mexico and Brazil called Santeria, Candomble and Lucumi as well as Palo. I am out of the closet now ladies. Ask away. If you wish to see an altar picture here are links http://api.ning.com/...e.jpg?width=721 A great article on santeria http://www.earthenve...erySlavery.html And my tradition Hoodoo http://www.moonstruc..._stuff2_002.jpg Many of the altars will vary according to the particular practice . Note ATR religions are not pagan in the modern use but regarding of the people in the Latin usage of the term paganus they qualify. They are many, many others not mentioned here but suffice it to say that if anyone wants book suggestions ask away. I have a library of several hundered volumes on this subject ,this is what I study, this is what I live and if you pass through Iowa and do not drop me a line to say howdy and stop by for my famous Lady Baltimore Cake and homemade Cherry Brandy it would be a missed opportunity to meet one another. Rosie may I applaud you for starting this thread. I am so delighted to read open dialogue and questions from those I consider old friends at this point. Bethany asked if pagans believe in God and Satan. I am a hoodoo practitioner, it is African American Protestant Folk magic. I pray daily to the Abrahamic God and fear Satan in all his guises. I use Florida Water to cleanse objects I use such as my root trimmer, candle snuffer and drums and rattles. I know non deistic witches, wiccans who worship the Lord and Lady as they ritually move through the seasons of the year which are markedly identical to old agrarian festivals celebrating the turning of the wheel through the seasons of planting, cultivating and harvesting and rest. There are many different gods and goddesses persons may work with as a pagan or wiccan depending on the ethnicity of the practice . Celtics and Greek witches do not deal with the same deities but the praxis is similar. Russian and Finnish craft share many similarities as well. The Italian strega are their own deal though they do not tend to attend festivals etc. Druids are many and found all over the world coming from celtic, Irish, Welsh and in North America. For those who are curious there is a lovely publication called Witches and Pagans that has a blogroll from many of these traditions and that may clarify their similarities and differences. witchesandpagans.com Please do not use my sharing of the blog roll to prosleytize, most pagans know more about Judeo-Christian belief and practice than you would ever believe. And that would go against the spirit of transparency and openess that is trying to be fostered here. In peace and goodwill to all, elizabeth(who really makes the best darn Cherry Brandy in the world and is a true Iowa hostess who will bake and cook for you like none other)

I prefer tea that rocks my world. And then some. :cheers2: Oh the things that go on here that some do not realize...Ladies tea is sometimes a moniker to refer to shagging. Look it up. I will not type it.

Insurance companies make me see red. And green cause I am a lawyer. :laugh: Your daughter will be fine and hopefully she will realize that Mother does know a few things...mine is the same way and she drives me batty with her fierce independent streak. We need to create a WTM cocktail recipe for things like this. Rabies shots for heaven's sake!! That is definitely deserving of a medicinal libation. For mother who tried to warn and now is in a ****storm. Here in Iowa we are in for a snowstorm and there ought to be a cookie recipe using chocolate for those occasions as well. I am sorry for the PITA insurance company because they do not know with whom they are messing. My prediction Remuda Mom=100% covered, Insurance company=Emptying their pockets to ante up...

My cousin is on the admissions committee at ******** . She spoke with me very frankly about test scores and said that although the official policy at her alma mater is test scores optional that does not mean they are dispositive. However, given a choice between student a and b if b has a high SAT they are keeping B in the first round and tossing a right out. This is a rather selective Uni in California. IF there is not merit aid that is substantial to go along with admission for us it is a nonstarter. Our reach school was Fordham. Dd was admitted and granted the highest amount of merit aid possible. She would love it but due to her youth I would need to go as well and sadly my RA is active. Walking with a cane in the Bronx is a little more than I can do this fall as I am getting a knee replacement in May. Everything will work out as it should, she is a good student and fine person with more than a little personality! All will be well. I chant it daily like a mantra to keep myself from being THAT mother. :laugh:

I am so sorry that this happened to your family. The pain and hurt comes through clear as a bell. We avoided all hs groups as well for this reason. Instead dd made contacts through the Chess Club in the larger city nearby, the music commnunit and dance. They were all mixed age groups with many adults peppered throughout so nonsense was stopped and quickly. It is to me as wise as putting a bunch of first time drivers together in one car. Poor idea. It is sad to see that this is not surprising to anyone here, I hoped that this article overstated the case but it seems to be accurate.

I know I am sorry they do not work. Google the phrase Slate article mean girls and it will pop right up. It is a sad article but I thought it might resonate with the experiences of some mothers here and sadly they not only see this but at earlier ages. Awful.

Andrew Lang's Fairy Books are excellent. She will fall in love with them. Buy through Dover Press. Here http://store.doverpublications.com/by-subject-fairy-tales-classic-fairy-tales-and-andrew-lang.html .

You have no idea!! Ask for the book lists. Lori is a treasure trove of wonderful information and inspiration. We adore her here and frankly many of us myself included would have taken the crazy train without her support and willingness to share what worked. :001_tt1: :party: