Yes, a wish.

True fucking story.

My mother has a history of mental illness.  Most of my childhood is filled with memories of her convulsing in a seizure that never seemed to end, or schizophrenic episodes, or her trying to kill herself.  And I was spared from most of it, being very detached from reality as a kid.

I remember eating jelly beans as a kid, and sorting out the black ones for my mom to eat.  Except that she fell asleep, and wouldn't wake up.  And then she started shaking.

I remember having friends over for the night, and watching with them from my bedroom window while my mom was put into an ambulance for what felt like the millionth time.

I remember her losing her memory and me having to follow her through a strange city with no shoes on.  She wanted to go for a walk and wouldn't wait.  She stopped at a house I'd never seen before because we'd never lived in that city, and her insisting that she lived there for years and planted the tree in the front yard.

I remember her freaking out because she thought that there were locusts and rats all over her body.

And her swallowing all of the pills in her prescription bottles.

This went on for YEARS.  It started when I was seven, as far as I even remember, and going on to junior high school (8th grade).

In 8th grade I met my first girlfriend, and consequently, I met one of her long-standing friends.

He was a lanky kid with shoulder-length greasy hair and a pimply face.  The first thing he ever said to me was, "Will you go out with me?"  I said "No."  He cheered, explaining that he was on a hot streak of rejections.

He told me that he was a druid.  He and my girlfriend very much enjoyed a variety of things that I can only describe as Tolkien-ish.  It was beyond my understanding, but it seemed very high fantasy.  It's still beyond my understanding.

One day he explained to me about wishes, and that for some reason or another (I might have done something to earn them, but I'm not sure) he owed me three wishes.

He begged me for days to make my wishes, but I waited.  Because even though wishes seem impossible, I wasn't careless enough to just throw them away.

Finally I told him one thing that I wanted.  I wanted my mom to be cured.  Medication was like a wild carousel of Not Helping.  She was either going to have a seizure and never wake up again, or she was going to kill herself.

He drew some symbols on the ground and did his thing.  Then he asked what else I wanted.  I told him I'd wait and see if my mom got better first.

I lost contact with him.  I have no idea where he is and haven't seen him again.

Since then my mother has never had an issue.  No seizures.  No schizophrenia.  No more chasing a woman who doesn't remember who I am.  She's gone from completely unstable, having her driver's license taken away, some sort of episode once a week at BEST, to having a job, living a normal life, just being... totally FINE.

I didn't even connect the dots until earlier this year.  I realized my life used to be a whirlwind of ambulances coming every damn night for my mom.  None of that happened anymore.  I told my friend about it.  He was skeptical, but he couldn't deny that my mom had gone from a total jar of rocks to a normal human being.  Coincidence, you could say, but f*ck you, it's magic!!!

One thing I learned, though, is that my mother is a massive bitch.  :/  You can't blame bipolar for everything.

So, you're welcome, mom.  I cured you with a druid's wish, and you don't even know.

Seriously.

I've had creepily accurate horoscopes before, but this one takes the cake.  Today I made the mistake of calling someone out for their points of view and blah blah blah it's impossible to argue anyway.  Like any debate, you're never going to change the person's point of view.  I'm just not smart enough with words for this shit.  All it ended up doing was raising my blood pressure to RAGE because, surprise, they didn't listen to what I was saying, they just basically heard what they wanted to.

My horoscope:

Although interactive Mercury comforts you while it is visiting emotional Cancer, your words seem more confrontational today than you intend. Your key planet Pluto is in a passionate tug-of-war with the cosmic messenger, allowing harsh words to easily slip off your tongue. The consequences of your current honesty could stir up a hornet's nest of complex feelings. Unnecessary stress can be avoided if you stop to consider other people's reactions before you speak.

 I'm a little bit freaked out.  I think I have discovered my Religion.  Seriously, I need to start reading these every day and plotting my day accordingly.  It even warned me a day in advance:

Fortunately, you are able to avoid a needless argument if you simply remember to tread softly. It just isn't necessary to get bent out of shape over something that ultimately isn't that important.

but I wasn't reading it because I never thought too much of horoscopes, even though I do relate to my sign.

So, yeah, I think that I need to start planning my days according to these horoscopes.  Like, decide if I need to lock myself in my room for a day to avoid confrontation.

Seriously, I think they sell handcuffs at the local sex shop.  Seems like a good investment right now.

Yesterday I took a long trip to the coast of Maine.  Destination: Castine

The goal was to find my college, and have some fun while doing so.  It turns out that Castine is a pretty rural place, although my previous rural town didn't have a golf course!  The school only has 800 or so students.

The trip began with a stop at our local Cumby's for drinks, and on a whimsy, a $2 scratch ticket, with lucky number 13.  Well, it was lucky indeed... I won 4 times off that number, raking in a $20 prize. Big money!  Mom decided that this was a good omen.

My mother and I started out following the school's directions to the interstate... and then realized that we'd gone 40 miles out of our way to begin with.  What a waste!  But we picked up the right interstates and continued onwards.  Of course, my mother is beginning to have some legendary bladder issues, so our first scenic stop was in Palermo, next to a lake.

Just look at this lush greenery.  It was pretty nice, except for the fact that letting the truck sit still meant that getting back in was HOT later on.

As a side note, I went to a graduation party the day before, which turned out to be lakeside.  My friend and I planned on taking a nice dry paddle boat out into the lake to have some fun.  Well, the sea-doo skipping around the lake decided that we wouldn't stay dry!  Good thing I left my cellphone on shore.

And back to the trip...


So next, our directions became confusing again, naturally.  We went a little too far and decided to go into Belfast and stop to look around.

 This is the coast at Belfast.  The residential houses and businesses were very nice to look at... very colonial architecture and lots of costal motifs.


We stayed just for a few moments to stretch our legs and think about the directions some more. 

We knew we needed to get to Bucksport, and from there we'd make it to Castine.  Fortunately I wasn't going alone because I would need a GPS and a trained guide to get me there.

We hit the road again... and I found myself being dragged into a shop by my very excited mother.

Behold, Perry's Nut House!  What is it, you may ask?  Well they sell foods like candies and assorted -- you guessed it -- nuts.  They also have a safari assortment of toy animals, keychains, t-shirts, and so many things to do with lobsters or moose that your brain would pop.

And delicious fudge, which I am currently eating.  Mmm.

Among the animals they had, there were a few choices of unicorns.  Another good omen for this trip! I brought home a wild-eyed little uni on a keychain, along with a few other good-luck knick knacks.  Little did I know how much I'd end up needing them!

After Perry's, and a lunch stop where I ate my desert out of a plastic children's bucket, we cut through Searsport towards Bucksport.  It was 1:30pm, and our trip had begun at 9am. We were back to business.

Then my mother saw this beautiful monstrosity of a bridge (which promptly made her lose some bladder control, I believe).  She hates big bridges, and this one was quite large for us.  Exciting for me, terrifying for her.

We ended up stopping at a little scenic look-out spot before conquering the beast.  It was nice, but not much to look at.  A little history plaque told me that this was the scene of a big loss for the Americans back when we were fighting the British.  We stumbled across a lot of these flashbacks to the Revolutionary War era.

 

The Penobscot River.  Scene of a great American loss against the British.  Big, beautiful, and proud.  Hopefully less polluted than the Kennebec.

 Then we drove across the bridge, my mother letting out a continuous scream until we finally rolled onto land.

We'd finally made it to Bucksport, which brought up the question - where was the witch's tombstone?
Are you not familiar with that question?  Well, in Maine there is a legend about a witch whose foot appears on a gravestone at some cemetery.  But we passed many cemeteries and were unable to find it the first time through.  I ended up texting my very helpful brother for an address, which we realized was already behind us. To be continued!

From there on, the roads became very rural.  The houses were small and lovely, and many were for sale. The salt water peeked at us every time we crested a hill, or rounded a shady waterfront road.  We went through Verona Island, Orland, the town of Penobscot, and finally made it down to Castine, and found my school.



We headed straight to the coast and snapped some photos of the ships before trying to figure out where to go on the campus.  On the right is a picture of a tug boat.  It was pretty large, but the training ship the school uses is at least 3-4 times larger, and was unfortunately not docked that day.

This is the football field at my school.  They also have indoor courts for tennis and raquetball, an indoor swimming pool (woo!), a rock wall and more.  There were some frightening pull-up bars by the NROTC office.  My ass is going to be kicked at this school.

We found the bookstore next and purchased a couple items - a very official-looking MMA shirt for me and one for my mother which even had "MOM" written on it.  She was thrilled.

Most of the campus was locked down, so we went around with a map for a little while, looking at buildings, and then decided to leave.  For such a long time, we didn't stay for even half an hour.

Goodbye for now, Castine!

Back on the road again.

We hit a long road and headed back to Bucksport.  I wanted to find the gravestone with the witch's foot.

Imagine my surprise when the truck started drifting into the opposite lane of traffic.  No, imagine my fright!  I felt myself about to literally pee my pants at the sight of oncoming traffic heading towards us.  A truck on the opposite side had to go into the ditch to go around us.

I yelled at my mom, "What the hell are you doing?"

Her response, "I felt like off roading. He needed to get out of my lane."

Thoroughly terrified, and my mom laughing at me to cover her mistake (sigh), we made it into Bucksport safe and sound, and located the cemetery (across from Hannafords).  They have a specially built ramp and guard rail that leads directly to the tombstone.

Two plaques next to the gravestone told us the story behind the gravestone.  This monument was erected for Colonel Jonathan Buck, the founder of Bucksport and all-around considered a great guy.

The legend is that he had a woman condemned as a witch, and burned at the stake for her witchery.  She supposedly cursed him, saying that her mark would appear on his headstone.  While she burned, one of her legs fell off and rolled out.  Her deformed son grabbed the leg, cursed Buck, and then ran off into the wilderness.

Sixty years later, the town erected this monument for Buck, and the leg-shaped mark appeared.  They attempted to sand it off, but it continued to re-appear.  The plaque also states that it is not uncommon for granite to have a flaw that doesn't show up until it's been cut and polished.  There is also a mark on the upper part of the monument in the shape of a sideways heart.

The legend of the witch's curse only showed up after the monument was erected sixty years later. Also, there is no record of anyone being executed for witchcraft there.  Still an interesting legend.

When we hit the bridge later on, I made sure to describe our lofty journey in detail to get back at my mom for nearly killing me.  My favorite was, "Whoa, can you feel the bridge moving back and forth?"  Heh heh.

We had a great trip overall, and we hope to hit some more destinations this summer. 

Next I want to check out the Desert of Maine.

Cast the circle thrice about, to keep unwelcomed spirits out.

I'm doing this analysis entirely apart from the book.

First of all, this sentence can be exactly what it means. Circles can be an important part of ritual magic practice. They are often recommended to be cast before a spell. I'm writing this entirely from memory so take it with a grain of salt or anything else you like. ;)

The purpose of a circle: Circles can create protection from negative energies or spirits, as stated in the line. Circles are also cleansed when they are cast to rid the spot of pre-existing negative vibes. This spiritually cleans the spot so that a spell starts with a fresh slate, or the same just for meditation, etc. While the circle is cast, the chosen spot, inside or outside, is sacred.

How to cast a circle: There are probably a large variety of ways to do this, so I won't bother to specify things to say or even pretend that this IS the way to do it. I'm not saying it is, but again this is what I remember. :) Variety is the spice of life, so take from it what you will.

Circles are generally recommended to be 9 feet in diameter. The perimeter can be marked if you like, with stones, crystals, or herbs. Do whatever seems right. (Note that different herbs have different properties, so depending on the nature of what your circle is for, specific herbs can aid you. I recommend Scott Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs. For protection from spirits, salt is a catch-all.) At large, I've heard that casting a circle is largely a spiritual thing that can be done with an athame or your power finger/hand. Focus on drawing your energy and visualize it creating a circle drawn by your hand. Drawing this three times is recommended. You may also want to align yourself with the directions, North, East, South and West.
The next part, to be honest, I'm not sure if it comes before drawing the circle or after. This is the part of sweeping out any stray energies. You can use an actual broom to do this, and visualize the energies being swept away so that your circle is clean and blank, ready to be powered by your own energy and intentions. What you do with the circle afterward is up to you.

For more ideas about spell casting, check out my post "Spells That Rhyme".


The number Three.This is what I really want to analyze. Three is EVERYWHERE especially in religions. The Triple Goddess, either a trio of goddesses or one goddess that is recognized in phases: the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone. They represent a cycle of life. The waxing phase of the moon corresponds with the Maiden. When the moon is full, it is the Mother. When the moon is waning, it is the Crone.

Three is even important in Christianity. The Holy Trinity is the best example in my opinion: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Notice how similar this is to the Maiden, Mother, and Crone, but masculine?

The triangle, the three-pointed and three-sided geometric figure, is considered the strongest geometric shape for construction. Unlike a square, a triangle is very hard to distort. It's so simple, but so strong. I'm sure you can think of many other things that are related to three.

There is also the superstition that things, especially bad things, come in threes. (I hear this one very often. It was especially kicking around the internet when Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett died within 3 days of each other in 2009.) There are many other superstitions that involve threes. Hearing three knocks can foretell death.

You don't have to take my word for it, though. You can look it up yourself. ;)