Every month, I think I’m going to share some of my favorite content creators here with you. My YouTube algorithm finally has gotten to know my preferences, and I’m discovering new artists daily.
Every morning when feeling well, I start my day with a cup of coffee and breakfast. I’ll sit down to watch the latest videos from my favorite channels. And for the past couple of weeks, I’ve been hooked on a certain aesthetic and vibe.
Think cozy cottage and fairytale vibes.
These videos are so calming that it just starts my day off right.
Darling Desi
Desi is a content creator and filmmaker that lives in Utah, at least up until her most recent video in February 2023. Her channel was created in 2019 and she covers a variety of topics.
If you’re a fan of my blog, then I think you will enjoy her videos. She’s an avid reader and a fan of Canadian novels like Anne of Green Gables. She covers topics from anxiety, selfcare, to daily life as an artist.
Alwyn Oak
This channel is a new discovery for me and I’m in love with the overall vibe of her videos. Alywyn is a practicing witch and films many of her videos outdoors. She loves exploring nature, cooking, baking and crafting. She’s also a composer and shares her original music from time to time while celebrating Sabbats or other holidays.
Alywyn often shares ideas on how to celebrate the Pagan Sabbats or spiritual holidays. I find her ideas to be really inspiring for my own celebrations as a practicing witch. She also has videos dedicated to selfcare, rituals and healing practices.
Moss & Mirth
The creator of Moss & Mirth lives in an organic garden sanctuary that she describes as hidden in the trees of a rainy magical forest. Her videos give off a magical sort of vibe as she works on hand crafts or home projects.
Moss & Mirth is a smaller channel with just 345 subscribers, so do check out her videos if you get a chance. I’m all about supporting other artists that share their work and ideas.
Poetry of Slow Life
Daria is a self described cottage daydreamer that lives in the English countryside. Her channel has been active since 2015 and she has just over 20,000 subscribers. This is another great channel that goes for the cozy vibe and focuses on cozy cottage and slow living life.
The Cottage Fairy
I know that I’ve already plugged this channel in a previous post, but this is honestly one of my favorite channels to binge on those dreary days when you might be moving a little slower.
Endy is a talented artist and illustrator that lives in a cozy cottage in the Washington State. She’s an artist, and also rents out properties that she decorates for holidays and special occasions. She’s also an avid reader and I love her book recommendations.
She posts new content weekly and covers a variety of topics from selfcare, anxiety, mental wellness and mindfulness. I love her videos so much, and as someone with anxiety, I really find I connect with her way of thinking as well.
Sleep paralysis, simply described, is when messages sent from the brain as you wake up from sleep, get “stuck” somewhere down your neuro path. It is thought that it’s a temporary disconnection from the brain and spinal cord. The key word, being temporary. It usually only lasts seconds or moments when it happens but can feel like hours. Time is greatly distorted during episodes.
Symptoms include hallucinations, body jerks (hypnojerks), being frozen in fear, weird smells and strong auditory hallucinations, and even if that wasn’t terrifying enough… continue reading for what it was really like for me.
Commonly associated with sleep disorders like insomnia, sleep paralysis is quite has been reported around the globe. Other related conditions include: migraines, seizures, Parkinsons Disease, and dementia.
Beliefs around the globe
Many people around the globe who live with chronic sleep paralysis report seeing shadow people either in their bed or in the room with them. Yep. You read that correctly. Most commonly, people see the Hat Man.
There have been different types of sleep paralysis reported and connected to spiritual beliefs. These include intruder hallucinations, incubus hallucinations, vestibular and motor hallucinations.
I have now experienced all three of these sleep paralysis types and each one was truly horrific in its own way.
Some cultures believe that sleep paralysis is a spiritual experience and caused by visitations from shadow beings or demons.
The Old Hag being one of the more famous of the sleep demons as depicted in the image below (credit Google search). Other names for these creatures are Jinn (Demons), Pisadeira (Brazil), Night-mare (Europe) and Lilitu (Mesopotamia).
One of the early depictions of sleep paralysis was found from 1684 in the Incubus or the Night-mare written by a Dutch physician. Though there are cases that have been documented for centuries around the globe including South East Asian communities.
Most notably, there was a documented case in the Philippines, in a village called (that I cannot find for the life of me) – where many villagers died from what was believed to be sleep paralysis.
Science would explain the death of these healthy people to be sudden arrhythmic death syndrome.
But when it happens to an entire village, it makes you stop and ponder. IS there really something to this, that science cannot explain?
The Hooded Figure / Hat Man
For me, my first time, I saw a hooded figure hover over my bed that had no face. And I was wide awake when it happened. I just couldn’t move.
First time it happened, it was over as quickly as it began. I was going through a bad period in life and had been sick for a long time. Doctors couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Everyone knows by now here I suffer from really bad insomnia. This past summer was up to 200 hours. That fall, I was around the 100 mark of no sleep. Grabbing only quick power naps during the day. It got so bad, that I wanted to die. Until after my sleep paralysis experience, I had five weeks of iron infusions that turned things around.
In that first episode, I fell asleep with the light on for only moments on my back. The smell of something burning jolted me awake. Then I heard all the bones and joints in my body BREAK. And it felt like it too. Like I sunk back into the bed from the air. Everything hurt. I flew out of bed not understanding what had just happened.
The next time it happened was a couple of nights later. This was almost 10 years ago in the fall of 2013. Weird.
I was in a lot of pain, and had just about given up. It felt like something was in the room with me all night. I’m sensitive in that sense too to strange energies. It felt like something was lurking. And later that night, around 2 in the morning, I finally passed out. And woke up suddenly. Frozen in bed. Unable to move. Unable to scream. Unable to do anything.
But I was WIDE awake and coherent and knew what was happening around me. It was the single most horrifying experience of my adult life. And I’ve had weird experiences over the years.
The hooded figure came out of the corner of the room near my bed. It moved with grace and stood over me. Reached out its hand, and then that’s when the episode broke. I flew out of bed, landing on the floor, tripping over the comforter. Ran over to the light switch and turned it on.
Sure enough, I was on my own.
That’s the night I learned about sleep paralysis and it would be a subject I would become obsessed with. Then it didn’t happen again for years until last night. My insomnia is back and sleep is shit.
The fear I felt in that moment when I woke up from a dead of sleep. It was the sound of knocking in the walls that did it. The heater has been going crazy. I know it’s the heater and not a demon in the walls at least. But still. I woke up. Couldn’t move.
I can’t begin to describe the amount of fear that took over my body in that moment. I had no idea what day it was. What time it was. Where I was.
I’m writing to this to hear other people’s experiences with sleep paralysis. What was your worst experience like? How often do you get it? And what do you do to make it go away?
Want to learn more about sleep paralysis? Here are some noteworthy documentaries. Also, if you’re looking for some spooky movies that cover the topic – Doctor Sleep and Shadow People are entertaining.
On the night of the full moon, I completed a ritual and meditation to “let things go” – which means, letting go of recent hurts and the men that have come and gone into my life for whatever reasons.
Sometimes the universe works in mysterious ways and I’m sitting here shaking my head over the events of the past few days. It gets to a point where you just go, “this can’t be a coincidence. It’s too weird,” so I need to trust in what is happening around me.
I had originally planned on having a bath with a bag of herbs that I mixed as an offering to the spirit guides. Instead, I changed my mind last minute and added essential oils, dried herbs and crystals to the bag. I meditated for quite a while and yada yada yada. The ritual was complete.
I actually got quite emotional during the meditation portion, so I think in a way, it worked.
I never know what to do with the bags after the ritual is done. So, I decided to bury it pretty deep into one of my flower pots outside.
Well, yesterday as I was sipping coffee, a massive magpie swooped over my balcony. It made me jump. Let’s say it got my attention. Then I saw a second one swoop over and I knew something was up. They’re destructive creatures.
Sure enough, the buggers had ripped apart the dirt and actually managed to pull out my “magic” bag and dumped it on the ground. It was either too heavy for them to carry or they decided they didn’t want it. Either way. There’s a mess I need to clean up now.
I messaged a witchy friend of mine and laughed about it. And she asked how many magpies there were. When I told her two –
“That’s a good sign! One magpie is an omen of bad luck. Two magpies are a sign of good things to come your way. Either in form of communication or a visit with a friend.”
And then she said, “You could just sweep off the dirt off your balcony and it would be symbolic in every way. In a way, they did try and get rid of the negativity by carrying the bag away.
Today, I was supposed to have a friend over but woke up with a brutal migraine again. I messaged him and his words. “I have to go Camrose, it’s the like universe is speaking to us.” Now, I don’t know if he’s saying that because he knows I’m into witchy stuff, but.
It’s been that kind of week.
I think I’m finally on the right healing path. And maybe that was the final sign I needed to keep moving in the right direction.
Also…my new Tarot decks have arrived and they are so pretty. If you’d like a reading, please let me know.
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I’m not a fan of making resolutions at the start of a new year. Resolutions are easy to forget and give up on. Many people often make goals or lists that are unattainable or unrealistic. Or they lose momentum and motivation within the first month of the year.
A good example of this, is how many people buy gym memberships in January and start training, only to quit after a month or two. As someone who prefers home workouts, I’ve never understood this mentality. It just sets you up for failure.
A few years ago, I started off the new year by making a list of goals that I want to achieve. Sometimes, I’ll break the goals down from month to month or I’ll assign deadlines which help keep me motivated.
This year – I’m trying something new and letting go of old habits. Instead, I want to focus on INTENTION – and what that means for me.
What does the word intention mean?
That’s a good question. Intention is one with cause and effect. It determines the outcome of any situation. If you’re stuck, and not moving forward in life, you need to check the thought and action that created your current situation.
Creating a list of intentions for you to focus on – may help you get “unstuck”.
As part of mindfulness and healing, I sat down and asked myself some hard questions this past week. This is part of shadow work – something I’ll write more about later. It’s a form of deep healing that some people do to let go of trauma bonds and emotional grief or disappointments.
Some questions that came up for me were:
What are some things I want to accomplish this year?
What are things that will help improve the quality of my life?
What are things that bring me the most joy?
What are some areas that I can improve on?
What did I learn last year, that I can carry on to this year?
These questions will help me determine goals that I want to set for myself and aspire to. Instead of focusing on negative, I’m looking at things (even small things) that will help improve the quality of my life.
What are my intentions for the year?
Now, that’s a very good question. My first intention, is to focus on improving my current state of depression and learning to let go of past hurts. Moving forward with lessons learned from what went wrong last year. The year wasn’t all bad. I made some great new friends and had some amazing first experiences. But – there was also a lot of heartache that I’m still recovering from.
The key is to take lessons from those experiences, so you don’t make the same mistakes twice.
Education and spiritual practices
My main goal this year is education. I want to learn as much as I can, and absorb as much knowledge as I can so that I can share these learnings with you. Areas of focus will include: spiritual practices, languages, arts and crafts and learning more about my ancestry – the Nordic roots.
This means getting back into reading. I’d like to read at least ONE book per month. I think that is a pretty attainable goal.
Improving overall health and wellness
This will happen in various stages through the year. Since Christmas, I’ve mostly been catching up on sleep after months of serious sleep deprivation. It means, trying to regulate my sleep patterns.
This means continuing to eat healthy, cook more meals and stock up the freezer for summer months with meals that can be reheated. This means sitting outside more on warmer days and using the balcony daily in warmer months. This means going for nature walks as my knees allow for it. Going for coffee with friends. Attending workshops and events that will help me connect with likeminded people and make new friends.
Practicing daily mindfulness
This means writing more – here in this blog and in my journals. Researching new topics to cover and track my moods. Practice daily gratitude and mindfulness techniques so that I can appreciate the here and now -and what I do have, rather than focusing on what was lost.
Working with my hands
Part of the issue of not working, is that I have a lot of time on my hands. I’m not able to hold down a job due to physical disabilities. The pain is too much at times from arthritis and fractures that I live with. On those good days where I have good energy, I intend to keep my hands busy. Work on bracelets, artwork and create digital products for Etsy. This is a hobby for now. It brings me joy and keeps the mind distracted.
Learning new skills would be helpful so that I can expand my current capabilities in jewelry making. I’d love to make necklaces and sell them to friends.
Staying connected
This is a hard one for me. When I hit depression, or low periods, as I call them, I just do not have the energy or stamina to be around people. I need time on my own to recharge. This often means losing friends and or unintentionally pushing people away.
Something I need to work on is repairing those connections that went awry – and that are meaningful to me. Staying in touch with friends that I want in my life. And – opening up my heart again to the possibility of new friends. This might be the most challenging thought of ALL.
Live with intent and follow up on actions
I think that’s a pretty good list. I try and keep intentions or goals to 3-5 for the year. I tend to revisit my list each month and create a progress report for friends to read if they’re interested.
My main goal is to live with intention. Follow up on promised actions. Make amends. And heal. However that looks from month to month, we’ll just have to wait and see what comes up this year.
One thing I do believe in is – the energy you put out there, often comes back at you. The three fold rule of attraction. I’m working on hard on trying to attract only good things and people in my life. While not tearing down those who may be struggling as well.
What are your intentions for the upcoming year? Let me know in the comments!
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Thank you for reading! Yes, I’m writing almost daily now and have a lot of ideas and ways to improve this blog. I want to make this a place where people can come for uplifting and messages of support, while sharing my experiences with emotional abuse and toxic relationships. I also want to document my healing journey, and what I’m learning through this process to help inspire others.
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This was a question that popped up on Reddit and as I was doing some writing today, a vision popped into my head as clear as thought it happened yesterday.
When I was an infant, maybe just a year old, my mother took me and my siblings on a train ride. It could have been to the mountains, but I honestly don’t remember where we went. I’ve only heard bits and pieces of the story.
Apparently, dad was working and would meet up with us later with the station wagon. Or he wasn’t coming at all. I can’t remember that either. I do know that my mother fell on the way to grab our luggage, with me in her arms.
She had been trying to get away from some bikers dressed in leather jackets and were hanging around the station with their bikes. Funny enough, the bikers helped her up and carried her luggage to the train.
I honestly don’t know how I remember this but. I remember being held in my mother’s arms. She was talking to my siblings. I looked up and out the window. I could see trees and mountains fly by. I can still feel the train shaking on the tracks as it picked up speed.
I think for me, that is the earliest memory I have. But there are more.
Floating dreams
As a kid, I had the craziest dreams, much like I do now. I swear that this one felt so real – I had convinced myself it actually happened.
I would walk out of my bedroom into the hallway and stand at the top of the stairs. I’d place my hand on the left railing, kick my legs up into the air and float down the stairs.
This happened so many times that I’m convinced I must have found some way to float down the stairs. It didn’t hurt when I landed on the carpet at the bottom of the stairs. And sometimes, I would fly across the house.
Apparently, this is a common thing. Many people recall having similar experiences up until a certain age. Later on, I would start having travel dreams. Dreams where I actually traveled to far off places, realms and would even float into people’s houses.
I remember spying on an ex once. I floated up the stairs and knocked on the door. He couldn’t see me, so I floated right into the house like Casper. I could see him in the kitchen. The kids were in the living room. And his now ex wife, was sitting on the couch knitting.
They couldn’t see me – but I could see everything they did. And then, next thing I knew, I was back in my own bed.
Out of body experiences
The next few memories are a little trippy and disturbing for me. Flying dreams are a different sensation all together. It’s like you can feel your soul or spirit lift out of your body. When the dream is over, it feels like you sink or fall into the body. Science will tell you this is a hypnic jerk. But me being the spiritual person, tends to believe that our soul or spirit travels when we sleep.
How else could I describe to you what our house looked like from aerial view? I had never seen pictures or videos of our neighbourhood from above. We didn’t have drones or video cameras back then. So, how could I possible describe in detail – what the house looked like from above?
I’ve chatted with a few people recently that had similar experiences. It’s mind-boggling that science still doesn’t know much about dreams or astral travel. They call is pseudoscience which means most scientists don’t take it too seriously.
There are other memories but this post is already getting long. It’s funny how I can remember something as an infant, but can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday without tracking it.
I’m writing about dreams because I had one of the most terrifying nightmares this morning. I can’t even make sense of it. Or explain it. For the first time in a long time, I woke up in fear. Actual fear.
I might start writing about dreams again as I remember them. But we’ll see.
What are your earliest memories? Did you have floating or flying dreams? Do you still have them? Have you ever astral traveled? Let me know in the comments.
Cheers.
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It’s Monday morning at 6:00 am as I sit down to write this. I just came in from sitting out on the balcony. Last night was a terrible night. It was so hot in my condo that I had to spend most of the night outside. But because of the fires out west, and in Saskatchewan, our sky was filled with smoke.
For about a week during high school, I smoked cigarettes to try and fit in with my friends who all were smokers. It wasn’t bad – until I actually inhaled the cigarette. I’ll never forget the taste of ashtray in my mouth. I’m also heavily allergic to smoke and with my asthma now, I can’t be around it. I struggle to breathe. I feel lethargic. My ankles swell. And the wheezing – that’s not even the worst part.
The worst part is feeling like I’ve swallowed that first smoke that I had over twenty years ago. And yet, I have this bad after taste in my mouth. Like I’ve swallowed an entire ashtray.
And I’m in Alberta.
I’ve seen videos and pictures all over TikTok and Instagram from Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops. My sister and her family are supposed to drive back today from Kelowna. They are surrounded by raging wildfires. A good friend of mine is driving out to Victoria today, and I’m worried as the driving conditions are awful.
I finally gave up on sleep at 5:00 am and sat outside for a while again. I’m spending more and more time out on my balcony. The wind is starting to pick up. I had watched the sunrise, but now the clouds have returned. We just might get that rain after all.
But the smell of burnt ashtray – it’s finally gone and I can breathe a little easier today.
Instead of writing a “woe is me” Monday morning mood post, I thought instead — I would start the day off with a little prayer.
A prayer to Mother Earth for rain.
Not just for us here in Alberta where our crops are so dry. The grass is brown. All my plants and flowers have died because of the heat and smoke.
I sat outside this morning and was still. I listened to the Earth and what she had to say. The leaves were rustling and the gulls were fighting over some food in the parking lot across the street. But now all is silent. All I hear is the wind. The leaves brushing against each other in the darkness.
The birds are quiet. There is no traffic. Everything for the moment, is still.
I can hear rumbling in the distance. The clouds have covered the sun. It’s dark again. I smell rain in the air. And so, I’ll leave you with this morning prayer.
Thinking of all my friends and family out west.
Be safe.
Meditative music for prayer
UPDATE:
So, I don’t want to say I have magical powers or anything but yeah. It poured for a good couple of hours. The smoke is back with a vengeance and my friends/family are struggling to get to their destinations today. Be safe everyone.
So, this is something I’ve never mentioned here in this blog in the three years I’ve run it. It’s not a new discovery for me – but as part of my “getting healthy” journey, I have rediscovered my love for herbal teas.
As the granddaughter of a proud British man, I learned early on in life, that tea was the staple drink in our house. I still remember the smell of freshly brewed Red Rose tea when he came over for visits. I wasn’t a fan of black tea and didn’t start drinking coffee until I was in my mid-20’s. But after mum died, we marveled at how amazing tea was if made in her favorite tea pot.
Is it weird to say that drinking tea sometimes makes me feel closer to her now? I always think of her sipping tea out of her favorite blue tea cups with a smile.
Coffee for me is a must have morning drink. But in an effort to cut back on caffeinated drinks, I switched to drinking at least one or two cups of herbal teas before bed. But the real reason that I switched back to drinking herbal teas is two-fold.
I’m tired of being sick. All medications have stopped working for the migraines and nausea. I got tired of popping pills every night which are often hard on the stomach. And so, about two weeks ago, I started drinking herbal teas. And thankfully, it has really helped with the nausea.
Years ago, when I studied Wiccan practices and rituals out of pure curiosity, I discovered a love for herbs and herbal remedies. I learned that most herbs could be used for medicinal purposes. And the easiest way to ingest these herbs safely – was through drinking tea.
Today, I’m going to share some of my favorite herbal teas with you and why I believe they can be beneficial to your overall health.
Chamomile Tea
At the top of my list is chamomile. I have a pot of chamomile trying to grow in my kitchen right now. The plant isn’t doing so well. I love the smell of chamomile. It’s like a combination of apples and flowers.
Chamomile has been used in traditional medicine for thousands of years. It’s main use has been to calm anxiety, induce sleep, and settle upset stomach. The easiest way to ingest chamomile is by brewing or steeping as a tea.
The reason I started drinking chamomile tea again was two-fold. I thought it might help with the nausea I’ve been struggling with, but it also helps with relaxation. The medications stopped working for my insomnia, so I’ve switched to taking a ginger gravol in combination with a cup of chamomile tea before bed. And I sleep like a baby.
If you suffer from skin issues like dry and itchy skin or eczema, you can take a chamomile tea bath or use ice cold tea on your skin as a rinse.
Be careful not to drink too much chamomile tea. 1 to 2 cups daily should suffice to help aid with stomach issues. If you take sedatives or blood thinners, there is a small chance that chamomile could interact with them. If you have any concerns, talk to your doctor.
I would recommend buying tea bags like Twinings or Tetley as these can be safer to drink than brewing the tea yourself.
Chamomile Tea – Medical News Today
Peppermint Tea
Peppermint is a popular herb used as flavouring in breath mints, candy and some recipes. It contains menthol, menthone and limonene. Not only does peppermint tea taste delicious, but it also has several health benefits.
If you’re a fellow IBS sufferer, then peppermint can help aid in easing gassy pain, bloating and digestive issues. In addition to helping with digestive problems, this tea can provide some relief to migraines and headaches. This was a huge bonus for me and I can’t help but wonder if it’s the reason I’ve experienced less migraines this week. And not to be a bragger, but peppermint tea has also been said to help with menstrual cramps and pain.
Plugged up with a stuffy nose or got the sniffles? Peppermint can also be used to help relieve clogged sinuses. Now that allergy season is in full bloom, you might want to keep a stash of peppermint tea on hand along with broth or clear soup.
The list of benefits that comes with peppermint tea ranges from sleep, migraines, reduction in cramps, but it doesn’t stop there. This glorious and refreshing tea has also been known to aid in weight loss and to help boost your concentration and memory.
Peppermint tea might just be the tea of all herbal teas. And it’s definitely on the top of my tea list! I actually tried to order a peppermint plant but the plant shop was out 😦
Peppermint Tea – Pexels.com
Lemon Tea
Lemon trees are small evergreen plants that predominately grow in southern Asian countries. However, lemons are also grown in southern US states like Florida and California. Lemons are part of the citrus fruit family like oranges and grapefruits.
Like oranges, lemons are packed with vitamin C which helps boost the body’s defense against infections. They are also loaded with calcium and magnesium which are essential nutrients.
Vitamin C is known to boost immunity and helps improve reproductive health. Lemon teas are usually paired with ginger, which can also promote healthy digestion.
Lemon tea can also help boost your digestive function, battle infections, reduce inflammation (joint pain or stiffness), enhance skin health, and heart health.
If you struggle with inflamed gums, lemon can help reduce the inflammation in between your dental visits. Other benefits include reduction of migraines, regulating blood sugar levels, alleviating depression and anxiety.
Not only does lemon tea provide you with all these great health benefits, but adding lemon juice to your favorite recipes gives it that extra punch for flavour. So, it makes sense that lemon tea is so popular!
Pexel Library
Green Tea
Green tea is one of the most popular teas in North America and can found in many forms and flavours. It’s loaded with antioxidants that have an abundance of health benefits.
This tea is named for its color as unlike other teas – it becomes a beautiful shade of green when brewed. Steamed green teas taste bittersweet while other teas come out sweet. It could be why I like it so much. There is a science behind getting the right flavour for green tea – and it’s all about hitting the right temperature and sleeping time.
Like peppermint tea, green tea has a multitude of health benefits. It’s been proven that green tea can help improve brain function, speed up fat loss, protect the body against cancer and aid in lowering the risk for heart disease.
Green tea contains healthy bioactive compounds like polyphenols which is useful in reducing inflammation and fighting cancer. Other antioxidants can help prevent cells and molecules from damage.
This tea contains caffeine so it is not recommended to drink at night time. If you’re not a fan of coffee, consider drinking green tea in the morning to start your day. It is said that green tea can help improve brain function, and can improve your mood, reaction time and even memory. But one of the more popular benefits of green tea is that it can speed up the process for fat loss which is great if you’re trying to lose weight.
So for me, green tea is delicious but I’m placing it in the fourth spot of this list because it does contain caffeine.
Green Tea – WallPaperAccess.com
Popular Herbal Teas
These are just a few of my favorite teas. Other popular tea flavours include:
Matcha Green
Ginger
Hibiscus
Echinacea
Sage
Lemon Balm
Rooibos
Rosehip
Licorice Root
Sleepy Time Tea
I haven’t tried these teas yet. I’m shopping on Amazon for tea samplers so I can have a variety of tea flavours on hand. Many of my friends are tea drinkers so it is the right thing to do!
I can tell you that my cupboards are now stocked with green tea, peppermint tea, lemon tea, earl grey, chamomile and now – matcha tea. Which I think I brewed wrong because I was not a fan of the flavour.
Popular Brand Teas
I’m partial to brands like Twining and Tetly. If I can’t find something in Twinning packaging, then I’ll go with Tetly. These are definitely my top choices. When it comes to tea, I try to get the “good stuff” and not cheap out.
David’s Tea is a popular store to visit at Christmas time and for birthdays in our family. Everyone loves the gift of tea. And everyone loves a good tea sampler.
Pixabay
What are your favorite herbal teas? Have you tried them cold as a summer drink? If so, let me know in the comments!
Love this kind of content? Then stay tuned. Mostly Single is transitioning into a health and wellness blog with a strong focus on herbal, and natural remedies. Join me as I embark on this chapter of my life – that I call spiritual awakening.
Today is a very special day that has the spiritual community on TikTok in an uproar. Have you been feeling off this week? Have you been more emotional and exhausted than usual? Experiencing more headaches or migraines? Is there more tension in your relationships? Or maybe people are acting “crazier” than usual at work?
There’s a reason for this and it might surprise you.
Tonight, we’re going to experience not only a full moon, but also a BLOOD moon with a full lunar eclipse. There are also some other astrological anomalies that we’re about to experience this week too. Factor that in with the June 1st deadline for the Pentagon to release information about UFOs – and this next week could get really interesting.
Last night, I couldn’t sleep. I decided to grab my camera and took some shots of the moon. The color of the moon reminded me of an old saying I heard as a kid. And there was this weird haze and glow around the moon that I had never seen before. And let me tell you – I sky watch, a lot. I have been obsessed with space related subjects all my life.
Unfortunately, where I live, there was a lot of haze and cloud coverage in the sky. I managed to get some videos
Blood moon omen
There are prophecies in the Bible that state a blood moon is the sign of the end of times. In other practices like Witchcraft, blood in the moon is an omen in which “bad things will follow.” A blood moon combined with a full moon and lunar eclipse is an even rarer occurrence that we do not see often.
I’m not a religious person, but I do find these stories to be fascinating – especially in rare events like tonight’s moon.
In The Book of Joel, when the moon and waters turned to blood, it was an omen, predicting that the end of times was near.
“the sun will turn into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes,” it reads.
There are other passages like this one, “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.”
Now that’s just great storytelling. And it inspired a storyline in the hit show Supernatural where Sam Winchester was tricked by a demon to open the seals of hell. Spoiler alert.
Ancient prophecies
Ancient civilizations believed that the blood moon was a harbinger of evil. The Incas thought the deep red color was attacking and eating the moon by a supernatural jaguar. The belief was that the jaguar would come to earth.
In Mesopotamia, lunar eclipses were thought of as an assault on their king. The Mesopotamians were an advanced civilization that could predict lunar ellipses and other astronomical events with great accuracy.
In Hindu mythology and tales, lunar eclipses were thought to be the result of a demon named Rahu drinking the elixir of immortality. It is believed that an eclipse will bring bad luck and fortune.
In some Native American tribes and villages, it is believed that the lunar eclipse is a sign the moon needed healing following the eclipse. The villages would gather together and sing, chant and dance calling upon natural forces to heal the moon.
Theology studies
In some religions like Christianity, it is believed that a lunar eclipse and blood moon combined together, was the wrath of God.
In Jewish culture, the blood or super moons in 2014-2015, aligned with Jewish holidays. This has only happened a few times throughout history. Each event was followed with bad events or news.
In Hindu mythology, the blood moon attracts interest in the sky and astrological events. Rather than waiting for the gloom and doom, people often use these celestial events to learn more about how our solar system works.
The science behind blood moons
The super blood moon is a rare occurrence. According to NASA, the earth lines up between the moon and the sun. The air molecules from the earth’s atmosphere scatter throughout the sky. The remaining light reflects onto the moon’s surface producing this red glow. And as I saw last night, a very interesting haze.
For a moment as I was taking this video, I thought the moon was behaving more like the sun. I can usually get a good picture of the moon with my camera, but it was like there was some kind of energy around the moon that was blocking my camera. It created a very strange effect that I have never seen before.
According to Space.com, blood moons only happen about once or twice a year. Here’s a look at their calendar of upcoming moon events.
May 26, 2021: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
May 16, 2022: North America, South America, Europe and Africa
Nov. 8, 2022: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
March 14, 2025: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Pacific
Sept. 7, 2025: Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia
March 3, 2026: North America, South America, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
Dec. 31, 2028: Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific
June 26, 2029: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East
Dec. 20, 2030: North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia
All in all, last night was pretty fascinating. It was really cold – colder than usual for this time of year. The wind was so brutal I had to shut the balcony door. Luckily, I could take the photos from inside as I face the moon at night time.
But something about this image really bothered me. I’m not sure I believe in all the superstitions and mythology around the moon. And while the blood in the moon is quite beautiful, it’s also unnerving to witness.
Maybe I’ve seen one too many horror movies or end of times sci-fi flicks.
All I know is that events like these, only fuel my obsession to learn as much as I possible can about things like astrology, astronomy and other space events.
And to top it off — if you’re an astrology fan – then you might want to stay indoors tonight and practice some meditation and self-care. Check out some of these fascinating events that are happening tonight.
Full moon in lunar eclipse – Sagittarius
I can’t wait to explore this part of myself again and I’m looking forward to sharing my studies and learnings with you! Join me for the ride – follow my blog now.
Last night, I stayed up late and watched Doctor Sleep. As a teen growing up in the 80’s and 90’s, I loved reading scary books before going to sleep. It’s partially why I have so many nightmares. But I think it also is what developed my love for story writing and writing in general.
I love horror movies. But every now and then I need to take a break. I was never a fan of gore or lots of blood in movies. For me, a good horror movie has to have a good plot.
As a kid, movies like Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Alfred Hitchcock’s, The Birds, terrified me.
I’ve written about this scene before – but I’ll leave it here again. This scene still stays with me – all these years later. It’s no wonder I fell in love with Donald and Keifer Sutherland as actors over the years.
By age 13, I had read most of Stephen’s Kings books. The Shining was a terrifying read. The book was so much scarier than the movie.
I actually forgot that Doctor Sleep had come out and saw it trending last night on Twitter. So, I decided to watch it on my not so legal (but still okay in Canada) streaming website.
I won’t give too much of the plot away. Even though the monsters didn’t have a name, “The Shining” refers to a psychic gift or ability that some children have. The gift varies from child to child.
Some can see into the future. Some children can see spirits or evil entities. Some can astral travel while dreaming – or have out of body experiences while wide awake. While one of the main characters of the movie, could jump into other people’s mind and invade their private space.
As someone who astral travels a lot in my sleep this idea disturbed me. And so, I laid awake until about four in the morning almost afraid to even fall asleep.
My dreams are always “out there” weird. I travel to countries I’ve never been. I meet up with people I’ve never met. Once I traveled back in time and followed Mozart around on the cobble streets and watched with amusement as he drunkenly hit on women on his way to his local watering hole.
The dream felt so real. I remember learning in the dream that Mozart died from an infection and my mind ultimately went to syphilis or another STD. In today’s world, these can be cured with pills. In those days, syphilis was a silent killer.
When I woke up from that dream, I hopped online to learn what Mozart had died from. And the cause of death was “unknown infection from high fever.” I looked up his other symptoms and they matched common symptoms of early syphilis.
I laughed at that. The dream had felt so real it was as though I was getting a glimpse into Mozart’s life. I remember the feel of the cool cobblestone on my feet as I carefully stepped in between the stones. I could hear light music in the background and the sound of distant chatter.
So, when I watch movies like Insidious and now Doctor Sleep – it leaves me with all these thoughts and feelings and “what if’s”.
What is we really travel when drift off to sleep? What if our minds tap into other dimensions? There’s very little scientific evidence to back these theories or claims up – but there are lots of studies still being conducted today.
I just wanted to take a moment and acknowledge the casting choices of the Torrance family. Actors hired to play the original family – did a brilliant job. I almost thought that was Jack Nicholson at the end in the hotel. Maybe it was a trick of the cinematography.
Sometimes I wonder if I should write all my dream experiences down and turn them into a book. Question is, would anyone read it? These are thoughts that keep me up at night time.
Doctor Sleep – if you’re a horror fan, check it out. It wasn’t entirely disappointing.
Charmed Reflections 
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