Cat's Rants - Confessions of an Occult Mastermind

That Old VD Lecture

Hey kids,

So as many of you know (and some of you don't,) I don't practice St Valentine's Day (despite it being an actual saint day, and myself being Catholic,) and this isn't for spiritual reasons, - it's because every few years, (throughout my life) I have had a really really really really bad February 13th. By the time the 14th comes, I'm drained and miserable. I'm just not up for it. If anything, the candy hearts and the decorations remind me of the badness that is February 13th, and because some are scarred for life type memories, I find myself having like a mild form of PTSD. And, interestingly enough, since I started not celebrating it some time in my early 20's, every man I've been with during a Valentine's Day was overjoyed that he had to do NOTHING. I didn't want him to do anything. If anything, I was going to be more upset than happy if he reminded me of the date. :/

However, my job is nearly always about love, and without fail, a number of my clients find themselves very disturbed if their desired one isn't there to spoil them and give them candies and etc. So while I'm in some perpetually-frozen-in-time PTSD from the evil that is February 13 (which is also, amusingly, a jackass ex of mine's birthday, even though I only dated him for about a year, lol,) I am also placed in a position where I have to put that aside, and talk a few people off of a proverbial ledge. 

Now, I would admit that perhaps I draw badness to myself on the 13th of February, thanks to my dread and the law of attraction, but the weird thing about me is, I'm not one to notice dates. That doesn't mean I wouldn't subconsciously be aware of a date, but it also would be a bit odd that I didn't really notice the pattern until it had happened several times. It is what it is. I don't like the 13th of February. It's the anniversary of some bad stuff for me (really.) 

HOWEVER, it's been a huge relief to not celebrate the holiday. There is no "I feel so alone" day. Heck, if I'm being fair, February 14 does stand out as one of the sweeter moments in my life with a friend who was trying to cheer me up after the death of a close friend, so I can't even say I "hate it," it's just better to ignore it the vast majority of the time. 

But if the holiday is getting you down because you miss "someone special," please take my advice... I imagine that many of you did not care very much either way about this day (or so speaking with people over the years has given me this insight,) when you were partnered up with someone. If this is true, the reason you're getting anxious and upset is mostly coming from everyone's own worst enemy, and our worst enemy often is ourselves. Realize that most exes are not likely to reach out to you on VD. They feel to do so is going to feel canned or weird or too hopeful. Seeing as the hardest part of reconciling an ex is the first contact, this means it's unlikely that they will want to use this day. It doesn't mean you're all alone or that the world is trying to emphasize that to you. But breaking up can be hard. It can cause a real grieving process and the worst part is that the one you want isn't dead, so it feels even harder to justify that loss. Your heart is hurt and looking for reasons to point out to you that it's hurt. It believes if it can just express that feeling, it would help it heal. I recommend avoiding the holiday entirely if it gets you down or upset. While my reasons are not romantic in nature regarding this day, please realize as a person who attaches stigma to the day, the avoidance (as much as I can) of the holiday has actually given me far more peace than anything else. I am sure the same can happen for you.

This might not hold true for people who miss a person who always made a big deal out of the day. I would still give similar advice but it might be less astute.

But realize, Saint Valentine would be disturbed and disgusted by how you "celebrate" his day. He's a saint, and with some of the racier gifts people give, no doubt he's just mortified that it has turned into what it is. Imagine if someone celebrated a remembrance holiday for you with something (or many somethings) you'd find incredibly detestable. So, the upside is that you're not ticking off Saint Valentine either, if that is a thing that matters to you. ;) 

Lastly, yes...I am generally harder to reach on 13-14 February than any other time of the year, excluding maybe my birthday. I would not go into the various HORRIBLE things that have happened to me on February 13, other than to say they are not even related to each other, and many of them still make me crawl with dread to think about, while others serve as sort of a "that's yet another time someone fucked me over" or "look at life kicking my ass again" moments, where, while I should not be feeling sorry for myself (as self pity is generally just a waste of energy), the pattern just burns it into my brain. I had, at one time, thought to myself if I just made the 13th super positive by trying to make only good things happen on that day, that it would erase the bad luck element, but then for the next 3 February 13ths unstoppable badness happened. I stopped trying to make it good, and if I can manage to ignore it (and even sometimes if I can't,) it generally passes by without a hiccup. Every 2-3 years or so, though, it still gives me at least a little slap...and if I'm really (un)lucky, it becomes a mega shitstorm event, but normally it's just a smack. 

Don't worry, though, it just seems to be focused on me. This isn't to say someone or more than one someones I am very close to hasn't been impacted by what's going on with me, but it does mean that I have yet to see my "bad luck anniversary" affect any client of mine as of yet. It's more like life might hand me a giant shit sandwich, but you don't need to eat it with me or kiss me after, so you're safe. ;) The largest problem it has ever given any of my clients is that I might (should it be a dreadful 13th,) have to deal with whatever happened, which means I'll have less time for correspondence during that time, or that if you come to me feeling morose about VD coming and you not sharing in it, you might pick up that I am not really warmly engaged in that conversation on the 14th. :( It isn't you on that day...it's me. :{

~Cat

Hurricane Update and More

Hey all,

Since so many of you check in here for news, I decided to post here.

So, I did survive Hurricane Sandy. There was a power outage and the net was spotty yesterday so it was sort of like a forced vacation day for me. ;) I did get spells done, but sadly it was a crapshoot if I could keep the computer online long enough to keep email flowing so several of you did not get replies. :/ I know I'm SOOOOOOOPER DOOOOOPER late on many replies. If it's over 7 business days old, and not a new inquiry, please resend it to me. I will not get mad, I promise. ;)

I do hope all my clients and readers are doing well and did not suffer any serious damage to person or property during the hurricane.

I am trying to get a long overdue Questions You've Asked Me article up, and also a few articles on technique. I thank all my readers for your patience. Until I get a serious dent in this frightening inbox of mine, it's going to be a slow process. :/ All of these articles I have are about a half to a third completed.

AND I've got books I wanted to review...because they are just awesome. Michael Cecchetelli's Book of Abrasax amd Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold's Pomba Gira and the Quimbanda of Mbumba Nzila are definitely high on my list of books to review for you, so if you would rather not wait on me to get said reviews up, please feel free to go order a copy of either, as they are highly recommended. There are a few more I could add to that list, but right now that's what I'm recommending the most. One thing - neither are beginner books. Frisvold's might also be more aimed towards those with a stronger working knowledge of ATR's, whereas I'd say Mike C's book will appeal to a wider audience. I would stress again, neither will be good for the neophyte magician. If you still need to look everything up in books all of the time, there is a good chance you're not ready for either tome.

Thanks again to everyone for their patience with me lately. I know I've been busy, and cranky. ;)

Best,

~C

PS, if you're bored I attatched a random skull candle spell pic of an orange skull candle spell. Basically what's going on here is trying to compel a certain action which is not entirely romantic in nature, but as you can see by the pink candles, that is an aspect. I can't go into too many details for confidentiality purposes as this is one part of a larger working for a client - HOWEVER, if you would like to ask a few questions privately, the client has given their approval to let me answer your questions PRIVATELY (so not in the comments section) as long as it doesn't give out identifying details of her case.

What you are not seeing is that the top part of the skull candle, and under it's jawbone are loaded and set a certain way. I realize many might feel that makes the image less interesting, but I assure you, images of me heating a screwdriver and pushing herbs and commmand papers into holes on the top of a skull candle is probably about as visually interesting as the below. ;)

No that isn't kitty litter, it's traction sand. Thanks for wondering, hehe. ;)

I know you guys like seeing my work sometimes. ;) Copyright me, no sharing without permission (as always.) ~C

A Fresh Coat of Paint

Hey readers,

As some of you may have guessed I'm trying to brighten up the old NinjaCat residence over here. :P This may lead to a bit of an even worse disorganization problem, so please be patient with me for the next week or so. It's not major construction, it really is just a few coats of paint here or there, but sometimes moving all things under a drop cloth does mean really annoying shit happens like "Crap where did my appointment book go!?" or "Um, this means I'm unhooking the internet for like an hour!" (maniacal screaming follows.) The annoyance in all cases is temporary and should be no longer than a day if something gets "lost" as it's piled in the middle of a room, and no longer than a few hours in the case of having to unplug something here or there.

And the awesome outcome is that this old-lady-decor wallpaper that's been up in my house since I got it, as well is this craptastic boring white paint in some rooms is GONE. FOREVER. Finally I can look like I don't have my grandma's taste in decor or like "used to be flat white until you moved in here, you chain-smoking vodka-loving ginger!" colored halls and walls...which is sort of an off white...I like to think of it is lightly tar-stained cream-color...or I did, before I started painting it all over with fantastic brilliant colors, mwahahahahahahahaha! I am so excited...doing a peacock theme in my living room. It's going to look fab! :D

~C

Because I Know I'm Just SOOOO Exciting :P

I've probably done it wrong but I'm trying to get a twitter account set up. Sooo...this is me: http://twitter.com/CatAstrophied and if you're looking for the name on the account it's Cat Astrophied. Yeah I never use my real name, and no stealing that one, it is my rockstar name and has been since before some of you were born, and no I don't actually have the ability to sing well, I just chose a rockstar name years ago in case someone finds the sound of a duck and cat fighting to the death in a clothes dryer (sounds like me singing!) and wants to make that into popular music. ;) Let's see how exciting my tweets are...they can't be any worse than my singing voice.

(I will be shocked if I have 10 followers, lol.)

~C

This IS an Occult Blog NOT the Saint Blog

Dear Ones,

While I completely and entirely defend your right to your religious beliefs, do not get in my comments to write gigantic religious essays, sometimes even to repeat things I said in my post or covered in another post. This is a spellcasting blog. An occultey blog. A hoodoo blog. A blog that sometimes contains info on how to work with a saint in a rootworking fashion, and that might injure tender feelings on your religion or oppose your religious ideas. Should you be offended/injured/in-opposition-to-my-material, and you think your best course of action is to have a debate with my comments on a post well over a year old, you're wrong. I mean, you may as well email me as no one else will ever see you sermonizing.

Also last I checked JESUS CHRIST wasn't YELLING HIS NAME everywhere (usually the only people who YELL HIS NAME are doing so by taking His name in vain,) so please kindly refer to Him WITHOUT SCREAMING in the internet way. Jesus Christ works JUST FINE THANKS! It might surprise you, but NOT EVERY PERSON WHO READS MY BLOG IS EVEN CHRISTIAN. See I can YELL, TOO! Atheists, Muslims, Wiccans, Jews, Agnostics, Hindus, Buddhists - all sorts of people read my blog. So keep that in mind before you start preaching gospel to my comments. Thanks! :)

I do my best to give my readers the information they need and to present it from a perspective they are usually looking for (how do I work with this saint in a rootworking way?) not for the Catholic school education board. If you don't like that, blog about what a meat head I am. If you send some anti-fans to me, I'll be happy to put them in their necessary places. ;)

Happy spellcasting (or preaching gospel to the spam filter on my comments section, heh)

~Cat

A Few Very Overdue Acknowledgements and Postings

Hi Occulties,

First, I'd like to apologize for my lack of publishing, a common complaint about me for a bit over a year. It has taken some discussion with friends to realize my real aversion in posting much about reconciliation is one can only discuss that sort of spellwork and that problem so many hours out of the day before it becomes stale. It's been really stale for me. So *for a bit* we're going to ignore reconciliation spellwork, even though I've been promising a post on it. If I can just blab on about more exciting (to me) aspects of spellcasting and the occult, I think we can expect more posts. Hopefully more posts on spells means those proverbial floodgates holding in discussions about reconciliation will finally open. ;)

Also, I'd like to apologize to people for having to TEMPORARILY stop accepting new (never before worked with) clients. Unfortunately, a well-intentioned fan created a huge stink-bomb by recommending me, as weird as I realize that must sound. ;) It made it so I had a ton of work I can't accept, and not accepting work makes no money. Many thanks owed to some good friends who are also in this business, I feel as though their advice and encouragement has really helped me see how I can change my own business just slightly and improve it for those I will work for (which we all know I'm super picky.) HOWEVER before any changes are implemented I need a break from the huge influx of work-requests that I was getting so, it may not be until late August that I'm accepting new clients.

But enough about me. ;)

I would like to offer a shout out to the amazing Mike Cecchetelli who made me a Venus Amulet this spring. I had recently had a reawakened interest in certain types of amulets and talismans, and as I've seen some rather interesting offerings online from practitioners I know to be legit, and had a client quite into amulets who would discuss the ones she had purchased at length, I began poking about to see what was available. The first place I found myself coming back to offered some amazing *looking* pieces - the descriptions were knockout too, as was the reputation of the seller - but for the mentioned prices, I was going have to do some more research. I quickly came up with people complimenting the seller's other work outside his amulets but feeling there was a person who made far more effective pieces and better priced as well.

I'm a sucker for aesthetics sometimes, but better and more effective will often win over aesthetics unless we're talking about a pair of jeans. ;)

The person who had been recommended to me for his amulets and talismans by several people was Magus Michael Cecchetelli, who some of you might know from his work The Crossed Keys, or his blog which you can find here. As fate would have it, he was selling some unique Venus amulets when I visited of his blog of which he was making only a handful. I contacted him, and we set up a sale. I then promptly forgot I ever ordered anything, which made it's arrival even better - the joy of ADHD is sometimes the mail is like happy presents you forgot someone owed you. ;)

While I suspect it's not traditional, my first idea was to stick the amulet on a place on my person by the heart. I tried both in the heart area between the breasts, and under the left armpit. There was an actual sense of the energy of the piece immediately - it was, just holding the item or keeping it on my person, undoubtedly emitting energy. I noticed people seemed warmer and more receptive towards me when I wore it. However, my idea wasn't to have a lucky piece as much as a working one. I tried using the item on my person while casting spells which would relate to Venus (generally love spells,) and found it to give a noticeable amplification. I have tried it also on a love altar but prefer to have a physical connection when using the item. It is still definitely an effective piece and for that reason (and a few more) I'd recommend Michael Cecchetelli's work to anyone.

I would also like to offer a shout out to the wonderful Dara Anzlowar. I had known she was starting a line of products perhaps a year or so ago, but being the slugabed I can be sometimes, I waited all too long to try out a few of her products. They are wonderful, and I'm glad to be able to recommend another person putting out some fantastic recipes that you can use in your Hoodoo spellwork.

I have been trying a few of the formulas she sells. I found her Magnetic Attraction to be amazing with clients who wanted to attract more romantic attention in general or the attention of a particular person, and also was a fan of her "Talk to Me" formula - one I've used in my work for clients since Mercury went retrograde with great success. :) While I've not nearly had the chance to try out her whole catalog (which for some reason apparently anyone I recommend is perceived to be, by some of my readers, a person who's services and supplies *must* be something I know 100% of everything about, lol,) I do recommend her shop for ritual supply of oils, incenses, baths and other recipes in the Hoodoo tradition. Wow, that brings the number up to a whole 2 people's who's Hoodoo products I recommend at this writing. ;) So, if you need oils, incenses, baths, powders, etc, go see Karma or Dara.

Several of you have recently asked what the best book is on spiritual cleansing. I recommend Draja Mickaharic's Spirital Cleansing: A Handbook of Psychic Protection.

I think that's all the exciting news and acknowledgements I have long overdue.

~Cat

Things I Need Other Than a Day Off and a Secretary ;)

Hey everyone,

First things first... It's been relatively quiet on the Hoodoo For Everyone board and I mostly blame myself. I got super busy and then got locked out of my own forum and then got annoyed at that fact (I didn't remember my password,) and neglected my forum for like 3 months this summer. I admitted I sucked for doing it, and while that's terrible and all, I'd really love to have it full of communication and conversations again. I also will not be a troll about you having to read the archives all the way back to the beginning before asking a question, and while I DO ask people not advertise or give negative press to any business or rootworker or etc, I try not to be a total forum Nazi. People of all levels are welcome. We'd love to have you.

Second, despite being truly overwhelmed by emails, for weeks, I seem to think I may have almost tackled them. If you want to complain about me not replying to you, please wait to do that til Tuesday night. If you wait that long for me to reply, you are totally awesome.

Third and final thing I need other than a day off and a secretary...well, it's for people to read the FAQ. I've been having A LOT of my time taken up answering questions covered in my own Frequently Asked Questions section.

Thanks everyone for your patience. If I don't devolve into this before Tuesday, then I think everything will finally be...*hopeful gasp* back to normal again. Well as normal as normal is around here. ;)

As for new posts... It's not that I don't want to finish up some spell posts. I really have been egregiously busy with email. Let me give you all an idea of what it's been like here... I have been working so much that I went to a Halloween party last week and literally stayed for 3 hours and left at 10pm after not drinking anything because I had to go home and work. If you know me, you know that not having lots of beers while wearing a pirate costume because I had to work was like sacrificing my first born for my job. :C

So, no more personal posts until several spell posts go up, and - if everyone remains patient with me for the rest of the week, I won't guilt trip you ever again about making my 4 month dream (that is how long I knew what my costume would be) of beer guzzling while dressed as a pirate destroyed as I had to use that time instead to comfort someone over the fact that I refuse to do reconcilation spells for your ex you broke up with in 1993 or because I was obligated to give you some in depth commentary on what my feelings are regarding so and so's email which is composed of the singular line of "Wat's up?"

If everyone can just be patient for another day or two, I will make a new spell post Wednesday, and I will put another post up on Friday. I hope we have a deal.

~Cat

I (Mostly) Fixed It

So, the PC is mostly working. I still have to reinstall some non-essential programs, but it's mostly fixed.

Now to get to all the emails people have sent me, and to get rid of those people who got the bad idea to start nagging me over not getting a reply to an email they sent less than 24 hours ago. :P

~Cat

And Now For Some Computer Trouble **Updated**

Just when I thought I wasn't busy enough or things were not awesome enough, my PC decided to get sick. :P I've been anti-virusing this thing since about 10am. Please be patient while I try to knock some sense into this bastard of a PC. ;) I am hoping I will have it running at...as good as it runs (which is about 93% perfect,) by this evening. Until then, I have my 'puter in safe mode and have limited ability to work certain programs or use the internet.

I'm not really clear how this happened. Someone had commented on my facebook page, and I clicked the link to respond to it, and then suddenly if I didn't have my PC in safe mode, I couldn't get it to stop freezing. The actual PC illness did not seem to come from that email, and I'm thinking a rather suspect looking email that flew into my junkbox may have released a bot. I didn't click any links in that suspect junkbox email, but I still believe it to be the culprit.

I NEVER email people until I've anti-virused and anti-spied and triple checked my PC's health just in case I can pass the virus through an email, so until I know for certain that this computer is clean and virus free, I'm afraid I will not be replying to emails.

Sorry that anti-spy-anti-virus programs are so effing slow. Stupid trend micro eight million year long scan time (grumble, expletive, expletive, grumble.)

How did Monday migrate to Tuesday? :P

~Cat

PS- The pic is courtesy the GNU project.

**UPDATE**
Well, a few things - I am pretty good with computers, and the CAUSE of the problem (as in what caused it and what continues to cause some trouble) is still eluding me. It's not, from what I can find, a trojan or a virus. I think, had that been the case, I would have had this fixed long ago...but you never know, viruses keep getting smarter. I do know part of the problem was a corrupted file in the start up menu. When I disabled a particular program (one I don't use much anyhow,) the computer worked fine, albeit missing a few plug-ins. ;) Since the program I'd had to disable was already showing signs of having some issues in the past, seemingly from having another program uninstalled, so I had assumed perhaps some minor issue had just finally "killed" that program and started a major all-day event yesterday. :P And then, at 1am, I fixed the computer.

As of this morning I could get onto my computer out of Safe Mode. I then downloaded an update (from Microsoft,) and lo and behold it went back to the freezing when not in safe mode. Yes Microsoft, you're right, your unneeded update did help my computer's performace (sarcasm.) Back in safe mode again. ;) So, I am actually thinking it's most likely something no longer contaigious (I have quadruple checked,) which has now been exacerbated by the necessary shutting off and on of the PC, and is located within the start menu.

I am just going to work on it outside of business hours. While the lengthy computer cleanings and fix attempts are great because I get to do my spells during business hours instead of in the wee hours of the day (and my laundry, and I baked a loaf of bread...oh and the dishes, did them too yesterday,) instead of typing replies (pretty hard to type when all your programs are shut down and your PC is trying to get fixed,) I need to get work done. So...while my PC has limited ability, it does do email, internet, and run the needed programs just fine. Whatever is disagreeing with the computer is totally incapable of effecting it when in safe mode. I can probably have this badboy running at it's old level of perfection in 2-3 days (hopefully less) if I work on it outside of office hours. I ask everyone be patient, and to understand that if it's past 7pm on a weekday that I am probably already screaming profanities at this thing while I go through every file on my start up menu by hand and run a scan disk and chkdsk and all that fun stuff. I'm pretty sure that if my computer became "self-aware," it already would have killed me in self defense for all of the profanity-laced threats I have made at it. ;)

That means, I'm in the office and available all day. :)

For anyone who suggests I buy a new computer...um, hahahahahahhahahahahahahaha, yeah okay. ;) I don't have $500-$1000 to spend on a new computer. As for the computer fixit guy? I may have enough money to pay him if and when it comes to that. I am pretty sure I can fix it. If I can't, I might just save myself some money and do my own erasing of my entire hard drive and then rebooting this fresh and new with factory settings. BUT, I am not going to do that on a Wednesday. Right now I'm working in safe mode on this PC, and also a family member will be lending me a laptop tonight. :D

So, my PC isn't better yet, but almost!

Congratulations to MANY MANY FRIENDS on your Weddings This Saturday!

Wow! So, apparently, if you're one of my friends, you can't be cool if you're not getting married on Oct 3, 2009. Just kidding! ;) However, there are so many couples to name, and so many people I love tying the not this coming weekend, that rather than name them all, I'm just going to say this:

I love all of you so very much. You've been wonderful friends (even if we didn't get along now and again,) and even though when we were young, we'd think we'd never make it here or want to live this long (remember when we all thought 22 was old?), I'm filled with happiness to see so many people I love growing up, getting married, and making families. Wow, who thought they'd even allow most of us to reproduce (as if they could stop us - mwahahahahaha,) much less that we'd find our way to normal adult lives where people get married and reproduce and have jobs other than "Rockstar" or "Kegmaster." ;)

Its been a long and strange trip to this far in life, and I hope to see many more years with you - but most of all, I wish you all the happiest day of your lives with someone who (if I am not friends already with them,) treats you even better than you could ever imagined. May your unions be blessed and filled with love forever.

Congratulations again, and I love you all so much more than words can describe. While I can't be physically present at all of your ceremonies, please know you are always in my heart and mind, and if the same holds true for you when it comes to me, then I am there, even if I'm phyically absent, cheering you on, and celebrating with you, always.

All my love,

~Cat

Photo courtesy the GNU project.