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2014 saw a lot of loss with the passing of friends and family. My uncle died in his home, a film maker friend took his own life and a musician friend suffered from a cold for days and ultimately died, I haven't heard the cause yet, but wonder if it might have been pneumonia.  Our jobs as massage therapists haven't panned out as well as we'd hoped, the spa we both worked at closed it's doors and the part time work at the University Wellness Center is hit and miss on clientele keeping their appointments. And in late Spring I developed an allergic reaction to my blood pressure medication that sent me to the hospital and sent me into a mild anaphylactic shock. From that experience I now get allergic reactions to a variety of unknown things, including some ingredient(s) found in the massage lotion we used at the spa which closed.

On the positive side of 2014, Dean and I got married in May. We had a pirate-gypsy themed wedding that pretty much was a large party for all the family and guest. Just what we wanted it to be. The remainder of 2014 was a financial struggle for us as jobs in Springfield for LMT's (licensed massage therapists) are few, the market is glutted due to a massage school being here in town. Jobs, in fact, are still an endangered species here in town as large chain grocery stores have recently closed their doors, fast food restaurants and factories had all shut down suddenly.

Ahh yes, October, my favorite time of year. Samhain and Beltane drive me crazy, I 'feel' so much more, and 'see' everything around me, I hear the voices of the otherworld and experience the knowing that I'm out of place on this plane. Perhaps it's my past lives filtering into this world, or maybe a more powerful connection with the goddesses and gods of old, the ancient ones, or my kith and kin from a life one can easily view as being too...movie-like, or one out of a fairy tale. But in reality, whether you believe in past lives, or the 'otherkin' or multiple universes stacked atop one another, reaching out to the possibility of being something more. something magical at this time of year can be seen as a healthy expression of empowerment. Halloween is a great time for allowing adults to play "dress up". To pretend to be someone else, to gather with others of like mind and play at being a swashbuckling pirate, a mermaid, a witch, vampire, mummy or even a successful baseball or football player. It gives us a chance to touch the child in us that acted out bits from our favorite movies, or re-enacted circus acts after watching the Ringling Bros, Barnum and Bailey circus on TV, or becoming a ballerina in Swan Lake, or knowing the bears invited to your tea party ARE real.

I love to take deep breaths during October, to draw in the magic of this time.

Bring a sense of adventure, newness, playfulness passion and romance back into your partnership. We need to slow life down, to re-connect and to shower affection on our partner. It's far too easy today to text each other instead of gaze into the eyes of our loved one. Or we become swamped by social media and abandon the art of talking to our mate. Our appointments books are filled with thing to do and people to see except for the person who holds our heart. Take time, make a date, or two or three fro one of the most important people in you life. During courtship you built a foundation of love and trust, we mustn't' allow that to slip away from us through the cracks of stress and modern society. Life is not all about how much money we make or who we know in the business world.

 This will start a small series of articles to help couple re-connect with each other. (with a break to write an article on our pirate wedding that took place on May 31st)

Well here I am, 60 yrs old and getting married again. My husband-to-be is Dean Pestana and our wedding will be pagan, with a pirate/gypsy theme held on May 31st, 2014. Yikes! Not a lot of time left for me to get everything accomplished that I need to do. but we're old hands at being a couple and since both have been married before neither of us require the white dress and tux flutters of a first time bride and groom (thank the Spirits). We'll have two officiants, one is the leader of a pirate band that plays at Ren Faires and the like and the other is a Wiccan High Priestess. We'll combine the tradition wedding with a hand fasting and the calling of the quarters. I even plan on having a small acting segment where we either have two warring pirate groups bond together as their Captains marry or a raiding pirate party showing allegiance with the island ruling government via a marriage. Our reception is flat out going to be a party, a Hafla, with belly dancers,poi and fire spinners, pirates, an Irish band, (along with canned music) hoop dancing, sword dancing, lots of folks in costume and wonderful geekyness. This is going to be an outdoor event, held in our large front yard under a huge Father Oak and surrounded by all our flowers and various critters that will more than likely photo bomb the pictures take throughout the day. Both Dean and I have a deep connection to nature and we can't think of a better locale than our own yard with trees he's planted and cared for and both our flower and vegetable garden with their Devas and sprites joining with us.

Then the very next weekend I am one of the workshop presenters at the St. Louis Pagan Picnic and although I've spoken about ghosts and hauntings the past three years at this event I am changing my topic--this time the subject matter will be Tantric touch and sensual massage for all us Baby Boomers (and anyone else for that matter) who are still going strong and sexy or for those who want to get their sexy back.

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. My uncle died in his home right before Christmas of a sudden heart attack. And then I came down with the same plague that has been effecting everyone I know. Here in Missouri we've had the oddest weather. yesterday it was 60 degrees and people were out in their shirt sleeves. Last night yet another round of the polar cold came through and today I'm sitting here typing with finger-less gloves on, and extra long sleeved sweater and a portable heater near my feet as we awoke to 11 degrees.  Around Christmas and New Year's we were locked in with heavy snowfalls as well and this offered a time to reflect and make plans for the upcoming year.

   One of my newest projects is writing my first horror novel called The Haunting of Booger County. My paranormal team ParaNatural Research Association plan to make an indie horror movie out of this project. The story is loosely based on an on-going investigation we have at a private location where a suspected serial killer lived a few years back. The woman thought to be his last victim was never found.

Lomi Lomi literally means "to break up into small pieces with the fingers/" Is is a type of healing massage that is traditionally practiced in the Hawaiian Islands. This method is defined as "to rub, press,crush, massage, rub out, to work in and out as claws of a contented cat? In the early 1900's Lomi Lomi was coined "Hawaiian massage" by the legal system. The form of massage involves both physical and spiritual ritual component. Lomi Lomi originated in the South Pacific and is practiced mainly in the Hawaiian Island although practitioners of this are can be found in Australia, and the U.S.

   The use of palms, forearms, fingers, knuckles, elbows, knees, feet and even sticks, shells and stones make this form of massage a true whole body:and contact with Nature, experience.

Dancing is a means of connecting with oneself and the goddess. Belly dancing, Chakra dance and temple style dance easily lend themselves to connection with ones higher self, all offer the chance to allow us to move freely, to flow in rhythm with the music, as we experience a falling away of self doubt and image conciseness. These forms allow women of all sizes and ages to come together without fearing judgement on their looks or weight or even any physical impairment that might hinder them from executing the gravity defying leaps and spins we so often see on TV program where the young and beautiful compete with each other to win money and fame.