Howdy Howdy all! --Sorry this post is so long ya'll!

First of all the easy listening station in houston Sunny 99.1 is really jamming tonight!

Well I am starting my ritual fasts tomorrow. It is gonna kick start my detox journey. You know how I do this every few months right? Anyway I was supposed to be getting off the junk but I keep having relapses and I know why. I am shutting off the patience parts of myself. I am generally pretty patient and for some reason I havent been dialing that part of my psyche up lately. I have been making long term far reaching goals but implementing a short term fast food dollar menu sort of application to it all. For shame! Shame La Paganista! Here is the thing---I need to get rid of the faulty thinking and what better way to do it than to detox mind, body and soul? So in addition to employing my 7 day kick start fast so too will I employ a mental house-keeping plan. Meditations, (yoga stretches and quiet time for reflection before my altar to Gaia). I am setting up my altar tonight (finally) and I will get ya'll some pics of it hopefully tomorrow.

My mind sweeping will be along the lines of the Buddhist's Eight Fold Path which our very own zenglen is quite familiar with. The quick and dirty of the Eight Fold Path is essentially:

1. Right View--seeing things as they really are

2. Right Intention--

a. the intention of renunciation, which means resistance to the pull of desire,

b. the intention of good will, meaning resistance to feelings of anger and aversion, and

c. the intention of harmlessness, meaning not to think or act cruelly, violently, or aggressively, and to develop compassion--in short have good intentions. no defeatist thoughts or ill will toward another, kinda like the rule of 3 in wicca...

3.Right Speech--

a. to abstain from false speech, especially not to tell deliberate lies and not to speak deceitfully,

b. to abstain from slanderous speech and not to use words maliciously against others,

c. to abstain from harsh words that offend or hurt others, and

d. to abstain from idle chatter that lacks purpose or depth. Positively phrased, this means to tell the truth, to speak friendly, warm, and gently and to talk only when necessary

4. Right Action--right action means to act kindly and compassionately, to be honest, to respect the belongings of others, and to keep sexual relationships harmless to others.

5. Right Livelihood--means that one should earn one's living in a righteous way and that wealth should be gained legally and peacefully.

6.Right Effort--

a. to prevent the arising of unarisen unwholesome states,

b. to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen,

c. to arouse wholesome states that have not yet arisen, and

d. to maintain and perfect wholesome states already arisen. In short put some effort into making the world a better place

7. Right Mindfulness--clear perception

8. Right Concentration--concentration on wholesome thoughts and actions

Okay 1 and 2 fall under wisdom

3-5 focus on Ethical Conduct

6-8 focus on Mental Development

I got much of this information on the Eight Fold Path from a number of my books and www.thebigview.com So feel free to check it out. It doesnt in anyway go against ANY religion as it does not instruct you to worship anything in any way. It is all about programming the self to make better life choices for the self and indirectly with fellow citizens.

Because the Buddhist way of life does not try to explain God but rather seeks to help the individual to find the Divine in themselves and radiate that goodness out into the universe. That is an oversimplification and is in no way meant to diminish the philosophy of Buddhism.

Now for my detox fast! Well it starts with a sort of hardcore purging of toxins sorta deal...so it is stimulating the intestines (ewwww) by drinking a cup of warm water mixed with one teaspoon of Epsom salt (double ewww) in the morning followed by 2 cups of unsweetened peppermint tea (and um you need to do this when you have some time for a toilet break--so get up like and hour earlier to get this little ritual together)

Then throughout the day you have combos of mineral water mixed with 100%fruit juice or 100% veggie juice. NO SUGAR ADDED--ALL NATURAL. Now if you use V-8 juice be sure to get the low sodium variety. It has 70% less sodium than regular V-8. You can through in some fruits (no more than a cup per meal time) if you have trouble with the straight liquid thang. and my day 5 you can have oatmeal mixed with apple chunks most mornings and the Epsom salt mixture should be done on alternating days so as to give the body a rest from purging. You may have as much liquid as you can hold on any of the days but liquor, soft drinks and any sugared drinks are off limits.... this goes on for about 7 days and then you can introduce raw foods to the diet. Try to buy organic since you just purged a buncha toxic business from the body. Oh and go for variety, at least once per week grab a veggied that you have never tried before and incorporate into the rotation. Don't forget the green tea (for a smooth running system) and ginger tea for circulation and digestion issues although peppermint is good for this as well. Now during this week you still need to move the body and should do a brisk walk for about 30 minutes at a time and also throw in some moderate strength training (sit-ups, push-ups squats) and dont forget about a little bit of Music therapy. Something classical or maybe something with thunderstorms or rainforest sounds in the background while resting.

Oh well I guess that is enough information for this post...lemme know if you are gonna try it on some level and we'll keep on another motivated!

How about some poetry...here goes...

Walkers With The Dawn

Being walkers with the dawn and morning,
Walkers with the sun and morning,
We are not afraid of night,
Nor days of gloom,
Nor darkness_
Being walkers with the sun and morning.--Langston Hughes

Goddess Bless