Monumental Power

As a child I loved churches - old ones not the new ones - I loved the soaring arches, grimacing gargoyles, cold marble, praying knights and flashes of gold. I adored graveyards as well, especially overgrown ones where weeping angels would wail at you from the midst of a dark tangle of bushes.

Churches gave me a sense of awe. They made me feel small and insignificant. That there was something much, much bigger and far more powerful. As I grew older I realised I felt the same sense of awe when looking at the stars, staring into the ocean or standing on a rock overlooking the moors. The difference was I didn't feel separate from the powerful majesty - I felt part of it.

I have just gone out walking in a thunderstorm. I can't be the only one who loves doing this. As I walked I felt part of the landscape - I could feel the ground beneath my feet, taste the rain, sense the electricity in the air. For me this is my connection to the divine - not a cold church but a living moving growing landscape.

This got me thinking about when I feel most connected to the Divine power, the All, God, whatever you want to call her/it/him/they. For me there are four activities that connect me in every time.

Meditation
I have a place I go to when I meditate - a forest landscape. I know how it looks, feels, smells. From this landscape I can go wherever I want. Once I am there and I feel the sun on my face and diamond shaped bark against my fingers I am connected like a plug in a socket. I am completely free there to go where I want, ask what I want and do what I want.

Writing
I've written quite a few novels (I'm great at writing them and dreadful at sending them off) and with each book there are times when I know I am connecting to something other than myself. The stories that come are from the collective unconscious - a deep, dark sea created by living things of stories, dreams, fantasies, hopes and fears. Once I connect to that it's such pleasure and such a high!

Walking
I love walking. I love going off by myself and walking. I don't mind if it's down streets or hills - there is something meditative about feeling the earth beneath your feet and taking the time to see what is around you. These are times when I truly feel a child of the earth, attached to the great mother that sustains us all.

Tarot
Did you think the last one would be sex? LOL! Not this time. Tarot readings every time send me to another place. My mind swims, my body disappears and I receive images or sensations I know I haven't imagined. Afterwards I feel high and incredibly alert. I wouldn't recommend driving a car though - I have done it but I'm pretty sure I shouldn't!

Each of these activities connect me to a different aspect of the Divine and a different aspect of myself. These activities are why I am a Pagan not a Christian. I need a personal relationship with the Divine. I need God to be part of me, or at least accessible by me, not a separate judgemental entity.

Next blog I'll talk about what I think God is.

Losing Weight with the Magician

Are you someone who is a victim of circumstance - someone who can not affect what happens in your life? Or are you a creator of your own life - someone who knows that attitude can affect you happens to you. Which are you?

I used to be the former. Bad things happened (I'm not suggesting I caused them) and I took them personally. I was bullied as a child so I ate to comfort myself. Relationships ended so I ate. I got fatter so I ate. I didn't feel I had any control. Everything just happened to me and I was a passive receiver. All I could control was what I ate and I used that to soothe me.

What I should have done was feel. I should have got angry when injustice happened. I should have shouted when I was upset. I should have danced when I was happy.

One of the major lessons I learnt from Paganism and the tarot - specifically the Magician card - is how much of your own life you CAN control. Yes bad things happen - they happen to us all. Only you can cast yourself in the role of victim. Only you can decide to not engage with life and just be a passive receiver.

The Magician is all about being active in your own life. You want something try to create it. It won't always happen but by trying you have nothing to regret. Life is much better if you don't just drift through trusting it to bring you happiness. What makes you happy? How can you get it? Go get it!

I took responsibility for myself and checked INTO my life - and so far have lost 100 pounds. This is the most obvious manifestation of the attitude change I underwent but it is mirrored within me as well. I'm 100 times happier too!

Is it easy? No it's a struggle. It's hard not to eat when you are stressed for 2 reasons - 1) you crave the food, 2) you have to FEEL what you are avoiding. It's hard and real and a million times better than the alternative.

How you lose weight is irrelevent really - pick any healthy diet and stick to it. Once you take responsibility for yourself and FEEL rather than FEED it'll be easier to stick to any diet.

This works for weight loss or any other thing you do to avoid feeling. It might be drink, drugs, shopping, talking - anything to avoid feeling.

The Magician shows us that we can create our lives and the first step is to know what we want. How can we truly know what we want if we don't feel all our feelings? Denial doesn't lead to truth and that's what we need because once you start creating your own life you tend to get what you want. It'd be a bugger if you didn't really want it!

My motto is - create or stagnate. Which would you rather do?

The Fool

A new direction to my blog deserves the newest shinest tarot card - The Fool.

The Fool is starting along a completely new path in life. He knows that he does not have all the answers and he is not embarrassed to ask for help. What he does have, in abundance, is enthusiasm.

Imagine two people walking along a road. One, an optimist, sees a rainbow, a lovely new pair of shoes in a shop and smiling faces. Another, a pessimist, sees rain, dark skies and muddy pavements. They are both walking along the same road but their experience of it is very different. Neither of them knows what will be at the end but the first hopes it will be something good.

This attitude affects how others treat you. If you meet people in an open, happy way they will, generally, want to help you. If you are negative they may not.

The Fool is an inspiration to us all. If you face the future believing it will go well, then you will create a future where things do go well. Enthusiasm can be far more important than knowledge.
The Fool challenges you to believe, to trust in the future and to leave the past behind. A person who thinks they have the answer to everything really knows nothing! Someone who acknowledges their ignorance but isn't scared to learn has the real wisdom. That person will take a step into a much brighter future.

New Direction

I've decided I'm changing the direction of this blog. I don't want it to just be about my lovely shiny things - lovely though they are. I want to bring my tarot here as well - and anything else I fancy gibbering about. So I'll get on with my first new blog post...

ps I'm now on twitter. http://twitter.com/talentedt

Illustrated Monologue

There's been a lot of change in the Talented Trinkets world lately. Firstly silver prices have gone up. Our wholesalers have started passing those price rises to us (although why one put up the postage price as well is a mystery!) in open and more subtle ways.

I had a pendant returned from an ebay sale because it wasn't the size I'd said it was. I checked and she was right! The wholesaler had saved on silver by making it a little smaller! Obviously I gave a refund and apologised but there's a lesson learnt - always check the sizes and don't assume they stay the same from one order to the next!

So profits are a little smaller. If prices continue to raise we'll have to put our prices up too but I don't want to.

Secondly in my list of changes there is the credit crunch. When exactly does a credit crunch become a recession I wonder? When there is a drop rather than growth? Are we just having slow growth? I'm not remotely an expert as you can tell but the news makes it all seem very serious and as a result sales have dropped a little over last year.

Thirdly is the newly designed website. I've redone colours, photo's etc at http://www.talentedtrinkets.com/ plus added a new secure payments channel for credit and debit cards. I like the changes. I hope you do too.

Finally is the new changes at ebay. Just when all the above is happening they put their prices up! It's clear that they don't want small hobby (It may be a hobby but it is also my obsession!) sellers. They want Marks and Sparks on there rather than me. Most items I list are under £10. Where I used to pay 15-25p to list each item (and then a fee if I sell it) it's now going to be a flat rate of 40p.

Not looking too great for us so far but I'm determined to weather the storm. I have a trusty boat, an able seamen beside me (my lovely fiance) and a new load of beautiful stock which I've popped photo's of throughout this monologue.

It does remind me why I do this:

1) I LOVE buying shiny things

2) I am obsessed with good customer service (it is my day job as well). I want to sell something lovely, to someone lovely who will love it!

3) I enjoy learning new skills in web design, photography, graphic design etc. If I had a big business I'd pay someone else to do these things but as it's just the two of us it comes down to me a lot of the time.

4) It is still exciting when someone loves the item they receive.

5) Hopefully it'll pay for us to have a good holiday each year.

6) I love shiny things. Did I mention that?

Claire x

Advertising, Site redesign, Credit and Debit Cards

After a bit of stressing I've managed to get a secure set up to allow people to buy from Talented Trinkets using their credit or debit cards. It means people who don't have Paypal accounts or don't want to use one can pay just using their cards.

Like Paypal I have no access to anyone's bank details - which is the way I like it!

People can pay in UK Pounds, US Dollars or EURO's.

I've also started advertising at Covenspace.com - a social networking site for pagans - so hopefully that'll bring in some interested people.

Plus I've redone all the photo's on the website. I hope they look much prettier!

99p Sale!

In order to make room for lots of new shiny things I'm starting a 99p sale on ebay. Visit: http://shop.ebay.co.uk/merchant/talentedtrinkets to see the bargains!