Wonderful Blog: Prayer for our Pets

My beloved dog, a Shetland Sheepdog, has been diagnosed with cancer.  We're heartbroken, but hopeful that the Chinese herbals he's being treated with will help him.  And you know what?  There's prayer.  For me, that's the great helper.  I pray with hope and I also pray to accept.

Anyway, there's a wonderful prayer blog for pets http://prayersforourpets.blogspot.com/2011/06/prayer-request-for-kirby-dog.html called Prayer for our Pets.

Voyage of Enlightenment with James Van Praagh, Medium

While reading Ghosts Among Us:  Uncovering the Truth about the Other Side by James Van Praagh, I learned that Mr. Van Praagh and his friend Ron Oyer do spiritual cruises called Voyage of Enlightenment.  This link http://www.lifejourneys.net/JVPraagh/Mediterranean/ is for the Mediterranean Voyage coming up in September 2011--it provides a good example of the sessions and conferences that take place while on the cruise.

Well, honestly, I could do without the whole cruise thing.  I'm not a cruiser!  I would much rather bunk down in a hotel in a beautiful city and attend the conferences/seminars.  I'm pretty sure that Van Praagh does these types of events as well.  Definitely more for me than a cruise...

Haunted Miami: The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables

Many years ago I knew a girl at work who was murdered.  I used to live in Miami at the time and this girl was a receptionist in the executive offices of the large company where both of us worked.  Her work area was right next to mine.  She was super nice, very pretty, and I sensed a certain naivete about her. Whenever I passed by her desk, or she'd pass by mine, we'd talk a little.  One day she told me that she was really in love and that the guy was in jail.  He was allowed community outings on weekends (that's how they met), and he was going to be paroled very soon.  When he got out of jail, this girl married him and she left the company where we both worked.  I lost all contact with her until a couple of years later when a horrifying article appeared in The Miami Herald newspaper reporting of the murder of a young couple at, I believe, The Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables--this girl and her husband were the victims.  The murder was apparently drug-related.  The couple was found dead in their room.  Their infant child was in the room with them, unharmed, and with a bag containing about $30,000 in cash in the crib.  I think it took hotel personnel a day or so to realize that these people were dead, so the child was in the room with his/her dead parents, unfed, and dirty.


The death of this girl had a terrible impact on me.  I was very young then, and like all the young, I thought of myself, and my friends, as invincible.  Dying the way this girl did is so awful.  I often thought of her afterwards as having taken just one wrong turn that resulted in her hooking up with the wrong guy.


I'm writing about this incident because I stumbled upon an article on the web (see below) regarding ghosts at The Biltmore Hotel.  Could her ghost, and that of her husband, be amongst the entities at The Biltmore?


I think The Biltmore has bad shit surrounding it.  If you look up some of its history on the internet, you'll find that when the hotel was first built as a fabulous resort for the ultra wealthy, the owners brought in red foxes and released them in the wooded areas surrounding the hotel so that its privileged guests could enjoy fox hunting.  Animal Slaughter.  And a resulting Bad Vibe.  This place has bad history.


One day back in the late '80s, I had to spend a good part of the day at The Biltmore while I met with some of its staff.  My boss was planning a large reception for a number of important foreign visitors, and The Biltmore was on our list of possible venues for a cocktail party and/or dinner.  We eventually chose another locale, but while I was in there that day, I was amazed by its luxury and astounding beauty, and at the same time, I was "creeped out" by something, but I never knew what it was.


Well, here's the web article about The Haunted Biltmore.  If any of you have heard about, or experienced,
anything haunted at The Biltmore Hotel, please let me know.  I'd love to hear about it!


With its beautiful tower as a beacon in the skyline, the Biltmore Hotel makes its luxurious presence known. Guests marvel at the old-world feel of the Biltmore hotel with its classy leather furnishings and the finches that make residence in bird cages in the lobby. Opening its doors almost eighty years ago, the hotel has had more than enough time to fill its historical quota and its spiritual one, as well. According to guests and employees of the Biltmore Hotel, room 702 is said to be haunted and there have even been images captured of this ghost. Also, the 13th floor which once housed a speakeasy back in the day is said to be haunted by the spirit of Fats Walsh, an old friend of Al Capone's. Fats was murdered on the 13th floor of this hotel and is said to have made the Biltmore his final resting place. Some say you can still see the bloodstains from his murder on the floor of the bathroom in the 13th floor suite while others say that Fats often causes the elevator to stop on the 13th floor without provocation.

Some Biltmore history: 
http://www.hauntedflorida.com/biltmore.htm

Fox Hunting at The Biltmore: 
http://merrick.library.miami.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/asm0300&CISOPTR=84&CISOBOX=1&REC=4

Good Article with lots of Biltmore background:
Haunted Biltmore Article by Deena Budd BellaOnline's Paranormal Editor

Books

The Cloud Collector's Handbook by Gavin Pretor Pinney.  Do you know that there's a Cloud Appreciation Society? http://cloudappreciationsociety.org/  Isn't that cool?  About time!  Clouds are beautiful, but it seems that they're often taken for granted.  Well, no more!  The Cloud Appreciation Society has published a book called The Cloud Collector's Handbook  by Gavin Pretor-Pinney (check out the link, below)--Wow!

I bought the book!  A birthday gift from $$$$$ from loved ones!  It is a WONDERFUL book!


Glynis has your Number by Glynis McCant.  Not for me.  I'm interested in Numerology, but this book didn't cut it.

Can anyone suggest a good Numerology book?


Longing for Darkness: Tara and the Black Madonna by China Galland.


Never Knowing -- A Novel by Chevy Stevens.  I won an advance copy of Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens from the publisher.  I entered a drawing held by Goodreads.com.  I think this book will be available in bookstores June 2011.  I started reading it and let me tell you, it's sooo creepy!

The story is about a young woman named Sara Gallagher who knows she's adopted.  She decides she needs to know who her birth mother is and sets out to find her.  Bad decision!  Turns out, her birth mother was raped by a man known as The Campsite Killer, a notorious serial killer in British Columbia who's never been caught.  Sara's birth mother is the killer's only victim who got away from him.  And, of course, this makes Sara the daughter of a Monster.  Oh, oh. But it gets more complicated... Sara has a daughter!

I have one complaint about this story and it's Sara's young daughter, Ally.  I wish the story didn't include so much about the little kid ('cause quite frankly, it's BORING), unless ...  might the twist be that while Sara's terrified that she may be just like "Daddy,"--you know, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, and all that-- in reality it might be Sara's daughter who turns out to be just like Grandpa?!  Whoa!

Interested?  I'll tell you no more.  Wouldn't want to spoil it for you.  In conclusion, let me just say that I think Chevy Stevens tells a very good story.  I hope the book continues to be this good to its very scary end!

I FINISHED THE BOOK AND...

...it wasn't all that great after all.  It got off to a good start, and there were definitely parts of it that I liked a lot--such as Sara's conversation with her serial-killer-father.  But, I don't know, something's missing.  Just not a great read, and I was disappointed.

If any of you read Never Knowing, I'd love to know what you think.

CoyoteEncounter

On Tuesday, June 13, 2010, a coyote crossed the road in front of my car. It happened in broad daylight, at approximately 11:30 AM. I was headed to a hair appointment.

When I saw the Coyote, I was full of anxiety because my mother was still recovering from a fractured hip.  Fortunately, I was moving very slowly. He crossed the street in front of me from east to west. The whole thing was surreal. He came out of the woods by the road. Sunbeams were coming through the heavy leafy canopy and hitting the Coyote and the road. The Coyote moved in a loping sort of trot. He was beautiful—healthy golden coat—and there was no doubt in my mind the moment I saw him that this was a Coyote. His ears were really big. He was about 15-20 feet in front of my car and he never looked at me. I saw him in profile. Once he crossed the road, he strode into a house's garden, seemingly headed to the woods behind the house. After seeing the Coyote, as I drove on, I felt that I'd been granted a gift. I felt joy. It was magic.



I read a story titled One Odd Shoe by Pat Murphy.  It's included in the anthology titled THE COYOTE ROAD:  TRICKSTER TALES, edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling.  In the story, the narrator states:  The professor knew some true things about Coyote.  He told the students about what he called a Navajo folk belief:  If a coyote crosses your path, you'd best turn back.  That's true enough, but I wouldn't call it a folk belief.  I'd call it just plain common sense.  This got me worried because on the day that I saw the beautiful Coyote, he (or she) crossed my path.  I did some research, and found the following (Source:  Navajo Traditions http://ggsc.wnmu.edu/netc/traditions/05.html):

The Coyote

Belief:  Avoid having a coyote crossing your path ahead of you in the east direction. Also avoid having a coyote howling at you or near you where you can see the coyote facing toward you while it is howling.

Rationale: There's a disagreement on the reason for this belief. One belief is that the coyote represents a bad spirit that can only bring evil things on you or on your family. The second belief is that the coyote only foretells an unfortunate event or thing in your path or in the near future. So to deal with this belief, a Navajo tries not to let the coyote cross his path in the east directions. If the coyote does cross his path in the east direction, the Navajo can either use corn pollen and pray on the coyote footprints and go on ahead across the coyote's path or he can turn around and go home and not cross the coyote's path until the next day. The Navajo can also go ahead and cross the coyote's path without praying and take a chance on bad luck up ahead. In this case, whether bad luck occurs or not, when the Navajo gets home he gets a medicine man to pray for him and this costs more.

If the coyote crosses the path in any other direction than East, it is foretelling good luck.  In this case, the Navajo prays with joy for the forthcoming good luck.  The coyote I saw crossed my path from east to west so I am grateful for forthcoming blessings.


Source: SHAMANISM: WORKING WITH ANIMAL SPIRITS (www.animalspirits.com)

Coyote's Wisdom Includes:

Understanding that all things are sacred—yet nothing is sacred
Teaching that only when all masks have fallen will we connect with the Source
Intelligence
Singing humans into being
Childhood trust in truth
Teaching us how to rear our young
Brings rain
Ability to laugh at one’s own mistakes
Placing the North Star
Shape-shifting
Teaching balance between risk and safety
Illumination
Stealth

I recently saw a National Geographic documentary titled Killed by Coyotes? that relates the tragic events of a young woman who was killed by coyotes in a park in Canada.  Apparently, wildlife biologists have always held that coyotes avoid contact with humans, therefore, this horrible incident was thoroughly investigated.  Authorities and a wildlife biologist who is an expert on coyotes came to the conclusion that the young woman was attacked by three Eastern coyotes.  Eastern coyotes have wolf DNA; they are larger than Western coyotes and, it seems, far more aggressive.  The victim ran from the coyotes and that encouraged them to chase her down.

Have you had an encounter with coyotes?  If so, please tell me about it.

Birthdays & Death Dates of People that Interest me

Katherine "Kate" Soffel:  d. 8/30/1909.


Photo of Kate Soffel from
the Pittsburgh Dispatch, 8/31/1909

Criminal--her official label, however, to me, Kate was a victim of a very unhappy marriage, and considering the time period during which she lived, she had no viable way to escape her circumstances.  Kate Soffel took on the name of either Katherine Dietrich or Katherine Miller following the notoriety she gained after liberating the Biddles.

Pentacle & Pentagram

Pentacle & Pentagram: What's the Difference?