(Sun sign: Sagitarius) (Moon sign: Aquarius) (Rising sign: Cancer)

I believe we choose our signs accordingly for each life.
It is like a road map to self understanding.
The same way we choose what gender, what ethnicity, what color our skin will be, hair, body shape, religion...
We are the makers of ourselves.
Each choice for a new life offers different lessons.
My choice to be a white womyn in this life presents me with unique and different lessons compared to the soul who chose to be a black man in this same life.
I truly believe that tapping into previous soul manifestations is important for all humankind.
It teaches that we are actually not all that different.
We are all connected.
I have known all these souls in different physical forms than the ones they currently inhabit.
Regressing into these past migrations of the soul teaches empathy.
You were once and male and female, black and white, muslim and christian, brown and yellow, here and there.

I believe the world was once different than the world we live in now...
wait...
I believe society was once different that the society we live in now.
The world has never changed, only us, our consciousness.
The history that we now recount in books in this society is a new history.
We don't even really know how old the world is.
The history we now say we know is filled with greed, hate, and fear...but I don't think true history has always been like that.
The theories that have been created speculating what life was like before documentation are theories created with the mindset and consciousness of today's society.
And by today, I mean the beginning of where our history books start.
Our history is just a day in comparison with the history of the world.
The consciousness has always been shifting.
Like a pendulum.

This world is getting sick.
This world is getting tired.
This world is finally standing up and saying enough is enough.
Mother Nature is cleaning.

Call it the end of the world, if you want.
But it will only be the destruction of the world humans have created out of greed.
In any magic spell, in any magic happening, one must first clean the energy of the space.
Sage burning.
Wipe the spirit board.
And that is what the world is starting to do now.
Cleaning away the built up negative energy.

Death is inevitable, but not the end.
Death is a concept humans created out of fear of the unknown.
But the unknown can be easily known.
You just have to let go of the fear.
We all have the capability to govern our own destiny.
To know the readings of energy on all levels.
Just unblock yourself.

We have already planned our lives before we were even born.
Sticking to the plan is another thing in itself but the guidelines are there in our higher consciousness.
Just ask.

Like the Hopi knew,
"we are the ones we have been waiting for."

Research Paper drafts

In a small town a swap meet is a place to be on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. One will find themselves walking between tables stacked high with merchandise and knick knacks of all sorts. It is like an outdoor thrift store. Elote, horchata, cotton candy, and nachos towering with jalapenos are advertised at nearby stands. Going into the heart of the swap meet,one starts to find more established stores. A dress boutique on the left and a man with his store space packed full of TVs and VCRs and videos on the right. Then a scent of burning incense, like when one walks into an old church, crosses paths with your sense of smell. You look around to see where it is coming from and spot a small shop with a rack of incense and bumper stickers sitting out front. With peaked curiosity you go inside and discover a store that is almost like a church.

If one does not have prior knowledge of the occult, Botanica Manivye will seem quite shocking when glancing at some of the merchandise. Shelves of candles take up a quarter of the store with labels such as Healing Light, Control, and some with pictographs of holy saints. Some candles take on the shape of a cat, two lovers, or the devil. Jars of dried herbs such as Mugwort, Sage, and Dragon's Blood line the walls. Pendants bearing voodoo coffins, pentacles, and various crystals hang next to long necklaces strung with brightly colored beads of white, yellow, red, and green. Glass shelves house spirit boards, tarot and oracle decks, crystals, and a jar of black cat eyes. Multiple altars find shelter in the botanica, as well, with candles, coins, incense, statues and jars of water filling the table tops. Antique black art, such as pictures, statues, and posters are dispersed throughout the store. A statue of a beautiful black womyn bathing stands in front of a poster of Malcolm X. A corner of the room is curtained off as the consultation room. However, the energy and feeling one gets when inside Sister Angie's botanica is of tranquility and acceptance. Sister Angie, a short middle aged womyn with long, thin dreads with bracelets and rings covering her arms and hands, greets you and makes sure you are finding what you are looking for. As you smile and nod that you are just looking, she hurries back to her consultation room to finish up a shell reading. Macy Gray plays in the background softly as you continue to look at the strange mystifying objects. One can easily get lost in thought while in Botanica Manivye and can truly start to see that "magic" really does exist.

Shops like Sister Angie's have emerged from a deep, rooty history. Botanicas, Yerbias, Hoodoo drugstores, Wiccan/Metaphysical/Spiritual shops are all connected by the same energy, the same history despite the alias they go by.