Liebster Blog Award

Earlier this month, Shelly Chandler of Shelly Simplified nominated me for a Liebster Blog Award! Thanks so much, Shelly, you rock! Check out her blog of witchy wisdom and good book reading advice, everyone -- you'll enjoy it!

Warning: Now that I'm a total rebel and bad girl in my middle age, I'm not going to follow any of the award rules. But I am going to answer the questions which Shelly posed to her nominees:

1. Describe yourself in 5 words. Happy, optimistic, introverted, contemplative, crunchy.

2. What's your favourite way to relax? It's a toss-up between windsurfing and snowboarding. Yes, just checking to see if you're actually reading this.

3. Innie or outie? Innie, I'm proud to say.

4. Age of your first heartbreak? Six, when a girl at school uninvited me from her birthday party, the little bitch. But I'm over it now.

5. Your number 1 comfort food? Grilled cheese sandwiches.

6. Most quirky habit. Only one?

7. What are you saving for a rainy day? My sanity, with any luck.

8. Name something that made you laugh so hard you cried. The killer rabbit scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Also, the crucifixion scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian. Hmm, I detect a pattern.

9. Favourite perfume? I don't often wear perfume but when I do, it's Chanel No. 5 for me, baby. It's the only thing in common I have with Marilyn Monroe, apart from being a sex goddess of course.

10. Favourite book? Seriously, Watership Down by Richard Adams. I love those friggin' bunnies.

11. If you could be anyone from history, who would you be and why? Oooo, that's a toughie. Who was rich and talented and happy and never had any bad things happen to them? If you can come up with a name, THAT'S who I want to be!

Japanese Bathrooms: Toto Washlets

Japanese Toto Washlets always have heated toilet seats that activate when you sit down. Then, on the wall or on an attached console arm on the toilet itself, there are assorted buttons that you push to make the toilet perform various functions.

The most common buttons activate a frontal water spray or a rear water spray for maximum cleanliness. You can customize the water pressure for those functions with another button. Deluxe models have a button for dispensing air freshener too. And the so-called "princess models" have a button that activates the sound effect of running water to drown out any unladylike bathroom noises you may make. We encountered the Toto Washlet's most ultra-deluxe feature only once on our trip, where simply walking into the bathroom stall causes sensors on the toilet to automatically raise the lid for you.

Oh, and of course after all that, there's a button to flush the toilet too. Sometimes that button is located on the floor so you just step on it. Deluxe Washlets flush automatically by themselves.

And let me tell you -- when we got home to our own North American toilets, we sure felt like we were being forced to slum it, LOL!

[Photos by Debra She Who Seeks]

Japanese Bathrooms: Squat Toilets

As we discovered on our trip to Japan last year, Japanese bathrooms are very interesting places. Traditional squat toilets are still quite commonly found. Their basic design is the same, whether constructed of wood as this one in Takayama at the historic government offices of the Tokugawa Shogunate . . .

. . . or whether constructed of the finest porcelain and marble as this one in a ritzy Kyoto hotel:

Thank goodness, however, squat toilets are never the only option! At any given public bathroom, there is virtually always an equal or greater number of "western" toilets available. But of course the Japanese have improved on western design and made our style of toilet a million times better. Tomorrow I'll fill you in on the wonder and the glory that is a Japanese Toto Washlet.

[First photo by My Rare One; second photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

How to Recognize a Real Unicorn

Unicorns are always happy and fun.

They make perfect role models.

Unicorns are 100% trustworthy. You never need to fear or doubt anything a unicorn says.

But that can't be said of some other creatures. Be very leery of fake unicorns. Certain unscrupulous characters will attempt to pass themselves off as the genuine article.

But a simple test will reveal the truth. Unicorns never have tuna breath.

Be safe out there, my friends.

Edmonton Tarot: Death (XIII)

Interpretation: Drawing the Death card often scares the bejesus out of people because they assume it means that they or someone they love will die. But actually, this card rarely indicates physical death. Usually it just indicates the end of something significant -- a relationship, a job, a phase in one's life, an attitude, a belief system, etc. The change is final and irrevocable, though.

Image: Since the end of something usually means the beginning of something else, isn't death really a form of recycling? And speaking of recycling, the City of Edmonton has one of the best recycling programs in North America! There is extensive recycling of not only paper, cardboard, glass, plastics and metal but also electronics and environmentally sensitive waste. Organic waste is composted and returned as topsoil to our city parks and gardens.

[Photo by Debra She Who Seeks]

Sacred Bees of the Goddess, Part 2

As promised, here's some info about the ancient Bee Goddess jewelry pictured on my blog sidebar.

On the Greek island of Rhodes, archaeologists unearthed several small gold plaques embossed with a winged Bee Goddess and flowers. These jewelry fragments date from the 7th century BCE and are currently housed at the British Museum. The Goddess appears to be wearing a sphynx-like cap or headdress.

This next gold pendant dates from 1800-1700 BCE. Skillfully crafted on the Greek island of Crete, it may have belonged to a Mellisae, a Bee Priestess of the Goddess-worshipping Minoan civilization. It is called the Mallia Bee Pendant because it was discovered at the palace of Mallia, east of the central grand palace of Knossos. The pendant depicts two bees framing a central drop of pollen or honey. It is now located at the Heraklion Museum in Crete.

This final photo from the internet shows a modern altar honouring the Divine Feminine, adorned with flowers, candles and a central motif based on the Mallia Bee Pendant. Isn't it lovely?

Sacred Bees of the Goddess, Part 1

To paraphrase a recent inquiry from a new reader: "What's up with all this bee imagery on your blog?" The answer is that it relates to my spiritual name Debra She Who Seeks.

Bees have been sacred to the Divine Feminine for thousands of years in ancient civilizations from Babylon to Rome. In Greece, many Goddesses such as Rhea, Artemis, Cybele and Demeter were characterized as Bee Goddesses (among their other attributes). Their priestesses were called "melissae," which is Greek for "honeybees," because they served the Bee Goddess like female worker bees serve their Queen Bee.

That is the origin of the popular girls name Melissa. It means "honeybee" and connotes "priestess of the Goddess." The equivalent Hebrew name meaning the same thing is Debra, which is my given name. I have also seen Debra translated more conceptually as "she who seeks." After all, what does a female bee spend her time doing? She seeks flowers and pollen in order to make honey.

Debra She Who Seeks perfectly sums up my spiritual identity. My name honours the Divine Feminine and expresses my connection to the Goddess. And I have spent a lifetime seeking spiritual truth wherever I may find it. Like a honeybee, I have gone in turn to most of the flowers in the spiritual garden and gathered some wisdom teachings from each.

Tomorrow I'll discuss the two ancient pieces of Bee Goddess jewelry pictured on my sidebar.

[Note: This post is a condensed Coles Notes version of six older blog posts I wrote on this topic. Want to read the full version? Check out my archived posts dated December 14th to 19th, 2009.]