What fascinating critters.  Unlike dogs who seem to love unconditionally, cats are extremely independent and you must earn their love and trust. You know the old saying, “a dog comes when you call, a cat takes a message and gets back to you”.  Or, a plaque a friend gave us that reads, “The cat and his housekeeping staff live here”.  It’s true, it’s their house and we’re privileged to make the mortgage payment.

I’ve had feline housemates for over thirty years and have had many interesting experiences with them.  The most recent came just this past Sunday. I was taking my usual Sunday afternoon nap on the couch with ESPN’s coverage of the Winter X Games in the background on the television. After only a short while, I woke up to what I thought was a “beep” from the timer on the stove. Because I had nothing cooking, I dismissed it as an imagined thing or something from a dream.  I started to go back to sleep only to have Nick, our 29-pounder, jump up and lay on me. As you might imagine, it’s rather difficult to sleep with that kind of weight across you. While I was laying there listening to his freight-train motor and considering moving him off, I heard from the television “our next competitor is Eric Willett”. That made me sit up immediately.  You see, Eric is the eldest son of a lifelong friend. I knew he had joined the professional snowboard circuit after he graduated high school but had no idea he had qualified for the Winter X Games. 

I was so glad Nick (and something/one else?) had woken me up. I was able to watch his performance and as a rookie to the X Games, win a silver medal in one of the competitions.

This morning’s news had an interview with a geriatric doctor regarding a book he’s written about their nursing home’s cat. Oscar first made the news almost three years ago because he seems to be a prognosticator of the death of a patient. Although he’s usually an independent, curmudgeon-y sort, shortly before the patient passes, Oscar will go into that room and curl up on the bed next to the person. As of July 2007, he had accurately predicted the passing of 25 patients. I understand he’s up to over 50 now.

The doctor, a scientist by nature, is unsure how Oscar knows. He thinks it’s pheromones or some other scent that alerts the cat. Maybe so. Or perhaps he feels the spirit trying to leave.  Nick, the above-mentioned lard-butt, is always nearby when I’m doing a spell.  My personal opinion is that they feel the energies stirring.  I know that our cats are extremely sensitive to moods and when I’m feeling sad or ill, one or more will immediately be at my side.  Oscar is lending his comfort and perhaps help when a spirit wants to pass over.

Cats … what fascinating critters.

As many of you who follow me either on Twitter or Facebook know, I am a great fan of quotable quotes.  I came across one the other day by Carl Linnaeus.  For those of you who don’t know, this is the man that gave us our current system of classifying plants, including the Latin binomial names.  Anyhoo, he said

To live by medicine is to live horribly

Given that he was a physician as well as a botanist I can only assume that he meant synthetic medicine and if that’s the case, I agree with him wholeheartedly. (I can’t ask – he passed in 1778.)

I normally refrain from getting into political discussions because I’m not going to change your mind any more than you’ll change mine. However, there’s been a lot of talk in the US in recent months about new food laws – no trans fats in restaurant food, a new or higher tax in several states on candy and sodapop (in Illinois, even toothpaste!) and the like.

What happened to people taking personal responsibility for their own health? Yes, too much sugar or trans fats are bad for you. But so’s too much of virtually everything else!  I’m not a huge fan of greasy food but there are the occasional days when a gutbomb (otherwise known as a greasy fast-food burger) is what my tastebuds are craving.  Don’t forget the french fries, either. Changing what the fries are cooked in changes their taste. Give me trans fats in moderation so my food tastes right.

Sugar?  Huge fan, here.  I don’t need the government telling me it’s bad for me, I know. That’s why I limit my intake (writing as I pop the top of the one can of soda I’ll drink today).  BTW, did you know that a 12 ounce glass of apple juice has as much sugar as a 12 ounce Coke?  (Statistics here.) Juice does have more benefit than a soda but if you’re looking strictly at sugar content, look closely.

Getting back to Sir Carl’s quote, most of today’s medicine is prescribing a pill for what ails you, instead of prescribing more raw veggies in your diet and a thirty minute walk three or four times a week. 

As an example, I have friends and family members who are on multiple drugs for various issues and end up having even more problems. Instead of changing diet (and suggesting exercise), the doctors simply prescribe another drug.  Although I’ve had countless conversations about diet and exercise (or lack thereof) with these people, they seem to prefer to leave their health in the hands of the pharmaceuticals they’re taking. They’re not the happiest campers in the woods but grin & bear it since this is “their lot in life”.

I have a wish that will probably go unfulfilled.  It is that people start taking active responsibility for their health instead of leaving it to the medical community.  Eat right, exercise, do things that make you happy, and laugh at a minimum of one thing each day. If that were to happen, instead of having a shortage of doctors here in the US, there would be enough to go around and each doctor would have enough time to spend with their patients to ensure the care is good and proper. Yes, bad things happen to good people and their services will always be needed.

If people took responsibility for their own health, the government wouldn’t have any reason to put its fingers on that part of our lives.

Stress … everyone feels it to one extent or another.  Science knows that stress affects not only mental health but bodily health as well.  Long term stress can weaken your immune system, making you vulnerable to infections, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis and a host of other problems.  Although they haven’t figured out exactly why, people experiencing chronic stress are more prone to viral infections.

Lately I’ve been feeling more stressed than usual, thanks to a family member. I thought I was dealing with it quite well until I picked up a cold. I don’t normally get the usual viruses that travel ’round so despite my routine for handling the stress of daily living, this was my wakeup call – things were getting out of hand.

There’s nothing I can do about this person in my family but I can do something about their influence on me.  The first thing I did was change the shielding on our house. My normal shields are to protect us from bad things – robbers, people with other bad intentions, things like that.  I didn’t think I had to protect us from a family member. So, I changed the spell so that any negative vibes and the person harboring them simply bypasses us.

The second thing I did was remember my word for 2010 – “Faith”. (See my blog post entitled “My Word!”) I have to have faith that everything will work itself out for the best and not dwell on things or try to force some issues.

The next thing I’m doing is using scent more often. There are scents that are calming to some neuroreceptors in the brain. Call me crazy but I’m not a fan of Lavender (which is the most widely used). Ylang Ylang really floats my boat, though.  I always feel calmer when I smell that so I’ve got candles & oil warmers throughout the house that have that essential oil in them.

The last thing I’m doing is have a cup of Lemon Balm tea each afternoon. Melissa officinalis is an antidepressant and a nervine (having a relaxing effect on the nervous system – in this case, the nerves associated with the circulatory system).  Not only is it tasty but it helps relax me from the stresses of the day. Interestingly enough, it’s also used in magical healing spells directed at folks with mental or nervous disorders.

If you’re feeling the effects of stress, try

1. Scent  find something that makes you limp as a dishrag when you smell it. Get some candles with that scent in them, use an oil warmer, a reed diffuser or a nebulizer to get that smell throughout your house.  (If you can, use it in your workplace, too.)

2. Nervine Tea Lemon Balm works for me but others you might try are Scullcap, Valerian (will probably put you to sleep), Wood Betony, St. John’s Wort, Chamomile, Vervain or Lavender.  A cup or two a day should do it.

3. Do a Healing Spell on yourself and your house if you practice magic.

Since I started all this, my cold is gone and instead of dragging myself work, I feel like I’ve got enough energy to tackle all the things piled up on my desk. My chill pill is working.