Tag: venus retrograde

Happy Beltaine 2014 a magickal meditation for you.

Erika Ginnis

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Aloha!! It’s Lei day here in Hawaii, May day in many parts of the world, and it is of course Beltaine as well!!

I wanted to post something for Beltaine, and so I am going to include a ritual that you can imagine as you read through it, as well as some basic background for this High Holiday.

As I celebrate it, it is the spring fertility rite, it is the Divine Marriage of the God and the Goddess; and represents our passion and inspiration and conception of our greater yet to be. It is also the festival related to the Celtic God Bel, who is one of the Gods that I personally work with, he is a God of light and the Bel fire.

Here is some background…

Bel’s festival is Beltane, one of two main Celtic fire festivals. Beltane celebrates the return of life and fertility to the world — marking the beginning of Summer and the growing season. Taking place on the night of April 30, or the dawn and remaining day of May 1st, Beltane also is sometimes referred to as “Cetsamhain” which means “opposite Samhain.” The word “Beltaine” literally means “bright” or “brilliant fire,” and refers to the bonfire lit by a presiding Druid in honor of Bile.

The Celts used Beltaine celebration to bless the herds by driving them between two large fires to cleanse them before taking them to the summer pastures. Beltaine begins the season of summer as well as the “summer half” of the year. This High Holy Day was dedicated to adolescent joy, contests, frolicking in the woods, romance and passion. Dancing around the Maypole, games, and feasting are the usual customs.

In old Irish, one of the meanings of “Bel” is “bright” and “Teinne” denotes “fire,” joining to form “Beltaine”

In Celtic mythology, “Aed” refers to “fire” and an early fire deity associated with the Assaroe Falls near Ballyshannon, Ireland. Two better known characters, Lugh and Balor are solar gods who arrived with the Celts. Within the dark of the sidhe mounds lay the brilliantly lit palaces of the fairy folk. The gentry themselves are often described as radiant beings. This underworld of brilliance was later demonized as Christian “hellfire.” Even today, individuals who encounter Otherworldly or deceased spirits describe them as luminous figures.

In Ireland, the central site of the Beltaine festival is the Hill of Uisneach, in County Westmeath. Twin fires lit atop the hill signaled to fires on neighboring hills, forming an enormous bonfire web through which those assembled could see and be seen by the Goddess of the land, Aine. Then as today, ritual contact with the spiraling forces of life restored vitality to the participant and renewed the divine ligature between worlds.

Beltane is traditionally a time when the veil between our world and that of the Fae is thin.

In Ireland, one of the early races of conquerors was known as the Tuatha de Danaan, and they were considered mighty and powerful. It was believed that once the next wave of invaders arrived, the Tuatha went underground. In hiding from the Milesians, the Tuatha evolved into Ireland’s faerie race. Typically, in Celtic legend and lore, the Fae are associated with magical underground caverns and springs — it was believed that a traveler who went too far into one of these places would find himself in the Faerie realm.

Another way to access the world of the Fae was to find a secret entrance. These were typically guarded, but every once in a while an enterprising adventurer would find his way in. Often, he found upon leaving that more time had passed than he expected. In several tales, mortals who spend a day in the fairy realm find that seven years have passed in their own world.

The following is one version of a guided meditation ritual I have used to get in touch with the wonderful energy of this day and season.

Blessed be!

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Ground and center and get settled into your body, start to breath deeply and let yourself relax into that place between waking and sleep where you can ride the waves of your imagination.

Imagine that you are coming into a beautiful open field.

You see an open air Carriage decked with ribbons and bells sparkling jewels and soft white fur, you are thrilled to realize it is waiting for you, so you climb into the soft wide seat. It is being pulled by two beautiful horses with wings, who prance along the path, they know where they are going so you relax as the warm breeze softly playing against your cheek and you ride, the excitement building and you ride onward through beautiful country.

 

As you continue you look around you the trees and air takes on a glowing golden hue, as if the setting sun is warming it all with color and golden sweet honey.

The carriage stops at the end of a meadow, with little multicolored flowers fragrant among the grasses.

 

Stepping out of the carriage you look down at yourself and see that you are dressed in beautiful new clothing, silks and velvets, suede and ribbons, flowers and feathers. There is a bright bon fire in the center of the meadow and people are dancing around the fire there are bright Fey folk among the people adding to the song and festivities.

 

Speak to the Fey, let them greet you. Share secrets and stories during this time where the view between our world and theirs is so very thin. Let them bedeck you with even more finery.

You see a path that leads up to a hillside. On the top of the hill you see an oak tree and under it there are figures standing at the top. Stepping onto the path you walk along it. You follow the path up the hill, you look down and notice that it is lit on both sides with candles that look like glowing small stars.

As you get nearer you begin to see who it is that waits for you. It is Aphrodite and the Horned God of the Forest, smiling with eyes sparking with amusement and enjoyment; they are so very glad that you have joined them here.
You see a little past them a canopy/bower that is decked out in finery and you want to go to it, but you know that you must still wait a while yet.

 

You step first to Aphrodite. She is lovely and shining, hair flowing and skin lit from within. Drink in the attraction and the beauty, sea foam and sensual energy, permission for love. Go to her and receive her embrace, she has something to give you, a gift for your Beltane ritual. You realize that you have a gift for her as well, give it to her and know her enjoyment. Exchange thanks.

 

Next you go to the God of the forest, see him energized and smiling, filled with abundance and the energy of the rite of spring, eyes shining with merriment, embrace him and feel your own life force and vigor, the wild night in him and in you, the birth of desire and manifestation, creation and fulfillment, that he emanates. Again receive from him the gift he has for you, and give him what you find you have to give to him in offering, exchange thanks.

 

You see the next leg of your journey had two paths one goes along the fireside to join in with Bel who is the God of the Beltaine fire and the other dancing celebrants, the other goes towards a flowery bower that holds a beautiful bed made of rose petals and softest down mattresses, with wild furs thrown across it. There are many luscious things hidden in the warm shadows. It calls to you.

 

Realize that at any time that you can connect completely at what every level you wish and can also at any time move from the bed to the fire side to dance with the others. Knowing that each is a wonderful place to be, and if you dance near the fire you can feel the swirl of energy from the bower; and from the bower you are aware that everyone around the fire is lending their energy to your connection with the Divine.

You take a deep breath, and feel the soft ground under your feet.
As you pass the heat of the fire you are aware of your own energy rising, feel it, breath it in, it is warm at first then filling you. Your heart is open and you feel relaxed and secure, wonderfully at home in your body.

You feel yourself to be the God or Goddess, knowing yourself to be exactly that. As you look upon the beautiful soft flower petal bed you see that you are not alone, you are joined by the aspect of the God or Goddess that best compliments you.

You feel yourself glow with energy and life; you know that you are indeed divine and that you are divinity incarnate in living flesh. You feel spring call to you now; you heed the call and fall laughing into the fur and feathers and satin folds. Looking deeply into the eyes of Divinity there, connect at all levels, feeling the energy move through you. Knowing this to be indeed the meeting of the God and the Goddess in sacred marriage and the Great Rite.

As you look into the eyes of your consort, the light changes for a moment. You recognize now that you are also looking into the eyes of your special lover in your waking world, or perhaps it is the eyes of the one that waits for you that you have yet to meet. Know them to be also the God and Goddess in form.

Feel the springtime rising in you, ripe and ready to burst forth with abundance and flower, sweet and succulent nectar. Breathe deeply and feel yourself rising on the energy bursting into the Universe shooting stars fly past with glittering light. Hear the sounds of bells and song, smile and know yourself to be beautiful and beloved of the Gods just exactly as you are. You are decked in beauty and light and sensual pleasure and it is all so very very good.

Know that you are sacred that your union is sacred see it flow out in all directions, bringing spring and flower and new life to everything around you and into all the worlds. Knowing that it brings into your own life the fruition of plans and joyous beginnings made manifest as you will them to be.

 

Breathe and Bask in the golden light of creation and afterglow. Thanking the Goddess and God for their energy and love you receive a shining kiss on your forehead, bringing you back to your self. Energized and buoyant, you rise from the bower and drape flowers and vines around your body and you go to join the others. Revel in the fire and the twilight and see the stars begin to shine above you.

You see your carriage waiting for you and waving to your friends, you climb in. The carriage rolls through the countryside you are watching the purple shadows and silver moonlight flow by you as you travel back to where you began.

As you are driving back you notice that your clothing and festival wear is melting away like morning mist. The carriage stops and you get out. You stand cleansed and new and you notice how at home you feel in your body, you know yourself to be comfortable and strong and that your heart is warm and open.

You begin to allow your awareness to expand, bringing the energy and lightness and creativity with you to the physical plane, clothing yourself in physical reality and clothing that you began with.

Taking a deep relaxing breath and grounding out any excess energy, carrying with you your divinity and the gift from the Gods, you come to this reality awake and aware and refreshed. Wiggling your finger and toes. And open your eyes.

(copywrite Erika Ginnis 2014)

Blessings and Aloha,
Erika

Exact square Uranus and Pluto, September 2012 astrology.

Erika Ginnis

Butterfly effect - Erika GinnisAt the end of this post you will find links to four 15 minute Youtube videos from Rick Levine (a fabulous astrologer) that gets recorded monthly back in my old home town area in the PNW. There is so much going on this month OMG!!

I am going to give a synopsis of the some aspects of the upcoming astrology he talks about for those of you who can’t watch the videos right now; but still want some insight. Please do check the videos out, these guys (normally they present together “Rick Levine and Jeff Jawer” but this month it is just Rick Levine) are two of my favorite astrologers and do such a great service by posting the hour long monthly astrology each month. I LOVE them.

September 2012

We are feeling the effects of the powerful Pluto/Uranus square. Uranus planet of revolution, shock, upheaval, lightning, electricity, squares Pluto; planet of transformation, metamorphosis, evolution, and intensity. This will occur 7 times up through 2015, and this month we have one of the exact aspects. This month is the second exact square on September 18th.

The outer planets (of which Pluto and Uranus are two) set up global social economic issues.

The square is the angle of maximum stress which then can bring forth maximum creativity to resolve that stress. These aspects with these specific planets create the framework for social transformation and social revolution.

Continue reading →

Venus retrograde and Venus conjunction 2012; bring on the gold energy.

Erika Ginnis

Faith and TrustLots going on as we have been seeing and hearing over the airways. Energy at really high levels; effecting people in many different ways; not all of which have been useful. Plus Venus; planet of love and beauty and grace, is retrograde for 6 weeks (we all feel the transit for a bit longer just due to the time it takes for things to slow down or then speed back up). I have written about this before (by the light of an old flame) although it was a different energy then and different signs were involved. What is still true is that when Venus goes retrograde it can feel as if a gray screen is placed over life.

This is not set in stone, so if you are having a grand time then please party on! You may if you wish just skip down to the meditation at the end of this post; which is for everyone no matter how much or how little fun you are having with this transit.

Having said all that; I know of many people who have been asking me “what is happening??? I feel yucky when will it end?” and so I write some of this next part for you.

You are NOT losing your mind. The energy IS really intense, and with Venus retrograde there IS the potential of feeling lack luster, or like you aren’t attractive or never were :); it’s possible that you may find yourself with a tendency to be self critical…or other critical. It’s hard to see value with this transit. Things that look good now may not look good in a little while, our sense of esthetics gets all messed up (maybe wait to do that daring new hair style after the transits are a little better suited for beauty LOL). We can lose hope or feel things are moving backwards. This isn’t essential but if it is happening just remember THIS TOO SHALL PASS.

Truly this happens every year and a half for 6 weeks and if you know what’s up you can have a better time and perhaps not let it get to you quite so much. This current retrograde started May 15th 2012 and continues until June 27th 2012.

Another hallmark for this transit is the entrance back into your life of people from your past. It’s time to look back over old relationships, and often people who you have not seen or thought of will contact you. I had the wonderful experience of having someone get in touch with me from my HS days. I adore him and it was so nice to have contact again, so not all of Venus retrograde has to be “bad”… quite the contrary; it can be really nice.

I have also heard that what you were dealing with around the last time Venus went retrograde you may revisit and experience some completion with regards to it.

Something that is always true but not always commented on; is that Venus retrograde is always sandwiched between two Mercury retrogrades; there is a little breathing room between them but not a lot, just due to how retrogrades fall. So I think this is another thing that can makes it all feel so fricking long. One thing to remember is that mercury retrograde is more mechanical in nature (and that can mean the mechanics of communication of course), but Venus retrograde seems to effect the heart and the emotions and so they are really two different feeling transits.

Things to do during this transit?

  • Visit with your newly re-discovered friends.
  • Take time for self care and make it a habit to say nice things to yourself daily.
  • Remind yourself that your perception of a thing really creates a large part of that thing; so pay attention to how you are viewing things.
  • Take the time to complete relationship issues you swept under the rug a year and a half ago.
  • Meditate.
  • learn and practice grounding.
  • Give yourself (and others) some slack.

What to avoid if you can?

  • Making drastic changes in your appearance 🙂
  • Big ticket items as an impulse buy.
  • Redecorating your home on a whim.
  • Making major commitments.
  • Buying a house.
  • planning a wedding.

Now onto the other thing involved with this transit. The passing of Venus over the Sun.

Venus is conjunct with both the sun and the galactic center on Tuesday, and Venus will pass in front of the sun and we here in Hawaii will definitely be able to see it.

The energy (as it has been explained to me) will be coming from the center of our galaxy (reminds one of the center of the earth where we ground into, doesn’t it?) and flowing through the sun and through Venus right onto us on planet Earth. The Sun, Venus and Mercury are all in the sign of Gemini right now.

This is a tremendous amount of energy directed at us; it is one of the reasons some people are having such a hard time right now; especially if they don’t have a way to ground off the excess energy. The good thing about “lotsa energy” is that it can be directed, and it can assist in the manifestation of dreams and visions.

I almost didn’t do a Venus retrograde post this year (until people started asking me about what was up), but then I got the internal information tonight (on the inner-net 🙂 ) that it would be awesome to put the meditation I intend to do; up on my blog and it might be a good way to allow many people to use the influx of energy to bring about some positive experiences for our lovely planet.

If you have been feeling powerless about all of this; relax and surrender on the one hand, and get pro-active with the energy on the other. You kind of need both because if you hold onto the reins too tightly nothing moves.

Here is what I am going to be doing. It is a meditation I have done many times before; some of you may have done it with me. I think this week is an excellent time to bring it back into circulation; especially Monday or Tuesday. If you don’t read this by this week, feel free to do it any time.

 

Meditation:

You can do this in a group or by yourself. If you are in a group I would suggest sitting in a circle and working with the energy inside of the circle.

If you are working “by yourself” (and I put that in quotes because it really just means that we are the only one physically present when we are working; we are never really alone on a spiritual level) my suggestion is to sit in a comfortable chair (like you would when you are meditating in general) imagine that you are joined in a circle by your “spiritual entourage”, meaning your guides, or your ancestors, or the Fairies of the Universe, or whomever you would want to ask you to join in for some energetic enhancement on a planetary level.

Ground and center and possibly create and destroy some roses (if you aren’t familiar with this I have included links)

Get your own energy running and find your own peaceful centered place. Breathe and relax and know that all is well and that you are adding to energy that is already flowing and in motion for the Greater Yet to be.

  • Close your eyes and imagine/create/be aware of  a warm Gold energy. This is an angelic energy, a wonderful neutral cleansing balancing vibration that is associated with the experience of the emergence of our inner Divinity higher self in harmony with physical reality.
  • Let a column of this gold vibration flow from infinity into and through the planet until it reaches the center of the earth; imagine it as a waterfall of bright energy flowing from far above you into the center of the circle you have created and flowing down into the planet.
  • Sit along side of this energy and bask in its warmth and light that radiates outward. Let this energy heal, cleanse, balance you and your life and your circle and the planet. Let it enhance the natural goodness which is already here and eternally present.

Breath and ground and observe the flow of energy with your minds eye, or with your awareness.

  • Let the golden energy flow through the sun and through Venus and through the Earth; allow it to cleanse and balance all the energies as they flow from the galactic center to our lovely little home. Let it assist with the harmonic comfortable balance of spirit and matter.
  • Next allow ribbons of this energy to venture out from the main flow. Let these ribbons of gold energy flow out to anywhere on the planet where they are needed. You don’t have to know what or where, although you can certainly watch where they go if you wish.
  • Notice these ribbons of golden light as they flow to heal any hurts or pain,
  • cleanse any toxins,
  • comfort those that are alone or afraid,
  • flow and encourage people,
  • aid in their alignment with their highest best natures,
  • flow to the oceans and the mountains.
  • You do not have to direct the ribbons, simple know that there is what which knows what to do and how to do it, and allow that to move within the gold energy as is flows to where it is needed.
  • BTW it is completely appropriate to allow one of the ribbons to flow to you. 🙂 There is an unending supply of this loving warm golden light.

Let yourself (if you wish) ask this energy of enlightenment if there is any information that would be useful to you personally for your own unfoldment. Be still and let the information come to you in whatever way you like; images, words, pictures, feelings.

Let this process unfold as it needs to; and at some point you will feel it’s completion.  Let the ribbons join the main flow. breath and release energy down your grounding.

Thank the energy and thank your guidance. Know that you have done a great service to the planet and to your own life. Know that you do make a difference. You rock. 🙂

  • let this energy flow into the earth and release it, so that the column is no longer there. Take time and ground and release excess energy keeping anything you need for yourself and your body.
  • bend forward and release energy from your head and shoulders into the earth; come back up when you are ready. Make some notes if it feels good to do so, so you can remember your experience.

Thank yourself for taking the time to do this. And please also accept my thanks in advance. You are a Divine spark of the All that Is. I honor your light.

Namaste’

Bright Blessings and Aloha,

Erika
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Venus Retrograde October 8th 2010; By the Light of an old Flame.

Erika Ginnis

"The Birth of Venus" by Botticelli 1485Here is yet another in my series of posts about astrology; and while this isn’t just an astrological blog, there have been so many interesting and powerful transits recently, I am just compelled to write about them; especially when people keep asking “what the heck is up??”.

So there are a few more things happening in the skies that are effecting us; Venus, Mars and then eventually Mercury once again. This will bring us to the end of the year.

I am not sure if I will talk much about the next Mercury retrograde period in this post since it’s a ways off, but just know that not too long after Venus goes back direct, Mercury will be set to go into retrograde in December so it’s been a “whole lotta retrogrades going on” this last few months.

So back to what I intended to write about!! Venus…

Venus is going…well I should say gone (by the time you read this) retrograde.

A little about retrograde.

All the planets show apparent retrograde motion at one time or another. I say apparent because they really don’t physically go backwards, it’s about how it looks to us.

They orbit the Sun as we do, and so when we observe them in the skies and chart their patterns during a year or two, we will see that they look like they are going forward for a time and then backwards for a time. Retrograde is when they move backwards from the point of view of the Earth (where we view them); therefore they go backwards through the astrological signs since we use the earth as the focal point of astrology. These movements are significant and have effects that can be felt and observed in our lives.

You might ask why in the world this would have any effect at all, since it is all an illusion. Good question! However there are as many answers to that  question as  there are people to answer it  🙂

My take on it is that “this” (meaning all of this loveliness we call the physical plane) is all actually an illusion in one manner or another (that screen you are viewing is really a whole lot of  points of light given instructions by a bunch of zeros and ones; and that chair you are sitting in is actually a bunch of  atoms and molecules made up of primarily empty space; at the outer edge of which are electron clouds whose position can only truly be called a “probability”) so I figure it’s all good and we can find usable truth in a lot of places. I personally find a lot in astrology, it’s a great language to talk about our collective consciousness and our larger energetic nature; it gives some good sign posts to watch pointing to tendencies and movement of energy so I am very happy working with it.

Ok back to planets…

Each planet has different aspects and qualities associated with them. Mercury retrograde gets a lot of air play because we are such a communications based society and so when Mercury (which is associated with communication among other things) goes into retrograde we can really feel it; plus it goes retrograde several times a year since it moves so fast in general (the winged messenger doncha know!).  Venus however moves much more slowly than our winged friend and so she only goes retrograde every 18 months or so, but when Venus is retrograde it lasts longer (about 6 weeks).

The planet Venus (Goddess of Love) is all about Love, romance, marriage and partnerships, aesthetics, beauty and fashion, money and wealth, feelings, emotions and relationships, female energy and interaction,  desire,  social attitudes and behavior. Venus symbolizes female relationships and social interactions in general. Where she is in our charts or in the heavens also influences our values, capacity for humor, and the pursuit of pleasure….plus hearts and flowers 🙂 (that last part I just threw in but I stand by it).

When Venus goes retrograde is can feel like everything has gone a little dull, people can feel they are less beautiful; it can be like looking out of a window that needs to be cleaned, everything looks a little grayer than normal.

People tend to get a bit more serious, and wonder where all the “fun” went. Well silly it’s cuz Venus our supreme party girl has left the building!! She isn’t really gone, she is just gone to take a powder for a few weeks, she is relaxing at a spa somewhere and so we are on our own more than normal to really cultivate our inner beauty and remember that our worth isn’t about external things at all… it’s, as they say, an inside job.

Venus retrograde changes our perception of what is valuable or what we desire. This is why people often suggest that it is NOT the time to redo your hair into a new style or color, or redecorate your house. The reason being that things that appear to us as “can’t live without” during this transit, will quickly move into the “re-gifting” pile once Venus is direct again (hmmm just in time for the holidays 🙂 ). It’s fine of course, to continue with things you started before this all came down; meaning you don’t have to wait if you have already picked out your new furniture, it’s just making the new decisions will be better served later.

It can be a great time to go antique buying or garage sale-ing AS LONG as you know the value. You can get great deals, since things may not appear as valuable during the transit, and so they don’t get scooped up. This is not the best time to look for property, unless again you really know the value. You might however get that loan you have been wanting if it’s been hard to do previously, since it’s all about perception; this transit shifts how things look, and how we perceive them.

Venus retrograde can be troublesome in some cases with relationships, and things tend to just go slower so try not to take stuff as personally if you can help it. Often we are forced to deal with deep feelings that have their origins in past events. However it can help resolve relationship issues that have been plaguing you in the past, it’s sometimes easier (with everyone so down to earth) to have those conversations that have been needed and perhaps even reconcile or resolve a troubled relationship, since folks aren’t nearly as distracted by pretty shiny things. This is the time to go back and take care of unfinished business; emotional, financial, relational.

Venus retrograde is notorious for people popping out of the woodwork that you haven’t seen or thought of in a long time. Past friends, and especially past loves figure high on the guest list of things revisited. I know last Venus retrograde I have 5 different people find me from 30 years ago and reconnect. Don’t be surprised if you have a lot of “blasts from the past” show up as friend requests on one or another social networking site!

It isn’t a great time to go get big ticket luxury items, and in fact many of us may feel the sense of not being able to afford those things, since Venus effects the feeling of desire and affluence. I have to remind myself that this is a transit, meaning it is temporary!

Venus will be going retrograde this time in Scorpio, which is a heads up for folks with strong Scorpio in their charts. It will be a time for deep inner reflection for all of us, since Scorpio is so much about depth, and this inner reflection will occur especially around the topics that are ruled by Venus. It is also advised for us to be mindful about potential feelings of jealousy since they might come up until Venus backs up into Libra around November 8th.

One other thing, is that Mars (planet symbolizing the masculine energy, Yang, warrior energy, sex, power) is in Scoprio and oh so close to being conjunct with Venus…ahhhh but no, not quite!! Just before the consummation of this conjunction Venus turns around and says ahhh nope, and goes retrograde. So it’s conjunction interruptus (bad I know couldn’t help it LOL), or maybe more like Tantra!  So this will draw out that energy for quite a while (spring I think) so Mars is adding a lot of power to this particular Venus Retrograde, plus there are a whole lot of amazing overtones due to the placement of these two planets.

I found an excellent article on that specifically and will include the link here. I really like what this astrologer had to say.

http://sasstrology.com/2010/10/the-venus-mars-conjunction-in-scorpio-and-gender-experimentation.html

For those of you who want the specifics of time and date here is the actual retrograde information.

Friday, October 8, 2010, Venus reaches her retrograde station at 13° Scorpio 14′, in preparation for a period of retrograde motion that will last until November 18, 2010, when she reaches her direct station at 27° Libra 40′.

Knowing about the astrological weather is as useful as knowing about any kind of environmental factor. It doesn’t have to determine your experience, but it can absolutely inform your experience. Now that we know that we are out in the field and see the big system moving in (can you tell I live on an island?) we can either get into the house in time to stay dry, grab a book and enjoy the show or we can set out our blanket and grab a thermos; let it rain stars and flowers on us, let the water soak us, run down our hair, fill our mouths and wash us clean. It’s still all about choice.

Blessings and aloha

Erika

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