Cat’s Rants: Confessions of an Occult Mastermind

…And Now for Some Curses >:)

November 7, 2018

So Occulties,

I hope you enjoyed that lovely pictorial of my local graveyard. You know, the interesting thing about that cemetery is that several of the graves have lost their markers, so even when you think you are trodding through an area without graves, there are almost definitely people buried where you're walking.

Anyhow, while the curse that I had done that brought me there today was a bit complex for one article, I've had a lot of requests for curse work, so I will not disappoint you. I have a relatively simple looking curse, but this is very effective, and harsh. *evil grin

Pre-emptively, if you do not have all of the ingredients needed to cast this spell, the substitution is for you to locate another spell. I will not acknowledge requests asking me to specifically reformulate it to (if even possible) adjust it to what you have on hand. :P

And remember, kids, cursing is not nice. It is not something you do for trivial reasons. I truly believe that there are people who deserve it, but I do not think you should just recklessly curse others. I am not the morals police, however, so just keep in mind this isn't funny or light or a joke, and that it should be used only as necessary. People will get hurt…because that's what cursing is for. 😛

For what it's worth, the following is a story I heard but cannot confirm, as I know only the person who told it to me. I'd given him this spell as he had the worst neighbors ever. It wasn't them being loud, or up all hours of the night, or having tons of people at their house or anything like that. Instead they had started out as friendly, but after the "worst neighbor ever" hit his dog (totally an accident, dog survived,) and then tried to sue my friend for damage to his car (he didn't offer to pay the massive vet bills,) things understandably soured. You would think time would have lessened the enmity between the two, but it got worse with each passing year. So my friend asked me for something without "a million fucking ingredients," that would totally give his horrible neighbor his due. He did the spell and about 2-3 weeks later there is a hurricane coming near-ish to them, but not like right over them, so nobody was exceptionally worried, as they live in a place prone to hurricanes. It should have meant "a lot of rain," and nothing else. So the hurricane passes near them, and during the storm, the wind whips up really fast, and then he hears CRASH, and looks out and sees a tree has felled his neighbor's back porch – fell and totally collapsed it. Well of course my friend is happy by this and he sprinkled the mixture out on the back porch, so he's patting himself on the back. I mean, it's a hurricane and that might just be coincidence, but he's already satisfied that the guy lost a back porch. Maybe a week later, he hears this strange noise and then his neighbor is hollering. The guy is five-sheets-to-the-wind drunk, and he's fallen because he meant to walk onto the (now missing) back porch, and he looks like he really hurt himself. So my friend goes over and he's like "(Name), are you okay? Did you break anything?" And the neighbor had hurt his leg really badly, so it was bad enough, though not broken, that he called the ambulance for his neighbor. Now this is 2 bad things that happened right where he threw that mixture, right? So he's really impressed with himself. So they are waiting for the ambulance and my friend is like "Gee, (neighbor), it's not like you to get drunk like this, is everything OK?" And the neighbor, being drunk, allegedly says "(Name of my friend,) you would not believe it. First my porch is the only thing damaged in this entire town in that fucking storm, and then when I called the insurance, they claim there is some problem so they don't know if they can cover the claim, and then my damn wife told me this morning that she's leaving me for some guy she met online."

Now that seems a bit extreme, but he swears it is what happened. I give it only that I can't disprove it, and that this is the report back that I got from someone using the below. Admittedly, this is a long-standing grudge/hatefest between these two, so it is possible all of that flowed out into his curse and hit the neighbor at once. Your mileage may vary, though on the bright side, my friend is a dabbler in the occult arts, not someone who constantly practices, so you might be pleasantly surprised (with your enemy UNpleasantly surprised).

You will need:
A physical personal item from the target (so no pics or names written so many times – it has to be hair, toenails, fingernails, blood, etc – something from the body, and no not a signature, either, ha)
Dirt from the grave of someone who has died violently (murder, suicide, soldier killed in action, even a car wreck or house fire,)*
Poppyseed
Cayenne pepper (I actually use chipotle, but more traditionally cayenne,)
Sulfur
Vinegar
Any appropriate cursing oil (Black Arts oil, Death Unto My Enemies, etc)
A plastic zip-close bag, medium sized
A container with a lid**

This spell is best done on a day of Mars (Tuesday,) in the hour of Saturn, or on the day of Saturn (Saturday,) in the hour of Mars. If you don't understand planet hours, just start the work on a Saturday or a Tuesday. 😉

Take the physical item from your target and burn this to ash. If the witness sample is on fabric or paper, it is fine to use the ash of clothing in with the actual physical remains embedded thereupon (people will ask me that, all of you who are rolling your eyes at me saying so, ha.) Place the ash into your container, and add in the graveyard dirt, cayenne, poppy seed, and sulfur. Stir together until well blended, and then add about 5-9 drops of vinegar, and 5-9 drops cursing oil. Blend this together. Put the mixture into a ziploc baggie, sealing it so that there is plenty of room left in the bag, and that there is no air inside the bag.

Now, this next part you will do once a day for NINE CONSECUTIVE DAYS. Using your "power hand" (generally this is the right hand, even in a few lefties, but if you are a south paw it may also be your left hand – it tends to be the dominant/writing hand,) place the flat of your palm over the bagged mixture and push down on it hard. Envision black energy flowing out of you, and into the mixture, – I like to see this as little black worms, but whatever you are most comfortable with, you use, – and say "(Full name of target, I curse you, I crush you, I destroy you. All you love turns to dust and ash. What was sweet is now sour. I curse you, (name) and drive from you all that you enjoy and treasure, – as is my will, so be it!" When you have said this, place the bag some place discreet until you have to repeat the chant. On the ninth day, after you have said the chant for the final time, remove the mixture from the bag, and place it into your container. This next part will involve you being sneaky, so get your sneaky shoes on. ;)

When your target is away, you will "throw" the mixture in an x pattern in a place they walk through (targets like by a driver's side car door, or on the front or back porch are best, but if you are really not going to be able to do that, if you know a place they walk frequently, use that). This isn't really "throwing" (that would not make a pattern,) but carefully making an X by tipping the container, and making the lines of the X go from you, so you would start at one side of the base of the x, and move diagonally upward, then on the other side of the base of the x and diagonally upward. When you make this X, repeat the chant: "(Full name of target, I curse you, I crush you, I destroy you. All you love turns to dust and ash. What was sweet is now sour. I curse you, (name) and drive from you all that you enjoy and treasure," 3 times, and say "As is my will, so be it!" after you have said it a third time. In the case of my friend (above) I had him repeat this part 3 times, so he made 3 X's over 3 separate days with his dirt mixture, and said the chant 3 times each time he made the X for a total of 9 times.

Then all you have to do is wait. All hell should break loose shortly. >:)

As always, this is a very not-nice spell, and someone is apt to get hurt if you use it, so be sure this is what you want.

Happy Hexing!

~Cat

*You need to get your own graveyard dirt. People saying they are selling this generally are full of shit. Remember to pay the resident of the grave from which you took the dirt, remember to knock before you enter the cemetery, and remember to keep the back of your neck covered (wearing a hood like a hoodie sweatshirt is just fine,) while you collect this, also.

**I realize many of you will say "Oh, how not magical of you, Cat," but frankly, I would use a Gladware container, or any cheap off brand container. Some kinds of butter and margarine also have containers which could be used. Why? Because you really should throw the container away once it's empty, and I'd do it in a public trash barrel, preferably near or at a crossroads. You don't really want to eat out of something you put a curse in. It's as bad as eating from something you pooped in, except in a spiritual sense.

ALL CONTENT IS COPYRIGHT ORIGINALNINJACAT, and I STRICTLY enforce my copyright. I offer a $25 reward for finding plagiarists, so please do not steal my work and try to pass it off as your own. I am INCREDIBLY litigious. If you would like to share or repost my article, please ask for permission.
First Some Photos….

November 4, 2018

Hey occulties…

since i I know there are some leaf freaks in the audience, here are some unseasonably late changing trees:

These were on the way to Western Cemetery, one of Portland’s oldest cemetaries. I believe the last person buried there died in 1910. Many of the graves are so worn that you can’t read them anymore.

The Maine winters have not been kind to many of these markers

Tell me this isn’t a great name!? This stone was restored. About 10 years ago, a committee decided to try to fix up the damaged memorials, which will take a long time to complete.

‘Not everyone was as fortunate as Mr Coolbroth to live so very long. There are TONS of baby graves here. We often forget that there was a time not long ago where it was relatively common to lose more than one child before they were even out of diapers.

‘This guy died in the civil war…

And this fellow was in the war of 1812, so we have many soldiers here… if I looked I would easily have found Revolutionary war veterans interred here.

‘While there are markers on the ground, and it could still use fixing up, it is a beautiful cemetery. While I walked through it there were many people looking at the graves, people jogging through. It felt more like a park than it did a boneyard. If you like doing headstone rubbings, you would love this place.

Hope everyone enjoyed that… Now on to the promised spell article. It was really great to take a walk over to Western Cemetery, so I’m glad work gave me the opportunity to do so on such a lovely day!

~Cat
I Review It: Heredity (2018 film)

October 30, 2018

Hey Occulties,

Many of you have asked me my opinion on this movie, much because Paimon is a character and you know how much I love Paimon. My caveat here, as it always is, is that movies do not portray magic, or spirits, or the occult very well…sometimes Hollywood does such a completely horrid job of even coming close to anything accurate, that it's beyond laughable that a large set of people will take this as being a valid account, because it's so far off reality it is like saying an elephant might fly away on it's giant secret wings to escape the zoo, and people believing it was possible (which is true also for doctor shows, lawyer shows, most historical accounts of anything…and well, Hollywood creates a fantasy and is very unreal about most things, so presumably Hollywood does an inaccurate job of portraying most anything,)

So, I did watch this film with the idea of being ENTERTAINED in mind, and not believing I would find anything nearing reality or accuracy when it came to Paimon or working with spirits, or with the occult.

SPOILERS AHEAD (because people for some reason need a warning even if I say I'm reviewing something.)

Basically the plot of the movie is that the protagonist (I think Toni Collette is the protagonist,) has recently had her mother (who is spoken of as a strange person, somewhat off putting,) pass away and is then shortly thereafter further sent into grief by the loss of her youngest child…a strange looking, irritating little girl who I was not sorry to see have her time on the screen cut short. I think that kid's face was one of the scariest things in the movie, honestly. 😛 Anyhow, as the storyline develops, we find out that the protagonist's mother was into spellcraft and she specifically wore all sorts of Paimon-seal jewelry (which occult nerds probably caught early on, though the seal wasn't entirely right,) and that she promised something to Paimon which is probably the reason her daughter was killed (as it was such an odd freak event, it must be,) but then we are also told that the Toni Collette character has a strong history of mental illness in her family and so I think we are supposed to wonder if everyone is just losing their mind. But no, it definitely comes out that what the grandmother promised was a male body for Paimon, and that male body just happens to be Toni Collette's son. Any attempt to fight back is met with death and disaster, and when Gabriel Byrne (who was wasted in this role…there are entire long shots of just looking at his sad old man face, and this is an actor who can do a lot more depth than "watch Gabriel Byrne look sad,") finally tries to intercede after waiting the entire movie, more or less, to do jack or shit, he is killed by Paimon when Toni Collette throws a sketchbook belonging to her daughter (who was apparently possessed by Paimon?) into a fire place and he just goes up in flame… At this point, I had really checked out of the movie, because as you can tell it kind of sucked. The end was relatively predictable with Toni Collette becoming possessed, sawing her head off in front of her son, and then having her headless body (and that of her mother,) kneeling at this gold image which…I thought it looked like a second grader's art project, but apparently that was an idol of Paimon they were bowing to. Then the son becomes Paimon…or realizes he is Paimon now.

If that sounded garbled and confusing, welcome to Hereditary. It isn't scary. It's a bit gross in a few places, but I would not say it is scary. It's attempt to "creep" and build suspense and tension fall flat. I would give it 2.5 stars out of 5, as far as entertainment value. I found it dull and tedious at times (and I LOVED The Witch, which I think they were trying to recapture a similar ambiance,) and I did not find any of the characters particularly likable or relatable, which made everyone's subsequent death (more or less,) meaningless to the viewer.

As far as realism on the spiritual material… They did cuff a lot of stuff from the Lesser Key of Solomon, albeit added to this to make it sound better. I thought, as far as Hollywood, that was a better attempt at realism than what is normally seen. That Paimon wants to steal your children's bodies for herself (and I know people who see her as her, and also her as him,) is ludicrous. I mean, it's bad enough that this strange cult apparently worships an image they made out of Quaker Oat cans and gold spray paint (and maybe some paper mache and papertowel tubes,) because apparently, despite there being at least a dozen of these followers (which means at least one of them should be able to do art better than someone in the first or second grade,) not a single one is capable of making an idol that doesn't involve a case of Pabst Blue Ribbon and a recycling bin to create… But that aside, weird cults and child theft seems more like something a lamia would be a part of, as it certainly had no relation to the demon King Paimon….not in any way. While I understand that it makes it feel more real to use a being who's name is recorded, it would actually have been more "realistic" to create a name for a lamia rather than substitute any old demonic name. Compare this with saying our current president is Thomas Jefferson because he is a US president, so just any name of any president works, right?

Anyhow, with this garbled mess of a review, the movie sucked, and the entity was definitely not Paimon in anything other than being called that name. The characters (even people with talent,) were unlikeable, and the movie, while it started off alright, quickly became boring. The ending was stupid. 2-2.5 stars. You might watch it once.

~Cat
Out of the Friendzone

October 29, 2018

Hey there Occulties,

I feel like everyone needs a little pick me up, so since I had a success story cross my desk today, I asked the client if I could share it (names changed to protect everyone's identity,) and she agreed.

So the background here is that my client (who I will call Sally,) had been broken up with her ex (who I'll call Jack,) and about 2 years had passed since they had dated. Sally really had never moved on entirely, and while she felt that Jack still harbored some romantic feelings for her, he did not flirt with her or in any way engage her in a romantic or sexual conversation in the 2 years that they had been friends after their break up.

Well, so when I read the situation – because she was so sure Jack was on the verge of making a second attempt, it did not look great. Basically, Jack showed up as someone who took issue with dating someone he had broken up with (he never "recycled" his exes,) AND he considered Sally his friend, with no sexual interest at all. He had clearly friendzoned her, and to make matters worse, he had best-friend-zoned her, which means they were really close, like best friends, so it was really easy for Sally to infer like he felt more for her. Nope, when Jack left Sally 2 years ago, he had not kept feeling sexy feelings for her…but he did really love being around her, just super platonically.

Of course Sally was very deflated on hearing the news, but she said she wanted to think on what she wanted to do next. She told me a few days later that basically she had confirmed everything I said was correct. While she didn't directly confront Jack with "I spoke to a psychic and she said this about you," she artfully worked in some questions to their conversations which confirmed that Jack felt for her more like a sister than he did a lover, and that he was adamantly against dating people a second time. She swears he said "You're the sister I never had," to her during this conversation…and if you ever had unrequited love for another person, hearing they think of you like a sibling is horrid. 😦

She asked if I could make him change his mind, and honestly, there are people, to their own detriment, who will not date their ex a second time even if it would benefit them and make them feel 1000% happier, and so I am leery of working on people who show a pattern of never ever dating their ex again (because a lot of people say they won't but their history proves that false,) because…some people are just weird and would rather die from 10000 paper cuts than date an ex again, even if they love and want that ex back badly. 😛 I agreed but I was less than optimistic.

I should have been more optimistic. ;)

When I did the work, Jack and Sally were in constant contact – they texted each other multiple times a day. So I suggested she stop initiating contact with him, but replying to what he said. This wouldn't cut down on contact much, but even that little tiny change in her behavior would eventually make him worry that she was disinterested in him which I knew I needed for a trigger to get him to act (because if he is entirely comfortable, he isn't going to change). I also said NO SOCIAL MEDIA STALKING because I knew it would give a false negative at least once (Jack had a lot of female friends, and this was already causing Sally stress,) and she agreed.

For weeks 1-3 it was really really boring and absolutely nothing happened. More than one of us has been there before, ha ha.

Then around the 24 or 25th day (so almost a month,) Sally noticed a distinct change in Jack. Except it didn't seem positive… He was getting sort of "cranky" with her, and she said it might have gone a bit longer because it was not too overbearing at first. So I tell her ask him if he's angry about something the next time he acts that way. She did as I said, and he said that it was nothing, and it was stupid. So she pressed him to elaborate, and he finally said that he just felt like she didn't have enough time for him or that she was ignoring him, and it was stupid he felt that way because they were just friends, and he should be happy if she'd found someone she liked who she was dating. She told him she wasn't seeing anyone, and then he just said "oh." And then silence.

She of course came to me with this and I was like "wait him out for a day or so, because that sounds pretty emotional for a man of his age to say all he did and he probably scared himself by showing he has feelings." (For all of you confused by that, pretty much most men over 35 at this writing are not prone to talking about their emotions as society has conditioned them against that.)

So about a day passes and he starts texting her like nothing was said, and she just keeps replying like nothing is weird, and out of the blue he says "Have you ever dated one of your exes before? Doesn't it always fall apart?" She says no, sometimes the second time around is better, it is just a matter of if you have both healed from the break up and evolved past the behaviors that caused it… And yep, so this led them to discussing have they healed and moved on from 2 years ago (yes and yes,) and while she was thinking he was just going to retreat (because I told her it was likely that it would happen 3 times that he would open up, and the third time would be when he made his move,) at any second, Jack made a bold move…and he asked if she was still attracted to him. She said she was, and very much so, but that she respected that he didn't date his exes, and he was like "Well, I might make an exception, because honestly, I can't stop thinking about you. I've been thinking about this for a couple weeks now. We broke up over something stupid so long ago, and I don't hold any of that against you. It would really be great to be with my best friend, and I realized how much I love you when I thought you were with someone else. I don't want you to be with someone else. I want you to be with me."

Of course the rest went as you would think it did…such as people going to other people's homes and spending private time doing private things together. While I will not tell you those details, I will say the gentleman did ask her a few times if she had been dating someone for even a week or two, and she had not. He said that he just couldn't figure out why he felt like if he didn't make a move quickly, he'd lose her, because he'd looked all over her social media, and couldn't find any guy there, and it wasn't like she didn't talk to him every day, but he had this nagging feeling every single day that he had to make a move, and when he noticed she'd not been texting as much, he just figured the worst…that she'd started dating someone else. He was confused why else he suddenly would have been so interested in being with her and feeling like it had to happen fast or he'd lose his chance, and my client, being non-chalant as possible (ha,) said that he must have just noticed she was really busy in October with her job, but she hadn't married her job yet, so he could be sure she was 100% and free to be with him.

This makes me VERY HAPPY. I am glad we did 2 weeks of work (rather than the regular one week,) because I was worried one week would not have enough pull to get the guy out of his "never date an ex again" mindset. I am super happy that it happened faster than expected, and well…I just like good news.

Hopefully that brightens up some Mondays!

~Cat
Getting Results

October 29, 2018

Hey Occulties,

So, today I wanted to discuss something I've said more than once, but it's something I feel bears repeating.

Often, when people start out in spellcasting, they find themselves getting frustrated because they are not getting the desired result. This leads some people to proclaim all spells are bullshit, because they tried that one time, and it totally didn't work. Of course, in these cases, while this person may have tried to cast more than one spell, generally speaking, they cast the spell/s for one thing…usually the love of someone else.

And lust for results most often arises when someone has obsessive love for their target. :/

Of course, it doesn't help that someone has never tried a spell before, and so if they try a few and see no results (that is to say, so and so does not obsessively love them back,) then they don't have any other experience to give them faith that spells do work (or that they might work on that pesky love issue.)

The solution here is easy…and once you start seeing your other work manifest, believe it or not, it makes those "tricky" manifestations go much easier when you have faith in your own skills (or in magic in general.) All you have to do is do a spell for something you're not absolutely in need of or in want of…. Because you will forget about it, and it will manifest very quickly, and when it does, you'll be like "Holy smokes, I did that!"

Let's try something relatively simple. Let's try contact from a friend who you don't really speak to much, but who is not estranged. So, I might pick an old college chum or someone like that. Make sure they have means to easily contact you (being social media friends is good,) and choose someone who you really haven't spoken to in a long while…not someone like one of your best friends who talks to you all of the time. Have you picked a candidate? Good. Now find an orangey yellow (a golden type color) candle, a smaller one is best since we will be doing only a quick spell (use straight orange if you can't find a golden-yellow-orange color,) and using a pin or a nail carve up (base to wick) on one side "(Name of target,) contact me now," and then dress this either in Talk to Me oil (available here,) or attraction oil, anointing it up (base to wick) with seven strokes upwards (people ask me about this and not to be gross but sort of like jerking someone off, yes, lol, there, you made me say it in type,) and then roll this in tobacco, and light it saying "(Name of target,) contact me immediately, now now, as is my will, so be it!" and allow the candle to burn down. No name paper, no need to do anything fancy with the remains, just toss them in the trash.

The above is very easy to do, and easily forgettable as well, right? RIght. So when this person suddenly starts liking your pictures, or chatting on your threads or even *gasp! private messaging you, you will know you did that. You used work just to get that little contact, and it WORKED!! 🙂

But why is that important? Because it gives you more confidence in your work and in spellwork. And I suggest you keep trying with little things you might not find "important," because you will soon realize that sense of "urgency" for results can cause lust for results.

Remember what I say – I tend to think my own money spells to death, and that's because all too often, (because I am imperfect just like everyone else, ha ha,) I wait too long to do a spell to increase income when I know I'm coming into a slow period with my business. Yes, sometimes I have nasty surprise bills (the worst kind,) but around Christmas every year, it gets very slow at my business – at least with NEW paying business. 😉 So, NOW would be a good time to do financial work for myself, rather than in December when I'm living off of ramen and miserable. (I might just hop over to my altar when I'm done writing this, ha ha.)

I've spoken of "maintenance magic," before, which means basically you use spells to keep things in your world flowing smoothly. For example, monthly financial blessings or even burning a candle on a sweet jar once a month, even when your beloved seems loving (to prevent fighting and keep things sweet,) – and you'll find when things are already going well, you don't get anxious and wonder when the results are coming because you need them now, right now, now dammit, right NOW!!! which, again, tends to slow results when you feel that way. 😉 Now I know there are people out in the audience saying "Well, that's all fine and well, Cat, but I have all this important stuff first, and it does need to happen now. What good is "maintenance magic," when I have nothing right now that is in a state where I want to keep it that way." 😛 Fair enough. Then work on the parts of your life which are not feeling so "in need of urgent care," and watch the results roll in…because you aren't frazzled about it.

See, what makes me sad is that so many people give up because they had lust for results or picked a nearly impossible aim when they first tried spellwork, and I truly believe that spellcasting makes lives better. If they just try something smaller, something not so desired, and see the success they have on a matter where they do not have obsessive worry, or obsessive thought patterns, then the self confidence and faith in their work might actually help them reach their original goal (as well as make a brand new student of the occult, which is always a good thing. ;)

I guess, the point being after this not-well-thought-out-diatribe is, if you keep finding that you're not meeting your goal, try something small, something seemingly insignificant, and do that spell. When you find success with that little spell, you will give yourself the needed boost of confidence and you could very well find yourself succeeding on that spell that "just won't manifest."

Hope that was enlightening,

~Cat

Copyright strictly enforced. There is a reward for catching plagiarists, so please let me know if you catch one. 🙂
Social Media May Be Making you Crazy

October 22, 2018

Hello my dearies,

When I was a much, much younger lady, the equivalent of social media (and mind you, kiddos, this is like the early 90's,) was more or less passing little paper notes to each other. When I got older than about 16 or so, even this happened rarely, if ever (and it was still the early 1990's, for all you wits in the audience,) that I was passing notes, because people outgrew that "social media," very quickly, not least of all because if someone intercepted the "social media," almost every time a complete shaming would occur, as this note was either passed around or read aloud.

Keep in mind, I grew up in a tiny place and there was very little need to announce that you were dating someone, that you bought a new car, or that you were totally done with so-and-so, because we all knew all of these things virtually the moment that they happened as is, because that's what living in a super rural area is like.

When I got to college, secrets tended to flow along a line of information known as pretty much by clique (it wasn't a big college,) but this had a quick tendency towards exaggeration…so if Mary held hands with Jerry at this or that party, within a week, they were "totally doing each other," and "all over each other," even if all that happened was two people holding hands. Needless to say it wasn't "social media," either, but it was about as close of a thing as anyone was using to social media at the time.

Jokes about me being old aside, my goodness, how I miss it. Why? Because EVERY. FREAKING. DAY. I have to chat on and on about what someone's social media has posted on it, or, if I'm really lucky, about what someone's friend or relative saw on so-and-so's social media, since people get blocked and still send spies.

That's right, when I was young, I dreamed of an amazing world in the 21st century, and instead I find myself in a world where if you get blocked from social media (social media spying being a form of obsessive stalking as is,) you go send in a friend to spy on that person.

Well, child me is very disappointed this how it turned out. Adult me is used to almost 20 fucking years of this shit, but again…I still clearly remember having to answer a phone (A SHARED PHONE – the HORROR!) and not know who was on the other end. You just did it. It could be anyone, but someone had to answer, and gasp sometimes we even used an archaic ANSWERING MACHINE to screen calls. Can you believe that? And yet we had cable TV, electric lighting, and drove cars. I know, it's shocking. The world before social media was very similar to the world we live in now…the one exception? NOT ALMOST EVERYONE WAS A FUCKING STALKER! 😉

Now let me get one thing straight here – by looking at your page or profile, I could tell a lot about you… like your age, your probable profession (if not listed by you directly,) whether or not you're married or single or dating (though I tend to post very little regarding my relationships as do many of my friends…several of us have gotten married without even speaking of it, lol,) what your sense of humor is like, where you live, maybe even some hobbies…which might be useful if I'm an advertiser. If I really stalk, I will see the names of your pets, maybe find some stuff out like the name of your deceased Aunt that you call Auntie B, and remember so fondly (it ends up she's Roberta? Oh, Bobbi, then B, yep.) So, yes, it can be a tool to glean some information.

But it's a lousy tool for 1.) indentifying how your spellwork is manifesting, 2.) finding out if someone is having a lot of relationship problems (most people wouldn't post about it, though some will,) 3.) avoiding lust for results by reassuring yourself about this person's status. There is an added bonus of if you have someone else spying for you, now you're totally a fucking stalker to whoever finds out about that, and that isn't sexy.

You may, however, find out your honey is totally not into the same politics as you, or that he or she really likes posting pictures of their pet/baby.

JUST GET OFF OF SOCIAL MEDIA. Stop it. I don't care if you found a tidbit of useful info last week, when for the last several months, you've probably just been getting yourself worked up about NOTHING, which is going to make your spellwork manifest slower. I would rather confront a person on the merit I know something from REAL LIFE rather than get into a hissy fit because he called his cousin beautiful on instagram and I thought it was just some other girl who wasn't related and could be a rival.

Seriously, it's so endemic in my business right now that if I didn't believe it would cut my business in half (because of social media addicts,) I would prohibit it's use while I worked for someone. It's ridiculous that people work themselves into hysterics sometimes over social media, but if you're using love or recon work, here is what you do…log out for 2 weeks. Just give it a rest. Then come back and avoid your target's page for another 10-14 days when you do get back to social media. Your spellwork will thank you for it, and your nerves will too, because social media stalking causes this nervous, obsessive anxiety that is unhelpful to you and to your spellwork.

~Cat
QYAM – September 2018 edition

October 15, 2018

Hey there Occulties,

As a reader said to me this morning about my previous post, Venus retrograde makes reasons for all of us to be nicer to those we love, and while I'd agree with that, I think that many people have bad manners and suffer from bad behavior in general, so I think there is more than one person who might benefit from being a bit nicer. 😉 While I do not believe in karma, I do believe that we often reap what we sow, and that can mean that if you're a complete jerk to someone, then when you need their help, you're going to find they won't help you, as you have only sown discord. 😛

But enough on that topic for the time being. Today, we are going to discuss QUESTIONS YOU'VE ASKED ME, which is a big favorite of many readers. As always, I apologize for being repetitive. 🙂

So let's start, shall we?

Q: I seem to find myself more nervous or obsessive in the early mornings and late at night – is this normal?

A: It isn't magical or from magic, if that's what you're implying, and if you're feeling like you're "thinking things to death," or "overthinking," or having "lust for results, it is very common when your brain in not actively engaged in "thinking tasks," to find you suffer more from these kinds of behaviors. The best thing to do is keep your mind as actively engaged in thinking tasks, rather than "no mind" tasks (something with simple repetitive motions that requires no thinking, and also tv and some internet surfing,) as much as possible. If nothing else, try reading a book and concentrating on what you're reading. Also, try to get more exercise, as this seems to help people fall asleep faster, and many people complain that they can't stop obsessing right before they sleep.

I recommend googling non-medical practices to help with anxiety, because basically you're suffering from obsessive anxiety. I see it enough, but it is not something the spell is doing to you, it just means you're kind of high-strung naturally.

Q: I have what I spellcasted for, but I got the outcome in a manner which I feel like it isn't right, or I don't want this to happen this way. I had thought it would manifest a certain way, and it didn't. I'm dissatisfied. Did the spell fail?

A: If you received what you asked for, then no, it did not fail. I have told the story before, but it happened long enough ago that I have more than one reader who is probably ignorant of it… Years ago I worked for a young lady where she had wanted an ex to come back, and I agreed that this was just fine, and I could do it. When he does come back to her, and things are going quite well between them, she complains that I failed her. How did I fail her when she had the desired ex back? Well, says she, she had wanted him to DREAM OF HER, and have his dreams guide him back to her, but then when she'd spoken to him, he said he didn't remember his dreams, and never really had. So, she said, since he didn't dream of her, then even though he was back, I failed.

But I didn't. I got the guy back for her, as I was paid to do. In fact, working on his dreams would have been very unhelpful as he wasn't the kind of man to remember his dreams. So…I succeeded, but she was dissatisfied all the same. :P

There is an old story called The Monkey's Paw where an old couple has a monkey's paw that grants wishes, and so the first wish is that they get rich. Unfortunately this happens because their son dies and leaves them with a large insurance settlement or something similar. While obviously this is a fictional story, and I don't want you to think it's normal that people just drop over dead when you want money, I do know a friend who asked for a specific amount of money and then his house burned down (although no one was injured,) and the settlement check came in that very specific amount of money, so it's not entirely off base to say that sometimes spells manifest in unpleasant ways (which also is why I recommend saying, if using spirit conjure or spellwork for money that the money not come by injury to person, property, or to an animal.) Still, misfortune or no, in both cases (the Monkey's Paw and my friend having an insurance check in the desired amount) the work succeeded.

However, with love spells, we need not worry that death or disaster is likely to occur. What might upset some people is that it may not manifest how you want. If you want someone to be declaring their love for you off the rooftops, and dancing a little jig up to you while they beg you to come back or come to them…well, honestly, it rarely works like that. Most of the time they will be careful, and they will be cautious, and in the case of returning to you, they may even come back with some new baggage. 😉 Remember, when you use spells, you use them to get the END RESULT that you want. While you certainly – in most cases – don't want death or disaster to ensue to get this end result, for the most part you have to be satisfied with that you have no say in HOW you get what you want, merely what you want as the end result. This might mean they do not "dream of you" to know to come back (they just feel the urge to come back,) and if you can't be satisfied with that, then you do not understand spells and probably have some control issues. 😉 The more exact you are in HOW something has to happen, the less likely you are to succeed. Magic takes the path of least resistance to manifestation, so often HOW something happens is a surprise…but also an "ah ha," moment. Like, I might have thought work was holding so-and-so back from admitting his feelings, only to see him have a falling out with a friend, and find out it was his friend all along who held him back.

So, the spell did not fail…and hopefully the above made some sense.

Q: I understand that getting "fixed" on a particular date can be a bad thing, but I need (amount of money) by (particular date) because I need to pay my rent. Am I going to f* this up because I need that money by (date)?

A: Okay, to be fair the person who asked the above question had like five days, heh, so that may not apply to everyone curious about the likelihood of success where the window is very small. 😉 I tweaked the question to apply to more situations.

I think all of us find ourselves in a pinch where we should have saved more money, and then we didn't and it sucks because some emergency came up or we fell short on our bills. I wholly relate. This is actually the kind of situation where I'm most likely to think my own work to death (yes, even I get lust for results, sometimes!) so I feel for you.

HOWEVER, the problem is even if it is entirely sensible that one might be anxious in this situation, just being able to understand or relate to how one feels doesn't make that anxiety helpful with spellwork.

Don't fret, though. There may be a solution for those of you really sweating over a very small window of time in which a result is NEEDED (and I don't mean WANTED, I mean, you need x thing to happen or else you're homeless or destitute or ruined,) and that is to call on Saint Expedite for assistance. I still suggest doing other work alongside this, but he seems to really pull through for a lot of people in a pinch. I've used his help before, and was amazed at how quickly I received the needed help. 🙂 Just be sure to "pay" him though, because he can (and often does) take back what was given if you do not "pay him." The link in this paragraph will bring you to a really fabulous site for info and instructions.

AND, there is something to be said for having faith in the work, and giving yourself even 2 weeks to let things manifest. 😉 I mean, if you have some sort of inkling a big bill is coming, and you might be short on funds, the sooner you get to work trying to fix the problem, the better.

Furthermore, maintenance work is always a good idea…and in any situation. If things seem to be going well, using supportive work to keep your life running smoothly is going to help. Whenever I have regularly cast spells for money, I have found I have very steady business, and with clients I like to work with. When I have had something disrupt my regular money blessings (for example, when a friend of mine died, I stopped doing money work,) I noticed a visible decline in my income.

But I'm digressing off the point… Just because you have a specific date some outcome must happen by, or else the situation will either be moot in regards to it being fixed, or you're going to find yourself in hotter water than before, this doesn't mean the spell will fail on that date….rather it means just don't get your brain fixed on that date, and make yourself anxious. People tend to do that – myself included sometimes, – and the idea is just put the date out of your mind as much as possible and have faith in your work, and that should help allow the work to manifest. :)

Q: I used a waning moon cycle, because I was confused, and I needed a waxing moon cycle… Is my work going to fail?

A: Probably not, though it won't hurt to redo the work during a waxing moon cycle if you are concerned.

About 17-18 years ago I did the same thing, and not just once, but for like 2 months in a row. I'm sure many of you are happy I wasn't working for the public at the time, ha ha. 😉 Apparently I was never outside and while I had the internet, it was not how it was today, nor was my access to it as easy. 😛 Anyhow, all my spellwork still definitely worked, and while I wasn't a novice then (though I would suspect I obviously was smoking waaaay too much weed to mix up my moon cycles,) which certainly helps insofar as having successful results, I would still say you should not fear all is lost or that you've "jinxed" the situation now. Just redo the work in the right moon cycle…or heck, if you're really feeling lackadaisical (because people often are lazy,) wait for the work you've done to manifest.

MOST of my readers are not working with anything where timing is going to be a "make it or break it," problem. There are definitely situations when raising a particular spirit at a specific astrological time would be ill-advised, but with many beginner spells (and several intermediate ones, and even some advanced ones, for that matter,) you should be just fine.

Q: Are you going to have the QYAM contest this year?

A: Maybe. I haven't decided. I do enjoy doing it, but I currently have enough active cases with very very communicative clients, which limits my available time to write or run a contest. If I do, I will be doing it around December. It's one of my favorite contests because it is always so fun to see all of the wild questions (plus at least one person asks me why I'm such a bitch as their question without fail each time, lmao,) but I am thinking it won't happen until I get the "Holiday lag" I get most Decembers. 😉 If I don't get a "holiday lag," it very well may not happen at all.

Q: Can I use disposable LED "tea lights" as an offering? They are much safer.

A: I would think in this case, no, that doesn't replace a candle any more than a plastic apple is going to tide you over just as well as a real apple from a tree.

Q: I can't leave food offerings out because of roaches/bugs – help!?

A: Yes, ants, roaches, mice, and other nasties can be a bit of a problem. 😉 While this may not help if you live in Florida (where I am assured that even an hour of having a plate of food out will cause a roach infestation unlike one has ever seen before,) I find placing a glass (or glass bowl) over the food can prevent pests, and just don't leave the food out for more than about a day. If it's still going to be a problem, leave the offering in the daylight hours, preferably near dawn, placing a circle of diametaceous earth around the plate, and placing a glass over it, and remove the offering right after sunset. Roaches hate the light, and the diametacious earth kills insects, so this should prevent any infestation issues.

That is all for today, kiddos! Hope to be back soon with another QYAM article!

~Cat
Venus Retrograde – Importunity or Opportunity?

October 14, 2018

Hey Occulties,

So…Venus went retrograde on the 4th, but the shadow period prior to that was pretty crappy for a lot of people too. And people say "Well, what does that mean to my spellwork? Does it mean that all my love spells will go wrong?"

No, not really. It can be helpful… But yeah, it can cause problems, too. In this case, if you have been mistreated (or the one who was mistreating someone else,) you will find the more "mistreated" in a reconciliation situation more unforgiving, but if you have a target who you were always lovely and kind and sweet to, even if that person was a total churlish jerk, then this target is going to remember you with a more tender heart than ever before.

Why? Venus while retrograde makes us revisit and rethink our love affairs, past and present. In fact, if we take a look in my inbox, many of my clients are like "Why in the fuck do I even care about so and so!? S/He never did one nice thing for me ever, and I am so DONE with them, and I don't even know why I wanted them back," whilst meanwhile, this once so-beloved ex is now missing the very clients saying that. I would congratulate myself for being a good magician, but Venus retrograde is working there, too. Were it not, the so-very-beloved ex would still be so-very-beloved and not held in such contempt. 😉

This isn't always a bad thing. Love too often is very blind, and it helps that about once a year, people have a Venus retrograde to give sight to love's blind eyes. BUT, that also can mean that, when we see each other, warts and all, that relationships which, for the most part, work smoothly, become strained and perhaps even fall apart. When the scales are very unbalanced, and one partner gives and behaves kindly and generously and lovingly towards the other who acts selfish and remote and unkind, then even if it "just works" most of the time, right now it will be uncomfortable. :P

And this can be a great thing if you want an ex back, especially if you were always good and sweet and loving, and didn't "chase them down the street with an axe," as we say here. 😉 Because dear old Venus is going to make that ex remember you very fondly, just even with the slightest nudge, especially if you were so very good to them.

If you were a rotten shit to someone, though, definitely don't try to reconcile them just yet. 😉 Because Venus is going to act with an importune, nagging, and persistent little voice that says "(so and so) was such a rotten shit, remember, so-and-so's ex?" and your ex will totally remember what a jerk you really were.

I know I often say that Venus retrograde is my favorite time to work reconciliation spells – and it is! They tend to work SO WELL right now, but that is going to be on a case by case basis. A few people have done too many bad things to their ex, and I would tell those people to wait.

As for active relationships, during the retrograde just remember to be your best self, and to make sure you do not anxiously crowd your lover or give into unnecessary fights.

Hopefully, this has been enlightening. And don't worry, Venus retrograde isn't forever. 😉 It ends in about a month, on November 16. 🙂 It will go back to a brief shadow period, but we will have gotten through the thick of it by then.

~Cat
Emergencies, Urgencies, Thinking It To Death and Free Psychic Question No-Nos. :D

September 23, 2018

Over the years, it has never been a mystery that many people forget that lovely terms of service (it's very enlightening,) or that pesky client agreement that they agreed to when applied for services. Now, most of the time, it's only mild violations on the rules, where it would be a bit extreme to call people out on the mistake when it is made once, and not with any ill intentions. For example, I do not answer free psychic questions, like "what is so and so thinking," and "when do you feel I'll hear from so and so." If you want a reading, you're supposed to schedule one. However, if it happens once, maybe twice, in the course of my working on an issue, I will probably let it slide without much comment.

Furthermore, it is no mystery that several people are actually confused on what "urgent" or "emergency," means. While I can't deal with actual emergencies (such as someone being in grave danger of physical harm, someone being under physical attack, someone gripping the edge of a cliff, someone being jailed in a foreign prison on trumped up drug charges, etc,) as I am neither licensed to practice medicine, nor authorized to give legal assistance, I understand that there might be a small chance that it is a spiritual emergency, though to be fair, that is possibly three cases in almost 15 years at this writing. Maybe it is more, but I can concretely think of THREE, which, I might add, those cases stand out enough in my mind as to be quite memorable. One might argue that the situatuion is URGENT that I drop everything I am doing to pay attention to what is going on in this case, and while this is certainly a far more common occurance, there are some who think feeling sad or having a bad dream is "urgent." It is not, and if it were, I would assume it is because the person feeling this is urgent requires immediate medical care for overwhelming anxiety or depression, which is nothing I am qualified to treat. Not liking a social media post, being angry about an off-color joke, being anxious that someone has not texted you yet – none of this is actually urgent, and it does not require me to drop everything on my days off to deal with it.

For those of you who are confused that i do have days off, yes, I realize it can be confusing, since technically the last time I had a REAL DAY OFF when I was not working was when I was in the hospital. 😛 The truth is that I work every day, seven days a week, but to me a day off is not having to bother with my inbox outside of some incredibly extreme developments, which, if I am being fair, are far less common than "Just wondering if you got this email I sent on Friday about how I felt kind of down this week for no particular reason, so I will email you 43 times about it on Saturday and Sunday" (and I am not exaggerating, and Saturday and Sunday are my days off,) "to let you know I sent it, rather than wait for Monday," types of emails.

Now don't think I don't know how it feels to be anxious or depressed or upset, but the reason I take days off is that I also have a life, and if I only deal with other people's problems, even the trivial ones, then I can't deal with my own problems including major ones. Just checking to see if I'm still breathing because it's been 36 hours since I spoke to you is time consuming to reply to, and also unnecessary. If every active case of mine did that on the same day, I would suddenly be 4-5 days behind on replies just for having to reply individually to each person, and to keep each conversation going until the concerned party felt their needs were met, which, if you think about it, would be moot, because I'd soon after need to repeat the conversation again having become so busy dealing with what is, in many cases, a non-issue.

Am I breathing? I am breathing, thank you. 😉 Did I get your email? Yes. What do I think about you feeling sad yesterday? I think we all have cranky and grumpy days and it is no biggie.

You'd think the transaction could be that easy, but often, no, even that requires a lot more attention with several people.

Now before I get all sorts of angry emails full of vitriol and hatefulness and butthurt and defensive tears, allow me to say I SIGNED UP FOR THE JOB OF LISTENING TO- AND HELPING PEOPLE WITH THEIR- PROBLEMS, and I'm fine with that. That's my job. It's what I do. HOWEVER, I never offered to be a babysitter. This means I actually have a minimum expectation that my clientele is capable of not engaging in obviously self-destructive behaviors (for example, fighting with a reconciliation target,) that each person I work for has the mental fortitude to withstand trivial changes to the situation being worked on (for example, if someone gets a bit curt for a day or so, despite them not being overtly rude or aggressive, as this might even be caused by work stress or something entirely unrelated to a love working,) without this requiring daily encouragement from yours truly, and to avoid easily avoidable stress triggers like repeated checking up on a target via social media, which I have repeatedly discouraged as it is rarely if ever a realistic window on what is going on in anyone's life or perhaps trying to see where and when someone logged in on a site to gauge if they are out with others or at home. It is no mystery to me that people can drive themselves to madness just overthinking and obsessing, and I generally speak to each client (at least 3/4 get "the talk,") about how obsession and stalking and overthinking is a non-helpful behavior.

And realize, at any given time, I am dealing with at least 3 actually urgent changes in a situation (some great, some not so great,) so if I have to delegate 45 minutes to comforting someone because they can't stop stalking their target's facebook or whatever, it takes away from me being helpful to someone who is need of my help far more than "I saw a like on their social media from a person I don't like!" when the whole social media thing can be solved easily…just stop using it for a week. I totally cut down on Facebook and now I'm on it maybe 2 days a week at most. I've stayed off for weeks at a time. It's refreshing. Try it if you find yourself getting very upset over social media stuff.

And yet "Person I fear to be a rival liked so and so's post," is often labelled URGENT by more than one client. That is not urgent.

I don't say this to be cruel. Just like anyone who deals with people in distress, I understand that more than one person I work for has their ability to withstand pressure and stress weakened, but in saying as much, I offer the tools to more than one person on a regular basis to be able to rely on themselves more than on me. I want you to move ahead from needing my input on the more trivial of matters in an effort to feel you're being coddled and reassured enough. You should want to feel brave and courageous and self sufficient, not that you need me to OK everything or talk you down from a proverbial ledge on a regular basis. That is what helping someone means to me – I help them to not need me for every little triviality.

One step in the right direction is considering if something is actually life or death emergency/urgent. I hate to say it, but a lot of the time, it really isn't a "life or death" level of importance when people contact me in an absolute panic…it isn't even a problem that would snowball if left unattended for a week (which I am not suggesting I should let someone twist in the wind that long, just it would not get any worse if I did.)

Another step in the right direction is accepting the answer given when the question is asked. I could literally cut at least a quarter of my time spent working if I was not repeating the same answer to a question someone merely keeps restating (not even in different ways,) on a very frequent basis.

A step towards faster manifestation (which would mean less anxiety) is to stop stressing over the situation (I've been over this a ridiculous amount of times in here,) and to know the answer is yes, that does slow manifestation and in extreme cases even kills the manifestation. If you want to know if it hurt the spell, it may have, but generally if you have the introspection to realize the behavior was not helpful, you probably never took it so far that you impacted the situation irrecoverably. Having some moments of feeling anxious or struggling with obsessive thoughts is not the full "thinking the spell to death" level of behaviors I instruct against. If you NEVER EVER STOP OVERTHINKING AND OBSESSING, then yes, that is very, very bad. You know, I took a course in first aid some years ago and it's sort of like some of you are freaking out over permanent disfigurement and impairment from an incredibly mild sunburn (so very mild "lust for results,") while others are thinking everything is just coming up roses and it's no biggie while suffering from third and fourth degree burns with fingers falling off, just thinking they will rub a bit of aloe on that and no worries (compare to killing a spell before it can manifest by severe anxiety, obsession, etc…the worst lust for results possible.) I understand wanting reassurance as to whether or not a very unhelpful kind of behavior had an impact on your work, but many people really are not taking the issue far enough that they are doing much more than maybe kicking manifestation down by a few days or so, and that is quite normal. While certainly my more calm and secure clients tend towards getting the faster result (thus proving the theory of lust for results, and thank you, ha,) I have a few "Nervous Nellies" who let that obsessive worry pass and found the manifestation came within 10-14 days of them dropping the anxiety levels.

It would also be lovely if people stopped asking free psychic questions. If you try doing that on your application, I will just decline your business. This is my job. I need to get paid for my job or I can't run my business. "Just check this one little thing," is not exactly the easiest thing for me. I read you on a vague enough level at all times, but it is not the same as a traditional reading. It's very much more muted than you might realize. So, something trivial like is so and so going to call you tonight or tomorrow, when virtually nothing major is going to happen (you will just chat and have a nice conversation, no alarming news, might be today, might be tomorrow, but he or she did not specify,) is not something I'm apt to pick up without some serious energy and focus. It's not earth-shattering. If me in my "off" mode picked up everything full blast, I'd be in a loony bin. I could hardly function…it would be terrible to feel everything coming and going and hear and taste and smell and feel every damn person around me that strong. Generally I feel the present, and it isn't "loud" unless people are very upset or excited. So while i have some idea, I pick stuff up while I am in "off" mode, the depth of what I pick up is not what I get during a reading. I have sensed the deaths of friends and loved ones before, and births as well…but again, both of those events are pretty life altering, not "Will so and so call me today?"

It's just a few simple things, probably in an order which could be a bit more coherent, that are issues that arise more often when I am slammed like I currently am. I am a very very popular lady at the moment. 😉 I LOVE having lots of business, but it can mean that I'm already working 16 hour days so checking that I got your email 42 or 43 times on my days off (this actually happened,) is really not helpful. It's a bit…weird. I would not be the person who charges you to reply to your emails (more than one worker does that, you know,) but I am the only employee of my business, and just having a little more patience, following the site rules, and trying to deal with your situation on your own for the weekend (even if it feels a bit stressful, – it's not an emergency, or I probably would have replied already,) means a much happier and effective rootworker on Monday.

I'm not mad at anyone, – again I love having lots of business, this is fantastic – I just need a day or two off when it is this busy. I need rest. My day off is still at least 2 hours of email, and casting all my active spells…that's going to be a normal person's work day (eight hours) more often than not. So please help me, consider the above that I'd stated, and I will be getting back to everyone on Monday (if I don't cave and start doing replies tonight like I often do, ha ha.)

~C
Thank you Paimon, St Expedite, Friends, Fans, Clients, Readers and Everyone

September 11, 2018

I am truly a blessed person to have so many people who care about me and my family. The outpouring of love and support from everyone who saw a post that was up for maybe 2 hours that, due to a serious problem in Mr NinjaCat's life, I would need to take "half days" at work (my half-days are 8 hours, so it's a regular person's work day, lol,) for a few days to dedicate myself to helping him out of his problems….well, it was amazing. I absolutely am so grateful to everyone. It looks like, thanks to some truly amazing people, I will actually not need to take said half days, because people love me and my family enough to help me so I don't have to do that.

I also want to thank Paimon and St Expedite, who I prayed to for assistance, and who are doubtless responsible in helping to change our fortunes rapidly and positively.

I am eternally grateful to you all! There are no words to describe how much happier I feel after a few very stressful weeks.

Also, as an added benefit, if I seemed curt at all in the last week or so, I think that is no longer a risk.

I am about a day or so behind on replies, just so you know. It's going to be about a 1.5 day wait, but I am getting on top of that so it goes to being under 24 hours again. Thanks for understanding.

~C