Queer, trans, drag, intersex & all kinds of other friendly…
Published Aug. 11, 2022.Published March 15, 2023.
…Not to mention frankly pro-Hawaiian Kingdom restoration; opposed to the continued militarization of the Pacific; opposed to GMO crops on the island and the diversion of water from family farms to gated commuities: pro-pagan and witchy; all with a certain amount of side-eye for various aspects of “transplant” culture…
Here in this United States, literary life looks a little weird for those of us writing of a braver and gayer new world than Huxley would have ever imagined.
Just check out this depressing article about the rising muck of ignorance and hate in America, engineered with deliberate cruelty by the far right fringe:
Here’s the report mentioned in the above article: Banned in the USA: The Growing Movement to Censor Books in Schools, PEN America, 9/19/2022. The graphic below is from the report, as posted on the PEN website.
Checking off 6 out of 7 banned book boxes
Looking at the above image and summary, my lovely, whimsical fantasy series of a band of aging, arty misfits living in a rural intentional community on the island of Hawai’i, who encounter Elves and supernatural foes and learn magic while falling in various kinds of love, checks 6 out of the 7 categories. If I’d set out to write specifically to the criteria for books banned from schools in 2022, I couldn’t have done a better job. Really! Someone give me a medal or something!
However, these books are written for adults, not youngsters. The human protagonists are in my age group (“older”) and while the Elves may have the gloss and glamour of perpetual youth, they are far older than the human “Hermits” who are their magical apprentices. And there is very little explicit sex, though there are teasing references and frank admissions to a very wide array of gender and sexual (and asexual) interests. Even so, I suspect there will be some people who hate The Guild of Ornamental Hermits series and all that it stands for, just as much as there will be some (many more, I hope) who love the series with all their hearts.
Really, my characters are made to be loved, in all their quirks and queerness. There is joy, yearning, heartbreak, awe as well as greed, deception, and otherworldly badness–such as the Wethrini warriors setting upon the hapless goat seller, Toledo Jackson. And I can’t wait for readers to start “shipping” my characters in ways I’ve never considered!
We all know what’s up with the poor sodden dopes who comprise the far right fringes of the USA: “they hate us for our freedoms!” I, for one, will write for joy and juice until my last breath. And honestly, the book banners really are doomed to failure. Nothing they want to repress will ever go back in the box–or the closet–again. Our magic and love are stronger than their hate.
The Dire Deeds and The Witching Work will be followed by The Queerest Quest (Book 3, completed and with the publisher) and The Perilous Past (Book 4, in progress).
And so here we are, with another “biohazard,” another autobiographical post–a dangerous and perhaps ridiculous preoccupation for someone in their late sixties. What prompts it? Celebrating a grey day, maybe, and also, a mixture of feelings both sad and celebratory, triggered by the process of cleaning up duplicates and old files on my trusty computer. A kind of archeology for someone still alive…
Also, prompted by two conversations with friends, one a zoom conversation yesterday morning with my friend in France and the other today, with a new friend who lives just a few blocks away. Oh, and an email this morning from someone who pulled song lyrics I’d co-written in 2004 with Puanani Rogers, from a box in the Richard Kekuni Blaisdell Hawaiian National Archive.
My friend Mickey exclaimed at one point, “You’re so accomplished!” (She is immensely accomplished herself.) Well, that made me feel good, and yet there’s a kind of bitterness with hearing that as some people that I used to be closest with never really acknowledged my abilities and value, and my efforts to “pull my weight” somehow, someway, in spite of my being confined (literally) by almost 35 years of environmental illnesses and chronic fatigue; my constant pursuit of education to better myself and my ability to make meaningful, creative, and helpful contributions to this weird world of ours, whether through volunteerism, activism, writing, client work, teaching, and a variety of other things. Where I have a passion, I contribute as much as I can.
So maybe this post is not just an archeology but an exorcism of those who are corrosive and envious: y’all can go fuck off, and you know who you are! Cause I can’t stop, won’t stop, and fucking love NOT STOPPING with growing, even if it is in a little fragrance-free hothouse of a life. You think I’m hard work? That’s because you’ve never acknowledged the work that I did, the work I still do.
I’ve had a lot of passions in my life, a few major epiphanies, and some really out there mystical experiences. Some of what I picture in this blog post will reflect some of those while this particular blog reflects my occult and mystical interests. I am not the first person to have a wide array of interests and I won’t be the last. Some people, however, just can’t handle this.
Let’s be slightly chronological (though ignoring the passions of my teen years). Start with adulthood.
Punk Fashion Design
San Francisco, late 70s-early 80s. Made clothes and purses. Put on fashion shows. Still in good health. Below left, flyer for my first fashion show, at the Mabuhay. Below right, photo shoot with Jaen Anderson for Slick Magazine. Model Shellagh is behind me.
My first fashion show. Me back in the day. Punk wearable artist. About the same time as I ended up on stage with Iggy Pop. Photo by Jaen Anderson, published in Slick Magazine.
Feminist Outer Space Exploration
San Francisco, mid-80s. The result of my first epiphany. Co-founded a non-profit to promote women’s involvement in outer space exploration. We put on educational programs and I did some writing. Meanwhile I also worked at a public opinion research and consulting firm and got married in 1985. Still in good health. Below left, flyer for The Hypatia Cluster. Below right, speaking at The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA.
In a Band
The Vague, San Francisco, mid-1980s, before childrearing. Still in good health. Our last gig was the Polk Street Merchants cable car celebration. We “opened” for Tony Bennett (“I Left My Heart in San Francisco”). Below left, photo by Billy Douglas. My (now ex) husband is second from left. Below right, New Years Eve, 1983, Club Foot. (Photo probably also by Billy Douglas.)
Start a Business
Started a furniture finishing business with husband, in San Francisco, mid to late 1980s. I learned faux finishes, gilding, and glazing at the Day Studio Workshop. And here’s where I became exposed to paints and solvents which would eventually make me ill. Some of my sample boards are still shown on the company’s website, but without crediting me for the artwork.
My children were born in 1989 and 1996. I began to show signs of environmental illness during my first pregnancy. Since I couldn’t work in the shop anymore, I worked at home doing the bookeeping while caring for the kids.
Environmental Health Activism
San Francisco, early to late 1990s, President and later a board member of the Environmental Health Network of CA. Very sick with multiple chemical sensitivity/environmental illness while also raising children, volunteering at their nursery schools, etc. With the help of the disability students office, I also was able to complete the University of San Francisco’s Development Director certificate program in 1997. I wore masks in public long before the pandemic. Below left, my decorated respirator. Below right, detail from an EHN hat.
I decorated my respirator.From a hat sold by the Environmental Health Network of CA, http://www.ehnca.org. I was a board member and president back in the 90s.
Anthroposophy
It was one of those epiphanies. It was mystic. It was unsettling. It changed my life. What else can I say? My oldest was in Waldorf School, for which I am apparently never to be forgiven.
And Then, Another Epiphany… Hawai’i Nei
The year 2000. My life was upended by this trip to Maui, all expenses paid (below left). I was scared to go because I was so sick. But I went. Yes, the hotel and beach were lovely, but I was beset by a feeling of homecoming (I know, it seemed ridiculous to me then also) and also sensing spirits of the land. And I felt physically great! It changed my life. Of course I became obsessed when I got back to the San Francisco Bay Area, learning all I could about culture, history, sovereignty…. I even made Waldorf style tabletop puppets and gave shows at the nursery schools.
Based on The Gift of Aloha, a children’s book.Co-written with Puanani Rogers.One of the ten pages I transcribed.
Above left, a protest song co-written with the awesome activist kupuna, Puanani Rogers from Kaua’i, back in 2004. Above right, one of ten pages of Hawaiian language newspapers that I transcribed for the Ike Ku’oko’a Initiative around 2012 or so. I was one of about 6,500 volunteers. I would gladly do this transcription work again–it was so interesting!!!
Sexology & Hypnosis
The letters after my name spell “mid-life crisis.” I was desperate to find a way to earn a living. I went back to school, earning two degrees in human sexuality (DHS and Ed.D.) and went through hypnosis certification trainings. I did stuff.
My background and contributions to sexology and hypnotism (such as they are) may be found on my professional websites.
There’s lots more, but I think I’ll end with my books.
Author of Books
This has been an interesting exercise in self-soothing. And no, that’s not “all there is,” as I was once asked, long ago. ‘Nuff said.
March 15th launch of the sequel to The Dire Deeds, in my Guild of Ornamental Hermits fantasy series!
I am so happy to announce the mid-March arrival of my second book in The Guild of Ornamental Hermits queer urban fantasy and paranormal romance series! As of March 15th, it has arrived, first as a Kindle eBook and soon will appear as a paperback.
Like the first book, The Witching Work takes place on Hawaiʻi Island during a “not too distant future” when the Hawaiian Kingdom is finally unoccupied and able to reform its government. This is a transition time for everyone in the islands, but for the Hermits of Hermitville Farm & Arts Collective, their entire lives have been turned inside out by the sudden death of Hermitvilleʻs founder and the arrival of Elves of The Realm. In The Witching Work, the human Hermits are forced to become adepts in Elven magic in record time, because the human and preternatural foes continue to threaten all Hawaiʻi and humanity as a whole. Can our plucky ensemble of mostly queer, aging misfits and their dishy Elven mentors save the day? Or will the eldritch powers from beyond really land with a pink sploosh in the middle of Hawaiʻiʻs lush Puna district?
This is what some readers had so say about the first book, The Dire Deeds.
I am pleased to announce this publication of The Witching Work, as well as the forthcoming third book in the series, The Queerest Quest, hopefully later this year!
I just have to show off the lovely spell bottle necklace I had made as an offering for Loki’s altar. It was created by a local witchy craftsperson, JD Terrapin, after an enjoyable consultation over tea, with a selection of colors for the necklace and materials for the bottle (minerals, a spice, and Loki’s name in runes).
I’ve commissioned one for Bast too, as an offering of gratitude for my cat’s recovery from surgery.
Years ago my Aunt Mary gave me a golden necklace that was a museum replica of a statue of Bastet (or Bast), the Egyptian cat goddess. I’ve hardly worn it, until now. And I’ve had a little figurine of this goddess for quite a long time, but no altar space (until recently).
But when my dearest and oldest cat, Popoki, had to have surgery a couple of weeks ago, I put the necklace on and asked Bast for protection and healing for my cat. After all, even my vet agreed that this cat was an “emanation.” (It’s Oregon. It happens.) So, I made offerings and altar space.
Today Popoki gets her stitches removed and in celebration of her recovery, I am posting pictures of Bast, the joyous and generous, in her honor and as a gesture of thanks.
Artwork by FDRMRZUSA 2018. Creative Commons 4.0.Photo by Rama. Createive CommonsPhoto by Rama. Creative Commons 3.0.Artwork by Ossama Boshra, 2020. Creative Commons 4.0.Top left, a contemporary interpretation of a Bast heiroglyph; Top middle and right: two ancient statues; Bottom: another contemporary interpretation.
I’m fascinated by corvids (crows and ravens) but never got to know one. I suppose I should leave bright shiny things around the yard in order to attract their attention. In the meantime, I am enjoying looking at raven artwork on Wikimedia commons. Here are a few images that I’ve found.
Artwork by Gilbert White, public domain.
Artwork by Kent Madsen, 8/22. Creative Commons.Artwork by Gustave Dore, 1884. Public Domain.
Kite and Crows by Yosa Buson (1716-1784). Public domain.
Her play, Demigods Anonymous, is invited to a prestigious festival. She needs help raising travel expenses.
Here is a quote from a review of the latest production of Demigods Anonymous from Spectrum News:
“Helelā, a Hawaiian-Asian-European multimedia artist working in filmmaking, playwriting, music and poetry, is also a Hawaii Conservatory of Performing Arts emerging island artist. Fantasy realism and dark humor are themes in most of Helelā’s projects with intersectional themes that include mixed racial identity, diaspora, native issues, racism/racial violence, colonization, feminism, queer relationships, and trans identity.”
Noa Helelā is a brilliant young poet and playwright who has had her play, Demigods Anonymous, accepted at a festival in Las Vegas. Noa lives in Honolulu. Opportunities like this don’t come everyday for young writers, but sadly, such opportunities can be expensive! She’s not trying to raise much–just $1,000 to cover airfare, hotel, and food. Can you help her get to the festival?
Aloha! My name is Noa Helelā. I’m a playwright, poet, and filmmaker from the island of Oahu in Hawai’i.
Thanks in large part to the amazing work of our incredible cast, wonderful tech crew, and amazing director Taurie Kinoshita, the show I wrote, Demigods Anonymous, has been chosen to compete in the Kennedy American College Theater Festival in Las Vegas this February 12-17. We’ve been blessed to be chosen out of thousands of shows, and this is a rare honor and opportunity for all of us.
We are all so excited and can’t wait to take part in the festival and share our work!
There are, however, a lot of expenses throughout the week-long festival that I can’t afford, including travel expenses, food, etc. Therefore, I’m calling on my community for some help during this time. If you are able to contribute and it is within your capacity, I appreciate it immensely. Absolutely anything helps, including sharing this post. Mahalo nui loa!
Please donate a little cash and please signal boost too! Thank you!
Most of my meditations with Loki involve strong sensations of internal dancing, along with a sense (felt, not quite “seen”) of joyous movement through a multitude of forms and environments. So today I thought I’d share how I rendered a vague sense of this via HeroForge.
As some readers of this blog know, I have seven. They are family. I am going to introduce them to you in order of seniority and appearance in my household. I want to praise them.
Popoki (aka Cthulhu)
1/24/23
Popoki entered our household when my kids were still young and they–wanting her to be a badass–named her Cthulhu after H.P. Lovecraft’s mythic monster from the stars. I started calling her “Popoki,” the Hawaiian word for cat. As a kitten, she literally bounced off wall, climbed curtains, perched on rods, and at one point I could swear she teleported from the crate where we’d put her for the night. The gate was locked and she was, strangely, not inside. (She must have squeezed through, but I hardly know how that was possible.) She adores my younger son, Paul, and brightens when he visits. She’s a Queen, a beauty cat, an emanation of Bast (even my vet agrees), and somewhat aloof. Though she is happy to receive affection, she seldom comes looking for it.
She is the only cat of mine who isn’t a rescue. We got her from a family we knew.
Popoki is about 13 years old. She has breast cancer. I just received this news last Friday and it’s heartbreaking. She is having surgery tomorrow. [Update: three tumors are being removed.]
Niblet
Jan. 24, 2023A couple of months ago.
An off-center white streak on his chin has always given Niblet the look of a slightly peevish old man. A friend of a friend found him when he was tiny, living between two boards in someone else’s backyard. He still purrs when I feed him–which I think he must have done when catching bugs in the bushes as a baby cat. This habit of his absolutely tugs at my heart, even now. When my friend who was fostering him showed me his picture, I knew he would be my second cat. Niblet was a darling kitten and has grown into a cuddly floof who drools.
Popoki was not happy when I adopted Niblet, but they grew to be chums. I wouldn’t say they are “bonded” however. They don’t cuddle together. For many years they were my only two cats and I think that was just fine with them.
When Niblet sits between me and the computer keyboard I am never quite at ease because of his drooling. Niblet used to run when my older son was around. That kid thought Niblet was jealous in a sibling rivalry way, but I know it was because of that kid’s heavy, Dr. Martens-type boots. Niblet does not like heavy footwear.
Niblet and Popoki moved with me from California to Hawai’i and were somewhat appalled by the multi-generational feral family that I ended up feeding on my porch. I also made it a point to trap them to spay or neuter them at the monthly free vet clinic, then returned them to the colony. I am afraid that the experience of feeding all those ferals made me somewhat susceptible to the “more cats” syndrome when the three of us returned to California. We moved to a rural county about 150 miles from San Francisco. Feral cats were also a problem there. The small town of Upper Lake, fifteen miles from where I was living, had a large amount of community cats. And that’s where Freya enters the picture.
Freya, the Diva
Jan. 24, 2023In Glenhaven, CA.
Freya was one of those Upper Lake cats. She was a tiny little thing dying of thirst in the middle of Main Street. A woman named Crystal rescued her. Crystal worked in a couple of shops on that two block shopping district and also fed the ferals. She often trapped them and got them neutared and spayed too. Freya became one of her large family of cats and dogs, but always stayed close to Crystal, getting in the way of her sewing and soap making. She was and is affectionate, bossy, possessive, and not always nice to other cats.
When I happened into Crystal’s shop, the cat-who-was-not-yet-called-Freya was dozing in the glass case. I’d been thinking of getting one more cat “someday” but when I admired Freya’s beauty, Crystal’s boyfriend suggested I adopt her. I talked to Crystal about it a few days later and though Crystal was sad to see this cat go, she knew I’d give her a good home. This was around February, 2018.
Popoki and Niblet were not pleased, though Niblet did seem a bit intrigued at first. Freya wasn’t interested. Eventually they all adjusted. Freya stuck close to me as well and was so annoying when I worked on the computer that I gave her my kids’ old high chair for her throne, so she could sit beside me as I worked.
She is very possessive of me, often chasing the other cats off my bed, and she will sleep beside me with her paw out to touch my face.
It was a bit sad though, when I’d get out toys to chase, Popoki and Niblet played less and stepped back to let Freya play more, even when I tried to engage them. I’ve noticed this pattern with each subsequent cat.
Varda
Jan. 24, 2023A few months ago.
For a brief time, I had an office in an extremely small, one-room cottage in Upper Lake. Two black kittens (ferals) often hid under it. They had orange eyes, very striking. The construction guy who was working on the front cottage called them “Jack and Jill” and fed them. I put out bowls of water and dry food for them too. Later, “Jack” disappeared and “Jill” was on her own. She was not friendly and hid when she saw me coming. I love black cats so I was fascinated by her.
Then there was an extremely cold couple of weeks. “Jill” actually went to Crystal’s place a block away–probably because she’d been eating there too–and let Crystal’s boyfriend pick her up. She was very sick. I knew Crystal didn’t have money for a vet so I told her if she could nurse the cat over the weekend, I’d come on Monday, take her to the vet, and then adopt her. Fourth cat. I named her Varda, another name for Elbereth in The Lord of the Rings.
I had a closed sun porch that was separate from the rest of the house. That had been Freya’s halfway home until Popoki and Niblet had gotten used to her scent, and now that porch was Varda’s.
Now all three cats were miffed, but they got used to Varda, who is small and I think, is a Bombay breed. Varda and Freya may even be related to some extent, as they came from the same cat colony.
Varda wants to cuddle with me when I sit in a certain chair to talk on the phone. Otherwise she is a bit skittish still. Her usual hangout is a twin bed in the living room, where she can watch squirrels.
The Woodshop Cats
Several months later, Crystal and her entourage lost their home in Upper Lake. They’d been living in the back of one of the storefronts and the landlord kicked them out. Crystal asked me if I could let her house four of her cats in a large, clean, workshop I had on my property, if she visited and fed them everyday. I said okay. A couple of months after that, she and her boyfriend and several cats and dogs drove to Tennesee. She took one and left the other three cats with me, without giving me any notice except for a day or two before they left. She promised to send money for food (she didn’t). I was not up for three more cats, even if they were just living in the workshop and roaming outdoors. However, one of them, Chu the Siamese, got adopted by neighbors across the street. The tabby, Meowington, became my garden cat. I locked him in at night and let him out in the morning. The skittish grey female (with no name) was chased away by Meowington, but I continued to feed her as she hovered around the edges of the property. She could down a whole can of catfood in one gulp and she would (eventually) let me brush the stickers from her fur.
In 2018, when I was forced to evacuate for two weeks, due to raging wildfires, I had to take all four cats with me to San Francisco and back. And I had to leave Meowington and the grey cat to fend for themselves (though I left food and wter behind in the workshop, with the door open). The drive both ways was sheer hell. The cats were scared and vocal and it was too hot to leave cats in the car for even a few minutes if I needed a restroom break during the long drive. Fortunately my house and neighborhood did not burn down but I realized how very vulnerable we were and how vulnerable we would remain the whole time I lived there. The huge death toll of people over the age of fifty, in the Paradise fire, was also a potent “momento mori” for me.
I was glad to see that both Meowingon and the grey cat had survived my absence. I had grown very fond of them both, but then Meowington was bitten by a baby rattlesnake. He did not survive. I was devastated. However the grey female was able to take over the territory of my yard and I started calling her Arya because she was so tough and living rough. But she wasn’t yet my cat.
The “Tabby Twins”- Keola and Kia’i.
Kia’i, a few months agoKeola & Kia’i 1/24/23Keola, a few months ago.
Just as I start to write this, Kia’i (“protector”), the big tabby male who next came into my life, just walked in front of me for a cuddle. He and his sister, the much smaller Keola (“life”), were feral kittens from a trailer park in K-Ville, on the other side of the lake. A friend of mine was feeding the mother and her brood but the park manager wanted them gone. All the no-kill shelters were full so my friend put out the word that she’d pay for spaying and neutering and the first round of shots for anyone who would adopt them. She posted a picture of the male tabby and I thought, well, he looks like Meowington and another tabby I’d had long ago, so I thought I could take him, at least.
However when I showed up at my friend’s trailer, the male tabby was sitting on the porch rail next to his much smaller sister, who was very sick. I understood immediately that they were bonded and I had to take them both. So I did. And we got the shots and neutering and spaying done. And instead of letting them live in the workshop and outside, I turned them into outdoor cats because I was more haunted by Meowington’s death by rattlesnake than I realized.
Both cats were sick, as it turned out, and Kia’i’s teeth were horribly inflamed. I was told to have them ALL removed and that his sister might have to have that done in the future. Turns out the community cats of K-Ville have a genetic predisposition to this. This was extremely expensive but I got it done. And he’s fine as a toothless cat. However it does mean that he rolls on his belly a lot when Freya bullies him. Last year Keola also had to have all her teeth removed. She too is doing fine.
The tabby twins are brash but sweet and have no manners as far as the other cats are concerned. Keola is incredibly curious and washing the dishes can be tough when she decides she’d like to “help.”
Arya The Grey
Arya in Glenhaven, 2 years ago.Jan. 24, 2023.
Not all who wander are lost, but some who wander into construction sites might get stuck in a basement. I think this is what happened to Arya. She had become very dependable on when she’d show up for food and would let me pet and brush her. Since Meowington was no longer around to chase her off, she was quite comfortable around my place and becoming more demonstrative with me. I began to consider bringing her into my household.
During the time when she lived in the woodshop, she was obviously a frightened and timid cat. She would stay high on the rafters where she could not be seen. When I opened the door for the cats on that first day after they’d been left behind by Crystal & Co., she shot from the place like a bolt.
And then one day she vanished. Now, she’d been spayed thanks to Crystal and has the clipped ear to show it, so she wasn’t in heat. She came back two days later, ate as usual, and then was gone again. She never came back. I was devastated and the thought that a coyote or cougar had gotten her was too much to bear. I would walk up and down the street calling to her, but she was nowhere to be seen. One neighbor had seen her, shortly before she disappeared, roaming around the yard of a house where an old man had recently died. A lot of construction work was going on over there, as the place was a wreck (kind of a hoarder’s situation from the look of it). I wondered if Arya had gotten stuck there, but the construction workers weren’t there consistently so I couldn’t ask them.
Then, two months later, I happened to be taking the trash cans out front and I saw her, skinny as can be, coming up the driveway alongside my house. We both spotted each other, stared as if to say, “it’s you!” and so I called to her and coaxed her into my patio. I opened a can of catfood for her and while she was eating, I popped her into a crate and brought her inside to the enclosed sun porch. She was skin and bones. I got her to the vet, fed her a lot, and she soon regained her health. Then, when she was ready and the cats had smelled her for a few weeks, she was introduced to the rest of the household.
Arya has too many toes and that too is a feature of a lot of Upper Lake cats. She might also be related to Freya and Varda, but they chase her away. Everyone either chases or ignores Arya, though since we moved to Oregon she’s gotten comfortable enough to sleep on my bed at least part of the night. She’s the “upstairs” cat most of the time, and I feed her on the stair landing because she’s not secure enough to eat in the kitchen with the others.
Cats Are Indeed My Family
I would say we have a special and unusual bond. But then, I seem to have that with all my cats and it’s only growing stronger. They are all so different and have their peculiar ways.
Popoki wants to pee on paper towels in her own litter box in the bathroom. Arya only licks the wet food–she likes the gravy (the cats get both wet and dry food). Kia’i barges in and makes sure he is the first to eat, which annoys Niblet very much. Freya cries for the wet food but doesn’t eat much of it. She just wants to make sure she has what everyone else is having. Keola has the habit of dabbing her paws, with her sharp little claws, on my hand or shoulder to get my attention. Popoki goes after the remnants of everyone’s food. If Niblet gets a second helping, he wants it on a counter or low table. He’s the only one who will eat treats from my hand. Varda comes to sit on my lap if I sit in a particular chair. And how and why the cats circulate among sleeping places is a mystery. They’ll spend a week or two sleeping in the same couple of spots, then move.
These seven cats are my immediate family. I’ve said I’ve wanted “frith” and “o’hana” all my life but it seems that the cats are truly my people.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, or any pagan love fest…a new book on erotic hypnosis.
It’s out! And yes, it’s dedicated to Loki Laufeyjarson, who’s pretty entrancing himself! And yes, it’s written by a clinical sexologist who is also a certified hypnotist and hypnosis instructor (who is also a pagan blogger…) That’s me…
Here’s what one of my colleagues had to say, after reading an advance copy:
“No other sexologist is more qualified or, more impressively, as informative, supportive, and downright entertaining than Amy R. Marsh, Ed.D. to explain why hypnosis can be so effective at gaining greater insights into your sexuality, deepening emotional connections with a partner, reducing stress and anxiety, and opening yourself up to infinite erotic possibilities.
Entrancing: Hypnotizing Your Way to More Pleasure, Romance, and Sex! is amusing, enlightening, and educational in all the right ways – which I enthusiastically recommend to anyone interested in erotic hypnosis or merely looking for an exceptionally well-written, thought-provoking, and sexually-enlightened book.”
—M.Christian, sex educator, erotica author, and sextech journalist
Fractal Image by Abysmal. Public Domain.
Relaxing, affectionate, bonding, romantic, erotic: this book contains a full spectrum of suggestions and techniques for a natural, relationship-centric use of recreational hypnosis for fun and pleasure.
Based on over a decade of teaching and private practice, this book contains so much for the reader who wants more romance, variety, mindfulness, and fun in their intimate relationships!
This book contains footnotes and a works cited section so you know it’s solid. I had a wonderful time writing it–in a two weeks!–and you hope you’ll have even more fun reading it!