30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 4

"Take a full moon retreat at least once a year to recenter yourself and reconnect with your spirituality."

 Now, I haven't been able to find a DIY full moon retreat, so here's one:

It is possible to have a retreat at your home, without ever leaving it, but it is essential that EVERYONE IN THE HOUSE is in it.
So, if you have a SO who isn't interested, he/she must go somewhere else, or promise to stay in the other end of the home, hidden and not to talk to you, not to disturb you, stay as quiet and unobtrusive as possible. If he/she isn't willing to do this, you should consider why you are having this important relationship with someone who doesn't respect you as much as he/she should...
You should be able to get your kids and pets to stay over at someone else's house.

1. Decide for how long you want to do this.

It is recommended that it lasts at least 6 hours, preferably a whole day, but could take the whole weekend.  (This month is great for this, as the full moon is on Sunday. (Actually, it's on Monday, but it's "full enough" on Sunday for you to reap all the benefits of the magical influence of full moon.) You can start preparing today, do all the work tomorrow, and spend the whole Sunday in your retreat. If you missed this time, next time full moon is on Sunday is in December, December 3rd.)

2. Plan the food.

There are two things to think about with the food. The first is that this is a retreat, which means that your food should be healthy or luxurious or both. What do you imagine people eat at a retreat? What would you want to eat at a retreat? The other one is that after having the yoga session, there is to be a feast under the full moon. What is "feast" to you?

Also, if you start your retreat with breakfast, would you prefer a brunch? And would you like a drink at the brunch, like Mimosa, Kir or Bellini?

See that you have all the dishes and utensils needed to make the food, serve the food and eat the food with. For a weekend retreat, it's possible for you to borrow singles from your friends and relatives, you don't need to buy everything. But it is also possible, that if you plan on doing this by every full moon, you might want to start collecting a Full Moon Retreat Box with all the special dishes for this occasion... or why not treat you with special dishes and such the whole year? You could as well be eating on a good, beautiful plate every day as on a cheap IKEA thing. 

Purchase the ingredients and prepare the meals as much as you can, so that it's practically just mixing the smoothies and whisking together the salad dressing.
This is also one thing you need to consider when choosing the meals. It should be something you can put together quickly so that you can focus on enjoying the food, and the quality of the meal shouldn't suffer because most of it has been prepared before.
Which means that you won't be storing the salad with the dressing, unless the dressing is to be soaked in the salad. You won't be serving freezer meals with rubbery potatoes and sauce all soaked up in the vegetables.
Now, it is possible that you enjoy cooking, and then that could be part of the retreat; the possibility to actually spend the whole day in the kitchen cooking, and then enjoying the food as it is prepared. (You probably need to begin with the dessert and make it ready so that you can just whisk it up and serve after you have enjoyed the main dish.)

3. Plan the clothes

Yeah... :-)
You need clothes to yoga in.
You need clothes to meditate in.
You need clothes to intake your meals. I mean, it's a retreat, treat yourself! Wear the best, softest, coolest, nicest, prettiest clothes you can imagine people wear when they eat breakfast/brunch/lunch/dinner/supper/whatever you plan on eating. :-D
And then you need the clothes when you are dancing in the moonlight. 
Now, it's a private retreat, so you can wear anything. Or nothing. It's totally up to you. But I would dress up. Just saying.

Also, most people want to wear all white at Full Moon Retreats

4. Stage your home
Clean your home - or at least the area where you will be. Create hotel class cleanliness and uncluttered space. Put away all unnecessary things, even when it means moving furniture and packing knick-knacks in boxes, and then you will need to unpack things. It will be worth it.
Create an environment that is what you imagine a top class retreat environment to be.
Add something pleasant and relaxing to see, something pleasant and relaxing to smell, something pleasant and relaxing to hear.

5. Unplug the phones, shut down your mobile phone and unscrew the doorbell. Remember to undo this after the retreat. 
The only time you are allowed to use the computer is if you don't know how to do the moon salutation and need guidance, or if you plan on doing a moon meditation and need someone to lead you. If this is the case, see that you have a good video uploaded and ready to be played, and you won't go anywhere else.

6. Start the day by taking a long walk in a forest (or another kind of natural environment of your liking, like the beach or meadows). Take it as early as you wake up (preferably at sunrise) and as far away from traffic, urban environment and people as you can.

7. Journal.
I suggest mindful art journaling.

8. Self-healing

8. Yoga
Moon salutation
Do it 108 times. Why? Because the moon is worth it, and so are you. Here's "why" to the "New Year 108 Sun Salutations" traditions, and the same reasons go for the Moon Salutations.

9 Full moon meditation
There are several on YouTube. Pick your favorite.

10. Sing
Compose your own song to the moon and sing it to her. It doesn't matter if you sing like a crow and it doesn't matter if most of your song is copies of other songs. What matters is that you sing a song to the Moon, that you tell the moon what she means to you with your own words - or words you have chosen yourself - and that you sing. Singing is very healing.

11. Dance
Dance under the moon. Dance like no-one's watching and you are the most amazing dancer there ever was. .
Dancing is very healing as well.  

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 3

Carry a chrysocolla stone in your pocket to dissipate conflict and help you communicate harmoniously.

Learn to use the stones, crystals and minerals in your everyday life. It's not just one specific stone for one specific purpose, there's hundreds of stones you can use in many purposes in your everyday life, and most of these are accessible to most people living in Western society.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 2

"Keep a roller ball of lavender essential oil at your desk
so you can rub it on your wrists whenever work gets a little too stressful.
To make this extra soothing, you could bless the bottle with moonwater."

31+ Ways to Use Essential Oils in Everyday Life

What is moonwater and how to make it
 

photo credit: Lisa Marie Rosati

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

30 Days to Add Magic to Every Day, Day 1

 "Pick dandelions and make a wish."

Now it's August so there won't be that many dandelions to make a wish upon :-D
 Blowing the dandelion seeds off is divination in two different ways. One is the idea that "if you manage to blow all the seeds off in one blow, you will get married (or have your wish become true)". It doesn't always happen, but most often, and it's highly probable people will get married if they wish to. The other is that the little seeds fly away and disappear from sight, and it is believed they are carrying your wish with them - to God? Fairies? Your beloved, to whisper your wish into his/her ear?

Here's 10 more "things" to wish upon 

So is this a scientific truth? Not likely, but being a witch and adding magic in your life isn't about scientific truths and facts. It's about beliefs and superstitions.

A lot of people have difficulties with this. Our society is so focused on the worship of science and skepticism that we are forgetting the values of storytelling, imagination, the mere enjoying of things without the need to figure out how things work and what makes them tick. It's like rainbows. Knowing it's an optical effect with sunlight and raindrops doesn't make it less or more wonderful. I always get happy when I see rainbows. They really have no other purpose.
Or glitter. I love the opalescence, iridescence, all that is "just" an optical quality of the surface. So what?

Is wishing upon a dandelion, star or birthday candles somehow bad? Of course not. I'm sure some people will start whining about the consequences and slippery slope to perdition, but those concerns can - and should - be countered in other ways than forbidding superstitions or mocking people "doing stupid things".
In my reality there is both God and fairies, because I like it that way. It doesn't mean I'm sitting on my fat ass and waiting for someone or something to serve me everything I need and want on a silver platter decorated with unicorns and stars. It means that I believe in underlying goodness. It means that when bad things happen, I will get OK again. Everything will be OK. I choose to believe God made dandelions into small balls of flying things just so that humans could try to blow all the little parachoots away. Scientifically it's just one way of spreading the seeds, but believing there is a God who invented this and made it happen doesn't take anything away from the science. Sure, evolution, but that's how God makes things.
And if I want to think I can make a wish and somehow blowing the dandelion seeds helps the wish come true, what bad is in that? Nothing. If you think there is, you should really check your ideas of what is your business and what not.

The purpose with all this is not for people to base their lives on wishful thinking, sitting and waiting for someone or something to give you everything you need and want in life. It's to embrace the unknown as something positive. It's to add some glitter and rainbows to your life, magic, myths and mystery.

Based on The Witch of Lupine Hollow: 30 Ways to Live a More Magickal Life Everyday

Father's Day Gift Basket ideas

Mother's Day is closing, and the internet is full of ideas for gifts for moms... but Father's Day is coming after that, and there is NOT a lot of ideas for gifts for dads. It is pretty easy, actually.

If you are a father, you will get:
- a necktie
- car maintenance stuff
- sports things - surprisingly much golf things. Apparently American dads play a lot of golf.
- fishing and other outdoorsy stuff like camping
- grilling things
- beer things
- tools

Apparently dads don't read. Ever.
Dads don't cook either. Except they grill and that's kind of silly, too. Every dad believes to know exactly how to grill, but in reality they are pretty worthless in it, and the whole family is in it, telling dad he's amazing, while secretly laughing at him.
Dads don't have any other hobbies but cars, sports and fishing.
Dads don't do gardening.

It's the same thing with moms, though, even though there is more to go to. It's all mostly the same, you see. All mothers love pink. And all they care about is: cooking, housekeeping, gardening, baking, makeup and jewelry. Moms read. Romance novels. Moms also watch romantic movies. And every mom deserves - and dreams about - a spa gift. No matter if she even has a bath tub, she will get a spa gift with bath oils and salts and candles and lady magazines, romance novels and everything smells lavender and roses and is pink or purple.
Because when you become a parent, you become automatically a classic, white, suburban, middle-class, middle-aged person from 50s. Unavoidable.

And I hate that.
We don't have a car. My husband is a geeky kind of a guy, indoors, scholarly, enjoys reading and writing and arts and crafts. We also live in an apartment, not in a house. So no grilling for him. But he enjoys cooking.
And the truth is that a lot of dads are of this kind.
I suppose guys have given up on the idea of getting something they actually like for gifts, so they don't expect anything either. And I think it's a pity.

In the rest of the society we are slowly accepting the fact that adults now-a-days are pretty much such bigger teenagers. We are accepting that some middle-aged men want to play video games, a thing they have enjoyed for 40 years. I enjoy doing things I enjoyed already when I was a kid, like reading. Duh. I really don't understand why people look down to adult video game players. Considering that it's apparently totally acceptable for a middle-aged woman to be so Disney princess crazy that she has a YouTube channel of herself dressing up as a princess and singing songs from the movies... It's so acceptable, they actually arrange "princess weddings" at Disney Land... Are you trying to tell me that's not hanging on your childhood, being childish and not wanting to grow up, but playing video games is?

No. I don't buy it. I mean, be who you are and embrace it, but allow others to be who they are as well.

So - it's obvious kids won't know their dad (or mom) well enough to give them a gift that is actually adjusted to their personality, but kids aren't supposed to, either. It's the job of the other parent to know their spouse and lead the kids.

So, how to build a gift basket?

How to build a great Autumn gift basket?

1) find a container.Be a little adventurous and think about the different containers dad uses today. Bowls, buckets, bags...? A simple brown paperbag is totally fine.

2) color: your dad's favorite color. If you don't know, use the colors most of his clothes have. Safe enough.

3) there should be something to please all five senses; something nice to look at, to eat, to smell, to touch and to hear.

4) what does he do with most of his free time? built the basket around that.

Man's reading gift basket

Man's writing gift basket

Scholar's gift basket

Chef's gift basket

Brewer's gift basket

Charkuterier's gift basket

Gamer's gift basket

Dog lover's gift basket

Movie buff's gift basket

Serie buff's gift basket

Lover's gift basket

Artist's gift basket

Craftster's gift basket

Fashionable Man's gift basket

Man spa basket

Read more:
Gifts for Guys: Thrifty Vintage Father's Day Gift Basket Ideas

Why I don't like Christianity as a religion

1) I dislike "improved versions" of existing religions

If you take something that exists and present your own version of it, changed enough to make it different, BUT INSISTING ON ANY RIGHT TO THE POPULARITY OF THE ORIGINAL VERSION, you are a thief, a liar, a swindler and a cheater. Your "religion" is a rip-off and plagiarism and your only motifs are of selfish gain - could be economical, could be control, could be self-aggrandizing - which makes any good qualities of your concoction tainted by association, and makes me wonder where you stole them.

So, if you find a teacher worth following and decide to make God of him, don't call the religion an improved version of his religion. Create a totally independent, new one, even when it means you'll get less followers because you can't sell the new religion to your God's old friends and relatives.
If you find a heap of golden tablets in a field, start a new religion, independent of all the existing ones, even when it means you can't sell your lifestyle to so many people.
If you get the great idea of uniting a group of fighting tribes under one God, don't tie your God to any existing religion, especially to any religion you despise, just to get your hands on their property, start afresh.
If you start a religion, don't adopt figures from other religions and claim they were really presenting yours. Don't go referring to Jesus, Mohammed, Abraham, Krishna, Buddha or any other person/God/character/entity that already exists in a religion, even when that makes it harder for you to sell your religion.

It's like writing sequels to popular novels. Take Scarlett, for example. The idea was good. Alexandra Ripley should have been a good choice. She tried to understand Scarlett. But why change her hair color? Why change her nature and character? Why make her not Scarlett? Sending her to Ireland was a brilliant idea, I think. AND THEN MAKE HER GIVE TARA AWAY?! SHE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND SCARLETT AT ALL!

And that's what happens when a non-Jew tries to create a religion based on the Jewish God. You just don't understand Him, so you try to make Him do things He would never do, say things He would never say, want things He would never want, and that makes every Jew look at you as if you were an idiot, because that's what you are.

2) Human sacrifice

The Jewish God would NEVER ask for human sacrifice the way Christianity describes it. Didn't you get it with Abraham and Isac?

I have nothing against human sacrifice, I am a Pagan after all, but human sacrifice is one of the most misunderstood things in human history. I find it so weird that most of the people likely to misunderstand are Christians, who base their whole religion on human sacrifice.
Let me try to explain my view on this matter.

Ok, so I am not talking about the South American style of human sacrifice, I am not American, so I don't even pretend to understand anything about that. I am European and North European at that. I am connected to this piece of Earth.

In my mind the sacrifice is about offering God something in exchange.
The more I value what I want, the more valuable thing I sacrifice.
When I am ready to sacrifice a human being, the thing I am asking must be something truly valuable. Like the survival of the whole people.
So, a slave or a criminal or a captured enemy would not do, because those people are not worth much. I wouldn't slaughter an animal, and offer God the bits I don't find any other use for. That' s... despicable. God should get the best.
So, I would be honored if I was chosen to be the sacrifice, and I would leave everything and do anything I'm asked to prepare myself for the honor, I would be grateful for the opportunity to save my people, and I would feel my life was fulfilled and beautiful and honorable and it would be the most amazing thing I could ever ask for. I don't think you can understand that. I don't care about the pain or death. That only last for a moment. But the reward!
And not to me! I don't care about me! I don't know if there is life after death, if I would ever meet the God, or if I just would be dead and no more. I care about the people. My people would survive!
And not just my family, I mean, they would need to lose me, and I don't even want to think about how horrible it would be to lose one of my sisters. I still miss my dad so much.  I'm pretty sure they'd rather all die of hunger than choose one to pay for the rest's survival. I am not dying for them. I am dying for everyone.
I am dying for those who bullied me and those who helped me, those who laughed at me and those who laughed with me, those who hated me and those who loved me, those whom I hated and those whom I loved. Everyone. Because the survival of the people is more important than the survival of a person.

I don't think you will ever get this.
Because you made Jesus' sacrifice mote.

What?

Ok, He received a personal reward. 

he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end.

I mean, offer me the change of being beaten to death just to be resurrected a couple of day later and lifted to heaven and then get the chance to decide what happens TO ALL MANKIND FOR EVER AND EVER after they die. Oh, yeah. I'll take that.
He knew he wasn't going to die at all, not really. That was just the grand finale of the 30 years of pretending to be a human. Just an act. Nothing real ever happened, it was a puppet show.
Firstly 30 years. What's that in God's Eternity? Nothing. Secondly, the suffering. A day? Last Supper on Thursday, execution on Friday? And the abuse? A lot of people get that pretty often. Execution on cross? Standard thing among the Romans at that time. What did the other humans executed in that painful way got for their pains? Nothing. Doesn't sound quite fair to me. But that's not the point here... the point here is the puppet show.
Get this, I have been explained by Christians that God was actually using a real, existing human being as a sort of costume, and that God Jesus left the human Jesus on the cross so that the human would be able to die.
ACCORDING TO CHRISTIANS THEIR GOD(S) WERE USING HUMANS AS PUPPETS.
So, let's get really nasty with this puppet, let's beat it and wound it and nail it on the cross and make it bleed and suffer and make it look all gory and gross and let's make these women cry and wail, and let's make these Roman soldiers really nasty and callous... really good show. The best splatter show ever, BECAUSE IT'S REAL!

I don't know about you, but I find splatter films and Grand Guignol kind of torture horror entertainment disgusting and revolting. I can't imagine anything good in people who like to inflict pain on other living beings, and with "living beings" I mean ANY living beings, all the life forms, from humans and other animals to plants and even silicone based life forms, and any kind of pain, from physical to mental and any other form imaginable.  AND YOU MAKE THESE PEOPLE GODS!

And you make it even "better.

LET'S PUT THIS ON THE WHOLE JEWISH PEOPLE!
We don't care about that "we planned it to be like this the whole time" and "it was really the Romans who executed Jesus", we make the Jews take the blame and make them discriminated, persecuted, harassed, killed, exterminated by the Christians for thousands of years.
Huh? Er... What? Why? What's the point with that?
We'll get to it... It gets even better.

THE HELL
So... the Jews were the first people to oppose the Christians and accuse them of stealing, which the Christians didn't like, of course, so they made the Jews "bad guys" in their story.

And the hell was invented as the answer to what happens to people who won't join the new cult. I mean, it's all right to be true to your own Gods, the Gods of your ancestors, the Gods of your people, the Gods who have been good to us and who have taken care of us, and stand for all the torture by these nasty Christians, but the fun begins WHEN YOU DIE AND CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT,

BECAUSE THIS NEW GOD DOESN'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT WHAT'S IN YOUR HEART,
HE DOESN'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT THE TRUTHNESS OF YOUR LOVE AND LOYALTY TO YOUR GOD,
DOESN'T CARE ABOUT THE GOODNESS IN YOU, OR ETHICAL AND MORAL VALUES, OR THE GOOD DEEDS YOU HAVE DONE DURING YOUR LIFE,
THIS NEW GOD DOESN'T CARE ABOUT HOW MUCH LOVE, JOY, PEACE, FORBEARANCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS AND SELF-CONTROL YOU PRESENT IN YOUR LIFE,
ALL THIS GOD CARES ABOUT IS WHAT YOU CONFESS.
And the fact that you do not confess the "right" God, makes you a liar and a fake, and all those "good things", how ever good they might seem, are in reality fake lies and you will be punished the worst possible way for the rest of the eternity.
For being so stupid.
For believing what your parents told you rather than that stranger who killed your parents.
You deserve to burn.

Huh?
Ok, I choose to burn for ever with all the people I love and you and the rest of your good people can have your god and heaven for yourself. I don't want to have anything to do with you or your psychopath God.

3) "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations"

Ok, so telling everyone about this wonderful thing that has happened to you, that's great. Sharing with everyone this great story you heard, great! Spreading the good news to everyone whether they want to hear or not, fine by me.
BUT... forcing yourself onto their land and homes to "tell them the good news", not OK.
Forcing people to listen to you, not OK.
Forcing them to choose between life and converting to your religion, not cool.
Burning people who believe differently, or who have a different interpretation of the story, not OK.
Destroying other people's property as idolatry, devil worship or other such reason, mainly being "not being part of the same religion as mine" - that is, burning non-Christian religious books, sacred artefacts and temples, not OK.
Christening children against their parents wishes or knowledge, not OK
Abducting children from their non-Christian parents so that they can be raised Christian, not OK
Lying to people, threatening them with hell and telling them their gods are demons and idols, not OK.
Refusing people non-religious services or privileges due to their religion, not OK
Pushing people some sort of extra burden or punishment due to their religion, not OK.
Demanding, expecting, even asking people to follow the rules of your God, not OK. Frankly, even judging people as "bad people" because they might or might not follow the rules of your God as you understand them is not OK.

I think proselytism is disgusting.
Proselytism is not "freedom of expression". Do you understand why?

Telling everyone about this wonderful thing that has happened to you is expressing yourself. I can honestly and fully congratulate you of your good fortune and happiness and wish you the best with the rest of your life. But it's like with any wonderful thing that has happened to you.
Your parents bought you this beautiful car for your 18th birthday! I am so happy for you!
You fell in love and he/she loves you too, and you are going to get married! Oh, how wonderful! I hope you will be as happy as I am in my marriage, and may it last long and may you prosper!
Your cat got kittens and they are all well! Wonderful!
You found Jesus! Great! Good for you!
Get it?

Sharing with everyone this great story you heard, great! I love stories! There can never be too many stories! God loves a good story! Yes, I do want to hear it!
On the same level as I want to see a movie, read a book, hear a fairy tale, watch an episode of a tv series. If you think that level of interest is not enough, it's your problem. Don't try to make it mine.
And, yes, I have read the Bible. Which is more than can be said of 99% of Christians. I know the story.
Yeah, you think it's the greatest story in the world. I disagree with you. It's not very well written, the authors couldn't agree on a version, so there's too many versions, and it's rather boring, and not very original either. I've heard better. Better versions of this one as well.
I know you think it's more than a story, but I knew a woman once, who didn't want to speak to me, because I pointed out that the prophecy in Harry Potter said "either". Because to her Harry Potter had become a prophecy of her life, and if Harry was to die, so was she. I think she would have killed herself if Harry had died. And that level of crazy is a bit too much for me, thank you. So when you tell me this book of yours is God's Word and literally true and more than a story and you'll see a certain look in my eyes. It's ok you're crazy, but don't involve me in that, please, and we'll be all right. I can ignore your craziness and won't be judging you because of it, heck, I believe stones are living creatures and have seen Fae, so I suppose we are all a little crazy in our own ways, but I'm not expecting you to believe in what I believe, and that is what I expect of you. Let's keep the beliefs out of our everyday interaction and everything will be fine, OK.

Spreading the good news to everyone, of course! I remember when I found out about Wicca. It was late 90s, and the only information I had about that world was that I had a book written by a Danish witch; I had heard an interview of a witch in Swedish radio; I had heard of a book written by Erica Jong and I had heard about this movie "The Craft". Now I learned that Wicca was actually a real, acknowledged religion with all it entails, and there were people around who believed about the same as I did. It was amazing! I was overjoyed! I wanted to tell everyone about this, I wanted everyone to know! I was about 30, so I knew not everyone was interested, so I just sang my newfound information online on my homepage, so that those who wanted to hear could listen and those who weren't interested, could move on. They didn't need to be bothered by unwanted information and I didn't need to be bothered by them.

Or... so I thought... then I found out that there are people out there - Christians, they say they are - who go around bothering Wiccans and other neo-Pagans. Just the fact that we exist and speak about this religion they don't like makes it OK in their eyes to come screaming obscenities in our space. There are many young people who have been scared to shut up, threatened, told horrible things, I mean... what kind of a person tells a teenager talking about bunnies and flowers and unicorns, she's evil and she should be raped and get killed in horrible way and get her cat tortured to death, all this decorated with swearing, obscenities, bible quotes and fire and brimstone. It is such a peculiar feeling to read these messages, totally on par with death threats to feminists and political trolling but dressed as preaching...

REMEMBER, THIS IS THE ONLY KIND OF CHRISTIAN MOST OF THESE PEOPLE WILL EVER ENCOUNTER.
Except the silent judgmental kind who obviously condones these obscene preachers.
How would they know there are normal, sane, decent Christians around? It's like saying "some cult members are nice people. You can't really judge all by some evil ones."
Yeah... I know. But isn't that what you do?
Not all men are rapists, huh?
I have some black friends, I'm not racist!
Not all Pagans are evil, but most Pagans are evil, or at least they'd want to be, if they dared, just like the men who don't rape are an exception.
I haven't done anything bad as far as you know, but... you don't know, do you. And what you don't know, might have happened. So I might be sacrificing animals in my kitchen. Of course I would deny doing that, because that happens to be illegal.
I might be kidnapping Christian babies to eat on Pesach. You don't know, but you think I could.
Isn't that pretty... er... not nice to... uh, no. It is not "pretty not nice". It is disgusting to think someone you don't even know is doing horrible things when you don't know what they are doing. It's so disgusting it is illegal to accuse an innocent person of a serious crime.

Which is my number 4.

4) A lot of Christians seem to think their own rules don't apply to them

They have no problems in going around and telling all these stories about non-Christians, (especially those they share their lives with; Jews, Muslims and Pagans), vilifying people, accusing people of horrible things, either things that are horribly only by their book or things that are seriously horrible, like torturing animals and killing people.
DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND HOW WRONG AND BAD THAT IS?!
 
I was being groped by an old man when I was 13, and he was Christian. For some reason he thought it was OK for him to start groping a child just because she had breasts.

I have been threatened, called names, received all kinds of verbal abuse on the internet, and 80% of it has come from self-proclaimed Christians. For some reason they think it's OK for them to be nasty, just because so many other people are. Though Jesus didn't say "respond in kind to people when they are verbally abusive, and if someone offends you, call him fucking bitch, and if you disagree on the internet, tell them to go hell". If I remember correctly he said something quite different.

My Jewish husband has been thrown things at by Christians, a Christian tried to drive over him when he was walking our dog, a Christian man threatened to send his cousins to rape and kill us because he thought my husband had spat after him. The verbal harassment is so common that he doesn't even react to it any more. For some reason all these people think they are being good Christians, for they love Jesus so much and go to church often and wear a cross.

Of all the people I have ever met, it's only Christians who have done something to try to persuade me change my spiritual beliefs. There are posters plastered all over, people share out leaflets, start talking on the train and on buss stop. People have even called at my door just to talk about Jesus. Strangers have told me I'll go to hell because I'm a witch. I tell them I let God decide that, and for some reason they are not very happy about that :-D As if they suspect God doesn't agree with them...I really think it would be better if they focused more on their own life right now than my possible future. I really think they shouldn't be thinking about my possible future at all, because it really is none of their concern. :-D

I mean, there really is only one thing in the whole Bible every Christian need to read, understand and follow.
Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, and then if they read Galatians 5:14-23 for any clarification if such is needed, to understand what is the fruit they need to keep an eye on, so that they can recognize the fruit labeled as "Christian".

Decorating Bundt cakes

Abeer at Cake Whiz came up with the idea already in April :-D

Now, Bundt cakes are not very festive by nature, but there's a lot of ground to break in this direction.

The Bundt Shoppe

Reminds me of Rococo dresses

The classic way of decorating Bundts is of course the drizzle with icing, so that the icing drips down the valleys left by the cake mold. One can also put something on the mountain tops, like sprinklers, nuts or cherries

Cherry Cheese

I really like this Independence Day cake, because it looks like fireworks... but I have seen the same idea done for other holidays and it just looks messy...

Firecracker Bundt Cake – An Explosive Red, White and Blue Dessert

Though I like this one.  

Tri-color Halloween Bundt Cake Colored with Spinach, Sweet Potato and Beets

I saw a cake where someone put teeth around the hole, like it was the monster's mouth...

Cake by Jelly Belly Candy Company

Here's the Sarlacc cake :-D Pure genius.

Karen's Creme Egg & Malteser Chocolate Tiffin Bundt Cake

This one is a beauty as well - I like the loaded top

It is poppyseed citrus cake, ciambella all’arancia

Coating the cake with crunched nuts, coconut or other such crumbs is a great idea as well

 Betsy's Samoa bundt

This is to me a novel idea

Chocolate Hazelnut Bundt Cake

Another way of following the lines of the cake pan
(which is a great idea as a lot of people collect special bundt pans,
where the patterns of the pan is the whole point - it would be a pity to cover them...)

Freebies4Moms Pomegranate Rosemary Butter Cake
I especially love the almond pinecones...

Another simple idea is the classic powdered sugar

Seakettle Batty Bundt Cake

or the classic Cornelli lace piping

like in this Peach and Clementine Bundt Cake

Just because it's a ring, doesn't mean it cannot be treated as a flat cake.

And here's the ever so popular roses - very simple and effective way of decorating cakes, works on bundts too.

Susan's rose cake for her daughter's sweet 13
(I know I say "Pinterest is never the source", but in this case it looks like it is...)

You can pipe the frosting on any way you like. Here's a Christmas Wreath cake:

The Russian tips are perfect for bundt cakes!

The hole is just asking to be filled, don't you think?
(Use flowers if you must, but in my mind that's just so overused, and I don't like inedible things in cakes.)

Robin's Nest Cake

Dinnervine's cauldron cake

Volcano cake

- I have seen all kinds of things people use to decorate volcano bundts :-D. 

They make sugar flames like in the camp fire cake - Disney makes sugar lava bursts - they put on candles and sparklers, I have seen candy canes, iced cookies and rock sugar pushed in the whole... 

so, take these ideas and fit them to your color theme.

This is Evan's Cherry Blossom Citrus and Berry Cake. It is not a bundt, but could easily be. Just cover the cake with icing, add the dribble and flowers. Beautiful.

What about mirror glazing the bundt?

Flotatinas are actually not cake at all, but creme bavarois and jelly. But this is how pretty a bundt cake is when mirror glazed.

What about covering the cake with icing and then painting the icing? Like this antique ceramic bundt mold

This used to belong to Sarah's grandmother.

"my first birthday bundt"

So pretty sugar flower wreath

This takes a bit more patience, but the result is great!

This is made of 2 bundt cakes, but one can easily decorate only one with candy like this.
It would still be fun.

And last, these Giant Donut Cakes by How To Cake It
Aren't they just amazing? That is what I was looking for!

Also, don't forget that you can bake the "hidden surprise" cake in bundt pan too!

Almond Cream Bundt Cake