You My Mama!

So, everyone that has had any recent contact with me knows that my digital magazine, Garden Spices Magazine, was hijacked.ย  Yes, directly after the George Floyd verdict, my site was hit and left with articles written by the devil itself.ย  The tunes sung were about Black trans athletes, Blacks against whites, George Floyd was a criminal, you get the picture.ย  I was devastated, but not as outdone as my warrior, daughter, Camille.

Y’all know I’m Miss Spirituality.ย  So, while Mr. K and I were set to travel (road trip, road trip!), I decided I would leave my computer home to release and let go of my magazine troubles; to let God have its way.ย  And whoa…God worked through warrior Camille to get my magazine up and running and to help track down the culprit.ย  Although we have not yet found who committed the terrorism, Spicy will be making a guest appearance in the new issue of Garden Spices!!ย  Oh yeah…it’s done!ย  Mr. K and I were driving through Atlanta jammin’ย  to Mystical’s Bouncin’ Back, and I was thinking of the terrorists as I rapped with Mystical,

“You keep bumping me against the wall
Yeah I know I let you slide before
But until you seen me trust me
(You ain’t seen bouncin’ back)…

Ah stick ya chest out, keep your chin up
‘Cause sometimes you gotta get knocked down to get up.” – Mystical

You guys already know how I am.ย  I’ll find God in anything, including rap music.ย  What?!!

Let’s look at Miss Irene, my mother.ย  She didn’t want us to worry about her, so she moved from her beloved Chicago to Bama. ย  If you knew her, you knew a woman who expressed gratitude for every nuance of her life, was fierce, and had a life well-lived/loved.ย  She was incredible and a great mentor.ย  However, she never stopped exclaiming how much she learned from me, even during her last years.ย  I now find myself shouting like my mama.ย  I learn so much from my daughter, Camille.

I tease and call her “The Dragon Lady,” and if you know her activism, then you know why.ย  However, that’s not what I want to talk about.ย  Beyond her activism, I am in awe of what she does to stay centered and how mindful she is.ย  She moves her body at least one hour daily, prays, meditates, eats well, and reasons beyond my expectations or ability.ย  When complimented, she always says to me, “You my mama,” giving me the credit for how she rolls.ย  I dare say that as we age, our mother status shifts, and we see ourselves through our daughters.ย  And although vice-versa is true, this shift still feels complicated.ย  How do our daughters know so much about navigating life? Sometimes, it downright makes me mad that her thoughts are so much more logical than mine.

Next week, I’ll be 71 years old, and my daughter is teaching me when to hold ’em and foldem; how much information to release and when to stop running my mouth.ย  Y’all know I have yet to learn my lesson; I tell y’all everything!ย  She’s always on me about being too judgemental, nick-picky, and bossy, and swears I don’t know how to ask for what I’m worth.ย  Guess what?ย  She’s right, but it just don’t feel right coming from someone you birthed and bathed. What?!

What does feel right is to take this moment to thank Camille for tapping into and expressing the Mother-God within her.ย  Thing is, Mama-God resides within all of us through intuition, compassion, awareness, strength, and of course, nuturing.ย  Recognize her when you see/feel her; she’s everywhere present, just like Father-God.ย  So, of course I want to wish you all , every age and gender, a Happy Mother’s Day.

Joy Juice

Motherhood has played a powerful roll in every faith practice.ย  Mr. K and I went to visit a village that practiced African spirituality, and were told that the Chiefs seek counsel with the women.ย  Then there are so many stories about the role Mary played with Jesus, including birthing him and releasing him to do his work with a mama nudge “His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.'” (John 2:5).ย  “In the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna pointed out to his disciple Arjuna that women are as worthy and as capable as men of achieving liberation, or moksha.”ย ย 

Recognize, honor and celebrate the mother within you.ย  We so bad, the universe gave us a holiday. What?!!

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!ย  That’s what!

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


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ย Victorine, Bio

Author ofย  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent,ย now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check outย Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.

Eyes Wide Open: To AL Activists

There he is again, that crow. Every time you think hisย cast of darknessย has diminished, it’sย back again. Heย hovers over what heย thinks is his domain,ย swooping downย on folks he feelsย resemble him. He isย personifiedย by those who feel thatย his presenceย willย purifyย their land. He is their totem; they haveย kidnapped and laid claimย toย the crowย the way they do with everything they touch. They haveย stigmatizedย him.

How could the crow, aย symbol of spiritual transformation,ย be distorted? Name him;ย call him Jim, andย POOF..he transforms into this repressive tyrantย that flies in your face, moving you back,ย back to whereย he thinks he can capture you, encage you. He’s slick, too; he thinks you don’t see him coming, but yourย eyes are wide open.

Eyes wide open, youย cast a wide netย to captureย “Jim”ย ย and reclaim the crowย to its originalย symbolย of transformation.ย “Black is the new Jim!” Eyes wide open, (you know youย dare notย blink), you must nurture “Black;” fight, if you must, to realizeย her strength, beauty, and determination, to realize truthย and justice.ย ย Jimย hasย no power or placeย in your existence, as long as youย keep your eyes wide open.ย 

AL Legislature SB152 Bill against Florence protest.

ย 

I had to use the image of this powerful pin to symbolize BLACK, Pin by Takara
Protesting Confederate Monument in front of Lauderdale County Courthouse
Downtown Florence Protest

Featured Image: raghav-srikanth-vpdo-igvre-unsplash.jpg


Joy Juice

Our young folks are making “good trouble,” but we are vigilant, keeping a protective lookout for old “Jim.”  We do what we can, post, speak, pray, and hold the consciousness that truth always outshines the darkness.  Our eyes are wide open to recognize what must change and to initiate it however we can.

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”John 1:5

“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”
~ Desmond Tutu
 
“One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.”
~ Kahlil Gibran
 
“Be a full bucket, pulled up the dark way of a well, then lifted out into the light.”   
~ Rumi 

โ€œItโ€™s all/good/love/Godโ€ โ€“ Victorine

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


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โ† Back

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 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.   Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicy




Abundance Bakery and MY Upside-down Cupcakes

So, I was commenting on a post about what identifies Chicago, (thanks, Lorraine), and I posted a picture of Abundance. Bakery.ย  I couldn’t believe that I was publishing an issue of Garden Spices Magazine on the topic, Abundance, and that I had not thought of my Chicago crave or the place that satisfies it.ย  My must-have on my visits…the delectable Uncle Villy’s Upside-Down Cupcake(s), from Abundance Bakery.ย  Notice the plural?ย  Just one won’t do. ย  I can never wait long enough to get to the Bronzeville bakery to buy one; Co-owner,ย  my sistah-friend, Janice Ball has to bring me my stash, which I guard and savor like Cujo.ย  I’m like the Godfather eating his cannoli; it’s serious.ย  What?!!!

Quick story:ย  My friend, Pat Kline had a gathering for me at her home.ย  As usual, friends mingled throughout her home.ย  I was upstairs when Janice rang the doorbell and entered the kitchen.ย  As grace would have it, I was by myself in the kitchen, where she handed me my golden goose – the cupcakes.ย  I went into stealth mode and hid them behind one of the appliances.ย  Was there enough to share?ย  Never…until I get my first bite. I went back downstairs to mingle.ย  Venturing back upstairs for whatever, (certainly not to have a bite of cupcake), I noticed one of my nieces, Iman, eating one of my an Uncle Villy.ย  I looked at Pat, with horror and asked, “Where did that cupcake come from?”ย  She pointed to the bag that was clearly mine.ย 

Pat tried to tell me that Iman loved the cupcakes as much as I, and I was like, “Nobody, but nobody loves them cupcakes like I do, and you have clearly kicked the dog by giving some of mine away!”ย  Of course, we laughed, not for real and I had at least one more cupcake to quench my craving for the evening.ย  Of course, Janice promised to bring more.

By the way, we always make at least one stop at Bill and Jan’s Abundance Bakery.ย  They are old friends, like family that have kind hearts, but they know they definitely have some fine, soulful bakery.ย  Oh yes, they have plenty to choose from, and my friends make their selections, but you know my fave, those caramel cupcakes carry Chicago home with me.ย  What?!!


Joy Juice

Did you miss the part about Jan bringing me her/my Uncle Villy’s Upside-down Cupcakes?ย  That’s the kind of blessings I dwell in on my visits to Chicago.ย  I am nestled in a wealth of warm friendships that laugh, cry, pray and always love.ย  May you cherish your family/friends old and new.ย  We breathe for loving.ย  Ase’

“It’s all/good/love/God” – Victorine

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


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โ† Back

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ย Victorine, Bio

Author ofย  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent,ย now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check outย Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.ย  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.ย ย  Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicy

No Vaccine for Victorine on Valentine’s

What is happening?!!!  Why is it that everyone I know is vaccinated but moi?!!!  I mean the search is a challenge I wasn’t ready for.  I just knew that when the site opened for the 65+ year olds in Bama, that I would be one of the first to receive one.  I signed up to be notified.  So, of course I thought this meant I would be scheduled somehow.  No?  Oh well, I’ll just get up at 5:30AM and get to the site at 6:00AM.  Just drive up and take my rightful place to get vaccinated.  Oh wait…there are a few more cars…more…more...around the corner more.   “I ‘ll go back a few hours later.”  More cars, wrapped around two corners now.  Thank goodness a policeman alerted me that most these cars were here for their second shot.  “They only have 100 vials today; you might as well go home.”  What?!!!

I was listening to NPR programming, when they announced that Walmart would be giving the vaccine.  I hightailed it to a store at 8:00AM, walked around Wally World for an hour, (I’m not a fan, but I shopped that day thinking it might give me “favor” in getting vaccinated).  Nine o’clock sharp, I stroll up to the now-opened pharmacy, first one there, only to be told that I have to schedule online.  Hah!  no problem for me; I live on the computer.  I Google Walmart.com, only to meet an error code – no vaccines yet.  I call the pharmacy to alert them.  I am told they will fix the error.

I know all the tricks.  I leave my tab set for Walmart, so I won’t miss a beat, checking each time I think about it to see if the error is fixed.  I swear, all I did was blink, when my girlfriend, Judy Claytor texted me that her cousin got her appointment with Walmart!  I scurry to get mine,  this is what I get:

Needless to say, I checked every Walmart from here to Timbuktu; nothing…nada. Jacqueline Johnson tried to move mountains for me, (bless her heart), alerting me to every place she would hear about landing the shot, but nothing. Do you hear me? Nothing! All my friends are bragging, “I’m going back for my second shot.” I’m like, “WHAHHHHH (t)!”

I want my shot now! I can be patient. The main thing is I don’t want any of you to feel guilty  ABOUT GETTING YOUR SHOTS and telling the world.  Mr. K., don’t feel badly about leaving my house early and securing your vaccination here in Bama, instead of SC.  No, don’t feel bad, just GET ME VACCINATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh…and Happy Valentines Day. 


Joy Juice

I love to laugh with y’all.  How wonderful so many people are getting vaccinated, tending to the possibility of our nation ridding itself of this pandemic.  (love) No vaccination?  They will be allocating to more sites, (love), on time.  Always, God steers my time.  (LOVE)Ase’

“It’s all good/God/love” – Victorine

Mr. K’s Valentine’s orchids, (as if y’all haven’t seen them all over Facebook. What?!!)

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


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โ† Back

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 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.   Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicy

Blogs, Websites and Posts, Oh My!!

I got one thing to say.  Now you already know better than that.  I have so much to say about creating and navigating sites till I had to cry my tears out loud.  First of all, did I mention I’m 70? How dare I think I could find my way through creating a website without feeling like I was walking on hot coals.  I dared; I doubled down and forged the Support, YouTubes, finding images, adding pages, customizing, and finally publishing my product.  I did this with a book, a magazine, a blog, and now, another website.  Why not hire a professional to do this “dirty” work?  I’m a Taurus, and I’m cheap frugal.  Bullish to the end.  What?!

Now that I know what to do, just contact me.  I can remember approximately the last five minutes of a process I just completed.  This stuff moves fast!  While I may not be able to walk you through your project, I’m really good at holding your hand.  I can cheer you on or validate your feelings about the page that is supposed to guide you – that page you can’t understand that may hit you with nuggets like “CSS.”  HELP!  Wait…I’m supposed to be answering your plea.

Still ain’t done!

I must admit that there are some perks offered by some web publishers.  For example, the 24/7 support allows you to bug some poor Customer Service rep endlessly.  How do you think this blog was created?  That poor WordPress rep was like, “Woman, please…don’t you understand?  We have to go over this again?”  No, not really.  You do have to pay for domain registration and extras from your publisher, and once you pay, they are at your mercy.  They have to be kind to receive a positive feedback report.  (I often wonder if I’m the worse customer they encounter in a day…surely I hope not).

All in all, I must say the gratification of completing a web project is grand.  Really, most of the time, I am in disbelief that I made it through the maze of formatting and publishing. Y’all can come along with me.  I invite you to Rant and Rave on my Camp Goldston Publishing website.  (Watch the link not work…Grrrr).  Tell me your experiences with writing or posting.  Better yet, I invite you to submit to one of my projects.  Misery/joy loves company.


Joy Juice

Yes, I’m 70, and having the time of my life doing what I love.  I travel and tell y’all about it; I get to laugh and cry with you, read your stories, and give them to the world.  I pray we all find ourselves doing what feeds our spirit.  Our souls say “Yes,”

“It’s all good/Godlove.”  – Victorine

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


Please Subscribe and Follow my blog!


โ† Back

Thank you for your response. โœจ

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 Victorine, Bio

Author of  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent, now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check out Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.   Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicy

Bama, Baby!

Image:ย  The mall I met in Muscle Shoals, 1990.


I live in small-town Alabama.ย  Let that sink in; “Slick Vic, the Chicago Chick” has been rooted in Northwest Alabama for over thirty (30) years!ย  Why?ย  How?ย  What?!!

My deceased husband, Bob, was reared in the Shoals, community.ย  Comprised of four small towns, the Shoals include Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield, where Bob grew up,ย  When our budding teenage daughter was in the urban distress of Virginia Beach, we initiated a geographical cure to small-town living in Muscle Shoals, the smallest, youngest city of the Shoals.ย ย  It worked!ย  Our daughter and son could relax in the comfort of family unity and relative peace of close-knit friends.

I now live in Florence, the largest of the Shoals cities. My friends and family can not believe I am still here, but beyond the peace of raising our kids in a small town, there are other perks, especially at this age.

I love my hometown Chicago and can’t wait for annual visits and travels to other cities, even abroad.ย  However, when I come back to my home in Florence, I know I can fill a prescription 10 minutes flat; I personally know my banker, pharmacist, and police chief.ย  No lines, traffic, or high levels of crime.ย  For me, it’s just easier…for about three months; after that my stomach starts to grumble and I have to get away and find what I crave – an array of culture.ย  We have a few galleries and festivals, but I need a bit more to feed my appetite.ย  I’m not alone.ย  Many folks from here travel far more than I, and most folks I have attracted from here are like-minded about art, spirituality, and politics.

Yes, I said it.ย  Not everybody from Alabama voted for Mo Brooks or Tommy Tuberville; there are plenty of folks that want this state to grow in all areas, and they even vote progressively. However, the truth is that as a state, we are at the bottom of the barrel, and it’s up to us to get us out and to move us forward, first in mind, then in action. How?

I am too old to be out there in the streets with my daughter protesting.ย  They march and I’m ready to crawl.ย  (A lifetime resident, Glenda Williams, and I were talking. She remembers making a stand at the Colbert County Courthouse.ย  We both recounted that we had our time during the Civil Rights Movement.)ย  What I can do is write about what I see and encourage all I know to do what we can.ย  If we chop the Alabama mountain of fear into molehills, little by little we can move the needle forward.

Old Schoolers protesting the Confederate monument, Florence courthouse. Larry Brown and Yours Truly.. (You notice we are sitting). Photo credit: Fredrick Huntley

Molehills:

  • It takes courage to rage against the backward machine in Alabama.ย  Let’s help our candidates out.ย  If he/she believes in a new Alabama, we can do all we can to support the candidate and run our mouths about policies that serve us all. Speak change into existence.
  • If you experience bigotry, say something.ย  Join Project Say Something and call out the roots of racism right here in the Shoals and nationwide. Call, write and do what you can to contact government officials.ย  We can’t have our government dog-whistling racist tweets and rallying against the Constitution.ย  Steve Marshall. John Merrill,ย  Mo Brooks, Tuberville.ย 
  • Write and call to pressure Kay Ivey about that bill supporting Confederate monuments. These sordid figures do not represent who we should be..ย  We don’t have to protest physically; let your voices ring out for justice.
  • Mr. K and I traveled to Tennessee to buy lottery tickets…along with a bazillion other folks from AL.ย  Call, write, pressure Representatives to come out of the Neanderthal ages. Legalize the lottery.ย  I mean, it ain’t like we don’t need funding for education; we are dead last in the nation’s ranking.
  • Support events that promote cultures other than your own, and bring someone who hasn’t experienced other cultures with you.ย  Go to festivals and galleries.

Florence – The WC Handy Birthplace, Museum and Library houses personal memorabilia from WC Handy (who wrote “Memphis Blues” and “Beale Street Blues”) including his trumpet, handwritten music and the piano on which he composed “St. Louis Blues.”

    • Y’all wanna’ know where Aretha, Percy, Wilson Pickett, and the Rolling Stones used to record to get the funk they needed?ย  Muscle Shoals!!ย  Visit one of the famous studios; catch The Midnighters blues band wherever they are playing. This was the home of the Father of the Blues, WC Handy; see his home museum. Learn about indigenous ceremonies, drumming, and much more at theย  CORE Center.ย  A tribute to his Yuchi ancestor, Tom’s Wall is a must-see.ย  Browse to see what the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art has scheduled. ย  See works by Alabama artists like Charlene Carter and many more.ย ย 
  • Robert Trent Jones golf courses are big in Bama too.ย  (‘Better call Chicago golfer, Tyrone Banks).

RTJattheshoals

  • Social media is a strong collaborator.ย  Post your views and visions for Alabama on your page.ย  #forward #2021

The CORE Drummers at the Project Say Something Juneteenth Celebration

I don’t envision Alabama tossing out its charm, (Mr. K is from here too), but I want us to come into this century with ideals that are inclusive and receptive to change.ย  I ain’t walking or running, but I’m writing and talking change for where my feet are planted – the red clay of Alabama.ย  What?!


Joy Juice

There isn’t a day that goes by without someone exclaiming, “Thank God, I woke up this morning!.”ย  I’m screamin’ the same thing.ย  I am also screamin’ that I want to leave a legacy of expansion and growth in this place whereย  I am living my senior years.ย  Do it for your grands.ย  Wherever we live, we are blessed to be able to do what we can to make a change.ย  Remember, to move a mountain, moving every molehill counts.

“It’s all good/God/love” – Victorine

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


Please Subscribe and Follow my blog!


โ† Back

Thank you for your response. โœจ

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ย Victorine, Bio

Author ofย  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent,ย now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check outย Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.ย  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.ย ย  Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicy

Pearls

 

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com

I am a fan of the fabulous Facebook group, Wear Pearls on January 20, 2021.ย ย  ‘Never heard of it?ย  It only has 410K members, and it’s growing.ย  (Y’all know that after this post, you must check it out).ย  This group has the direct mission of supporting our Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, the pearl-wearing, fierce AKA and HBCU graduate; the former prosecutor and Senator who slam-dunked her office as second-in-command of the USA.ย  The group page has countless women, children, all colors, and creations sporting the pearls they intend to wear on Inauguration Day.ย  What?!ย 

One of the oldest gemstones, Pearls have always been a delicacy that decorated our dress code to affirm class in a traditional sense. So there’s this.ย  However, Vice President Harris is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, the first African American Sorority, and its founders are referred to as the 20 pearls.ย  Wearing pearls signifies that Vice President Harris knows who she is; she is intuitively and literally bringing her pearls of wisdom to the White House.ย  I wonder does she know that pearls carry even more significance?

Pearls have a spiritual connotation that symbolizes a calling of the new dawn for our country:

The pearl is a symbol of perfection and incorruptibility; it is a symbol of long life and fertility, and because of its luster it is often considered a MOON symbol. Buried within the OYSTER shell, the pearl represents hidden knowledge, and it is highly feminine.” sparknotes

Pearls represent the gift we have long awaited, an opportunity to fall away from the wretchedness of our past to birth a country accountable to all it serves.ย  Women have significant intuition; we nourish, sustain, and we know.ย  We have been “buried within the oyster,” learning and growing, but we are the treasure we have been waiting for.ย  Yet, there is another layer.

Vice President Harris represents the Black pearl.ย  Always significant,ย  the color black represents love.ย  In the midst of the new administration wrangling out the challenges, made processes, ready to transform, love is personified.ย  If we can start with love, we are destined for limitless potential.ย  This symbol, the pearl,ย  is for all of us to remember who and what we are as individuals and as a nation.ย 

So why did I give the pearls my deceased husband gave me to my daughter, Camille?ย  I guess I knew/know her destiny. (She is also an AKA). ย  It’s OK though; I have my mother’s fresh-water pearls, symbolizing faith, truth, and integrity. I’m non-phi-non, but I’m just as fierce.ย  What?!

I hope you have your pearls and wear them on January 20th, even if you are in your PJs. In this representation of a new reality, pearls are not gender-specific. Remember, no limitations.ย  They mirror a new day.ย 

Congratulations, Vice President Kamala Harris and the USA.

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.


Joy Juice

Take a holy breath, I think we are on our way.ย  Wearing pearls, we affirm Mother God is working.ย  This symbolic gesture can serve as a reminder of the true treasure we possess within each of us, accessible through the One, the ability to love.

“.6who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it,” Matthew 13:46

Buddhist tradition:ย  “ลšarฤซra is a generic term referring to Buddhist relics, although in common usage it usually refers to pearl or crystal-like bead-shaped objects that are purportedly found among the cremated ashes of Buddhist spiritual masters. … Sarira are also believed to ward off evil in the Himalayan Buddhist tradition.”

Pearls carry a significant tradition throughout the continent of Africa.ย  Origin and History of Pearls in Africa

It’s all good/God/Love – Victorine


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โ† Back

Thank you for your response. โœจ

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ย Victorine, Bio

Author ofย  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent,ย now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check outย Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


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For Rosa

Her spirit has no frame.

Her smile

ย ย ย ย  opened her home, with her Sam,

ย ย ย ย  to family and friends, made family.

Her generosity

ย ย ย ย  packed Beautiful Sisters into her suitcase

ย ย ย ย  to travel far-off places

ย ย ย ย  and kept us safe through looming hurricanes.

Her joy

ย ย ย ย  always vibrant and willing,

ย ย ย ย  danced “my jam!” and knew “how low (she) could go”

Her reverence

ย ย ย ย  opened hearts with her prayers

ย ย ย ย  affirming Godโ€™s work within her blessings.

Her spirit has no frame.

It/she remains with us

ย ย ย ย  overflowing,

ย ย ย ย  through love,

ย ย ย ย  with our gratitude.

Rosa.

1/15/2021

Love,ย  “Sister,” Vicki


ย 

Rosa and her Sam
Cherished memory with Rosa Roberts (sitting) and Indria Perilloux in my home.



	

Wait…

I have never been much for waiting.ย  I used to feel that some folks did/could not value time, that they would go into the crevices of their psyche and conspire to make me cringe. These days in this season, I can’t afford my previous behavior while waiting. When someone is late, I no longer pace the floor or scratch a blackboard.ย  I no longer stand in front of the bathroom and loudly sing because it TaKEs FOreVER FoR SOmeONE To GrOOm AND GO!ย  No, I don’t; ‘can’t have my ‘pressure go up.ย  Instead, I just pick up my phone and browse all the mellie (“juicy news” in Caribbean jargon) on social media.ย  What?!

Awaiting a person is one thing, but let’s look at America waiting for Amerikkka to grow up and stop acting a fool. Since the inception of this country, we have been waiting.ย  In 2021, this baby is still a toddler with tantrums, storming the Capitol of these United States.ย  Why?ย  Just ’cause Black folks voted and their votes counted?ย  Child, please!

Black Lives Matter, GW Harper

We have serious growing pains.ย  If you didn’t know, now you understand what privilege looks like.ย  Riled up and supported by Baby T and his gang, big bawling terrorists climb, crawl, and walk loud and proud up in the Big House, defying, killing the law, defecating on the Capitol floor, and sitting on the desk of the Madame Pelosi.ย  Officer Eugene Goodman had to step up to stop Amerikkka from entering the House Chambers.

Except for several, the terrorists are alive, and unlike protesters for racial justice, no spankings,: not many are jailed.ย  One big baby with face paint is eating organic food in jail. Baby musn’t go hungry.ย  As grown folks, we have the charge to punish the petulant demagogues and anarchists.ย  Expel Amerikkka.ย  America is not its playpen.ย 

The adage goes that if enough time passes, good things will come.ย  But we don’t wait for our children to become adults; we groom them to be mindful, and if they act out, they are reprimanded.ย  Amerikkka will never learn unless we recognize and handle it now, take action now. We have been waiting too long for this shift to occur.

While we know waiting requires patience,ย  whatever we do, we don’t pray for it.ย  We will be tested over and over.ย  God be like, “Y’all got it?…do y’all need some more practice waiting?”ย  We don’t.ย  We’re done!

Flag roots by Ronnie Phillips

Featured photo: leeann-cline-@-unsplash


Joy Juice

We learned our lesson on waiting.ย  Everything is coming up that needs to come out.ย  Time to release this craziness to make way for the new dawn, America, not Amerikkka.

For years now, I have heard the word โ€œWait!โ€ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This โ€œWaitโ€ has almost always meant โ€œNever.โ€ We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that โ€œjustice too long delayed is justice denied.โ€ Dr. Martin Luther Kingย  (Happy Birthday)

It’s all good/God/love – Victorine

ยฉ 2021 Vicki Goldston, All rights reserved.

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ย Victorine, Bio

Author ofย  Be S.A.F.E., StillAware, Faithful, Excellent,ย now available on Kindle Amazon as an e-book.

โ€œโ€ฆthe book title and its content are intended to be a whisper, reminding us that by taking the time to connect with our spiritual self, we can center through anything and that we are forever within the bubble of Godโ€™s protection.โ€

Donโ€™t forget to check outย Garden Spices Magazine, Celebrating our differences.


NEWS FLASH!!

We appreciate you reading, laughing/crying with us.ย  If you enjoy the content and wish to support us, please become a member of PATREON.ย ย  Itโ€™s a way to receive benefits from Garden Spices Magazine and from Spicyโ€ฆ