A Simple Little Exercise

This is a wonderful little video demonstrating
a beautiful concept of self and heart.

A Few Minutes to Be Light and Free!

A nice little exercise from Sri Mooji.

So simple, so easy, so beautiful!

Animal Totems Part 3: The Medicine in Practice

Practicing the Medicine

Eliot Cowan gives practical examples of animal totem medicine and how it works to bridge the effective healing practices of indigenous traditions with the modern world and its concerns.

Namaste

The Elephants Knew ...

The Elephants Knew 
Some will say there is no God, try and tell that to the elephants.....

THE ELEPHANTS' JOURNEY TO PAY RESPECT, BUT HOW DID THEY KNOW? 

Lawrence Anthony, a legend in South Africa and author of 3 books including the bestseller, The Elephant Whisperer.

He bravely rescued wildlife and rehabilitated elephants all over the globe from human atrocities, including the courageous rescue of Baghdad Zoo animals during US invasion in 2003.

On March 7, 2012 Lawrence Anthony died. He is remembered and missed by his wife, 2 sons, 2 grandsons, and numerous elephants.

Two days after his passing, the wild elephants showed up at his home led by two large matriarchs. Separate wild herds arrived in droves to say goodbye to their beloved 'man-friend'. A total of 31 elephants had patiently walked over 12 miles to get to his South African House.

Witnessing this spectacle, humans were obviously in awe not only because of the supreme intelligence and precise timing that these elephants sensed about Lawrence's passing, but also because of the profound memory and emotion the beloved animals evoked in such an organized way:  Walking slowly, for days, making their way in a solemn one-by-one queue from their habitat to his house.

Lawrence's wife, Francoise, was especially touched, knowing that the elephants had not been to his house prior to that day for well over 3 years! But yet they knew where they were going.

The elephants obviously wanted to pay their deep respects, honoring their friend who'd saved their lives - so much respect that they stayed for 2 days 2 nights without eating anything.

Then one morning, they left, making their long journey back home.

SOMETHING IN THE UNIVERSE IS GREATER AND DEEPER THAN HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.

A message from Chief Oren Lyons & Seventh Generation Fund

A short (40 seconds!) but impactful message
from Chief Oren Lyons from Seventh Generation Fund.

Another good reason to eat your greens:

Another good reason to eat your greens:
It makes you more optimistic about the future

• Optimistic folk have higher levels of plant compounds called carotenoids in their blood
• Orange produce and green veg are rich in carotenoids
• It's thought they might have a de-stressing effect

By Anna Hodgekiss
PUBLISHED:  17 January 2013 

People who eat plenty of fruit and vegetables tend to be more optimistic about the future, new research suggests.  
Scientists have discovered that optimistic folk have higher levels of plant compounds called carotenoids in their blood.

A commonly-known carotenoid is beta-carotene, a pigment found in high levels in orange fruit and veg and green, leafy vegetables.
 

Scientists have discovered that optimistic folk have higher levels of plant compounds called carotenoids - found in orange produce and green, leafy vegetables - in their blood

Previous studies have shown that high blood levels of antioxidants  - of which carotenoids are one form - may be a marker of good health.

Antioxidants help keep other molecules in the body from producing free radicals, which can damage cells and contribute to disease.

'Individuals with greater optimism tended to have greater levels of carotenoids such as beta-carotene,' said lead investigator Julia Boehm, of the Harvard School of Public Health.

'This is the first study of its kind to report a relationship between optimism and healthier levels of carotenoid concentrations,' she added.

One theory is that antioxidants might have a de-stressing effect.
 
The current study evaluated blood concentrations of nine different antioxidants, including carotenoids such as beta-carotene and vitamin E in nearly 1,000 American men and women ages 25 to 74.

Participants filled out a questionnaire about their life attitudes and provided blood samples to the researchers, according to the report in Psychosomatic Medicine.
They also measured the degree of optimism in the same group.

Researchers found that people who were more optimistic had up to a 13 per cent increase in carotenoid concentrations in their blood compared with people who were less optimistic.

The researchers believe that higher levels of fruit and vegetable consumption among more optimistic people may at least partially explain the results.

People who ate two or fewer servings of fruits and vegetables a day were significantly less optimistic than people who ate three or more servings a day.

They found that people who ate two or fewer servings of fruits and vegetables a day were significantly less optimistic than people who ate three or more servings a day.

They added that the relationship between optimism and carotenoid levels was only partially explained by the fact that more optimistic people tended to engage in healthier behaviors such as eating fruits and vegetables and avoiding cigarette smoking.

Last year, scientists at Warwick University found that people who ate seven portions of fruit and veg a day are the happiest.

The study found that those who ate around eight portions of fruit and vegetables a day had an average score that was one point higher than people who did not eat any.
The link remained even when people’s exercise levels and overall diet – both of which can influence mood – were accounted for.

Although it is not known exactly how fruit and veg improve wellbeing, they contain chemicals known as antioxidants, which are thought to reduce stress levels.

At the time, lead researcher Professor Andrew Oswald said  he was 'stunned ' when he looked at the data.

‘We think we’re on to something really important here,' he said. 'However, we don’t really know why this is – whether there is something in the biochemistry of the fruit and veg which works inside humans.

‘We know that fruit and veg  carry a lot of antioxidants and those protect us against attacks on the body. But how that works through into our minds and emotions, researchers have no idea.'
The Department of Health has spent at least £4million on its ‘five a day’ advertising campaign since it was launched in 2003.

In contrast, the French are told to eat ten portions a day, the Canadians between five and ten, and the Japanese 13 portions of vegetables and four pieces of fruit. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2263987/People-eat-plenty-fruit-veg-optimistic-future.html

Sobonfu Some: The Natural Way - i-WE Project - Natural Way: Indigenous Voices

Sobonfu, shares how her tribe, the Dagara People of Burkina Faso, view the relationship between the youngest and oldest members of the village. 

She describes how that relationship between the very young and the very old forms a vital bond, a container of sorts, that creates the space to hold a healthy community. Within that container, each individual villager's spirit can be recognized; each person can be free to express his or herself fully.

With her actions, Sobonfu shows us how "community" is more than just a trendy word.  With wisdom from the other side of the world, she demonstrates how community is a necessity for all humans; it lies within us, in the realm of the heart. Around that fire, we all are held by the space between the youngest and the oldest; we became a community.

  

Sobonfu Somé, whose name means "keeper of the rituals," was destined from birth to teach her ancestors' wisdom, ritual, and practices to Westerners who seek a deeper connection with the sacred rhythms and essences of life. She travels the world on a healing mission as she shares the rich culture of her homeland.

Life in Sobonfu's village would likely appear impoverished and primitive to the "civilized" observer. Meals can be meager, there is no privacy, children wander about from hut to hut. But while Burkina Faso ranks among the world's poorest countries economically, it remains one of the richest in spiritual life and custom.

In Sobonfu's village, everyone lives in direct relationship with the Spirit that is alive in all things. Rituals that ensure harmony and balance are woven daily into the fabric of life. Frequent ceremonies, some very elaborate, are conducted to mark life passages, a celebration of Belonging and of Home.

For example, everyone in the village joyfully anticipates the unique gifts a new child will bring the community. They honor that uniqueness through life and into the time after death, when the unique gift will continue to contribute to the well-being of the people through a Dagara Ancestor.

Sobonfu offers precious gifts of healing, communication and community. Read more about her work at www. sobonfu.com , including her leadership of Wisdom Spring, a not-for-profit that seeks to provide drinking water and resources for education to various villages in West Africa. 

Shamanism is ...

"Shamanism is a path of knowledge, not of faith, and that knowledge cannot come from me or anyone else in this reality. To acquire that knowledge, including the knowledge of the reality of the spirits, it is necessary to step through the shaman's doorway and acquire empirical evidence." 
  — Michael Harner

MICHAEL HARNER

"What Yogananda did for Hinduism and D.T. Suzuki did for Zen, Michael Harner has done for shamanism, namely bring the tradition and its richness to Western awareness," say Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob, in their recent book, Higher Wisdom.

Michael Harner, Ph.D., founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, pioneered the return of shamanism, the shamanic journey, and shamanic healing to contemporary life. He has done fieldwork in the upper Amazon, western North America, Samiland (Lapland), and the Canadian Arctic. His books include The Way of the Shaman, Hallucinogens and Shamanism and The Jivaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls.

Elephants hold vigil for human friend

By Jess Zimmerman
14 May 2012


Elephants travel to the Anthony home.
(Photo by Thula Thula Game Reserve)

In case you needed another reason to care about wildlife, here’s one: If you devote your life to elephants, they might come to your funeral. Or anyway that seems to be what happened for conservationist and “elephant whisperer” Lawrence Anthony, who died in March. A few days after his death, two herds of elephants filed through the bush to their friend’s home, where they appeared to stand vigil for two days, according to Anthony’s family.

Anthony had spent time living with the elephants, in order to care for traumatized animals who were considered violent and unruly. But at the time of his death, of a heart attack, Anthony was living in a house on the Thula Thula game reserve in South Africa. The park’s elephants hadn’t visited the house in a year and a half, but Anthony’s son Dylan says that the herds traveled 12 hours to arrive shortly after his father’s death.

If you’re scoffing instead of sniffling right now (BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO SOUL I GUESS) consider this: Elephants are well-known for their grieving rituals when family members die. If they thought of Anthony as a sort of tiny, weird-nosed cousin — and why wouldn’t they, since he lived with and cared for them? — then it makes sense that they would give him the same treatment. And if animals can truly consider us a part of their family, it can mean only one thing: We owe a lot of elephants a lot of birthday gifts.

http://grist.org/list/elephants-hold-vigil-for-human-friend/

Knowth River-Sun

Spring Equinox Sunset on the River Boyne viewed from the Great Mound at Knowth

View of the River Boyne and sunset from Knowth Neolithic Great Passage Tomb, Bru na Boinne, World Heritage Site, Ireland. The Sun mirroring in the River Boyne causing a River-Sun just after the Spring Equinox 2012. The effect is from slower, still water on the inside of the bend. This also mirrors the myth of The Dagda-Elcmar-Oengus (triple god of the Sun) who all have a relationship with Boann (the River Boyne).

 

The River Boyne and Knowth are in Ireland. I was at Knowth in October 2010.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxztnyYdZA4

Sweet Woodruff in the Herb Garden

A fragrant vanilla substitute.

By the MOTHER EARTH NEWS editors
May/June 1984

Sweet woodruff can spread to make a nice ground cover. 

ILLUSTRATION: MOTHER EARTH NEWS STAFF

Lately, more and more people have begun to understand just how limited — in both variety and nutritional value — our “modern” diets have become. This realization has sparked a new and widespread interest in the culinary and therapeutic uses of herbs ... those plants that — although not well known today — were, just one short generation ago, honored “guests” on the dinner tables and in the medicine chests of our grandparents’ homes. In this regular feature MOTHER EARTH NEWS will examine the availability, cultivation and benefits of our “forgotten” vegetable foods and remedies ... and — we hope — help prevent the loss of still another bit of ancestral lore. 

If you enjoy fragrance, you’ll probably like sweet woodruff (Asperula odorata or Galium odoratum), because its scent has been likened to that of new-mown hay or vanilla. A perennial that thrives in moist woods in temperate climes, sweet woodruff has, for centuries, been gathered and dried for use as — among other things — a strewing herb (the old-fashioned equivalent of today’s air fresheners), a perfume and potpourri ingredient, a tonic tea, and a special addition to the May Day wine (“Maibowl”) with which Europeans celebrate the return of spring. Furthermore, on St. Barnabas’s and St. Peter’s days, bouquets of woodruff, sweet box, lavender and roses were placed in churches.

Sweet woodruff’s pleasing scent only becomes apparent after the leaves have been dried ... but then it lasts for years. The odor is due to coumarin, a chemical also found in tonka beans, sweet clover or meliot, and some other leguminous plants. In potpourris, given it not only adds a fragrance of its own but acts as a fixative for other scents, woodruff’s contribution is twofold. Sachets of the dried herb can be laid among the household linens; in an earlier age, the leaves were even used to stuff mattresses. (In addition to perfuming the bedclothes, the sachets were reputed to repel insects, which must have made the herb a popular commodity in the days when regular bathing was a luxury!)

Teutonic warriors believed that sweet woodruff promoted success in battle, and therefore tucked its green sprigs in their helmets. The origin of this belief isn’t clear: Perhaps it stems from the fact that woodruff leaves are mildly anesthetic and healing when applied externally (thus helping a soldier to ignore his wounds) ... or perhaps it derived from the leaves’ ability to “make the heart merry” when taken in wine.

Be that as it may, this charming little herb can be a vanilla substitute in various sauces and beverages. Marilyn Hampstead, whose Fox Hill Farm is one source of Asperula plants, reports that sweet woodruff can be steeped in milk —overnight or for several days — to make a refreshing drink that’s especially enjoyed by children ... or, to impart a vanilla taste, soaked in whatever liquid is required in a given recipe ... or, to make a delicious glaze for tarts and turnovers, steeped in currant juice and strained out before the juice is thickened by cooking with sugar.

Woodruff grows to an average height of about eight inches from a slender, creeping root-stock. Whorls of six to eight slightly shiny, somewhat rough, pointed leaves surround the square, glossy stem. Small, starry flowers appear in May and June; later, the seeds ripen into little rough balls covered with hooked bristles that cling to passersby. The plants can be propagated by seed, but since the germination period is so long (sometimes 200 days!), more satisfactory results can be obtained by root division in the spring and early summer (right after flowering). The herb prefers moist, slightly acid, humus-rich soil in a semi-shaded location. Woodruff is quite finicky, so its conditions must be met for it to survive ... but once established, it spreads to make a good ground cover. The leaves will be most fragrant if harvested during and directly after blooming. Chop them up and dry them immediately in a warm, shaded area.

Many fine nurseries carry sweet woodruff plants, among them Hemlock Hill Herb Farm, The Rosemary House and Fox Hill Farm. 

http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/sweet-woodruff-herb-garden-zmaz84zloeck.aspx

Comment: Sweet Woodruff plants can be found at most nurseries. It is a great long lasting herb in the garden that takes little to no care.

Peppermint Discourages Mice in Walls

   

You may be able to get rid of mice in your walls by scattering about cotton balls soaked in peppermint oil.

By Norm Noe
December 2010/January 2011

I live in a 102-year-old house, on a small acreage, which helps explain why I had a problem and needed to know how to get rid of mice in my walls. (It sounded like they were having a party in there!)

The young lady that works where I shop said she had heard from her grandma that all you need are peppermint-soaked cotton balls scattered about, and mice will split!

So I placed small, peppermint-soaked cotton balls all around the kitchen. I unscrewed two wall plugs and carefully slipped some in behind the sockets and, like magic, no more sounds of mice. Twenty-four hours later, no sign of the mice at all.
Norm Noe
Vancouver, Washington

http://www.motherearthnews.com/green-homes/how-to-get-rid-of-mice-zm0z10zhun.aspx

Comment: I live in a 105 year old house and I don't get mice. But in the past I got lots of rats in the walls. It was not pretty.  I can remember banging on the wall in my bedroom to try to scare them away. No, it did not work! When we did some remodeling we put blocking in so the walls and attic space are not one. This keeps them out of the walls, but we have gotten a couple in the attic since then and catch them with a have-a-heart trap. (they like cheesecake)  Then they have to be transported more than 4 miles away so they can't find their way back. I am wondering if the rats would be offended my the peppermint smell. My spearmint and orange mint plants (which I have plenty of) don't seem to keep them out of my yard though).

GRATITUDE

TEDx San Francisco

x = independently organized TED event
Louie Schwartzberg
Founder, Blacklight Films



MOVING ART by Louie Schwartzberg
www.movingart.tv

Plant Spirit Medicine

We all yearn to be connected to our spirit, a community, and the natural world, yet how often do we give ourselves the time to nurture that pure, heartfelt desire? Our modern lives have become so busy and stressful. We know the pace takes a painful toll, which we try to remedy with healthy food, therapy, a yoga class here and there, or morning meditation. All of these approaches help, yet we still wonder, is there more?

Sometimes an illness, a bad break-up, or the death of a loved one will activate our core of inner wisdom, shaking us up enough to open our hearts and commit to deeper healing.

Could the potency and mystery of ancient-wisdom traditions provide a medicine for the spectrum of illnesses and the alienation of modern culture?

Communities once worked and played together around the fire. People felt connected to each other and to the natural world around them. Healers helped with individual maladies and also maintained the emotional and spiritual wellbeing of the entire village. The medicine of the old cultures was deep and effective. It was more holistic than anything we dream of today. Despite all that modernity has undone, the Huichol people of central Mexico have kept alive their humor, their communities, and their profound medicine.

Eliot Cowan is the author of Plant Spirit Medicine, and a fully initiated Tsaurirrikame (shaman) in the Huichol Indian tradition. He began the study and practice of herbalism in the 1960’s and completed a Master of Acupuncture degree with J.R. Worsley in England in the 1970’s. Eliot subsequently apprenticed with Don Guadalupe Gonzalez Rios, an eminent Huichol Indian Shaman. On the occasion of Don Guadalupe’s retirement in 2000, he ritually recognized Eliot as a guide to shamanic apprentices in the Huichol tradition.

Eliot has shared his gift with many all over the world. In 1989, Eliot was my teacher. My year long apprenticeship program was based at Dry Creek Herb Farm north of Auburn CA. It was a wondrous year, opening me up to many life changing opportunities. The journey has continued to amaze and confirm my belief in this profound medicine.

It is only with the heart that you can see, what is essential is invisible to the eye. ~ Unknown

Woman Shaman

Women spiritual leaders, medicine women, priestesses and shamans from Africa, Asia, and the Americas. From the Women's Power dvd created by Max Dashu of the Suppressed Histories Archives www.suppressedhistories.net/womenspowerdvd.html

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video recorded for TED

In this Steve Jobs commencement speech at Stanford, he shares a story about one of his life experiences, presenting a blessing in disguise. This speech is full of simple messages for living life. And again we are presented with another example of blessings! Enjoy

Stanford University, Filmed June 2005



Steve Jobs, 1955-2011, he was a role model about living.
Follow your heart and stay hungry, stay foolish...

Eliot Cowan speaks about "Blessings"

We all yearn to be connected to our spirit, a community, and the natural world, yet how often do we give ourselves the time to nurture that pure, heartfelt desire? Our modern lives have become so busy and stressful. We know the pace takes a painful toll, which we try to remedy with healthy food, therapy, a yoga class here and there, or morning meditation. All of these approaches help, yet we still wonder, is there more?

Sometimes an illness, a bad break-up, or the death of a loved one will activate our core of inner wisdom, shaking us up enough to open our hearts and commit to deeper healing.

Could the potency and mystery of ancient-wisdom traditions provide a medicine for the spectrum of illnesses and the alienation of modern culture?

Elder shaman in the Huichol tradition (Eliot Cowan) discusses his knowledge of Blessings. What are they? Are they always good? How does one ask for a blessing?

Eliot Cowan is the author of Plant Spirit Medicine, and a fully initiated Tsaurirrikame (shaman) in the Huichol Indian tradition. He began the study and practice of herbalism in the 1960’s and completed a Master of Acupuncture degree with J.R. Worsley in England in the 1970’s. Eliot subsequently apprenticed with Don Guadalupe Gonzalez Rios, an eminent Huichol Indian Shaman. On the occasion of Don Guadalupe’s retirement in 2000, he ritually recognized Eliot as a guide to shamanic apprentices in the Huichol tradition.

--------------------------------
I have a blessing story to tell.

I had been training (on weekends) as an herbalist for several years. When I asked to have Eliot Cowan teach Plant Spirit Medicine in No. CA and when he agreed we found out it was for 3 day weekends for the apprenticeship year.

I was very disappointed, as I knew I couldn't take the training. As a specialist teacher, my students weren't serviced when I wasn't there so I couldn't take off Fridays. Then at this same time my favorite assignments were cut/dropped due to tightening of the budget and I was devastated at the loss of what I loved doing.

I ended up moving to a more traditional assignment where I taught on a regularly/daily scheduled classroom basis which required a substitute when I wasn't there. I soon loved this assignment too and of course I trained with Eliot Cowan and have been a practicing Plant Spirit Medicine Practitioner for 13 years.

Yes, blessings come in many packages.

WOMAN SHAMAN: THE ANCIENTS

The wisdom of the ancients, the ancient wisdom, direct experience of the primordial source, the flow and flicker of spirit moving through us, through earth, water, air and fire. That luminous source that predates religious dogma and transcends all the rationals for domination . . . and scatters them.

The circle of life at which all beings are relatives. The medicine women, oracles, diviners and female prophets.

In a thousand ways they told us that woman like this didn't exist. That there were medicine men, prophets, priests, that ceremony was man's business. That women belonged in the background. This is a lie. We know better.

We remember and the cultural record remains in rock art and ceramic sculpture, bronzes and paintings.

They show us women moving in ecstasy, incantation, in trans-dance.
   

Woman Shaman  the movie pulls back the curtain bringing you the images and stories of woman who chant, dance and pray with their bodies, to deepen and unify their consciousness, to heal and to transform the world.

Woman Shaman: The Ancients.

This is the trailer for the forthcoming movie by Max Dashu on female spiritual leaders, dreamers, drummers, healers, ecstatic dancers, and psychonauts. It gives a global view of archaeology, rock art, and cultural treasures representing women shamans throughout history. See www.suppressedhistories.net for more information and links to contribute to the production fundraising, or visit the Suppressed Histories page on Facebook.

Summer Solstice 2011

This was an extraordinary time coming up to and during this year's summer solstice. The energy flowing around was very very strong and seemed to many to be coming from many directions. Intense? Dysfunctional? Disorganized? Telling? An Alert? Encompassing? Overwhelming? Enveloping?

This year seemed different! Did you spend anytime honoring the change in seasons? Or listening to a message or two? Did you peer inside to see your own reactions and feelings? If not, you still can because we are still under the influence of this change of nature.

Some people have reported unusual events prior to the solstice. Unexplained events that must be presenting us with a message, but opening the key to these messages can be difficult. Some events don't fit in with the normal laws of nature that we embrace. How could that have happened? What other explanation is there? None? How can I take that into my psyche? How can I understand? Why was this event or events presented to me?

I have pondered how and why these events are occurring in different places around the world. I cannot explain the events. I can say that they occurred for a reason. Strong messages like these may be the only way to get the attention of the recipient. They are a gift that needs to be opened, investigated within ones heart, experienced. HONOR THESE GIFTS - even if you don't completely understand the full potential of the message.

So, how do we honor them, other than a ceremony or spending time really looking at the message?

An important way, is to honor oneself, to honor your friends and family, and the other beings living on this earth together with us. This includes all life, from your pets, to the fish in the sea, and the plants as well as the microorganisms in the soil.

Yes, this is and was a powerful summer solstice event!

Red Clover - infusion

Susun Weed talks about the wonderful herb - red clover.
She shares about its immune healing abilities and many important uses for it. It is easy to make a nourishing red clover infusion as you will see in this video.



Susun Weed makes red clover nourishing herbal infusion. Red clover blossom infusion is one of the world's best remedies for infertility, no matter what the cause. It nourishes the health of both eggs and sperm, opens blocked fallopian tubes, adjusts hormones, and generally makes the entire body more receptive to pregnancy. It is also highly regarded as an anti-cancer remedy. It is considered safe for consumption by pregnant and lactating women. The high vitamin content of red clover blossoms, combined with the folic acid in the leaves is especially helpful to sperm and egg production and helps prevent birth defects. Red clover's high mineral and trace mineral content helps restore and maintain good production of hormones. Its profuse and exceedingly absorbable calcium and magnesium help rejuvenate and repair the delicate tissues of reproduction.

An infusion is a large amount of herb brewed for a long time. Typically, one ounce by weight (about a cup by volume) of dried herb is placed in a quart jar which is then filled to the top with boiling water, tightly lidded and allowed to steep for 4-10 hours. http://herbshealing.com/How_to_make_Infusions.htm

Join Susun Weed in the Catskill Mountains near Woodstock NY, view complete schedule of events at http://www.susunweed.com/ join the free ezine, register for the free online course Nourishing Herbal Infusions the Wise Woman Way, view the holistic links directory, ask questions at the Wise Woman Forum, join Herbal Healing Email group, visit five weblogs with Women's Health Q&A database, and so much more...join us at http://www.herbshealing.com