Love Letters from Lotus Lodge: Did you know that you are an artist?

 

Did you know you are an Artist?   How to become a great artist?  Did you know the cure is within? 

 YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS  is the Canvas of your mind!  There is no limitation to the perfection you can draw on the canvas of your mind.  Let's wipe the canvas clean and start over!

       Have fun!  Experiment with you powers of creation in the realms of your consciousness!  Visualize the sun rays coming through your head and opening your consciousness to the Great Creator within- you are unlimited!  You may walk freely through the Great Corridors of Rooms of The Kingdom (Heaven) within!  Use the Rainbow to create your palettes!  Topaz blue - God's Power, God's strength yellow God's illumination, God's wisdom!  Intense pink- God's Divine Love-  White ascending higher and resurrecting you!  Emerald green- God's health, wealth, concentration, consecration, speaking your truth!  Ruby pink God's peace, healing, grace, ministration.  Violet- mercy, compassion, invocation, freedom transmutation use and visualize these colors on the canvas of you mind. Intense and pure-no dull faded colors,  What a painting your have creative using God's rainbow the highest vibration. 

         Feel your consciousness changing!  The feeling would contains 90% of your energy.  As your consciousness is the canvas of your mind, what you think and feel creates the canvas.  What are you presenting to the world?  There is no time nor space in consciousness- you are free to dwell in the realm of perfect expression, or create a dull , dark blurring canvas.  What is your quality of thought and feeling?  You are a creature of thought and feeling make sure your quality of thought creates a canvas that AWES AND OH'S the Universe.

 

        Make a wonderful servant out of your feeling world and DRAW the POWER of LIGHT and GOOD GOD GIFTS (Ideas).  Consciously through your feeling world create within a force field of Peace and Love!

 

        Now your a Master of Your Own Life-  Keep creating with God Energy Flowing through you.

 

     Now Go Paint Your Canvas of Life.    

Rev. LaWanna Rine- 330-878-7379

 

 Chakra Photo Source Unknown

 

 

Love Letters from Lotus Lodge: Today is the Day!

 

 

May 20th. - June 20th.  We have been Blessed with Great Gifts;  The Balancing of the Male - Female Energy - Solar eclipse.  Let's feel Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine Energy flow through Our Body Temples - and Live to Express Each moment the Gift given each of us to use to Balance the Energy of our Universe. 

Today is a great opportunity to Live our Life to the Fullest - This Solstice is the Bench Mark of Ascension Today As we honor THE ASCENSION FLAME Which is the WAY BACK HOME,  for all mankind. HOME IS WHERE THE HEART is! It can ascend any and all conditions _ This day focus on the White Flame of Purity, Resurrection and Ascension.

 

 Today is the Day to Release Our Consciousness and allow It to Ascend above distress onto Peace From Poverty and Opulence, from Discord into Perfection, To ascend and condition from Limitation into Harmony.  This year we are given the activities of Divine Alchemy.  It has taken 880 to 90 years of bringing forth The Great Golden Age!  Today is the Day to MASTER OUR CONSCIOUSNESS and fellow being with the Ascension Flame.

                            Go with Love,

                              Lawanna Rine

You can make an appointment with LaWanna by calling 330-878-7379 

Photograph courtesy of tribe.net

Ode to my Fabulous Father!

'Tis the gift to be simple, Its a gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, Will be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed, To turn, turn, will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come round right 'Tis the gift to be simple, Its a gift to be free, 'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, Will be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend, we will not be ashamed, To turn, turn, will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come round right Till by turning, turning we come round right Simple Gifts- Elder Joseph Brackett 1848    Happy Foodie Sunday my friends and Happy Fathers Day ……Two weeks ago on Memorial Day , my own father finally succumbed to a ripe old age of 93 and a horrific bout of pneumonia. I miss him terribly, but I do not miss the last 10 years of his life, a period of time where the complications of nursing home living began to shape his life and ours. They do not call this period of time “The long goodbye “ for nothing, for it truly is the longest goodbye that you’ll ever experience. That being said, the strangest thing has happened in my life. I have the feeling of being shot from a cannon , of relaxation that I didn’t know could exist anymore. My time is once again mine and so are my memories and as I look back over my life, I realized that it was my father as much as my mother who I need to thank for this ever passionate, totally consuming interest that I have always had in food and organic gardening!   My father taught me many things that I have found useful throughout my life. One of my earliest memories of my dad was a trip that we took to Seattle where every morning my mother would eat oysters but daddy and I would gorge ourselves on huge, warm , just baked oozy runny pieces of the local fresh blackberry pie. Now I don’t think anyone would find this unusual, but my mother (always the definition of appropriate!) was perturbed. It actually wasn’t the pie that she objected to, it was our choice of the dark chocolate ice cream that topped that pie. It was absolutely delicious, a combination of fruit and flower and earthy chocolate yumminess. I missed that taste for what seemed like centuries until 7 years ago when one of our wonderful local ice cream companies created a flavor called Black Raspberry Chip. Daddy and I were completely entranced. If you’ve never tried this combination, it is the essence of alchemy.  My father taught me many other good things, such as how to make May Wine when the Sweet Woodruff has flowered, what healthy soil smelled like (his gardens were always gorgeous!) , that cheese wasn’t ready to eat until it smelled like the bottom of my horses hooves and that Laphroaig was the only single malt that I’d ever find worth drinking. He loved fancy restaurants and continental service. I think that was one of the things that drew him to my mother because she’d been raised in family where white gloves and polished silver were the standards, unlike his family where his father ate the same thing every day of his life (broiled lamb chops and melba toast with mint jelly) because my grandmother was an absolutely terrible cook. My mother was an exceptional cook as were her mother and grandmother before her. My father was crazy about that grandmother to the point of really irritating his own wife. Who could blame him? I’m to understand that her floating island pudding was the stuff of gossamer dreams and her leg of lamb stuffed with garlic and rubbedwith curry and mustard is a recipe that I use to this day as well as the stuffed peppers that I make in her enormous stock pot…a pot that’s been well seasoned for over a hundred years.   Daddy ate sweetbreads and tripe and truffles and all kinds of things that would make the normal man run panicked towards the nearest barbecue, coincidentally a type of cooking that he gave up over 40 years ago when he read that charcoal grilling produced fumes which were carcinogenic. He did live to a ripe old age, ate red meat meat like a hound, fromage like a Frenchman, enjoyed steak and kidney pie with plenty of ale and never had one day in his life except when he was hospitalized without some form of sugar, most always something chocolate. The day that he died I found myself with one more memory from long ago, quite a precious one. On a trip over 40 years ago through the English countryside, we left my mother reading her Gourmet in the hotel while we went off in search of my father’s afternoon sugar fix . The streets were cobblestone and my father held my hand the entire time as I skipped down the twisting lanes. We found a bakery full of warmth , sugar and chocolate. We bought two lacey burnt sugar covered cookie cones that were filled with chocolate ganache (way before it was even popular to know what that was let alone how to spell it!) and covered with sweetened dark chocolate. Hand in hand we walked slowly back, quietly munching and just enjoying the soft sounds and luscious smells of the British countryside. Just me and my dad and chocolate….. this little girls Holy Trinity.  Godspeed daddy…if there’s great food in heaven I’m sure that you’ve found it. Kiss mom for me and by the way thanks…my gardens are gorgeous this year and my vegetables are abundant even with the lack of rain. I could swear that I see you in them everyday pruning and watering with an ice cream cone in your other hand and your dog by your side. Happy fathers day…I love you....Thank you for all the simple gifts.                           This was originally printed on Fathers Day in my favorite perfume blog Perfume Smellin Things!

 

Love Letters from Lotus Lodge!

Lotus Lodge

There are reasons that my son calls me an old hippy! For one thing, since he was a little boy his home has been filled with a vast collection of drums , feathers, crystals and strangers wandering in and out at all strange times of the day in search of soothing reiki and soul retrievals. His early years were spent traveling with his father and me to a lovely retreat center in the forests of Southern Ohio to a place called Lotus Lodge which is run by a lovely woman named LaWanna Rine. Lotus Lodge was the first place that I ever came to understand how fragrance and healing were inextricably linked. LaWanna is a wonderful old soul who is gifted with a profound knowledge of herbs, essential oils and all of their properties. She believes profoundly in the existence of many Ascended Masters and she dresses everyday in a rainbow of beautiful colors.... she will never wear black. She has the most amazing collection of costume jewelry that I have ever seen and is never without at least 10 pieces of it. She is without a doubt the most gorgeous 85 year old woman that I’ve ever seen, she only looks to be about 70. She is filled with songs and the most amazing energy that carries her up her hills for long walks with her dogs everyday. She always smells wonderful, covered with the herbs and oils that are her allies. She’s sophisticated and utterly luminous at the same time. For the sake of many of the old hipsters who may be lurking here, meeting her for the first time is a bit like meeting your fairy godmother while you’re tripping. I’m sure that anyone my age will know exactly what I mean! Did I mention that she has crystals everywhere the size of boulders?

Quan Yin

Walking into Lotus Lodge for the first time is a purely pleasurable assault on the senses. There is always a fire in the woodstove and a pot of fresh herbal tea simmering in the kitchen. LaWanna’s always baking something wonderful too, gluten free and vegan. After many hugs , she looks at you and assesses what you need. Most often, it’s an essential oil and hot stone massage in her wonderful treatment room with Enya playing and plenty of time to relax. Sometimes, she will draw you a warm bath with candlelight in her old clawfoot tub, to which she will have added epson salts, oils and the fresh tinctures that she makes from plants that she grows and uses for their healing properties. One beautful summers day she brought her massage table out onto her vast porch which overlooks the artesian spring and her beautiful woods. When I asked what I was supposed to do, she laughed , told me to take my clothes off and she proceeded to give me a massage with the most wonderfully fresh watermelon pulp . Then she rinsed it all off with warm herbal water and used her special blend of almond oil and essential oils to finish. To say that I was in heaven is nothing short of an understatement.

86 Years Young!

Whatever she chooses for you that day is exactly what you need and you always leave refreshed , filled with optimism and plenty of treats! Almost everything that I’ve learned over the years about healing and herbalism I learned from her…she remains to this day one of my greatest teachers. I’ve recently reconnected with LaWanna after a couple of years and walked into her lodge to find an amazing vegetarian brunch waiting for me and the lady herself hard at work at her desk with papers flying all around in typical LaWanna fashion. “I’ve got so much to share…I can’t stop writing! Do you think that you could help me get it out to world on the internet?”. So I’ve created her very own own category here at the Windesphere Witch called “Love Letters from Lotus Lodge” and you’ll occasionally see one from her. It will be flowery and abundant just like the lady herself and full of her native wisdom and if you find yourself intrigued LaWanna can be reached to schedule an appointment at 330-878-7379.

Perfume Illuminated: Jasmine

 

 Flavor: Jasmine

Photograph courtesy of http://www.miniperfumebottle.com/

My goodness what a week it’s been! Tuesday’s transit of Venus makes this a period of time in which to celebrate the feminine in all of her aspects. Indeed around here we’re all feeling just a touch more romantic than usual, possibly because on Tuesday the 12th my darling husband and I will be celebrating our 30^th wedding anniversary.  Today is also an lovely day for me because after a bit of a hiatus Perfume Illuminated has returned! Roxana Villa and I are delighted to be back and todays subject is one that delights us both!  

 Whatever the reason today is for all of the extra love in the air,  it' also Friday, also known in these parts as Venus Day!  Today is a perfect day for a delightful love spell or to manifest abundance in all aspects of your life. Flowing, silky fabrics in bright hues of ruby , pink and gold feel like just the right thing to wear on a day devoted to love and what prettier posy could we play with today  than the ethereally beautiful Jasmine flower?  

 When I first began my journey into the world of aromatherapy, I became obsessed with finding a bit of true Jasmine absolute. I was convinced that it possessed some sort of alchemy, something that would make me a bit more beautiful, just a touch more magical.  I was never able to find it, the early 80’s still being awash in synthetic perfumes masquerading as the real thing, but thankfully because of Scott Cunninghams  “Magical Herbalism” I was convinced to take a stab at growing a beautiful jasmine plant in a lovely pot on my patio.

 I remember walking outside when it was awash in bloom to bury my nose in it, thinking to myself that I’d never smelled anything quite so luscious. It had a totally narcotic effect on me, which I quickly learned was part of her charm and I experimented with the lovely blossoms that I harvested from it, making simple tisanes and syrups while strewing them along with fresh rose petals throughout my bedclothes in an attempt to recreate the effect of Medieval flowery bower. The lovely jasmine is a superb hormone balancer and I love to steep the beautiful flowers in some almond oil to use for wonderful massage  .  After a warm bath, you’ll   sink peacefully into your bed knowing that the sweetest of dreams are on their way and if you’re menopausal like I am you’ll find that a bit if this wonderful oil helps to banish the insomnia that  occurs so frequently during the night!

Photograph courtesy of http://www.oceanthoughtsyoga.com/

 

One of my earliest memories of my mother was of the Jasmine tea that she would always order whenever we’d find ourselves in a tearoom together, a ritual she loved that connected to her mother and grandmother before her. I love it too, but I find that most Jasmine teas leave a longing in me for something fresher, a bit more fragrant. A couple of handfuls steeped in a pot of tea temperature water and then sweetened with a touch of honey does the trick for me as does a bit of Jasmine hydrosol just lightly spritzed into a glass of branch water.  Indeed when I first met Roxana Villa, she offered Jim and me each a glass of spring water that had been perfumed with a lovely Jasmine Hydrosol. I’ll never forget it….I couldn’t believe what I was tasting. It was the purest essence of Jasmine and it was the most delightful thing that I’d ever tasted in a glass of water.  It didn’t need anything else, but this is a drink that goes beautifully with Moroccan or Persian food. It’s utterly refreshing and completely compliments the exotic flavors of a flaky Chicken Bastilla  (Morrocan chicken pie) that’s been dusted with fresh cinnamon and confectioners sugar. 

Bastilla Photograph courtesy of http://moroccanfood.about.com/

One of my favorite things to do with fresh  jasmine blossoms is also the easiest and that is to create a beautiful syrup to use in many different recipes. Homemade Jasmine syrup  drizzled over perfectly ripened melon, pineapple mint and creamy oozing burrata cheese  is as decadent a dessert as it gets or I love to make a simple rice pudding by cooking Arborio rice risotto style with coconut or almond milk, pieces of pistachio nougat, chopped almonds,  dried cherries, a touch of cinnamon and some raw honey. When the rice is thickened perfectly, I add a touch of ghee to taste, scoop some into a pretty bowl and drizzle it with this same syrup. To call this comfort food is an understatement. Take the same pudding, thin it out with a bit more almond milk and throw it into an ice cream maker to create a wonderful frozen dessert that you can serve with the jasmine syrup and sliced white Queen Anne cherries! Ummmm…. 

Nougat photo courtesy of http://annmariekostyk.com/

 

You can also make an incredible martini with this syrup by shaking together an ounce or two  of ginger flavored vodka (Skyy makes an exceptional one!) , a teaspoon of lemon juice, a dash or two of white peach bitters,  a tablespoon of agave nectar, cracked ice and at least a tablespoon of this luscious syrup. If you want to, for fun you can omit the lemon juice and instead of agave add a bit of amaretto and a raw egg white (organic please!). Shake hard, strain into a martini glass and you’ll have a delicious “Fizz”.

 

Garnish either of these delightful cocktails with several of the fresh blossoms for a beautiful, summery cocktail!

 

To make approximately 1 cup of Jasmine syrup you will need to bring 1 cup of water , 1 cup of sugar and a couple of strips of lemon peel to a gentle simmer.  Let the sugar dissolve, stir it for a couple of minutes, no more because you don’t want it to boil or begin to caramelize. Then put a couple of handfuls of just picked ,pesticide free, non – washed organic Jasmine blossoms into a mason jar and pour the syrup over them and let the whole thing steep for a couple of hours after which it will be completely ready to use!

In a pinch you can use the Monin Jasmine syrup...not nearly as good nor as magical but a suitable substitute:)

Now while the syrup is steeping, why don't you float over to Roxana Villas Illuminated Perfume to bury your nose in her blooming Jasmine musings! have a wonderful weekend, filled with love, abundance and beautifully fragrant thoughts....

 

Bewitching words of Wisdom: LaWanna Rine- Live the Life YOU were Created to Live!

My father said to me once a very long time ago...."Dear, you're very strange...but that's ok, because it takes wierd people like you to make some things happen in this world " He passed from this earth plane this week and since I've felt him strongly in everything I've done. In his memory I'd made the decision to reclaim my "oddness", and put it to use in the world in a way that perhaps could make a difference. Wouldn't you know in that spirit I received a phone call this morning from one of my greatest teachers ...a fabulous woman named LaWanna Rine whose entrance into my life was such a powerful blessing so many decades ago. She's 86 years young and still is one of my greatest teachers.

 She told me she'd written something and she asked my help to put it out there into the Universe. Here it is below, not a moment too soon for us I think. We are in the midst of interesting times, but if we're open to the energies around us amazing things can happen for us all. Remember...It's really only and always about how well and how much you allow yourself to be open to LOVE.....

 

 

6-4-2012 - Full Moon Eclipse bringing in The Divine Feminine Balance

 

6-6-2012- Venus in transit- Integration with Sirius and The Pleiadian Alliance heralding the Full Return of the Golden Dolphin Energy!

 

"Live the life you were created to live….

 

When God’s first breath entered you at the moment of Birth- Each of you were given a gift to share with the Universe.  The last Golden Age is here- Glow Wo-Man GLOW!

 

Let’s start anew- Let the instructions we honour be based upon logic and common sense. Since the words “I AM” are the two most used and powerful in any language- I call that feeling of Love I feel when I thank God, when I look at nature, the moon, the sun, the Love that surrounds me and fills my heart with Gratitude.  I feel this presence coming Alive within me- So I am always say my I AM Presence – That way I identify with God power- God Illumination, God LOVE- I can’t respond to a white robed figure sitting somewhere in the sky -on a throne-Judging me-

 

The feeling of GOD LOVE so saturates my every cell- I know my body is my Temple!

 

Many years ago I lived in Pain and was told by many doctors – I couldn’t live- I went home from the hospital with no intention of ever going back-

 

I saw a purple flower and I was inspired to destroy all the black in my wardrobe- and focus on the Color Purple as I had a fire pit outside- I would focus on the Violet Blaze and lit candles with a Violet Flame- The more I wore Purple or Violet and ate Purple colored foods such as  Blueberries , Purple onions etc- The pain started leaving my body-

 

I found a book on Breathing- was inspired to take Yoga and was invited to teach Yoga on TV- I wore Violet Leotards- encourage students to focus on the Purple candle- There were write-ups in the newspapers about me- The Purple Lady-

 

So since the 60’s I have walked and talked the Path of the Violet Flame- The doctors have passed- I am 86 years young- I AM Presence fills me with the Violet Flame- And I AM so excited to share my secret with the universe so we can welcome this year 2012 into the New Golden Age with Eternal Life and Eternal Youth  !"

 LaWanna is an extraordinary healer and can be reached always with love at 330-878-7379

      

 

Garden Fantasies and Grilled Dinners.....

Happy Foodie Sunday everyone! What are you planning for this lovely long weekend? I’m spending today out in my garden, which has been an utter symphony of scent for several weeks now due to the crazy warm breezes that have been blowing for months now. Indeed spring came early and I’ve enjoyed it and this year I’ve even planted artichokes to go along with my fairly ebullient state of mind.  This year I decided to try and keep everything manageable  (right!) and I’ve planted my vegetables in containers. This keeps everything nice , weed free and very controllable.   Pretty too…because the containers can double in an instant as fabulous centerpieces for an impromptu evening on the patio with a few friends ! It’s fun to garden this way…I can control the soil and the light and even the finicky eggplants seem happy! I’ve got shallots, lettuces and swiss chard, several types of tomatoes and so many herbs that when the southern breezes are blowing I can lay in the hammock with a Campari and soda and pretend that I’m  relaxing somewhere in Italy with the olive scented breezes blowing through my hair and a luscious dinner of oozing burrata cheese  nestled on a bed of fresh tomatoes and basil and perhaps a luscious Bistecca that’s been marinating for hours in olive oil, rosemary , garlic and lemon waiting for me on the veranda.  My husband’s usually there in my fantasies cooking it for me, a real plus because the man has really learned how to use his grill and wield his tools! His recipe for roasted mussels in white wine can bring me to my knees. He uses just a touch of olive oil, a bit of garlic and rosemary and a tablespoon of white wine and then roasts them slowly and tenderly in a cast iron pan over the open flames. Served over a bed of juicy braised fennel, with lots of crusty grilled bread I can promise that you have never tasted anything better.  If you want the recipe write me and I'll send it to you. I can't promise you though that they'll turn out as well…Himself has a wee bit of magic about him!  One needs a perfume for such an occasion and today I’m wearing one of my favorites, Eau d’ Italie’s utterly gorgeous Jardin du Poete. To say that I adore this  would be an understatement. Jardin du Poete is really a perfect perfume for me. It’s a Medieval herbalists materia medica and a wiccan grimoire all wrapped up in a bottle, juicy, peppery , green and full of all of the things that I love in a fragrance like bitter grapefruits and oranges, angelica ,basil and pink peppercorns.  A bit of vetiver and a touch of musk is the final bit of magic that brings Pan himself dancing into the garden to play devilishly with all of your senses  that mixed with my husbands mussels and a perfectly chilled Viognier are destined to create an absolutely delightful and delicious evening….. Learn more about the luscious Eau d' Italie from eauditalie.com. Photo of the burrata salad courtesy of  winestainedcloth.wordpress.com This was first published on Perfume Smellin Things , my fave perfume blog!