Alchemy!
Bubbling in the Cauldron...Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
10/25/2012
Tuesday night my friend Bethane and I decided to carve our pumpkins. We had a blast, sprawled out all over her kitchen floor like kids, laughing and drinking wine and reminiscing about times shared.
With the exception of one gory fight that left us not speaking for over 6 months we've been friends for over 30 years and I always say that she's more like my sister which means that we always have loads to laugh about over the many shared bottles of wine and mischievous escapades.
My pumpkin's on the left and her's which ended up looking just like her cat Thistle is on the right:)
Now...what to do with all of those seeds. Both of these pumpkins were full of them and the walls were incredibly thick and fleshy. I predict a long , cold winter but at least we'll have roasted pumpkin seeds!
BOO!
Rinse the seeds of the remaining strands of pumpkin
Put them in a wok and begin to slowly roast them. I use about two tablespoons of butter and when they begin to dry out I add salt, pepper, a tablespoon of maple syrup, 1 of teriyaki sauce,1 of minced garlic and 1 of chili sauce . Continue to stir until coated and roasted.
They will be a bit sticky but they will be delicious. Sprinkle them on to salads or serve them as a wonderfully chewy autumn snack with drinks
Be~Witching : Incense and Peppermint
10/02/2012
Enjoy this lovely chart! Once again, I don't know who to attribute it to but I'm grateful for it. It's truly lovely, concise and one of the best tools that I've seen in a long time! I love incense and I love to make my own and burn it often. Simply take a bowl and fill it 1/2 way with sand. I use a beautiful abalone shell that I got years ago because it does have a wonderful Venus vibe! Then get a pack of incense charcoal disks and lay one on top of the sand. Light it and let it burn until you're sure that it's burning (It will be ashy and glowing, not flaming!) and scatter any combination of herbs and spices around and on top of it. You can even add a couple of drops of any essential oil that you love provided that it's natural. Perfumed oils are generally derived from petroleum products and other nasties. They will generally send off a horrid black smoke when you light them and ruin not only the effectiveness of your spell, but the effectiveness of the smell! My favorite? A combination of White sage, Lavender , Bay and Pine. Write me please and let me know yours!
The Reluctant Healer: The Joy of Reinventing Yourself and Living your life as a work of art!
07/06/2012
I've been meaning to write this for several weeks now, but the truth is that I've been too busy in my garden! The summers intense heat has required me to water constantly, but we've had a bit of rain this week so I'm taking a moment to really enjoy some quiet time and to reflect upon the last few months. Many of you know that in January I began a year long certification program with the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York, which will be complete in Midwinter 2013 which I am loving. I thought that would be enough to keep me occupied for a while, but since my father died I feel an urgency to get to it...to grow all of the seeds that were planted in my heart so many years ago. So I'm about 20 days from finishing up my Reiki Masters level training and in a month or two will be embarking on a three year journey to become a Community Herbalist. Oh and did I mention that in a few months I will be certified to teach David Wolfes theories of Raw Food and Longevity? Phew...I am studying all of the time right now and it really feels good! Right now, this monastic life suits me...I'm a bit like a cloistered monk with gorgeous gardens full of healing plants, ripening raspberries and plenty of cats....The life I've always wanted!
I must say that It is facinating to be reinventing myself at this late date but I seem to have no choice in the matter! I'm exploring possibilities for this next part of my life that I've never even considered….like a new career with my husband combining everything I/we love…life coaching, healing work, organic food, sustainable living, herbalism, social media and beautiful living and entertaining….I don't know what this looks like, perhaps it would be clearer to say that I've already started to plant this particular hedgerow, but not ever really fertilized the soil so that they could grow!
For me, the healing work has always been something that I came to reluctantly, although from the time that I was very young I showed real talent for it. I almost started a blog once called The Reluctant Healer, but I didn't..that's how reluctant I've been! Hence this new category of The WIndesphere Witch! For some reason in this part of my life (I'm 52) it feels really appropriate to finally let the genie out of the bottle…..I don't care anymore what others think and that's a true blessing. I've learned that you can't ignore yourself forever without losing a huge chunk of your soul….When my dad died recently, being a part of his process brought it back to me. I can't , nor do I wish to turn back the clock simply because of what anyone might think or say about me. I've been a happy little good witch since I was a little kid and although I laughingly have acknowledged it, I've never fully embraced it. I'm ready to have the full out crystal filled,wand waving, spell casting magical life that I always dreamed was possible..that I've kept hidden in the closet because of my "social standing" and what others might think…… truth is, I've never really been able to hide it..people always knew....I guess I'm just ready to enjoy it. So what about you? Are any of you feeling a push to recreate your life and what steps are you taking to do it?
Love Letters from Lotus Lodge: Did you know that you are an artist?
06/25/2012
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
Healing Allergies with Acupuncture
03/28/2012
Dr. John Amaro and his wife Dr. Debra Richel
I had a fascinating experience today. I'm out in Arizona visiting my brother who is recovering from an awful bout of pneumonia that turned septic and threatened his kidneys. I'm thrilled to say that he's doing really well...a combination of my sister -in- laws incredible commitment to cooking the right foods for him, exercise and a fabulous Chiropractor/ Acupuncturist named John Amaro. who runs a most amazing clinic in Carefree , Arizona with his wife, Dr. Debra Richel.
Healing Allergies through Acupuncture
I'm a huge fan of accupuncture having witnessed it's miracles firsthand ( one treatment literally dissolved a heel spur) so I was delighted to find that my brother going to see one on a regular basis. He's reporting huge breakthroughs in his energy and stamina and he says that if the Docs didn't keep reminding him of how sick he'd been that he'd never know it. So about two weeks ago his allergies started flaring up on top of everything else that he was dealing with. Dr. Amaro successfully treated him for them and then for his next visit asked him to bring him a clipping of everything that was blooming and/ or greening around his home. So today my brother walked around with garden shears and filled a gallon size bag with all of the clippings. You'll know that I had to go with him to his appointment to see for myself what this Doc was doing! I was amazed....Dr. Amaro sat him down and spread all of the clippings onto a pillow and put my brothers hands on top of them. Then he placed needles strategically in the pattern called "The 4 gates", a pattern used specifically to relieve stress and open the energies outward. It is a technique for healing allergies and disease that he has used many times with pathogens like black mold to the formaldehyde in new carpets and couches.
It was amazing to watch and even more interesting to talk to Dr. Amaro about it. When I asked how it worked, he said "I can't really give you a mathematical equation for thinking about this" and I laughed and said "It's the energy?" and he smiled and nodded emphatically! We spent the next 20 minutes sharing stories and experiences and I watched my brother relax and his energy grow even stronger under this competent care. I'm not sure if any other accupuncturist is treating allergies this way , but I'd fly to Scottsdale in a heartbeat to have a session with this guy if I ever needed one.
Quite frankly, my brother is getting stronger everyday because of the work that he's doing with Dr. Amaro ; the traditional physicians are only treating the symptoms of an already broken down system. I was reminded again today just how important it is to approach healing from a standpoint of proactiveness and to honor all of the things that we can't see. There's no real language in our culture to explain the success of Dr. Amaro's treatments, but I know from my own experiences that in many other cultures success is judged by how we prevent disease, not treat it once it's there. If you're game enough to enter into your own healing journey by treating your disharmony with unknowable and perhaps even unfathomable modalities then you're opening up the space where healing can really happen. I can leave Arizona knowing in my heart that my brother is walking his healing journey in the most powerful way possible and with the greatest of allies by his side.
You can contact Dr. Amaro at :
(480) 488-9647
His offices are located at : 7518 East Elbow Bend Road
Carefree, AZ 85377
Picture of Dr. Amaro from the Sonoran News