I'm a bit like my dog Larry - with the tenacity of a Jack Russell "terrorist" going for a squirrel, I am determined to get back on my feet in short order. I still haven't received a call from the hospital for an MRI (ordered on July 7) but I have hired a physiotherapist for support with suggestions on exercises and alterations to the house. Since I last wrote we purchased an electric wheelchair and a lift chair. I just received the lift chair on the weekend and it's made a huge difference. Brian installed safety bars in various rooms and stairways. He's even turned 2 very steep steps into 3 more doable steps - this one act of excellent carpentry has been huge! It's allowed me to get out of this hospital bed in the family room and make it to the main floor, where I can sit and participate with the family in my new lift chair. Awesome!
With every day that goes by I'm gaining muscle strength, and the ability to maneuver around the house. I still haven't managed to make it to the 2nd floor into my own bedroom, but I feel more and more like that's going to happen in short order… We've put out the call for a stair lift. Even if I do manage to make the stairs all the way to the 2nd floor, I'm in this for the long run... Should I have a problem with the leg in future the stair lift will allow me to get to my own bed on the "bad" days.
I'm looking forward to attempting to make a meal in the kitchen tomorrow - I will need the services of a sous chef to go and get ingredients, but I am determined to sit on my stepstool and cook. It will be the 1st time since mid-June... I've not tried to drive since I blew out my knee, but I anticipate an attempt in the next couple of weeks.
During this time I've had a 2 visits from a wonderful physiotherapist by the name of Karen Schmitz. She Is truly amazing... I've needed her guidance on how to exercise both legs to develop muscle tone and "work" the injured knee without further damaging it. Right now my leg still has some inflammation. Karen makes me feel very empowered, and at the same time is aware how vulnerable this injury left me feeling. My experience working in hospitals is that physiotherapists can come across like bullies but Karen is supportive, knowledgeable and fun to work with... One day I hope she'll see me walk up those 13 steps.
All these changes in the house to accommodate my mobility led to some larger picture discussions over how we utilize rooms. My forced tenure in the family room (right next to the studio) was very necessary for teaching classes. I can use the electric wheelchair or the rollater to make my way out to the studio and conduct class. I only had to go maybe 25 feet. There were nights this summer I was very sore after walking that short distance. Anyway, we decided to turn the family room back into a library/teaching room. Having students in the studio meant moving displays and removing tables - this was not conducive to being open as a studio on the weekend. Some of my art pieces got damaged. In future students will still walk through the studio, but end up for their class in the library. All the TV and stereo gear is now removed from the library and as of Saturday was installed in the living room. We feel this is a better use of the house because we weren't using the living room except for seasonal gatherings and ceremonies. Angeni now has access to the TV and stereo when she is dog sitting while classes are going on...
Speaking of classes, I am quite surprised and amazed that as of Wednesday night our summer courses are complete! We're launching a new round of courses to start in September and run through winter solstice. Hopefully we will have the dates picked and published by the Labor Day weekend... It feels to me like we're running behind because our students are already asking for the fall course list. Another endeavour is the launch of a fund-raising campaign for Wolfe Island Métis Charitable Association. The grand launch will be September 1 and everyone on our email list will get a notification. In 20 years of operating Wolfe Island we've never actually done a formal fund-raising campaign. The expansion of spiritual services and the request for a community ceremonial garden means that we need a good funding base. Additionally there are some capital expenditures for new computer equipment and the typical things that a spiritual/educational organization requires over time. One of the exciting programs involves aboriginal artists in education. We enjoy working with the native arts students at the local Penetanguishene high school. The monies for art supplies and support materials will fall under the fund-raising campaign.
Well the clock has passed over into another day so I will end this blog entry. Have a wonderful week and bright blessings to you all!
Monday, August 24, 2015
Friday, August 14, 2015
A new paradigm...
As I sit here on my borrowed hospital bed I'm waxing philosophical about the changes in our family life this summer. This has been a week where I've felt like Don Quixote charging at the windmill... Our healthcare system and community level supports have been gutted like fish and left hanging - and I don't mean in a good way. What I experienced as a part of the healthcare system in the 70s and 80s is certainly very different today. There is confusion and a lack of true backbone. Everything we've got to allow me to cope, from wheelchairs to ramps to crutches have come about because we got them not because the agencies who are supposed to exist to support us have done anything - the agencies are so back logged and so bereft of funding they can do nothing for months. Even the hospital's in the region are suffering because they can't employ enough people to do the diagnostic testing required. All radiological departments should have 2 shifts running - an MRI that was ordered on July 7 hasn't even been booked yet! Southlake Hospital, RVH and Soldiers Memorial are all booking into December. That's nearly 6 months... I won't know if I need surgery until after the MRI and my doctor cannot send me for the advice of the specialist without a proper diagnosis. So I sit and suffer and my family suffers as they attempt to adjust to this life change.
I'm frustrated and I'm trying to channel my frustration into activities that are co-creative with the universe, like making jewelry and doing my prayer shawls... Teaching has been a godsend and although I joke with my students that I feel like a giant "talking head", at least I feel like the students are benefiting from the life wisdom and healing skills I've garnered over the years...
Since I last wrote I've managed to get an electric wheelchair and the loan of a manual wheelchair to take in the van. Brian and friends installed some patio stones along the side of the driveway to accommodate the transfer of my walker and the wheelchair to the van; prior to the installation of the patio stone walkway I was sinking into the sand and twisting my leg. We're looking for something that's as high as a barstool but really sturdy so I can sit in the kitchen and try to cook. I haven't cooked a meal in 2 months. Brian rebuilt the stairs from our office to the living room, turning what was 2 steps into 3 so it's easier for me to negotiate. I've had a fabulous physiotherapy session and another one coming on Monday...
Back in the day many of these things would've been covered by our healthcare system but not anymore. Keeping disabled, middle-aged and senior citizens in their homes should be the objective of our governments - fewer paid staff, fewer buildings to maintain and happier constituents. I want to live here as long as possible because it 58 I shouldn't have to give up my home for the want of about $7,000 worth of equipment.
Suffice to say we're doing our best to cope... Angeni turned 17 this week and will be having a bonfire party tomorrow night with about 11 of her closest friends. In previous years I would've made the cake and decorated it in that strange, mutant way I always did... But not this year. It will be a purchased cake and I will do my best to instruct my husband on what disgusting things to pick up at the Bulk Barn which I can use to at least decorate the cake... He will be supervising. Perhaps I should really stretch to see the positive in this - 12 teenagers? In our backyard?
I look forward to being able to drive sometime in the next month. The thing I want more than anything is to get a stair lift so I can sleep in my own bed. I desperately want to get back into my own bed. I'm grateful for this hospital bed but it's enough now... Trying to take one day at a time. I feel and see the passage of summer without experiencing it since I can't get outside very often. I hope your summer is going well. It is new moon today and here's to new beginnings for us all!
Blessings friends.
I'm frustrated and I'm trying to channel my frustration into activities that are co-creative with the universe, like making jewelry and doing my prayer shawls... Teaching has been a godsend and although I joke with my students that I feel like a giant "talking head", at least I feel like the students are benefiting from the life wisdom and healing skills I've garnered over the years...
Since I last wrote I've managed to get an electric wheelchair and the loan of a manual wheelchair to take in the van. Brian and friends installed some patio stones along the side of the driveway to accommodate the transfer of my walker and the wheelchair to the van; prior to the installation of the patio stone walkway I was sinking into the sand and twisting my leg. We're looking for something that's as high as a barstool but really sturdy so I can sit in the kitchen and try to cook. I haven't cooked a meal in 2 months. Brian rebuilt the stairs from our office to the living room, turning what was 2 steps into 3 so it's easier for me to negotiate. I've had a fabulous physiotherapy session and another one coming on Monday...
Back in the day many of these things would've been covered by our healthcare system but not anymore. Keeping disabled, middle-aged and senior citizens in their homes should be the objective of our governments - fewer paid staff, fewer buildings to maintain and happier constituents. I want to live here as long as possible because it 58 I shouldn't have to give up my home for the want of about $7,000 worth of equipment.
Suffice to say we're doing our best to cope... Angeni turned 17 this week and will be having a bonfire party tomorrow night with about 11 of her closest friends. In previous years I would've made the cake and decorated it in that strange, mutant way I always did... But not this year. It will be a purchased cake and I will do my best to instruct my husband on what disgusting things to pick up at the Bulk Barn which I can use to at least decorate the cake... He will be supervising. Perhaps I should really stretch to see the positive in this - 12 teenagers? In our backyard?
I look forward to being able to drive sometime in the next month. The thing I want more than anything is to get a stair lift so I can sleep in my own bed. I desperately want to get back into my own bed. I'm grateful for this hospital bed but it's enough now... Trying to take one day at a time. I feel and see the passage of summer without experiencing it since I can't get outside very often. I hope your summer is going well. It is new moon today and here's to new beginnings for us all!
Blessings friends.
Monday, August 03, 2015
Crystals
We've been working for weeks on the content of the upcoming crystals course, which will be presented starting on Wednesday nights for 4 weeks in August. It's been a long time since I've presented crystals as a stand-alone course. I always have some aspect of crystals in just about every course I teach, but this is a major course dealing with both practical three-dimensional aspects of crystals and the more metaphysical, esoteric and healing uses of crystals. So it's contingent upon me every time I teach to update the material I'm using and freshen up my resource materials.
Some of the handouts were so old that Brian had to find software to convert the document format to something we could access for editing! The content doesn't change much - there aren't many new crystals - but I like to update my presentation.
It is both anxiety producing and a thrill of rise to the occasion. I push myself, and tend to over-prepare. That's okay. An adrenaline rush is always fun - some people sky dive for their rush, I prepare teaching materials.
If I'm honest with myself, I think the thing I like best about teaching is the look on student's faces when I pull together concepts that close gaps and fill in loopholes in their knowledge base. The grand epiphany, it is... and I often see a hunger in people to learn more when they "get it". Sages called it 'gnostic conciousness'. It is a knowing that resonates to the soul and cannot be refuted. I live for the big 'a-ha'.
The anxiety part of this process relates to my perfectionism. I don't always remember the names of the crystals and I'm sure I've forgotten more of the names than I ever will remember. I seem less concerned whether a stone is a piece of leopard skin agate or a piece of jasper - I'm more concerned with the relationship I've developed with a particular stone which has been part of my healing repertoire for years. I don't deal with stones by geological classification as much as I see how they function when placed on a person. Crystals are living things!
Anyway, it's been a good exercise of distraction for me while I work on healing this leg of mine. It is much less swollen but I still can't use it to climb stairs. Another round of appointments next week should yield some support from physiotherapy and assistive devices. I desperately want to get back in the kitchen, and even more desperately I want to get back upstairs into my own bed and out of this hospital bed in the family room. Suffice to say my trusty crystal wand is here and I use it on my leg regularly through the day as well as the collection of traditional medicines.
If you're interested in the last spot in the crystals class, let me know! Blessings and have a great week.
Some of the handouts were so old that Brian had to find software to convert the document format to something we could access for editing! The content doesn't change much - there aren't many new crystals - but I like to update my presentation.
It is both anxiety producing and a thrill of rise to the occasion. I push myself, and tend to over-prepare. That's okay. An adrenaline rush is always fun - some people sky dive for their rush, I prepare teaching materials.
If I'm honest with myself, I think the thing I like best about teaching is the look on student's faces when I pull together concepts that close gaps and fill in loopholes in their knowledge base. The grand epiphany, it is... and I often see a hunger in people to learn more when they "get it". Sages called it 'gnostic conciousness'. It is a knowing that resonates to the soul and cannot be refuted. I live for the big 'a-ha'.
The anxiety part of this process relates to my perfectionism. I don't always remember the names of the crystals and I'm sure I've forgotten more of the names than I ever will remember. I seem less concerned whether a stone is a piece of leopard skin agate or a piece of jasper - I'm more concerned with the relationship I've developed with a particular stone which has been part of my healing repertoire for years. I don't deal with stones by geological classification as much as I see how they function when placed on a person. Crystals are living things!
Anyway, it's been a good exercise of distraction for me while I work on healing this leg of mine. It is much less swollen but I still can't use it to climb stairs. Another round of appointments next week should yield some support from physiotherapy and assistive devices. I desperately want to get back in the kitchen, and even more desperately I want to get back upstairs into my own bed and out of this hospital bed in the family room. Suffice to say my trusty crystal wand is here and I use it on my leg regularly through the day as well as the collection of traditional medicines.
If you're interested in the last spot in the crystals class, let me know! Blessings and have a great week.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
Pride Goeth Before the Fall...
Wow, the past 3 weeks have been some of the most difficult in my life. My right knee began exhibiting signs of ligament or tendon damage, then I pinched a nerve in the upper calf and lost the ability to climb stairs. I am unable to get to the second floor, where our bedroom is, thus I'm sleeping on an uncomfortable couch. I am limited to 2 rooms; can't cook, clean, and about every 3 days Brian "fireman lifts" me up two steps so I can shower - otherwise I am limited to washing at the sink in the bathroom. The indiginity is having to ask my partner to assist washing the nether bits. My arse is already a source of great humour; now it's not so funny.
The medical assessment is slow. It is not until the 23rd that I get an ultraound. It's taken since the trip to emerg to get an MRI in Orillia booked. No firmdate4 yet. That appears to be in October or November! I can't get into my own family doctor to start his process until August 10th. Without a full and correct diagnosis, I cannot have any rehabiltive or physio treatment. In the meantime I need some very important things - a stair lift, and lifting chair, a hospital bed and oerbed table for starters. I could do with an electric wheelchair, but that will all have to wait.
I've made it out to a few medical appointments, after braving the emergency department all day on July 6th. Brian has managed some alterations to the house to allow me to just exist downstairs. He built and put blocks under the couch and my chaise, so I don't have to pull myself up from a really low sitting position. I continue to see clients and teach class - I'm doing some really phenomenal channeling of late. It humbles me how this gift evolves and grows.
Angeni worked her first full week as a counsellor, and Brian went between driving her back and forth, and caring for me. He carries 95% of the housework load, with Angeni doing little things where she can... In all of this he managed to get to his workshop and begin creating a commission of pens, due at the end of the month. His strength and calm humble me as well - "take it as it comes", he reminds me.
Our friend Christine is also a source of clarity. She's been doing business coaching with me, and our sessions have morphed to include this profound life change. The bottom line is, without a proper diagnosis yet, I don't know whether this is permanent or able to heal, even partially. I morph through periods of gratitude and periods of grief and distress. Christine is helping with that...
The top 10 things I am grateful for:
1. My husband shows me great love and support. He is my strength, physically and spiritually.
2. Angeni is rallying and helping without being asked - today she is preparing dinner.
3. This happened in summer, not winter! OMG I can't imagine dealing with this in winter. Just getting to the van to go somewhere is a risk now.
4. The support of friends - one came through with a wheelchair but it is broken. Unfortunately it won't take my weight even if it could be fixed, but my friend tried to help of me.
5. Another friend has located a hospital bed - we just have to get it here in the next few days.
6. I am grateful this didn't happen to both legs at the same time. I might be able to rehabilitate the left leg to get upstairs eventually. it's a goal to shoot for!
7. My back isn't bothering me right now - a very good thing indeed.
8. I have a home, a family and friends who love me, and a health care system which, while flawed, is inching me toward help and relief.
9. My dogs. Nuisances they can be, but they are funny and loyal. The little guys don't know what to make of all the change. They do their best to support all of us.
10. Back to my husband; all my old abandonment shadow issues are rearing their ugly heads. He reminds me he isn't going anywhere. True love - his actions are the marker of real, honest, true love....
So, I'm trying to figure out how to afford a stair lift system. I desperately want to sleep in my own bed - Brian's farts and all. Someone suggested "crowd-sourcing" and we'll look into it. I am communing with the guides/teachers/angels/ancestors asking for guidance, healing and help.
Wish me luck and send prayers! Blessings, friends.
The medical assessment is slow. It is not until the 23rd that I get an ultraound. It's taken since the trip to emerg to get an MRI in Orillia booked. No firmdate4 yet. That appears to be in October or November! I can't get into my own family doctor to start his process until August 10th. Without a full and correct diagnosis, I cannot have any rehabiltive or physio treatment. In the meantime I need some very important things - a stair lift, and lifting chair, a hospital bed and oerbed table for starters. I could do with an electric wheelchair, but that will all have to wait.
I've made it out to a few medical appointments, after braving the emergency department all day on July 6th. Brian has managed some alterations to the house to allow me to just exist downstairs. He built and put blocks under the couch and my chaise, so I don't have to pull myself up from a really low sitting position. I continue to see clients and teach class - I'm doing some really phenomenal channeling of late. It humbles me how this gift evolves and grows.
Angeni worked her first full week as a counsellor, and Brian went between driving her back and forth, and caring for me. He carries 95% of the housework load, with Angeni doing little things where she can... In all of this he managed to get to his workshop and begin creating a commission of pens, due at the end of the month. His strength and calm humble me as well - "take it as it comes", he reminds me.
Our friend Christine is also a source of clarity. She's been doing business coaching with me, and our sessions have morphed to include this profound life change. The bottom line is, without a proper diagnosis yet, I don't know whether this is permanent or able to heal, even partially. I morph through periods of gratitude and periods of grief and distress. Christine is helping with that...
The top 10 things I am grateful for:
1. My husband shows me great love and support. He is my strength, physically and spiritually.
2. Angeni is rallying and helping without being asked - today she is preparing dinner.
3. This happened in summer, not winter! OMG I can't imagine dealing with this in winter. Just getting to the van to go somewhere is a risk now.
4. The support of friends - one came through with a wheelchair but it is broken. Unfortunately it won't take my weight even if it could be fixed, but my friend tried to help of me.
5. Another friend has located a hospital bed - we just have to get it here in the next few days.
6. I am grateful this didn't happen to both legs at the same time. I might be able to rehabilitate the left leg to get upstairs eventually. it's a goal to shoot for!
7. My back isn't bothering me right now - a very good thing indeed.
8. I have a home, a family and friends who love me, and a health care system which, while flawed, is inching me toward help and relief.
9. My dogs. Nuisances they can be, but they are funny and loyal. The little guys don't know what to make of all the change. They do their best to support all of us.
10. Back to my husband; all my old abandonment shadow issues are rearing their ugly heads. He reminds me he isn't going anywhere. True love - his actions are the marker of real, honest, true love....
So, I'm trying to figure out how to afford a stair lift system. I desperately want to sleep in my own bed - Brian's farts and all. Someone suggested "crowd-sourcing" and we'll look into it. I am communing with the guides/teachers/angels/ancestors asking for guidance, healing and help.
Wish me luck and send prayers! Blessings, friends.
Friday, July 03, 2015
Dowsing - fun with a couple of sticks...
Well, I've had an interesting few weeks - busy with Angeni ending her school year, challenged by a hectic teaching schedule, and battling health issues. I am the (barely) walking wounded. It seems my tendons and ligaments in the right knee are objecting to the demands of my weight, age and work schedule. As of yesterday I am in a knee brace and using crutches. It is stressful, painful and frightening, but I return to gratitude that it could be worse - a lot worse...
Anyway, on the full moon of "She Who Finds Love in All Things" my daughter got her report card (rocking 90's) and her G1... Brian and I managed to get the preparations done for the dowsing course running as of Wednesday, July 8. Here is the information:
People ask me about dowsing all the time... the why's and whether it is relevant. It is more relevant and necessary than ever, frankly. I really find it helps students tune into their "Higher Self". Once they learn how to be their own antenna to the earth and the collective consciousness, they take off and run with it - their channeling skills develop exponentially. We all aren't going to be on TV channeling for other people... some of us are healers, painters, artists, musicians, farmers and writers. Channeling for the self involves the exact same connection to source.
I hope the weather improves to more "summer-like" temperatures and a little less rain... I pray for Greece and the Ukraine. I pray for my own people here in Canada... have a wonderful month!
Anyway, on the full moon of "She Who Finds Love in All Things" my daughter got her report card (rocking 90's) and her G1... Brian and I managed to get the preparations done for the dowsing course running as of Wednesday, July 8. Here is the information:
Dowsing - Beginner & Advanced: This popular
course is divided into 2 full days over two weekends. This is
an interesting look at the two forms of kinesiological interaction
with our higher selves. This course demonstrates the use of a
single, suspended pendulum and 2 L-rod dowsing sticks. We
should have good enough weather to assure lots of practice outside
doing geomantic dowsing, and learn radiesthetic dowsing for healing
work. This class also looks at ley lines, vortices and ghost
paths. Please bring potluck lunch both days, a binder, pen,
crystals, pendulums and L-rods if you have them. We have
pendulums and L-rods at a nominal fee for those students who require
them.
Wednesdays 9:30 AM to 4 PM
July 8 and 15. Course Fee: $125.00. Call or email me, asap.People ask me about dowsing all the time... the why's and whether it is relevant. It is more relevant and necessary than ever, frankly. I really find it helps students tune into their "Higher Self". Once they learn how to be their own antenna to the earth and the collective consciousness, they take off and run with it - their channeling skills develop exponentially. We all aren't going to be on TV channeling for other people... some of us are healers, painters, artists, musicians, farmers and writers. Channeling for the self involves the exact same connection to source.
I hope the weather improves to more "summer-like" temperatures and a little less rain... I pray for Greece and the Ukraine. I pray for my own people here in Canada... have a wonderful month!
Monday, June 08, 2015
I've got a secret...
A secret indeed... people who walk into my studio have been puzzled of late. They scan the knitwear and note 2 sweaters and 4 scarf/hat sets... however there are 3 dozen shawls. These shawls are all very different, yet share a theme (for the most part). At first blush they look like bird wings. if people start reading tags, they note words like 'harmonic resonance", "sacred geometry", "Schumann frequency" and bird names. When pressed, I will explain that my shawls are for meditation, or prayer, and contain my designs filled with sacred geometry principles. Each is unique. Each shawl represents the star people and a bird dodem, rolled into one garment that when worn will elicit a sense of comfort. A silent hug.
For over 10 years I've knit these shawls. I am driven. I do the math in my head at night or the wee hours of the morning... I visualize colours together and ask the bird dodems to show themselves to me, and explain the unique meaning of their "hug". Brian in his kind way, supports me through the yarn buying process, even if it is just one skein I can afford.
So what's the big secret? It took me a long time to recognize this is how I hug people. The violence and damage of my childhood kept me from making physical contact. The ectopic scars covering my body are really painful when something comes in contact with my skin. As my back deteriorates I cannot bend into people to hug. But, my spirit touches everyone who wears these pieces of spiritual art. Heart Art. Sacred Flight of my Heart. It's all good. I smile to myself when people stand in front of the mirror. The first thing they say is that they love the colours... then I watch them close their eyes and smile. Their soul feels the hug.... my little secret... and the ancestors, and the star people, and the bird tribes...and the crystals.... sigh... Blessings.
For over 10 years I've knit these shawls. I am driven. I do the math in my head at night or the wee hours of the morning... I visualize colours together and ask the bird dodems to show themselves to me, and explain the unique meaning of their "hug". Brian in his kind way, supports me through the yarn buying process, even if it is just one skein I can afford.
So what's the big secret? It took me a long time to recognize this is how I hug people. The violence and damage of my childhood kept me from making physical contact. The ectopic scars covering my body are really painful when something comes in contact with my skin. As my back deteriorates I cannot bend into people to hug. But, my spirit touches everyone who wears these pieces of spiritual art. Heart Art. Sacred Flight of my Heart. It's all good. I smile to myself when people stand in front of the mirror. The first thing they say is that they love the colours... then I watch them close their eyes and smile. Their soul feels the hug.... my little secret... and the ancestors, and the star people, and the bird tribes...and the crystals.... sigh... Blessings.
Monday, June 01, 2015
Shamanic rock 'n roll
Wow what a wild few days this is been! Just before 5 PM on the long holiday weekend [May 15] there was a terrible accident involving an elderly man who smashed his car into our trailer. The trailer was normally not parked in our driveway, but had been sold and was awaiting pickup. He fainted about a kilometer down the road, jammed to the accelerator, smashed into a pickup truck, careened across some lawns and into our trailer which got pushed into the spruce tree. We were worried that he would have to have his leg amputated. It was crushed. It took the ambulance firefighters and police over an hour to extricate him from his car, jammed as it was under our trailer. All of the insurance work has been settled and the elderly gentleman remains in hospital having had to be transferred to Barrie and back again... As I write this the towing company has just contacted us to remove the trailer so it's been nearly 3 weeks to resolve everything. I pray that the gentleman gets his life back and can resume his retirement in peace. The trailer means nothing - life means everything.
Additionally we took a trip to Lindsay this past week to de-spook an old mansion which was converted into 6 apartments. There were so many problems with spiritual attachments and entities the apartments were being abandoned by the renters! So we drove there and did our "thing". In less than a week there are more applicants for the apartments than there are apartments to rent! According to the owner the atmosphere is completely changed and that's what we want! When we do these excursions people seem so afraid of the spirits and yet when we got there it turns out to be victims of very old train accidents who were just lost. There were a lot of people in spirit hanging around this mansion - I will grant the owners that - but they've all been sent to the light. Case closed.
Since I last wrote our daughter has traveled to the national competition for high school bands. She's only been playing drums since March and already they won 2 gold medals at regionals and a bronze and gold at the national championships. I am stunned that a child who's never sat at a drum kit can play so well.
Just this past weekend we held our Spring shamanic healing gathering. This was very wild! We did some incredible healing on each other and some members of the community. We de-spooked an old farmhouse in the area and sent another load of spirits into the light. There were a few indigenous spirits who preferred to stay with the land and that's just fine. I packed an awful lot of stuff into 2 1/2 days because we get to see each other collectively only twice a year. Brian and I come away very tired but very happy. Another upside to these gatherings is that we go full tilt cleaning and preparing the house. Brian spent a lot of time finishing the gardens and erecting some new latticework trellises. By the time people arrived the yard looks stunning. The house remained clean after the weekend because, of course, our guests help us tidy up. We start this week with a spotless house.
I need today to stop and reflect on the whirlwind that was the month of May. I've already done a lot of correspondence this morning which was waiting in the queue. Mercifully our gang leave the food left overs so I don't have to spend a lot of my day cooking. It is peaceful because the pendulum has swung the other way. I need the day to look inward and rest. I am really very tired but contentedly so...
I noticed last night some mysterious sock monkeys have joined my little gang of sock monkeys. Funny how that happens!
Enjoy these early days of June. May your gardens be blooming and the sun shining. Blessings, peace, love and light. Kathryn
Additionally we took a trip to Lindsay this past week to de-spook an old mansion which was converted into 6 apartments. There were so many problems with spiritual attachments and entities the apartments were being abandoned by the renters! So we drove there and did our "thing". In less than a week there are more applicants for the apartments than there are apartments to rent! According to the owner the atmosphere is completely changed and that's what we want! When we do these excursions people seem so afraid of the spirits and yet when we got there it turns out to be victims of very old train accidents who were just lost. There were a lot of people in spirit hanging around this mansion - I will grant the owners that - but they've all been sent to the light. Case closed.
Since I last wrote our daughter has traveled to the national competition for high school bands. She's only been playing drums since March and already they won 2 gold medals at regionals and a bronze and gold at the national championships. I am stunned that a child who's never sat at a drum kit can play so well.
Just this past weekend we held our Spring shamanic healing gathering. This was very wild! We did some incredible healing on each other and some members of the community. We de-spooked an old farmhouse in the area and sent another load of spirits into the light. There were a few indigenous spirits who preferred to stay with the land and that's just fine. I packed an awful lot of stuff into 2 1/2 days because we get to see each other collectively only twice a year. Brian and I come away very tired but very happy. Another upside to these gatherings is that we go full tilt cleaning and preparing the house. Brian spent a lot of time finishing the gardens and erecting some new latticework trellises. By the time people arrived the yard looks stunning. The house remained clean after the weekend because, of course, our guests help us tidy up. We start this week with a spotless house.
I need today to stop and reflect on the whirlwind that was the month of May. I've already done a lot of correspondence this morning which was waiting in the queue. Mercifully our gang leave the food left overs so I don't have to spend a lot of my day cooking. It is peaceful because the pendulum has swung the other way. I need the day to look inward and rest. I am really very tired but contentedly so...
I noticed last night some mysterious sock monkeys have joined my little gang of sock monkeys. Funny how that happens!
Enjoy these early days of June. May your gardens be blooming and the sun shining. Blessings, peace, love and light. Kathryn
Sunday, May 10, 2015
Only the Shadow Knows...
I am a student of relationship; I value what I learn from the co-existence I develop with people, animals, outdoor spaces - there is a special symbiosis that comes from a well-nurtured relationship. Analyzing my past relationships with people, especially the unhealthy relationships, allows me to recognize patterns. For me, a huge issue is abandonment. I was abandoned emotionally as a child, and in turn found myself "jumping ship" in adult relationships, if I got a whiff of trouble brewing...
One of the troubling bridges to cross for people is developing new relationshiops when they're healing from a troubled or dysfunctional (maybe even co-dependent) relationship. It is easy to be with someone when the bloom is still on the rose; new love and renewed sexual excitement is thrilling at many levels. We wear our best clothes, use perfect manners, and expect the thrill of the chase. A maturing relationship seeks sweatpants and sneakers - when we don't want to wear make-up and a greasy spoon breakfast with extra syrup is perfect. These are still nearly-new relationships, but the persons involved are stepping off the pedestal. I'm concerned with the relationship where shadow begins to show itself. The wounded think they're expressing wisdom by abandoning relationships when a new partners darker parts begin to show. This is not wisdom~ this is fear and the expectation that one will be wounded. Abandon ship! No, this is fear, and bringing what you fear into a new relationship will sully it, and doom it from growth and depth.
Instead, I challlenge people to be grateful that they are being shown the shadow side. We all have a shadow self... and it ain't pretty. When a partner shows their shadow, they are being vulnerable - they are saying "Here I am with all my warts. Can you still be in love with me?" Indeed, I am grateful for the opportunity to see my partner in his wholeness - the yin and the yang. Now I can know the truth about who this is I am expending this preccious resource on to, this love....
As long as shadow is addressed and managed, it doesn't get out of control and won't ruin a relationship. My grandmother taught me to walk the medicime wheel for a full year with whomever I am loving, before I commit to the long-term. I didn't do that properly in my first relationships. It is something I did do with Brian. I am glad to know his shadow side, and grateful that he accepts mine. In my state of physical challenge I don't act like I did when we were dating. Love deepens as we embrace and are grateful for the vulnerability a person shares when they show their shadow. Own it and love them. If they are the right person, you'll know that completely and without hesitation after that full year on the wheel... if they aren't the right partner you love them as a person, from a distance, and thank them for what they taught you about yourself and your way of right relationship. No fear required, no fear involved. Move on and know you've honed your relationship skills.
One of the troubling bridges to cross for people is developing new relationshiops when they're healing from a troubled or dysfunctional (maybe even co-dependent) relationship. It is easy to be with someone when the bloom is still on the rose; new love and renewed sexual excitement is thrilling at many levels. We wear our best clothes, use perfect manners, and expect the thrill of the chase. A maturing relationship seeks sweatpants and sneakers - when we don't want to wear make-up and a greasy spoon breakfast with extra syrup is perfect. These are still nearly-new relationships, but the persons involved are stepping off the pedestal. I'm concerned with the relationship where shadow begins to show itself. The wounded think they're expressing wisdom by abandoning relationships when a new partners darker parts begin to show. This is not wisdom~ this is fear and the expectation that one will be wounded. Abandon ship! No, this is fear, and bringing what you fear into a new relationship will sully it, and doom it from growth and depth.
Instead, I challlenge people to be grateful that they are being shown the shadow side. We all have a shadow self... and it ain't pretty. When a partner shows their shadow, they are being vulnerable - they are saying "Here I am with all my warts. Can you still be in love with me?" Indeed, I am grateful for the opportunity to see my partner in his wholeness - the yin and the yang. Now I can know the truth about who this is I am expending this preccious resource on to, this love....
As long as shadow is addressed and managed, it doesn't get out of control and won't ruin a relationship. My grandmother taught me to walk the medicime wheel for a full year with whomever I am loving, before I commit to the long-term. I didn't do that properly in my first relationships. It is something I did do with Brian. I am glad to know his shadow side, and grateful that he accepts mine. In my state of physical challenge I don't act like I did when we were dating. Love deepens as we embrace and are grateful for the vulnerability a person shares when they show their shadow. Own it and love them. If they are the right person, you'll know that completely and without hesitation after that full year on the wheel... if they aren't the right partner you love them as a person, from a distance, and thank them for what they taught you about yourself and your way of right relationship. No fear required, no fear involved. Move on and know you've honed your relationship skills.
Monday, May 04, 2015
How to understand your resident spirit...
So I've been sending spirits into the light from my teen years, making this avocation of mine more than 40 years in duration. It's always interested me (in a macabre sort of way) why people are terrified of the behaviours of their resident spirits. Little things like moving objects across the table, or shifting a shower curtain from the left to the right, or just making the odd noise - these kinds of rather benign activities will send a nervous Nelly into near-apoplexy. Some people can't see past their fear and hold on to terror for years. I try to get folks to understand that compassion for this spirit person is going to go a long way to get them out of your environment! Said differently, your fear will hold them in the environment because spirits feed on highly volatile energies like fear and anxiety. Conversely, loving compassionate understanding that these entities are afraid of going into the next dimension, or they have regrets, or they simply passed in the state of dementia and are confused! Spirits are you and I. Those of us in this dimension are simply spirits having a human 3rd dimensional experience.
Spirits were people having all the same kinds of day-to-day human experiences that we all have… and the fear seems to rest in the lack of our ability to understand the form they now possess because we usually can't see them. When I am counseling those with resident spirits I ask the frightened homeowner to consider that the person in their residence might be a grandmother or grandfather… How would they want me to speak to their grandmother or grandfather who was confused and needing to go to the light? Or maybe, just maybe, this grandparent had a message for the homeowner! Projecting an atmosphere of love and compassion is crucial to getting spirits who are anxious and afraid to calm down. Think of this when you're talking to an anxious crying child - nothing much happens until the atmosphere is calm and the child is peaceful. The same holds true for spirits. By projecting love and understanding about the predicament they find themselves in, it is easier to call their guides, teachers, archangels, ancestors, parents and other family members to come through the light and take this spirit "home".
Once the spirit has gone through the veil they can come back in visitation but they aren't stuck in our dimension anymore. It's really about us coming to terms with our feelings about life, living and the ultimate ending that we all face. Knowing that we will move into our spirit form at some point in our human life should be the impetus for coming to terms with some kind of understanding of our place in the universe. Call this a spiritual understanding or a religious doctrine or whatever allows you to come to peace about the process of life, this is what will move you to come to terms with what happens to our spirit at death.
I will continue to cleanse homes (which isn't meant to imply that spirits make them spiritually dirty) and I will always counsel my clients to go to a place of compassion for those who've gone ahead...
Peace, love, and light everyone - have a blessed week.
Spirits were people having all the same kinds of day-to-day human experiences that we all have… and the fear seems to rest in the lack of our ability to understand the form they now possess because we usually can't see them. When I am counseling those with resident spirits I ask the frightened homeowner to consider that the person in their residence might be a grandmother or grandfather… How would they want me to speak to their grandmother or grandfather who was confused and needing to go to the light? Or maybe, just maybe, this grandparent had a message for the homeowner! Projecting an atmosphere of love and compassion is crucial to getting spirits who are anxious and afraid to calm down. Think of this when you're talking to an anxious crying child - nothing much happens until the atmosphere is calm and the child is peaceful. The same holds true for spirits. By projecting love and understanding about the predicament they find themselves in, it is easier to call their guides, teachers, archangels, ancestors, parents and other family members to come through the light and take this spirit "home".
Once the spirit has gone through the veil they can come back in visitation but they aren't stuck in our dimension anymore. It's really about us coming to terms with our feelings about life, living and the ultimate ending that we all face. Knowing that we will move into our spirit form at some point in our human life should be the impetus for coming to terms with some kind of understanding of our place in the universe. Call this a spiritual understanding or a religious doctrine or whatever allows you to come to peace about the process of life, this is what will move you to come to terms with what happens to our spirit at death.
I will continue to cleanse homes (which isn't meant to imply that spirits make them spiritually dirty) and I will always counsel my clients to go to a place of compassion for those who've gone ahead...
Peace, love, and light everyone - have a blessed week.
Friday, April 24, 2015
Oh weird spring week
So it's Friday already and I can't believe how quickly this week has flown by! What a weird cornucopia of weather. It's been interesting from and educational point of view in that Angeni got to participate in a public school concert and then also in the Kiwanis music festival. Both bands she participates in scored gold for the high school level competition. She is the percussionist and has only played the drums since the end of February, so this astonishes me.
I call this the "end" of the week, but it really isn't for Brian and me. Our work week is intensively centred on weekends and usually Monday & Tuesday. We take our so-called days off on Wednesday and Thursday... well, sometimes, maybe. This week was different because I am recovering from a virus. Not a cold, or anything like that - this was something I haven't really experienced personally. It threw off my sleep and I ache from head to toe. So I endeavoured to do more correspondence, lots of cooking and took a couple of naps during the week. The bug is buggering off, steadily. I am grateful that it forced me to slow down a wee bit.
As I prepare for psychospiritual development class on Saturday night, I'm impressed by the evolvement of the students. Most are very gung-ho and eager to take in the knowledge. I realize not all of them will hang a shingle and offer services, but most are interested in this for their own advancement, their deepening of their own spiritual connection to source. I admire this - and it keeps me on my toes. Some aspects of development will never change - standing to work is pretty much set in stone. Yet, the equipment is leading me on a journey of discovery that I hope keeps me fresh and current. I have more quipment in a re-purposed camera bag than we ever did in an entire lab! Learning the software is also something I need help wrapping my head around. Sound analysis software is fairly comprehensive and easy to use, but the Kinex type of software is beyond me - for now. I will grasp it with a bit more time. I won't give up my days off though... too precious.
The daffodils, hyacinth, snow drops and crocuses are all beginning to bloom. I love this time of year... The hyacinths are in a bed coveing the graves of my cats Nonny and Bob. Zuna Piggles rests out at the edge of the property, and her grave gets covered in wiid flowers. Hopefully this late-April snow gives up soon and we get that real spring weather again. We did get a taste of it once already. Brian finds his workshop qite cold this time of year. The propane is gone and the tank is being removed next week because we can't afford to heat the shop. We only ever did heat it to 10 degrees, so that his paints and varnishes didn't freeze. This is reality. But, he is braving it out there this afternooon for a bit. It's only 5 degrees today, but the workshop is quite well insulated.
The local community is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Samual Champlain with an epic, multi-day play. It's being performed in an outdoor arena. There are hundreds of people involved - I don't know where they will get hundreds of people from this tiny village, but whatever... The rehearsals have gone on for days, and the bass thump of their sound system rolls through the village. I won't be attending...
We're getting out the seeds and preparing them for planting. My favourite are the calendula seeds - they look like shrunken brown bananas. Brian is designing feather boxes and the raised bed planters for the deck. I can't get down on my knees to plant, and walking is difficult with my back issues, so raised beds will be delightful. This is the first spring in the last 4 that he's felt well enough (post-surgeries) to aggressively prepare for planting... it's precious time doing something we love and I am grateful.
Well, have a wonderful weekend. Blessings, Kathryn
I call this the "end" of the week, but it really isn't for Brian and me. Our work week is intensively centred on weekends and usually Monday & Tuesday. We take our so-called days off on Wednesday and Thursday... well, sometimes, maybe. This week was different because I am recovering from a virus. Not a cold, or anything like that - this was something I haven't really experienced personally. It threw off my sleep and I ache from head to toe. So I endeavoured to do more correspondence, lots of cooking and took a couple of naps during the week. The bug is buggering off, steadily. I am grateful that it forced me to slow down a wee bit.
As I prepare for psychospiritual development class on Saturday night, I'm impressed by the evolvement of the students. Most are very gung-ho and eager to take in the knowledge. I realize not all of them will hang a shingle and offer services, but most are interested in this for their own advancement, their deepening of their own spiritual connection to source. I admire this - and it keeps me on my toes. Some aspects of development will never change - standing to work is pretty much set in stone. Yet, the equipment is leading me on a journey of discovery that I hope keeps me fresh and current. I have more quipment in a re-purposed camera bag than we ever did in an entire lab! Learning the software is also something I need help wrapping my head around. Sound analysis software is fairly comprehensive and easy to use, but the Kinex type of software is beyond me - for now. I will grasp it with a bit more time. I won't give up my days off though... too precious.
The daffodils, hyacinth, snow drops and crocuses are all beginning to bloom. I love this time of year... The hyacinths are in a bed coveing the graves of my cats Nonny and Bob. Zuna Piggles rests out at the edge of the property, and her grave gets covered in wiid flowers. Hopefully this late-April snow gives up soon and we get that real spring weather again. We did get a taste of it once already. Brian finds his workshop qite cold this time of year. The propane is gone and the tank is being removed next week because we can't afford to heat the shop. We only ever did heat it to 10 degrees, so that his paints and varnishes didn't freeze. This is reality. But, he is braving it out there this afternooon for a bit. It's only 5 degrees today, but the workshop is quite well insulated.
The local community is celebrating the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Samual Champlain with an epic, multi-day play. It's being performed in an outdoor arena. There are hundreds of people involved - I don't know where they will get hundreds of people from this tiny village, but whatever... The rehearsals have gone on for days, and the bass thump of their sound system rolls through the village. I won't be attending...
We're getting out the seeds and preparing them for planting. My favourite are the calendula seeds - they look like shrunken brown bananas. Brian is designing feather boxes and the raised bed planters for the deck. I can't get down on my knees to plant, and walking is difficult with my back issues, so raised beds will be delightful. This is the first spring in the last 4 that he's felt well enough (post-surgeries) to aggressively prepare for planting... it's precious time doing something we love and I am grateful.
Well, have a wonderful weekend. Blessings, Kathryn
Sunday, April 12, 2015
I heard the frogs singing…
It's nearly noon on a very sunny warm Sunday. It appears that spring might have read my last blog post about being late, because she is sure making up for it today. It's already 12° and Brian is outside lubricating the wheels and axles on the trailer. The trailer has a new home next week... Anyway in the silence of this Sunday morning I've had time to communicate with our shamanic group [confirming our next gathering], and this put me in a "looking ahead" mode. I'm not one for planning too far ahead but certainly with teaching schedules one has to get the information out into the Big World so that students have time to make a choice and register.
We've been really heartened and grateful for the response by students to the current psychospiritual development class. I've really pushed a lot of information on these people because they seem capable of grabbing it and running with it. Every week Brian cautions me that maybe I'm overwhelming them, but I don't think so...
In my nearly 40 years teaching I cannot recall ever having a group where individually and collectively gratitude is shown toward the teachings on a weekly basis! This is a group of genuine, committed, spiritually progressive light workers. The key, I believe, to their advancement is the state of grace they hold - in other words their gratitude. I do not own their gratitude; I am only the vehicle through which this cumulative knowledge is shared. It is not my knowledge per se, but the knowledge of the divine that I've been able to glean in my personal and professional life.
So during last night's class when everyone stood to work, everyone channeled [some for the 1st time] I was gob smacked at just how advanced this group really is, right now, today. The collective consciousness has been advancing certainly for the past 50, years but never was it more demonstrated to me than watching these people grasp the teachings and go. In recent years we've tried offering courses and never have they run! We would hand-deliver flyers to bookstores and esoteric stores everywhere from Midland/Orillia/Barrie/Wasaga Beach/Collingwood/Thornbury and all the little communities in between - anything within an hour of our place. The lack of community response to very inexpensive courses made me question whether the universe was telling us that we are passé, and the offering of courses is out of step with current spiritual philosophy. However, in the winter, members of the community came to us and asked us to teach what we know - that was a surprise! So it started the ball rolling. Now we have a crystals course, dowsing, introduction to shamanism, and another round of channeling set to go this summer. Ultimately I'd like there to be enough trained channeling students that we can have a weekly sitting circle.
This brings me back to the frogs... At the end of last night's class one of the students poked her head back in the door and called to me "You must come here the frogs they've started singing!" After all the students were gone I did step outside with the dogs, and indeed the frogs were singing. I went to bed with that sound in my head to be awakened by birds singing. I am grateful and feel blessed that spring is indeed ushering in a new sense of connectedness and growth.
Blessings to you all and may you also feel joy in this developing spring time.
We've been really heartened and grateful for the response by students to the current psychospiritual development class. I've really pushed a lot of information on these people because they seem capable of grabbing it and running with it. Every week Brian cautions me that maybe I'm overwhelming them, but I don't think so...
In my nearly 40 years teaching I cannot recall ever having a group where individually and collectively gratitude is shown toward the teachings on a weekly basis! This is a group of genuine, committed, spiritually progressive light workers. The key, I believe, to their advancement is the state of grace they hold - in other words their gratitude. I do not own their gratitude; I am only the vehicle through which this cumulative knowledge is shared. It is not my knowledge per se, but the knowledge of the divine that I've been able to glean in my personal and professional life.
So during last night's class when everyone stood to work, everyone channeled [some for the 1st time] I was gob smacked at just how advanced this group really is, right now, today. The collective consciousness has been advancing certainly for the past 50, years but never was it more demonstrated to me than watching these people grasp the teachings and go. In recent years we've tried offering courses and never have they run! We would hand-deliver flyers to bookstores and esoteric stores everywhere from Midland/Orillia/Barrie/Wasaga Beach/Collingwood/Thornbury and all the little communities in between - anything within an hour of our place. The lack of community response to very inexpensive courses made me question whether the universe was telling us that we are passé, and the offering of courses is out of step with current spiritual philosophy. However, in the winter, members of the community came to us and asked us to teach what we know - that was a surprise! So it started the ball rolling. Now we have a crystals course, dowsing, introduction to shamanism, and another round of channeling set to go this summer. Ultimately I'd like there to be enough trained channeling students that we can have a weekly sitting circle.
This brings me back to the frogs... At the end of last night's class one of the students poked her head back in the door and called to me "You must come here the frogs they've started singing!" After all the students were gone I did step outside with the dogs, and indeed the frogs were singing. I went to bed with that sound in my head to be awakened by birds singing. I am grateful and feel blessed that spring is indeed ushering in a new sense of connectedness and growth.
Blessings to you all and may you also feel joy in this developing spring time.
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Cooking, crafting and taxes - oh my!
Well, spring is certainly taking a very long time to manifest. I am heartened by the fact that all the snow is gone from the front of the house which allows the daffodils and hyacinth to begin poking through the soil in the lawn and the gardens. Like all lawns along the street ours desperately needs a good raking and dethatching. It's a little too rainy and a little bit too cold to be working outdoors right now. In fact with Brian's recent cardiac issues I'm a little reluctant to have him do the yard work to the extent that it needs doing... Angeni will have to help. She's a good kid but this will likely elicit some episodes of teen angst. She certainly doesn't like the adventures in the dog poop filled, post-winter minefield that is our backyard.
Over the years I've been very concerned about Brian's post-cardiac surgery diet. In addition to it being low-fat, low-carb, low sodium, reduced meat and low-fat, it still has to be tasty. Angeni has not liked a lot of the East Indian and vegetarian meals that I've introduced. More teen angst. Brian loves East Indian food and I've needed to learn about some of the more exotic spices. I've enjoyed learning about them because in my studies I've unearthed the healing properties that the spices contain - like Tumeric and cayenne. We are all benefiting from the change of diet. Tonight I plan a rollicking "red beans and rice" one-pot meal. It does have a little bit of meat in it but in the past it would have been the equivalent of a serving of meat for one person, in one meal. Now this amount of meat is enough for an entire pot of red beans and rice that will be the equivalent of 3 meals for 3 people. I credit the new cooking channel called "Gusto" with providing an incredible amount of education on food and spice. It's certainly broadened my food knowledge and expanded our nightly meal repertoire. Sometimes TV has merit... Certainly Gusto is better than the wrestling shows I used to watch , but I can't give up my fave paranormal programs.
I mentioned crafting in the title... Doggedly determined, I've been doing some jewellery commissions, repairs and knitting a couple of interesting shawls. I've deviated from the series I was working on - it's devoted to bird dodems and is called "Sacred Flight". The last 2 shawls are more along the lines of the visual light spectrum and relate to chakra colours. I'm still using sacred geometry principles as they relate to the mathematics of Crystal vibration, but the shawls are not about birds and more about human spirit. When something like this comes up automatically in my art I don't fight it or try to left brain analyze it to death; rather, I let the universe flow through my work. I don't always know what the message is but I know there is a message… The deviation from the bird series may in fact be due to the psychospiritual development course we are teaching at the moment. We've spent a lot of time discussing the chakras, vibrations, auras, dowsing, crystals and spirits. I think this certainly impacted the direction my art has veered off to this past month.
Well, enough for now... have a glorious, nearly-spring, weekend!
Over the years I've been very concerned about Brian's post-cardiac surgery diet. In addition to it being low-fat, low-carb, low sodium, reduced meat and low-fat, it still has to be tasty. Angeni has not liked a lot of the East Indian and vegetarian meals that I've introduced. More teen angst. Brian loves East Indian food and I've needed to learn about some of the more exotic spices. I've enjoyed learning about them because in my studies I've unearthed the healing properties that the spices contain - like Tumeric and cayenne. We are all benefiting from the change of diet. Tonight I plan a rollicking "red beans and rice" one-pot meal. It does have a little bit of meat in it but in the past it would have been the equivalent of a serving of meat for one person, in one meal. Now this amount of meat is enough for an entire pot of red beans and rice that will be the equivalent of 3 meals for 3 people. I credit the new cooking channel called "Gusto" with providing an incredible amount of education on food and spice. It's certainly broadened my food knowledge and expanded our nightly meal repertoire. Sometimes TV has merit... Certainly Gusto is better than the wrestling shows I used to watch , but I can't give up my fave paranormal programs.
I mentioned crafting in the title... Doggedly determined, I've been doing some jewellery commissions, repairs and knitting a couple of interesting shawls. I've deviated from the series I was working on - it's devoted to bird dodems and is called "Sacred Flight". The last 2 shawls are more along the lines of the visual light spectrum and relate to chakra colours. I'm still using sacred geometry principles as they relate to the mathematics of Crystal vibration, but the shawls are not about birds and more about human spirit. When something like this comes up automatically in my art I don't fight it or try to left brain analyze it to death; rather, I let the universe flow through my work. I don't always know what the message is but I know there is a message… The deviation from the bird series may in fact be due to the psychospiritual development course we are teaching at the moment. We've spent a lot of time discussing the chakras, vibrations, auras, dowsing, crystals and spirits. I think this certainly impacted the direction my art has veered off to this past month.
Well, enough for now... have a glorious, nearly-spring, weekend!
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Hospitals - the other side of the bedpan
That's twice in once wintery month... the local hospital was needed by both of us. Working in a hospital as long as I did in the 70's and 80's I'm fairly confident about the intake issues and access to care. I don't like dealing with a doctor I don't know at all, however. There is nothing better than a relationship built on respect and trust. Well whatever. The bone infection is being treated and I should feel much better in a few short days. I was benused by the self-intake process (two brand new machines - like keyboards - one already broken)... I still had to review all the information with a clerk and produce more than one kind of identification. This is counter-intuitive and a sad statement on the past abuses of our healthcare system.
Brian is doing much better after his cardiac care adventure. It's going to take until June to get all the follow-up tests requisitioned by the doctor who treated him. At least all of this information goes back to the family doctor. As difficult as it is to get in to see him, at least there is that relationship of trust building a foundation. While we both hate going to the hospital or the doctor, now that I sit on the patient side of the bedpan, I am grateful for good care.
Angeni has a summer job lined up, and that's a bit of awesome news. As we enter April, I am amazed that there are only about 10 weeks left in this school year. Harder still is the idea that in 5 months she enters her final year of highschool. I remember watching Brian walk with her to the school bus, when, having barely turned 4, she needed help getting up the school bus stairs. As she stands on the cusp of adulthood I marvel. How time flies - she was bareely out of diapers and here she is all grown up. Driving a car is next... then in 17 months she's off to either college or university. She would argue that soon we'll need diapers. (Sigh)
How time flies, and how important it is to stay healthy, vital and grateful. Peace and blessings.
Brian is doing much better after his cardiac care adventure. It's going to take until June to get all the follow-up tests requisitioned by the doctor who treated him. At least all of this information goes back to the family doctor. As difficult as it is to get in to see him, at least there is that relationship of trust building a foundation. While we both hate going to the hospital or the doctor, now that I sit on the patient side of the bedpan, I am grateful for good care.
Angeni has a summer job lined up, and that's a bit of awesome news. As we enter April, I am amazed that there are only about 10 weeks left in this school year. Harder still is the idea that in 5 months she enters her final year of highschool. I remember watching Brian walk with her to the school bus, when, having barely turned 4, she needed help getting up the school bus stairs. As she stands on the cusp of adulthood I marvel. How time flies - she was bareely out of diapers and here she is all grown up. Driving a car is next... then in 17 months she's off to either college or university. She would argue that soon we'll need diapers. (Sigh)
How time flies, and how important it is to stay healthy, vital and grateful. Peace and blessings.
Tuesday, March 24, 2015
Boundaries
I've always attempted to help people within the capacities I hold as teacher, minister, healer, shaman, artist and especially as a psychic medium... This is my work, and as such I must earn an income. Unlike spiritual care providers in the big churches, I am not on a salary or contract - my church work is pro bono and always has been. When big spiritual bodies have large congregations they are able to pay their clergy and there is no need for fee-for-service. I need to put food on the table, and Ontario Hydro won't let me pay my hydro bill with channeling for their staff. Spiritual service providers are professionals and necessary within society, no less so than doctors, lawyers or architects. This is truth.
In the history of my work, the line has blurred quite a few times between my "professional" self and my friendships. The outcome has been fine for most of these experiences of fuzzy lines. However, there are a few significant relationships that have ended with hurt and pain on both sides - and there is nothing I seem to be able to do about it except wrap the other person in a bubble of love and light. It means loving them from a distance because the relationship is broken. I've learned from experience not to chase people to attempt to heal things, but my lessons about personal boundaries have come late in life - too late for some of the friendships gone sour.
I chatted with one of my theologian friends about why this "broken relationship" phenomenon happens. Is it ego? Is it woundedness? Is it a maturity thing? Perhaps in my case it is the "adult child of an alcoholic father" scenario? He wisely reminded me that it is all those things... It started for me with the self-protective stance of a threatened child of an alcoholic father - I was the classic peace-keeper in the family, and thus said "yes" far too often to activities and circumstances that went against what I wanted/needed/knew was right. I know I carried the "yes person" stuff into my family and business relationships. I keep learning that lesson. I've actually been participating in life coaching in order to learn paradigms for recognizing the traps I allow myself to fall into...
My theologian friend is skilled at drawing from many spiritual teachings and brought forward the Buddhist thoughts on life being in constant flow - ever changing - impermanent. Pain is impermanent. Joy is impermanent. Indeed, I recognize from our talk that to appreciate awesome, long-term friendships one must suffer the pain of damaged, lost relationships! One doesn't know what one has until it is gone... Indeed. Spending time longing for the relationship to right itself is time wasted. It needs to be loved for what it was and respected for what it is...
So my boundary issues are still a work in progress - I bear the scars of the loss of many who were in my life and now are gone. I want to learn the lesson and the means to keep it from happening again. I hope it never does... no repeating this one, next time around. It is too painful.
Enjoy this last burst of winter - it too is changing and impermanent.
In the history of my work, the line has blurred quite a few times between my "professional" self and my friendships. The outcome has been fine for most of these experiences of fuzzy lines. However, there are a few significant relationships that have ended with hurt and pain on both sides - and there is nothing I seem to be able to do about it except wrap the other person in a bubble of love and light. It means loving them from a distance because the relationship is broken. I've learned from experience not to chase people to attempt to heal things, but my lessons about personal boundaries have come late in life - too late for some of the friendships gone sour.
I chatted with one of my theologian friends about why this "broken relationship" phenomenon happens. Is it ego? Is it woundedness? Is it a maturity thing? Perhaps in my case it is the "adult child of an alcoholic father" scenario? He wisely reminded me that it is all those things... It started for me with the self-protective stance of a threatened child of an alcoholic father - I was the classic peace-keeper in the family, and thus said "yes" far too often to activities and circumstances that went against what I wanted/needed/knew was right. I know I carried the "yes person" stuff into my family and business relationships. I keep learning that lesson. I've actually been participating in life coaching in order to learn paradigms for recognizing the traps I allow myself to fall into...
My theologian friend is skilled at drawing from many spiritual teachings and brought forward the Buddhist thoughts on life being in constant flow - ever changing - impermanent. Pain is impermanent. Joy is impermanent. Indeed, I recognize from our talk that to appreciate awesome, long-term friendships one must suffer the pain of damaged, lost relationships! One doesn't know what one has until it is gone... Indeed. Spending time longing for the relationship to right itself is time wasted. It needs to be loved for what it was and respected for what it is...
So my boundary issues are still a work in progress - I bear the scars of the loss of many who were in my life and now are gone. I want to learn the lesson and the means to keep it from happening again. I hope it never does... no repeating this one, next time around. It is too painful.
Enjoy this last burst of winter - it too is changing and impermanent.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
You just never know...
A strange end to a wonderful "Spring Break" week. Started last Saturday cleaning the house extensively (basically did spring cleaning for 4 days) in anticipation of the arrival of cousins Brent and Ann from Guelph. Also on Saturday Angeni set up a huge drum kit in the office - she's never played drums and the band is going to Nationals in early May! The four-leggeds are not fans of loud percussion - neither is my ticker... Saturday night was a rolicking channeling class.
Angeni did her camp counselling job in Wyebridge aall week, and steadily developed a quite nasty cold. Ann and Brent arrived and we did a bit of sightseeing... there were some wonderful meals and good chats. Even the dogs behaved... well sort of... We bid our guests "Adieu" on Saturday. Angeni was supposed to go to Comic-Con on Saturday but that fell through. Actually that was probably a good thing because she was getting very ill... Class number 3 Saturday night was amazing. Zener cards, special dice and psychometry. Fun!
Finally we come to today. Brian awakens with cardiac issues. We spent the day in hospital and just arrived back home tonight at 11 P.M. He's been very diligent about the diet, the meds - everything except daily exercise. So he feels lucky to have pulled through this one. There are tests and things yet this week, but the bottom line is he had to lose 25 pounds and walk 30 minutes every day to build heart strength and stamina. Despite the hospital visit when we came home there was still the weekly garbage to get ready to put out in the morning. The drum set must be hauled out to the van and returned to the school first thing.
Anyway I am grateful for all the blessings this week, especially Brian's positive outcome from this major health scare. Life is strange and good. Cheers!
Angeni did her camp counselling job in Wyebridge aall week, and steadily developed a quite nasty cold. Ann and Brent arrived and we did a bit of sightseeing... there were some wonderful meals and good chats. Even the dogs behaved... well sort of... We bid our guests "Adieu" on Saturday. Angeni was supposed to go to Comic-Con on Saturday but that fell through. Actually that was probably a good thing because she was getting very ill... Class number 3 Saturday night was amazing. Zener cards, special dice and psychometry. Fun!
Finally we come to today. Brian awakens with cardiac issues. We spent the day in hospital and just arrived back home tonight at 11 P.M. He's been very diligent about the diet, the meds - everything except daily exercise. So he feels lucky to have pulled through this one. There are tests and things yet this week, but the bottom line is he had to lose 25 pounds and walk 30 minutes every day to build heart strength and stamina. Despite the hospital visit when we came home there was still the weekly garbage to get ready to put out in the morning. The drum set must be hauled out to the van and returned to the school first thing.
Anyway I am grateful for all the blessings this week, especially Brian's positive outcome from this major health scare. Life is strange and good. Cheers!
Sunday, March 15, 2015
Spooks in Motion
I am so stoked about the latest Psychospiritual Development class - for a number of reasons. I've been teaching this topic for a very long time (nearly 40 years). For a good 30 years I've occasionally added resources to the teaching notes, but I've not had to update the material completely until the last few years. I just did a massive re-write for this class, adding terminology and descriptions of cutting- edge technology. The massive escalation within technology has really raised the bar. Gone are the days we had a hand-held thermometer, flashlight, film-based camera and tape recorder. (If you were lucky you had access to a Faraday cage.) Now there are Mel meters, SB-11 "Spirit boxes", Frank's boxes, laser grids, ovulus boxes, motion sensing kinetic viewers, trifield meters, infra-red, and the list goes on... We can use our computers to filter out the noises in EVP's and hear the words spoken. ITC (instrumental transcommunication) was a huge deal in the 1970's and 80's with the work of Metascience and the "Spiricom" machine. Current technology totally eclipses Spiricom. Technology helps eliminate fraud and reduces the guesswork of field analysis. I'm so grateful to be around watching the emergence of this field I love so much...
And yet... the more things change, the more things stay the same. I was channeling for someone the other night, alone in the house. I worked with the client over Skype and we had quite a session. Just a few minutes after, I heard the studio door open. The bells on the door jangled loudly and the dogs went ballistic. I called out to see if if was Brian returning - no answer, and the door slammed shut hard, very hard. Was the person in the house or gone? I freaked, calling out that I had already dialed 911. Not hearing footsteps, I called on guardian angels and headed into the studio. As I entered I smelled cherry pipe tobacco. The only person I knew who smoked this tobacco was my grandpa Pigeon. I checked the door and indeed it was unlocked, to my dismay. I scoured the studio, checked for thefts, and went into my storeroom (formerly the garage). No flesh-and-blood person. This bothered me all the next day. I finally asked Brian to dowse: he determined it was a spirit, wandering in, attracted to the fact I was channeling. My grandpa stopped the intrusion. The issue? I had not closed the circle after being with my client on Skype!
Wow, did I feel stupid. No tech in the world replaces the protocols associated with the acts of mediumship. 1t could have been 1865 instead of 2015. My experience would have easily been prevented if I'd practiced what I preach to students: when you open a circle, CLOSE it, so the spirits know your boundaries! It's a big lesson I shared with the class last night. Keeps me humble!
Anyway, I'm delighted to have family coming to visit us this week, for the first time. Angeni is working all week as a camp counselor, and we're spring cleaning in anticipation of the visitors. Growing up we did not interact much with cousins, even though we all lived in Guelph. Now, in our golden years we're changing that paradigm. Gotta love family.
Have a wonderful spring break! Blessings.
And yet... the more things change, the more things stay the same. I was channeling for someone the other night, alone in the house. I worked with the client over Skype and we had quite a session. Just a few minutes after, I heard the studio door open. The bells on the door jangled loudly and the dogs went ballistic. I called out to see if if was Brian returning - no answer, and the door slammed shut hard, very hard. Was the person in the house or gone? I freaked, calling out that I had already dialed 911. Not hearing footsteps, I called on guardian angels and headed into the studio. As I entered I smelled cherry pipe tobacco. The only person I knew who smoked this tobacco was my grandpa Pigeon. I checked the door and indeed it was unlocked, to my dismay. I scoured the studio, checked for thefts, and went into my storeroom (formerly the garage). No flesh-and-blood person. This bothered me all the next day. I finally asked Brian to dowse: he determined it was a spirit, wandering in, attracted to the fact I was channeling. My grandpa stopped the intrusion. The issue? I had not closed the circle after being with my client on Skype!
Wow, did I feel stupid. No tech in the world replaces the protocols associated with the acts of mediumship. 1t could have been 1865 instead of 2015. My experience would have easily been prevented if I'd practiced what I preach to students: when you open a circle, CLOSE it, so the spirits know your boundaries! It's a big lesson I shared with the class last night. Keeps me humble!
Anyway, I'm delighted to have family coming to visit us this week, for the first time. Angeni is working all week as a camp counselor, and we're spring cleaning in anticipation of the visitors. Growing up we did not interact much with cousins, even though we all lived in Guelph. Now, in our golden years we're changing that paradigm. Gotta love family.
Have a wonderful spring break! Blessings.
Sunday, March 08, 2015
So, another beautiful day, with just enough hints of spring to make me giddy. I'm also still basking in the glow of a fabulous Psychospiritual Development class last night. We covered a lot of territory, and the mood was great. I'm looking forward to the next 9 weeks... As the weather improves I'm considering taking the students who wish to develop it, for a day of dowsing. One needs warm, dry weather for a dowsing class. There are two forms of dowsing I teach: geomantic dowsing (earth-based) and radiesthetic dowsing (the body).
Anyway, I am happily designing a quilt featuring Kateri Tekakwitha. The quilt is a commission by an old friend, for his daughter. I want to depict Kateri in less of a traditional, religions manner. I have visions of her with stylized wings, floating in a sunset skyscape. I'm contemplating whether to include a lily. She was known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". I am drafting my pattern on bristol board, taped into a larger piece with packing tape. It's a large picture - this is a queen-sized quilt. I've struggled with her depiction for months, but the form that's evolving is both peaceful and powerful; it makes me happy and that's what counts. The artistic process is so personal, containing so much of Self; it's difficult not to get strangled by emotional tethers. My "life coaching" helped me work off those tethers. I proceed with grace.
May your week be beautiful and playful. Peace.
Anyway, I am happily designing a quilt featuring Kateri Tekakwitha. The quilt is a commission by an old friend, for his daughter. I want to depict Kateri in less of a traditional, religions manner. I have visions of her with stylized wings, floating in a sunset skyscape. I'm contemplating whether to include a lily. She was known as the "Lily of the Mohawks". I am drafting my pattern on bristol board, taped into a larger piece with packing tape. It's a large picture - this is a queen-sized quilt. I've struggled with her depiction for months, but the form that's evolving is both peaceful and powerful; it makes me happy and that's what counts. The artistic process is so personal, containing so much of Self; it's difficult not to get strangled by emotional tethers. My "life coaching" helped me work off those tethers. I proceed with grace.
May your week be beautiful and playful. Peace.
Friday, March 06, 2015
Spiritual Teaching Assistants
So, I go to bed early last night, and spend some time writing and editing some materials for a book. It's a beautiful full moon, of "Weighs the Truth" and I'm aware of how bright the room is... In my Type-A left brain, I could move forward with another project because I'd completed all the prep for the upcoming class. Or so I thought. I fall asleep, and at 02:30 I am awakened to a message that the information I need for the Psychospiritual Development class is not complete; I am missing the "Metascience" information, a book list and some score sheets for the old Duke University parapsychology tests. Hmmm. Agreed.
I thank the guides and teachers for the information, but I didn't need to hear about it in the wee hours. One of the things I spend significant amounts of time teaching students is about the ethics of channeling and personal boundaries. In the training I received, it is never alright to spontaneously walk up to a person and say "I'm a medium and I have a message for you - do you want to hear it?" Usually this is done in a public place when the recipient of the message is caught off guard. My teachers advised, rightfully, that this is an unethical breach of their boundaries. What I wouldn't do to another, I don't want to have happen to me - I don't want messages imposed upon me when I'm sound asleep and have not opened to receive. It is a reminder to put up protection. I try to teach students to "start out as you wish to continue" in the channeling relationship.
Brian and I rectified the missing documents, as per the helpful messages. I was pleased that all the copies of student notes were already made - I just updated them with a few additional sheets of information. We've got the white board and easel, the room is set up and new white board markers purchased. I've retrieved all the books and tools we need. I'm pumped, and ready to go. The ancestors know they need to be patient until tomorrow. It's all good...
I thank the guides and teachers for the information, but I didn't need to hear about it in the wee hours. One of the things I spend significant amounts of time teaching students is about the ethics of channeling and personal boundaries. In the training I received, it is never alright to spontaneously walk up to a person and say "I'm a medium and I have a message for you - do you want to hear it?" Usually this is done in a public place when the recipient of the message is caught off guard. My teachers advised, rightfully, that this is an unethical breach of their boundaries. What I wouldn't do to another, I don't want to have happen to me - I don't want messages imposed upon me when I'm sound asleep and have not opened to receive. It is a reminder to put up protection. I try to teach students to "start out as you wish to continue" in the channeling relationship.
Brian and I rectified the missing documents, as per the helpful messages. I was pleased that all the copies of student notes were already made - I just updated them with a few additional sheets of information. We've got the white board and easel, the room is set up and new white board markers purchased. I've retrieved all the books and tools we need. I'm pumped, and ready to go. The ancestors know they need to be patient until tomorrow. It's all good...
Sunday, March 01, 2015
Birthday fun
Tis the night before my birthday... I came to bed at 6:30 and am wide awake at just about 11:15. Hmmm... It was a quiet, gentle day and I did some channeling this afternoon for a grieving friend. She's in a better place and that feels fabulous... it always does...
We set up my studio for the Psychospiritual Development class scheduled to start next weekend. It's been awhile since I taught channeling and I'm quite excited! This week I prep the notes and pull together all the materials for the students. The connection with Spirit is fleeting if one doesn't work at it, like any good relationship worth having in life. I know there are times I've let my relationship lag a bit, and then suddenly I'll notice that I feel adrift - even lost. At other times I've been more in touch with people in spirit (and angels) than those in this dimension! I need to keep a happy medium... ha ha, a funny. Happy medium.
Anyway I'm aware of something in the air - the earth - called the "quickening". This was an old Spiritualist term for a vibrational boost we get when connecting to higher vibrating realms. I also feel it when the energy starts to shift within the earth. The trees are waking up. In the next couple of weeks the sap will be flowing and the snow banks dissipating into the ground. The melt is supporting the water table. I feel it, usually after Valentines, so it is a bit later starting this year. Whenever it comes, I'll take it! The winter is winding down and the beasts will be stirring towards nesting. I love the birdsong and the early flowers.
I've wondered about this coming year - my 58th - and ask myself how to manifest "the new". I know in my heart something is coming... it has familiar elements, and yet is going to push my boundaries. I welcome it and am grateful for the abundance in my life. Bllessings and peace, friends. I'll have some carrot cake and toast you all!
We set up my studio for the Psychospiritual Development class scheduled to start next weekend. It's been awhile since I taught channeling and I'm quite excited! This week I prep the notes and pull together all the materials for the students. The connection with Spirit is fleeting if one doesn't work at it, like any good relationship worth having in life. I know there are times I've let my relationship lag a bit, and then suddenly I'll notice that I feel adrift - even lost. At other times I've been more in touch with people in spirit (and angels) than those in this dimension! I need to keep a happy medium... ha ha, a funny. Happy medium.
Anyway I'm aware of something in the air - the earth - called the "quickening". This was an old Spiritualist term for a vibrational boost we get when connecting to higher vibrating realms. I also feel it when the energy starts to shift within the earth. The trees are waking up. In the next couple of weeks the sap will be flowing and the snow banks dissipating into the ground. The melt is supporting the water table. I feel it, usually after Valentines, so it is a bit later starting this year. Whenever it comes, I'll take it! The winter is winding down and the beasts will be stirring towards nesting. I love the birdsong and the early flowers.
I've wondered about this coming year - my 58th - and ask myself how to manifest "the new". I know in my heart something is coming... it has familiar elements, and yet is going to push my boundaries. I welcome it and am grateful for the abundance in my life. Bllessings and peace, friends. I'll have some carrot cake and toast you all!
Wednesday, February 25, 2015
What a difference a day makes...!
I've been knitting a lot over the past couple of years... a rough mental count says 31 prayer/healing shawls, in addition to myriad hats, socks, gloves and a couple dog sweaters. Knitting is profoundly healing. I've knit, crocheted and sewn since childhood, but I never realized how much I need to knit. I taught myself with books and magazines initially, because my mother was a "lefty" so it was hard to follow her movements. My grandmother taught me some basics, but that was infrequent. I was by enlarge self-taught. All the years of complex lacework and spinning my own yarns have given me a sense of spiritual intertwining with the work I produce...
Today I create my own patterns, using sacred geometry. My love of nature, and especially birds, incubated a need to create shawls which are like bird wings I love blending the colours, graphing the designs and the math... the math is sublime! I adore the harmony the math creates when interpreted by the stitches, yarns and colours. It's trippy! Lately I incorporate the resonance patterns of crystals with the sacred geometry. Every stitch is from my hands... the shawls birthing from the needles are deceptively simple looking. While I tag each piece and attempt to convey the meaning of each dodem bird, the proof is in the wearing, not the words.
Visitors to our studio are impressed by the knitting. I'm glad; it is heart-warming when people pick up on the intention of my work. By the same token, Brian's woodwork appears simple, yet the stages and effort taken to create the items is intensive. Art is a gift from the heart and soul.
Anyway, I've drafted out and started two similar but yet very different, shawls. One is in the progression of a rainbow, or the basic chakras. The other shawl incorporates some of the same yarns, yet is designed to reflect Parrot. The Parrot shawl is destined for a client in Mexico. I love that my shawls are flying around the world... the loving intention and healing they bring to me, as maker, is something I am glad to share. Peace.
Today I create my own patterns, using sacred geometry. My love of nature, and especially birds, incubated a need to create shawls which are like bird wings I love blending the colours, graphing the designs and the math... the math is sublime! I adore the harmony the math creates when interpreted by the stitches, yarns and colours. It's trippy! Lately I incorporate the resonance patterns of crystals with the sacred geometry. Every stitch is from my hands... the shawls birthing from the needles are deceptively simple looking. While I tag each piece and attempt to convey the meaning of each dodem bird, the proof is in the wearing, not the words.
Visitors to our studio are impressed by the knitting. I'm glad; it is heart-warming when people pick up on the intention of my work. By the same token, Brian's woodwork appears simple, yet the stages and effort taken to create the items is intensive. Art is a gift from the heart and soul.
Anyway, I've drafted out and started two similar but yet very different, shawls. One is in the progression of a rainbow, or the basic chakras. The other shawl incorporates some of the same yarns, yet is designed to reflect Parrot. The Parrot shawl is destined for a client in Mexico. I love that my shawls are flying around the world... the loving intention and healing they bring to me, as maker, is something I am glad to share. Peace.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
