Wow - beautiful weather!!!

I am enjoying this lovely weather to the max! I hung out my first official load of laundry for the season - it is so fresh smelling. No mosquitoes yet, but we've got crocuses and daffodils coming up and I'm thrilled. This is fully a month ahead of previous years. When an elder had the trailer installed at the barn 2 years ago, there was more snow than there is now, and the weather was very cold - and this was the end of April. Global warming aside, the smiling faces I see around town are happy for this early spring. Our furnace is off!! My cabin fever will dry up and blow away now...

Back in January I was filmed by the United Church for a multifaith program to be aired around Easter. This Lenten Series for the United Church of Canada is on at 6 PM, Sunday evenings, on Vision Television... I didn't know it had started until a friend called after she saw the second episode (three remain). We'll hopefully have a copy of the video series shortly to view here at Moonstar...

Pooky has had a spring shave this afternoon, and looks pretty nifty. She was feeling the heat, poor thing. Her cough is quite a bit worse, so we switched her meds on the weekend - I don't think she is coping with them very well, what with some vomiting yesterday and diarrhea today. Hopefully we can reduce the dose on Friday, allowing her guts to settle...

Midewiwin gathered recently, and we've got a neat house blessing and clearing to do near Campbellville. In years past we've traversed the fields, photographing and recording EVP's along the old trail of the First Nations peoples who followed the Guelph Line north, to summer hunting grounds. This is a trail through and to the escarpment. Originally I had only a couple of people to help, now most of the group is involved - we should look quite a sight in our traditional aboriginal garb, wandering the sideroads with cameras...

Daughter is home, dinner needs doing... and laundry to remember!!!

Who Shot my Paw?

I always know for sure - really and truly - when it is spring. Be damned equinox, the calendar or sunny days... it is spring when there are wet, muddy footprints everywhere in my house. The ground has thawed enough for the mud to stick to those paws, and that's a lot of paws in this house... 36 to be exact. Brian and I try to do the environmentally sensitive thing and use microfibre mops - no cleaners - just a bit of soap. However, when you've completely used up every microfibre mop head, and most of the rags, I have to ask "Is this extra load of laundry environmentally sensitive?"

It may be still just zero degrees, snow banks waist high, windy and raining for the 3rd day, but it is spring. Really. Just come look at my floors...

Monopolies

Monopolies scare me... be it in the insurance or banking industry, telephones and especially computers... Several times this past week, we've lost access to Google. Who cares? We do - because we have websites with Google ads on them, and they won't load when Google is down. The first time it happened, the problem righted itself within 24 hours... I can live with that. However, when it happened a few days ago for 48 hours, we began calling our internet service provider to see if they were getting similar complaints.... They suggested to check the DNS numbers... We reverted to the old numbers and voilà - problem solved. How did these numbers get changed you might ask? Brian had switched to an open server source, BUT it was actually in part Microsoft. They do automatic updates on our system and they don't like other browsers... they don't like other email programs... they don't like anything Linux or open source. The update reverted most of my personal settings - so much so that I couldn't access my Blogger account. So this has been several days without an update.

It's also a slice of the proprietary pie - like when Sony did Betamax to everyone else's VCR... now it's happening in DVD formats... I'm not tech savvy enough to spit out the all format rivalries, but I know for the consumer this kind of one-upmanship, king-of-the-hill bravado makes people leery of investing in technology. I'm all for competition - but I ask the companies pick a format and let the fair market jousting happen after that is done.

So much for this rant... now I'll go onto MySpace and rant there... next entry should be a continuation of the issues around soul retrieval and preparation. Can you tell I've just come back from 4 hours of dental work?

Soul Retrieval

Many years ago Brian came to me as a patient, having become aware of something called "soul retrieval". He purchased a book by Sandra Ingerman, read it, and realized this isn't something you do for yourself. He was directed to me by someone in another town, booked an appointment, and we started a very long journey together. The man who blossomed from the sick, unhappy, depressed being became someone I saw with new eyes, and eventually married. Soul retrieval is one of our most sacred and significant life journeys, not to be done without great thought, and like an athlete, preparation. To that end, I share with you some material shared with me by a person named Sage (who comes by her name honestly):

Shamanic healing works with the concept that emotional and physical illness are the same. Our soul is our life force or vitality. Anything can cause soul loss. It might be the loss of a loved one, sexual, physical or emotional abuse, surgery, accidents, and more. At times of trauma, part of us goes away. This is good and protective. However, it does not always find its way back.

Symptoms of soul loss include dissociation, a feeling of watching your life like a movie rather than as a participant, chronic depression, suicidal feelings, post traumatic stress disorder, immune system deficiency, inability to get over a loss, and having an unnatural connection with a person.

Where do the soul parts go? Into non-ordinary reality. The soul parts might be lost and unable to return. They may be unwilling to return because they don't know the abuse has stopped. They may have been stolen and are still held by the thief. This is a type of psychic vampirism and may contribute to co-dependency. It is often a dysfunction passed down in families.

Traditionally, the support of the community was an important aspect of soul retrieval. Patients might have been told, "Your children want you to come back, your brothers and sisters want you to come back, your neighbours and kinsmen want you to come back, your horses want you to come back...." It is for this reason, the support and power of someone working on our behalf, that we do not generally do our own soul retrievals.

In soul retrieval, the healing results depend upon the commitment of the client. Self-healing comes after the soul retrieval. Soul parts sometimes come back bringing memories and emotions. They usually bring energy with them, sometimes in amazing amounts. One has more power following soul retrieval.

PREPARATION AND INTEGRATION
It is helpful to reflect on what is not working in your life and to notice patterns of recreating the same trauma. Let go of labels about this. No alcohol is to be consumed for twenty-four hours before and after a soul retrieval. The night before your soul retrieval, ask for a dream to help in receiving your soul.

Following your soul retrieval, leave time for yourself. Welcome your soul parts back. The effects are unpredictable. Allow yourself about two weeks for the effects to settle in. You might find during this time you need to make changes that are life-supporting.

Here are three journeys to do on your own following your soul retrieval:

1. Does the soul part have anything else to tell me about why it left?

2. How will the soul part help? What gifts, talents, or resources does it bring?

3. What changes do I need to make in my life that would make the soul parts feel supported in being back home?

Eventually you will want to feel fully integrated and no longer aware of the separate nature of the soul parts that were returned. The point is to welcome them home and integrate them. You don't want to stay too long in a place where you continually notice your six year old soul part is feeling shy, your twelve year old is angry, and the adult you is eager, to give a simple example. However, you may find your six year old knows how to trust and your twelve year old needs creative expression, for instance, and that becomes a part of you.

Bring a notebook with you to record the details of your healing and your feelings in the moment. Be sure you have the phone number of your soul retriever so you may call if questions come up.

Final journey: Now that you have your soul parts back and you have done your work of welcoming and integrating them, there is one more step that is good to do. This is to see if you have soul parts of anyone else you may be holding on to - accidentally, of course! - and need to return. There is no guilt or blame here, have fun with this journey. You may find you are hanging on to bits of family, friends, ex-spouses, or lovers. Or, you may discover "Velcro souls" that another has stuck onto you. Journey to the helping spirit that you are most comfortable with and ask. If you do have soul parts to return or Velcro souls to pull off and send back, ask for a ritual to accomplish this. Do the ritual. You might want to partner with another and serve as witness to each other's rituals.

Thanks and gratitude to Sandra Ingerman.

All My Relations.

More on this journey in a later entry....

The Ides of March

Seems like just yesterday it was my birthday, and now it's the middle of March... the weather has been stunningly beautiful, and my tired spirit welcomes spring...

Thanks to Aunt Judy and Uncle Sam, Pooky is sporting a jaunty new winter jacket and spring hoodie... completed by a dashing new turquoise collar with her name spelled in Swarovsky crystals... Very much like Liz Taylor, minus the lovely perfume smell... Pook has always liked wearing sweaters, and in her geriatric years seems cold all the time. This is quite a wonderful comfort measure.

Although it's only Thursday, it seems like it should be the end of the week... We took Angeni into Orangeville to rendezvous with her godmother Kaaren, and intended to be back home by 3:30. Well, at that time we were in the Kia dealership getting a new headlight, so being significantly delayed we grabbed some supper, groceries and landed home this evening. Brian got a mere cursory whiff of his beloved Home Depot. That's him sighing now... All the dogs were near panicked that we were away over 6 hours. The various and sundry cats were curious about this as well, but returned to normal once the can opener went off... the universal cat food signal. We've done dishes, put the laundry in the dryer, started the wood stove and settled in for a quiet night - I'm pooped. And yet, tomorrow we have clients all day, and the house to clean and prep for the autumnal equinox...

Life is good, and so is Pizza Hut...

Wonderful Weather

Considering we've only had snow for about 7 weeks, this melt is welcome... the ground absorbs the snow faster because there was no old snow base which needed to thaw first... It has been an easy melt-off. Brian tapped 2 maple trees for sweet water and we're managing about 4 litres a day from the trees... the temps are supposed to drop again in the next day or so, meaning the sap flow will stop. We'll have enough for a good cleansing tonic.

Saturday afternoon at 2 PM we have our annual spring equinox gathering. It is a feast day, so everyone attending is asked to bring potluck, and confirm with us that you're coming - in this way, if there is freezing rain or other bad weather, we can notify everyone. Right now it looks like a gathering of about 16 to 20 people which is really nice...

Spring is always difficult for dental issues - as a species we're genetically hard-wired to certain physiological truths, and if there are going to be dental problems, spring is a good bet for that pain and discomfort... For me, I broke a lower molar last fall, and over the weekend broke a chip off the molar above it - 2 teeth, same side, deeply annoying. We don't have any sort of dental coverage, so when I spoke to the dentist, this is going to be a doozy bill with at least 3 visits. Not good timing for us financially, but a fact of life.

Anyway, Angeni is heading off tomorrow for 2 nights with her godmother Kaaren, in Toronto. Two weeks of room cleaning was required to get this privilege - Angeni was not impressed. As bright, well behaved and gifted as she is, slovenliness is her Achilles heel. However, Dad stepped in, moved some shelving, removed some furniture, and opened the space up. It is, for a few days at least, clean and tidy. We'll see how long this lasts.

I've applied for a job posting with the government for an Elder. I'm hoping this works out... If it does, the only thing we'll be able to continue with for the next year is Midewiwin. I will miss our practice, but the financial ease will be helpful. Both Brian and I left regular corporate jobs to do this work, and our income was shredded by this choice - I don't regret it, but at the same time I don't want to lose our home, by being forced to sell. We're suffering financially right now....

Gotta head in to Durham - be comfy and frolic in this lovely weather!!!

Musicians I miss...

There are some classic voices from the 60's - 80's that I really miss, and wish could record again - people like Marilyn McCoo (most known from the 5th Dimension), Gary Puckett, the late Laura Nyro, the late Eva Cassidy, Colin Blunstone (best known as lead singer of the Zombies), even Van Morrison... All these people are in their sixties, if still alive, and I miss them... I miss Diana Ross from the years when she was daring. Dusty Springfield was a major trailblazer and is now deceased - and it is really sad how many of these women I mentioned died so young!!! I don't miss Tom Jones - he had little variety and seemed to only be able to emote "intensity"... a great voice but not my style... I'm sure I'll edit this time and again as my old faves spring to mind...

Slowly the temperatures are moving into a spring-like destination. Apparently by Sunday it will be +7 degrees and plus temps overnight - I welcome that. It has been hard to shift my thinking toward having a spring equinox gathering when it is -23 outside. I won't miss the snow and wind.

I received a CD of a speech by the Dalai Lama - I'm looking forward to hearing what he has to say this afternoon. Brian is away being carpenter guy, so I'm puttering with housework and laundry. I hope Brian is home soon - we're nearly out of wood for the fireplace.

I was surprised that Canada is willingly following the lead of the US in switching daylight savings time ahead on the weekend - that's several weeks ahead of schedule. Supposedly this is an energy saving measure, but I'm not so sure... we actually have a whole weekend off, so I'm going to try and get together with my sister. Her birthday was in February and mine last week, and we've been trying to get a weekend together for over a month - finally I think it might happen. We have some celebrating to do... and lots of years to make up for...

Manic March

March certainly roared in like a lion - I'm hoping Wiarton Willie is correct that spring comes early. We posted an overnight temperature of -23 with wind chills of close to -40. This isn't Nunavut!!! Weird weather doesn't help the global warming camp, when taken in isolated situations. If we look at the fact that there was no real winter snow or temperatures until the 3rd week of January, to have winter gone by the 3rd week of March would be quite something - a record - and a nod to the global warming advisors. Angeni missed Friday, Monday and today - I hope she goes to school the remaining 3 days this week because she is off next week for March break!!! Hopefully these are the last of the school days lost to bad weather this year.

The barometric pressure fluctuations are not doing much for my dizziness - that had cleared up for about a week and has suddenly returned like bad gas - you never know when it will hit. These bouts are related in inner ear infections and sinus problems, and I'm aware I have both ... I'm ready for them to go away now...

Brian will be sending out messages for spring equinox feasting and celebration. I hope the weather has cleared enough that we don't have to cancel it... it's hard to have a spring equinox in mid-April because of bad weather...

Keep cozy... Kathryn

Birthday Blitz

So the big weekend begins to wind down... Friday (the actual birthday) was quiet because we had a horrific snow, ice and windstorm raging for 36 hours, meaning Angeni was home... She decided to enter puberty on Friday - it was a bit tense...

All in all a lovely weekend... nice cards, a few fine phone calls, and lunch with an old friend whose birthday was yesterday. Given the weather, I'm glad I didn't travel to Toronto after all...