bed post begun as the New Moon formed in Aquarius 2/18

2/25

2/26

cooling flowering dogwood & setting March Sun 

Feel and Be, its free to look and learn with the healing environment all around us and allow your/ourself to heal with the seasons...

and/or, 

spend time preparing your/our medicines

and/or, 

spend money on a health care provider who practices with the Earth's gifts...

 I've doctored/edited the photo to express the energetic spirit of the Flowering Dogwood in its' application with healing. Its an expression of doctrine of signature and/or plant spirit medicine qualities. Flowering Dogwood as an herbal has been used as an astringent, febrifuge, stimulant and tonic. It's inner bark has been shown effective in decoction or tincture for Malaria and other fevers and has been internally applied as a substitute for Quinine. Externally it can be applied to hot or feverish sores and/or lesions in decoction, oil, salve and/or tincture forms. True Flower Essences and Essential Oils would have similar properties. 

Some American Indian tribes used the twigs/branches as toothbrushes. They were noted to have very white and clean teeth! No doubt, being the qualities of the plant.

Bach Flower remedies lists as;
"Dogwood
Positive qualities:
Grace-filled movement, physical and etheric harmony.
Patterns of imbalance:Awkward and painful awareness of the body; emotional trauma stored deep within the body.

When we say that a soul is filled with grace, we are referring to a particular fullness and flexibility of the etheric body, the most immediate sheath which surrounds the physical body. If there is repeated violation to the body-either through physical or sexual abuse, or by very harsh physical and materialistic living circumstances-the etheric body shrivels, and consequently the physical body hardens.

The soul suffers greatly from an inability to live properly within the physical-etheric body. The emotions can become hardened, and the body is felt as awkward and ungainly. Quite often such a person unconsciously repeats earlier patterns of degradation by choosing abusive relationships or exhibiting self-destructive tendencies.

The beautiful Dogwood flower essence helps to expand the etheric body and soften the physical body. The individual is able to feel more gentleness and inner sanctity, as the soul regains its state of grace through harmonious communion with the life or etheric body.

- from the 'Flower Essence Repertory', by Patricia Kaminsky and Richard Katz. The most comprehensive and user-friendly flower essence book we've found. Highly recommended for any practitioner."
In my search for a Flowering Dogwood Essential Oil I found only oils named Flowering Dogwood or Dogwood that contained combinations of other herbal essential oils without any Dogwood in them. The manufacturers were using the name Dogwood or Flowering Dogwood only. I would advise caution here. Perhaps the best solution would be to make your own or find a "kitchen Essential Oil/EO maker" you know personally with integrity.

Healing Counsel with Greg Patch

Owner of the former Berkshire Mountains Herb Company in western Massachusetts and for the past 15 years Green Art Studio, now located in Wilmington, NC.

 Greg has been a practicing Western Traditional Herbalist and Fine Artist for over 30 years. His studies also include Ayurvedic & TCM practices. During that time he has worked with families, home birthing, children, adults, elderly and with the dying in home care.

In confidential counsel we will look at your intentions for your wholistic health by assessing your background, where you are now, and what you would realistically like to achieve. The process I recommend in counsel follows ideals of embracing 
your personal Body, Mind and Spirit Self. 

Other tools we will use together are Whole Diet recommendations, how you can incorporate a personal Mental/Physical/Spiritual Lifestyle &

Western Humanistic Astrology based on over 25 years of study.

Private sessions are available at Network Community Wellness 

and downtown at Green Art Studio by appointment.

Group or family sessions may be arranged.

Please call 910-616-9930 with your inquiry.

new chain storage/display

the 11" ceiling provides space

...a progressing transformation... note 9 (Artist Intentions)

This Art Ceremony is an activating meditation on Love, Peace & Co-Creation using the energetics of Sacred Geometry to carry the message over the planet, out to the universe and into each individuals DNA memory. It is just one local action occurring over the Planet on the 2011 Summer Solstice of Love, Peace and Co-Creativity expanding in all directions in an awakening for All.

The 5 elements Air, Wood/paper, Metal/pigment & dyes, Water/vehicle & fire container, and Fire will all be a/part of this point in the process of transformation to a new work.

The work, a co-creation by the attendants of all ages present at the Solstice Celebration will be on cotton duck canvas. Before the two panels are placed upon the canvas participants will co-create this painting surface with the plant dyes Coffee Coffea Arabica berry, Yellow Dock Rumex crispus seed & root and Blueberry Vacinium spp. berry and crayons made of beeswax & natural pigment. Water and beeswax are the vehicles to carry the pigments onto the canvas. The canvas will be dampened with water as a vehicle and to prevent excess burn with the application of Fire. As this activity is fulfilled the two panels will be placed upon the surface. Here we will light the Jute Corchorus spp. ends to introduce fire near the time of dusk. The beeswax of this painting will behave similarly to a candle. The remaining pigment & ash will fall onto the canvas section creating further imagery to what becomes the new work. 

It is a gift given/received by all for all.

The new work can be displayed by sharing among participants and can be used for Summer Solstice Celebration 2012. 

This action on 6/18/11 will be videotaped by participants. 

enThanks to self, family, friend, teacher/student, lifelihood, peace, love & co-creation.

quote day

 The German writer Goethe said,


 “We are shaped and fashioned by what we love.”

Egypt

the cradle of civilization

Throat Chakra Vishuddha

the changing of the background colors on my blog from green/heart chakra to blue/throat chakra.  


from http://www.llewellyn.com/encyclopedia/article/256

Visuddha - The Throat Chakra

THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN BY ANODEA JUDITH ON MAY 30, 2002

Element: Sound 
Color: Bright Blue 
Verb: I speak 
Attributes: Sound, vibration, communication, creativity 

Chakra 5 is located in the region of the neck and shoulders and is the center of communication and creativity. Its color is a bright turquoise blue, mixing the deep indigo of the sixth chakra with the green of the heart. Its lotus has 16 petals, upon which are inscribed all the vowels of the Sanskrit language. Vowels are generally thought to represent spirit, while consonants give the edges and definitions which define matter. As we enter chakra 5, we are crossing deeper into the realms of mind and spirit. 

This lotus is called Visuddha, which means "purification." To successfully reach and open the fifth chakra, the body must attain a certain level of purification, which helps to achieve the sensitivity needed for the subtler levels of the upper chakra. 

Classically, the element associated with this level is ether, or akasha, meaning "spirit," as well as the element of sound. Sound is a rhythmic vibration of air molecules as they are impacted by matter in movement. If I clap my hands, the sound that reaches you is from the air I have displaced. All sound is a vibration, and all things, living and nonliving, have a unique vibration. At this level, we do not see the world as individual things or their activities but as a complex interwoven net of energies with characteristic vibrational rhythms. 

The Hindus believe that the universe itself is made of sound. Mother Kali, the destroyer, is said to have the power to remove the letters of the alphabet from the petals of the chakras when she chooses to destroy the world. Without sound and language, there is no form. 

Sound waves are subject to a principle called resonance, also known as "rhythm entrainment" or "sympathetic vibration." Resonance is what occurs when sound waves of similar frequency meet—they lock into phase, with their vibrations oscillating at the same time. That which is in phase tends to remain in phase; hence, the interlocking of vibrational waves creates the ongoing harmony and substance that we experience in the world. Our breathing, heart rate, brain waves, and sleeping and eating patterns are all rhythmic activities that "entrain" or connect us with the world around us. When we are feeling harmonious with our surroundings, then our internal rhythms are resonating within ourselves. This resonance will, in turn, call other wave forms into harmony with it, bringing strength and integrity to the organism. 

From sound we get communication. Communication is the activity and function of the fifth chakra. Here we have language, a complex pattern of sound and rhythm, through which we symbolize the physical world around us. Through symbol, we have a more efficient way of dealing with the world. I can describe my car, but I can’t bring it into the room with me. I can call New York without actually going there. Our minds work with symbols. We think in words, as well as image and sensory memory. The world of the upper chakras is symbolic of the world below. 

Communication is a rhythmic activity. The more resonant our own internal rhythms, the more easily and pleasantly we will communicate. Studies have shown that regardless of the content of words used, listeners and speakers enter into a rhythm entrainment as they converse. It is believed that understanding occurs only when entrainment can take place. 

Communication involves both listening and speaking. If one’s fifth chakra is closed down, then there is fear of expressing oneself, fear of speaking one’s truth, or excessive shyness. The voice itself is timid and the words are few. If the chakra is too open, we are so busy expressing that we forget to listen, or our voice is dissonant, and we are unable to enter into resonance with those around us. 

Ideally, the fifth chakra should be connected to the self—to all the other chakras above and below—to visions of the mind and the feelings from body with equal ease. 

Chanting is an activity that increases the overall resonance of our being, allowing all our internal systems to enter into a rhythmic harmony. When chanting is practiced as a group activity, it enhances resonance and communication with the group as a whole. From Zen monasteries to rock concerts, this is a powerful tool for enhancing collective consciousness. 

The fifth chakra is also a center of creativity, another form of symbolic communication. As we open up this center, we open up our creative potential. The greater our resonance within, the greater the power within our creations. 

quote day

"Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint."
Mark Twain

Read more:http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/mark_twain.html#ixzz18Nb5PkAL

Mandelbrot Set double spiral

poetry

Today I spotted a male Loon in my back yard, the Atlantic Ocean. It left before I could grab my camera. In a flash. Reminding me to post this poem I wrote a few years ago before migrating south for the winter myself. Now here, I have the migrating Loon to let me know cooler weather is slowly/in a flash moving down the globe with each setting Sun. I will get time to photo the male Loon as he hunts/forages his winter diet and include more on these beautiful ancient creatures migrating story. It remembers us more. In the meantime...

flash, flash

troubles seem so far away,

lifetimes come streaming by.

this moment, recorded in nanoseconds,

in a sparkling flash, flash and back again.

the details of the flash are succinct, so real, and as if days, years, lifetimes,

of that moment

were a living part of its reality.

seldom do I remember such a fall,

the leaves are in full blossom,

a quiet buzz of colors exploding

out of the blue skies.

I crave.

In one sheet of hard, cold

wind and rain

lay the skeletal limbs of

maple, oak, beech, and

horse chestnut

on yellow violet skies.

In a week I’ll fly to the sky

with the geese for warmer grounds,

in a flash.

©Greg Patch 2005

Its just plain awesome...

... those indelible life experiences! Somewhere in our brain there is a key/code to getting over 

them. A test for sure! Am thinking indelibility is an illusion we hang onto for some reason, 

or, lack of. 

Speaking of; have discovered my new state of the art Mac does not translate my old Mac 

computers .cwk (claris works) files. Say huh! Was on the phone last night w/Apple techies? 

trying to resolve. Downloaded for 1 1/2 hrs a writing program that might open them. It did not. 

Still ringing in my ears (the inverse side of terrific.) is "if that doesn't work I don't know" - 

Apple techy. This morning am assembling my megaeraser and preparing, gently, cramming it 

into my ear, ahem! Any one out there who's aced this test I can copy from? Cackling like a bird 

on a tight rope! and attempting to lol :)

Shalom on this Rosh Hashanah

On this Jewish New Year day may we honor all peoples in focus on our paths of renewal toward peace. May we all practice peace on each day of the year, not just on the wholly days. Each day is whole and an opportunity for each to align with The Wholeness in balance. Without differentiating symbolic representation there is peace. No pics for today!

Uranian Phalanstery...

...

http://onesunart.blogspot.com/2009/01/uranian-phalanstery.html

Grain Harvest Time, to some a fifth Season

                Rainy Day                                                          ©Greg Patch

The Sea oats are rained on just after ripe peak. Some birds come through feasting on the sweet morsels. There's not enough to harvest for my own use, the birds need to eat and the oats need to replenish themselves with fertile seed. Traditional cultures celebrate at the harvest times of their grains; wheat, oats, barley, spelt, corn, rye, millet, kasha, rice, etc. In northern European cultures this was the season of Lammas (pr. loaf mas), Aug 1st is usually a day of celebration, people feasting on the bounties of grains, staple to good health, for most. Here, after peak ripeness, the rain comes and turns the grain downward on its natural cycle with a little saturating water for nourishment, initiating its fall to the ground as a fertile seed to be held by the earth, regenerating for next spring.

proposing Global Wholidays w/Self Gifting Day

                     Global Wholiday                                           Greg Patch


Am proposing that we as one people/tribe begin celebrating Global Wholidays. To start we each celebrate Self Gifting Day. A day in which we each give ourselves a gift in recognition of self love. Peace begins at home. Love for others begins in our own hearts. Self esteem roots in our own hearts. Waking in the morning and recognizing our place on Earth begins by opening our own eyes.
This idea came to me (am sure it has come to others!) after my culminating Full Moon Yoga on Sat. We/the class met at Gypsy Sun in Surf City before we went out to practice. I was drawn to a shelf in the shop where I realized this carved stone heart. After Desiree's Anusara (Heart) workshop I knew this piece was special for me and I purchased it. Not at all expensive, about $17.oo US! It is my new visual mantra or affirmation. This day could come on the day 180' on the calendar from our own birthday, it could be a day we each recognize as special in our personal growth, or for any of assorted reasonings. Happy Self Gifting Day!

Anusara Yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh

Am enJoy with two 3 hr Anusara yoga workshops with Desiree Rumbaugh that I attended the 24th and 25th in Wilmington NC. Desiree brings one/all to our/their limit and gently, honestly and playfully allows one/all to move on to our next level of growth with yoga.

from her website - http://www.desireerumbaugh.com/biography.htm

About Anusara

Founded by John Friend in 1997, Anusara Yoga® is a powerful hatha yoga system that unifies a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic Goodness with Universal Principles of Alignment™. Anusara's remarkable popularity is due in large part to its uplifting philosophy, epitomized by a "celebration of the heart," that looks for the good in all people and all things. - John Friend
 

I feel blessed and fortunate to be a part of the worldwide Anusara community started by John Friend.
I had the great good fortune of meeting John in the fall of 1993. He was teaching a small workshop (25 people) in the Phoenix area and I had just moved back there (to my home town) from the LA area. He was certified in Iyengar yoga at that time and he helped me prepare and obtain my Iyengar certification in 1994. In 1997, when he founded Anusara, I chose to follow that path.

Anusara philosophy is a perfect fit for me. John has been patient and unrelenting, urging me to see my own power and light. As I have learned over the years to believe in myself and look for the good in myself and others, I have seen and experienced miracles.
I have found my true calling, traveling all over the world sharing the transformational healing power of Anusara. I am inspired everywhere I go and I have met incredible people.
Like John, my vision is to spread the word that yoga can really and truly help us as humans, to connect with our True Divine nature and thereby find real and lasting peace and even joy in life. It is my experience and opinion that no other person or thing can give us any kind of guarantee that they will always be there for us. We must develop a relationship with our higher Self----that is the only security.

I realize that hatha yoga is probably only going to be appealing to those with strong “warrior” type natures. Yet, at the same time, I have met many people who have that nature, but just don’t know how to develop it. The Anusara method of Hatha yoga is unsurpassed in its ability to reduce fear, increase personal empowerment and open people up to experiencing their uniqueness and freedom.

Because we as Anusara teachers are so rigorously trained, we are able to help those with complicated therapeutic needs. In addition, the requirements for Anusara certification require that we search ourselves deeply and completely surrender to the practice and the search for our True Self.

Teaching Anusara yoga is like throwing pebbles into a body of water. Each person who is touched at this level, in turn, reaches out through their family, friends and their work and lifts the vibration of a few others. Multiply this by hundreds of thousands and we are really making a difference in the world.

Happy Birthday Desiree!


My heart is exploding with gratitude and passion. Tonite will be going to a Full Moon Yoga celebration on the beach for a culmination of 6 yoga practices in 6 days . Each practice was 1 1/2 - 3 hrs. A most intensive week of yoga for me. Large thanks to all my teachers/students. 


Namaste within/out!

Turmeric

http://www.dharmaayurveda.com/article/2304.html?a

Turmeric - secret ayurvedic recipes

Gelbwurz oder TURMERIC oder Curcuma Longa    [Sanskrit - Haridra]

Turmeric is truly one of the marvellous medicinal spices in the world. 

Its been extensively used since centuries, as an ingredient in cooking.   Its popularly believed that turmeric was used in cooking for its detox properties to neutralise any toxins if present in the food preparation.

Benefits

Potent antioxidant. The antioxidant activity of turmeric is mainly associated with its phenolic fraction, curcuminoids, which act as free radical scavengers as well as inhibitors of leukotrienes and prostaglandin synthesis. 

Powerful antiinflammatory agent. The antiinflammatory activity has been claimed to be comparable to NSAID's such as indomethacin, producing significant improvement in clinical trials involving individuals with rheumatoid arthritis. 

Lowers Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while increasing HDL cholesterol. 

Reduces blood sugar level in diabetics 

An anticoagulant that inhibits platelet aggregation 

Liver protective and tonic 

Boosts stomach defences against acid 

Known to have varied anticancer activity. A powerful antagonist of numerous cancer causing agents.

Turmeric is being used in Ayurveda since centuries as an internal medicine for a variety of conditions ranging from allergy to diabetes, and as an external application for beauty as well as in skin disorders and arthritis.

A few simple turmeric remedies

Allergies      Ground Turmeric and Ground Curry leaves one heaped teaspoon each to be taken together early morning in empty stomach for 3 to 6 weeks. Proven very effective in chronic allergic rhinitis.

Bronchitis    Half a teaspoon of turmeric powder in half a glass of warm milk taken two or three times daily is an effective home remedy. Acts best when taken in empty stomach.

Throat irritation    Take a pinch of turmeric with little salt at bed time. Dont swallow, leave it in the tongue and let it slowly work its way down.

Diarrhoea     Take one spoon of turmeric juice with equal amount of honey. Or boil half glass water with one tsp turmeric powder and mix with one tsp honey.

Ring worm    Apply juice of raw turmeric on the affected part few times daily.

Sinusitis     Dip a dry rhizome of turmeric in coconut or neem oil and burn. Put off the flame and inhale the smoke through each nostril three times. Repeat for 3 to 7 days. Very effective remedy even in severe sinusitis. [You can use a small sheet of paper to make a funnel and keep small end in one nostril to inhale the smoke with the other nostril closed.]

Diabetes    Half glass of indian gooseberry juice with one spoon of turmeric is very beneficial in diabetes. 

Leucoderma     Turmeric mixed with mustard oil is a popular folk remedy for leucoderma. About 500gm of turmeric should be pounded and soaked in 8 litres of water overnight. It should be boiled in the morning till only one litre of water is left, and then be strained and mixed with 500ml mustard oil. This mixture should be heated till only the oil is left. It should then be strained and preserved in a bottle. This mixture should be applied on the white patches every morning and evening for a few months 

Source: Dr..Jayaprakash

untitled

today's one of those days...

when my ideals are juxtaposed...