The Sacred Glen
Volume #1 Issue #6
September 2007
The Sacred Glen is a publication of Daughters of the Greening online school. All articles within this ezine are written by students of the school and are their own personal property, unless otherwise credited. Daughters of the Greening is dedicated to teaching about the sacredness of all life and offers classes in Sacred Ecology, Holistic Healing, Discovering Past Lives, Faery Magic and Women's Spirituality. The school is open to anyone who is 18 years of age or older.
The Sacred Glen Council
Morgana Ravenwings
Dryw
Stephanie Mayfield
Anarane
Belou
Susan Allen
In this issue:
Sacred Days of the Ancestors
The Goddess Speaks Double Feature!
Gaia's Resources for Health
Animal Medicine
Mabon Special Feature!
Morgana's Musings Double Feature!
Songs of the Muse
Garden of Eatin'
Harvests from the Printing Press
Spider Woman's Web
Green Living
Sacred Days of the Ancestors
September 2007
9/1: Mindfulness Day--Zen Buddhist day for being mindful that harm to the Earth and sentient beings results from ignorance of interdependence.
9/3: Labor Day--Day to reflect on the sacredness of all work and the value of ethical, meaningful employment.
9/3: Akwambo—a festival in Ghana of clearing paths that lead to shrines.
9/3 to 9/4: Sri Krishna Jayanti--Birthday of Hindu God Krishna (avatar of God Vishnu), beloved of Goddess Radha (avatar of Goddess Lakshmi). Vaishnavas are devoted to God Vishnu and His avatars.
9/7: Feast of Durga
9/7: Feast of Yemaya and Oshun
9/8 (OC 9/21): Birthday of Blessed Mary, catalyst of liberation and redemption.
9/8: Animal Day--Day to honor all creatures of the land and to meditate on Deity manifesting as animals - God-Goddess as Ra/Lion & Rait/Lioness (Old Egyptian); Nandi/Bull & Prisni/Cow (Hindu); God as Cernunnos/Stag (Old Celtic) & Mica/Coyote (Lakota); and Goddess as Rhpisunt/Bear Mother (Haida).
9/8 eve: Vigil for lost grandparents; night of mourning and healing.
9/8: Tibetan Water Festival
9/9: Grandparents' Day--Day to give love and thanks to all grandparents; day for all grandparents to celebrate their age and contemplate their sacred duty to share their wisdom with the young.
9/11 (8:44 a.m. EDT): New Moon.
9/11 to 9/14: Iroquois Squash Ceremony--in thanksgiving for the squash
harvest.
9/12 eve to 9/14 eve: Rosh Hashanah/Jewish New Year (Year 5768)--Commemorates creation of the World by the one universal Deity, God-Goddess Elohim (Eloh-Eloah) ; begins 10 days of penitence for harm
done.
9/12 to 9/16: Zoroastrian celebration of Divine Spirit Spenta Armaiti, creator and protector of Earth.
9/12 eve to 10/11 eve: Ramadan--Muslim month of purification by self-reflection, fasting from sunrise to sunset, peace-making, and helping those in need.
9/15 to 9/25: Ganesha Chaturthi--Hindu festival honoring God Ganesha
(son of Goddess Parvati and God Shiva) as the challenger - creator and
remover of obstacles. Hindus believe all Gods and Goddesses are aspects of the limitless, attributeless, immanent, and transcendent Brahman.
9/17: Christian feast of St. Hildegarde von Bingen (d. 1179)—mystic who sang praises to Holy Spirit Wisdom (the feminine aspect of the Holy Trinity) and found Her everywhere in Nature. 9/19: Appearance of Our Lady of La Salette, Mother of the Harvest (France 1846).
9/21: International Day of Peace--Day to demonstrate for peace with justice throughout the world.
9/21: Feast of the Divine Light, Egyptian 9/21 eve to 9/22 eve: Yom Kippur/Day of Atonement--Jewish day of fasting, making reparation for harm done, and helping those in need.
9/22: Death of Tiamat in Sumeria
9/22 to 9/23: Coya Rayni--Inca festival honoring Moon Goddess Quilla;
focus is on purging sickness and evil.
9/23 (5:51 a.m. EDT): Autumn Equinox--Marks the beginning of Autumn
and point of equal daylight and darkness; celebrates the bounty of Mother Earth with feasting and aiding those in need.
9/23: Taoist festival honoring the Shen of Winds, West, and Autumn;
thanksgiving is made for the harvest. Taoists live simply, respect life, and recognize the equality of all.
9/23: Aki-no-Higan- -Day Japanese Buddhists mark the time of change by
meditating on the impermanence of life.
9/23: Beginning of Libra (the Scales of Lady Justice).
9/23 eve to 9/24 eve: Demokratia-- Old Greek festival celebrating democracy, constitutional government, and justice under law. Zeus Agoraios, Athena Agoraias, and Themis were honored.
9/23 – 10/1: Festival of Nemesis, Goddess of Fate in Greece.
9/24: Yoruba/Santeria feast of Obatala, Orisha of Peace and Justice.
9/24 eve to 10/3 eve: Greater Eleusinian Mysteries--Old Greek festival
recalling Goddess Demeter's search for Her missing daughter Kore. Devotees fasted, ritually bathed in the sea, processed by torch-light to the temple, made ritual offerings, and danced.
9/24: Annual death and rebirth of Osiris
9/26 (3:45 p.m. EDT): Full Moon (Indigo/Wise- Crone Moon).
9/26 (A 11/6): Old Egyptian festival of Neter Amen-Ra-Atem, the Great
God, and Neteret Amenet-Rait- Mut, the Great Goddess.
9/26 to 10/4: Navajo Sing--Festival in thanksgiving for the harvest.
Estsanatlehi/ Changing Woman is believed to represent life, and is manifested in the harvest.
9/26 eve to 10/4 eve: Sukkot & Shemini Atseret/Feast of Ingathering &
Assembly--Jewish thanksgiving for the fruit harvest; originally, a dance procession was made to vineyards and wine was offered to Deity. Also commemorates the years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt.
9/27: Baha'i feast honoring the one Deity as Mashiyyat - Divine Will.
9/30: Christian feast of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), Soul of the Universe.
9/30: Festival of Themis as ruler of Delphi
Parts Excerpted from:
THE MYSTIC'S WHEEL OF THE YEAR 2007
A Multifaith Calendar Reflecting Eco-Egalitarian Spirituality
© 2006 Page Two, Inc.
info@WheeloftheYear.com
www.WheeloftheYear.com
The Goddess Speaks
Selene
By Morgana
Selene, daughter of Thea (Titan of Light) is the Greek Goddess of the Moon. Also known as Phoebe and the Queen of the Starlit Heavens, She carried the moon across the sky in a white chariot driven by winged horses or oxen. She is often pictured wearing the crescent moon as a diadem. Because months were originally lunar based, Selene is also the Goddess of the months, of childbirth, and like Her brother Helios, in charge of plant and animal growth. In later Greek mythology, Selene came to represent the full moon, while Artemis represented the waxing and Hecate the waning. But in the beginning, Selene was the moon in it's totality, from waxing into fullness to waning into darkness. She is the mother of Pandia (All-bright) and Ersa (Dew).
She also had fifty daughters, The Menae, who represent the fifty lunar months that elapse between each Olympiad. The days of the full and new moon were set aside for Her worship. It is said that She fell in love with the mortal Endymion, who lived in Asia Minor. When Selene was not visible in the night time sky of Greece, She was said to be visiting Endymion at his home. Selene won the gift of eternal life and youth for Endymion, however, because of this gift it was ordained that he should he fall into a deep sleep and never again awaken. Devastated, Selene continued to visit him every night as he slept. Virgil, the poet, said that Selene was seduced by the God Pan, who lured Her to his woodland home. It was He who gave Her the
chariot and the winged horses who pulled it.
Hymns to Selene:
"And next, sweet voiced Mousai, daughters of Zeus, well skilled in song, tell of the long-winged Mene (Moon). From her immortal head a radiance is shown from heaven and embraces earth; and great is the beauty that ariseth from her shining light. The air, unlit before, glows with the light of her golden crown, and her rays beam clear, whensoever bright Selene having bathed her lovely body in the waters of Okeanos, and donned her far-gleaming raiment, and yoked her strong-necked, shining team, and drives on her long-maned horses at full speed, at eventime in the mid-month: then her great orbit is full and then her beams shine brightest as she increases. So she is a sure
token and a sign to mortal men.
Once Kronides [Zeus] was joined with her in love; and she conceived an
bare a daughter Pandeia, exceeding lovely amongst the deathless gods. Hail, white-armed goddess, bright Selene, mild, bright-tressed queen! And now I will leave you and sing the glorious of men half-divine, whose deeds minstrels, the servants of the Mousai, celebrate with lovely lips."
- Homeric Hymn 32 to Selene
"To Selene (Moon), Fumigation from Aromatics. Hear, goddess queen (thea basileia), diffusing silver light, bull-horned, and wandering through the gloom of night. With stars surrounded, and with circuit wide night's torch extending, through the heavens you ride: female and male, with silvery rays you shine, and now full-orbed, now tending to decline. Mother of ages, fruit-producing Mene (Moon), whose amber orb makes night's reflected noon: lover of horses, splendid queen of night, all-seeing power, bedecked with starry light, lover of vigilance, the foe of strife, in peace rejoicing, and a prudent life: fair lamp of night, its ornament and friend, who givest to nature's works their destined end. Queen of the stars, all-wise Goddess, hail! Decked with a graceful robe and amble veil. Come, blessed Goddess,
prudent, starry, bright, come, moony-lamp, with chaste and splendid light, shine on these sacred rites with prosperous rays, and pleased accept thy suppliants' mystic praise."
- Orphic Hymn 9 to Selene.
Hathor (Athyr)
By Belou
Hathor is an Egyptian cow goddess, and daughter of Nut and Re. In early Egyptian mythology she was the mother of the sky god Horus, but was later replaced in this capacity by Isis. Hathor then became a protectress of Horus. She was depicted as either a cow or in human form wearing a crown consisting of a sun disk held between the horns of a cow. Her name appears to mean "house of Horus", referring to her role as a sky goddess, the "house" denoting the heavens depicted as a great cow.
Hathor was often regarded as the mother of the Egyptian pharaoh, who styled himself as the "son of Hathor". Since the pharaoh was also considered to be Horus as the son of Isis, it might be surmised that this had its origin when Horus was considered to be the son of Hathor. Hathor took on an uncharacteristically destructive aspect in the legend of the Eye of Re. According to this legend, Re sent the Eye of Re in the form of Hathor to destroy humanity, believing that they were plotting against him. However, Re changed his mind and flooded the fields with beer, dyed red to look like blood. Hathor stopped to drink the beer, and, having become intoxicated, never carried out her deadly mission.
Hathor was often symbolized by the papyrus reed, the snake, and the Egyptian rattle known as the sistrum. Her image could also be used to form the capitals of columns in Egyptian architecture. Her principal sanctuary was at Dandarah, where her cult had its early focus, and where it may have had its origin. At Dandarah, she was particularly worshipped in her role as a goddess of fertility, of women, and of childbirth. At Thebes she was regarded as a goddess of the dead under the title of the "Lady of the West", associated with the sun god Re on his descent below the western horizon. The Greeks identified Hathor with Aphrodite.
Animal Medicine
Butterfly
By Morgana
It seems that here lately, every time I turn around I am seeing butterflies. I took my pregnant daughter in law to see the doctor the other day, and all over the office are butterflies. I went to see a friend at a cabin retreat, and all over the walls in the cabin are pictures of butterflies. As I walk out to my car in the mornings, butterflies dance at my feet, leading me down the sidewalk, landing in the parking lot, whispering 'Notice me'. In the mornings, as I sit outside, they flit back and forth, sometimes landing on me and showing off their beauty. Blue ones, yellow ones, orange ones, purple ones,
yellow ones. Such a wide variety!
So what does Butterfly have to say to us? Her medicine is about transformation: about taking difficult situations and transforming them into our best interests. About leaving one phase of our life and allowing ourselves to be reborn into another. She speaks to us of change, internal change; change in the way we perceive things. When she comes to us, it is time to ask ourselves what we are giving birth to. Are we stuck in some way of thinking? Are we stuck in anything?
It is time to enter the cocoon and open up to new ways of thinking and doing . . . new ways of being. Butterfly Medicine teaches us how to do this and be reborn in Beauty. She also teaches us about living in joy. If we are stuck in some way, then our thinking has become heavy, weighing us down. Butterfly encourages us to lighten up, and not take things quite so seriously.
Down through the centuries, Butterfly has meant many things to many different cultures. To the Christians, the Butterfly symbolized the soul, to the Native Americans, She was change and joy. In China, Butterfly was a symbol of conjugal bliss, and to the ancient Minoans She was the major symbol of new life after death. Her metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly is the essence of spiritual and physical transformation . . . Her very existence is a reminder to walk in Beauty.
Mabon
This month, on the 23rd, comes the first day of Autumn, or Mabon. In the Celtic Calendar, Mabon was one of the eight Sabbats of the Wheel of the Year. Sabbats, (from the Greek word "sabatu", meaning 'to rest') are solar festivals celebrated when the sun reaches a point of extremes, and as such were also fire festivals. For the Celts, Sabbats were a time to put aside all thoughts of work and to spend time with family and clan. They celebrated them with food, drink, dance and song. The Druids offered libations to the trees, for the shelter they have provided during the hot summer months. Even today, many Celtic Pagans will not work on the Sabbats, requesting off from their mundane jobs for religious reasons.
On Mabon, the day and night are divided equally, and we take time to show respect for the coming darkness. Mabon is the second harvest feast, which began at Lughnassadh on August 1st. The final harvest feast is on Samhain, October 31st. It is particularly a celebration of the harvest of the vine, and of wine. It is also associated with apples, as symbols of the renewal of life. The Celts would celebrate with wine, and would visit graves leaving an apple to encourage rebirth. These acts showed thankfulness for the harvest and for the promise that life continues . . . the promise of renewal after the long
winter months that are coming soon.
Mabon is the time of storing up the bounty from this year's harvest. It is a time for thanksgiving. Other names for this harvest festival are Wine Harvest, the Feast of Avalon (with Avalon also being known as the Isle of Apples), and Mea'n Fo'mhair. Colors for this Sabbat are orange, red, russet, brown, gold and maroon. Symbols include the apple, wine, vine, garland, gourds, cornucopias, corn, acorns, pinecones, and pomegranates. Foods of Mabon are breads, nuts, apples, and vegies that grow underground, such as potatoes, onions and carrots.
Mabon is a time to walk in the woods, gather the last of the herbs for drying, make wine, adorn burial sites, and scatter offerings in the fields. Spells for this Holy Day can be done for protection, prosperity, security and self-confidence. Since Mabon is a day of balance, spells for harmony and balance are also good. Goddesses to call on are Morrigan, Epona, Persephone and the Muses. Gods to call on are Mabon, Thor and The Green Man.
Mabon is a time of mystery. It is a time of honoring the spirit world. It is also a time of honoring ourselves and all of the hard work we have done this year....whether in our gardens or in our jobs.
May everyone have a blessed Mabon!
By Morgana Ravenwings
Morgana's Musings
Practicing Mindfulness
Many today are finding that seeking out the natural world and spending time out in nature are very healing for them. This tuning in to nature, puts us into our natural frame of mind, and part of tuning into the natural world around us involves coming to the realization that everything around us is alive and is infused with spirit. We have been trained to see things as either animate or inanimate. That is, if we see them at all. We spend our days rushing here and there, barely stopping to notice what is going on around us or WHO is around
us. In order to begin to realize the sacredness of all, it is best to begin by cultivating a practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness means being conscious as we go through our day. Being mindful, being aware is an art that is basically lost in our society. I say that it is lost, because it is not something that is foreign to us. Being aware is our natural state of being. Consider the four-leggeds and the winged, even the insects. They live in a state of perpetual awareness. They do not go around preoccupied with where their next meal is coming from, or what happened last night, or worrying about what their neighbors think of them. They just are. They go about their day doing what needs to be done to meet their needs, aware every second of everything around them. Our problem comes with our preoccupation. We are reoccupied with things, people, places, happenings, worries, etc. All of these things are what keep us from being aware, and living in the moment. How many times
have you actually felt the ground under your feet as you walk? Or heard the coffee pouring into your cup in the morning? Or, in reverse, how many times has someone been speaking to you and suddenly you realize that you haven't heard a word they said because you have been `off somewhere'?
Mindfulness is the practice of being aware. It is a cultivated practice, and it is not something that can be mastered overnight. This week, try to set aside 10 to 15 minutes each day, with no distractions, to practice the following exercise. Turn off the TV, the ringer on the phone, lock your door, and tell your family that you need to be alone for a few minutes (or do this when they are all asleep — that is what works for me). Find a spot where you will
not be disturbed. It can be your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen table, etc. You should try to make it the same spot everyday, as this programs the unconscious mind that this spot is used for this purpose.
Light a candle and some incense, get in a comfortable position and begin:
Begin with trying to still your mind. This is very hard for many people, and is not something that can be mastered in a week. It is your mind's job to think, so don't expect that you can just stop it at will.
Thoughts will arise, and when they do, notice them and then just let them go. Don't delve into them. Notice the thought and the feeling that goes along with it. For example, if something happened today at work that had you angry, and you remember the incident during this exercise---acknowledge it. Notice the feeling. Name it. Say `anger'. Then let it go. Don't delve into thinking `well, I should have done this or that', just notice it. Now, begin to concentrate on your breathing. Feel the breath coming in and going out. Feel your chest expanding and deflating. Feel the air in your nostrils.
Concentrate on your breathing. Is there a break between breaths, or are they continuous? Are your breaths all the same? If thoughts arise and you find yourself distracted from your breathing, simply say `distracted' , and begin again.
That is the beauty of mindfulness meditation. You just begin again. See if you can follow one entire breath from beginning to end without being distracted by your mind. Some find that it helps to say the words `in' and `out' while doing this. Others find that saying the words is in itself distracting. Find your preference. Just breathe.
After 10 to 15 minutes, simply say `thank you', get up and go through your day, trying to take this mindfulness along with you. This is a practice that can be used daily to center ourselves. When you are feeling distracted, rushed, pushed and pulled in all directions, simply concentrate on your breathing and soon you will find yourself grounded and centered and much more able to cope with what is going on around you.
The World of Dreams
Ancient history tells us that humankind has always held a fascination for their dreaming life. The Egyptians believed that dreams were messages from the Gods, and had a book of dream interpretation that was written sometime around 1300BCE. Similarly, the Assyrian King Assurbanipal had a book in his library which had interpretations of dream symbols that dated back to 2000BCE. The Old Testament is full of stories of important dreams from people such as Daniel, Jacob and Solomon. Many ancient cultures had Dream Temples, where people came to have sacred sleep and dream. The dreams received were then interpreted by seers, and were considered to be from the Gods.
Even today, dreams hold a fascination for many people. Freud believed that dreams were from our subconscious mind; telling us things about ourselves that we either forgot or that we refuse to see. Other theories are that dreams are from our Higher Self and can be prophetic/psychic in nature. Still others believe that dreams are only about mundane things that happen in our daily lives. All of these things are true, and as we learn to recall and interpret our dreams we also learn which type of dream we are dealing with. I often hear people saying either that they dream frequently, or never at
all. Everyone dreams. The only difference is that some people are able to naturally remember their dreams, while others cannot. There are many things that can be done to enhance dream recall, and I list some of them here:
1. Buy a notebook that will strictly be for dreams. This will be your Dream Journal. Take some time during the day to write in this book. Write down dreams that you DO remember . . . from childhood, from your teenage years, from a tumultuous time in your life, etc. Write down as many as you can remember, and as much about each one as you can remember. Each night before bed, re-read these dreams. This tells your subconscious mind that you wish to continue to remember your dreams and that you place importance on your dreams.
2. Go to bed quietly. Take a long relaxing bath before bed. Light a candle and some incense and spend some time in meditation. Or go over the day's events and write down anything bothering you, then burn it in the candle flame, giving it over to your Higher Power, releasing it so that you can sleep. When you lie down to sleep, keep repeating to yourself that you wish to remember your dreams. Say it over and over until you drift off to sleep.
3. One or more of the following stones placed under the pillow will help with recalling dreams:
Celestite
Herkimer Diamond
Blue Howlite
Black Jasper
Kunzite
Star Sapphire
Moonstone
Amethyst
Alexandrite
Bloodstone
Malachite
Ruby
4. Dream pillows, small fabric squares stitched together, filled with herbs and placed between the pillowcase and pillow also facilitate dreaming and dream recall.
Try one or a combination of the following herbs:
Angelica, Chamomile, Valerian, Vervain, Thyme, Rosemary, Lavender, Linden, Passionflower, Elder, Dandelion, Broom, Cherry, Fig, Goldenrod, Hibiscus, Meadowsweet, Mugwort, Dittany of Crete, Jasmine, Marigold, Rose.
You may also wish to reinforce the herbs by choosing fabric and thread of a color that says peace, or sleep to you. For example, many find the color blue very soothing, where as they find red to be stimulating. The choice is yours. Listen to your gut.
5. Keep your dream journal next to your bed. Immediately upon waking, write down anything you remember, even if it is only one word. Do this even if you awaken in the middle of the night. This is absolutely necessary because dreams are fluid. They slip right past us as soon as we get involved in ordinary life. Write down the words, and then once you have them written down, re read them and see if anything else comes to you. The more you do this, the more you will remember.
6. Try to awaken gently. Don't use alarms, even music. Awaken naturally, and lie in bed for a few minutes before beginning your day. Often when we dream it is right before we wake up. When we wake up gently, we have a better chance of remembering what we were doing just before waking. Sometimes we may just wake up with a feeling . . . feeling excited, or happy or even a feeling of dread. There is evidence to suggest that when we are irrationally depressed, it may be due to a forgotten dream. Write feelings down in your dream journal also . . . as these are left over from what ever we were dreaming just prior to waking.
Each of these exercises will work either by themselves, or combined with others. Be patient with yourself. Learning to recall dreams is not something that is a once and done deal. It takes time and patience. Make dreaming a priority in your life, practice these exercises, and soon you will open up to a whole new world of exploration!
Happy Dreaming!
Songs of the Muse
Faeries
Mystical creatures
Woodland folk
Butterfly faerie
Dragonfly faery
Wee ones
So many names for
Such interesting creatures.
Fairies portrayed in so many ways.
So many no longer believe in you.
I want to have many of you
Surrounding me all the time.
Tooth fairy
Fairy godmother
Tinkerbell
Romanticized for today's beliefs
Not receiving the respect you deserve.
Somehow we must get people to
See and believe in what is
Not seen.
(Copyright Dianne Barskey 2007)
submitted by Faerydreamer
Gaia's Resources for Health
Affirmations of the Month
Submitted by Belou
Practice one or all of the following affirmations 30 times a day for 30 days. These affirmations help to build up the energy around you and within the Universe to manifest these desired changes in your life.
Today, I will forgive myself.
Today, I will practice praise rather then criticism.
I use my talents to bless and support others and myself.
Today, I will tell the truth.
I will complete each project I create with joy and love.
Crystal of the Month
Submitted by Belou
TOURMALINE - Dispels fear, negativity and grief. It calms nerves, improves concentration and eloquence, and raises vibrations, enhancing charisma and
universal law. Tourmaline also promotes tranquil sleep.
TOURMALINE/BLACK - Simply excellent at repelling negativity. Can protect a person from the negativity of another person. Increases vitality, energy, emotional stability, and intellectual acuity. Protects against negative spells. Excellent for grounding. Can be used as an energy deflector - good for excessive amounts of radiation (i.e.: cancer treatment) Tourmaline can point you in the direction of things that will bring "good". Considered a "teller" stone, it can tell you who or what is causing you problems. Black tourmaline addresses anxiety and disorientation, raises altruism, deflects negativity and neutralizes distorted energies, (i.e. resentment). It is good for protection and weaving light into the aura.
TOURMALINE/MULTICOLOR - Some colors are green, ruby red, black, pale
gold, clear and teal. (Check properties of individual colored tourmalines below.) Multi-colored tourmalines can provide agate to the inner self and the higher self. It is good for meditation and for multiple chakra work and may be good for grounding. Tourmaline can point you in the direction of things that will bring "good". Considered a "teller" stone it may tell you who or what is causing you problems. It's presence is good for creativity, fertility, and balancing a passive or aggressive nature.
TOURMALINE/GREEN - Works with creativity, opening the heart chakra, psychological problems with the father, blood pressure, asthma, balancing, and eliminates conflict within. In opening the heart chakra it can help you see with your heart. Good for visualization practices (IE: rituals requiring
visualization) Brings about creativity, success and prosperity. Good for weight loss and healing the eyes. Great for gardening and healing plants. Transforms negative energy into positive energy.
TOURMALINE/BLUE - Wonderful for aligning with higher self for deep insight, vision, intuition, mental peace, patience and works with the nervous system and parasympathetic nerves. It is used to enhance high spiritual energy and creativity.
TOURMALINE/PINK - Heart chakra healer, imparts sense of humor to those who need it, balances, eliminates guilt, and works with the nervous system, integration, security and self-containment.
TOURMALINE/RUBELLITE - This crystal activates the base chakra,
awakening the courage to succeed at difficult and daunting endeavors.
Helps to transcend fears and can teach one to love. Carries a deep life force vibration. Use when you suffer from insomnia. Will give you a positive outlook works to help with behavioral problems, dejection, and over-sensitivity. Diminishes irritability, shyness and memory problems. Rubellite gives a person more power, especially in the morning when one has to get up and doesn't feel like it.
TOURMALINE/WATERMELON - Contains both projective and receptive
energies along with both fire and water energies. Used to balance all energies. Will create a balance of Male and Female energies with-in a person. Great for love attraction - A super activator of the heart chakra. Helps one "look past" a situation to find a benefit. Helps the user to experience and enhance the beauty of nature.
The following link has excellent pictures of tourmaline and other minerals!
www.themineralgallery.com/tourroom.htm
The Throat Chakra: Sanskrit word: "Visshuda"
By Belou
The throat chakra influences communication, inner identity, and telepathy. It is related to the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the upper chest, neck, throat, mouth, nose and ears. (Note: The shoulders, arms and hands can be affected by both the heart and throat chakras.) The throat chakra is primarily concerned with communication, and both throat and sacral chakras are associated with creativity.
Signs of malfunctioning: Throat problems, stiff neck, thyroid problems, ear problems, laryngitis, sore throats, tonsillitis (these all suggest difficulties within the lines of communication either at an every day level or sometimes simply the need to become involved in some artistic activity)... creativity blocks and a lack of inspiration. Very often these symptoms are a sign that something is being held back or not communicated, or that individuality is being stifled and something needs to be expressed.
CHARACTERISTICS:
*color is blue
*associated with the thyroid, bronchial and vocal apparatus, lungs, alimentary canal, gland, and parathyroid.
*element is ether
*angelic realms
*sense is hearing
*sacrament is Priesthood
*associated with the planet Mars in ancient time and is connected to the Moon in modern times.
*spins to the right in both men and women
* it is located in the throat below the Adams apple.
Garden of Eatin'
Cranberry-Pecan Brown Rice Stuffing
1 Cup brown rice
1/2 Cup dried cranberries
1/2 Cup vegetable broth (chicken if non-vegan)
1 tsp dried orange peel
1 Tbs margarine
1/2 Cup celery, chopped
2 Tbs shallots or onion, finely chopped
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1/2 Cup toasted pecans, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
Prepare rice according to pkg. directions.
In a medium microwave safe bowl, mix cranberries and orange peel with broth and microwave on HIGH for 2 minutes. Set aside.
Heat a large sauce pan over high heat and add margerine. Stir in celery, shallots or onion (or both) and poultry seasoning and saute 3 minutes. Stir in cranberries, orange peel, broth, pecans, parsley and rice, and cook over medium heat for 3 more minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Serves 8.
To toast pecans, preheat oven to 350*. Place pecans on a small cookie sheet and bake for 5 minutes. Be careful not to burn.
(I add yellow raisins to the microwave mix. I also enjoy putting pre-cooked poultry or diced pre-cooked pork when I want it to be a one-pan meal. Helps use up left-overs.)
submitted by Dryw
Harvests from the Printing Press
Book Review
by Dryw
The Body Sacred
By Dianne Sylvan
In a book that guides us into examining and accepting each part of our body image as a whole, as a Goddess, Dianne Sylvan reaches into the very core of the misconceptions we have in determining what is beauty according to the world, and what real beauty is for us as individuals.
There are myths, spells, rituals and meditations that are designed to help us build a positive self image. She introduces us to six different archetypes that represent the many aspects we encompass, and includes invocations to these Goddesses, drawing them into our spiritual selves.
These chapters include:
The Reflection
The Mother
The Healer
The Lover
The Dancer
The Crone
To quote the authoress; " I call for women to stand up and reaffirm their Goddess-given beauty no matter how short, tall, fat, old or imperfect we think we are. Each of us is touched and blessed by the Divine...For most of us, it is the hardest and most rewarding magic we will ever do...I wrote the Body Sacred because women will never truly win the fight for equality unless we first stop attacking ourselves."
This is a powerful book in guiding us to face ourselves and the beauty that is in each of us, reaffirming that truly," Thou Art Goddess".
Spider Woman's Web
Here are some links we love!!
A Witches Mall
For All of Your Metaphysical Needs, from herbs, to books, and altar
supplies
http://a-witches-mall.vstore.ca/
A beautiful gallery:
http://www.effusion.bz/
Links to Daughters of the Greening:
Information on Courses
Tarot Readings
Prayer Requests
Email: school@daughtersofthegreening.com
Subscribe to this newsletter at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_sacred_glen
Green Living
Green Living Ideas You can do at Home
By Susan Allen
1.The Individual Bottle of Water Craze Who hasn't jumped on this one? What easier way to get your daily water quota filled than to grab a cold 16.9 ouncer out of the fridge and go! While we are doing a great job making ourselves healthier, we are killing the earth. The amount of oil needed to produce everyone's supply of water bottles each year is equal to the amount of fuel 100,000 cars would use in an entire year! WOW! Think about that next time you down that water and throw the bottle in the trash!
What can you do? Buy one package of bottled water, then rinse and refill from an economy size jug or your refrigerators filtering device. Don't have a cool refrigerator? Invest in a purifying water pitcher and refill your bottles from that.
2.Paper or Plastic? Guess what? They both hurt the environment! While paper bags are made using trees which are replaceable, and plastic bags are made with synthetic chemicals that Mother Nature can't degrade, both require tons of energy to be made. The amount of fuel the average car uses in one mile only makes about 14 plastic bags. The worst part is that the production of paper bags requires even more!
What can you do? The best way to combat this is to buy reusable cloth bags and take them with you when you go shopping. Some of us are weekly shoppers rather than daily and there is no way we can afford to buy 50 cloth bags for our groceries, much less want to haul them to the grocery store every time we go shopping. (Kudos to those of you who already do this!!) For everyone else, you can reuse your plastic or paper bags. Reuse them until they are full of holes and can no longer be used. Pack your lunch in them, use them to carry your books, be creative! When they are so used that you can't use them anymore, take them to a plastic bag recycling center at the store you got them from (this is one of the best things about Wal-mart). They are still going to require fuel to be made, but at least they are not ending up in landfills where the Earth can't take care of them! When your paper bags reach the end of their reusable life span, recycle them or give them back to Mother Nature, She CAN digest paper!
3.Catalog Overload Who doesn't like to sit in their chair or on the couch and flip through pages and pages of cool merchandise in shopping catalogs? It will be tough, but requesting to be removed from Fire Mountain Gems, or The Sacred Source and other catalog's mailing lists would be great for the environment. You save the companies that you like to order from money and fuel costs to make the catalogs, and you don't have to worry about what to do with them after you've made your order. Instead invest in high speed internet or DSL and do all of your shopping online. You might be surprised at the amount of extra merchandise you find that way that you never even glimpsed in the catalog! If you are in an internet dead zone (YES, they do still exist), recycle all your old catalogs, and only request the ones you absolutely intend to order from.
Parts excerpted from "Self" magazine December 2006