Part of Herbs & Things latest emailing

Hello From Herbs & Things:)

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
Nelson Mandela

The Retreat is over and what an experience, Not only for me and those who attended, but for Rick McBride too. Though he does not talk a lot of what he 'hears', he did tell me with tears in his eyes, he has a LOT to process that came from the Wheel. I love it. I and my husband Rick were privileged to be part of the Pipe ceremony that Rick McBride did when he first arrived and though I did not understand it all, the emotions and spiritual connection were something I COULD understand and feel. As far as the retreat goes, it will take me a couple days of sitting back and processing each day, the one on ones conversations with Rick McBride, and the Ah-Ha moments, to get all that it brought. Each lecture and workshop were magnificent. The last two days with the Medicine Wheel workshop was an experience that was surly divinely guided as each person got to the 'heart' of what their proposition to the Medicine Wheel was. Through tears and laughter, we all found things about ourselves we were afraid to explore and then the courage to speak them aloud, that without the help of the Wheel and God we would may not have accomplished. Plus we were privileged to bond with people of like mind, and learned how the 'circle' of life really works.

Which brings me to..
I am sure, now...the neighbors are really convinced Kellie's lost it. First she mows a strange looking pattern in the hayfield and then Friday Oct 1st, there were people out in that mowed area, singing and beating on drums in the cold of the night....Well all I can say, it's to bad they did not join us (especially the person walking up and down road with a flash light trying to see us.:), they would have had an experience of a life time. I know I did as did the people and spirits there.
Drumming and Drum Healing is something I had no clue of, and it ended up being an experience like no other I've encountered. The vibrations emulating from the earth and in the Wheel with the Drumming were high and filled with love. But the Drum Healing...Whew...a whole different thing. It's hard to explain the feelings as the vibrations go through and out your body. It makes you feel the oneness with the earth below your feet and the energy vibrations of everything around you. We've already planned on having a drumming next year, maybe July when its warmer, and I'd recommend that if you can or had an inkling to attend this one, you should attend the one in July. You'll find that its not about being Native American, its not about any culture at all. Its about connecting with the Earth and your higher source, feeling Her grounding life and the true 'Natural' connection, whether it be God, Wakan Tanka, Buddha Yahweh, or any other divine. Friday night in this particular instance it was in a Native American way. To put it simply we prayed outside and instead of having church music or a choir singing, there were drums and Native American songs.

Thank you to all who attended the workshops, lectures, drum healing and your gifts to the Wheel. With out your love and connection to Mother Earth, it would not have been the retreat it was. I will try to use the gifts for the Wheel wisely and as directed by those who 'instructed' me to make the Wheel in the first place. And to anyone who has not walked the Wheel, The Wheel is a place for all to come. It is not about being Native American, nor about being any religion. It is not a place where beliefs are judged or you will be instructed to change your core beliefs or the essence of who YOU Are. It is a place in Nature you actually feel and are offered connection to your higher source, enlightenment, truth and peace.

Kellie

snippet of Herbs & Things email from Sept 13th 2010

Hello From Herbs & Things :)


Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence.
Hal Borland http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Borland

Thursday last week I climbed a tree. I've not done so since I was a child, but every time I work a Wheel for myself, it keeps telling me to search my inner child and have some fun once in a while...so I climbed a tree. It was wonderful...It reminded of when I was around 8 or 9 and climbed a neighbors tall pine tree. I went up and up and up....then looked down. I found I was above their house and the view was breathtaking...because it took my breath away when I realized just how far I had climbed, the dilemma, I had to get down. However while I contemplated going down and not falling, which I did not think of while going up, I enjoyed my wonderful time with the tree. I thought how amazing to be a bird and live in a tree, walking out on branches and seeing the world from all points of view. It was a memorable experience in my childhood and I am glad I climbed a tree Thursday to revisited that time. For sure though this time, I was not that far off the ground, I might have only been up two foot, but for a moment, standing in the apple tree, though 56 years old the child within emerged and hugging the tree as the winds rocked me gently in its limbs, the feeling was unexplainable as an adult, but the child inside understood why a child instinctively NEEDS to climb trees. You should try it...it will awaken things you've not felt in a while...I promise:)

Its the time of the year for the angels of Virgo (August 22-Sept 21) Their keynote is Patience, inspiration and organization. Music that will help you connect to them---Ludwig Von Beethoven(Pastoral) http://www.all-about-beethoven.com/symphony6.html Angels of Virgo help awaken our magical sparks. They bring wisdom and more. (Ted Andrews 'The Intercession of Spirits')

Recently Spirit has been emphatic about me journaling, every day. Usually they tell me to go to the Magical place under the pine trees, sit on the mound and write what I remember...which I've started doing. What I've remembered with pen in hand has been amazing and made me wonder how could I have forgotten these things. I will try to share a very profound and emotional experience next week, inked from my memories, on Herbs & Things blog, I've just not had time to write it there and do it justice this week. I've told a couple people and each time its brought me and them to tears.

Rick my husband is on vacation, and the project for this vacation is putting new water lines through the whole house. Not sure if the upstairs will get done, because the ceiling in the bathroom has to come out (which is ok it needs to be replaced) as will the stairway wall leading up to the once used to be apartment that is now Herbs & Things 'warehouse':). He might need more vacation time for that I expect, but hey one never knows, maybe it will get done this week? :) During this new water line time, I've had to take 'sink baths' and use a bucket of water to flush the toilet. Its fine for a couple days, but wow this is what they use to do all the time years ago. How spoiled we are now, with the turn of a knob and walla, a nice hot shower or the whir of the potty going down.

Beaver Meadows Sept 11th 2010 was nice. The day couldn't have been more beautiful and it was the perfect day for me to be there, because Rick did the hot water lines that day and had it all but done by time I got home. COOL...:)

Still canning too. Right now I have Chili Sauce cooking and it smells...marvelous! Soon, but not last the potatoes...then one of my favorites...Applesauce~

Sept 24th-Oct 3rd 2010 retreat

Teaching the Lifeways
with Rick McBride...
Pre registration is required
open RETREAT attachment for more Info
You may register....
Via, kelliem@roadrunner.com and mail check.
Phone...716-861-4851 and mail check
Come directly to Herbs & Things
or by clicking the link to see classes and or to pay by debit or credit card
http://www.coldensherbsandthings.com/retreat.html
No monies will be transacted until retreat starts.
Workshops are filling up...


Did you know?

Check out one bench I got made from donation monies. I'll get going on more benches soon AND a place of magic.... http://coldensherbsandthings.blogspot.com/

The Super Bug might be here... http://www.examiner.com/headlines-in-san-francisco/breaking-news-drug-resistant-super-bug-found-three-states What can you do? Stop using antibacterial soaps, exposing your system to germs and bugs is natures best way of building resistance. As in a horse, if a horse gets strangles, the best way to prevent it from happening again, is to let it run its course, as long as the glandular swelling does not close their airways...let the fever, snots and other pleasantries run their course. Keep you horse comfortable, in a well ventilated area but warm, plenty of fresh water, maybe something for the achy, and your horse will probably never get it again. Antibiotics often will prolong the duration of strangles and may cause a rare condition call bastard strangles that is usually fatal. We humans can learn from the animals.

There are 7 wonders of the Underwater world
http://www.7wonders.org/wonders/underwater-wonders.aspx

There are 7 Wonders of the Ancient World
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/artarchaeologyarchitect/tp/7WondersWorld.htm?nl=1

Natural Wonders
http://www.7wonders.org/wonders/natural-wonders.aspx

New and Returning to Herbs & Things

Red Raspberry Pretzel Dip is Returning (5 big yums!)
New scents from Funky Chunks (the ultimate castile olive oil soap)
Twice the Spice, Poison Apple,Pumpkin Patch, Sunshine
these and other scents available in smaller sizes for $2.00

Recipes
Baked Stuffed Peppers
by WKBW Programming/Mr. Food
Originally printed at http://www.wkbw.com/lifestyle/mr-food/100873539.html

Ingredients
Our over-stuffed Baked Stuffed Peppers are a super change-of-pace easy side dish. Colorful red and green bell peppers serve as tasty edible bowls that team with any go-along.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 medium-sized red or green bell peppers, split lengthwise and cleaned (see Options)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium-sized onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 ripe tomato, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon grated or shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat an 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and sauté just until softened. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients except pepper halves and Parmesan cheese; mix well.
Fill peppers evenly with mixture and place in prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Add 1/4 cup water to baking dish, cover with foil, and bake 15 minutes. Remove dish from oven and carefully remove foil; return dish to oven and bake for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, or until heated through. Serve immediately.
Options :Try stuffing Cubanelle or Serrano peppers for a different gourmet flavor.

Hamburger Pie

1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
2 packages (8 ounces each) refrigerated crescent rolls
Your favorite shredded cheese
1. Cook the beef in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until well browned, stirring often to separate meat. Pour off any fat. Stir the soup in the skillet.
2. Unroll 1 package crescent roll dough and press on the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie plate. Press the seams to seal. Layer half the beef mixture and half the cheese in the pie plate. Repeat the layers. Unroll the remaining dough. Place the dough over the filling and press the edges to seal, if desired.
3. Bake at 350°F. for 15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
Makes: 6 servings.


Be well
Laugh often
Love large
Dig in the dirt
Grow a garden
and may the sun light your way
Kellie
+
Herbs & Things

HOURS
Wed/Thurs....10am-5:30pm
Fri/Sat..............9am-3pm
Closed...Mon/Tues
Sunday/Starting May 1st -Oct
Holland Farmers Market
8:30am-1pm

One bench down and more to come AND a Magical Place

New Bench in Meditation Garden

Water Fairy

Bench made from donation monies



Enter and sit on a Fairy Mound...it's a magical place



Look as see what you see and hear

There's magic in them there trees...

I asked God a question and this is what he said.

During Herbs & Things full moon walk in the Wheel  August 24th, 2010, I realized on a bigger scale, the number of hurting people in today's world. People hurt and walking around with open wounds, where proud flesh can grow, leaving them unable to heal. Thus the anger, depression, and illnesses we see so prominent today.

I realized too, many are not as fortunate as I to live on land that has healing properties. They've no place to go, to Connect, and ask for help with their worries, anxieties, resentments and/or regrets.

The walk made me re-ponder the questions I've frequently been asked over the years, "How am I able to move away and move on from bad things. How is it I have no regrets. How can I so easily forgive those who've done me wrong?"

My answer was always "I don't know".

Until now.

Now I understand, it is this land. It has the capability of helping to heal and push aside hurts. I'm not sure it will help everyone, but I know it can help many. Understanding this about the land, I still questioned why I was instructed by 'The Voice" to put a Native American Medicine Wheel on the land across the road in May. Though the Wheel is still new, I've seen many who've come experience healing in one form or another. But they too question why are they drawn to this and feel good, but also feel like they are doing something wrong, because of what they've been taught in their religion. That believing in something else other than what you are taught, is a sin.

So a few days ago, I decided to do a sitting meditation under the Poplar tree near the Wheel in the meditation garden. I smudged the area with sage, quieted my mind and started my conversation with God.

"God, are you here?" I asked,

"Yes"

"I need to get down to the nitty gritty about this Medicine Wheel."

"Yes, I know, go ahead."

"I am confused, and once and for all, I'd like to know, why have I been instructed to build a Native American Medicine Wheel, and not move towards you in the way I was baptized, in Catholicism?"
I heard nothing for a moment, then the answer was...

"You are an example, of knowing I am one, no matter what you choose to call me. I am in you, in the Pine trees that sing music to your ears, the flowers that give you peace through fragrance, in the animals that tug at your heart through their unconditional love. I am in the dark sky's of night and the blue sky's of day.
I am in the waters that you drink which give you life, or the waters that bathe and soothe you.

I am the winds that caress your cheeks and dry your tears. I am the stability beneath your feet, upon the earth of which you stand. All you have to do, is take off your shoes, and you will feel me. All you have to do, is touch a tree, smell a flower, dig in the soil, listen to the music in the trees, the songs of the birds, frogs, crickets, or the howl of a coyote and you will find me. All you have to do is watch the miracle of a birds flight, let the sun shine on your face, be amazed at the flower that opens, or simply give someone a kind word or hug and you will see me.

I've used you in this way, because I want my children to come back to me. Religion though it a good thing, at this time in the world, people are feeling disconnected and their trust is diminishing. You ask me why the Native American Medicine Wheel. The Wheel is nature, using nature to connect to Me, and people will learn to trust it, because Nature cannot lie. When My children experience this they will no longer disbelieve or fear me.

Native Americans always knew this. They, even through the worst times of their lives, stayed connected to me through nature. They, as many I've used, have a better understanding of the sacrifice of the only son.
And those who chose to follow the ways of Nature, eventually learn to trust again, because it connects them to something tangible they can hear, feel, smell and see...Me".

Whew...a little emotional here. Just wrote what I was told to tell you.
Kellie

Ramblings from Kellie and Herbs & Things

Ok I'd had enough. It was 1:30 pm Tuesday afternoon and I'd been mowing since 7:45am. It was HOT again. I decided I could finish mowing the next day or later that day, because  it was cool off time and a good time to get Herbs & Things weekly email together. It was nice in my office, on a hot day like that, with the fan blowing on my skin, a cold glass of iced water, and the little Yellow Finches http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Goldfinch/id serenading me from outside my window while I send messages to all Herbs & Things addressees and hoping their 4th was great.

The Farmers Market was small last Sunday, with only a few vendors. Must be everyone else was enjoying the holiday weekend and or making hay. Thanks to all of you who came and visited the few of us that were there. Which brings me to, If you own hay eating animals and buy hay, now would be a nice time to give that hay maker a silent thanks of gratitude. Because those hay makers took advantage of this weather and kept working, working, working making hay, in spite of the heat. I know I appreciate my hay guy Joe or anyone that makes hay, because I don't miss, the hay stacking, it sticking to my neck, in the crevasses of my arms, down my back, under my shirt, in my jeans, nor that my headband was wring out wet from soaking up sweat and sometimes it would still sneak a stream of salty water down my face, then topping it off with breaking out in a prickly rash because I am allergic to it. Do I miss doing hay...Nope....well maybe just a little, there's a certain sense of accomplishment when you put in 700-1800 bales of hay in a day-Some do more... However... thanks 'LOADS' Joe...

Mother Nature Speaks to me and I heard!

I am always awed, when I've noticed that Mother Nature is speaking to me and I heard! Being a bit of a workaholic, and though I spend the majority of my time out side, too often, I get caught up in the day to day things, my thoughts, the have to's, and don't take the time to 'smell the roses'. However, I am learning and getting better at taking the time and I've found, that Mother Nature has a lot to say and much to teach. I am learning better at listening to 'Her' language and not expecting Her to speak in mine. But then again, really Her language is mine, because she in collaboration with the 'creator' is from which I came. But somewhere over the course of evolution, I've lost that old world language, but its in my blood and it is returning, not only to me, but to many others. It is starting...and what happened Tuesday June 15th 2010, is a perfect example of what it is I speak of.

It was a beautiful day, one that could be considered perfect. This was the day I was finally going to put the posts and solar lights in the Medicine Wheel I am constructing in our big hay field. The skies were blue with a perfect temperature of around 73. I had spent the morning drilling the holes in the top of the posts for the solar lights to sit in. Then around 11 am, Me and John Deer went to the Medicine Wheel field and commenced with our task. There was a breeze and not a black deer fly anywhere as I started. The breeze felt good. With each light post, I asked is this a good place to put it, and when it felt right that is where 'we' secured it in the ground. After the first fence post went in and I placed the solar light, in the caulked hole atop the post, I noticed a Dragonfly hovering around it. He got close enough to me that I could see he was a bluish color, double winged with white spots and stripes. He was beautiful glistening in the sun. I greeted him "Hello there", in my language, he responded with a dart up and down. I went to the next post, pushed it in the ground, placed the solar light in the pre drilled hole, stepped back to make sure it was straight and again, either the same Dragonfly or another that looked like the first, hovered around this post and light too, as if checking it out, then flew down towards the circle of the wheel. I followed. I put the four posts in the wheel area, and for each post, that dragonfly was there.

Moving through the East path to find the perfect spot for those lights, I felt a bit lonely when I thought The Dragonfly was gone. I put a fence post in that area, and to my delight the Dragonfly reappeared. It felt like I was seeing it for the first time. I watched it, it watched me. I appeared more beautiful to me.
I continued on with my task at hand and put 14 posts and lights in the Medicine Wheel and 14 times a Dragon Fly was with me as I erected a post and light. So when I came back to the house, still feeling awed by its presence, I looked up in the book ' Animal Speak' by Ted Andrews the meaning of a Dragonfly Totem...Ready....


KEYNOTE: THE POWER OF LIGHT.

Yeah I know...it gave me goose bumps too:)

Read more about the Dragonfly and other meanings too. http://www.dragonfly-site.com/

KEYNOTE: Shared Blessings and Harvest

Sunday morning, getting ready to leave to set up at the Farmers Market, I was shutting things off in my office, and outside the window, where I can see the other garden I tilled, to my surprise walking around its perimeter was one turkey, seemingly, giving the garden a good once over. My first thought was oh great; now turkeys are going to come in, dig up the garden with their scratching and its not even planted yet. However knowing turkeys usually come in flocks, I looked farther out the window to see if there were more, there were not. How odd.

I admired the beauty of the bird, which surprised me because my minds eye thought turkeys weren’t a pretty bird, but this one looked different. It was brown with a reddish tail that reminded me of a Red Tail Hawks tail. She merely moseyed around the garden, not going in, just looking at it, for a few minutes, as if she was simply admiring. Wanting to feel closer to her for some reason, I opened my window to ask her what she was doing there, and she ran in to the woods.
After she left, I thought of the book Animal Speak by Ted Andrews I am reading. It is about animal totems and their meanings. I decided to look up Turkey totems. Because getting one lone turkey, not a flock is rare.

This is a small excerpt.
Turkey:
KEYNOTE: Shared Blessings and Harvest
CYCLE OF POWER: Autumn
The turkey is sometimes called the earth eagle. It has a long history of association with spirituality and the honoring of the Earth Mother. It is a symbol of all the blessings the Earth contains, along with the ability to use them to their greatest advantage. The turkey can live to be 12. Twelve is a significant number in that the earth revolves around the sun in the 12 months, reflecting a tie between the turkey and the honoring life cycle of the Earth. Those who have a turkey totem can usually expect a year of harvest.
Turkeys’ have an intricate mythology among Native Americans. They helped create the world and showed the humans how to grow corn.
So…does this mean that this visit by one of Mother Natures creatures to my new tilled garden is her way of telling me I made the right choice and that garden is going to grow good there. We shall all see:)

I’ve been lax…as you can see.

I promised I would keep you posted on how my natural healing is going.
I am sorry to say I’ve been lax…as you can see.
I think things are going well.

Here is a list of what Rose suggested I take;

New Suns
Para CL to rid me of a few parasites (downfall of a living on a farm)
Life Source…a nutritional Green drink in a capsule (for spot on left ovary she found
Thyroid extract cell salts…(for my inflamed thyroid)

8 weeks into the program

I am done with the Para CL. I won’t know if that worked until I go back and she does another Iridology exam.
Taking the Life Source, I’ve found my moods are more even, and my stamina is higher.
The Thyroid Cell Salts…I know are definitely working, 10 days into taking them…I could feel the swelling in my thyroid had gone down.  By Easter, I could see at the base of my throat area the swelling had gone down.
Though I’ve not lost only a couple pounds…I’ve no longer put it on, and I am not dieting.

In addition, the exciting news is a few days ago…I notice, my eyebrow hair is growing back in.
One of the signs of a malfunctioning thyroid is loss of hair at the end of you eyebrows…and I was bald. I had resorted to penciling something in. UGH...
But there it was, blond and fair…hair growing…I am thrilled! I like to show everyone…as if they’d really be interested:)

This week…May 18th I took my husband for a session. It was very interesting, very interesting in deed. I’ll keep you posted on his journey…hopefully better than I’ve kept you posted on mine.

Be Well
Laugh Often
Love Large
Dig In The Dirt
Grow A Garden
And May the Sun light your way
Kellie

If you are interested in New Sun’s product…you can buy them wholesale by
Calling Toll Free
1-800-544-0777
Mention Kellie & Herbs & Things Colden NY and you will
Receive the wholesale price.

Excerpt of Herbs & Things weekly email May 12th 2010

The feelings of dismay and helplessness I feel, regarding the oil slick growing and drifting in the Gulf of Mexico reminds me of a poem I wrote a few years ago. http://herbsandthingspoetrypage.blogspot.com/  Though I try to understand the surmountable devastation on the wildlife and food sources, I'm not sure I can think on that big of scale. The effects I can only imagine its having on the Seafood, salts and other healthy food choices, that eventually might be dangerous to human health, Might be?...how could it not, is distressing.

Gulf fisheries are some of the most productive in the world and to think of the toxins that will infiltrate the sea life, minerals and greens is overwhelming. How ironic too, that we are told to eat more fish, that sea salt is healthier and that's what we should consume, rather than meats or preservative laden spices, yet here another natural source of healthy food is contaminated once again by humans.

I know we have to change our way of life, but my helplessness comes from I don't know all I can do and also my dismay comes from knowing that I too contribute to destruction of our scared earth. It’s hard to make change, but somehow, some way, I am going to try to start using my vehicles and fuels even less.

I ponder, the horses...do I need to learn to utilize them more, learning the old ways of plowing and gardening. I ponder too, now that I've been instructed to build a medicine wheel on land that is abundant with waters and grows with life quickly, how will I keep it groomed without mowing as often so people can enjoy its wealth of spiritual nourishment. I guess I am going to need a lot of ground covering plants and shady trees…and what else, I don't know. So let the research begin and let the voices speak...guiding me in what to do.

Only a few moments after writing the above paragraph, my minds eye said, Kellie, search Native American Nature equivalent to Noah’s Ark (I'll explain later of where the Noah's Ark scenario came from). This search, led me to, first about growing wild rice then to a list of 28 plants that do well in wet, boggy areas and running waters...the area where the medicine wheel and meditative gardens are going...(raising of the eyebrows...blink, blink... in awe once again. I asked, they listened, I heard.)

Survey

1. What would you like Herbs & Things shop to carry?
2. What would you like to see more of in Herbs & Things emails?
3. What don't you like about Herbs & Things emails?
4. What learning lectures and or events would you like Herbs & Things to have?
5. What things are you interested in...gardening, nature, different types of spiritually, politics, star gazing...other (list your ideas).
6. Would anyone be interested in a Garden Club?
7. Do you think life is destiny, coincidence, a path already written, chance, none of these, all of the above, or do you have other ideas?
8. If you don't buy Organic coffee, why...price, taste, isn't any different from coffee you buy in the grocery market.
9. Are products that are Organic or Natural important to you, rating each on a scale of 1-10...ten being most important.
10. Spices...what spices do you use the most.
11. What's your favorite tea? Do you like loose or tea bags better?
12. What kinds of gift items would you like to see Herbs & Things carry?
13.  Would any one be interested in a lecture about animal totems?
14.  Would anyone be interested in a writers workshop? (given by me a grammatically challenged writer)
15.  Herbs & Things web site... http://www.coldensherbsandthings.com/
What would you like different.  If I had a store pickup would you purchase on line? Do you like it over all?
16.  Please....I'm open to comments, suggestions or ideas...of any kind:)

I'm learning about animal totems

My niece gave me a wonderful book for Easter, that teaches about our animal totems, titled 'Animal Speak' by Ted Andrews. I've been reading and scanning the book everyday since I receive it, trying to absorb the abundance of information within its pages.
I was especially excited when I received this book as a gift, because those who get my emails and read my blog know about the Medicine Wheel I've been instructed to build (by my sources).

A few weeks ago I decided Willow Trees should go near where the wheel is going to be. I've always love those weeping trees and thought they would fit perfect within the gardens that will eventually be put and constructed on the land across the road (meditative, memory, medicine wheel, 3 sisters, and what ever else comes to mind) where Native Americans once lived and their history speaks to me when ever I walk upon the grasses and soil there. 

So, imagine my delight to find explanations of Native American Symbolism for the Willow Tree in this book....you'll see they are going to fit perfectly.
Symbolic qualities of trees..

The Willow...Magic, healing, inner vision and dreams

The Pine tree (which I plan on putting a separate garden near the ones that are already there) Balance of pain and emotions, creativity.

The Apple tree (already there too) Magic, youth, beauty and happiness

which brings me to
Another idea that came to me while mowing Monday...by....the Pine trees
is I am going to put information signs around the trees and through the field and gardens,

explaining...the signs of nature and symbolism if the trees, birds and the land.

Do you know what your animal totem/totems are?

I believe I have a couple....

The horse, hawk, the cougar(I dream of the cougar a lot),

and most recently the bear, fox and eagle,

which came to me last year while over on the land, and working in the gardens.

Part II Natural Healing journey

I am a few days late getting Part II done…sorry

One of the first things I’ve learned about natural healing is one has to believe…or at least want too believe. I am there at 90% believer and 100% want to believe. This makes my odds good in spite of my doubts.

One must remember that natural healing is not an immediate fix like Western’s modern medicine. It is however, I've been told, often a good preventative, and or permanent fix because its using your own body to help heal its self, by repairing something, not just masking a problem or allowing the body a false sense of support, only to fall down when it is taken away. Think of it as a cast that helps hold things in place until the area is healed, then when you take the cast away, often the healed area is stronger than it was before.

Previously I mentioned in my first session I had to pee on a PH strip. My numbers were good…Urine read 6.5 PH and my saliva read 7.2 PH both in the alkaline range, which is where you want you body to be. Cancer lives in acidic environment so keeping you body alkaline gives it a better chance to fight off cancer.

Rose asked me many questions, learning about me and my families history, as a doctor would. She asked why I was there and what my health concerns were. I don’t have many issues, I feel healthy except for my weight I told her. I feel there is something going on more than me merely eating too much, that my body is telling me that maybe 20 pounds of my extra weight is from what I eat, but the other extra 30, something else is going on and that though blood tests say my thyroid is ok…I feel it is not.

Rose began with applied Kinesiology, testing my internal organs, checking to see if they are functioning normally. She ran her hands over me about 4 inches from my body, asking for guidance from God and my sources to allow her see, my life energy, brain, circulatory system, lymph nodes, throat, thyroid, pituitary, adrenal, heart stomach, gall bladder, liver, pancreas, kidneys, intestines, ovaries and all my internal organs. She went back to my pituitary, adrenal, thyroid…then back again. The pituitary and adrenal are communicating she tells me, but the thyroid though its trying is not. It is inflamed and swollen and cannot communicate something like a goiter.

Its then I told her about the feeling of a lump in my throat when I swallow, like a big wad of something that will not go down, and sometimes while eating it is hard to swallow. This started about 4 years ago, along with my weight issues and has gotten worse in the past 2 years. Thus, I asked for my thyroid to be checked and had mentioned the swollen thyroid area, the doctors said their tests showed my thyroid was ok so it wasn’t my thyroid, maybe I should have a scope done…but it was my voice that kept telling me they’re wrong. Of course, that other voice told me the worst-case scenario, but the thyroid voice was persistent.


We moved on. Now she was going to use the Avana method, an emotional cleansing. Rose instructed me that if at any time, the Avana method caused too much pain I could ask her to stop. If I started to cry there was a box of tissue on my right. Oh, that’s great I thought, I’m don’t want to cry. She sat behind, and asked God and my source if it was ok to enter and heal me if need be. They said yes. She then asked me if it was o.k. I agreed.

She first checked my chakras, http://healing.about.com/od/chakratheseven/a/study7chakras.htm by opening each one, to again check internal parts of my body but delve deeper to see if emotional issues were hampering my organs from functioning at full capacity.

I can’t tell you word for word what she said while asking for guidance and to be allowed to see my chakras
She entered each chakra…Crown…good, Third eye…good. Throat…sticky, I’ll return she says. Heart…compromised. She stops, “Please show me Kellie’s heart, there is something genetically wrong. May I heal it? No? That’s not fair. Why can’t I heal her heart? It’s her Karma...Ok…then I ask you keep her safe.”
Rose sighs and says, “They won’t let me heal your heart Kellie. This rarely happens that they won’t let me heal something, they said, maybe some other time.

Ok, at this point I was surprised, because I thought Rose found something most doctors don’t find. Something I had not mentioned to her. Because I don’t think about it. Its something I live with. Though she did not specifically say heart murmur, that’s what I believed she found. I’ll share later, how I feel about her not being allowed to heal that and if it was my heat murmur she saw. I did not say anything about it yet.

She continued…Solar plexus…compromised. She asks, may I enter and cleanse and heal Kellie. Their answer yes.
She enters, and finds no souls attached. She says, “Something is not right. Please have Kellie show me her 50’s, they were good, let me see her 40’s…Oh Kellie, much grief and sadness. Allow me to cleanse her of these emotions.”
At this point, I felt a huge wave of sadness wave over me, almost causing me to cry, and then it was gone. “It is done, Its done, It is done.” she said.

“Now let me see her 30’s, more grief, sadness and communication issues. Please let me cleanse these emotions.” Again but not as severe, I felt a wave of sadness wave over me. “Allow me to see Kellie’s 20’s. Ah 20’s were good.”
They were.
She entered my teens…more communication issues…allow me to cleanse those.
Toddler years …good
“Let me see her birth. Oh Kellie…Were you born with the cord around you neck?”
“No.”
“Allow me to see Kellie’s conception and uterine life. Oh such struggles for such a little thing, you had to fight every single day form the day you were conceived to get to this world…every single day was a struggle for your life…oh such a struggle for your beginning little life.”

Though I don’t consciously remember, my birth was a struggle. My mother back in 1953-54, was given the now controversial injections (she always told me they were monkey hormones) that are known to cause ovarian cancer, (which she died from) so she would be able to carry me full term. Between the birth of my sister and me, my mother lost four babies. I still was a month early.

Sacral Chakra…good
Root chakra…good

Back to my throat, “It’s sticky; I can’t get it totally unstuck. I’ll check that more thoroughly with I look in your eyes.”

Although I felt something during and after my session with Rose… still my mind wanted me to doubt and ask is it true. Or wonder, is it something like a placebo effect, wishing for results or that I do feel something, therefore I did. However, whether it real or in my mind, it did produce positive physical effects.

A few hours after my session, I started getting tired, and though I do not do this too often, but I really had not choice, I took a nap. I slept about 45 minutes. It was a deep sleep and after waking, I felt rested. Feeling rested after sleep has been something I’d not experienced in a while. It felt good; however, I still needed to go to bed at 9 PM.

The next day, after the best nights sleep I’ve had in a long time. I felt lighter some how, freer. I couldn’t exactly explain how I was feeling, but I could take a deep expanded breath, (I've had no problems with my breathing, but this was different) I could feel my rib cage and diaphragm expand as they had not done in a while. It felt marvelous. Then something told me to check my blood pressure. I’ve been struggling with it hovering around 145/87 for months which is to high. But this day, the day after my session…it was 129/71 that too the best it’s been in a long time.

I sat there, with the BP cuff around my arm, and contemplated; can healing the body be this simple? If so, then why aren’t more people doing it? Why haven’t I done it sooner? Can all these health issues of today, even cancer…be this easy to avoid and or rid our selves of?

Just like many, my doubts stems from fear. Fears that I am wrong, or what if while I am doing this, something is in there lurking around that modern medicine should heal. However even though… that what if…is there, something (probably that voice I am growing fond of) tells me to move on.
Learn by doing it says.

Next the Iridology she performed…what did she find, and her recommendations.
Also, after taking my BP and finding it lower, did I follow Rose’s suggestions and if I did, did I order the products, because Nothing can be this easy…nothing. Right?

(Please let me confirm now as I did previously, that at no time should one be with out a medical doctor. Modern medicine has made great discoveries, and we need it, but alternative medicines used for centuries, is a possibility too. It may help to avoid -invasive surgeries...and if surgery is needed, alternative ways, many times makes the surgery and recovery easier.
If you choose an alternative route, It’s important, that you share with your doctor your alternative program and you should share with your herbal practitioner your medical program…allowing them to work together, making your chances of healing, many say greater.)

My Natural Healing Journey… Part I

Being a firm believer in chiropractic care, because it keeps your body balanced and more able to heal or ward of any problems, I can’t help wonder with the immediate relief of some of today’s modern medicines, that we are put in a false sense of wellness. When in reality, we are only masking the problem rather than fixing it. In addition, sometimes, though we don’t want to admit it, or often don’t even know it, our health problems stem from emotional issues showing themselves in physical breakdowns in our bodies.

We are hearing more often, that our body, soul and mind working well together can help keep us healthy...if…we give them a chance and or at least aid them naturally. Witnessing this work with my dad & now my sister, who are proof… that mind over matter, the right combination of drugs, herbs and or both, can keep you going, even through a health crisis. I still sometimes have a hard time 'really' believing it true or more factually would I trust and listen to my body, mind and soul in a health crisis, to tell me what to do, in spite of what I'm told, hear or read, to make myself better. So with our fears or lack of knowing how to trust or understand what our bodies are telling us, some of us have lost that connection to the higher power in our life and the higher power within us to keep us healthy.

Therefore, I believing… almost 100% of the time, we do have the power within us to help heal ourselves and that our body, soul and mind are connected, decided to practice what I believe and never going to an herbal practitioner before, made an appointment for a Body, Soul and Mind cleansing session with Rose, CHE, Avana Practitioner, Yoga Master & Therapist, from Body Glyphix Studio. Over the next few weeks, I’ll take you on my journey of natural healing. What I feel or don’t feel and if I believe it to be working.

My first appointment with Rose was March 16th, Noon. The only things I had to do to prepare for this visit, was have no sugar and drink plenty of water. It’s a must to be hydrated for what Rose does.

Rose is a soft-spoken woman, easy to be with, and looks younger than her 54 years. I look at her and though she had a health crisis of her own a year or so ago, she exudes radiance and a glowing presence. She welcomed me into her studio, which had a refreshing peppermint smell and colorful yoga mats and pillows lying neatly on the hardwood floors, making me instantly comfortable. We chatted like old friends.

She turned on the small flowing water fountain, and soft music to make the room more tranquil. I shyly told her I needed to tinkle because of all the water I drank before I came. She laughed and said, not with out this, and handed me a PH strip. It was to check my urine, then later with a new strip to test my saliva for alkaline levels. Both which were good, indicating no cancer. I learned it’s best the body have an alkaline environment, because cancer cannot live in alkaline conditions.

We then sat behind her desk, face-to-face and chatted. She asked me a few questions, about stresses in my life, family health history, if I’m taking any medications, vitamins, my daily diet, allergies, and the exercise I get. What my health concerns are and why I came to her. I told her my health concerns, which I will get in to later…and then we proceeded


Before we began, Rose explained how she was going to proceed.
First …Kinesiology…is used to find out where and if I have any problem areas
Second…the Avana Method…an emotional cleansing.
Last…Iridology, to get a deeper look at my body inside through my eyes.

So before we begin on my journey here are explanations of what Rose did.

pH Testing checking the pH (acidity/alkalinity) of your saliva and urine. Just as the pH needs to be balanced in your pool, pond or aquarium- so does the pH of your body need to be balanced. Most of us like to consume food and drink which are too acidic. This leads to a condition called "acidosis" which leads to weight gain, cardiovascular weakness, bladder and kidney concerns, joint and muscular discomfort, immune deficiency and low energy levels.

Kinesiology… This therapy is designed to be a part of a holistic approach to preventive medicine. The goals of Applied Kinesiology are to (1) restore normal nerve function, (2) achieve normal endocrine, immune, digestive, and other internal organ functions, (3) intervene early in degenerative processes to prevent or delay pathological conditions, and to (4) restore postural balance, correct gait (walking) impairment, and improve range of motion.
According to AK, each muscle in the body relates to a specific meridian or energy pathway in the body. These meridians also relate to organs or glands, allowing the muscles to provide information about organ or gland function and energy. The five areas of diagnosis and therapy for the applied kinesiologist are (1) the nervous system, (2) the lymphatic system, (3) the vascular (blood vessel) system, (4) the cerebrospinal system, and (5) the meridian system.

Avana Method… this technique to clear your body of negative energy, prana, and emotions. Our emotions make us sick physically- we have to make sure your issues are not caused from an emotional blockage. Rose works with your body energetically and your source. (Prana= a Sanskrit word that refers to a vital, life-sustaining force of living beings (breathing) and vital energy in natural processes of the universe.)

Iridology the science of iris diagnosis- to find blockages, health and genetic issues as well as determining toxins that prohibit us from obtaining our health and wellness goals. It is a non-invasive means to find health issues. The science of Iridology is thousands of years old. To be re-discovered in the 1850's by Dr. Von Peczley of Hungary and is becoming quite popular today through out Europe and Asia in the medical world.

Next in PART II Sharing what my health issues are. The Kinesiology part and what Rose found. The emotional cleansing (Avana Method) did I feel anything or nothing.
What did my eyes tell her…the Iridology?

I'd like to say here...if you decide to choose an alternative health program, that it should not take the place of your medical doctor if you have one. Nor should the reverse happen-- modern medicine should not solely take the place of tried and true alternative programs for health. I have to tell you one reason I decided to do this is that what the doctors tell me about one issue and what my body keeps telling me are two different things.
Many doctors are now starting to combined modern and alternative together, to make an over all better health care system for their patient. Studies have shown, sometimes those who need to use both ways reach their optimum health goals. Others that use only alternative ways, also reach their optimum health goals.
Modern medicine has made great discoveries, and we need it, but alternative medicines used for centuries, we need too. It may help to avoid -invasive surgeries...but if surgery is needed, alternative ways, many times makes the surgery and recovery easier.
It’s important, that you share with your doctor your alternative program and you should share with your herbal practitioner your medical program…allowing them to work together, your chances of healing are greater.

Ramblings In latest Herbs & Things email

Saturday, my friend Heidi and I were talking about life. How before we knew it, time slipped away and years have past. We talked of how our lives are changing, and the fears surfacing of things we've not done or worst yet, the fear of trying something new at our 'older' age. Heidi is in her 40's and Me…I am going on 56.

In our conversation, one thing that came up is why when ideas come to us when we are older, we often question, are we to old to pursue this new idea, or the big one....Why now, is it to late?

I think it surprised her when I told her that same question "am I too old", crossed my mind when at 54 I decided to embark on entrepreneurial journey. Now I question, as I’m pushing 56, and these grand ideas of a medicine wheel, meditative garden and a bunch of other ideas come to me, "Why now, why not when I was younger and had more energy."

I pondered over this a while and realized when I was younger, yes I would have had more stamina to do all this stuff, but something vital would have been missing. That is, through my journey in life I've learned, it’s the quality and the appreciation of what life has to offer that's important and these revelations...one can only acquire with age.

The meditative garden and medicine wheel will offer these revelations, on an individual level, because in those gardens not only will I plant herbs, flowers, and pathways around them, but also a part of me and my life and the lessons I’ve learned. Some who walk through those gardens will feel the wisdoms I have accumulated over the years and wisdoms of those before us (one cannot help but accumulate some wisdom whether they want to or not or at least I hope so). Consequently I believe in my life's destiny though I am older, now is the right time...so thus...one is never to old to do what ever they want in their life, whether it be build a medicine wheel, a meditative garden or take a Tai Chi class.

The time was right also when my Time To Write http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/ email came. In that email the explanation in a nutshell was presented to me, when someone wrote to the editor wondering if they were to old to start writing. The editor from Time To Write...used this to answer that question...

A man wrote to Dear Abby saying he’d always wanted to be a doctor but had to go to work at a young age to support his family. Now he had the time and money to go to medical school, but, he said, “I’m already 50, so in seven years, when I’d finish, I’d be 57.”
Her answer was: “If you don’t go to medical school, how old will you be in seven years?”

Meaning...go do it, no matter what your age, if you heart is telling you this is something you should do...go for it. You'll never regret you had, your regret will come from you didn't try. Because if it came to you now...then its not to late, the time is right.

Mistakes are life’s lessons taking you under wisdoms wings

I chilled Friday night, (no pun intended because the cold winds pushed on my doors and the snows tapped my windows, telling me to plow and shovel again. At which I said no). I must admit, as I am getting older, I enjoy chilling more than I did a few years ago and the best part is I don’t feel guilty about it.

So chilling out and feeling the need for some sort of warm comfort food, I, in a corning-ware baking dish with a lid, added ½ cup of uncooked corkscrew veggie pasta to a pint of my homemade spaghetti sauce with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese, and mixed it all together. Then put it in the oven at 325 degrees, and let it cook while I did barn chores.

After finishing chores, around 5 PM, entering the house, the aroma of the spaghetti sauce and Parmesan warmed my senses. I took off my boots, and snow attire, and slipped in to my jogging pants. I ate green olives with tomato basil hummus over the top, as a type of salad, watched the news and when my pasta was ready, I put the movie Julie/Julia on, curled up in my green lounger, ate pasta, drank tea, and watched the movie.

It was a very good movie and I enjoyed it, however, now I am jealous. No not from the fabulous cooking, (who needs Julia when I had my own concoction of pasta and spaghetti sauce made from tomatoes picked out of my garden,) but my green-eyed monster reared its ugly green head, because of Julies blogging ability.

Sulking in my green skin, I asked myself, why can't I write something every day, so intriguing, that millions of people would want to read it ...Everyday. Why can’t I draw people in with my words such as her…what is it that I am missing, or lacking in my writing other than…eh-hem… good grammar ability.

Ok, so I wasn’t really, jealous, jealous, just a bit envious. Which isn’t good either, because haven’t I heard somewhere in my upbringing, being envious is a sin too? Oh well, who cares, all I know is I want people to love my writing and I want that ability to write something people will want to read, Every day… dam it!

Watching the movie more, one message I got, is in order to get followers you need to blog every day. You need to tell it like it is. You need to bare your soul.

I do bare my soul, well kind of, but I don’t blog every day. It’s like buying a lottery ticket, if you don’t buy one you will never win. In blogging if you don’t put you and your heart out there everyday…the followers will not come. Its not rocket science, I guess.

But to be honest one reason I don’t blog every day is because it takes me so long to write something. No… that's not the truth, I do need be truthful. I must tell my readers…AS it is.

It’s not the length of time it takes me to write something, but the challenges I face when I painstakingly try to edit what I've written. Adding things, taking things out, adding something back only phrased differently so it sounds different or using a different word that means the same thing. It’s endless even editing a short piece as this, well for me anyhow…edit, edit, edit. Next thing you know, 3 days have gone by and still no new blog.

What can I say, I want it to be as perfect as I can make it, in spite of grammar challenges. But that’s the catch, it will never be perfect. I AM grammatically challenged which is how I refer to my inapt grammar, punctuation faux pas, the tendency to be wordy and the bad habit of repeating myself, which is only because I want the readers to get what I am trying to say. However, a wise woman once told me, “trust your reader to get it Kellie, they will”.
Thanks Tricia...www.faithhopeandfiction.com

Therefore, I say to all of you out there that have these fears...Write...and forget about other’s abilities. I will try to do the same. Write when you can, what ever you want, in whatever style you want, and where ever you can. But by God Write!

So what, you don’t write perfect, the perfection will come later and then maybe not, such as in my case, but still write. Get those thoughts down. They may look like a mess of words, but they are tales, your tales with messages hidden between the lines, fragmented sentences and too many commas, but they will come together as a coherent story.

Write, even if its merely a sentence, saying...crap I don't know what to write today. Write a poem about the day. Write a short story with you as the hero.
Write even if you think you’ll be criticized for your mistakes.

Remember mistakes are life’s lessons taking you under wisdom's wings. (hmm I like that. Sounds wise doesn’t it? I just made it up and guess what…I don’t even need to edit it)

Write, because you are a writer and that's what you do.

So write my fellow writers...write from the heart and what you write….will be beautiful

Writing wishes from
Kellie

Can you hear what I hear?

I wouldn’t be surprised if some folks think me crazy, oddly interesting or eccentric. Then again, maybe a few silently wish they could hear the voices I refer too. You know 'The Voice' I say is not necessarily of reason but a voice of intuition, crazy ideas or sometimes those very loud internal thoughts that cannot be ignored.

Such as, the other day, the dogs and I went for a walk across the road from the house, in our pasture and hay-fields. I was not snowshoeing or cross-country skiing, just walking quiet, feeling and listening to the winds blow through the trees while the dogs hunted for gremlins under the snows and within the deer tracks.
The sun was bright as the winds slight and steady made the trees whisper, "spring is on the way".

Once over by the creek, I stopped walking for a moment, to enjoy the sensation of the sun on my face, the winds dusting my cheeks with their cold breath, and listened to the gentle creek babbled under the snow banks, brushing against the thin layer of ice as if day dreaming out loud of the day it would roar with springs melting snows.

It was then, in the wind whispering quiet, faintly...I heard something. I held my breath to hear better. The sound was not an outside audible sound, but a comforting sound inside my head. I could feel and hear a steady rhythm. First in a low tone, then it gradually grew louder and became clearer.
Hiya, Hiya...hiyayayay...hiyaya...drums, drums, beating, hiyayayayyayaa. The rhythm was tingling through my feet and working its way up my legs, to my chest and in my throat, making my body unconsciously want to start moving to the rhythm, right there in the middle of the snow cover field. My mind stopped me.

My god Kellie, people will think you really are crazy if you start dancing and singing out here all by yourself. However, I could not ignore what I was hearing and feeling, sounds of Native American music and chanting. Standing stone still, though my mind aware of the outside world, every ounce of my inner self wanted to move to the rhythm, I, instead closed my eyes, felt the winds blow across my face and allowed the music to fill my being...It was beautiful. Time no longer mattered and I’m not sure how long I stood there with my eyes closed, drinking in the sounds, maybe 10 minutes. I opened my eyes and a sense of happiness and fulfillment was draping my chest as tears stung at the corners of my eyes. I took a deep breath, and the dogs and I started are walk back to the house and as soon as I stepped on to the paved road, the music went away.

A few days later, walking through the living room, I was thinking of my meditative garden plans, mulling over the plants and colors that would be in it, which suggestions from others I would use and the Native American music I heard. When…out of the blue...loud and clear...I heard…Kellie A MEDICINE WHEEL as if some one was shouting in my ear.

“What”? I stopped immediately as if my feet were stuck to the carpet…

"Where the heck did that come from? Medicine Wheel? What is a medicine wheel? Why do I know what a medicine wheel is, but I don’t know what it is? "

My mind flooded with thoughts, searching for archived information about Medicine Wheels. The only thing I found in the now frantic recesses, is that I knew the Medicine Wheel is Native American and it was used for healing…physical and emotional healing. But where did I learn of it? How do I know of it? For the life of me I could not recall ever researching it, or reading about it...so how the heck did I know about something few people do?

Now it makes sense, why for years though I've tried and tried to get someone to hay the hay field, I could not. It was a futile attempt to get something done that was not suppose to get done on that land. Because, apparently haying that field as Leonard Bush did years ago, is not what MY intended destiny was and is for that land...
Other plans have been put in place and one of those plans includes a Native American Medicine wheel.
So you may ask what the heck would prompt, a catholic, Scotch Irish girl to build a Native American Medicine Wheel. I’ve not a clue…but it is so cool isn’t it!

Therefore, I am researching, to learn as much as I can about the Indians that lived in this valley, and of the Traditional Medicine wheel, giving me enough knowledge so I can make a variation of it, with flowers, herbs and trees. Then I’ll invite all of you to come and feel the power of the land.

I also know, from my ‘resources’ I’m supposed to make that land a type of sanctuary or meditative area for people to go to, a healing place for the mind, body and spirit. Something so many need today. You many ask, why that land? Because I know, it carries qualities of serenity, peace and harmony that are unexplained. You only need to walk there once to feel and understand those qualities. It’s my destiny to share that with others, and I can’t wait.

However, what was to be a simple meditative garden is growing, and what it’s grown to in my mind so far…is
A Meditative Garden
A Medicine Wheel
Willow Tree Garden
Memory Garden (idea from Kathy Crone)
3 sisters Garden
And also a type of sanctuary for the animals too
Now that I’ve received this 'vision' the visit from the Eagle, Bear and Fox last year, have a new significance. People often ask me, how do you know, when what you are hearing is from a higher source and not just you talking to yourself in your head.

THIS is a good example, because along with the thoughts and ideas came peace, conviction and the innate feeling of ah ha, this is exactly right, an Ah Ha that cannot be ignored.

Dowsing the Body

Wellness for your body is virtually at your finger tips.
What a wonderful tool I learned to use last night.
With Rose Czyrny from Body Glyphix...
http://www.bodyglyphix.com/home.html

Dowsing the Body with Applied Kinesiology

Dowsing the Body with Applied Kinesiology...is applied by
using the finger tips of your writing hand and holding or touching the object of question, that is good or bad for you, in your non writing hand. Rub the tips of you fingers together on your writing hand and if they slide... what you have in your left hand is good for you. If your fingers feel 'sticky' it's not good for you.

As with any tool though you need to use and practice to hone the skill.
This style of dowsing can also be applied to your pets to see if what you are feeding them is good for them. If you are not sure what they need this can help you find out. Or lets say your pet just doesn't seem up to par, you can find out where their source of un-wellness or pain originates from.
Very cool...tool.

Three points to remember when using this tool

Be hydrated
Be Spiritual
and avoid sugars or alcohol before applying.

See you soon....I'm off to hone my finger tip tools...
Be Well
Kellie

Thanks Mom and Dad

My mind’s been full of all sorts of things to share this week. But it’s the frequent thoughts of my parents, who are both gone for a while now, I feel I’m suppose to share.

Allow me to take you to my world in the early to mid 1960's. Though I didn't realize it at the time, my dad was a healer and my mother a spiritual liaison. Actually I'm not sure if they knew it either. Its only within the past few years I've realized they were ahead of their time in their thoughts on healing the body and living life. Like the time mom and I went to the New York World’s Fair, we were standing and listening to the beautiful rhythm of native drums (can't remember the pavilion) when she told me, "let music fill you and it will help carry your thoughts and prayers to the heavens Kellie."

It wasn't long after that, I felt it odd but was not embarrassed, when mom took me on an excursion to Canada, so she could receive an acupuncture treatment. It was that day I learned what acupuncture was and that most people knew nothing of it. How the heck did she find out?

Around age 11-12, though I thought it a little silly, when she tried yoga and meditative ways, I was left intrigued by the practice of both, but never let on that I was.

She and my dad talked often of alternative medicines and spiritual beliefs, but did not pursue them because of the stigma attached to them at that time, but it was normal for us to practice them and use a few of the 'old wives tales' remedies that actually worked. Such as my dads none medicinal cure for in-grown toenails. After months of going to the doctors for hers, and no relief from the infection pain, finally, my mother let my dad work his magic and was never bothered by them again.

During those times, my mother tried to get me to pursue what she called my physic ability, which I bucked, thwarted, and put in the back of my mind because then I thought it too hokey, plus it scared me, especially the day when I was 19-20 yrs old and my grandmother came to me and told me in no uncertain terms she was not pleased with my purchase of my new motorcycle and that I was going to get hurt. She was right. I totaled that motorcycle when a guy ran a stop sign. I was lucky, no wait, guarded because something told me to slow down just before it happened, if I hadn't, he would have run me over.

My father, was naturally gifted with the ability of dowsing, by using the boom of his backhoe to find water. He didn’t know how he was doing it, just that he…could …then he’d find water in places where no one else could for someone’s water well.

In 1969, my dad took me for my first chiropractic appointment when chiropractic care was not considered a medical treatment. He believed the mind and body to be one, and if all is balanced, the mind could help the body heal by using positive quiet thoughts or at least get it through a difficult time. This way of thinking helped him live through a body changing tragedy at age 20 when he should have died, and later on living with Lupus longer and with less medication, than anyone anticipated he would.

I've come to realize too, they've paved my alternative road and given me the ability to learn more in these areas of healthful living. Therefore, I guess it fitting, and my destiny that I follow suit. Not only to learn more about those things considered, weird then, but to learn of all the things they wanted to know. I think they are telling me in all my thoughts of them lately, they are happy that finally after years of keeping my inner self to myself, I am (though I've always known who I am) more aware of who I am, the abilities I have and that I am embracing them, though I am still a fledging where all are concerned.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

The Horse that Slept with Goats

Heidi had been without a horse for about one year after giving Glory, her horse of 6 years, away to a good home. Then one day she realized being horseless was not for her, decided it time to get another and immediately began looking through the paper, on the internet, anywhere horses were for sale, for a new equine pal.

A short time after Heidi started her search, a friend of mine called to let me know an appaloosa horse was for sale in Eden NY. Though Heidi was certain she did not want an appaloosa, with excitement of the prospect of a new horse, we made a trip to Eden, thinking, hey one never knows.

We found the house number we were looking for, and pulled in the driveway. We were disheartened with what we saw. Things were, well let’s say, not so neat, with the pasture and barn in disarray. I told Heidi, “it might be ok, my barn is no palace.”
“Maybe not… but your place does not look like this.”

The grasses were long and wild around the barn and all kinds of—stuff— haphazardly speckled the yard, in and out of the pasture. In the middle of the pasture was a large mound of manure or possibly dirt. Atop that mound, a brown and white goat lay curled up sleeping.

Doubts and thoughts of we should leave follow us up the sidewalk. Then at the halfway point between the house and leaving, a woman comes out side. Our first impression in a matter of seconds, though she seemed nice enough, her girth was not as tight as it should be. She asks us if we are there to look at the horse. We tell her yes.

Heidi and I follow her, while carefully walking around, over and through stuff, and enter the barn. Once inside we see one big stall and hay thrown everywhere. Goats are everywhere too, climbing all around us. If my memory serves me correct, four more goats were inside the one big stall. There standing out side the barn, at the stall door looking in… the not so pretty appaloosa.

A man joins us. I can’t recall if it was the woman’s son or husband now, but she instructs him to go get the horse and bring it in the stall. He tries. But the not so pretty appaloosa, unruly, rude and obnoxious drags him in the stall, swings him around, pushes him up against the stall, and then steps on his feet and stays there for a while, oblivious to his pushes to get her off him.

The woman says, I don’t know what’s gotten into her, she’s usually not like this. Heidi and I give each other that, yeah-right look. Heidi nicely tells the woman, “Sorry, I don’t think this horse is for me.”

With an animated voice, the woman says, “We have another horse for sale if you’d like to see him” and points out in the pasture.
Heidi and I let our eyes follow her pointing gesture. We don’t see anything and look at each other with a questioning look. We read each other’s thoughts, shrug our shoulders, and conclude what the heck we are here. So with skepticism, we crawl under a board, walk through the goat stall and in to the pasture with the woman, wondering if the Appaloosa from hell will push herself upon us, step on our feet and hold us against our will, or will we be run over by goats.

Its then the woman starts chanting, “Baaaaaaaaby…Baaaaaaaaaaby, cluck, cluck, come on Baaaaaaaaaaby, cluck, cluck, cluck, some one is here to see you.
Heidi and I look at each other….Baby?

“Baaaaaaaby,” more clucking, “come on Baby…come on boy, cluck, cluck, cluck, CLUCK.”

Heidi’s eyes glaze with a dazed wild look and I wonder— is this woman calling a dog?
“Baaaaaaby come here you have some visitors.”

That’s when it happens. A phoenix of sorts rises out of the dust, from the middle of that dirt or manure pile, in the form of a small dark brown horse. He shakes himself off and meanders down the pile of dirt as agile as a mountain goat. The brown and white goat follows him.

“That’s Baby” the woman says, “he’s an eight-year-old, ¼-horse mix, that my son showed 4-H before he went to college.”
“What in the goat show” Heidi whispers.
It took everything I had not to laugh aloud, though I’m not sure if the woman would have noticed anyhow or understand the brunt of Heidi’s joke.

Baby, nonchalantly walks towards us then heads straight to Heidi. As if checking her out, he nuzzles her clothes, her hair and her pant leg. Heidi backs up a step. He follows her. She grimaces, “What the heck, is this a dog or a horse? God he smells like a goat Kellie.”

They show us, everything Baby ‘can’t ’ do. We watch in horror as he bounces around the pasture with his head and nose in the air. Whoa, means he can stop on his own time. They explain how proud they are at how road safe Baby is, because as Mrs. ‘Baby chanter’ tells us, “if they ride him down the road a certain distance and he turns around and comes back—that’s his way of telling them the road isn’t safe today” hence road safe.

What?

Yes their definition of road safe, great barrel racer, stops good, can turn on a dime, and can clean his feet (that were clamped to the ground) easy, were very much different from our definitions of the above.

We asked the woman, when’s the last time he was wormed? Has he had his inoculations this year, were his teeth ever floated, when’s the last time his feet were done.
The woman response…“What?”

Why, and with out good reasoning, a few days later, ‘Baby’ is in the barn, first order of business, name change. It took a few days. Thoughts of Ziggy, Shorty, Hey You, Goat Horse, and a few other choice names came to mind, but Billy (no pun intended) seemed to fit.

Not long after he was here, Heidi and I on warm day thought it time Billy had a bath, because the barn had taken on a noticeable goatish odor.
Billy gets an—oh god, what is it with these girls—look on his long brown face, as we giggle, tell him to stand still, wet him down, suds him up and scrub away. We find something we never expect and with great excitement, we chime giddily, “He’s brown, no he’s black, no wait he’s seal brown.” We also find as we scrub more, a white spot on his forehead—and—white hind socks. Billy looks like a very different horse then the Baby horse we looked at. He’s washed into a beautiful dapple bay, with a small star, and two white socks. No wonders he smelled like a goat and blended in the pile of dirt.

Billy, of course did not know what all the fuss was about…He didn’t care— he was a horse, or maybe a goat in disguise. Although, I can’t really say with certainty he didn’t know what the fuss was about, because occasionally he’d pick up the plastic curry or brush and almost show us where to scrub.

There were trials and tribulations in the first year of Billy and Heidi’s relationship. There was a time when Heidi wasn’t sure she wanted to keep him. Then the growth of a friendship with many fun hours and loving memories formed.
Billy taught Heidi how to have fun with your horse and about unconditional love. Heidi taught Billy that a human could love and care for him and be his friend, a friendship that brought the best out of both of them.

God makes all animals special but sometimes for reasons we don’t understand some are more special than others. Billy— the horse that slept with goats—was one of Gods specialties. What a great little horses you were. We love you and we will miss you.

With one last thought, about the horse that slept with goats. I find it extraordinary that Heidi found one of Gods specialties— her equine friend that loved her unconditionally, in Eden?


4 AM...Thoughts from Heidi about her Equine friend...Billy


Gone are the days of hearing your gentle nicker to greet me as I entered the barn

Gone are the days of seeing you enjoying the pastures on a lazy summer day

Gone are the days of our care free rides and your nonstop curiosity with all in the world around you

Gone are the days of wondering why you just aren't the same and why you're not feeling well

Gained is my thankfulness for the gentle, caring hands of the veterinarians in their attempt to heal you but eventually helping you to be put to your ultimate rest

Gained is my reminder of just how remarkable friends and family can be during our seemingly darkest days

Gained is my understanding that some day down the road my thoughts of you which are painful right now will turn to laughter and joy recalling all the years we spent together

Gained is my absolute gratitude to God for the 'gift' he gave me of being your owner


RIP Billy...Jan 14th 2010...We will miss your cute horse life loving muzzle...
Kellie

The Blue-Cold Moon Celebration...

Uncertainty and a tiny amount of fear, shade the margins of this blog. Not from the content, but of where to start, well OK… maybe a little uncertainty is about the content. I don’t want anyone to think me eccentric.

Most everyone who knows me, knows I am a spiritual. However, raised Catholic, I am forced to confess I’m not thee best catholic. Nonetheless, I say I am spiritual and that should count for something…I think.

What I’m about to share, I believe is me evolving and doing what I’ve always known was part of me. Some might think it means I’m simply not a good Catholic girl and consider my Catholicism slightly tarnished, but I can’t help it. Even as a child I asked questions and believed in things I wasn’t ‘supposed’ to. In spite of this, I’ve always had the feeling I have a unique connection to God, so what I felt and what I was taught did not always coincide…therefore I asked with a personality that wouldn’t allow me to merely accept what they were telling me. I had to see it for myself thus comprehending better—how—I was to perceive what they were teaching me. I wanted to understand, but could not take someone’s word at face value…sorry sisters (I’ve not changed much since that time either).

It never felt God got mad at me for being this way...He... instead spoke in a way—I–understood, which wasn’t always through written words, the words of a priest, or sister, but for me, through the animals, the earth, my sense of a higher being (something I sometimes question) and the voice.

Consequently, then and— now—I’d stay quiet within my thoughts and rarely, if at all mentioned the voice. I wanted no one to deem me a weird child. (The fist time I heard the voice I was four years old. Yes four. But that’s another story.)
As I’ve mentioned in another blog, the voice, is not necessarily the voice of reason, but a voice of intuition, thoughts or crazy ideas that come from…well you know where, or maybe you don’t. I think here is a good place, before I go on, to explain although I don’t always see eye to eye with my religion, I am still proud to be a Catholic. I can’t help it, its part of who I am, genes of my Scotch/Irish heritage.

Please, don’t worry, the voice, isn’t a voice like what Jack Nickolson heard in the Shining. It’s a little voice that speaks in the back of my mind or sometimes in the very forefront or sometimes a voice so persistent it can’t be ignored.

Everyone has the voice. You know it as that flash thought you ignored and wished you hadn’t, or the voice putting up a red flag telling you repeatedly, someone is not good but you don’t listen and you get taken to the cleaners or get your heart broken. You know…the voice, those inner thoughts that most of us have, but chose not to pursue, because of fear. Fearing that if we speak of it, (the voice), we’ll sound loony. We also fear that if we relay what we hear or think we heard we could be wrong or scarier…we could be right. I know…I’ve been there.

With maturity, I find myself taking bigger chances and listening to the voice more often (or maybe it’s because my outer hearing is not as a good as it use to be) and accessing deeper recesses within, finding what feels comfortable and right for me. As I re-read that it almost sounds selfish, but its not, because I’ve found, what’s comfortable and right for me, benefits others, our earth and I believe this is what I am suppose to do, its what the voice tells me anyhow.

So here goes, usually I do not celebrate New Years and have not done so in years. I don’t like it. It feels like a bunch of unhappy people trying to be happy, only to wake up the next morning with a hang over and feeling unhappier than they were the year before. Unhappiness stemming from the realization the resolutions they made for last year, they did not keep, thus convincing themselves they are failures for not doing what they had set out to do. Hence…grief at the loss of a year of un-achieved goals, and they jump head first with new resolutions, instead of spiritually, in to another year, and goals are re-resoluted and new ones added, consequently badgering themselves for another year of not accomplishing their goals. It’s a vicious unproductive cycle that doesn’t have to be, if they’d only realize they don’t have to wait until one night of the year to resolve and or try something new…any time is a good time, any time that’s right for them. And that sometimes the only thing we need to reach our goals, is to be silent and listen—to the voice. Well you get the drift of what I am saying with out beating you over the head with a noisemaker. I hope anyhow.


Dec 30th, late morning my friend Heidi called to let me know she’d be coming out to see her horse New Years eve and she’d like to bring pizza or something. When she called because I didn’t know what my husband was doing I wasn’t sure what I was doing. He wasn’t home yet. Then my husband got the call. New Years eve, he would leave for Baton Rouge. This didn’t bother me. Its not a big holiday for us and usually I’m in bed before midnight and simply like to wake to the New Year. This year would be no different and with the job market the way it is, as us farmers say, have to make hay while the sun shines.

Later on, the same day, a friend, Kathy, reminded me this was a Blue Moon New Year and I had to celebrate. I wondered, how could I celebrate something I don’t like celebrating. But, this…this was a Blue Moon New Year with a partial eclipse of the moon and if I didn’t celebrate in some way—I knew I would be very disappointed.

It then dawned on me it was as if God had made reservations for me to celebrate. So I searched of what one does on a blue moon celebration in December and then called Heidi with the idea I had for Dec 31st. We were about to celebrate with the blue moon. Or the oak moon, or cold moon, the moon of December, indicating the impending long cold months of winter.

Dec 31st, unfortunately, we could not see the moon. The sky was hazy with wet snows, but we knew it was there so our celebration commenced.
First, we ate pizza and salad, while drinking ginger ale, a feast fit for our small gathering. After we ate we had a nice cup of tea.
Through dinner, we giggled, talked and laughed, then went outside, tromped in the snows readying our prayer area. My two dogs romped around, and the coyotes yipped in the distance. We lit candles for those we were about to pray for, here and gone. We sat on Mother Earth grounding ourselves, burned sage to purify our thoughts, heart and area of prayer. Earlier we had written prayer requests, wishes and convictions on paper, and were holding them in our hands. It was then the world around us went quiet. The breeze stopped, the snows fell silent and straight to the earth. My dogs sat behind us, as we raised our voices to the heavens and read each prayer request aloud so our words could reach our heavenly father. We then lit the papers to let the smoke also carry the words to the heavens and saints.

After our ceremony, we had dessert and coffee, Heidi went home, and I went to bed before midnight. I closed my eyes, and saw soothing shades of purple and white. Relaxed, I fell asleep while thinking of the prayers we’d prayed. I slept better that night than I have in a very long time. Upon waking, I experienced lightness in my chest and a happiness that was almost scary. I was worried and wondered….why do I feel so happy? My psyche did not want to allow this happiness because some how it felt wrong. I called Heidi and she told me she felt the same. I knew then, the way we celebrated was right.

Still, uncertainty and fear shade the margins of this blog, because I fear as when I was a child, sharing the way Heidi and I celebrated, would cause the church or others to chastise me for not celebrating in a holy manner, but then the voice spoke…and this is what I heard.

Kellie…be silent and listen.
When you go to church and light a candle, why do you do that?

I answered, “We light it for those we pray for, to demonstrate special devotion or to make a specific appeal”.

Then I heard,
Don’t you think the Catholic Church does this because they view candle burning as a natural religious expression, not something tied to a specific form of idolatry? “So this was my need to light the candles. Got it.”

When you go to church on Christmas Eve and the priest burns incense… why is that…“
Burning incense reminds us our prayers, like the smoke of incense, ascends towards God and mingles with the prayers of the Saints in heaven?”
Psalm 141 (140), verse 2: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight: the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice."

And ins't it often used as a purification ritual.
I pondered, “The sage?”
Yes…

When you go to church and sing, why do you do that?“

So the words of our prayers rise to the heavens? OMG (no pun intended) our prayers spoken aloud is music to your ears.
Yes…

And, where have I told you, your church can be?

I raised my eyebrows and conceded, “Outdoors, with the animals…in my conversations with you. Where ever you and I walk, or the places where my thoughts are clear and my soul is pure…such as in my garden, in the barn, being one with Mother Earth…anywhere you and I are together.”

Yes…

I get it
It’s as I’ve always thought…
It’s not about the religion… its about believing.
Its not important how I pray… its that I do.
Its not where I talk with you that’s important…. its that I do.
Its not about holding hands with someone saying I have faith, its about holding hands and walking with you, believing in something I can’t see…That’s faith.
Its not important how or where I celebrate….but that I celebrate with you, for you and on behalf of you.

So then, how do you know I’ve listened and I’ve answered?

The voice…

Yes