Permaculture in Paonia
Whole Life Network Release
Are you familiar with the term
Permaculture? Don’t fret because our
computer spell-checker doesn’t recognize it either. Pemaculture, we have learned, is short for permanent agriculture,
an approach to land use design that integrates plants, animals, landscapes,
structures and humans into permanent systems.
This new discipline is the core technology behind the development of a
recently purchased seven acres near Paonia owned by Solar Energy
International. Many of our readers
are aware that Solar Energy International is a non-profit organization founded
in 1991 that is headquartered in Carbondale and that they have trained
thousands of students in renewable energy and sustainable building
technologies. But, what you may not
know is that SEI, on their new property, is in the planning and permitting
stage for an educational facility that would incorporate all of the sustainable
building techniques and renewable energy systems that they have been teaching
about for the past 15 years. Every
foot of the land and every addition thereto will be subject to the scrutiny of
permaculture principles.
This vision for the future of SEI
has been named the EcoCampus by Executive Director Johnny Weiss. The master planning for the SEI EcoCampus
has been completed by Jeff Dickinson, a licensed architect and practitioner of
Sustainable Architectural Design Alternatives.
Structures and Plans:
· Passive
Solar Classroom Building (Strawbale)
· Passive
Solar Office Building (Strawbale)
· Passive
Solar Laboratory/Shop Space
· PV
and Wind Power, both stand alone and grid tied
· Passive
Solar Natural buildings for dorms (Rammed Earth, Cob, Adobe, Strawbale)
· Passive
Solar Natural homes for staff (Rammed Earth, Cob, Adobe, Strawbale)
· Passive
Solar Day Care Facility (Cob)
· Composting
Toilets
· Permaculture
· Camping
facilities
We are proud to announce
that The Whole Life Network recently became an affiliate of SEI. The SEI Affiliate Program is a worldwide
network of specialists in the renewable energy fields, linked together via the
web. The program is strictly voluntary and free for all qualifying members.
Perhaps the best reason
that we wished to become an SEI Affiliate is the knowledge that we’re helping
to grow and strengthen the global renewable energy community where it needs it
most - on the grassroots level. In
return SEI now has the status of Business Member of The Whole Life
Network. As the development of the
EcoCampus in Paonia progresses, it is our plan to support and cooperate fully
with our partner SEI in fulfilling their Mission: Our mission is to provide
education and technical assistance so that others will be empowered to use
renewable energy technologies.
The EcoCampus: “This is
the culmination of our vision for the future” said Executive Director Weiss,
“and our current focus is to obtain funding from donations and grants to help
make the dream a reality.” If you would
like to donate towards SEI EcoCampus, please send your tax-deductible donation
to:
Solar Energy
International
PO Box 715
Carbondale, CO 81623
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Education Series in October
Whole Life Network Release
Whole Life Network
presents an evening with Clay Campbell on October 25 at the Montrose Library
Conference Room beginning at 6pm. The
public is invited to attend free of charge.
Many of you know Clay as the manager of the Fox Theatre here in
Montrose, where he has been a resident for over 26 years.
Immersed in a lifetime
of personal experiences, Clay promises to be an informative speaker,
introducing us to a wealth of Native viewpoints not only about living life in
general, but about being open to experiencing the deeper aspects of the
individual’s place and purpose in the flow of all Life. For decades, he has found himself
continually being taught Awareness by wisdom keepers. Having the extraordinary experience of opening to several Native
American cultures, he is unique among those gifted with their many
welcomings. More to the point, the
teachings have taken root in his heart.
His presentation may
touch upon Native methods of healing body and mind. He says healing involves moving the patient out of the head and
into the heart, establishing relationships that will allow the person to be
aware of the heard and the unheard, the seen and the unseen, forming a healthy
balance between the physical and non-physical, and relieving the conflicts held
in mind and body that contribute to illness. He told this reporter, “
Ceremonies and rituals are designed to provide you with the tools that you need
to promote your own healing and your own growth so that you might be connected
again with All That Is.”
Clay’s own journey began
in earnest in 1975 when he was suffering from extensive burns and was doctored
in traditional methods for recovery.
His experiences of Native ways blossomed from there, each leading to
another, a magical journey of “connection” that continues even today. We invite you to listen, to see if the
speaking of his own journey stirs something in you that you might wish to
pursue for your own life enhancement.
There are no classes, no established meetings, no weekly lessons
offered. Mr. Campbell lives his own “ordinary” life.
Each person walks
his/her own path. Perhaps a step on your path is to come to this presentation
and hear just that one thing that makes your soul sing. Perhaps you will walk
another way.
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Body Talk
by Charley Cropley
Sarah sits before me
with tears in her eyes. "I feel like something is wrong with me. I’m
degenerating, and I don’t know what to do."
At 50 she is
experiencing an array of physical problems, including bad digestion,
osteoporosis, 30 pounds of extra weight and 40 percent less energy.
"Sarah, what it is
like for you to live in your body?"
"It’s miserable. I
really hate it. I’m taking these stupid medicines because I don’t know what
else to do. I don’t understand what’s happening to me, and I’m scared. I feel
out of control."
I then ask her,
"Sarah, what do you think it is like for your body to live with you?"
Her expression changes
markedly, and she is clearly taken aback. "I’ve never thought of
that."
"What do you
mean?" I ask.
"That my body might
have feelings about living with me."
"Say more."
"It makes me sad. I
feel a little ashamed that I’ve not even thought of my body as having
feelings."
"What do you think
she feels?"
"She is afraid for
one, afraid of more pain. I don’t think she likes the medications."
"How does she feel
about you?"
"She feels like I
ignore her and just do whatever I want."
What do you mean?
"I push her a lot
and don’t give her enough rest. She needs to stretch and have more fresh air. I
really don’t feed her as well as I could."
"How is that for
her?"
"She can’t keep up,
and so she gets sick, then I give her medicines instead of listening to her and
taking care of her."
"Would you like to
make friends with your body?"
"Yes."
"OK, lets do a
little process. Begin by noticing your breathing. Simply become aware that your
body is breathing or being breathed. She knows how to do this. She does it when
you are asleep.
"Next, become aware
of the beating of your heart. You may be able to feel your blood pulsing in
parts of your body. Feel that and again realize that you do not need to make
any effort for your blood to circulate.
"Think about your
blood. It is filled with red and white blood cells, antibodies, proteins,
clotting factors, hormones, minerals, nutrients and healing factors beyond
imagination. It is a living miracle within you, able to magically transform
itself into any tissue. It can heal anything. See if you can actually feel the
rich, healing qualities of your own blood.
"Now slowly scan
through your body, pausing to become aware of some other living miracles. Your
brain, eyes, thyroid, kidneys, bones, nerves.
"In this moment
your body simultaneously hears, balances, digests, reproduces, warms and cools,
defends, eliminates, repairs herself and more. Infinitely more. Experience the
unfathomable intelligence and skillfulness going on right now here inside you.
"Your body has
grown and maintains all of this… for you. For you, Sarah. She is infinitely
wise. She loves you and is devoted to you. She knows no regret, no resentment
or anger. She is only capable of love for you. She is yours alone. She exists
only to serve you. That is her only mission.
"She has been
patiently awaiting this moment that you would recognize her. She has been
longing to communicate with you for a long, long time now. Can you sense
that?"
Sarah nods slowly,
deeply immersed in herself.
"Good. Take
whatever time you would like and be with her. Ask and listen… with your heart.
Not your mind, your heart. I’ll be here when you are through."
Soon Sarah opens her eyes
and smiles softly.
"What are you
feeling Sarah?"
Tears begin to overflow
onto cheeks. "Sad… happy."
"What did you
learn?" I ask.
Speaking quietly, she
says, "Many things. I found a sense of hope that I desperately wanted and
yet didn’t know where to look for it. I feel like I’ve found a friend who loves
me more than I’ve ever been loved. She is wise and kind, and I’ve treated her
like shit, yet she’s not mad. I wonder how I could have been so ignorant of
something so obvious."
"What do you
mean?"
"I am living inside
a living miracle. It’s so obvious. Yet it runs counter to everything I’ve ever
thought–that my body is intelligent and kind and can actually talk to me. I
mean clearly she knows how to make a brain, and yet I treat her like she was
totally incapable of intelligent communication. I see now how she has been
trying to get my attention for all these years. She has been trying to guide
me, but I didn’t know how to listen."
"And now?"
"She’s definitely
got my attention. This is very deep. It’s like I have the possibility of
developing a relationship with the person I most wanted to have a relationship
with. Someone who really cares about me and knows what I should do."
"Who is that,
Sarah?"
"I think it’s
me."
Dr. Charley Cropley,
N.D. is a practicing Naturopathic Physician, teacher and author now living in
Paonia. He has trained hundreds of
doctors, taught at medical colleges and universities, produced DVDs, books and
many courses in nutrition and self-healing. He uses no medicines. He teaches
people to Heal all types of Health problems through the power of wholesome
nutrition, strengthening exercise, positive thinking and honest, caring
relationships. For Personal Appts,
DVDs, books or courses call 970-527-7008 or charleycropley@tds.net.
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Remembering Aztlán
A Column of Poetry, Culture & Spirit by Art Goodtimes
BURNING MAN … I’d
heard about this wild event in the desert north of Reno for years. But I never
had the chance to attend. Until this year. It was a two thousand mile round
trip. A lot of driving for a week-long party, but what a party! A Roman
Bacchanal, a 14th Century Masque, a decadent costume ball, Halloween
on Castro Street, a Telluride 4th of July, and more -- like nothing
you could ever imagine! Try Las Vegas on acid. Or maybe a 21st
Century Sodom & Gomorrah. But Burning Man is a phenomenon and an experience
all its own … Put 40,000 crazies -- mostly West Coast folks (but from as far
away as Florida and New England) -- out on a hard crust alkaline playa without
a tree in sight. Set up villages and tent cities and avenues and outrageous
sets with towers and domes and free bars on almost every corner. Add RVs and
truck-trailers and double-decker buses, art cars and platform vans and bicycles
decorated with every conceivably outrageous design. Mix in floats and scooters
and four-wheelers tricked up as dragons and Mad Maxmobiles, gigantic pirate
ships, steam locomotives, H.G Wells fantasy machines. Attach neon and colored
lights, glow sticks and flame throwers, loud sound systems and hordes of
revelers hanging to every strut and cable. And you have just an inkling of the
chaos and cacophony that is the Black Rock City open playa, surrounded by a
city twice the size of Montrose --with hundreds of theme camps, dance halls,
art sculptures, playgrounds and meeting places … It’s a party that starts with
breakfast and runs all night, all day, for seven days. Crowds throng the Esplanade. Bicycles and
tricycles by the hundreds dodging pedestrians in every imaginable state of
dress and undress, costume and fantastical creation. Artwork and installations
spread out for a mile in the open plaza north of the city, from a 50 by 100
foot free-from organic dance hall composed entirely of two by threes (the
“Belgian Waffle”) to a flaming dragon with propane belches of fire to a 30-foot
flower blossom on an articulated cherry-picker stem – all lit up and moving
around the playa. And everywhere dancers and noise, fire twirlers, whizzing
vehicles, total and complete madness. With no one directing traffic, no one in
anything like charge (although that is more appearance than reality), and anything
goes the order of the day – from the most obscene to the most kind and
generous. Because once one pays the initial fee, everything else (except ice)
is free … And people don’t just attend. They belong. They’re “burners”.
ENTHEON VILLAGE … As
a first-timer, I hooked up with a camp set up by MAPS, the Multidisciplinary
Association for Psychedelic Studies. It included a huge dome gallery where Alex
Gray exhibited his hallucinatory paintings. Two smaller gallery tents displayed
the work of other visionary artists, including Robert Venosa and Martina
Hoffman, both of whom have attended the Telluride Mushroom Festival. And I got
to visit with old Telluride friends and world-renowned psychonauts, Ann and
Sasha Shulgin. For me one of the highlights of the event was a screening in the
dome of Jan Kounen’s entheogenic cowboy, Renegade – the most dazzling
cinematic representation of the psychedelic experience that I’ve ever seen …
Entheon also included a large rave hall, where psychedelic rock wailed into the
morning hours. One of the great places I got to shake my booty … And with
Entheon as base, I ventured out with new and old friends to stroll, marvel,
dance and be enchanted. I even set up a tent of sorts for shade, that became a
shared communal structure, a small neighborhood where my friends Dave and Eric
and Giddy and I slept and tried to assimilate what we were seeing, hearing,
experiencing.
CHRIS MYERS … Although
this “experiment in radical self-expression” (as one friend called it) wasn’t
overtly political, peace and “impeach” signs did pop up in a number of places.
But it was Telluride’s Chris Myers (with the help of some friends) who brought
the traveling cross exhibit of all the American soldiers killed to date in Iraq
and Afghanistan to the playa. The 2500+ white markers, all clumped in a row
like an impromptu cemetery, was both moving and sad … Thank you, Chris, for not
letting us forget we are still involved in a brutal war.
EARTH & FIRE … As
one long-time Burner/Rainbow crossover explained, if the Rainbow Gathering is
an earth gathering – held in the woods, alcohol & combustion engine-free,
without admission or money of any kind -- Burning Man is a fire event – urban,
techno-geekish, dependent on generators and solar panels, with a steep entrance
fee but hosting a gift economy once through the gate. And indeed, fire is the
event’s icon. Poi balls, propane torches, neon, fiber optics, light wires,
flaming sculptures – there was more illumination in that desert sky than I’ve
seen in most big cities … Of course, there are downsides. The alkali dust is
choking, omnipresent. It coats everyone and everything. Great clouds of it. And
one day, there was a wind-driven whiteout that lasted for an hour. Breathing
was difficult. Visibility dropped to a few feet. Plus, unlike Rainbow, it’s an
adult event, not a family gathering. Not only because of the many obscene and
wild visuals, but it’s not a kid-friendly place. There were a few children, but
it wasn’t recommended or encouraged … At Burning Man danger and fire go hand
and hand. The big event on the Sunday of Labor Day was the torching of Burning
Man – a giant neon human-like figure, in the center of the playa, with a base
that itself was two stories tall. Fireworks spewed out of the burn in wave
after wave of color, sound, and explosive brilliance -- as the flames licked
their way into the heavens, outshining the moon and stars and turning the
dazzling figurine sculpture to hot rubble. A most amazing event. Something one
has to experience at least once in one’s life, if not as a cult addiction that
continues to draw burners from all over the country to the Nevada desert year
after year.
SPENCER HOT SPRINGS … Of
course, no trip across the Great Basin would be complete without a stop at
these wonderful free pools on BLM land between Eureka and Austin. We pulled in
at midnight on the way out and camped amid the sagebrush after a lovely
star-studded soak. It’s why I always take Highway 50 going west.
INCLINE VILLAGE …And
on the way back from BM we took a detour down to Lake Tahoe to visit with my
dear friend from my wild days in Sixties San Francisco, Dr. Francesca Bero.
She’s a full professor and head of the Education Department at Sierra Nevada
College. She was having a block party and we got to meet wonderful people, eat
delicious barbecue, catch up all the changes of the last three decades and get
hot showers to boot (finally washing off that thick playa dust) … Nothing like
packing a lifetime into one week of travel.
THE TALKING GOURD
Spider
Coming
down the road from Placitas
after
morning tea with Larry Goodell
I
flash on the first time I made the grade
up
to the village -- some 20 years ago.
Anxious
& excited. Not knowing what
to
expect from a poet I’d not yet met.
And
a tarantula caught my speeding eye.
So
I pulled over & walked it off the macadam.
My
first assist for an arachnid. A species far down
the
Linnaean ladder from wise old me. Or so
I’d
thought. Until here. High above the Rio Grande
but
below the Sandias, where I fell in love with
what
I’d always feared. Learning at last to match
steps
with the slow lumber of the insect race.
©
2006 Art Goodtimes
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Not Just A...
by Jill Burkey
Several times in recent
conversations with my husband, his co-workers and his customers, I heard the
phrase, "I'm just a mechanic."
The men saying this are capable of taking apart, inspecting, repairing,
and putting back together any number of things on jet airplanes and certifying
their air-worthiness. I've walked
through a hangar at West Star Aviation, where my husband works, when he was
mid-inspection on a Lear Jet and I've seen a cockpit completely stripped to the
floor. I can't imagine putting that
maze of wires back together, let alone in better condition than when I found
it, but he used to do it routinely and well. My husband has always said he
treats each airplane he works on as if his own family was going to fly on
it. How can someone with that kind of
talent and responsibility call himself, "just a mechanic?"
Another phrase I hear
all too often is, "I'm just a stay-at-home mom." In a way, stay-at-home moms are the
mechanics of their families, building up little beings from a basic framework
into a (hopefully) responsible adult, carefully connecting and layering the
thousands of wires and switches of lessons, manners, personality, experience,
emotions, and messages that make up a human soul. How can a stay-at-home mom, responsible for the safe flight of
her own family through life, refer to herself as "just a stay-at-home
mom?"
Why do we so easily
discount what we do? Do we think we
don't do X, so we "just" do Y?
Are we living in constant disappointment that we didn't reach
"higher?" What's wrong with
recognizing what we do accomplish? Do
we think the salary structure for jobs in this country, distorted as it is, is
a direct reflection of our own value?
After five years of
being a stay-at-home mom, I'm finally getting it. Maintenance, mothering, and all the other invisible yet vital
professions may not be glamorous, but they're definitely the stuff of life.
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Recipes
by Susan Palmer
Tofu on Toast:
no cooking...just mixing.
On toast, or crackers,
tofu can be an instant delight for children and adults. Mixed with mayonnaise
and a little salt and pepper, it is easy to eat right out of the tub, or as a
dip or spread. Making your own mayonnaise will insure you are getting the
nutrition you desire.
Mayonnaise:
use any good cookbook, or use this blender method, or buy mayonnaise.
Place in blender; 1 egg,
1 t. dry mustard, a dash of cayenne,
1 t. salt and 1 t. sugar
together
¼ c. olive oil or any
oil you like.
Blend on high to combine
well.
With blender still
running, take off the cover and slowly add ½ cup oil and mix well.
Then add 3 Tablespoons
lemon juice. The mixture will be thickening and fluffing up.
Last, add another ½ cup
of lighter oil and blend until fluffy. You may have to stop and scrape the
sides a few times at the end to stir down the mayonnaise. If you have a
osterizer, the process is simpler.
TOFU
Use firm or extra firm
tofu. You can use a whole block, or any portion thereof. Left over tofu is
easily used up in this recipe.
Drain tofu well and
place in a bowl.
Mash the tofu into a
sloppy mess, leaving no big chunks. It should resemble dry, small curd cottage
cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste and enough mayonnaise to resemble egg
salad or even creamy cottage cheese. Flavor can be enhanced with soy sauce, Dr.
Bronners, or even Worcestershire. Taste often to find the correct amount of
flavor. Store in closed jar or plastic with a lid (if there is any left!)
Dip chips, toast spread,
eat out of the jar, put with crackers. Yum.
Susan Palmer is a new
resident of Montrose, most recently from Oregon. Previously she has lived in
Colorado Springs and on Maui. She is the author of several volumes of poetry
and a research text The Gemstone Healing Amulet, Making One That Works For You.
She offers private and public sessions for groking stones. 240-3605.
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Peaceful Contributions for the Soul
by Kathy Gates
Becoming aware of all
the changes going on around us, the air a bit crisper, the light fades away
earlier, our experience of the natural world is changing. As our environment
changes so do we. Fall is a wonderful time to meditate and contemplate what we
have learned through our experiences. A wonderful time to see the colorful
changes in our own lives, how we have grown through our experiences.
Find a comfortable place
to relax, take a few deep breaths and contemplate all that you have experienced
in your life over the past year. Ask yourself a few questions as you do this,
take your time and really contemplate. How are your relationships? Do you feel
good? Have you improved on any skills?
Are you taking any classes or workshops where you can experience new ideas or
skills that you would like to improve on or learn about? How have your
experiences this past year helped you to become more? What lessons did you learn over the past year? Listen to your
inner voice. How are you feeling about life? Where do you want life to take
you?
By contemplating our
lives we can begin to make the necessary changes to become more, of what we
want to become. To live fuller richer lives knowing our experiences have taught
us what we need to know. This is a
perfect time to be grateful for the lessons of life, a perfect time to be aware
of how they have helped us all to grow and move forward. Today is a good day to
be thankful for all the blessings life has given. To be grateful for the
knowledge gained, for the new relationships, and for the old relationships, for
the perfect way our body functions for us every day, for the goodness life
continues to give in every moment. Today is also a good day to forgive any
situations where you may have blamed yourself or another person for some
outcome you hadn't planned on. Instead know it was about learning and growing.
Forgive yourself and others. Let go of the baggage and move forward, use the
experience as a tool for life instead of a tool against it. Sometimes this can
be difficult to do but it is well worth it. It makes you feel lighter; it makes
you feel good about yourself and about the experience itself. The main thing is
being aware of your experience, what you learned and how it has helped you to
become all that you are.
We are all beautiful,
miracles walking through this thing called life. We are here for the experience
of it. Waking up to a new season, a new sunrise, a new awareness of who we are
in this moment is truly a wonderful contemplation meditation.
Have a blessed fall
season enjoy the changes in seasons, and the changes in self.
Unity & Harmony
Retreat at Women's Spirit Retreat November 3rd-4th-5th, call Kathy at 856-7665
for information and registration. Visit our web site at
womensspiritretreats.com to find out
more. Or email wsretreat@aol.com.
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Herbal Lore
© Anne Calzada Herbalist
The leaves begin to fall
and a distinctive chill fills the air. Color explodes around the landscape and
pumpkins grace the steps and porches of many a home. It is autumn and this is
the month of October. What better time to delve into a little herbal lore! Some
plants have a legendary shadow side that continues to flourish and intrigue
today. These plants are known for psychoactive influence and poisonous
attributions. This article is NOT recommending the usage, but educating to the
historical legend in reference to these powerful herbs. These plants are to be
respected not only because they are, but also because they demand it and if you
don't they will let you know by causing hallucinations, delirium, numbness,
vision loss, paralysis and death. Beware; they are all poisonous and ultimately
deadly. DO NOT USE!
Aconite Aconitum
napellus
Known also as monkshood or wolfbane it is one of the
most poisonous and deadliest plants known. It is prepared homeopathically and
used to reduce bleeding, shock, trauma and extreme fear. The root is
traditionally used containing several toxic alkaloids, including aconitine.
Aconite has been used to coat arrowheads for use on animals and even humans and
was believed to have been used in Europe to eradicate the wolf population. Old
English legend says that it helped to remove the affliction of being a
werewolf! Aconite and Belladonna are said to be the two main ingredients in
"flying ointments".
Belladonna Atropa
belladonna
Also known as deadly nightshade. The name Belladonna
means 'beautiful lady" and is thought to be derived from Italian women who
were said to enhance their beauty by using it to dilate their pupils.
Unfortunately continued use led to blindness. The Greek Goddess of fate,
Atropos is said to have used this plant to "cut the thread of life",
hence the Latin name Atropa. Legend has it that this plant belongs to the devil
who tends and looks after it except for one night when he gives up his duty in
preparation of Walpurgis.
Homeopathically
prepared, it is used for food poisoning and a suddenness of symptom onset. It
contains atropine which is an important alkaloid used as an effective antidote
to certain poisons and chemicals. Atropine has also been used in ophthalmology
to dilate the pupils. Belladonna is known to cause delirium and terrible
hallucinations. Perhaps this is why it was used in midnight brews and flying
ointments.
Hemlock Conium maculatum
Known also as poison and water hemlock, this plant was
used in ancient Greece to poison condemned prisoners, the most notable
poisoning recorded being Socrates. Ancient Greek and Arab physicians have used
it for it's anti-spasmodic properties. In modern times, discontinued use has
been established due to the fact that therapeutic and toxic doses are ever so
slight. Old English legend says that the purple streaks on the stems represent
the brand put on Cain's brow after he committed murder. Ingested, this plant
causes paralysis of neuromuscular function, respiratory paralysis and eventual
death.
Henbane Hyoscyamus niger
Having anesthetic and hallucinogenic properties, it has been used to induce
sedation. Prepared homeopathically, it is used for nervous system afflictions
and spasmodic affections. In Greek legend, it is said that the dead in Hades
were crowned with henbane as they wandered and passed the river Styx. Used in
the dark arts and diabolism for its power over victims. Literature explains
that it was used in flying ointments and midnight brews and in return causing
prolific delirious behavior and hallucinations.
Mandrake Atropa
mandragora
Known as mayapple or sorcerer's root. It has been used as an emetic and an
anesthetic. Legend has it that mandrake is endowed with powers against
demoniacal possession. Mandrake roots resemble the figure of a human being and
thus were worn and adorned homes as an amulet of protection and to ward off the
"evil eye". Legend says that the scream of the mandrake root would
kill any person unfortunate enough to hear it. The end of the root was tied to
a dog, as it would run to follow its master, the plant would be pulled from the
ground. Mandrake was said to be kept in cloth and hidden in a cupboard, as
possession would lead to arrest for witchcraft.
There are many other
plants that contain poisonous properties and that have recorded usage through
out time such as foxglove, poppies, baneberry, poison ivy, death camas and
more. Herbs are living beings and are not necessarily good or bad. They just
are.
Most of our
pharmaceutical advancement has come from plants. Our herbal heritage has been passed
down as well. Ages ago it was learned from usage, experimentation and animal
observation. Handed down from generations back before there were herbals to
look through. We are fortunate through the trials and tribulations that the
language of the plants has sustained man's folly. Happy Halloween, All Hallow's
Eve, Samhain, Dia De Los Muertos. All Saint's Day and a Blessed Autumn!
Anne Calzada is a
Certified Herbalist and founder of Healing Heart Herbs. For consultations
please call 626 5663 or email her at annecalzada@aol.com.
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Feng Shui Tip of the Month
by Jaime
The front door of your home or office is often referred to as "the mouth of chi". A
good way to ward off negativity from the outside world from entering your home is
to place a wooden ba-gua mirror over the door facing out. This pushes out negative
chi & protects the house.
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Taking Responsibility
by Dr. Jerry Overton
I sometimes wonder about
my life—and just who I’ve put in charge of it. Much of it, it seems, has been
given it over to an unseen director, to live out a subconscious script, and do
what I was “supposed” to do. I got an education, got married, had two children
(one boy, one girl, just like you’re supposed to), found a vocation, was a
responsible citizen, played by all the rules, and had a life that looked pretty
much like everybody else I knew. I didn’t particularly excel at anything, but
was fair at most things. I wasn’t especially happy, but wasn’t as unhappy as
many I knew. So, it all seemed within normal expectations.
I did have my moments,
though, of taking charge and claiming responsibility. Like when I decided to
file for divorce, even though as a minister it scared the wits out of me. And
when I decided to leave a great income in Dallas and move to Ouray and sit in a
tiny cabin, alone, for almost two years to discover who I was apart from all
the trappings of my former life. And when I chose just over eight years ago to
move to Montrose because I liked the size and intimacy of the town, and all the
natural beauty it offered.
Those have all proved to
be important instances of taking responsibility for my life. And yet, as I
learned recently, the need to take responsibility can’t be relegated to just certain
times in one’s life. It has to be constant—or else suffer the consequences of
someone else doing it for you.
At 7:30 A.M., on a
recent Saturday morning, I picked up a friend who lives in an RV park on the
river just off Chipeta, turned north onto Highway 550, and headed toward town
to play in a Rotary golf tournament. As always, I enjoyed the early-morning
beauty of the river, the mature trees, and the open space—and felt peace. Six
hours later I headed for home and was shocked at what I saw. Complete
decimation of all those beautiful trees as if a savage tornado had come across
the river and had laid bare the land—all to make room for more commercial
sprawl. And all because I (and many others) had given over responsibility to a
select few who I had trusted to look after my welfare. Big mistake!
And what a lesson to me.
Just because I was smart enough to have picked Montrose as the place I wanted
to live, I was apparently not smart enough to make sure that it retained the
natural beauty and small town atmosphere that had drawn me here. I was not
smart enough to realize that if I wanted it to stay that way I had to be
willing to take responsibility to protect it from those who had other ideas.
And as a result, I was shocked, saddened, and then enraged.
And yet, who can I blame
but myself? And who can any of us, unless we choose to take responsibility?
I used to have a friend
who would say how lucky we are to live here. And I would quickly correct her by
saying, “We’re not lucky, we’re smart!” And yet, how smart can we be if we’re
not also smart enough to treasure it, protect it, and preserve all that
attracted us here in the first place?
If we choose to not
be smart, take responsibility, and act with intelligence, then we’ll have to
hope to be lucky. And, quite frankly, I didn’t feel very lucky when I saw the
ravage done by yielding to others the responsibility I should have claimed for
myself!
In hindsight, I realize
that I could have anticipated some of the actions taken by the developers, who
were simply doing what they do, developing vacant land for profit. I could have
been willing to familiarize myself with the present policies for developing
vacant land, meet with the politicians and the city and county planners, listen
to their views and interpretations of the policies, get clear about my own
desires for maintaining the natural beauty of Montrose, gather others who had
similar ideas, build support through consensus, attend long and sometimes
boring meetings, and then negotiate and stand firm until a satisfactory plan
resulted. That’s what I could have done—but didn’t.
And yet, it’s not too
late—for there is still land that will be developed along the river.
Just how it will be developed is up to you and me—and our own
willingness to take responsibility!
Copyright
2006 Dr. Jerry Overton
Jerry is a practitioner
of the Emotional Freedom Technique, a method of healing all sorts of pain and
suffering.
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