Dandelion Wine & Living in the Moment

I spotted the first dandelions of the season over the weekend.  I love these guys and I'm always happy to see them. They are quite a gift from nature as I discovered last year http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/04/dandelions-for-third-chakra.html . I'm really struck by how cyclical nature is. It was almost exactly a year ago that I was noticing the dandelions and here they are again- right on time.  That kind of preciseness gives me a good chance for "do overs" I think.

See, in last year's post I wrote about how you could eat dandelions in salads and use them for medicinal purposes. But I didn't put my dandelions in a salad, I decided to make wine.

I picked 8 cups of dandelions tops- not the greens, just the tops. I dissolved a package of yeast in 1/4 cup of warm water and set it aside. I washed my dandelion tops and put them in a big stock pot with 16 cups of water. I added 1 cup orange juice, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 3 tablespoons lime juice, 8 cloves, 1/2 tsp. powered ginger, 3 tbs. orange peel, 1 tbs. lemon peel and 6 cups (gulp!) of sugar.

I brought the whole thing to a boil and let it boil for an hour. I stirred it and felt very "witch like" with my brew. It smelled heavenly! After an hour, I strained the mixture through cheesecloth and let it cool.  When it was warm, but not hot, I stirred in the yeast.  I put the lid on top and let it stand overnight.  It was quite a bubbly concoction the next morning when I poured it into bottles.  Rather than cork it, it's best to just cover the bottles with cheesecloth and store it in a darkened place (sounds magical and witchy again!- I put it in the cold room) for three weeks.

This stuff smelled so good everyone wanted to drink it right away. It really did taste good. But I was pretty determined to make wine so I bottled it and following the instructions. At the 3 week mark I checked it out. It was bubbling like crazy. It still smelled really good. I strained it again, put it in new bottles and  put a twist top on it loosely. I tasted some of it. It was awesome! It was bubbly like a beer and had about the same alcohol content at 5 or 6%. I considered just drinking it then.

But I hoarded my dandelion wine.  I thought if it was at 5% alcohol now, in a few months time I might have 20 proof or so!  I also imagined bringing those 4 bottles out at Christmas time when there were no more dandelions around and enjoying the medicinal effects and the taste of spring.  I kept thinking about my wine, but it never quite felt like the right time to bring it out. I was "saving" it for something.

Round about Christmas I broke out the first bottle of dandelion wine.  It was horrible!  Undrinkable. Vinegar like, no alcohol content, and nowhere near the experience I had imagined.  So disappointing!  Where had my wonderful smelling, sweet tasting, brew gone??? Hmmm...

So the moral of this story in my opinion is: live in the moment.  I think when nature presents you with something like dandelions, you're meant to enjoy them right away. I think nature knows best, and I guess that means dandelion wine should be enjoyed when there are still dandelions around.  It isn't a Christmas wine, it's a deck wine, to be savored in the sunshine. Maybe it should be called dandelion beer.

It seems I have this pioneer gene in me that believes I should be preserving things to use later. It's an old emergency plan to avoid starvation I think. But really, cucumbers taste much better than pickles, strawberries fresh in the bowl are so much better than strawberry jam, grapes are way better than grape jelly, and peaches are heavenly with the juice dripping from your hands onto your bare toes in the grass, and just don't compare when canned ( know because I tried that too).  And if you've ever canned anything in the heat of the summer when the fruit was in season, you'll quickly realize how unnatural that is.

I think nature is trying to tell us to stop worrying and planning for the future and just live and be in the moment. If you've got more peaches than you can eat, share them with your friends rather than squeeze them into a jar. Nature will continue to provide for us through all the seasons.  Less face it, in my part of the world I really don't run the risk of starvation by Christmas if I haven't made jams and preserves.

Dandelions resonate with the third chakra.  They connect us to our center of power and self-control. Perhaps the message is to let go of trying to control everything.  Most of all, to stop trying to control nature and just enjoy what's in front of you right now. The third chakra, when balanced, allows us to make decisions that are in tune with our emotions, not just our intellect. Hmmm...

So this year, if I get a bumper crop of dandelions, I going to make dandelion beer. I'm going to drink it when it smells good, is bubbly, and refreshing. In between sips, I'll set my glass down in the warm grass right beside a dandelion patch. I might call some friends and share all the bottles at once. I think I'll have a party. I'm going to ignore that little voice of intellect that tells me I should hoard, preparing for a hard winter, preserve for tough times ahead. I will connect with my third chakra, safe in the knowing that I have the personal power to thrive, not just survive.

Cheers!

Signs of Miracles?

The Peepers are back!  I heard them two nights in a row. Last year I wrote about the peepers when they arrived.  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/05/animal-signs-spring-peepers.html  As an animal sign they signal us to see miracles in everyday things. It seems they have arrived pretty early this year.  Perhaps that's a sign of miraculous things in itself?

Since the experience with the Hawk http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/04/animal-signs-hawk.html  has allowed me to consider things from a new perspective, I thought maybe I'd see what Steven Farmer had to say about frogs. In "Animal Spirit Guides", Farmer writes that the frog might be a sign to emotional cleanse oneself. He suggests you take it as a sign to really feel your emotions and allow yourself to cry and release any emotional toxicity.  Farmer writes Frog energy is a sign of a slow and steady transformation and movement from an old life to a new. Farmer suggests you call on Frog Energy when you want to release your life from, people, places and things that no longer fit with your present lifestyle and who you are.

It does seem that Farmer sees the Frog from a bit of a different perspective than Mapel, but in the end  they are both talking about the appearance of miracles. Maybe that is what spring is all about and perhaps if we allowed our bodies to tune in, we could experience the same amazing transformation.

Humans are pretty drawn to the idea of miracles.  We want "miracle cures", "miracle signs" and "miracle saves". Maybe we like the shock and awe affect. Yet there are so many miraculous things happening all the time that we, in fact, take for granted and no longer consider their miraculous nature. I guess that's what the peepers are singing about. They want us to look around and see the miracles in the everyday.

From Farmer's point of view, it would seem, in order to take full advantage of the transformative nature of a miracle, you might need to shed a few tears of toxicity. You might need to let go of pent up "stuff" in order to find room for the transformation, the miracle within. Hmm...

A couple of years ago I planted some crocus bulbs in a pile of horse manure.  You don't get much better an example of released toxicity than a pile of manure I wouldn't think.  Every year out of that pile come beautiful flowers. It seems more than a little miraculous to me. Yet without that released  material they wouldn't have what they need to mature and I wouldn't have transformation in the pile!

For some reason, the crocuses appeared in a pretty unique order this year. The yellow ones appeared first- only the yellow ones. The other day the purple ones suddenly appeared all over the place and mixed in with the yellow ones,  all at once.  Today the white ones have arrived. I forgot they were even planted in there.Hmm...

That color order seems pretty much a sign as well.  I figure the yellow ones appeared to provide the burst of energy required for personal power and growth. Yellow resonates with the third Chakra http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/food-for-solar-chakra.html  It's the energy, power and self-esteem we need to make the transformation happen.

Then along comes the purple crocus.  I've written about them earlier. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/03/lessons-from-nature-spring-flowers.html  The Purple Crocus, like the peepers, is a sign to release the tension of emotions and "old stuff".  The Purple crocus resonates with the throat chakra according to Sabina Pettitt from Pacific Essences http://www.pacificessences.com/  The color purple also resonates with the 6th Chakra or the third eye. That's our source of intuition.  It would seem from the third eye we come to understand the way in which we need to be transformed and what type of change would reconnect us to our ultimate path. 

The white Crocus and the Peepers arrived at pretty much the same time. I'm going to consider that the ultimate connection. White resonates with the Crown Chakra and helps us connect to the divine, to that universal nature that is all around us and is, in itself, miraculous.

Universal energy, that connection with Spirit, the ability to heal, the power to transform is always available to us.  That's what makes it so miraculous: the fact that it's actually, "everyday". I guess sometimes we need a few signs to remind ourselves of that.  A good cleansing cry, a walk through the poop, and listening to the song of the peepers may be all that's required.

Release and enjoy the miracle of change!

Animal Signs: Hawk

I was dive-bombed by a Hawk the other day while walking in the woods.  He came out of nowhere it seemed and flew straight for my head, missing by what felt like, mere inches.  The phrase from my childhood, "it's all fun and games until someone loses an eye", started to make sense for the first time.  He didn't go very far past me but took up residence in a nearby tree and continued to scream. Then his mate, on the other side of the trail screamed back. Turns out she was sitting in a huge nest, high in the trees. You don't have to have any special powers or abilities to understand that communication.  Apparently I had walked onto private property without an invitation and this couple was not open to spontaneous visits without calling ahead first. Maybe it was a case of new, or soon to be new, parent jitters. I didn't linger to ask for more information.

A few days later and I'm seeing those Hawks all over the place so it seems only fair to give them some air time on the blog.

Like the commanding nature of the Hawk, their spirit is considered powerful as a spirit animal guide or totem.
Hawk's are associated with Power and Magic.  They are considered messengers that awake vision and inspire higher levels of consciousness.

Steven Farmer in Animal Spirit Guides, writes that when a Hawk shows up it may mean you are caught up in the details of a situation and you could benefit from stepping back to get a greater perspective. Farmer explains the Hawk may indicate you are caught up in emotional turmoil and have lost your perspective. Hmm...

It occurs to me that getting lost in the details is sometimes a coping mechanism in stressful situations. By getting very focused on the immediate task at hand and acquiring some tunnel vision, we protect or insulate ourselves from seeing the wide angle lens picture. Getting immersed in the details of a project, the science of an illness, the logical analytical side of our brain, we can stop or delay "feeling".  We create our own emotional turmoil by writing the "to do" list deciding there is a way to work our way out of the situation.

I've taught Stress  and Time Management programs encouraging students  to write down their goals, set objectives to achieve the goals, and tasks that would help meet each objective. Such step by step, logical thought keeps you "on track" in measurable, achievable ways. Hmm....

I look at coping mechanisms a bit differently now. I think such analytical, practical thought might be a cover-up.  I think this focused attention allows you to keep going on a path, to keep doing, to keep achieving, to cope with a situation or event such that your output doesn't appear to change. I'm not sure that's a good thing. I think "cope" might mean "ignore" or "power through" and I don't think that's the point. 

Perhaps events that challenge us are meant to be viewed from that wide angle, high level, in the clouds,  perspective the Hawk takes. Perhaps from that level we can open up our Vagus nerve a bit http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/02/vagus-nerve-and-7-chakras.html  and accept the connection with others. Maybe in doing so we wouldn't block out our feelings by "coping" and paying attention to details and action.  Maybe we would just sit and be there for a friend. Maybe we could just sit and be there for ourselves.  Maybe we wouldn't try to take it all on, take it in stride, power through. Maybe it isn't about fighting our way through using the sympathetic nervous system, stress management techniques, and the logical left side of our brain.  Maybe we could just allow the right side of our brains to take over our hearts and feel our way through to the vision.

Hawk energy encourages us to see the overall view. It's from that perspective where we can find magic, creativity, vision and power because we aren't lost in the details.  We don't need to dig for the proof  or bury ourselves in the plans and the tasks because we can see from a higher place, an omniscient point of view. Because the Hawk spends time observing and studying the situation, when it is time for action they are quick and decisive. They are very effective at protecting their home and family because of this. They don't get distracted by the little things along the way.

Farmer writes that when a Hawk shows up you should pay attention to your surroundings because you are about to receive an important message.  Maybe there is more to come, but I think I already got the message. I think I was so caught up in my own thoughts and my brain that I wasn't feeling the connection to nature. I was "coping" instead of "experiencing". I wasn't really walking through the woods, I was reviewing my "to do list" and thinking about what I could do to change circumstances. I had no idea the Hawks were even there until they almost hit me. He came at me from the right side of my head, another message to open up that side and just let things flow. Less thinking, more feeling. 

Maybe we could all use a bit of that!

Easter Full Moon in Libra

Well, it's officially Easter weekend in my part of the world. This always feels like rather a strange and confusing holiday to me. There are parts of it I "just don't get".  I was going to cheat on the blog today and just re-post last year's Easter blog.  Always kind of interesting to me when I feel the same a year later. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/04/easter-colors.html

So that's the way I still feel about Easter but it doesn't seem fair to let Easter celebrations or focus overshadow a Full Moon. And today the Full Moon is in Libra. I'm pretty sure the Spring Bunny is aware of that!

According to We'Moon 2012, a full moon in Libra really warms our hearts and heightens our aesthetics.  What a great time of year to experience that energy, when the world is coming to life with spring colors and melting temperatures.

We'Moon writes that those born under a moon in Libra are natural mediators. They want everyone to get along and play nicely together. They tend to be very positive and see the beauty and the good in everything. This external admiration is almost opposite to the internal, self-directed energy of Aries and the energy that abounded with the previus New Moon http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/03/new-moon-in-aries.html.  So if you've been feeling a bit of a push/pull between internal wants and needs, and the needs of others and social obligations the past few days perhaps that's why. It can often be quite a relief when the Full Moon actually arrives. It's as though we are finally released of the pulling force of moving into a new energy and now we can "just be".

The Full Moon energy of Libra is all about relationships. We put ourselves in relationships in order to grown and learn.  As much as we think we want our relationships to be harmonious, easy, kind and nuturing, sometimes it is through conflict that we grow the most and the fastest. Hmm....

This Libra Moon energy may present the opportunity to be challenged by conflict. I'm not suggesting fighting over the colored Easter eggs  you might have found that were on your neighbour's property.  I'm suggesting it might be a time to think about how you feel about conflict and identify how you could use it for growth. In particular, it might be a good time to consider whether or not you are avoiding conflict at all costs and preventing your own growth as a result.

Libra energy enables us to be senstive to conflict. We can see who isn't happy and we can uncover areas of social injustice and inequality. But that kind of revealation is likely to make us uncomfortable. We may be tempted to gloss over it, distract attention to something else rather than bring opposing forces out in the open.

It seems to me that Libra energy, and what we are likely to eperience in this Full Moon Phase is a direct match for the Bach Flower essence Agrimony. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/agrimony-to-release-whats-behind-mask.html Agrimony can help you balance the need for harmony with an ability to speak your truth and stand up for what you believe in. It can help you communicate your real feelings openly rather than putting on the cheerful mask and crying on the inside. When Agrimony and Full Moon Libra energy is balanced, your cheerfulness and positive outlook comes from a real sense of self-acceptance and inner joy.  It's positive energy that is truth, not cover-up.

The attempt to avoid conflict can also create indecision. When you're trying to avoid potential disharmony you may jump back and forth between two choices or possibilities. If you're putting on the Agrimony mask to avoid the "elephant in the room", you may find yourself fluctuating between the extremes of happy and sad, contented and restless, optimistic and pessimistic. The Bach Flower Sceleranthus, in combination with Agrimony can help you even out that flip flop nature. Sceleranthus can help you maintain your poise and balance once you've taken off the mask and found your true direction.

So, if I go back to last year's Easter post, armed with this knowledge and the Full Moon in Libra energy- here's what I think. I think that hen and bunny really need to take a look at their relationship. I think the hen needs to speak up and tell the bunny there's no way he can take all her eggs. They are important to her and she's labored over them. I think the bunny should stand up and explain that first of all, he is a Spring Bunny, and not an Easter Bunny. I think he would most likely tell the hen that it's not the eggs that are so important as much as he wanted to bring color to the world and have people get outside and explore in nature. I believe the hen and the bunny would agree that people often don't explore unless they think there is treasure to be discovered, so there is some value in the egg coloring activity.  I think after a few drops of Agrimony, the hen will realize that only the fertilized eggs are really important to her and she would be relieved to give up a few of the other eggs ,and the heck with what the rooster says anyway. After a few drops of Scleranthus I think the Spring Bunny can travel in a much straighter line and put those eggs in pretty obvious places that people will admire and enjoy. That straight line will give him a whole lot more time to stand up on his hind legs and bask in the glow of the full moon. 

Happy Spring!

Alternative Pain Remedies

Humans don't like pain.  Whether it's physical, emotional, or a combination thereof, we don't deal well with it. It's instinctual to avoid pain. We have created a whole "anti-pain" industry. Just look through the contents of any drug store.  There is usually an isle marked "pain-relievers", but most of the contents of the other isles make claims about getting rid of pain as well.  We have created medications for relieving pain in infants, young children and adults. We even have medications for day time pain as opposed to night time pain!  Let's face it, we usually don't look for medications unless we have some kind of pain. It's the pain that makes us take notice and seek treatment and if we can't treat it with over the counter medications, we'll turn to a physician for a stronger pain reliever. Hmm...

In the world of alternative medicine, pain is looked at differently than it is in conventional modalities. Pain is considered a sign that your body is working on something and sending you a signal. Pain isn't something to be suppressed or ignored. Whether emotional or physical, it is a signal of dis- ease in the body. It isn't considered something to "get rid of", it's a sign to start looking to your core for the real issue, the root of the problem.

Because the aim of alternative therapy is not to "block pain", you won't find "alternative pain remedies" like today's title suggests. Instead, the focus is on where the pain is, what causes it to be better or worse, how your behavior is affected, how you feel about it, and what is going on in your life that makes it appear or disappear. You pay attention to the pain and monitor it's progress on the way to healing.

I don't think most people understand that when they start on the path to alternative healing. The first time you take Arnica for an injury and feel the immediate relief and rapid healing, including a decrease in pain, you're hooked on the idea. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/06/alternative-first-aid-for-abraisions.html When you take Ledum for painful, itchy bug bites and see the swelling go down and feel the soothing relief, you're ready to switch to this "new kind of stuff".  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/07/alternative-treatment-for-bug-bites.html Hypericum for a crushed finger, a bumped funny bone, finger slammed in the door, or a toothache and you're ready to open up shop selling the stuff.  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2010/10/crushed-fingers-homeopathics.html  A few sprays of Rescue Remedy when you feel a panic attack coming on and you're sold on the idea.  A lot of people understand the benefits of using homeopathic and alternative modalities in acute situations. The onset is sudden and identifiable, and the relief is as well.

However.. A lot of people "fall off (or "on" I'm never sure which) the alternative healing wagon", when they experience pain of a more chronic nature. Even some people that swear by natural medicine, organic foods, and alternative cures, reach for that conventional medicine "pain killer" when they have a headache, a backache, muscle and joint cramps, pains, and general soreness.  Usually they say they do this because they "had to go to work anyway", they "couldn't afford to rest any longer", they "couldn't take time off", or they "couldn't wait for the pain to go away".  Maybe that's a good case for truly complementary medicine and a combination of conventional and alternative modalities. But maybe there's something else that might work.

Magnesium Phosphate is a homeopathic preparation that is sometimes called the "homeopathic aspirin" because of it's success with aches and pains. It works for headaches, earaches, teething pain, neuralgic pains like sciatica, and menstrual pains, to name a few. If you've got the type of pain that is relieved by heat, such as a hot water bottle or a hot compress, Magnesium Phosphate just might do wonders for you. This remedy works best by dissolving it in warm water.  Add 4 to 7 tablets to a cup of hot water, stir vigorously to dissolve and sip frequently.  By the end of the mug of magnesium tea, you just might find your pains have subsided.  You can repeat as needed.  It usually comes in a 6DH or 6X preparation like today's picture suggests. You can find it on-line or in most health food stores.  If they don't have it, they should be able to order it in for you. 

If you can't think straight because of pain, or if the pain is a combination of emotional and physical (and most are), a few sprays of Rescue Remedy might prevent you from heading down the drug store "pain killer" isle. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/03/bach-flowers-for-crisis-events.html After a couple of sprays or drops, you might even remember that Magnesium Phosphate "tea" would be a good idea.  You might decide that in fact, you can relax for a bit and take the day off, or delegate your work to someone else. It you've been wearing your shoulders as earrings because the world isn't moving fast enough and you are  more than a little tense in your neck and back, Rescue Remedy might relieve your neck and headache pain. Then you might remember that Impatiens essence alone might do that as well.

If you're experiencing some strange electrical type pains that come and go in a fleeting nature and can't really be defined, described, or make sense, Perelandra ETS Plus might be helpful for you. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/08/getting-started-with-perelandra.html If this type of pain is something new for you and feels like it's due to an expansion or a connection to something you can't define, ETS Plus might do much more for you than a pain killer. If none of this paragraph makes any sense to you, stick with Rescue Remedy.  If it makes so much sense you're jumping out of your seat right now- ETS Plus if for you!

 I believe there is a place for complementary medicine and there may well be times when conventional medicine has the pain killer you need to heal.  http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2012/03/tiered-health-care.html But I personally think, we are overusing painkillers in an attempt to "get on with our lives" without making any concessions to how our bodies feel.  I think killing the pain, often kills the opportunity to heal. I also think it might just be a bit easier and actually seem more "natural" to reach for a painkiller instead of an alternative remedy. It's what we are programmed to think now.  You can get with a new program. Just add some alternative remedies to your first aid kit or medicine cabinet. Label them clearly so you don't have to think about how to use them and when.  Put them beside your "over the counter stuff" so you'll at least consider them when you have lost some cognitive thought because of the flight from pain syndrome. 

Relax, boil some water and make some Magnesium Phosphate tea.  Cheers!

Kubler-Ross Stages & Bach Flowers

April is a month of transitions. There is a saying that "change is never easy". I don't quite agree with that. I  think change comes naturally and very easily. It's the acceptance of such change that gives us some angst. Moving towards something new, even if it's welcomed, natural and inevitable,  means we leave a piece of something else behind. We grieve that passing.

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross is a pioneer in the grieving and change process.  Although she was born as one of triplet sisters, she seemed to have proven her uniqueness throughout her life.  Perhaps because of a difficult childhood, she understood her destiny to be a focus on the humanistic perspective of death and dying. In 1969, she published her landmark book, "On Death & Dying", in which she introduced the Five Stages of Grief.  Her stages, or cycle (they don't always happen in order) of grieving is still accepted as a model to explain what can be expected and how we need to process many types of change, not just death.

We go through this process whether we recognize it or not when we grieve. It can be quick or slow.  It's easy to get "stuck" in a stage and it can be difficult to make the transition.

I studied the 5 Stages in very clinical applications a number of years ago. I taught the stages to others in a number of different forums. I believe her work makes theoretical, scientific, sense. Now I look at her work from a new perspective. I see a unique knowing and universal truths in her message.

I also see Kubler-Ross's stages as similar to peeling the layers of an onion away to get the core. This is what  Bach Flower healing is based on and I see opportunities to combine the two theories.

Kubler-Ross's First Stage is referred to as Denial.  This phase is a temporary defense mechanism.  We can't believe this is happening to us. "I feel fine, how can I be dieing"? We don't want to accept the facts, information or reality. We don't want to believe change is in front of us so we pretend it's not. This is a coping mechanism that allows you the adjustment phase. Some people get locked in this stage though.  To help "unlock" the phase, in my opinion, the Bach Flower essence Agrimony might come in handy. We set change up as conflict and when in an Agrimony state you avoid conflict at all costs. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/agrimony-to-release-whats-behind-mask.html You try with all your might to ignore the "darker side of life" and make light of situations rather than confront them. If you mind can't do it alone, you might turn to drugs, comfort eating, or alcohol to help suppress the underlying discomfort. Agrimony can help you accept the less pleasant side of change and move through to the next stage.

Kubler-Ross's Second Stage is called Anger. People dealing with change can be angry at themselves or others and often this anger gets directed at those most close to them. This can be a difficult phase for everyone! The anger of this stage is quite focused in blame. We try to find a spot to place or direct our discomfort. We believe ourselves to be a victim of something and we struggle to find the source. We resent the fact that we have to go through this while others don't. Life isn't fair.  The Bach Flower essence Willow might help you move through this anger, resentment and bitterness. Willow can help you look within instead of focusing on external factors. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/10/willow-remedy-for-its-not-fair-world.html

In Kubler-Ross's model, Anger turns to the Third Stage of Bargaining. "I'd give up all my possessions if only..."It's usually a negotiation we try to do with whatever we consider to be the higher power. We promise a reformed lifestyle if only we were given more time, or this change to pass us by. It's the classic wish to turn back the clock for just one second so that the future might have taken a different form. The Bach Flower Honeysuckle might help you move through this phase smoother. In the Honeysuckle state you find it difficult to accept the present circumstances because you feel over attached to the past.  Honeysuckle can help you let go of this attachment and clinging nostalgia so you can move forward in the reality of the present moment. It's about accepting the change that's already occurred. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/04/moving-forward-with-ease-bach-flower.html

Moving through that acceptance can be tough.  Kubler-Ross's model identifies the Fourth Stage as Depression. When you can no longer deny, find a reason for, or negotiate your way out of the change you face, it can be down right sad. That's grieving. It's a process of detaching and disconnecting. Kubler-Ross doesn't recommend you try to "cheer someone up" at this change. I think we make that mistake a lot in order to make it easier for us personally.  This is a stage we all need to process. The Bach Flower Gorse won't prevent that processing, but it might help you find your inner sense of faith. Gorse can help you use change as a positive experience. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2011/03/hoplessness-despair-and-bach-flower.html

Kubler-Ross's fifth and final Stage is Acceptance. Ahh... that's the peace we're all looking for when we experience change, we just don't know that until we can get there. It is a place of emotional detachment and objectivity. We no longer judge events as "good" or "bad", we just them as as part of the journey. When multiple people are involved in transition or change, it's uncommon to go through the stages at the same time. People that are dieing usually get to the stage of Acceptance long before their loved ones do. When some people in your circle find acceptance before others, the rest of the group often tries to talk them out of it. We misinterpret acceptance for "giving up". When you've found Acceptance, the Bach Flower Cerato can be very helpful to to keep you there. http://pixiedusthealing.blogspot.ca/2010/12/best-advice-your-inner-knowing.html Cerato allows you to trust that inner wisdom and follow it no matter what others' are trying to tell you. Cerato allow you to accept the change as being your path and in that moment you can follow it blissfully guided by your own higher power. Today's picture the Cerato flower. All focus of this flower is towards the center. The petals have a herring-bone path towards the center. The flower only lasts for a day upon which the petals close and the flower collapses. It twists into a spiral and forms a focus of indrawn energy. It is all about finding our individual center, our true path, our inner soul.

When Dr. Bach was making his healing discoveries, Kubler-Ross hadn't even been born.  She didn't make any connection between the stages and Bach Flowers.  But in my opinion, the connection is obvious and feels right. But that's just me. The flowers are personal in nature. You need to find what's right for you as an individual. So too, the stages of grieving and acceptance of change is personal and we all need to find what is right and peaceful.

May you find your path and travel your journey.

Book Review: Dime Store Magic

I found Kelley Armstrong's, Dime Store Magic a few days ago. It's definitely worth sharing.  Armstrong is quite an accomplished author with a long list of publications. Dime Store Magic is from her "The Otherworld Series". 

The main character in Dime Store Magic is a witch. But unlike witch characters in a lot of other series, Paige is very modern and firmly entrenched in the new world as well as the old. She has very modern and typical issues including self esteem, self-employment, diet, exercise and of course, like all good witches; romance. Although she's only in her mid-twenties she has "inherited" a teenager and therein lies a host of problems!

Her teenage dependent is also a witch, but  unlike Paige, her newly acquired "daughter"  comes from a line of black magic practitioners. Paige struggles with her own thoughts about this and where to draw the line. Like many parents, Paige really has to figure out how she should adapt to her daughter's abilities.  Paige struggles to allow evolution while maintiaining core values, accept talents from the next generation she might not even understand, and nurtur her child in a safe environment with appropriate boundaries and guidance.

Paige also discovers that even within the protective confines of a closely knit Coven, fear of the unknown and unusual can penetrate the ranks and destroy the group. As Paige accepts the talents, abilities and ideas of her daughter, she finds her own world expanding and evolving. That expansion is not always met with acceptance from  her own group of friends and mentors..Hmm...

Dime Store Magic is from Armstrong's, "The Otherworld Series", but I found myself finding the plot line only too believable in this world as well. There is a wild cast of characters including Demons and Half-Demons as well as witches with multiple talents. But these talents and character types don't complicate the reading of the story. It's easy to follow, believable in nature, with just the right amount of magic to be pleasantly distracting and non-disturbing.

Armstrong has an amazing website that any author would be proud of. It's an interesting read in itself.  If you get confused on the characters' abilities you can just reference Demonology 101 on her website and get the summary. http://www.kelleyarmstrong.com/extras/

Armstrong truly has created a whole other world, but she's brought real life issues to that world and in my opinion there is more than a few lessons to be learned from her writing that could be applied in the here and now.

One of those lessons might just be that as we expand our minds we enter into a new realm of possibilities. Perhaps rather than labeling things and events in our lives as good or bad, white or black, we should consider abilities and challenges as opportunities for growth. Maybe if we stopped attaching labels and trying to categorize everyone and everything into  "good" or "bad", "us" and "them" we could eliminate underlying fear and go with the flow.

Perhaps that's when we can find our true power.  Who knows, maybe you too have a spell or two within you just waiting to be properly cast!