The Journey to You

The Journey to You - A Shaman’s Path to Empowerment is a book by Ross Heaven that links spirituality and science. It will guide you on your spiritual path in a grounded way that has benefits for you and the world today. It provides healing practices and techniques, such as image work, journeying and soul retrieval and draws on the latest scientific research and provides guidance from leading figures. For each book sold, there is a contribution to the Dream Change Coalition for Rainforest protection and the preservation of indigenous shamanic wisdom. 

The shaman asks ‘does it grow corn?’ Or does it have a useful purpose that provides value to people? We are all gods of a kind, that can assist, support and provide, and we have a responsibility to do this. The shamanic world is experiential but it has purpose and meaning, without which it is null and void. 

Herbs

Sunflower: Cultivated 3,000 yrs ago, dedicated to Sun God, Helios. 

Hops: Pliny 1st century, and used for brewing by 8th century. 

Agrimony: Used as a heal all in Anglo Saxon times. From Agrimone Greek. Used for eye and skin disorders 

Hyssop: from Hebrew, a holy herb used for purifying temples and rituals. 

Elecampane: Helen of Troy was gathering this herb when she was abducted by Paris. 

Lavender: Used by Greek and Roman from lavare to wash. Insect repellant properties.

Meadowsweet: a strewing herb used in Elizabethan England for church weddings and bridal garlands. Sacred to the Druids.

The Wendy Stokes Pages

Wendy is a writer, counsellor and healer.

Wendy's Facebook Pages: 

https://www.facebook.com/wendy.stokes.5832

https://www.facebook.com/Wendy-Stokes-112614127040368

Her meditations YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTweeaxKY77bvjyF4l2vJ5w

Visit and follow Wendy's free Ezine pages by clicking on these hyperlinks: 

https://mbsmag.blogspot.com with psychology, philosophy and related pages. 

https://mbsmagazin.blogspot.com with books, card decks, courses and events reviews.

https://wendystokesuk.blogspot.com with previously published columns on dreams, interviews, etc.

Wendy's 3 Facebook Groups to join: 

Grail & A Search for the Sacred: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/465299830957373

Mind, Body & Soul Ezine: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/635783861908228

Protect our Water, Air and Soil: 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/251537656049

Visit Wendy's website for more information: https://wendystokes.co.uk

Glastonbury - A Visit

I had not been to Glastonbury for at least 35 years so it was a delight to visit again and see the amazing changes - and also see so many things that stayed the same. It is a place where legends associated with all my favourite characters are brought to life. Perhaps a pre-Christian holy site, since the days when Joseph of Arimathea* brought two goblets (believed to be the Grail from Golgotha after the death of Jesus) to our land and placed his staff into the ground. The hillside is now called Weary All Hill because he and his group were exhausted from such a vast sea and land journey. I recently attended a family wedding at the ancient church of St Just in Cornwall where Joseph's boat is said to have arrived into the small bay. Joseph is an ascended master and I sense his energies all around

Better Relationships - Part Two

Validate what you like in the Other person - their values, actions, skills and abilities. Look for areas of rapport, agreement and similarities. Ask genuine interest questions and be open to speaking your truth and to listening with an open heart. Want the best for the Other, so they can be confident, content and productive in their life. Focus on a way forward to always improve the quality of the relationship, setting daily goals to please each other. Expect the best and give the best, but bear in mind that some people are naturally better at relationships due to empathy, being articulate and being more consistent and steady in their thinking and relating style.Women are usually better at collaborations than men, though there are exceptions. 

Can you discuss everything, your priorities, hopes, and ambitions, your personal thoughts and feelings, even those that other people might not like? Do you feel fully accepted as a person and do you feel you develop yourself with this person, growing in understanding of yourself and of them too? What are your criteria for a relationship and does this person tick your boxes?What are the boxes. Define what you are looking for in your relationship. Do you think you are a good match? Are you close friends who communicate well or do you feel you need to put on an act or a mask to please this person? 

Malidoma

“At this moment in history, western civilisation is suffering from a great sickness of the soul. The West’s progressive turning away from functioning spiritual values, its total disregard for the environment and the protection of natural resources, the violence of inner cities and their problems of poverty, drugs and crime, the spiralling of unemployment and economic disarray, the growing intolerance towards people of colour and the values of other cultures, all of these trends, if unchecked, will eventually bring about a terrible self-destruction. In the face of this global chaos, the only possible hope is self transformation.”

The Holy Grail - Part Three

I remember stories of the Grail from early in my childhood. The earliest memory was the poem of La Belle Dame Sans Merci which tells the story of a young women confined in a castle who longs to be rescued. In those days, a woman, like a child today, could not survive alone and even today for many women, life alone is undesirable. This mediaeval young lady admires knights on horseback as they ride past on their way to Arthur's majestic court in Camelot. She is aware of their fearless reputation for saving the fair sex because these men were chivilrous, courteous, strong and kind. She hopes they will see her, but she is invisible to them, and they pass by without acknowledging her. In her distress, she decides to take her own life, and in a small boat that floats to Camelot, she dies of desperation. 

As a child, I read many of poems of knighthood, and also the stories of the quest for the Holy Grail. The era in which the original poetry of the Grail was written were dangerous and complex times, and the poem itself is surrounded with mystery and strange occurrences, as though set in an extraordinary and tragic dream. Visions and dreams have a special wonder and magic, and what we witness within them are allegory, metaphor and symbols. But the map is not the territory! 

But what is the meaning of the strange story of the Quest for the Holy Grail? A disabled fisher king awaits vital questioning! If we approach the grail story as though it was a dream, it becomes very meaningful. In dreams, we often describe events without the expression of emotion - and this story is extremely enigmatic. Could it be a wisdom story that holds importance for the time in which we live today? It could describe an urgency related to the healing of the Wasteland, and due to the lack of questioning, the opportunity to heal is lost. 

Music Choice

Wendy chooses music for her blog and has chosen this video of a street performer for you today as he plays the piano for everyone! Enjoy!

The Truthful Lady - A Story

In a US trial in a Southern small-town, a prosecuting attorney called his first witness, a grandmother, to the stand. 

He approached her and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know me?' She responded, 'Yes, I do know you, Mr. Williams. I've known you since you were a boy! You have been a disappointment to me. You lie, you cheat on your wife, and you manipulate people and talk about them behind their backs. You think you're a big shot when you haven't the brains to realize you'll never amount to anything more than a two-bit paper pusher. Yes, I know you!'

 

The lawyer was stunned. Not knowing what else to do, he pointed across the room and asked, 'Mrs. Jones, do you know the defense attorney?'

She again replied, 'Yes, I do. I've known Mr. Bradley since he was a youngster, too. He's lazy, bigoted, and he has a drinking problem. He can't build a normal relationship with anyone, and his law practice is one of the worst in the entire state. Not to mention he cheated on his wife with three different women. One of them was your wife. Yes, I know him!'

The Invitation - Extract

It doesn’t interest me what do you do for a living. I want to know what you care for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are square to your moon. I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life’s betrayals, or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it, or fade it or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you to the tip of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

Caring for Canines

RSPCA: 0300 123 4555 PDSA: 0800 731 2502 Blue Cross: 01993 8222651 

Dogs are excellent companions for all except young children. Walking a dog is an ideal way to keep fit and people often stop to enjoy a short conversation with someone with a dog. Dogs have been bred for 10,000 years to be a helper, guardian and “man’s best friend”. They come in a variety of sizes and there is a dog to suit everyone’s requirements. However, dogs have many needs. They can live for up to 15 years, they have daily needs for attention and are a considerable expense. 

No puppy should be taken from its mother before 8 weeks of age. Puppies need to be handled caringly in their early weeks of life if they are to be comfortable with humans. If you buy from a breeder, always ask to see the conditions the mother has been kept in, as a healthy and happy mother will teach her offspring many things during those early weeks of life, including preliminary toilet training. If the mother is in poor condition, she will be depressed and will fail to attend to her offspring. A prospective purchaser should avoid buying a dog from a pet shop or a puppy mill. A great deal of selective breeding cause hidden genetic defects. Mongrels and cross-breeds are the healthiest and happiest of dogs.

Frank Kafka - A Story

When Franz Kafka was 40 years of age (He lived from 1883 to 1924), though he never married and had no children, he was walking through the park in Berlin when he met a girl who was crying. She had lost her favourite doll and they searched for it unsuccessfully.

Kafka told her to meet him the next day to return to look for the doll.
The next day, when they had not yet found it, Kafka gave the girl a letter "written" by the doll saying "please don't cry. I took a trip to see the world. I will write to you about my adventures."

This began a story which continued until the end of Kafka's life.

Perfume Part Four

There are 20 species of herbacious perennial freesias in the wild, all natives of South Africa. The name derives from the German physician, Dr Heinrich Theodore Freese who discovered the beauty of this flower. In 1909 the British painter Edward Frampton painted them in Fairyland as an emblem of spring and regeneration. Freesias are second only to the great favourite rose oil; their variety of colour makes them popular for cut flower displays and their lemony scent lends itself to a single note fragrance. The yellow Freesia refracta abd the pink Freesia armstrongii were brought from the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to Europe in the later 19th century and have been hybridised into the many beautiful flowers we see in florists and garden centres today. The Netherlands is the main centre of production, but they can also be found growing in East Anglia and Lincolnshire. They are also grown in California. Most freesia scents are now chemically based. 

A Novel Approach to Healing - An Extract

Extract from A Novel Approach to Healing by Angela DeHSP  - a Highly Sensitive Person: 

In recent years, I've come to understand what it means to be a "HSP". Through this, I've looked at the bigger picture of my life and seen how and why stress (the biggest factor undermining human health) has affected me.

Because stress levels are determined by ones own sensitivity, being a HSP meant my biochemistry suffered big time, creating a string of mystery health issues over the years that pre-empted my need to develop coping strategies. Whilst I did plenty of research into my biochemistry in order to stabilise my health, the most difficult aspect was to develop the emotional resilience I lacked, being the main source of my high stress levels - something that is common among HSP's.

In order to monitor my energy, I follow my Biorhythms online to see how much energy I can expect each day. I have noticed that when the three main biorhythms - physical, emotional and intellectual - are low simultaneously, I feel totally exhausted for a week with digestion and sleep being affected. At such times, I find it wise to conserve energy rather than resort to stimulants, in order to be ready for the inevitable upswing in energy when the biorhythms rise again.

Naming Ceremony for a Baby or Small Child

Outdoors: Items to bring: flowers, clooties, banners, table for glasses and drinks, cake, knife, serviettes, plates. Possible musician or music of choice.

Godparenting is an ancient tradition where adults (other than the child's parents) pledge, in the absence of the parents, to care for the child. 

All parties congregate for the naming ceremony.

To the parents: What name do you wish for your son/daughter to be called?
Reply: I name this child .... (find our if there is any history for the name)

Auditory Processing Disorder

 

What is Ahimsā?

 

Zones

 

Comfort zone, learning zone, panic zone, stretch zone!

What do you want to communicate? What method do you want to use? What is the unacceptable behaviour? What is your impact on others? How does your positive attitude express belief? What do you need patience for? What do you need kindness for? Describe your unhelpful. Thinking styles. And everything is the skill. Learnt in childhood.

Cognitive Deletion

 

Pagan Ireland

Christianity and Paganism - A Comparison 

I often hear pagans criticising Christianity, but I don’t hear Christians criticising Paganism! Paganism has much to recommend it. It’s adherence to caring about pollution, climate change and species extinction is exemplary and our planet needs this emphasis! Paganism offers equality, so males should not take precedence over females, but Christianity is catching up, offering greater prominent roles for females. 

The Pagan pantheon does not promote the written commandments of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Their pantheon of gods and goddesses could be said to be a dysfunctional royal court in the sky. Where are the role models for good leadership and good relationships? Pagan or not, in a world of division and violence, it is important that we have balance and accuracy - and praise for the goodness that people bring into the world from whatever place. 

Tarot Card Origins

The origin of playing cards goes back more than a thousand years to ancient China. They were carried by traders and travellers, soldiers and pilgrims through Mongolia to the Middle East and then into Europe. Cards provided games of chance, skill and entertainment and they developed as they passed from one hand to another. The casting of lots with sticks, bones and dice was common throughout many cultures and cards became yet another way to give advice.

How to Make Non Alcoholic Elderflower Champagne

Ingredients:

15 elderflower heads in full bloom

4 litres of hot water

Juice and zest of 4 lemons

2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

May Music Choice for Mind Body & Soul Ezine

May music and song for Mind Body & Soul Ezine

Difference - Medium - Channeller

Do spirits not care about our world and what happens here? Are spirits helpless to do anything about the injustices and suffering they see here on the earth plane?

Those who have physically died continue to live eternally in the spirit realms and are extremely interested in what happens here in the physical world. They are waiting patiently to be contacted by mediums who can deliver messages of wisdom. 

Mediums generally bring ‘proof of spirit survival’ changing a person from a non-believer in life-after-death to a believer.

In ancient times, 'proof of survival' mediumship did not exist. It did not need to. Everyone believed in the afterlife because they were closer to the subtle realms than we are in the busy world of the 21st century.