TGIF

Top of the mornin' to ya.  All I can say is 'TGIF'.  It's been a long and busy week.  I've quite a busy weekend ahead.  It's my shopping and cooking weekend....not looking forward to it in all this heat.  Tomorrow it's supposed to go up in the high 90's.  You know, we tend to forget that we can suffer from heatstroke while indoors, too, so believe me, I plan to take it very easy tomorrow because I am sure my kitchen will get up in the 100's.  Yikes!!!!  Makes me want to eat out every night.

Time has really flown by this morning.  I'd wanted to complete my little piece on the casting of Shaman Stones, but, alas, group time is coming up quickly.  So, I will bid thee farewell for today.  I'd love to hear about your weekend plans.  Hope there is some fun included in them. May you all have a wonderful day.

I will leave you with the following thought:


"Fear less, hope more; eat less, chew more; whine less, breathe more; talk less, say more...and all good things will be yours."

--Swedish Proverb--

Hailona

Finally, a lovely morning...low humidity, a pleasant breeze.  Too bad it's only a tease, but I could sure use a lot more teases like this. For once, no complaints about the weather.  Of course, though, I come to work early so it hasn't really hit the 90's yet.  So Talk to me later about this one.   

I'm finding something odd here in blogland and wonder if any of you have ever encountered the same problem.  Actually, I don't even think it's a blogland problem; I think it may be more computer related.  Yesterday when I came here to Moontides on my work computer, I noticed that my new background was gone.  When I tried to get onto the background website, but a message came up and said the site was basically 'gone'; it was not able to be accessed.  So, there I was thinking that, after all that work, I was going to have to redo my blog; but, lo and behold, when I got home, not only was the background there, but the website was also able to be opened. I come here to work today, everything is gone again.  Strange...and unexplainable to a computer nerd such as I.

Ka po nui ho'olakolako, ke ao nui ho'ohemahema.  (The inner world provides, the outer world ignores.)

As you all know, I've begun a study of Hawaiian Shamanism, Huna (Healing Using Natural Abilities). I really have to say I am loving it.  The book itself, "Urban Shaman" is very readable, one of those books you have trouble putting down. Gosh, I feel like I've already learned so much. Huna is a Hawaiian healing system which utilizes natural healing principles focusing on the  seven natural abilities found in all individuals--awareness, freedom, focus, presence, love, confidence, and flexibility to change.  Thus, along with the aid of other natural products such as plants and herbs, an individual can institute profound changes in their life. 

Hailona is the art of creative intuition.  One method of divination I have used the I Ching while others use skrying, the pendulum, or tarot cards.  There are many methods. Hailona is one of the Hawaiian methods of divination. It's literal meaning is 'to cast'. The process of casting can be found in the roots of the word.


Ha is the word meaning the breath, to energize.


I means to affirm or to state one's intent or question.


Lo means to obtain.


Na is to be peaceful and calm.


Thus, the first step is to breathe and energize yourself.  For this step, almost any deep breathing exercise will suffice. The purpose here is to relax the body. This sends a message to the ku which is the aspect of our consciousness that contains our memories, helps us to learn, develop skills, and maintain a balance within the body. It is our subconscious self.  Next, ask and focus on your question.  This allows the ku to search the universe for the answer. In Hawaiian shamanism as with other practices, everything is interconnected. Your focus creates an energy connection with your answer (the third step). Finally, you should receive an intuitive answer without the use of force or expectations.  

There are several ways to use stone casting for divination.  The one I will discuss today is called Oi-paha, which, in old Hawaiian means "odd-even" or "successful-unsuccessful". This is a rather simple technique which can be used when you want to determine the outcome of a certain event or a venture. For this you will need a small piece of cloth or a bowl and a pile of stones. You may also use plastic beads or marbles.  


First, lay out the cloths or bowls.  Next, designate one as representing yourself; the other will represent the person, venture, or event that you are concerned with.  Now, relax your body (breathe and energize)and focus on your question, Out of a pile of stones or marbles, take a random handful with each hand and place them under the cloths or in the bowls. Focus, focus, focus. Next, count those in your pile by twos.  This will save you time because if your pile ends up with an even number of stones, forget it.  This means that no matter how many are in the other pile, this is a sign of failure. Your venture will not work.  If your pile has an odd number and the other pile is also odd, this, too, can be seen as a sign of failure.  Actually, the two odds cancel each other out.  The final result, in which your pile is odd and the other is even, is a definite sign of your success.


Remember, though, that whatever information you receive has nothing to do with the future.  It is only a 'probable' outcome of your present attitudes and plans.  Change those and you change the result.

Wednesday Ramble

It's Wednesday, and another oppressive day of heat.  I'm tired of feeling like this...listless, tired...just don't have much interest in doing much of anything.  Time outdoors is no fun, and time indoors can be just as miserable with these brownouts they've been having.  I understand it's the lesser of the two evils, but that doesn't cut it when I awake in the morning with my head drenched in sweat.  My hair has grown to halfway down my back for the first time since I was a teenager.  Mostly I pull it back in a ponytail or pin it up, but it just means something to me to have it long...Don't ask me to explain because I don't know why it's so important either....probably because it took me over 40 years to grow it this long.  LOL!!!  Now, don't get me wrong.  My hair doesn't grow 'that' slow, but I was always chopping it when it reached a certain length.  

You know, sometimes things happen that at first cause us a great deal of pain, and then, as time goes on, and we learn to work with it, we find out it was actually a gift in disguise.  Amazingly, as time passes by, I find myself feeling so much less stressed and more at peace with myself here at work.  Believe me, this is not the way I really wanted it to be.  I don't like friction, but as the friction has worn down, and I have adjusted myself to the fact that we are no longer friends...if that's what you would call it...I've come to realize that this falling out was something that had been in the making for a long time now.  You all know how stressed I've been at work; I knew my office mate contributed to my stress, but didn't know how much until this happened.  

Ironically, nothing else has changed; she still spends much of her time on the phone or playing games, but I've learned to tune that out....and without the use of my headphones.  Why couldn't I have done this before?  Why did it take a strain in our office relationship to teach me how to focus and to tune out?  I don't know, but what I do know is that it feels good.  I guess it just takes some of us longer to learn.

And in closing, I would like to share a great quote I came across today.  

"People are like tea bags.  You find out how strong they are when you put them in hot water."--Anonymous

Somehow that says it all.  

Tuesday Archetype

Good morning....Tuesday...Another hot day...Maybe not AS hot and  humid, but still pretty miserable to me. Today will make a week that my office mate hasn't spoken to me. I'm not hurting anymore; actually I am finding it quite funny.  It amazes me the way some people think.  You get caught doing something you are not supposed to be doing, and you take it out on your office mate.  And then, you continue to come in late like you just don't care.  I don't get it.

Yesterday an acquaintance was asking me for information on how to get your degree online, and I was explaining to her how it worked.  Of course, as with any other degree, you have your core subjects to complete, but after that, the courses and where you take them is all up to you.  That leaves a lot of room to take some real fun courses.  A course I had the most fun with and could barely put down was about fairy tales...but not your typical 'read the fairy tale' course.  This was a course on deciphering the hidden symbols and archetypes of the characters. That was really right up my alley because of my love of fantasy and my love of Jung and his archetypes.

Archetypes are not individual, but are the part we share with all humanity.  They are an inherited part of being human; they connect us with our past. Archetypes are universal; we find the same archetypes in many different cultures. They are ancient themes which have been represented throughout the ages in our myths, fables and fairy tales, and sometimes we may become trapped.

For example, in the fairy tale, Cinderella, we find the heroine being mistreated by her wicked stepmother and her stepsisters; they are making her life a living hell. Then one magical night, our heroine finds herself rescued by a handsome prince, and all looks well with the world.  But then, the magic wears off, and the handsome prince turns into a frog; he may have a drinking problem or perhaps a gambler.  He may be a bit too free with his hands...or with his mouth.  In any event, our heroine finds herself once again in the archetype of the victim.  And, she sinks back into despair.  She gets stuck in the nightmare.  No one comes to rescue her, and she is too wounded to search out the glass slipper and claim it as her own.  "I am too wounded to have any power in my life."  I am too wounded to ever find happiness." 

The Victim Archetype leads us into situations where we feel bullied or put down...used and taken advantage of.  I chose to write of the Victim today because at one point in my life...no, in all honesty, for much of my life, I was trapped within that archetype.  What is going on with my office mate would have made me cower...and offer apologies for something I didn't do. My office mate is the Bully Archetype, the one who needs to show power over others.  This is never more evident than in our staff meetings where she contradicts what others say and knows it all.  She is always right.  The bully is needed for the victim to survive...and the victim needs a bully to survive. It's evident that this little game can go on for years.  

Then one day the victim decides they have had enough of feeling helpless, and they learn to speak out and make sure their needs are met.  They find that glass slipper (their power) and turn victim into victory.  Usually, the bully will move on to find another victim; it is just as hard to give up your power as it is to find it.  And so, I no longer ask "How high?"  when the bully tells me to "jump".  And you know what?  It feels good.  Finding my power wasn't easy; it took me many years, but the journey was, oh, so worth it. 


If you are a victim, reach out.  Validate your pain for validating your pain will help you to discover your strengths and to learn valuable lessons.  Remember...once you are no longer a victim, the bully loses its power.  And remember, the bully lives through you.  Take that away and the bully no longer seems so frightening.
 

Monday Morning Blues

Monday morning.  Another scorcher.  You'd think we'd be getting used to this by now, but, heck, I can get used to the cold, but have never been able to get used to the heat.  Can't deal with it.  Can't stand the sweating...the wet head, the clothes sticking to your body.  Can't stand the heaviness of the air and the difficulty in breathing.  Last night they must have had another brownout.  That's when the lower the electrical amps so we don't receive full power.  Kept waking up throughout the night.  The AC was on, but it was hot.  

Sometimes I wonder.  What if this is a sign of things to come?  What if this is going to be 'every' summer from now on, and eventually, the winter, too?  What if?  Scary thought, isn't it?  The changes in our weather patterns appear to be a sign of upheaval....and, as weather patterns become more and more unbalanced, will we experience further temperature extremes?  And sadly, we have ourselves to blame for this mess.
 

"Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
All things are bound together.
All things connect.
--Chief Seattle, 1854--

Our earliest ancestors, those who lived through and survived the Ice Age, those who hunted in the forests, they had no need to get closer to nature ...or even to consider their relationship to it...for the fact is, they WERE nature...They were an intricate part of the natural world...and what a wondrous way it was to live.  

But then, as time went on, everything began to change.  Humankind discovered farming and no longer felt a part of the natural world.  Now they had learned that they could control it and bend it to suit their needs.  Mankind not only domesticated the plants and the animals, but they also sought to domesticate the landscape and to reshape the Earth to fit their individual needs.
And after centuries of abuse, it now appears to be catching up with us.  The world is in a state of neglect....with our smoking factories spewing toxic fumes into the atmosphere, garbage piles, dead and stagnant rivers and destruction of the rain forests.  These are the outward symptoms of our problems. The fact is,the root cause goes much deeper; it starts within us....when we stop loving, when we stopped caring for our Mother Earth, we began to pollute ourselves and our thoughts. Most people don't see the changes...or choose not to see the changes...the changes that are beginning to manifest everywhere.  Temperature changes, extinctions, severe weather patterns, earthquakes. For goodness sake, the Earth is crying out to us. Why is it so hard to listen?  We must stop polluting our environment and begin to show our gratitude to the Earth again.  She is our Mother and She loves and nourishes us with all that we need....even though we have ravaged and nearly destroyed her. It's time for us to wake up, and it's not just a matter of hugging a tree; it's a matter of survival for all of us.
 

Honor the sacred
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with who we
share the Earth--
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people
Walk in balance and beauty.
--Native American Elder--

Too Hot For Anything

"The beautiful season...the Summer of All-Saints.  Filled was the air of with a dreamy and magical light and the landscape lay as if new created in all the freshness of childhood."--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Good Sunday afternoon to you all. Hope everyone's weekend is going well, and the heat is not getting you down. I wish this WAS a delightful season for me, but, truth be told, I've spent the entire weekend indoors and do not plan to leave the house until tomorrow when it is time to go back to work...not that it hasn't been warm in here, but at least I didn't have to be outdoors in that stifling air.  It's just a dreadful summer...so, so disappointing. I'd so many plans for this year, but it's just far too hot to do anything.  Why, I even canceled my trip to the 99 cent store because it was just too hot for even that.  The walk in the blazing sun, well, it's not that I needed anything, so it's just not worth being uncomfortable.  

"What dreadful hot weather we have.  It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance"--Jane Austin

And there is no relief in sight. Temperature is going to be in the upper 80's and 90's throughout the upcoming week.  Lawns that are usually so green in the summer are just brown and straw-like as they are in the winter.  There are few flowers to enjoy, and the leaves are already changing color. Even my yard at night is stuffy and hot. Those poor animals who live outdoors in our backyards...my heart goes out to them. We need a miracle.

The Loom of Time

It's Saturday already. Once again the hands of time have passed by quickly.  Soon July will end, and August will roll in. I have to wonder what it has in store for us.  Will it bring an early coolness, and early fall?  Or will we have more of the same as now?  Last night I was going through the poetry I have saved and I found the following that I wanted to share. 

THE LOOM OF TIME

Man's life is laid in the loom of time

To a pattern he does not see,

While the weavers work and the shuttles fly

Till the dawn of eternity.

Some shuttles are filled with silver threads

And some with threads of gold,

While others often but the darker hues

Are all that they may hold.

But the weaver watches with skillful eye

Each shuttle fly to and fro,

And sees the pattern so deftly wrought

As the loom moves sure and slow.

God surely planned the pattern:

Each thread, the dark and fair,

Is chosen by His master skill

And placed in the web with care.

He only knows of its beauty,

And guides the shuttles which hold

The threads so unattractive,

As well as the threads of gold.

Not till each loom is silent,

And the shuttles cease to fly,

Shall God reveal the pattern

And explain the reason why.

The dark threads were as needful

In the weaver's skillful hand

As the threads of gold and silver

For the pattern which He planned.

--Author Unknown--

Such a lovely poem, isn't it?....Yet, the author chose to remain unknown.  He/She chose to bless us with this special gift, these moving words that send one's Spirit soaring, that speaks of the interconnectedness of life, yet chose not be credited for the words.  There are several lessons  to be found within these words. 

The first is that should be given from the heart with no expectations in return.  A gift can be something simple as washing dishes for a friend or helping someone to cross the street.  Or, even the gift of time....just spending some quality time with a family member or a friend...never expecting anything from return...giving from the heart...feeling the joy of making another smile.

Secondly, we are all here for a reason.  We've something to complete, yet when we are born, we know not what. Each of us is here to learn. Some of us may have been told that our birth was a mistake, but none of us is a 'mistake'.  We are all a part of the pattern.  

There are silver threads, gold threads, and dark threads, and all are interconnected; all are necessary to complete the pattern...the hobo who sleeps in the cardboard box, the millionaire in his golden bed, to those of us who are considered 'average'...there is a plan for each of us. From the little brown field mouse, to the great black bear, to humankind...we are all interconnected, and whatever we do may in one place has an affect the entire universe. We survive here because we are dependent on others, on the Earth itself. And it all comes back to us for our moment-to-moment decisions not only shape our own lives, they shape the world as well; it all begins with us.  Let us make sure that the decisions we make are the right ones, that our decisions will not hurt another nor anything living on this planet.  Let us live in harmony and balance...and let it begin today.

Thanks for letting me share.