Digit@l Pros(e) presents:

Max begins a Food Revolution!

She’s at it again. Melia on Melia. Jeebus.

Meet Ms. Savoy Sorbet, HippyMom’s Member of the month!

Spectacular Me rains scalp, because that’s how she rolls. Yo.

Hollywood, Hef and Kozmique.

Posted under HippyMom Weekly Bloggers

~B r e a t h e ~

The breath is the lifeforce itself. The breath controls the winds of our energy body and the activity of our minds. Control of breath is the cornerstone for health and for letting go of our small mind and entering Big Mind of spirit.Become aware of your breathing now. Is it shallow and irregular or deep and slow? Take a big breath and let it go slowly, like a sigh of relief. Let the next breath come in slowly and feel how your belly expands. When you exhale, feel how your belly relaxes. As you breathe diaphragmatically from your belly, notice how both mind and body come to rest.

Several times today remember to take a letting-go breath and shift your awareness to belly breathing for minute or two.

~Another description of belly breathing~

If you watch your young children, you’ll notice how their little tummies expand with their breath. They are not shouldering all the stresses you have, and so, their little spirits are relaxed, and they breath to the belly, in and out. Life puts a load on us, and our breathing gets shallower and shallower – it’s part of the ‘fight or flight’ mechanism in us. We are starved for oxygen most of the time. That’s why we get the ‘yawns’ sometimes.

When you exhale, push the air out of your lungs by contracting your diaphragm or stomach muscles. You’ll see.

ManyFeathers

Posted under Original Works

I keep a couple of bottles in my herb cabinet, fun to make, and much better for you than the OTC stuff. The OTC-types and all their ilk, are actually formulated to prolong your illness. When you begin with head congestion, OTC-type medicines actually move the infection down into your lungs, and you’re sick for another week or more, getting rid of it.

This medicine I’m about to tell you about – will banish a head cold in a few days.

You’ll need:

To start this process on the day or night of the new moon, to be traditional.

A large glass bottle, I use a large half gallon size canning jar.

Brandy – one large bottle, a quart.
* This is called, the menses. You may use whatever kind of alcohol you wish, as long as it’s 80 proof

Herbs (1 part each, such as 1 ounce):

Mullein leaf
Hyssop leaf
Licorice Root pieces
Thyme leaf
Bilberry fruits – dried
Rose hips – crushed

Put all of the herbs into the clean glass jar. Pour brandy over the herbs until there is at least two inches of liquor floating above the herbs. As the herbs absorb the liquid, you made need to add more. (so don’t finish the bottle off until after the next day) Put on a tight fitting lid and shake it like crazy. Put the jar in a cool, dark place and remember to shake it everyday.

I like to wait until the second full Moon after putting up the medicine, to decant it. This gives it about six weeks of brewing time and makes up for the fact that I’m not a diligent shaker. Strain the liquid out, I use a stainless steel mesh strainer and a natural brown basket type paper coffee filter. This sometimes takes a little time, so be patient. I also use a large glass measuring cup to collect the strained liquid. Then it’s easy enough to put into smaller glass containers. Save your jelly jars, vanilla bottle, etc. Extracts should be kept in amber bottles to keep the sun from affecting the content, but certainly, put your medicine away in a cool, dark place and use glass containers.

Voila! A teaspoon or so, every 4 to 6 hours, will chase away the sniffles, clear the lungs, sooth the throat and remove aches and pains. Can be put into a small glass of water and sipped. This is highly concentrated medicine so go lightly. It will keep for many years in this form, much longer than the dried herbal tea.

If you do not want to use the alcohol method, just mix up the herbs and use them as a tea – still works. I prefer brandy, as it yields a smoother tasting extract.

ALWAYS USE GLASS AND STAINLESS STEEL WHEN COOKING WITH HERBS!
NEVER USE ALUMINUM – NEVER.
NOT FOR DIABETICS BECAUSE OF THE LICORICE ROOT

~ManyFeathers

Posted under Articles, Original Works

Echinacea stimulates the immune response, increasing the production of white blood cells and thus improving the body’s ability to resist infections. It improves lymphatic filtration and drainage, and helps remove toxins from the blood. It is considered the nontoxic way of cleansing the body. Echinacea is said to be good for enlarged or weak prostate glands. Echinacea contains vitamins A, E, and C, iron, iodine, copper, sulphur and potassium.

And . . . it is much overused.

Because of the action of echinacea on the immune system, it should only be used for brief periods of time. Personally, I would never use it for more than a week at a time. Using this herb is like putting your foot on the accelerator of your car and jamming it to the floor. Your car couldn’t take that constant speed and neither can your lymphatic system.

Most herbalists use the root of this plant and only roots that are at least 3 years old. Odena taught me to try using the seeds. She says the plants essence is in those seeds. I’ve made extracts from both, the seeds are quite lovely and have a peppery bite to them. You can actually just eat the seeds, a few at a time, for a good effect.

The seeds are easy to gather, once the head of the flower has turned dark brown, hold the flower head over a gathering clothe, such as muslin, and shake the seeds out. I usually gather all the seed heads at once and sit at the table to de-seed the heads. They are kind of prickly so be careful.

This is an easy plant to grow and within a few short years you’ll have a nice stand of them. They like the sun but will do okay in partial shade. They grow from the roots and also reseed themselves. As a cut flower, they have a lovely clean fragrance.

Echinacea has been a registered drug in many European countries forever.

~ManyFeathers

Posted under Articles, Original Works

Crystal and Stone Energies

Working with crystals and stones means you should become aware of their energies.

There are two basic types of energy within stones. These two types contain all the various vibrations found in stones: those that attract love, repel negativity, and so on. These are the projective and the receptive energies. To give you a better idea:

These powers are everywhere in the universe. They are present in our Earth and us. They lie within our bodies. Symbolically speaking, this is why we can reproduce young of either sex.

An overabundance of projective energy makes one irritable, aggressive, angry and overly analytical. Health wise, this imbalance may lead to ulcers, headaches, high blood pressure and other maladies.

Too much receptive energy creates moodiness, lethargy, depression, disinterest and a shutting-out of the physical world. Other possible problems are nightmares, clinging love, lack of employment, depressed immuno-response and hypochondria.

When and if you notice an imbalance in your energy make-up, carry or wear stones of the opposite type to bring that force into play.

Projective stones are those that are bright, outward, aggressive and electrical. They possess strong, forceful energies which deflect evil, overcome inertia and create movement. These rocks and minerals are used in two basic ways: to drive off unwanted, negative energy, or to put energies into an object or person. A woman wearing a carnelian for courage, for example, brings its energies into herself. The same woman wishing to deflect negativity from her body would empower the stone, through visualization, for this purpose. Thus, instead of sending energy into her, the stone sends it away from her. The secret, obviously, is in the visualization.

Examples of projective stones and minerals include ruby, diamond, lava, topaz, and rhodocrosite. They are associated with the Sun, Mercury, Mars, Uranus and the elements of Fire and Air. They are also related to the stars, since stars are simply distant suns.

Receptive stones are the natural complement of projective stones. They are soothing, calming, inward and magnetic, promoting meditation, spirituality, wisdom and mysticism. They create peace.

These stones promote communication between the conscious and subconscious minds, allowing psychic awareness to blossom. They radiate energies which attract love, money, healing and friendship. Receptive stones are often used for grounding purposes, to stabilize and reaffirm our Earth roots.

Like projective stones, the receptive ones are also used in two basic ways. Lapis Lazuli can be used to draw love or, with different empowering, to absorb depression and thus create joy.

Examples of receptive stones include moonstone, aquamarine, emerald, holey stones (naturally pierced with a hole), rose quartz, pink tourmaline, kunzite, lapis lazuli and sugilite. They are linked with the Moon, Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Jupiter and the elements of Earth and Water.

Not all stones fit easily into one of these categories, but this is a good system to help us relate the stones to their basic powers. Some stones contain a mixture of these energies, like lapis lazuli. Others may have uses which belie this simple classification, so use your judgment in determining their basic powers.

Just by looking at some unknown stone, by noticing its weight and color, you’ll be able to know something about its magical properties even before trying to sense them.

The next time you see a stone – anywhere – try to determine whether it is receptive or projective. If this becomes an automatic process, you’ll quickly learn the stones themselves and, in doing so, will discover stone magic becoming easier to practice.

Projective Stones are energizing and are useful healing, protection, exorcism, intellectual powers, luck, success, will power, courage and self-confidence.

Receptive Stones are soothing and de-stressing, and are related to love, wisdom, compassion, eloquence, sleep, dreams, friendship, growth, fertility, prosperity, spirituality, psychism and mysticism.

~ManyFeathers

Posted under Articles, Original Works