Monday, October 19, 2015

At Tongue Point: Goodbye to Summer

     It is the end of September.  Glen and I are sitting on the viewpoint  at Tongue Point, a rocky finger of land poking  north into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, just west of Port Angeles.  We have been camping at this lovely site for a few days, enjoying the last days of a fading summer.

     Around dusk we decided to finish off our day by taking our camp-cooked bean tacos and sitting out at the  outlook.   This day  has been a dream of a sunny day, now fading into dusk.  The sunset in the west is sensational.  I remark that this is a watercolorist’s dream (I dabble in watercolors).  Glen shoots back, “Or a nightmare!”  And I have to laugh.  How is possible to catch and hold such unearthly colors?

     This place  is that rare thing along the the Washington seacoast: an easily accessible rocky shore.  This is  very different  than the long sandy stretches of Ocean Shores or Long Beach: here the salt water from the Pacific rides east for  60 miles in great rolling swells that crash upon the rocky shore.  All night, bedded down in our warm camp beds, we hear and feel the BOOM POUND THUMP of big swells pushing in a full tide and breaking at last on the stony reaches of the point.  

     These rocky beaches provide an excellent place for a sea garden of kelp to establish itself and flourish.  We were here last spring for a brief visit and there was no sign of this garden; we have the photo to prove it.   Upon our return this fall, the bull kelp is thick, floating and swaying  some 20 feet from shore. 

    During its summer life,  the kelp provides a floating mat island, and many birds take advantage of it; several gulls with crops  full after a day’s feeding, perch on the kelp, facing west and watch the sun sink into the hills.  A lone Great Blue Heron manages to balance itself on the mats !*! and continues to fish even in the last minutes of light.   The bobbing bulbs of kelp look like so many seal heads and we are fooled, over and over again.  

      The rocks provide another  feeding habitat that many rock shorebirds specialize in using. This is the country of Black oyster catchers: as we watch the sunset, they vocalize back and forth  from rock to rock, a mournful piping call.  

     This is a season of migration and transitions:  we watch Pigeon Guillemots in their white winter coats, getting ready to fly to the north Pacific for the winter.  Other birds come in to stay:  small bands of Scoters and other sea ducks move into the Straits for the winter.   

    This is a place of breathtaking beauty.  This is a time of saying goodbye to summer.  There are so many feelings:  a feeling of mourning for summer lost, of reveling in in the beauty laid out before us, of anticipation for  the change of the season.  My heart is full.  

      The sun continues to sink, painting the sky and the water, too, in ever-changing colors.   We watch and wait, until finally, the water turns black. 

Janet


Resources:
•  All photos by Glen Buschmann  


Monday, September 28, 2015

The Barrida

     As an energy healer, I am always keeping an eye out for good ways to clear out the energy field, cleansing and revitalizing it.  There are many ways that the shamanic healers know & use: the barrida is one of my favorites.  It is simple & effective and you can do with herbs right out of your own garden.

     Barrida is a Spanish word and refers to a broom.  In this technique, we take powerfully protective and cleansing herbs, bundle them together in our hand and use this makeshift broom
  
Barrida Herbs:  Rosemary, Bay, Rue & Mugwort
to sweep through our energy field.  We move from the top of the head down, directing the energy back into Pachamama, Mother Earth.  It is similar to smudging with burning herbs such as sage, but I prefer the barrida in many ways because I love the smell of the fresh plants.

    
    I have favorite herbs I put into the barrida.  Here are some of them:
 Mugwort:  this herb grows all over the planet, in different varieties.  And nearly everywhere it grows, the indigenous people used it for protection.  Here in the Pacific Northwest, our local variety is called Coastal Mugwort or Artemisia suksdorfii.  But any variety of mugwort does the job.

 Rosemary is one of three herbs that the curanderas of Mexico put into their barridas.  Though Rosemary came from the Mediterranean coast, the Spaniards brought it with them to Latin America, and the indigenous tribes immediately embraced it.  It is one plant I grow near my front door, for its protection qualities.

Rue is yet another key herb in the barrida, providing powerful protection.  It has a strong, almost noxious scent and thus it thought to repel harm.

Bay Laurel (Laurus nobilis) is one of my personal favorite protection herbs.  It too grows near my front door, and I rely on it for to help keep me safe.

     Once you have used the barrida to sweep through your energy field, you then discard the branches.  I put them on the compost pile and simply leave them in the garden, where the earth
will cleanse and recycle them.

    This is a great technique. Give it a try!

Janet

Resources:
Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs               Scott Cunningham
A Kitchen Witch’s  World of Magical Plants & Herbs    Rachel Patterson

You Tube on Limpia & Barridas:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1zSFyN8I4M

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Cookie Lady


     Some years ago I got a call from a friend of mine.  She had just moved into an old house in Olympia;  this house was about 80 years old and throughout its long history, had been built and lived in by one family.  The last member of this family had lived in this house for most of her life, but had recently died.  So my friend was able to buy this wonderful old home, which sits on the Eastside hill of Olympia, overlooking Puget Sound.

    My friend was settling very nicely into this house and really enjoying her new space.  But one day she came home and went into the small office just off the kitchen.  As she walked into that room, she was very startled to smell the distinct scent of newly baked cookies.  She walked around the house, trying to figure it out.   The smell eventually dissipated and my friend went on with her house projects.

     However several times over the next few weeks she came home once again to the smell of fresh baked cookies.  My friend is a gifted intuitive and she began to wonder if her house had some sort of ghost presence.  So she gave me a call and I went to her house to do an energetic space clearing, but also to check in with the possible ghost.

     This sort of work is commonly done by shamanic healers.  We travel via shamanic journey into the Spirit World and invite the ghost in for a conversation.  Now this work should only be done if you have been well-trained and have excellent protection; not all ghosts are benign.  However, this ghost was.

     I met the spirit of a woman who had died very suddenly while living in that house.  Because of the unexpected nature of her death, she did not know she was dying, and she got lost between this world and the next world.  Her spirit was still waiting in the house, waiting for her family members to come home.  This woman was a very nurturing, hospitable sort of person in life;  in death she was making cookies to welcome her family home.  Only of course, they never came.  She was very confused and sad.

   We had a long conversation.  I gently explained to her that she had died.  I offered her the opportunity to make a crossing into the next world, where her family would be waiting for her.  She was happy to accept my help.  I took her to the crossing place and explained to her what to do.  I watched her cross the bridge into the next world. That world across the bridge was enveloped in clouds so I could not see it,  but I could hear the cries of welcome and joy as she made her way.  Her family was indeed waiting for her and they took her in with great love.

     Back here, in the old house in Olympia,  we finished the energetic space clearing.  The wind blew in through the open windows and doors and the sun shone in like a blessing.  My friend had a strong sense of welcome from the house, as if it finally was hers.  

      That was the last time my friend smelled cookies in her house.

Janet

Resources
•  The Unquiet Dead by Edith Fiore
•  Sacred Space by Denise Linn
•  Butterfly photo by Nancy Partlow

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Chasing Winter's Cough Virus

Herbs for Cough Chasing
     At this time in the heart of winter a particularly nasty cold virus is racing around the planet.  In my bioregion in the Pacific Northwest, waves of this virus are knocking people off their pins.
This particular cold seems to start with a slight sore throat and immediately moves into the lungs.  Even people with strong, normally healthy lungs are complaining that they have a major cough:  the phrase I’m hearing is that “ it feels like I’m trying to cough up a lung”.  
     
     People also notice the usual over the counter cough remedies aren’t helping much.  The other issue is that this virus seems to linger much longer that the usual 7-10 days:  many people are reporting this virus is hanging on for three to four weeks.

      This is not influenza;  most people do not have a fever or achy muscles/joints which are two key symptoms of the flu.  However the nasty cough is obnoxious and really interferes with sleep, energy and people’s quality of life.  
      So here is a great herbal remedy that I’ve been recommending;  several people I know and work with have tried it and are getting great results. One friend remarked that her cough cleared 24 hours after using this remedy.  

                    Cold/Cough Chaser tea
•  take one fresh lemon and squeeze out the juice, putting in a sauce pan
•  take one thumb-size piece of fresh ginger and grate into the juice
•  take 3 cloves of garlic and mince or press into the juice.
•  Add two cups of water to the juice/pan.
•  Add honey to taste
       Bring this mix to a boil, then reduce the heat and let simmer for 20 minutes so the ginger and garlic is well extracted.  Then cool the tea enough to be drinkable and drink it down.  A word of warning:  it doesn’t taste very good.  But it works!

     If you are concerned that the virus is moving into a bacterial bronchitis or pneumonia, you could also add:
•  1/2 teaspoon oregano
•  1/2 teaspoon sage
•  1/2 teaspoon thyme
•  1/2 teaspoon rosemary

       Though these will not improve the flavor, they are great antimicrobial herbs.  

     Now just a reminder:  if you develop a persistent high fever, chest pain or shortness of breath, seek medical attention.  Herbs can only go so far.  

Janet