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    A Stillness at Summer’s End

    This entry was featured in our September Newsletter. To subscribe, please click on the link below. Join Now!   I don’t know how August went for you, but I had a very rough go of it. It’s easy to complain about the situations that moved me from a place of ease and gratitude to one of heightened stress and grief, but I find myself continually re-framing them as opportunities for practice. Over the last month there were a lot of opportunities to practice breathing and centering; patience; creating accessible language and communications;  unraveling the tangled stories that still live in me about what it means to be a daughter, a…

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    The Ultimate Price

    The Ultimate Price This is the first New Moon of the New Year — it happens to also be a New Moon in the house of my Sun Sign, Aquarius. I feel especially compelled to embark on a voyage of change and personal betterment this year. In reviewing my progress on goals from the previous year, one item stood out clearly–my progress on time management and practicing digital minimalism. The contemporary world demands much of us; our time, our physical and mental effort, our attention. Most especially our attention. As the technology we are able to carry with us throughout the day grows more portable and connected to the busy…

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    Stjerner – Made of Stars

    Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—         Not in lone splendour hung aloft the nightAnd watching, with eternal lids apart,         Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,The moving waters at their priestlike task         Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask         Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,         Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,         Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,And so live ever—or else swoon to death. -John Keats Tending to gardens takes care and an investment of time. I’ve been tending two gardens. One is a vegetable, culinary and medicinal…

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    At the Closing of the Year

    The year comes to an end, and I am in the throes of accounting, integrating, planning and visioning for the coming year. There is a lot I want to do, so much I’ve talked about doing, and needful ceremonies being called for by the community, the powers, and the land in this unprecedented time. Big shifts in energy are happening–it’s been challenging to keep up and keep on an even keel. Maybe it shouldn’t be about balance all the time. Sometimes it might be okay to take the plunge, let the emotions swallow you up for a time, wrestle those who live in the deep watery abodes and emerge wiser,…

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    Attunement to the Cycles of Nature

    Inexorably, life on Earth is attuned to seasonal changes. When we take the time to attune ourselves to the results of positional changes between the Earth and Sun, the Moon and Stars, the incremental motions of our own bodies, be they large or small, the human brain makes metaphors and creates meaning. We have a great body of mythology, story, song and poetry to show for it, as our expression for processing individual experiences of the sublime are as diverse and varied as are the bodies of life on Earth.  The Pattern of Our Days Any time we have to live is a gift. The cloth of our life may…

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    Winter Book List

    Fueling the Work One of my favorite things is a good list of book recommendations. I love to read, and have been doing so for as long as I can remember. I read across genres, subjects, and time. I re-read books I love, as it is like visiting an old friend or port of call. There are so many good books, and honestly, not enough time. Here are some of the books I’m currently reading (5/12 being some, and currently being the Winter of 2021).  How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi I listened to the audiobook presentation read by the author over the summer of 2020, because…

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    How I Arrived Here

    Cold winter evenings spent ’round a blazing fire, sharing hot and hearty drinks, good company, and stories from lives well lived…Is there anything better? It is one of my favorite winter scenes, especially when the chill weather forces us to take shelter indoors. Even the idea feels nourishing to the mind, body, soul, and the connections made with those gathered, be they considered family, friends, or tribe. This story is about the song lines that brought me to this work. It serves to draw us closer by revealing bits of a life journey, familiar adversaries, and lessons learned along the way. May it meet you well in these times of…

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    Ceramic Singing bowls

    Meet the Voices Series In this installment of Meet the Voices, we will introduce and give overview of ceramic/pottery singing bowls and their place in the soundscapes at Ancient Song Therapy. Brief notes will be given on their personalities, rarity, and artisans who are creating these unique instruments. What Are Ceramic Singing Bowls? Ceramic singing bowls are rare in the sound therapy world, and at the time of this writing, there were only web presences for two artisans creating these unique instruments. On first seeing these intriguing pottery vessels, many individuals peer within to see whether they are holding an offering during sonic ceremony. The fact that these clay bowls…