Photo by Paul Hood, © 2009HAPPY SAMHAIN, BELATED HALLOWEEN,
Are you ready for the dark and cold of winter? I’m not. We’re not. We certainly weren’t ready when it snowed before Halloween. Recent Bay Area transplants that we are, haven’t been in the mile-high desert of Arizona a year yet. Halloween, or Samhain, or any number names given to late harvest festivals, is one of those nicely obvious holidays which we have. The turning of the wheel of the year is towards darkness--- so what scares you? Booo! That’s an invitation to clothe yourself outwardly in your inner fears and embrace the unconscious horrors of life. Did you do that this past weekend? For the costume you put on at Halloween wards the evil away in the coming months.
In the old times this was the time of year when the veil between living and dead was considered thin, and those spirits--- mainly of departed loved ones, are given their due in remembering and reverence. Why now? Because death, or the early signs of it are all around us in nature. Also in the old days, death was certainly more likely to occur in the cold winter months. We humans do very poorly when we bury our griefs, fears, frustrations-- so dig them up ! Walk them around like zombies. Dress up in decay and yuckiness if that’s your fave and be sure to camp it up real good because that’s the whole point of it, that whatever it is dragging you downward into the cold dark grave isn’t all that scary after all. It just is. There it is. Make a parade out of it. Make art out of it. Throw a party. Oh yeah, and let's not forget sex, because the colder times lead towards lots of snuggling. Plenty of babies conceived in the darker months, when the wind howls, the trees scratch at the sky and the rain pounds upon the thatched roof. Ever notice how sex and death end up in the same basket ? One negates the other, so we associate them-- contrast; it’s an instinct to clarify and purify that which is held within.
Back to not being ready-- seems to me the point of celebrating the tolling of the bell as the season passes and heads on into the next is to make you ready, push you forward, and to do it in a spirit of celebration. It’s a wake. A happy funeral for the end of Summer.
--- Paul Hood
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the days shorten, the world gets colder, and skies get grey do your thoughts turn to those of HARVEST?
It's Harvest time! Don't forget to believe in God's timing. In the Harvest time -- even in the lean years -- it is doubly important to notice what's good, what's great, what's even stupendous in the world we live in.
The new technologies that connect us across time and space, building a new world based on global connections, breaking down barriers to understanding, peace and harmony one Internet friendship at a time... how's that for starters?
Out of work? Looking for some way to make a living? Well, that sucks... but never have people in our lifetime had more access to more possibilities to reshape their lives. We're not stuck in the past if we don't want to be. We don't have to settle for "how things have always been done." We're mobile and globally connected and we don't have to depend solely on opportunities in our own backyards. (Thank God for this -- we, for example, live 30 miles away from the closest tiny Mormon town way out in the desert!)
There's more to this, of course. It's challenging for a lot of us right now. Too many people out of work, too many businesses failing and struggling to make it through.
At least that's what makes it onto the evening news. What else is going on?
Restructuring.
Rebelieving in positive possibilities.
Remaking of society from the inside out.
You can only hurt the people you depend on to keep you in business for so long. The oil and gas companies, the big businesses who profit from skyrocketing housing prices, healthcare, etc. can only survive if they change what serves as their modus operandi -- profit above what's best for ALL concerned. Without getting too Socialist for a spiritual newsletter, the time to think globally but act locally HAS to include what's best for all concerned or the whole thing starts to crumble down. That's what we've been seeing. That's what we've been trying to stop. And ultimately this situation must lead to the best prizes of all-- HARVEST of what will make the world whole again.
--- Sheryl Karas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAMA LOVE PERFUME AND MASSAGE, BODY AND BATH OIL
Sheryl is offering FREE SHIPPING on all products through her website anywhere in the U.S. and Canada and reduced shipping prices everywhere else. Sheryl also has new 3-perfume gift sets and a variety of quantity discounts for people who want to buy presents for everyone on their list. http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERESTED IN A SESSION?
We do telephone sessions with people all over the world. Visit our "Make an Appointment" page to make your appointment now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BE A FAN!
We've recently joined the world of Facebook. We post little tidbits of inspiration and fun, information and news about what we're up to, things that don't fit in the newsletter and things that do. And it's an easy way to interact with what we post through comments and possibly discussions from time to time. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOKS HAND-AUTOGRAPHED BY THE AUTHOR (Sheryl Karas)
THE SOLSTICE EVERGREEN: THE HISTORY, FOLKLORE AND ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE --
The evergreen has been a potent pagan symbol in almost every culture, from prehistoric Japan to Northern Africa, from Native America to Medieval Germany. The Solstice Evergreen explores the rich spiritual heritage of this ancient symbol in depth and includes a great many myths, legends,and folk tales from across the globe as well as dozens of black and white illustrations. Gathered together in this book for the first time, this rich collection of mythology presents a unique perspective spanning many cultures and centuries.
THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF FAMILY CAREGIVING --
For five years, ending in 2005, I worked as a Family Caregiving Consultant at the Alzheimer's Association and Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center helping families taking care of loved ones with incurable progressive memory loss and dementia. Trying to find services needed to provide basic care is what brought people in to see me first, but as the caregivers became more ensconced in their caregiving roles inevitably emotional and spiritual issues would become their primary concerns. My role shifted to providing a combination of practical and spiritual care. During this period I wrote a caregiver newsletter every month and this book is the result.
Unsigned copies of "The Spiritual Journey" and a nice variety of journals featuring our photography are also available online at http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUR ART
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Art and Photography by Sheryl Karas... http://SherylKaras.imagekind.com/
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this newsletter and include a note saying you like us. It's easy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Are you ready for the dark and cold of winter? I’m not. We’re not. We certainly weren’t ready when it snowed before Halloween. Recent Bay Area transplants that we are, haven’t been in the mile-high desert of Arizona a year yet. Halloween, or Samhain, or any number names given to late harvest festivals, is one of those nicely obvious holidays which we have. The turning of the wheel of the year is towards darkness--- so what scares you? Booo! That’s an invitation to clothe yourself outwardly in your inner fears and embrace the unconscious horrors of life. Did you do that this past weekend? For the costume you put on at Halloween wards the evil away in the coming months.
In the old times this was the time of year when the veil between living and dead was considered thin, and those spirits--- mainly of departed loved ones, are given their due in remembering and reverence. Why now? Because death, or the early signs of it are all around us in nature. Also in the old days, death was certainly more likely to occur in the cold winter months. We humans do very poorly when we bury our griefs, fears, frustrations-- so dig them up ! Walk them around like zombies. Dress up in decay and yuckiness if that’s your fave and be sure to camp it up real good because that’s the whole point of it, that whatever it is dragging you downward into the cold dark grave isn’t all that scary after all. It just is. There it is. Make a parade out of it. Make art out of it. Throw a party. Oh yeah, and let's not forget sex, because the colder times lead towards lots of snuggling. Plenty of babies conceived in the darker months, when the wind howls, the trees scratch at the sky and the rain pounds upon the thatched roof. Ever notice how sex and death end up in the same basket ? One negates the other, so we associate them-- contrast; it’s an instinct to clarify and purify that which is held within.
Back to not being ready-- seems to me the point of celebrating the tolling of the bell as the season passes and heads on into the next is to make you ready, push you forward, and to do it in a spirit of celebration. It’s a wake. A happy funeral for the end of Summer.
--- Paul Hood
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As the days shorten, the world gets colder, and skies get grey do your thoughts turn to those of HARVEST?
It's Harvest time! Don't forget to believe in God's timing. In the Harvest time -- even in the lean years -- it is doubly important to notice what's good, what's great, what's even stupendous in the world we live in.
The new technologies that connect us across time and space, building a new world based on global connections, breaking down barriers to understanding, peace and harmony one Internet friendship at a time... how's that for starters?
Out of work? Looking for some way to make a living? Well, that sucks... but never have people in our lifetime had more access to more possibilities to reshape their lives. We're not stuck in the past if we don't want to be. We don't have to settle for "how things have always been done." We're mobile and globally connected and we don't have to depend solely on opportunities in our own backyards. (Thank God for this -- we, for example, live 30 miles away from the closest tiny Mormon town way out in the desert!)
There's more to this, of course. It's challenging for a lot of us right now. Too many people out of work, too many businesses failing and struggling to make it through.
At least that's what makes it onto the evening news. What else is going on?
Restructuring.
Rebelieving in positive possibilities.
Remaking of society from the inside out.
You can only hurt the people you depend on to keep you in business for so long. The oil and gas companies, the big businesses who profit from skyrocketing housing prices, healthcare, etc. can only survive if they change what serves as their modus operandi -- profit above what's best for ALL concerned. Without getting too Socialist for a spiritual newsletter, the time to think globally but act locally HAS to include what's best for all concerned or the whole thing starts to crumble down. That's what we've been seeing. That's what we've been trying to stop. And ultimately this situation must lead to the best prizes of all-- HARVEST of what will make the world whole again.
--- Sheryl Karas
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MAMA LOVE PERFUME AND MASSAGE, BODY AND BATH OIL
Sheryl is offering FREE SHIPPING on all products through her website anywhere in the U.S. and Canada and reduced shipping prices everywhere else. Sheryl also has new 3-perfume gift sets and a variety of quantity discounts for people who want to buy presents for everyone on their list. http://www.mamaloveproducts.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERESTED IN A SESSION?
We do telephone sessions with people all over the world. Visit our "Make an Appointment" page to make your appointment now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BE A FAN!
We've recently joined the world of Facebook. We post little tidbits of inspiration and fun, information and news about what we're up to, things that don't fit in the newsletter and things that do. And it's an easy way to interact with what we post through comments and possibly discussions from time to time. Check us out at http://tinyurl.com/HealingCommunication . Check Mama Love out at http://www.facebook.com/MamaLoveProducts. Become a Fan and be sure to let other people know about us, too!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BOOKS HAND-AUTOGRAPHED BY THE AUTHOR (Sheryl Karas)
THE SOLSTICE EVERGREEN: THE HISTORY, FOLKLORE AND ORIGINS OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE --
The evergreen has been a potent pagan symbol in almost every culture, from prehistoric Japan to Northern Africa, from Native America to Medieval Germany. The Solstice Evergreen explores the rich spiritual heritage of this ancient symbol in depth and includes a great many myths, legends,and folk tales from across the globe as well as dozens of black and white illustrations. Gathered together in this book for the first time, this rich collection of mythology presents a unique perspective spanning many cultures and centuries.
THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF FAMILY CAREGIVING --
For five years, ending in 2005, I worked as a Family Caregiving Consultant at the Alzheimer's Association and Del Mar Caregiver Resource Center helping families taking care of loved ones with incurable progressive memory loss and dementia. Trying to find services needed to provide basic care is what brought people in to see me first, but as the caregivers became more ensconced in their caregiving roles inevitably emotional and spiritual issues would become their primary concerns. My role shifted to providing a combination of practical and spiritual care. During this period I wrote a caregiver newsletter every month and this book is the result.
Unsigned copies of "The Spiritual Journey" and a nice variety of journals featuring our photography are also available online at http://stores.lulu.com/healingcommunicationpress .
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUR ART
Beautiful Photographic Prints by Paul Hood... http://PaulHood.imagekind.com/
Art and Photography by Sheryl Karas... http://SherylKaras.imagekind.com/
Art notecards, T-shirts, mugs and other gifts featuring our images... http://www.zazzle.com/paulnsheryl
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE TO FIND OUR VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/user/healerteam
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THANKS FOR ALL YOUR REFERRALS!
Simplest way to tell people about us? Forward this newsletter and include a note saying you like us. It's easy!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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