Happy Valentines Day to you all. I hope you all manage to experience some kind of heartfelt joy or love on this very special day.
Who better to have a conversation with at this blissful time than Cate Mackenzie, Love Coach extraordinaire. Mind Body Spirit Festival goers will be familiar with Cate, as she regularly appears at the Festival both as a workshop presenter and stage performer. Cate is particularly good at spreading the love and always manages to bring a smile and happy mood to the audience, so I thought I would get some tips from her on the sort of things we can do to enhance the flow of love on Valentine’s day, both as a couple and for those living the single life. Here’s what she had to say….
The start of the new year is the perfect time to re-evaluate your life and asses what you feel is working for you or not, whatever the case may be. Maybe you fancy heading off into a new direction or just want to make some improvements where you stand. Either way its a good idea to really get honest with yourself and pinpoint exactly what it is you do truly want. This way you have a central point to focus your energies on, rather than run the risk of diluting your efforts flitting from one idea to another.
Manifesting your desires isn’t always easy, and there are of course, various ways that you can go about achieving them. One such popular process, and the one that I am concerned with here, is known as the ‘law of attraction (LOA)’. The LOA delivers a set of universal rules, that when followed, allows the manifestation of your desires to take place in an almost effortless way. In fact the only real effort that is necessary, is in following the laws, so let’s take a closer look at what they are and how to go about them.
If you are anything like me the thought of Santa being a shaman will come as a bit of a surprise. In fact a lot of the symbols and images associated with Christmas are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions. There seems to be different information as to whether this is the pre-Christian tribes of northern Europe or the Siberian shamans, but in any event, there appears to be some interesting correlations with their traditions.
One is the red mushrooms with the white dots. Not seen so much these days, but an illustration that has been repeatedly used in days gone by. These particular mushrooms are actually called Amanita muscaria or otherwise known as ‘fly agaric’. They contain potent hallucinogenic properties, and can be very toxic so the correct preparation for their usage is absolutely necessary.
Shamans dressed in robes of red with white fur trim and black boots, would set about picking the mushrooms, gatheing them in sacks across their backs. They would then return to the tribes who resided in Yurts, which have a central pole and smoke hole – this could also be used as an entrance. As the weather was harsh, snow would often block the ground entrance to the Yurt. The shaman would therefore enter through the smoke hole with the sack on his back, bringing back the gifts of mushrooms, delivering them to all of the tribe going from Yurt to Yurt – sounding familiar?
Directed by the shaman, the mushrooms would be strung and placed around the boughs of pine trees in order to dry out, making them less toxic and in preparation for eating.
Interestingly the ‘fly agaric’ mushrooms are greatly favoured by Reindeer, who can be seen to ‘dance about’ after their consumption. Another effect is thought to be the sensation of flying and is perhaps how over the years, this has been interpreted as Santa with his flying Reindeer.
In keeping with the time of year, I have decided to do a couple of blogs to tie in with the festive season and this week I am looking into Frankincense. Not only is this aromatic resin or oil strongly connected to Christmas, being one of the gifts from the three wise men. But it is also used across the globe in many religious rituals, has amazing healing properties and is also used as an aid to deepen any meditation practice.
Frankincense has been around for centuries with historians believing its harvesting and usage to be as far back as the 15th century BCE – think Egyptian Queen Hathseput. One modern day recognisable use from this period is Kohl, which was formed by grinding the burnt residue of Frankincense into a powder, then mixing with liquid and painted onto the eyelids as eyeliner. According to Shehbaz Khan from the Frankincense store, www.purefrankincense.com dots were also painted at the corner of the eyes, a ritual thought to preserve beauty and protect against the intrusion of any evil spirits.
I always enjoy putting up my Christmas Tree but I can’t say that I really know why they are part of our Christmas tradition. Do you know? I was actually surprised to learn that essentially Germany is credited with creating the Christmas Tree as the festive feature that we now know and love.
But it wasn’t until 1848 that it actually became fashionable in the UK and America. A trend believed to have been started by Queen Victoria and her husband Albert, a German Prince.
Here’s a little background history from various cultures and traditions for you to think about when you put up your tree.
Today (24th November) the planet Mercury turns retrograde until the 14th December. If you are unfamiliar with exactly what Mercury retrograde is, then let me briefly explain.
This is when the planet Mercury, which governs all issues related to transportation and communication, actually reverses its normal movement and in doing so, causes all manner of things to go awry. Typically electrical problems are experienced from computers crashing to phones not working. Deliveries don’t arrive when expected or end up at the wrong address, you find yourself waiting for a friend at a cafe only to find she thought it was the following week you were meeting. These are all examples of Mercury’s mischief behaviour. Another aspect is decision making.
The MBS team have just about recovered from what was truly an awesome Festival.
A really big thank you to everyone that attended as a visitor, presenter, exhibitor, musician, performer or anyone else that actively participated in any way shape or form. I would also like to give a special thank you to those that came on the first day of opening for the 11.11.11 Global Intention Ceremony and in making it such a remarkable event to remember, one that will be forever etched as a highlight in the history of MBS Festivals.
I am getting really excited about the forthcoming 11.11.11. Ceremony the Festival has put together. I think it’s going to be awesome. All the experts, musicians and teachers involved are gearing up to make this an unforgettable event. This is such a great opportunity to be a part of the universal awakening and soak up the new energy coming through to the planet at this time. And what better way to do that then within the vortex of a group energy of like minded people. As a united community, we can make a difference to the changes in the world and send some heartfelt healing to the planet as well as embracing it to aid us in our own individual lives.
I’ve just been watching the new MBS video interviews. Sonia Doubell has been chatting to some of the exhibitors to discover more about their offerings at the forthcoming November Winter Festival.
One in particular that I am absolutely fascinated by is Kirlian photography. Nigel Hutchings, homeopath, author, Transformational Coach and founder of Kirlian Research Ltd, is based in the UK and has spent 35 years developing and investigating the many uses of Kirlian. His work is pioneering stuff, especially in the realm as a tool for personal transformation.
As I opened the recent Dan Millman gig last week, I met a young beautiful woman who had travelled from Monmouthshire to see Dan. This was purely because a psychic had told her she could see her at a workshop in Marylebone, and that it would be of great benefit for her to attend. So in the early stages of the day, she won the award for the longest journey to see Dan. It only took five minutes for her to be beaten into second position by a shaven headed pilgrim of a young man over from France, who had just stepped off the Euro Star. “Ello ello!” he beamed. “My English is not so good, but I want to buy a ticket please?” Bingo! We had another winner for the longest journey to see Dan.
