Morning temp: 54F
Afternoon high: 72F
Tonight's projected low: 59F
Humidity: 100%
Moon: Waning 85%
East wind at 6 mph
1. I arrived on Lookout Mountain safe and sound last night, where it's warmer and stormier than back home. Yes, the Workshop really does culminate in a Firewalk. We'll build and tend a large fire, until the logs have burned down to the point where we can rake out the embers into a bed approximately 5' wide X 10' long, and once our Firewalking students have been instructed in the "Secrets of Firewalking," we'll come out as a group and anyone who chooses to do so may walk on the Fire. The coals frequently range between 1,100F - 2,400F. By comparison, the steel of your car's engine-block was probably poured at 800F. Nevertheless, in 20 years, no one has ever been burned on our Firewalks. Folks have been burned on other Firewalks, to be sure. Several years ago, Burger King and KFC held a Firewalk as part of a joint team-building seminar for their corporate executives. Regrettably, everyone that walked on the very hot Fire was terribly burned, needing immediate attention at a nearby hospital.
What's the difference? The Secret of Firewalking. What's the Secret? We ask for inner guidance. If we didn't do this, we'd be asking for really big trouble. I believe that this is where the BK and KFC Firewalk went amiss. They forgot about higher guidance, and relied entirely upon the powers and judgments of the rational mind. There's a reason why many spiritual traditions refer to this part of our being as "Little Mind", and the deeper realms of consciousness beneath as "Big Mind". So, we ask, "Can I walk on Fire and not get burned?". If the answer's "no", then we have no business walking across the Fire. If the answer's "yes" and we want to walk, we do so, provided that we've listened carefully. Clearly, this is an intensive course in learning to trust your inner guidance, and if you want to learn to Firewalk, I urgently recommend that you begin by studying under a Master Firewalking Teacher (please don't rush off and do this by yourself, without the benefit of an experienced teacher) such as Tolly Burkan, the Father of American Firewalking, or any of the teachers he recommends. He has an excellent website, at http://www.firewalking.com/. The pictures he's collected are amazing!
2. The Workshop also has lots of opportunities for very deep emotional healing. From Friday to Tuesday, I offer a number of sessions on the Betar. Pronounced "Bay -tar", this is a cutting edge technology that uses music, sound and vibration for de-stressing, deep relaxation and - the thousand or so clients I've worked with and I have come to believe - profound levels of healing on emotional, mental and even sometimes physical levels. Basically, while you're lying on the padded Betar table, high amplitude and deeply resonant waves of music (such an Enya, Clannad, Loreena McKennitt, Cowboy Junkies, or whatever) flow up into your body, turning you into a standing pool of continuous vibration. More so, this standing pool of energy that's in you searches, discovers and releases old, worn-out mental and emotional patterns. Meanwhile, I use a number of energy-based healing approaches (such as reiki, Qi gong and spirit releasement) to assist my clients in all of this. The end results is that clients feel both highly energized and deeply relaxed. If you're interested in learning more about the Betar, they have a swell website at http://www.kellyresearchtech.com/.
Saturday, May 5, 2007
Friday, May 4, 2007
St. Fiacre Walks on Fire, Pt.1
Morning temp: 57F
Afternoon high: 74F
Tonight's projected low: 59F
Humidity: 100%
Northeast wind at 6 mph
Moon: Waning, 98% (still good for transplanting I bet)
This Morning.
1. Thankfully, it rained a bit last night, and so the Garden is already watered quite nicely. For about an hour, the Thunder was rather pronounced, but the kami of rain, wind and storm were very gentle here, and brought in some beautiful cool air all night long. Excellent sleeping weather last night, I thought. It is supposed to rain again today and tomorrow, and I'm asking for similar treatment. I hope that all of you were safe and sound as well. Did anyone else attempt communicating with the kami? If so, I'd like to hear about your experiences. In the future, we'll be coordinating a large-scale communication with the spirits of these storms, especially when large, powerful, potentially disruptive ones come across the Southeast. Everyone will be invite to participate. Perhaps we can ease these situations somewhat.
2. For the most part, I'm getting myself and the house ready for a road trip. I was excused from Jury Duty again today, yayyyy! and so by noon (hopefully) I'll be out the door for a five day stay on Lookout Mountain, Alabama. I'm assisting in the teaching of an intensive Prosperity Workshop there, which culminates in a Firewalk Monday night. My part will be three-fold: a small bit of teaching, a lot of hands-on energy work, and fire-tending. I'm very grateful to be free of Jury Duty. Interestingly, when I first discovered I'd have JD beginning this past Monday, my first intuition was very strong, almost like I was being told, "only two days." Of course, it turned out exactly this way. I was called in Monday and a small part Tuesday, and then no more. This happens a lot when M's on-call. Once she's up and about (she works the late night to early morning shift), I'll think, "Is she getting called in tonight?," or, "Is she going to get to stay home tonight?," and the very first response I feel or sense is always correct. A friend of ours, B, is a brilliant and successful psychotherapist, and uses this method every day. When her receptionist calls and tells her that her client has arrived, B looks within herself and asks, "what is my client feeling right now?,". Whatever B senses at that moment is always, 100% of the time, precisely what her client is feeling. Hence, B knows exactly where and how to begin the next session. I've tried B's technique many times, and it's always worked, and not just for finding out what's going on inside other people. I've noticed that it works across any geographic distance, and also across time. Perhaps the biggest challenge in using this method is that sometimes we don't like the answers we get and so we keep asking and hoping for different results, and we also find it difficult to trust our own inner experiences.
Afternoon high: 74F
Tonight's projected low: 59F
Humidity: 100%
Northeast wind at 6 mph
Moon: Waning, 98% (still good for transplanting I bet)
This Morning.
1. Thankfully, it rained a bit last night, and so the Garden is already watered quite nicely. For about an hour, the Thunder was rather pronounced, but the kami of rain, wind and storm were very gentle here, and brought in some beautiful cool air all night long. Excellent sleeping weather last night, I thought. It is supposed to rain again today and tomorrow, and I'm asking for similar treatment. I hope that all of you were safe and sound as well. Did anyone else attempt communicating with the kami? If so, I'd like to hear about your experiences. In the future, we'll be coordinating a large-scale communication with the spirits of these storms, especially when large, powerful, potentially disruptive ones come across the Southeast. Everyone will be invite to participate. Perhaps we can ease these situations somewhat.
2. For the most part, I'm getting myself and the house ready for a road trip. I was excused from Jury Duty again today, yayyyy! and so by noon (hopefully) I'll be out the door for a five day stay on Lookout Mountain, Alabama. I'm assisting in the teaching of an intensive Prosperity Workshop there, which culminates in a Firewalk Monday night. My part will be three-fold: a small bit of teaching, a lot of hands-on energy work, and fire-tending. I'm very grateful to be free of Jury Duty. Interestingly, when I first discovered I'd have JD beginning this past Monday, my first intuition was very strong, almost like I was being told, "only two days." Of course, it turned out exactly this way. I was called in Monday and a small part Tuesday, and then no more. This happens a lot when M's on-call. Once she's up and about (she works the late night to early morning shift), I'll think, "Is she getting called in tonight?," or, "Is she going to get to stay home tonight?," and the very first response I feel or sense is always correct. A friend of ours, B, is a brilliant and successful psychotherapist, and uses this method every day. When her receptionist calls and tells her that her client has arrived, B looks within herself and asks, "what is my client feeling right now?,". Whatever B senses at that moment is always, 100% of the time, precisely what her client is feeling. Hence, B knows exactly where and how to begin the next session. I've tried B's technique many times, and it's always worked, and not just for finding out what's going on inside other people. I've noticed that it works across any geographic distance, and also across time. Perhaps the biggest challenge in using this method is that sometimes we don't like the answers we get and so we keep asking and hoping for different results, and we also find it difficult to trust our own inner experiences.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Rain Spirits, Welcome!
Morning temp: 72F
Afternoon high: 85F
Tonight's projected low: 61F
Humidity: 44%
Moon: Waning 99%
Southwest wind at 7 mph
This Morning.
1. At 8:20am, the Sun is yet to come out fully, so it's cool and breezy. The forecast calls for rain later this evening and into tomorrow. Rain Spirits are welcome. With the days getting sunnier and warmer we'll take all the rain we can get whenever we can get it. I do hope, though, that the storms are calm and peaceful. So let's ask the kami for this in our local areas!
2. As it turns out, yesterday the laundry got done, the bread got baked, and my article "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors" got re-written and sent off for possible publication with Nova Religio. Yayyy, at least it's done. We'll see if they're interested. In its re-worked form, the article is only 4,200 words, about half the length NR is looking for (about 8,000 words). Basically, I've paired it down to just those sections that focus upon the House of Oak Spring and its relationship to the Glen Haven neighborhood and the Baptist church next door. Still, this study implicitly challenges a reigning assumption in the academic study of religion, namely, that the best (or perhaps only) path to tolerance is pluralism. Ironically, while I am perhaps the ultimate pluralist (it seems plausible to me that the various religions represent different, but equally valuable, spiritual paths), I understand quite well why other thinkerss reject this view. Thus, it's a relief to discover that there are other paths to tolerance and friendhship between religious communities. Imagine if we all had to become pluralists in order to get along - if we all had to believe that everyone else's faith is just as good as our own. We'd be in real trouble. My study suggests that religious minorities, even those who are often heatedly reviled such as Wiccans (i.e., Witches), may be accepted within a potentially hostile community, if they can find ways of making a significant and positive impact upon the community they're entering. The Glen Haven Wiccans (and the Potsville Hasidim for that matter) are excellent examples of how this is done. Of course, the article I've posted below, "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors," discusses all of this in far more detail. Please assist me by picturing this article eagerly accepted and quickly published! I do believe it has something to offer.
3. I've been excused from Jury Duty again today, and I've been taking advantage of the cool morning air. So far (it's 10:00am), it looks like today will be a lawn day. I've put off mowing so long all the lawn's grown back. It's a great aerobic workout, even going slowly, and even in the cool air. I'm mowing in sizable chunks, giving me and our venerable mower plenty of breaks in between. I'm using my breaks to digest more of ee cummings... "my girl's got hard long eyes"...
This Afternoon.
1. Finally, the lawn's mowed. The Garden also received a late afternoon watering, after the sun had gone in behind the thick line of clouds moving in. Apparently, if water droplets are still on the leaves when the sun is out full strength, this can actually burn them. So far, we have three beds watered by soaker hoses, and the rest we're still spray-watering. Hopefully we'll have the remaining beds switched over to soaker hoses before the end of May.
2. I've also cut enough wood to build a second, smaller portion of fence, this time only 4.5' in length (though still 4.5' in height, or so). The shorter span between posts will be stronger, and it's also easier to find fairly straight pieces of "bentwood" 4.5' than 9.0'. I hope to have this up before I come in for the evening. It's nearly 6:00pm now, so I hope to have enough daylight, and energy, remaining.
Afternoon high: 85F
Tonight's projected low: 61F
Humidity: 44%
Moon: Waning 99%
Southwest wind at 7 mph
This Morning.
1. At 8:20am, the Sun is yet to come out fully, so it's cool and breezy. The forecast calls for rain later this evening and into tomorrow. Rain Spirits are welcome. With the days getting sunnier and warmer we'll take all the rain we can get whenever we can get it. I do hope, though, that the storms are calm and peaceful. So let's ask the kami for this in our local areas!
2. As it turns out, yesterday the laundry got done, the bread got baked, and my article "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors" got re-written and sent off for possible publication with Nova Religio. Yayyy, at least it's done. We'll see if they're interested. In its re-worked form, the article is only 4,200 words, about half the length NR is looking for (about 8,000 words). Basically, I've paired it down to just those sections that focus upon the House of Oak Spring and its relationship to the Glen Haven neighborhood and the Baptist church next door. Still, this study implicitly challenges a reigning assumption in the academic study of religion, namely, that the best (or perhaps only) path to tolerance is pluralism. Ironically, while I am perhaps the ultimate pluralist (it seems plausible to me that the various religions represent different, but equally valuable, spiritual paths), I understand quite well why other thinkerss reject this view. Thus, it's a relief to discover that there are other paths to tolerance and friendhship between religious communities. Imagine if we all had to become pluralists in order to get along - if we all had to believe that everyone else's faith is just as good as our own. We'd be in real trouble. My study suggests that religious minorities, even those who are often heatedly reviled such as Wiccans (i.e., Witches), may be accepted within a potentially hostile community, if they can find ways of making a significant and positive impact upon the community they're entering. The Glen Haven Wiccans (and the Potsville Hasidim for that matter) are excellent examples of how this is done. Of course, the article I've posted below, "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors," discusses all of this in far more detail. Please assist me by picturing this article eagerly accepted and quickly published! I do believe it has something to offer.
3. I've been excused from Jury Duty again today, and I've been taking advantage of the cool morning air. So far (it's 10:00am), it looks like today will be a lawn day. I've put off mowing so long all the lawn's grown back. It's a great aerobic workout, even going slowly, and even in the cool air. I'm mowing in sizable chunks, giving me and our venerable mower plenty of breaks in between. I'm using my breaks to digest more of ee cummings... "my girl's got hard long eyes"...
This Afternoon.
1. Finally, the lawn's mowed. The Garden also received a late afternoon watering, after the sun had gone in behind the thick line of clouds moving in. Apparently, if water droplets are still on the leaves when the sun is out full strength, this can actually burn them. So far, we have three beds watered by soaker hoses, and the rest we're still spray-watering. Hopefully we'll have the remaining beds switched over to soaker hoses before the end of May.
2. I've also cut enough wood to build a second, smaller portion of fence, this time only 4.5' in length (though still 4.5' in height, or so). The shorter span between posts will be stronger, and it's also easier to find fairly straight pieces of "bentwood" 4.5' than 9.0'. I hope to have this up before I come in for the evening. It's nearly 6:00pm now, so I hope to have enough daylight, and energy, remaining.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Excused for the day, sort of
Morning temp: 69F
Afternoon high: 87F
Tonight's projected low: 60F
Humidity: 61%
Moon: 100% Full (time to transplant!)
West wind at 4 mph
This Morning.
1. I have no Jury Duty today, but my goodness is there a lot to do around here. The Garden and BBG need a morning watering; there are two loads of laundry to be washed and hung out to dry; two loaves of Bread to be baked; the kitchen floor is filthy, and needs to be swept and mopped; the lawn continues to grow; the article I posted a few days back needs to be rewritten and submitted to Nova Religio; and I hope to work on the fence at least a bit, perhaps cutting enough pieces for the second section of fencing and setting at least two more posts. Last night I worked until dusk, but I did complete the first section. M loved it! Oh, I'm also several weeks late on article on Firewalking I agreed to write for an on-line journal (with, thankfully, a very patient editor).
Afternoon high: 87F
Tonight's projected low: 60F
Humidity: 61%
Moon: 100% Full (time to transplant!)
West wind at 4 mph
This Morning.
1. I have no Jury Duty today, but my goodness is there a lot to do around here. The Garden and BBG need a morning watering; there are two loads of laundry to be washed and hung out to dry; two loaves of Bread to be baked; the kitchen floor is filthy, and needs to be swept and mopped; the lawn continues to grow; the article I posted a few days back needs to be rewritten and submitted to Nova Religio; and I hope to work on the fence at least a bit, perhaps cutting enough pieces for the second section of fencing and setting at least two more posts. Last night I worked until dusk, but I did complete the first section. M loved it! Oh, I'm also several weeks late on article on Firewalking I agreed to write for an on-line journal (with, thankfully, a very patient editor).
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
Up too early.
Morning temp: 55F
Afternoon high: 85F
Tonight's projected low: 59F
Humidity: 82%
Moon: 99% Full (Still a good time for transplanting!)
It's supposed to be a bit cloudy, with a North wind at 0 mph.
This Morning.
1. It's 3:50am, too early really to be up, but here I am. I do not report for Jury Duty until 1:00pm, so I have a little while to get some work done. When the sun is up, I'll perhaps try once more to cut the back lawn. As I was on my way out to do so yesterday evening, M caught me with dinner nearly made. Afterwards, both the Blueberry Grove and the Garden will need a morning watering. There may also be some laundry to hang out to dry.
2. For the time being, I'll give the article posted below, "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors", a more careful proof reading.
3. I've got several things done (it's now 10:30am), though not the lawn - I suppose this is the least interesting of my chores. Before the sun came up, I read a good bit of the Bentwood book. It's amazingly simple, and elegant. I went outside about 8:00am, covered two of the Blueberry Bushes with a small portion of netting that J found in the back corner of the shed, and then moved two of the Posts in closer to the Blueberry Grove (BBG). J and are (finally) ordering a 14' X 100' section of bird netting from a vendor he found on-line ($52, the best deal yet by far), and we need to cover as much of the BBG as is possible with this.
4. I sunk two posts about 18' apart in front of the Garden. The first post was a 4' X 4' section of untreated Cedar, the second was a trunk-portion of similar dimensions from the Pipeline (I'm not certain what kind of wood it is, but it's heavy). I also dug a third post-hole half-way between these first two, giving me about 9' spacing between fence posts. This third post-hole remains unfilled, as I was not happy with anything I'd found thus far. I'll look around again this evening after I return home from Jury Duty. There's a Sweetgum Tree out past the Garden (and out past the lone BB) with three separate trunks, each of which is fairly thin, and one of which seems dead. I may cut this off and use it for fence posts. We'll see. This time I'm sinking my fence posts first, letting them settle in for a week or so, and meanwhile building the 9' sections of fencing (basically, a top and bottom beam parallel with the ground, with as many vertical members fastened into them as I'd like) separately and then attaching the pre-built fence sections to the fence posts. We're already seeing signs of Rabbits munch on our Basil, so the sooner this project is completed the better.
5. I hung out some laundry to dry, and left for the Courthouse by 12:00pm, stopping to meet my friend KP for a brief cup of ice coffee along the way.
This Afternoon.
1. I was not selected for JD, and thus was home by 3:15pm! Since then, I've been cutting and assembling bentwood pieces into the first section of fencing (the horizontal rails I'm cutting at 122", and the vertical pieces at 50"). I've already learned some lessons, e.g., make the vertical pieces that "fill in" between the top and bottom horizontal rails thin enough so that your nails go well through them and fully into the rails. Otherwise, you need to wrap these pieces with wire (12 gauge or so), which in turns seems to require a second nail, with the head left 1/4 of the way backed out, to wrap the wire around around. It's much neater to use vertical pieces that aren't too thick for the nails you're using. I hope to have one 9' section of fencing assembled this evening. We'll see how long my energy lasts.
Afternoon high: 85F
Tonight's projected low: 59F
Humidity: 82%
Moon: 99% Full (Still a good time for transplanting!)
It's supposed to be a bit cloudy, with a North wind at 0 mph.
This Morning.
1. It's 3:50am, too early really to be up, but here I am. I do not report for Jury Duty until 1:00pm, so I have a little while to get some work done. When the sun is up, I'll perhaps try once more to cut the back lawn. As I was on my way out to do so yesterday evening, M caught me with dinner nearly made. Afterwards, both the Blueberry Grove and the Garden will need a morning watering. There may also be some laundry to hang out to dry.
2. For the time being, I'll give the article posted below, "You've Been Wonderful Neighbors", a more careful proof reading.
3. I've got several things done (it's now 10:30am), though not the lawn - I suppose this is the least interesting of my chores. Before the sun came up, I read a good bit of the Bentwood book. It's amazingly simple, and elegant. I went outside about 8:00am, covered two of the Blueberry Bushes with a small portion of netting that J found in the back corner of the shed, and then moved two of the Posts in closer to the Blueberry Grove (BBG). J and are (finally) ordering a 14' X 100' section of bird netting from a vendor he found on-line ($52, the best deal yet by far), and we need to cover as much of the BBG as is possible with this.
4. I sunk two posts about 18' apart in front of the Garden. The first post was a 4' X 4' section of untreated Cedar, the second was a trunk-portion of similar dimensions from the Pipeline (I'm not certain what kind of wood it is, but it's heavy). I also dug a third post-hole half-way between these first two, giving me about 9' spacing between fence posts. This third post-hole remains unfilled, as I was not happy with anything I'd found thus far. I'll look around again this evening after I return home from Jury Duty. There's a Sweetgum Tree out past the Garden (and out past the lone BB) with three separate trunks, each of which is fairly thin, and one of which seems dead. I may cut this off and use it for fence posts. We'll see. This time I'm sinking my fence posts first, letting them settle in for a week or so, and meanwhile building the 9' sections of fencing (basically, a top and bottom beam parallel with the ground, with as many vertical members fastened into them as I'd like) separately and then attaching the pre-built fence sections to the fence posts. We're already seeing signs of Rabbits munch on our Basil, so the sooner this project is completed the better.
5. I hung out some laundry to dry, and left for the Courthouse by 12:00pm, stopping to meet my friend KP for a brief cup of ice coffee along the way.
This Afternoon.
1. I was not selected for JD, and thus was home by 3:15pm! Since then, I've been cutting and assembling bentwood pieces into the first section of fencing (the horizontal rails I'm cutting at 122", and the vertical pieces at 50"). I've already learned some lessons, e.g., make the vertical pieces that "fill in" between the top and bottom horizontal rails thin enough so that your nails go well through them and fully into the rails. Otherwise, you need to wrap these pieces with wire (12 gauge or so), which in turns seems to require a second nail, with the head left 1/4 of the way backed out, to wrap the wire around around. It's much neater to use vertical pieces that aren't too thick for the nails you're using. I hope to have one 9' section of fencing assembled this evening. We'll see how long my energy lasts.
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