Saturday, April 24, 2010

A Creed to Live By

A Creed to Live By



Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others,
It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important,
Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart
Cling to that as you would your life, for without them life is
meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past
or the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your
life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect,
It is the fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks,
It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give love.

The fastest way to lose love is to hold on too tightly,
And the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your Dreams.
To be without dreams is to be without hope.
To be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget where you've been,
But also know where you're going.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored every step of the
way.


Written by Nancye Sims

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Grandmother Elspeth


Grandmother Elspeth is an icon is the spiritual community and today I bring her to those of you who may not know her. I have had the pleasure of meeting her a few times and her presence remains with me to this day.


(Taken from her biography on her website http://www.elspethofhaven.com )


Healer, Teacher, Pastoral Counselor, Storyteller

Few of our cultural elders in America ever reach the status of "Living Legend" but 80-year-old Grandmother Elspeth has most certainly done so. Her reputation for honest advice and earth-based "mountain wisdom" draws throngs of people, young and old, male and female, to gather in her teaching circles, as she travels around the country, weaves tales, startles us with her homespun humor and heals us with her imagematic journeys of the spirit.

Author of the beloved poem "The Challenge," and creator of the long-awaited double CD "Out of the Forest," Elspeth Odbert has been conducting workshops on spiritual growth and enrichment since 1991. Opinionated and outspoken in everything she does, she is a great-grandmother, environmentalist, healer, teacher, pastoral counselor, shamanic practitioner, "wild woman," and storyteller. An honored Elder in the Pagan community and co-founder of The Haven Way, an eco-spiritual path of personal and planetary transformation, Elspeth is a living example of the timeless truths that she teaches.

Elspeth, who travels so much she is sometimes called "The Crone on the Road," is best known for her mesmerizing "fireside voice," which seems to come from a distant time and place, as much as for what she has to say. Her teaching takes place in workshops, events, and speeches at many events and on her CD "Out of the Forest."

Her contributions to personal development include "Resonating with the Crone," a workshop for pre-and menopausal women, which is now in its seventh year; and "Personal Evolution," a workshop for adults of all genders. She has been a motivational speaker for many types of groups of all ages.

The famed Brushwood Folklore Center in Western New York, which hosts many of the top names in the pagan/new age media circuit, has recently opened The Storytellers Pavilion, a beautiful open-air temple to the wisdom of this Crone, and each year, celebrities as well as less well known people, make the pilgrimage to consult with her. Amid the confusion and haste of the talk circuit, such actions speak louder than words.

When she is not on the road in "Harvey the RV", Elspeth is at home in West Virginia with her beloved Nybor (an artist best known for his illustrations for science fiction and pagan publications) and two fur persons, Maggie and Max.

• 80 years life experience, as daughter, wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, and more

• 20+ years teaching experience

• Certificate of Shamanic Practitioner from the Church of Earth Healing

• Ordained by Pete Pathfinder of the Aquarian Tabernacle

• Minister in Ecumenicon Fellowship in Maryland

• Appearances at the following festivals: Heartland, Rites of Spring, MAPA Beltane, Dragon Hills Rowan Festival, Gathering of the Tribes, Sirius Rising, Starwood, Craftwise, Sacred Space Conference, Free Spirit Gathering, and Florida Pagan Gathering. She is a co-founder of Teach at the Beach, the Life Springs Festival and the Stones Rising Festival.




A must read:

The Challenge To Be Free
An Interview with the Irrepressible Elspeth of Haven

Want to see her in person , visit her Calendar

See her on YouTube:

Grandmother Elspeth ~ Words of Wisdom

Wisdom of the Elders- Reduce Reuse Recycle

Have you had the pleasure of meeting Grandmother Elspeth?
 Do you had a story to share with us?


Next Feature:

Nybor ~ Beloved partner of Grandmother Elspeth ~ internationally honored artist; as well as a healer, teacher, pastoral counselor, spiritual theorist, self-taught ritual magician, and a hermit at heart! His art has appeared on national logos, in Science Fiction and Pagan publications, and many paintings and portraits. In 2001 he completed a 30+ year project: self- publishing "The Nybor Tarot Deck and Book", thereby producing a divination system in keeping with our current culture and level of thought.

Bright Blessings

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Planting by the Moon




People have been planting by the moon's phases for centuries. Moon planting, or planting by the moon, as it is also known, has been a method of gardening practised by the most ancient of cultures. They knew when to plant and when to harvest, because they planted by watching the lunar phases and so created moon gardens long before it became the popular practise it has become today.

The moon planting rule says to plant crops that produce above the ground during the increasing light of the moon (from new moon to full moon)

The first week is especially good for crops that have their seeds on the outside, such as asparagus, cabbage, broccoli, celery and spinach. The second week (between the 1st quarter and the Full Moon) is best for crops that produce seeds on the inside, like peppers, tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers and melons.

Then plant crops that produce below the ground during the decreasing light of the moon.
(from full moon to new moon). plant root crops such as potatoes, peanuts, carrots and onions.

Plant your seeds within 48 hours before a full moon.

Do not plant on the day of the New Moon or Full Moon.