THE MEDITATION AND ATTUNEMENT STONE: QUARTZ — Good Witches Homestead

Quartz crystal has an organizing and harmonizing effect on all parts of the body with which it comes into contact. It can be especially calming, and will quickly restore a more balanced energy. It also helps to dissipate all areas of imbalance and negativity, and establishes calmness and clarity in the mind, making it a […]

Blakes Elements Salt

Valerian Root for Insomnia and Anxiety — Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Valerian is a plant with mild sedative properties that is sold as a sleeping aid and to treat anxiety. But does it work? In the United States (U.S.), valerian dietary supplements are usually sold as sleeping aids. In Europe, people more often take them for restlessness and anxiety. There are actually over 250 valerian species, […]

via Valerian Root for Insomnia and Anxiety — Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

Taking up the Path of the Bard, Part II

The Druid's Garden

Creativity is the singing of the soul. When we create, we draw from the deepest parts of who we are and express ourselves to the world. The act of creation, the drawing forth and connecting to our inner selves, is the joy involved in creativity. Having something nice in the end, to me, seems like a bonus! I believe this act of channeling the awen is not only inherently spiritual, it is also part of what it means to be human. But to allow our souls to really sing, we have to grow comfortable with what we create, we have to set aside our judgement, and and to grow our skills as bards.

Last week, I explored what the bardic arts are, the cultural challenges associated with the bardic arts, and some ways community groups circumvent said challenges. We looked at the creative spirit of children, and how that spirit…

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TECHNIQUES FOR WORKING WITH POWER ANIMALS

Good Witches Homestead

Throughout our lives, we may encounter animals of a special nature that bring to us certain gifts of the Spirit. These are power animals… and they visit us for the purpose of sharing knowledge, giving us necessary abilities, or teaching us wisdom that it is important for us to know. These may be called familiars by some (a common European term), allies (a more common North American Indian term), totems, guides, or power animals. Different cultures and different faiths have different views on exactly what constitutes a power animal. I won’t address those distinctions here. I’m not the end-all expert in every culture’s traditional correctness! But more importantly, there are certain features of power animals and how we can relate and work with them that are true and effective regardless of what they are called.

First and of greatest importance, always understand that power animal is gifts of the Spirit…

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Totem Animals and Spirit Guides

Good Witches Homestead

Totem Animals, Power Animals, Creature-teachers, Elders, Ancient Ones, and Spirit Guides are all terms used to describe different spiritual entities that will work with us as teachers, protectors, and companions. They are there to assist us as we discover ourselves and other realms of dimension where we learn the true teachings of our spirituality and path work. In meeting our Guides we may experience entities, voices, physical encounters, or shamanic journeys to which we can relate on an intimate level. How do these Guides contact us? Spirit sends them with a message to convey and they have to reach us in any way they can.

Perhaps they will nudge you to turn on the TV only to find a program that catches your eye on the subject they need to address, as a response to something you have on your mind, or as a topic you need to focus on…

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Journalists are in love with cowboys, and so wild horses will die.

Vickery Eckhoff

Ryan Zinke, U.S. Secretary of the Interior

I’ve made a subspecialty out of writing to journalists about wild horses and, more importantly, cattle.

Below is a letter I wrote to Matthew Shaer of Smithsonian, whose May 2017 article, “How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a Nuisance,” is typical of how journalists cover wild horses. It is also typical of what senators can expect to hear today, June 21, when U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke testifies before the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee in support of the Trump budget plan, which will lift Congress’ ban on removing protections for wild horses and burros and selling them for slaughter.

This is not journalism that speaks truth to power. My solution is to speak truth to journalism. Here’s my letter, dated May 5, 2017:

Dear Mr. Shaer,

I read your Smithsonian article, “How the Mustang, the Symbol of the Frontier, Became a…

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Ozark Encyclopedia – D – Dirt

Animal Totems and Earth Medicine

Good Witches Homestead

~LIFE PATHS~

ROLES OF THE ANIMAL TOTEMS

“Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.”
~Chief Seattle~

EXPLANATION OF THE ANIMAL TOTEMS AND THEIR ROLES ALONG THE SACRED HOOP OF LIFE:

As the quote from Chief Seattle above so eloquently illustrates, we are all connected, not just to other “two-leggeds” and the family of man, but to the animals, the trees, the wind, the earth Herself. Like a beautiful blanket woven from many colors and textures of a thread, each individual energy contributes to this Blanket of Oneness, and all are bound together.

Our thoughts, actions, and deeds not only have an impact on our own life along the Red Road but like a pebble tossed into a pond, the ripples of our movement along…

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Wild Horses Heading For Extinction: The Bureau Of Land Management And The Facts

Straight from the Horse's Heart

By Capt. William E. Simpson as published Western Journalism

“Any person or any agency who says that wild horses are not native to North America is just uneducated…”

First of all, let’s set the record straight:

photo by Terry Fitch of Wild Horse Freedom Federation

Wild horses are an American native species, according to Ross MacPhee, Ph.D., Curator of the Division of Vertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Given this man’s impeccable credentials and experience, his findings are beyond reproach or debate.

Here is an article by Dr. MacPhee that is crystal-clear: Wild horses are native to America.

This finding is also shared by many other highly credible scientists, including Dr. Jay F. Kirkpatrick.

Any person or any agency who says that wild horses are not native to North America is just uneducated, misinformed or intentionally lying for some reason, usually motivated by…

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