Author: Paula Cas

I write fiction, non-fiction, verbiage for all our websites, and have been publishing my fan fiction on my various sites for many years. https://paulacas.com I am a Spiritual Medium and use Tarot cards as one my primary tools in doing readings. For 30 plus years have been doing readings in settings from my living room to truck stops. I tell you what Spirit wants you know for your betterment, not what you think you need to know. I’ve worked on computers since before there was such a creature as Windows. A Mountain Maryland native, but have spent years spent living in Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. My husband, Oro Cas, and I spent 10 years driving tractor-trailer across the 48 contiguous states. Oro Cas and I produced and hosted Internet Radio shows on BlogTalk Radio, video productions on KDCL Media and Oro Expeditions YouTube Channels.

How To Make A Besom {Plan 1}

I thought that this would be a good time to share with you all how to craft your own Witch’s Broom, known as a Besom.

Technically speaking, a broom is the flat ended sort of object that we generally use for physical cleaning; while a Besom is a round shaped bunch of straw (or other plant material) bundled around the center handle, and is used to cleanse an area of negative energy, usually in the preparation of ritual or magickal work.

While you can buy a besom, and there are many lovely ones to choose from -it’s also pretty easy to make one of your own. The bonus of making it yourself is the addition of your own energy tied to its creation. Although the items that follow are for the more traditional style of besom, you can use nearly any types of branches and plant materials available to you. Even a wooden dowel from the Hardware Store can be used.

t is a good idea to match the materials to the type of magick to be worked with it. The traditional magical formula includes a bundle of birch twigs, a staff of ash or oak, and a binding made from willow wands. This makes for a besom that incorporates both the male energy of the God- in the oak or ash; and the female energy of the Goddess- in the willow. A besom to be used primarily in Healing Rituals might be made of birch & lavender, and one for kitchen might be made of cinnamon.

After the basic construction of the Besom, there is innumerable way to decorate it. Handles can be carved, wrapped or painted; and all sorts of embellishments can be attached to it. Things such as feathers, crystals, coins, beads, bone and other totems can adorn it and enhance the work you plan to do with the Besom itself.

You’ll need:
A four-foot length of ash or oak for the handle
Thin branches of birch for the bristle part (you can substitute a woody herb like mugwort or thyme for the bristles if you like. I have also seen wonderful besoms made from aromatic herbs, such as lavender or cinnamon. )
Lengths of willow or heavy cord to bind everything together
You’ll also need scissors and a bucket of warm water. Whatever you’ll be using for the bristles — whether it’s birch, a herb, or some other wood — should be soaked in the warm water overnight to make them pliable, as should the willow binding, if you’re using it.FIGURE 1

~Line up your broom handle and bristles, with the bottoms of the bristles pointing towards the top of the handle.

~Lay the handle on a table or the floor and place the bristles alongside it, lined up about four inches from the bottom. Point the bottom of the bristles towards the top of the broom, because you’re going to flip the bristles in a minute (see Fig. 1).

FIGURE 2

Wrapping the Bristles

~Tie the bristles in place around the handle.

~Use the willow branches or cording to wrap the bristles around the broom (Fig. 2). Add as many as you want to make the broom full. Make sure you tie the cording off securely so your bristles don’t come popping out later.

FIGURE 3
Tying the Magic in Place

~Finally, fold the bristles down over the inner tie and then tie on the outside.

~Now, take the bristles and fold them down over the willow binding or cording so that they’re pointing towards the bottom of the broom. Tie them down again at the base of the broomstick to secure them(Fig. 3).

~As you’re wrapping the cord in place, visualize your intent for this besom. Will it be strictly decorative? Are you going to hang it in place over a door? Perhaps you’ll use it ceremonially, or maybe even for physical cleaning. Focus on what you’re going to be doing it, and charge it with energy.

The Final Step

~Let your broom dry for a day or two, and when it’s all done, consecrate it as one of your magical tools.

~If you will be doing any decorative work on it, such as carving, painting or wrapping it with fiber this can be done either before or after the initial consecration and should be done with magickal intention.

~Then, when all decorative work is finished, you can reconsecrate it and begin working with your very own handcrafted Witch’s Besom.

Source: How To Make A Besom {Plan 1}

Scientists Agree: It’s Time To End The War On Wildlife | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

By Collette Adkins, Contributor as published on The Huffington Post

“Wild horses and burros survived centuries in perfect balance and harmony without the intervention of humans. The removal of natural predators upsets the natural balance and the crisis rolls downhill initiating even more violent intervention by humans. If we, as humans, would step back and cease attempting to manage something that does not require to be controlled the world would be a much better place to live for humans and animals alike. Keep the faith.” ~ R.T.

“Today’s predator control is widespread in the American West…”

Killing large predators to reduce livestock conflicts or benefit game populations has long been thought to be ineffective — and devastating for ecosystems — and a growing body of scientific literature criticizing the widespread practice is confirming those fears.

Most recently, this month, the Journal of Mammalogy — a highly respected international scientific journal and flagship publication for the American Society of Mammalogists — published a special collection of articles criticizing lethal control of predators such as wolves and grizzlies.

Today’s predator control is widespread in the American West and has its origins in barbaric 20th century, government-sponsored predator eradication programs. Those utilized poisons and bounties to drive grizzly bears and wolves to the brink of extinction.

Thanks to the protection of the Endangered Species Act — which has saved more than 99 percent of the plants and animals under its protection and put hundreds on the road to recovery — the grizzly bear and wolf have begun to recover. But as these large carnivores expand their population size and range, people have once again called for lethal control to address livestock depredations and inflate game populations.

In states where gray wolves have lost their federal protections, such as Idaho, state managers dead set on killing the predators established aggressive hunting seasons and lethal depredation controls. After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed removing Yellowstone grizzly bears from the list of federally protected species, states like Montana moved quickly to establish hunting seasons.

Then there’s the coyote, a predator lacking protection at state or federal levels and a primary target of predator control programs across the U.S. Tens of thousands of these resilient predators are killed each year by a highly secretive arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as Wildlife Services.

The numbers of predators killed by Wildlife Services is staggering. The latest kill report shows Wildlife Services in fiscal year 2015 killed more than 3.2 million animals, including 68,905 coyotes (plus an unknown number of pups in 492 destroyed dens), 385 gray wolves, 284 mountain lions, 731 bobcats and 3,437 foxes.

This level of human-caused mammalian predator mortality is damaging native ecosystems and biodiversity. The lead article in the Journal of Mammalogy’s special feature on lethal control — “Carnivore conservation: shifting the paradigm from control to coexistence” — summarizes studies on the essential role of apex predators like wolves and grizzlies and mesopredators like coyotes and foxes in maintaining ecosystem function. A well-known example is how wolf reintroduction to Yellowstone created a trophic cascade that enriched riparian songbird communities.

Given the ecological importance of wolves and other predators, scientists are calling for implementation of nonlethal methods to prevent livestock depredations.

The authors of “Adaptive use of nonlethal strategies for minimizing wolf-sheep conflict in Idaho” in the special feature document a seven-year pilot project in prime Idaho wolf habitat, highlighting the adaptive use of a suite of nonlethal deterrents to protect sheep. Those nonlethal methods reduced sheep depredation by more than three times the reductions seen on sheep allotments in Idaho that used lethal control.

Another study featured, “Cattle mortality on a predator friendly station in central Australia,” found that ending lethal control may in itself — even without implementing nonlethal methods — reduce livestock losses by simply enabling the predator’s social structure to stabilize.

Not only are aggressive lethal controls ineffective, they have actually been found to increase livestock losses, as was found among gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains. Scientists demonstrated similar results from aggressive lethal control of cougars, which replaces adult males with immigrating adolescent males that are more likely to depredate. Other studies show that lethal control of wolves may be merely shifting depredation from cattle to sheep because coyotes replace the wolves and target smaller livestock.

As for predator control to benefit game populations, a meta-analysis of 113 predator removal experiments found that the intended beneficiary prey population actually declined in 54 of them.

In addition to the ecological and wildlife policy concerns with lethal control of predators, public acceptance of lethal predator control methods appears to be declining. While the public supports the need for livestock producers to protect their animals, foot or leghold traps, snares and poisons are viewed by the majority of the public to be so inhumane their use should not be allowed.

With all the issues surrounding lethal predator control, one would hope livestock producers would have help in implementing nonlethal alternatives. Yet very few states have any permanent programs to protect livestock from depredations using nonlethal methods comparable to the federal Wildlife Services lethal control program.

With scientific evidence against carnivore controls mounting, it is time to finally stop the cruel, senseless killing and start utilizing smart, nonlethal methods that actually work, benefiting both livestock and these majestic wild animals.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-agree-its-time-to-end-the-war-on-wildlife_us_58a77e73e4b026a89a7a2b08

Source: Scientists Agree: It’s Time To End The War On Wildlife | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Crystal of the Week: Onyx – Holistic Experiment

In ancient times, Onyx was thought as a demon that was imprisoned in the stone that would awaken at night, creating issues, especially between lovers.

Nowadays, it’s a stone that is used for protection and from dark nights and lonely places, providing strength to its user. As a stone of separation, it banishes old habits and it’s extremely useful when a relationship needs stabilizing or when it has past its time and needs releasing.

Onyx assists in keeping your own counsel and holds memories of what happened to the user and can often be used for psychometry.

Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Purposes

On a physical level, it’s often used to promote stamina, vigor, and steadfastness. It helps quell sexual desires and works on issues that involves the bones, bone marrow, blood disorders, and feet. When placed in the stomach of a pregnant woman, it can reduce labor pains and bring an earlier delivery.

It is also believed to aid in ailments such as epilepsy or glaucoma and is known to have powers to rectify damage done to cells. Onyx is often recommended to athletes because it can increase strength, endurance, perseverance, and explosivity, especially if it’s placed on the Solar Plexus.

Emotionally, Onyx is used for promoting wise decisions and self-confidence. It’s centering and helps those who are suffering grief and any overwhelming fear. It alleviates worry, tension, and nervousness and eliminates confusion and nightmares

On a Spiritual level, it balances the ying and yang energy and is effecting in past-life work for healing old injuries and physical trauma that is affecting the present light. It’s connected to to the Base chakra and the Crown chakra and balances total energy along the chakras.

Disclaimer: Crystal of the Week are a spiritual support to healing and are not prescription or healthcare information.

Source: Crystal of the Week: Onyx

God(s) ~ secretoftheserpent

By: gserpent

God(s)

What is a god? Gods are all over the myths world-wide. If you ask me we are all gods and goddesses, but this world is all about you not knowing you are divine. Even for those of you that are “awake” this may come as a surprise. If you have read my previous work you know who I am about to reveal, but at least know you will know where I get my conclusions. This post will mainly be about the monotheistic god, but I will touch on the religions with multiple gods too. Everything in our modern world comes out of Egypt(which goes back to Atlantis) and god(s) is no exception.

Let’s look at the monotheistic religions and their gods. The religions of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Masonry. Yes I said monotheism and their gods. They have Jehovah, Allah, Adonai, Elohim, El Shaddai, Eli, Eloi, El Elyon, Ehyeh, and let’s not forget Yahweh. Jesus is also considered a god himself. Seems like there is an awful amount of gods in monotheism. Theologians will tell you these are just different names for the same god. Well then your god is not only vengeful and moody, but he has an identity crisis. All of these names go back to versions of the sun and dualism, but the one I found interesting is the one that is unspeakable or unknowing, Yahweh.

Ralph Ellis is the one that uncovered the true identity of this god. If you want to become truly enlightened, read his books. This man is a genius that only comes around once in a few centuries. He is bringing back the true knowledge that has been lost in this world. I am going to mix in some things in that I know to help you better understand why the ancients, mainly Egyptians, thought certain things.

Yahweh comes from the tetragram YHWH, the sacred and unspeakable name of god. In tetragrams and hieroglyphs there were no vowels only consonants, so the translators inserted whatever they thought the vowel should be. That is exactly how scientific translating ancient languages is. Jehovah came from translating YHWH into english and inserting vowels. Then it was decided to go back to YHWH. This is the level of expertise that is controlling the world. That is exactly what religion is for, control. You are about to find out who ” god” is for these patriarchs. The real funny part is that they don’t realize who they are worshipping.

The first clue to who this god is has to do with bread. Bread symbolizes knowledge, but christian insist they are cannibals and it represents flesh. The last supper was more of sharing secrets than anything else. Breaking of the bread symbolized occult knowledge. Part of that knowledge was that the “all” or “force”, whatever you want to call it, breaks up into individual souls and falls into the body. The bread is the body. Jesus is giving them the knowledge about how the divine breaks up and falls into the individual bodies, making you. This is why bread represents flesh, but christians have no idea. This ritual was performed in Egypt and it was called Ta-en-aah. I will give you the meaning to this shortly. Catholics perform this ritual with the wafer. This wafer is showing exactly who the true god the patriarchs venerate. The wine is just showing the bloodline of this god and Jesus was of the bloodline through his mother(See His Royal Jesus).

The wafer is representing the moon. This god is also why christians have a Trinity. The Egyptian moon-god was Thoth. I can hear the reader asking “How the hell do we get from Yahweh to Thoth”?. In Egyptian Yah literally means the moon. A very ancient name for Thoth is wait for it………..Yahew! Pronounced Yahoo. Ta-en-aah was the sacrificial bread of the moon-god. In the Koran Mohammed is told the name of your lord is “he who instructed man by pen, he who taught him what he did not know”. All of the patriarch religions go back to Lower Egypt. Thoth was the god with the crane head and pen in hand. Thoth was Hermes in Greece and Mercury in Rome. It is why they say Hermes was thrice great or thrice named. Thoth, Hermes and Mercury is the patriarch Trinity. They have tried to cover this up with father, son and holy ghost. The hebrew word for Jew is Yahewdaiy and it means children of Thoth.

The Egyptians had many gods and goddesses, but the Akhenaton tried to make them venerate one god, the sun. To see Akhenaton’s true identity along with all the other Old Testament characters see Patriarch Pharaohs. All the gods and goddesses of Egypt were aspects of yourself and the cosmos. I always say “Nothing is outside of you”, so they were aspects of yourself. The Egyptians not only venerated the sun, but the power behind it. The power of the cosmos. Science is just now figuring out the power sun controls everything. When you are tuned into this divine power of the sun you reflect it like the moon. This power waxes and wanes in you just like the moon. But if you are giving your power away to a false god outside of you, then you will never realize your true power.

All the Greek gods, Norse gods, Hindu gods and Roman gods are just Egyptian gods repackaged. They took these gods and put them outside of the individual for the laity. While the people with eyes to see and ears to hear knew exactly what was going on. Buddha was the name of the priest that watched over the sacred Benben stone. Alexander the Great created Buddhism on his conquests after learning the secrets in Egypt and being crowned Pharaoh. Most statues of Buddha are Alexander the Great. Jesus’ real name was Manu. To see the truth of the biblical family see His Royal Jesus. Muhammad’s real name was Lothar Schmalfuss. He was a cardinal that had failed to be elected pope. The vatican used him to create Islam. All religion and it’s texts have been amended and adapted to suit the era of the people they want to control. When I hear or see someone saying that all religions are pointing to the truth, I think to myself “Yes they are pointing to control over the masses”.

As I have said before, “We are who we have been waiting for”! Quit the game and the game goes away. Quit being a pawn in this world and start being your own creator. If you don’t rule your world someone else will. Start realizing how much power you actually have and start using it. I know it is a long and lonely road, I have taken it. It has been ingrained in our DNA to want to worship something. To see how this happened read Lemurian Magic. The history that we have been fed is his story, make your own history. Break the walls down. You are a Goddess or God, start acting like one.

Agents Seize Horse Meat, Genitals at Airport Outside Capital

S0urce: Multiple “The women had a combined 42 pounds of horse meat concealed inside juice boxes…” STERLING, Va. – Customs agents have seen all sorts of things come through t…

Source: Agents Seize Horse Meat, Genitals at Airport Outside Capital

Don’t Slaughter Montana’s Bison

“As most of our seasoned readers are aware, the main thrust of SFTHH is to bring to the forefront the plight of our American equines be they domestic or wild. But while being tuned into the …

Source: Don’t Slaughter Montana’s Bison

The BLM Continues Lack of Transparency in Adobe Town Wild Mare Radio Collar Study | Wild Hoofbeats

Only 3 mares in the trailer?

On Sunday morning I waited at the parking lot next to the corrals at the Rock Springs BLM facility. It was 1 degree above zero, and I was bundled up accordingly. I am the only member of the public there, unaffiliated with the BLM or University of Wyoming. One trailer and two trucks drive in front of me, and I am waiting for the other trailer. There are only 3 mares in this trailer, I am assuming three of the four mares that had radio collars put on on Friday. But there were 5 other mares that I had been told by Kate Schoenecker of USGS had not been collared because they were too young. In the Environmental Assessment, it states clearly that they were only going to collar mares 5 years old and older. Young mares who are still growing can be strangled by the collars. But where were the 5 other mares? They flagged me to follow, and I pulled out of the facility. When we took a break I asked where the other mares were. I was told they were still at the Rock Springs facility and they were being “re-evaluated.” What does that mean? They are either too young for the study, under 5, or they are not. Are they being kept for some other purpose? Both the EA and the BLM’s own press release state that none of the horses from Adobe Town are to be removed – they are all supposed to go back to the Herd Management Area. So what is the BLM not telling us?

These mares need to be released back to the area where they were trapped IMMEDIATELY.

Robin comes out of the trailer

We drove to Bitter Creek Road, which is about 30 minutes from Rock Springs, and we started down the road. After we got off of the paved portion of the road, conditions got worse, from occasional mud to water and ice flooded areas. It was a challenging drive. After we passed Eversole Ranch, about 10 miles later the trailer stopped and the first mare was released, a little bay I named Robin. She ran as fast as she could once she hit the ground, only turning back to look at us when she had gone what she thought was a safe distance. There were no other wild horses in sight, and I learned that all three of the mares had been trapped about 30 miles south of this area.

Robin looks back at us

We got back in our cars and continued driving for about 8 miles before stopping again to let another mare out of the trailer, this time a little sorrel I named Felicity. She turned around immediately after jumping out, looking for her friend, the grey mare in the back of the trailer. I noticed a cut over her eye that looked swollen. Any time you transport wild horses there can be injuries. It did not look deep and it did not prevent her from running off when one of the contractors shooed her away. There were no other horses around her either.

Felicity comes out of the trailer

Felicity looks back at her friend in the trailer

Felicity finally runs away

We continued driving as the road got worse for another 10 miles, almost to the state border with Colorado before letting the last mare go, a grey mare who was pure white who I named Ghost. She ran down the road past the cars and disappeared. We turned around carefully and went back out the way we came.

Ghost jumps out

Ghost looks out, getting her bearings

Gone!

On the way back, right in the area Felicity had been released I caught sight of a wild family at a run. They ran across the road in front of us, and the grey stallion in front was magnificent with his flowing mane. I hope that Felicity can meet up with them and join their family.

The wild family

Crossing the road

We were going to meet up with the other contractors, who had been bait trapping in the northeast portion of Adobe Town who had loaded the grey mare with a collar at Rock Springs, then loaded up her family with her. They had held onto the family and were going to release them all together. After driving on the highway, we got onto muddy roads, and drove until we met up with a horse trailer full of horses. This was the grey mare and her family. they were moving quite a bit in the trailer, clearly eager to get out. We followed the trailer until they stopped and we positioned ourselves to watch them emerge, which they did at first tentatively and then faster. As they leaped out I saw a filly at the side of the grey collared mare who I named Dove, and was told she was her yearling filly. No doubt this is why they kept the family back so they could be released together.

The grey family in the trailer

Tentatively they get out

Running from the trailer

The collared mare Ghost and her young filly

Going....gone!

They ran off over the hill, and I breathed a sigh of relief that all four were back home.

One thing that really puzzled me was that I saw piles of panels used for traps, all stacked on a semi. Neither team of contractors had a new trap set up. When I asked they told me some decision was being made at 7pm this evening, they did not tell me what. According to the BLM’s own web page on the bait trapping, they had trapped for only 5 days, starting Sunday February 5. They gathered by their own report 27 horses over the four days, and shipped 9 mares to the Rock Springs corrals. The information on the study in the EA said they would be trapping in 3-5 locations. Why then were they only trapping in two locations, and had not set up any traps after Thursday? In the EA, the BLM had written that if bait trapping “fails” they would go to a helicopter roundup. I hardly think that 5 days only is enough time to “fail.” it takes time to accustom wild horses to a trap and to let them get used to it and come in. That is what they are currently doing in Sand Wash Basin, where they have given far longer than 5 days to trap the horses. This seems to me to be a setup to fail. If they are not continuing to bait trap then they are getting ready to bring the helicopters in. Wild horses are injured and killed when driven with helicopters. There is no justification for subjecting the wild horses of Adobe Town to a helicopter roundup when they are not even over the Appropriate Management Level for their area.

The BLM should continue to use bait trapping if they have to finish getting 16 more mares for this ill-conceived research study, or better yet, they need to go back to the drawing board and redesign the study so that the researchers use non-invasive, safe direct observation, not dangerous radio collars.

Link to Daily Gather Reports:

https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro/herd-management/gathers-and-removals/2017-Adobe-Town-Wild-Horse-Gather

How to Work with Your Shadow Self

sulamith-wulfing-german-artist-childrens-book-illustration-5

“One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. The latter procedure, however, is disagreeable and therefore not popular.”― C.G. Jung

FEEDING THE SHADOW SELF

Disconnected from our empowerment the shadow (those unloved, unacknowledged parts of us) grows stronger and thrives on more of the same. Rather than interacting with life, we react. Reactionary living is acidic, corrosive and destructive. That is not to say we can live without reaction… It is a human response. It serves to keep us alert and alive. But, you can learn to interact with the world, befriending experience and still remaining safe.

First you must listen to the shadow.

Check Out: 4 Ways to Befriend Your Shadow-self to Find Your Truest Voice

You may say, “Well how do I befriend my shadow?” It’s simple, what are you afraid of? Go there. If you fear talking to strangers, take that feeling deeper and explore why. Maybe that’s why you’ve been unable to meet a partner. Maybe at your core you fear rejection. So take the power back, muster the strength and go talk to someone.

Be bold, be brave and step out there and walk the middle ground. Let your darkness show you something you never knew before, or never wanted to know. If you let it consume you, you become numb, you lose passion, and without passion nothing can live.

So you don’t know how to get past that anxiety. Leap before you think. In that in-between space is where passion lives. That is the instinctual part of you, devoid of ego and preconceived notions. You act from your center, where light and shadow come together like two great streams flowing into a river.

Begin asking, why?

Once you befriend your shadow parts, your pain, you find yourself dancing in the dark. You move into the sacred communion with your light and your shadow. Born of rhythm and fluidity. Because the shadow is not bad, rather it is the unwelcoming of the shadow that causes pain.

Take some time to express to your shadow all that you feel. Be open, honest and candied with your shadow. Express your deepest feelings of pain, disappointment and even resentment.

“What makes night within us may leave stars.” ― Victor Hugo, Ninety-Three

What do you feel about your shadow? What has she done to you? Where have you felt held back in your life? What have you missed out on? Why, and how do you feel small in your life?

Openly express this to your Shadow self.

Check Out: The Alchemical Path of Expressing the Shadow

LAYING YOUR GHOSTS TO REST

You have slipped into the Dark, and surrendered to her groove. Let her pulse through your heart, body and soul. You are losing old parts, and uncovering hidden ones. You are brave enough now for inner alchemy…Soul work!

In this dark, fertile place where transformation begins we must surrender ourselves to the experience. Which means we must move through our cycles of limiting thoughts, and crushing feelings… To get to the more inspired ones. You are detoxing from the high of resistant, fear based living.

“Intense, unexpected suffering passes more quickly than suffering that is apparently bearable; the latter goes on for years and, without our noticing, eats away at our souls, until, one day, we are no longer able to free ourselves from the bitterness and it stays with us for the rest of our lives.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

Now is the time for honesty. Come to terms with where you are inside and out. You do not have to be frightened anymore. Don’t deny yourself your sadness, or your rage. Just move into the feeling so that it can be cycled out and returned to the Earth, and the Universe as fertilizer for new intentions.

Check Out: Falling Curious, Finding Your Rhythm, and Making Peace with Your Ghosts

MOVE INTO THE STORM OF YOUR SHADOW

After breathing into the chaos, the darkness… And asking these questions I find myself growing calmer, clearer and more able to move with the storm. The skies begin to brighten, and the world becomes more serene. My uncertainty and anxiety magnified the storm…. Because the Universe is a big mirror.

I like to move into the storm. Wrap myself in the water. And compassionately ask:

What do I have left to learn here?
How can I honor my highest good?

Check Out: Riding the Waves of Chaos and Confusion

WHERE TO GO FROM HERE?

Your shadow, your darkness, your forgotten hungry ghosts are your friends. They hold bright blessings and paths to healing. You have begun to cultivate awareness. Breathing life and sustenance into these arid, darkened places. Begin to cultivate daily time with yourself. Before the shadow can grow hungry and despondent… you can dialogue with the inner self to find what hurts, what feels wrong and what needs fixing.

The shadow is born when you allow something that opposes your goodness to become your truth!

Journal on the shadow. And your personal light.

Source: How to Work with Your Shadow Self | Shaheen Miro

People Are Killing Millions Of Donkeys Just For Their Skins

Warning: Graphic Content – What they’re used for is such a waste

For centuries, in rural cultures across the globe, one animal has been an important part of the family, helping to keep farms and villages running.

Not only do millions of people depend on donkeys for practical purposes — many donkeys are seen more and more as smart and loyal pets.

But this friendship between people and donkeys is increasingly threatened by a growing trade in something you’ve probably never even heard of: “ejiao,” (also known as “colla corii asini” or “donkey hide glue”) a kind of gelatin made from donkey skin — and demand for ejiao is killing literally millions of donkeys per year.

A new report from The Donkey Sanctuary in the U.K. shows just how massive this emerging global trade really is. At least 1.8 million donkey skins are being traded each year — but it could be between 4 million and 10 million. The trade is difficult to track and until now hasn’t been studied at such a large scale.

“Our report reveals the shocking scale of this global trade and how it’s causing a chain of welfare issues for the donkeys at every step, from sourcing to transport and finally to slaughter,” Mike Baker, chief executive of The Donkey Sanctuary, told The Dodo in a statement.

“Ejiao is a medicine with ancient roots and has been promoted as a product worthy of emperors,” the report says, explaining that traditional herbalists in China claim that ejiao can increase libido, slow aging and prevent disease. But ejiao has not been recognized as having medicinal properties by western medicine.

This belief means that donkeys are becoming more valuable for their skins, and therefore harder for rural families to afford. Even the loyal donkeys families already have are at risk. It is becoming more common for donkeys to be stolen right out of a family’s yard and slaughtered for their skins.

While exports of donkey skins come from South America and Asia, the largest source is in Africa, where donkeys (many of them stolen) are rounded up in “donkey markets,” where they are often packed together and left without shelter from the hot sun and without food or water, while they await slaughter.

Often, after the skins are removed, the bodies of the donkeys are burned.

“The market is far worse than I expected,” said Alex Mayers, program manager at The Donkey Sanctuary, from a donkey market in Tanzania last week. “There are about 700 donkeys basically coming here to wait to die. There’s no food or water. The donkeys are very stressed. There are lots of signs of dehydration and hunger.”

But there is hope.

Some countries have already taken action and banned exports of donkey skins, making their donkeys much safer. This includes the African countries of Niger and Burkina Faso, and Pakistan, in Asia.

The Donkey Sanctuary is calling for a stop to the trade of donkey skins worldwide, so that the damage already done to donkey populations and the people who depend on them can be assessed.

“In particular, we urge other countries affected by this trade to follow the lead taken by Burkina Faso and Niger and ban the slaughter and export of donkeys for their skins,” Suzi Cretney, public relations manager for The Donkey Sanctuary, told The Dodo.

Cretney said that raising public awareness about where ejiao really comes from could help consumers make better choices.

“We are asking countries to follow the lead by Burkina Faso and Niger to end the slaughter and export of donkeys for their skins because it could help thousands, if not millions of donkeys — their welfare, and their real value supporting people’s livelihoods is at risk,” Baker said.

“This has to stop,” Mayers said, standing by a pen packed with donkeys awaiting their fate. “This absolutely just has to stop.”

To get action alerts about how you can help save these donkeys, join the campaign.

Click (HERE) for video and graphic photos!

https://www.thedodo.com/donkey-skin-trade-2230693220.html

Source: People Are Killing Millions Of Donkeys Just For Their Skins | Straight from the Horse’s Heart

Slowing Down the Druid Way: A History of Time

What continues to drive me is to live more in line with my principles: to grow my food, to take care of my basic needs, take charge of my health and healing, and to live fully and honestly with myself in line with the living earth. For a while, as I have discussed on this blog, I ran a homestead as well as worked full time to pay for it, something that I stopped doing about a year and a half ago. Part of why I had to walk away from my homestead in its current model (and regroup) was that it was physically exhausting me, especially as a single woman. I was trying to do everything: hold a full time job, grow my own food, tend my bees, tend my chickens, tend my land, make lots of things, write my blog, engage in my druid studies…and I couldn’t do it all. It was a painful and hard thing, leave a year and a half ago and open myself up to future possibilities. It also has been good in that I’ve been working to confront some of the fantasies that made me pursue things in the direction that I did when that direction was, for me, unsustainable. I had a hard time understanding how my ancestors made it–how they were able to do so many things, when I seemed to be able to do so few effectively.

Source: Slowing Down the Druid Way: A History of Time | The Druid’s Garden