17.9.08

lapsong souchang

Stephanie really likes caffeinated tea. This is admirable when it comes to introducing others to well-crafted beverages of the actually tea plant, like the smoky black tea I am steeping at this moment. This stuff is kind of like crack when you add honey and milk. It is going to help me make it past the next 20 minutes while I wait for the veggie lasagne to finish. I acquired quite a lot of produce from Joe Hollis' place that was all going to rot. Big chard, medium-sized beets and smalls, sungold cherry tomatoes (the ground was littered with perfectly ripe, orange beauties), two great big daikon radishes that I was very impressed to find (Mahra uncovered them from weeds just before she left, and now these forgotten root vegetables are thriving), and several bell peppers. All but the beets and daikon went into this lasagne- mmm.

I have to recount this story because it was a beautiful synchronicity:
I've been reading this Robert Moss book about dreams and Native American shamanism, and within it there are instructions for active dreaming and soul-recovery using various "techniques." By techniques, I simply mean time-honored ways of healing our spirits, such as finding, nourishing, and being aided by power animals, or spirit allies. This is kind of touchy for me, mostly because I was raised without animals, without pets, without even stuffed animals by and large (aside from two pet fish and a stuffed Flounder from the Little Mermaid, perhaps cosmically-inspired Piscean symbolism; I don't know what to consider the stuffed ALF...). I haven't had a connection with animals for very long, and only recently have come to appreciate cats and dogs. It has become my intention to find an animal ally and figure out how to nourish that being connected to myself.

Yesterday I was walking toward the cabin-site after reading a bit from the dream book in the cool moist morning, and I said aloud, "The next animal I see will be my spirit ally." My intention was that the next unfamiliar creature whom I encountered would help me in any soul-recovery I might wish. I saw a mosquito, the dogs, a rooster, but these were not the beings to help me. Later on in the day, I decided to walk to the mail box, thinking about this spirit ally thing, wondering if I would see a squirrel or a bird. I wasn't expecting any mail, but I went, anyway. At the end of the drive I heard a bird call overhead, and I wondered if this was it- I turned to look up at the bird, and there were a doe and her fawn. The stood still and watched me for a minute, while I watched them, and then they each walked slowly into the woods along the river, nibbling as they went.

So here is a powerful ally, indeed- Deer Woman and her offspring. She is the being of compassion, love, and truth. I have decided to nourish this woman and child in myself, and perhaps Deer Woman will join me for some soul-recovery in our dreams of each other.

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Goldenrod tincture is good for sinuses and allergies, its oil is great for swelling and wounds. Make sure y'all catch it quick, if you wish to be aided by its generous spirit.

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