Friends Humor, Reflections, and Wisdom

Mad lib. “A Birthday Walk In the Labyrinth” by KS.  I wrote the clues down as per instructions such as # 1 Number, # 2 Adjective and so on and I didn’t even peek at the story, so I didn’t cheat! Pretty amazing, Mrs. Patterson.

“On the day she turned (??), Manny decided it would be so poised to take a spin in the hot labyrinth.  As soon as the sun roamed and the moon thought, she set out.  In her hands she carried a tree along with 52 windy storms. (Obviously, I am responsible for this weird weather we have had all spring!) Upon rounding the first turn, she felt settled, and she soon noticed a feeling of excitement.  “Wow! I almost worried that!” As she made her way back down the tiny path (This is true in some cases as the forbs grow.) towards the entrance, an eagle swooped down, and landed on her shoulder. “Howdy to you, Friend!” She rang the bell, and decided she felt like going to Best Buy with Rich.  It was a plentiful evening.”

Birthday note from SSR in MD.  “Dear Manny, Got these lovely cards to remind me of much I love hollyhocks and how little the deer in CR and the bunnies in Htown care!  Got them at our very own Prairie Lights-type book store in Shepardstown….the owner was much complimented by my comparison to Prairie Lights. (For those unfamiliar with this reference, PL is a wonderful book store in Iowa City, Iowa, that also cooperates with and assists New Bo Books in Cedar Rapids, IA.)      Perhaps you have been able to sense that after some weeks of Mom challenges, I am finally calmed down and managed (several doctor related visits) with kindness and aplomb.     Thanks so very much for the Reiki – it has soothed my wounded soul….and I am in a fine place on that, as well.       (Explanation of her volunteering with a director of Conococheague Institute who is forward thinking and who like Rich Patterson at Indian Creek Nature Center believes in modest displays.) …that I truly believe was prescient as well as prudent….A new endeavor when I needed one.       Now, about you being a “seeker.” I really think that is your destiny and why you have done so many interesting things and influenced and helped so many different folks find their way to  passion and calm.  But, it’s that calm that you need to me, and being a seeker doesn’t seem to be compatible with your role as a confidante and advisor. I hope you know how I value our friendship.  I guess I wonder if seeking folks can settle – you are more like a butterfly (maybe a honey bee is more your energy, though) going from flower to flower – and it’s all OK and what is supposed to be in this great mystery of life.      So, I wish for you that acceptance can come with your seeking – and I look forward  to hearing of and being a participant in your future adventures because I know you surely have many still to be pursued.  I mean, whoa!  You are the same person who hikes down a path with a llama tippy-toeing over your shoulder as well as an educator unlocking secrets for folks who’ve seen so little academic success – and you love music and plays.  What the heck, no wonder you are my dear friend.      Happy gardens – a gentle rain from (tropical storm) Andrea today.  Happy Mid-summer’s eve in which I plan to read Shakespeare….And Happy Summer!  Our porch wrens are feeding the babies like crazy – a dumb bunny just axed my nicotiana and couldn’t eat it so just left the carcass….But, my grandfather’s butter yellow iris from D’s garden blossomed this year.  I am so happy to see them.  Love, S”

From SO with whom I am “machatainista”:  In response to my query about participating in Labyrinth Facilitator Training with The Reverend Doctor Lauren Artress, the Episcopal priest who brought labyrinths to western consciousness in the later 1990s. SO is trained by Lauren Artress.

“Hi Marion,

I just arrived in YNP on Monday late and getting settled in.  I wouldn’t miss this training if you’re serious about it….  I’m holding your questions from yesterdays email; I want to give it more thought to answer.  I do think that the labyrinth goes hand in hand with your energy work and could be a marvelous match.  One thing I do know, though, is these wonderful skills or tools that we are pursuing aren’t going to make us a lot of money.  I’m just hopeful I can maybe at least pay for a training once a year.  You are in a more populated place than I and which, perhaps, is not as conservative either.  I’m looking at how to use the Internet in various ways but am just beginning to do some research.  I have been holding lots of ideas for a lot of years and now am going to pursue.  However, I told myself I need to move with clear discernment which takes time and not to just say yes immediately to so many things.  I probably have way too many passions for my own good and I need to wade through all of that.  The contemplative piece is foremost in my heart, though, which includes the labyrinth, centering prayer, spiritual direction and Taize.  I will be pursuing these as a package for doing contemplative retreats and workshops but that’s about all I know immediately.  I’m on the look out for where to do them; we could certainly partner again with your energy work and once a year put one on in your area…. I would certainly share there if I have something to offer that your resident labyrinth expert does not already have.  Those are some of my immediate thoughts but I’d sure look hard at going to a training that Lauren puts on in your area….So good to hear from you, Marion, and yes let’s work together some on this if you like.  You have so much to give. “

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Musings

Suddenly I was done with The Desert Pilgrim, En Route to Mysticism and Miracles by Mary Swander.  How odd since I only read a few pages a night and had to start by re-reading several prior paragraphs.  Long have I known and enjoyed Mary’s works and talks.  Finally, I formally met her in August 2012 at Solstead with Mary Ann and Chuck Peters. Following are some references that struck me and know that without writing them down, will vanish from my memory. The main characters are Lu, an herbalist healer, Father Sergei, a Christian Crypto-Jew, and Mary.

* pg 83. Dismissal of the Midwest as flat and uninteresting. Completely the opposite! “I have lived  in that so-called flatness long enough to have a feel for the contours, the slight rises in the land, the dips and dives of a place capable of supporting so many living things.”

* pg 85. “Fear gets you nowhere. Fear is merely a lack of faith in God.”  (Later something about despair)

* pg 91 “…here was a woman helping to restore the role of women healers, of women’s place in the original scheme of spirituality.”

* pg 105-106. “I like what Buddhism has to say about our particular garden paths,” Father Sergei said. “If you want to know about the present, look to the past. If you want to know about the future, look to the present.”

* pg 144. “You must invite creativity and joy back into your life.”

* pg 145. “We have to look at all of life symbolically.”

* pg 166-167. Hildegard of Bingen – Love was compassion.  “She blended her interest in science and the natural world together with art and religion.”

* pg 182. on Acceptance by Lu:  “Sometimes it takes a while, but the sooner you get to acceptance, the better.”

*pg 188. on illness and St. Francis, born to a wealthy merchant family, who loved parties, and who in illness became great. Fr. Sergei, “Oh, yes, you must honor illness.  It gives us time for reflection. As hard as it is, it helps us sort out our priorities.  I know there’s nothing worse than someone telling you, ‘This illness of your is a gift.’  No, it’s painful and discouraging.  It’s not a gift, but it is a time to pull back and take a closer look at one’s life.”  (True of many aspects of loss.)

pg 193. The struggle for hope.  “St. Francis wanted a brotherhood….”

pg 194. on  Mystery: Fr. Sergei. “The more we know of the world through science and our sophisticated technology, the more we know of mystery. We are so uncomfortable with mystery.  We want to know things for facts, to nail things down. I’m here to tell you to embrace mystery and let it be.” (Pay attention, Mrs. Patterson!)

pg 196. The Dark Night of the  Soul.

pg 213.  Longing for Joy.

pg 225. Fr. Sergei on finding yourself.  “Someday you will discover yourself, what purpose you have on earth.”

pg 228. Fr. Sergei on the journey: “…remember that all of life is one big pilgrimage – ….”  “When you’re on the spiritual path, you’re on the right road.  Have faith you’re on the right road.”

pg 234. Fr. Sergei on pain to heal to faith.

pg 235. Fr Sergei on religiosity and spirituality: “To be religious means that you engag in a certain ritual toward a certain deity….But to be spiritual means that you connect with the energy that holds you to the earth.”

pg 242. Remembering without re-living. (This is the task before me and many others.  We might remember, but we do not have to re-live. Release cellular memory)

pg 255. Detachment…mysticism and symbolism.

pg 256. Interior prayer.  (thinking of Merlin’s Glasses TW!)

In the culminating chapter Mary Swander eloquently wraps up and reveals lessons she has learned.   “Be not perplexed, Be not afraid, Everything passes, God does not change. Patience wins all things. He who has God lacks nothing; God alone suffices.”  St. Teresa of Avila.

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Autumn Refelctions

Well tumultuous to say the least.  Why the return of emotions and physical symptoms from two years ago?  Interesting the Reiki attunements and sessions and the growth periods can cause so much “dis-ease”.  One author penned that just like with re-organizing a home, if someone should visit during the process and see the disarray, that person could be inclined to think, ‘This person keeps a messy home.’  But, after the process is finished, then the home looks and feels sparkly and lovely.  So, maybe the same with “re-organizing”  or “re-directing” a life.

Reiki Knowings both in sauna and at home: (These came before I talked with WTD). Connect and heal people and the earth. (The vision was of House Speaker Boehner and President Obama but they represent humanity. And, behind them was Earth.)

White dewdrops from upper right  flowing gently across my consciousness. Followed by intense Indigo of knowing. The path may not be clear to me but as Universe revealed to WTD when she walked the Labyrinth once, that does not mean (we are) I am on the wrong path.  Be present where I am now.  A major role I play is to connect people.

Conversation with WTD: I expressed that I feel I have no purpose, want a job more for the heart than the $$ but the latter, too, to feel I am contributing.  She said that her read is:  I am a long way from when we first met.  (Agreed) That I artfully and purposefully “dabble” which is positive. (Like a painting I fill in different areas perhaps.) I connect people, help them make things happen.  She reference intelligence – well, I just think differently and see seemingly disparate connections, which indeed often do exist.  She believes one of my totems is the eagle – flies high, sees from afar and way ahead of others.  I explained how it seems that Rich and I are ahead of our times.  i.e. natural landscaping, woodland management via fire, whole foods, living simply,living organic,  managing finances, prepared childbirth, the chicken projects, buying American, water management, human rights – gay and birth.  And that people can sometimes be too far out front and the concept not accepted. Then, the concept, idea, practice catches on.  It is Linda Hanson’s “Hundredth Monkey.”  It takes a certain mass before a practice is the norm.  When we did the crystal grid she suggested my intention be to be open to receiving and manifesting that which is my highest soul goal.  (paraphrasing here).  She worked the sacral (shadow self and fear) and solar plexus (personal power) chakras.  Suggested I walk to the Reiki Log in Faulkes Woods. So, Thursday I did.

First scared up the turkeys as they came to feast.  Those wild and wary birds! Then, the deer bolted.  From the top of the first ridge the view back to the house is re-assuring.  Down into the deep woods where the animals have turned over the leaves in search of food, which is scarce.  Makes me think of our society.  Some areas have many acorns but most areas have few or none. So, the majority of animals are struggling.   Only a few woodpeckers called the alarm as I passed by.  When I stood still, the animals and woods accepted my presence.  H.D. Thoreau and John Muir both write about this.

I didn’t want to look for feathers so stayed on the top of the ridge above Indian Creek.  Everything felt neutral.  Approaching Reiki Log I looked ahead to the eagle nest but didn’t see anything.  Repositioning myself, a slender tree with fresh and deep scars stood silent sentinel.  I really knew the eagle nest tree was gone even before I entered the woods and this confirmed.  Then, walking over to it, fresh droppings under other trees, fur balls, and a huge hole in the forest canopy brought home the demise of the the tree and nest that the eagles had called home for three summers.  Taking pictures of the destruction and evidence that the eagles still hang around I wondered if animals like people feel disoriented when their lives change dramatically.  And, what are the choices?  Perseverate long after the stimulus is gone; quickly move on or away without examining the situation and possible causes and options; linger, mourn, work through emotions and then move in new directions.  And what else?  So, looking for clarity but remembering Indigo Girls “Closer to Fine.”

I’m trying to tell you something about my life
Maybe give me insight between black and white
The best thing you’ve ever done for me
Is to help me take my life less seriously, it’s only life after all
Well darkness has a hunger that’s insatiable
And lightness has a call that’s hard to hear
I wrap my fear around me like a blanket
I sailed my ship of safety till I sank it, I’m crawling on your shore.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to see the doctor of philosophy
With a poster of Rasputin and a beard down to his knee
He never did marry or see a B-grade movie
He graded my performance, he said he could see through me
I spent four years prostrate to the higher mind, got my paper
And I was free.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I stopped by the bar at 3 a.m.
To seek solace in a bottle or possibly a friend
I woke up with a headache like my head against a board
Twice as cloudy as I’d been the night before
I went in seeking clarity.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

I went to the doctor, I went to the mountains
I looked to the children, I drank from the fountain
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine.

We go to the bible, we go through the workout
We read up on revival and we stand up for the lookout
There’s more than one answer to these questions
Pointing me in a crooked line
The less I seek my source for some definitive
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine
The closer I am to fine

*Two horoscopes I posted to FB:  “Carry the torch of greatness. Don’t let small problems stop you from achieving your goals.” “A clear vision of the future opens up. Access your confident side.” Pay attention, Mrs. Patterson!

*What Does Science Say About Wise Women Healers?

We are actually wired neurologically as “receivers”-this is particularly true for women. What this means is that we are attentive to the nuances of voice, expression, sight, and sound around us which registers in our bodies as feelings and sensation, health and illness. I am talking about the sixth sense that speaks to us regularly in dreams, “knowings,” flashes of insight or feelings. Men can and do develop these sensitivities but for women they are a natural gift of our gender.

Read the entire article…
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1319494

*Felt very unnerved and then saw this from WTD: “Use this intention today to support a powerful unfolding since the Eclipse. ‘It is my soul purpose intention to experience and express the complete alignment of my mental body, emotional body, physical body, and energetic bodies by bringing forth the highest vibrations of authenticity, truth, courage, creativity, compassion and self-love. I now choose to release all attachment to my personality, identity, patterns, behaviors and beliefs for a more expansive expression of my Divine Essence and of higher service to my soul’s evolutionary trajectory that supports the connection and healing of humanity and the earth. I Am in the right place in right timing, always and in all ways.’ So Be It.”

My reply was: “OK. I do have to say, though, I just saw this post. Around 8:30 a.m. I almost called to say, “Stop!” Incoming was powerful, unidentified and thus, unnerving. But, I mostly held it to the positive. And, in the sauna right after doing Reiki (That kumbaba rock(jasper)  is really heavy and never got hot! Stayed cool, which was nice on the temple) The Universe had me feel the power between my hands and visualize the people {Mr. Boehner  and Obama in particular} and the earth. This is what I am supposed to do. Working to be present and OK with that.”  Her reply, “Good job, Mrs. Patterson.  Hugs.” OK, stay present and what I feel can be positive energy coming in.

Indigo Girls: “The less I seek my source for some definitive….the closer I am to fine.”  Be present, Mrs. Patterson

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From Yvonne: “To My Children”

I came across this letter from our mom, Yvonne Fellows.  Written almost 36 years ago, I wanted to share this with family and readers. The picture below is one I could easily find to add to this post.

“TO MY CHILDREN

“Nov. 6, 1976

“This morning I was pondering Mary Ellen Walton’s TV wedding  and the warmth that encompasses that family.    (The reference is to the weekly TV show, “The Waltons”)

“So?  What do they have we don’t have?

(We both have) “Taunting – love – teasing – loyalty – bickering – laughter – anger – warmth

“all wrapped up in a soft, flexible, shape-this-way, pull-that-way, expandable, expanding, shrinkable, shrinking, tightening, loosening, giving, taking, up/down/in/out, “bop-you-on-the-head” one moment, “put your arms around me” the next moment

“FAMILY

“I am a proud mother of five beautiful individuals, each a person of his/her own choosing, each with special needs, special talents and accomplishment; sharing help, comfort and support as you each pass through your own moment of need or crisis; sharing your joys and happiness.

“Love you all,

“Mom (Yvonne Fellows)”

(Several times later in pen she wrote in pen: “I renew this statement this 6th of August, 1994.  Again, Love to all Mom (now a widow)

“Renewed April 7, 1995 as Mrs. Frank Perrault. And reread Oct. 4, 2000. Then Aug. 25 2002 and 3/26/05”

Les and Yvonne Fellows with Grandson, Dan Patterson.
November 1981

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"October"

“O hushed October morning mild,
Thy leaves have ripened to the fall;
Tomorrow’s wind, if it be wild,
Should waste them all.
The crows above the forest call;
Tomorrow they may form and go.
O hushed October morning mild,
Begin the hours of this day slow.
Make the day seem to us less brief.
Hearts not averse to being beguiled,
Beguile us in the way you know.
Release one leaf at break of day;
At noon release another leaf;
One from our trees, one far away.
Retard the sun with gentle mist;
Enchant the land with amethyst.
Slow, slow!
For the grapes’ sake, if they were all,
Whose leaves already are burnt with frost,
Whose clustered fruit must else be lost –
For the grapes’ sake along the wall.”
Robert Frost

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