Diverse Perceptions Poem

Value in Diverse Perceptions

When first we practice to perceive

there comes opportunity to receive

that which another does believe

so that we humans can conceive.

Thus understanding what differs for each

perhaps providing a better reach

for all the times there may be a breach

and enlightenment begs to teach.

Our diversity we must esteem

each of us bound to stream

the higher consciousness dream

of the divine love we teem.

~ Julie Carda

Celebrate Life

Celebrate today. The sun came up, the birds sang, the fall flowers are putting splashes of yellow, orange, and red around the yard. The Nature Elementals are busy whispering to the plants encouragement in order to give them that last push before the frost says its time to rest.

I, too, walk about and wonder will this be the last day I see the trumpet-like flowers on the squash vines? Will this be the last tomato, zucchini, or cucumber until next year?

When you garden you get to experience life through the evolution of the plants--seed, birth, nurturing, sustenance, wisdom transition, death--there is much more but you get the idea. This time of year I need to stay present to moment-to-moment awareness and allow the lush experience to envelop me fully. So today I celebrate.

Experience the Sacred

As I walked in the warm sun and waving grasses, I searched before me the expansive horizon, and in this moment of awareness experienced a sacred prairie chapel.

Certain vistas conjure an automated response to sacredness. For instance, most would agree a mountain or vast ocean is indeed a sacred scene to behold. Struck in the state of awe, we naturally gravitate to the creator--Source to speculate on our own sacredness.

All this contemplation led me to research the common definition of the word sacred. The fourth through seventh meanings listed on dictionary.com were especially thought provoking.

Sacred:

4. reverently dedicated to some person, purpose, or object
5. regarded with reverence
6. secured against violation, infringement
7. properly immune from violence, interference

In response to these four, I speculated about myself, others, and the sweet earth upon which we tread, then asked, what are we about? What do we co-create with every breath, thought, action? Moreover, what do we CHOOSE to co-create with every breath, thought, and action?

Urban Critter Balance

Sigh...squirrel relocation again. They climb the sunflowers before the seed has time to mature and chew through the stem. The flower head falls to the ground and the season is done.

True, the chickens think the flower head is nectar from the gods, but geesh, I was looking forward to a few pounds of my own sunflower seeds this winter. Besides, come winter, I've been known to share my abundance.

Spirit-Plant Metaphor

As I worked my garden today, I reflected on the beauty of my plants and their metaphorical messages. I envisioned myself like a cabbage. Peal away the expansive outer leaves and what you have left is a very solid core vibrating with green heart energy and veined with life sustaining white light.

For most people who read my bio information, I come across as eclectic in my journey through life. When asked about my spirituality, my spiritual story, I respond with, it's complex--not complicated--but by saying it is complex, I allow the other person, the one asking, to know that the telling will require him/her to decide if he/she can give attention in this moment to the question asked.

I hold myself as a boulder, solid and defined, not as a dandelion seed blown away on a gentle puff of air. I explain to people that I am a co-creator. I am co-creating a Space of Love through advocacy for Kin Domains, an ancient response to earth restoration.

The Native Americans call this walking my talk. Over the years, I've come to realize one can stomp and imprint the earth in their walk, or glide silently leaving no tell-tale mark. I like to think I can do whichever is called for in a given moment. For instance, this blog is meant to leave an impression. Using plants as a metaphor to describe your essence, which plant are you and why?

Write Your Book of Kin

Several months ago, I set out to challenge readers to begin writing a Book of Kin. As a writer, a storyteller, I'm always reading and listening. Lately, I've become more aware that idle chit-chat is difficult to maintain for a sustained period of time and in fact drains me of energy. I crave story. Story engages me and draws into me a divine sustaining energy. I want more of this from people--actually I expect this now.

Story reveals the essence of our being and claims us as co-creators. Stories cannot be hurried. Shortened, yes, but not hurried. A story captures an event fixed in the element of time and preserves the essence. Since we entered the information age, where technology reigns, oral storytelling--the tradition of meeting face to face and sharing moments of awareness has waned. So if we want to preserve this element of human essence we must write. Some may begin by writing electronically or recording, but don't forget that there is an energetic behind pen and paper when others handle that paper in the future.

"What can help the [children]newcomers to the world determine where the truth and where the falsehood lies...the Book of Kin. In it a mother and a father will write for their son and daughter about what is the most important thing that needs to be created for happiness in life. The children will continue to record the Book of Kin. There will be no wiser and truer books for families anywhere on the Earth. All the knowledge of their pristine origins will be poured into it." (p.244, Book 6:The Book of Kin)

Think about it--what is the most important thing that needs to be created for happiness in life? I still get a quick catch in my throat when presented with this question. However, it doesn't take long for my mind to respond because I've created an image. A Space of Love. How the space is created is the story for your Book of Kin.

If you started a Kin Domain book, where would you start? Anastasia, the visionary of the Ringing Cedar Series and of Kin Domains, says to begin your Book of Kin with your own birth, your name, and then ask for what purpose and with what thoughts you take up the pen and start this important book. Next, write about what plan you have for the future and from there the rest will follow. It may come in fits and starts, but it will come and it will hold all the knowledge of your pristine origins.

Plant Thought

It's thyme!

Rhode Island Red

Oh, my look how these chickens have grown. They have this language that is funny and intriguing. Believe it or not they don't just go cluck or baawk. They are officially eighteen weeks old and have finished what I hope is the final molting process before they are ready to lay eggs. In another week, I will be working with a friend to convert a dog house into an insulated hen house. I will be the assistant on this project as my carpentry skills were taxed in the designing and building of the movable coop. Watch for some before and after pictures to be posted in September.

When plants co-create...

This weekend I found myself in that typical gardener quandary.

When thinning out plants, should I throw away the extras or make room for them elsewhere?

Now the quandary is really a no-brainer because most gardeners simply cannot part with a plant--weeds are another story--but not something cultivated. Hence, I built and added another raised bed so that I wouldn't have to find new owners fast or, heaven forbid, throw them away. Besides, and I am grinning here, a person can't have too many strawberries.

Pumpkins a'Plenty

These beautiful orange orbs are pumpkins, which according to the seed package shouldn't be ready for another thirty days. The organic seed was direct-sown the first of June with the knowledge that they needed 110-120 days to mature. If I did the math correctly, I would have harvested in about three and a half months.

In the photo, you can see that the dreaded powdery mildew has crept along several of the vines. The weather here for August has been highly unusual. Humid, which mildew LOVES, hot, then wet and cool back to hot. Since we have a forecast of sun for at least the next five days, I took a chance and sprayed some Neem on the leaves this morning.

I really didn't want to harvest these until the end of September, but I wouldn't want them to start to rot in the field. Hmmm. Nature has a different plan. I like this part of gardening--thinking that we know the proper timing for plants, and then getting that big surprise. Time, after all, is only a human concept to which the rest of nature is oblivious.

Prolific Kin Domain Garden

I spent the early morning hours of this beautiful, cool, sunny day picking ripe produce. This is the time in the garden season when friends and neighbors receive the fruits of my labor. I love to gift others with my prolific produce. These are just a FEW of my heirloom beefsteak tomatoes.

The rest of my morning will be spent working with preservation storage. Maybe it's just me, but I have such a sense of personal satisfaction when I see my jars of dried or canned fruits and vegetables. There is also the joy in knowing that every part of these nutritious items holds a vibration perfect for my health and well-being.

Rock Cairn

Rock cairn in the meadow on top of Long's Peak, Colorado

I don't believe I'll ever think of a rock cairn the same after becoming familiar with the Russian dolmens. Anastassia's explanation of these sacred sites is so vibrant. I get a tingle all the way to the roots of my hair every time I read about her story of the forebears. Although there is a huge difference in structure between a dolmen and a rock cairn, I believe there are cross over concepts.

Some cairns were constructed to act as directional markers which would point the way home or to safety. I've seen these near sacred Native American sites in the U.S. Other cairns might have been placed as a symbol of the spirit of friendship and hope by builders who had been down a path and wanted to mark the way for others to follow--rather like the energetic wisdom and thoughts which circle in the space of the dolmens for visitors to access.

Whether a monolith like Stonehenge or the Russian dolmen or a small cairn of tiny stones, the balancing of the rock is integral to the structure. The mere practice of placing a stone so that the others do not topple is an exercise patience--really a meditation.

Glass Slippers and Love

Wouldn't this make a fun Google search--why was a glass slipper, versus a wooden slipper marble slipper, gold, or clay slipper, chosen by Perrault in 1697, to identify one's true love?

My thought: Is love transparent?

Symbolism is fascinating. I'd like to hear from you why you think glass was chosen. No fair doing a Google search first!

Smell Incites Kin Story

My sisters and I had a cheery moment this past week. The third oldest of us returned from a trip to Ireland. She purchased these taffy candies to trigger an olfactory response thus reminding me of a Kin story.

When the four of us would visit our grandparents' farmstead, pictured in yesterday's blog, we would wait patiently for my grandfather's midweek visit to town. His return meant a treat. Always the same type of treat. One we NEVER had at home. Chewing gum. (I came from a time when chewing gum was thought to be vulgar--can you imagine!)

The selections he brought us were spearmint, juicyfruit, clove, and black jack. Only one of each so the four of us had to decide who got to pick first, second, third, and fourth. He would hold out the tempting tokens and wait for our process, ever patient, as farmers are known to be. Well, we all wanted the Black Jack. You would think the first one would always pick the Black Jack but not so. We knew if we'd been the last one to have that particular selection and whether it was really another person's turn. We knew it was fair to share. We held the expectation that whoever picked that one would have three pieces to swap and still have two pieces left for herself. But I tell you that moment of doubt was really tricky. No matter which position I was allotted for selection, if the Black Jack remained, I had to deal with an issue of power.

In adolescence, we'd reminisce about this event. None of us could figure out why he hadn't brought four packages of Black Jack gum. How easy would that have been? Naturally, now as adults with teens of our own, we see how the wisdom of the forebears really shines through in this Kin's life example.

He wanted us to THINK IT THROUGH.

He wanted us to experience an adult who could patiently witness a thinking process and not interfere. I watch younger children today and see constant interference from adults. Adults who mean well. Adults who want to show other adults that they know how to teach their child to make compassionate, kind, decisions. The adults mean well but what are the children learning if they never witness frustration, disappointment--or empowerment?

Kin Hearts Poem

When Kin hearts long for lands of old
an ageless song will arise.
Come one, come all as was foretold
renew the verse of the wise.

The wisdom ones traverse a place
neither barren nor dark.
And through the veils of this space
ignite the wisdom spark.

For we, dear Kin, have work to do
our light must never fail.
It is the dark we shall pierce through
wisdom's point the fatal nail.

When Kin hearts long for lands of gold
the forebears hold the key.
For miracles we shall behold
if we can--but simply BE.

~Julie Carda

Gratitude with E.E.CUMMINGS

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
~~E.E.CUMMINGS

Cool Spot-Literally

We've had some HOT weather the past few days. I thought about the wonderful shaded places I like to frequent. Wouldn't you know I was drawn to another bench. In this little sanctuary, the birds were flitting about and a dry warm breeze rustled the leaves overhead. Yes, I thought about the words from my previous post. For those who don't page back in blogs, here are my reflections composed into a poem.

The Empty Bench

An inspirational poem by Julie Carda

Benches are an invitation

Provide a place of relaxation

Offer opportunity for meditation

And add mystery to exploration.

Why place a bench in just such a way

Is it that perhaps at the end of a day

The weary worker, traveler, adventurer may

Have a seat and stay—for a moment.

Then does that bench transform

The guest into a dreamer of reform

With the past, present, future a swarm

Of brilliance above all conform?

And in the end what remains

Are vibrations as bountiful as one hundred cranes

Carrying the dreams like a long stretch of train

Into a universe which gains

Co-created molecular particles

Re-assembled into canticles

Which fill every human receptacle

With a love inspired miracle

Stone Wisdom, Stone Memories

For me, the sense of smell can churn up an emotional response and memory faster than any of the other senses. My garden does that. As each plant comes into season, I have a response--a memory. Gardens are a great opportunity to work with the ancestors. Slipping back in time and listening beyond the here and now are easy if the senses are involved. I'm reminded that this year, 2009, is a mineral year in the Dagara medicine. The Dagara medicine is an indigenous medicine practiced by the tribes in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

The element is determined by the last digit in the number sequence of the year. A nine represents mineral energy. In Dagara medicine this is a year of RE-MEMBERING—going back to the original place within our limbs our very DNA back to the place of inception in the universe. It is the year to bring forward our molecular memory in story form in order to move us purposefully into the future. Working with Dagara mineral medicine is about connecting ALL THAT IS essentially bringing into being the wisdom of the ancestors.

Mineral is about communicating. It’s about the ability to translate things, the ability to converse. It has a lot to do with social connections. In the indigenous world mineral clans are the storytellers, the great communicators. They remind individuals of all the memory stored in the bones and the importance of minerals to the health and well-being of the human body. Mineral clan people are also recognized as stone people—not that they are stone but because the stone is seen as the one that stores information. (Visit Sobonfu Some's website for more information.)

Anastasia's description of the Russian Dolmens, from the Ringing Cedar series, rings true here as well as other stone structures that invite visitors to hear the wisdom-the story. I've discovered that every place I've lived has stone with messages--whether grains of sand or mountain tops all reveal the love that we are if we but listen, smell, taste, see, and feel.

Hot Days, Cool Thoughts

When it's hot, it's hot. Some people say it is only hot when there is both heat and humidity. I never could fathom that one. I've been in the dry Arizona heat. And it is HOT. Granted there is a degree of comfort between the two types, but when it's hot like today, a cool drink, a shade tree, and soft grass sure are a blessing regardless of type. I had to make sure the chickens had these hot day necessities today as the thermometer crept upward to hit ninety-eight in the full sun of my backyard. After doing only the briefest of garden maintenance, I came in the darkened cool house, grabbed a drink and sorted through photo files. After a few seasonal shots, I plucked one that made me grin at the extremes we see here in the Midwest. When blogger will let me upload I will post it. In the meantime, here are a few quotes that give me another perception of heat.

“The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze.” ~ Siddharta

“I have learned through bitter experience the one supreme lesson to conserve my anger, and as heat conserved is transmitted into energy, even so our anger controlled can be transmitted into a power that can move the world.” ~ Gandhi

“An extensive knowledge is needful to thinking people- it takes away the heat and fever; and helps, by widening speculation, to ease the Burden of the Mystery” ~ John Keats

Frog Princess

Meet the promised Frog Princess. I was gifted with this lovely piece of art and have often contemplated writing a bit of fantasy about it. For now may your day be sprinkled with magic and steeped in love.

Technical Difficulties in the Information Age

Blogger is having problems loading photos. I wasn't able to load today's. When the feature is up and running smooth again, I promise you a photo of a princess frog--or would that be a frog princess?

Perhaps this would be a good time to browse some previous entries. There are a few stories, some poems, some book excerpts, inspirational words, metaphysical concepts, rambles about education, sex, gardens, The Ringing Cedars and naturally lots of information about space of love and Kin Domains. Check out the archives and see where your spirit takes you.

Path of Change

What is down the path, around the next curve, over the next hill? Ever have a day where you feel something inside shift and you know, you know you are about to change? Expand? Evolve? And you know, in that moment of insight, to give attention to every waking and sleeping moment because nothing has to be the same again--and nothing will.

Co-created Poem

The Empty Bench

An inspirational poem by Julie Carda

Benches are an invitation

Provide a place of relaxation

Offer opportunity for meditation

And add mystery to exploration.

Why place a bench in just such a way

Is it that perhaps at the end of a day

The weary worker, traveler, adventurer may

Have a seat and stay—for a moment.

Then does that bench transform

The guest into a dreamer of reform

With the past, present, future a swarm

Of brilliance above all conform?

And in the end what remains

Are vibrations as bountiful as one hundred cranes

Carrying the dreams like a long stretch of train

Into a universe which gains

Co-created molecular particles

Re-assembled into canticles

Which fill every human receptacle

With a love inspired miracle

Fire Shaman

I want to present a dear spiritual Kin of mine, Jojopah Maria Nsoroma. She is currently a consultant working with the Alma Center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin building a program, the Fatherhood Wisdom Walk Project. Through story, spirit, ancestor guides and ritual she has opened another dimension for men with violent pasts to find healing and create a brighter future. The link takes you to a recent newsletter article outlining the program. Besides her work with the Alma Center, Jojopah has created a space of love. Visit her vision for Spirit House.

"Jojopah is a Fire Shaman, gifted diviner and spiritual teacher. She is learned in both West African and Native American shamanic healing arts, and combines them to create what she calls the “Medicine of the Buffalo and the Lion,” which she infuses with Christ Consciousness. Before becoming a devotional artist, Jojopah worked in the field of human services, focusing on children, youth, and community, for over 25 years. She continues to serve that field as a consultant and promoter of spirituality in the workplace."

Mineral Spirits

A combination of nature elements called out to me today. This photo is from a hike I took in Rocky Mountain National Park last August. When I look at it the nature spirits of the minerals seem to jump right out. However, I can relate to the torrential flow of the water mimicked in the feel of the energetic undercurrent around the globe. All people are being called to awaken from a long slumber and re-member who they are and where they came from.

Beauty Paths

"I walk a path of beauty, walk a path my ancestors laid out before me.

Walk a path of beauty, roll my dreaming out before me.

I make a path of beauty

Hold my visions, roll my dreaming out before me."
~Brooke Medicine Eagle~

When I was out meandering, I came across this clump of flowers took out my camera and snapped a picture. The flower draws attention to the chakras, drawing my vision inward from the solar plexus to the root. At the time, I was humming the song posted here and written by Chalise Brooke Medicine Eagle Edwards. I've referred to her incredible journey earlier in my blog. If you haven't heard of her or wonder what she is doing these days stop by her site. She is a truly amazing vibrant woman--glowing with life, spreading her rays of love. Her journey has taken her to a Kin Domain where she is gently reclaiming the land for the future generations.

Prairie Plant Spirits

I've noticed that the Purple Cone flower, Echinacea Purpurea graces many urban flower beds. I believe it likes the weather extremes of the central Midwest. As an herbal grower I always preferred the Angustifolia versus the Purpurea. Angustifolia is the wild strain which grows well on open dry prairies, germinates slowly, and outside its native habitat, is best grown in a raised box to control moisture to the root.

For herbal treatment, the purpurea and pallida forms have become acceptable. I am amazed though how we've moved to utilizing the entire plant. In herbal lore, the fresh root was prized as the most potent part. I'm not saying there isn't anything of value in the other parts of the plant, but I do think the use of the top is indicative of a past culture believing that if a little of something is good than a lot is even better.

Beliefs have shifted. With the waking of human consciousness allowing our spirit and soul to speak to us, we will become harmoniously balanced with nature. Once we have become balanced with nature, my belief is that we will simply need the spirit of a plant to keep us in healthful alignment. If this concept interests you, explore Eliot Cowan, author of Plant Spirit Medicine. His work is elegant, beautiful, and co-creative.

Bridging Worlds

I like bridges. Looking back to see where you've been and

looking forward to see where you're going.



The between place is mystical, magical--sort of like standing in the center of a portal. A bridge is an opportunity to co-create. Enter the place of imagination. Feel the energy stir, expand the image then take it wherever you want it to go. Is yours an image of a world overflowing with abundance, wealth, vibrant health, happiness, joy, peace and unconditional love? Welcome. Glad to have you join me.

Kin Spirit of the Prairie

"I was something that lay under the sun and felt it, like the pumpkins, and I did not want to be anything more. I was entirely happy. Perhaps we feel like that when we die and become a part of something entire, whether it is sun and air, or goodness and knowledge." ~My Antonia by Willa Cather~

Today was spent in pilgrimage on the prairie. When you live for many years in the northern woods of Wisconsin, the open prairies hold a certain mystery. There is beauty to the lush rolling green carpets. It's miraculous how the sky reaches down to the earth at the horizon, no trees to coax the energy from above, only the tall native grasses waving and reaching--reaching skyward lifting the vibration like the lark that takes flight from the tips of the seeded grain heads. Spirits soar here just as they do in the Siberian wilderness. Rays of light unite creating a golden hue over the land. Sunrise and sunset ignite the senses freeing the creative muse. Do you suppose the trees that tower over all in the great forests of the globe gather the same energy as a solitary human standing tall among the prairie grasses? I envision myself as the token tree of the prairie soaking in the universal energy of love and listening. Listening to the voices of the forebears. Voices that sing with wisdom as the wind rustles through the towering grasses while lifting and shifting strands of my hair--a reminder of how these same forebears had once caressed my cheek.

Choice to Co-Create

"The way to mend the bad world is to create the right world."--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Devil's Tower National Monument, Wyoming

In the love that you are, dream big. Right now, we, the co-creators, must dream big creating the ideal world. This big dream becomes the energy, the framework for change. The higher vibration achieved during the process of co-creating will become our reality. Thought is so powerful. For those who doubt, think about scientific blind studies and the fact that there is always a test subject that allows for the "power of the mind". Science knows the influence of the mind as fact. Thought is powerful. Prayerful thought is powerful. Images created out of thought are powerful. We have the ability to co-create the ideal world, it all comes down to choice.

Choose well.

Choose for love with harm to none and dream, Dream, DREAM.