Category Archives: Meditate

Birth of a Painting Series VIII: “Water”, an Installation.

by

 

Water! A combination of large-scale videos within an installation format that includes an inner meditation room, surrounded by paintings and the gentle sounds of water, designed to include the viewer in the artwork. The paintings are sculptural, created on large wood panels, with deep texture, oil paints, and gold leaf. The videos are of natural events; “Lost Canyon Falls”, includes water and fire in a meditative film; “Lake Kaweah”, transforms two years of photos into a video time-piece, recording the beauty of each passing day; “Douglas Creek”, in the meditation room, includes streams, meadows, and the sounds of water.

koi (3)

“Koi”, oil on wood, gold leaf, diptych, 70″ x 68″, 2008.

Paintings: “Cypress and Basalt”, mixed media on wood, 4′ x 6′, 2006. Private collection.

“Aspens”, mixed media, gold leaf on wood, diptych, 6′ x 8′, 2006. Private collection.

“Mountains, Clouds, and Streams”, mixed media on wood, triptych, 4′ x 6′, 2008. For sale.

“Silent Passage”, oil on gessoed wood, 4′ x 6′, 2004. Private collection.

Copyright 2018 Denise Hartley.

Thank you for reading my Friend Nature Blog!

http://www.dahartley.com

The Beauty of Change, the Basics for Survival, Earth Unplugged

by
The Earth seen from Apollo 17.

The Earth seen from Apollo 17. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Basics for Survival, Earth Unplugged

The Beauty of Change, Essay 1, the Basic Steps…

Simple Steps for Improving Your Life:

  1. Cherish what you have. Appreciate your life, family, friends, and your blessings given by our planet and ‘Mother Nature.’  Everything comes from Nature. Every material object in your life came from our Earth, at a great cost. The planet cannot keep up with our consumption. Give back to Nature, recycle what you do not need, it is made from precious material. Watch what you throw away, are you really giving back to Nature by dumping into her earth and water what you have consumed and no longer want?
  2. Recognize that you have what you need. If you have a home, food, water, you have enough. Everything else is a want. The First World (us) has taken too much from a finite planet (the only one we have). We are stripping our planet of its resources for our pleasure, leaving little for the rest of humanity. We choose not to see what our selfishness has caused, and the suffering of the Third World, who is starving and thirsty. I know we can do better.
  3.  Simplify your life. Having less material objects creates a space that you will enjoy more. Give away or sell what you do not need, someone else can use it. Eating less and more healthy simple foods will increase your enjoyment also. Growing your own organic foods gives pleasure, knowing that you are working with, and in nature. Your body is part of Nature, give it simple good food, and it will reward you with good health. Learn to recognize what will enhance your diet, and create good health. Eat less high resource foods: meat, out of season fruits and vegetables (they have probably traveled more that you have), factory created foods (processed, and dead, also well traveled).

What Easy Improvements I Made to Enjoy My Life More:

  • I sold my large house, and downsized (2003)…AND use way less power. Easier to clean, more time to spend outside in Nature
  • I became a vegetarian (1995)…I grow my own food, and my protein is from fruits and vegetables, legumes, and eggs from my chicken, AND have great health. I eat less and enjoy it more. I don’t eat GMO corn or soy products (they are hidden in packaged food).
  • I use less energy in my new home, replace your light bulbs with more energy efficient CFL’s…Check your appliance efficiency. My heater is on a low setting, so I dress warm.
  • Gave up TV (1995)…The new flat screen TV’s use 2x to 4x the energy of the old tube ones. Again, I am outside in Nature, or reading, or painting.
  • Unplug what you are not using, standby mode uses electricity….
  • I sold my super cool Black & Silver Dodge Ram truck, and bought a small Toyota pickup, now I have downsized again, being given a free car that has great gas mileage.
  • I found something useful to do, and am getting a teaching credential, AND blogging about climate change.
  • I stopped buying what I do not need. Yes, even Christmas presents, I bought everyone socks for Christmas! I make my own beer and wine (another blog), and gave as Christmas presents).
  • I recycle everything. I have a compost pile, recycle cans, jars, plastic, etc., I have very little trash to send back into the Earth.
Starting the Garden
Starting the Garden
Growing the Garden
Growing the Garden
Eating the Garden
Eating the Garden
Mother Nature

Mother Nature (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

“Let Fury Have The Hour”, film by Antonio D’Ambrosio. Artist’s Unite!

by

YouTube Link:  $3.99     http://www.youtube.com/movie/let-fury-have-the-hour?feature=mv_sr

A documentary that chronicles how a generation of artists, thinkers, and activists used their creativity as a response to the reactionary politics that came to define our culture in the 1980s.

Director Antonino D’Ambrosio took seven years interviewing various artists who discuss how their work stems in large part from reactions to the conservative politics of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. They explain how their creative responses to what they felt were dehumanizing social changes allow them to find a way to affect the world. Among the many interviewees are Chuck D, Tom Morello, John Sayles, and Eve Ensler.

LET-FURY-HAVE-THE-HOUR

Shepard Fairey, Obey Giant Room - The Creek So...

Shepard Fairey, Obey Giant Room – The Creek South Beach (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet Prime Min...

Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan greet Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Denis Thatcher of the United Kingdom for the State Dinner at the North portico of the White House. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

World Bank: What Climate Change Means for Africa, Asia and the Coastal Poor

by
***
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • A new climate report looks at likely impacts of present day, 2°C, and 4°C warming across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and South East Asia.
  • It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia.
  • Turn Down the Heat warns that poor communities will be the most vulnerable to climate change.

As the coastal cities of Africa and Asia expand, many of their poorest residents are being pushed to the edges of livable land and into the most dangerous zones for climate change. Their informal settlements cling to riverbanks and cluster in low-lying areas with poor drainage, few public services, and no protection from storm surges, sea-level rise, and flooding.

These communities – the poor in coastal cities and on low-lying islands – are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change and the least able to marshal the resources to adapt, a new report finds. They face a world where climate change will increasingly threaten the food supplies of Sub-Saharan Africa and the farm fields and water resources of South Asia and South East Asia within the next three decades, while extreme weather puts their homes and lives at risk.

A new scientific report commissioned by the World Bank and released on June 19 explores the risks to lives and livelihoods in these three highly vulnerable regions. Turn Down the Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience (Read it in Issuu, Scribd, Open Knowledge Repository) takes the climate discussion to the next level, building on a 2012 World Bank report that concluded from a global perspective that without a clear mitigation strategy and effort, the world is headed for average temperatures 4 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times by the end of this century.

Small number, big problem

Communities around the world are already feeling the impacts of climate change today, with the planet only 0.8 ºC warmer than in pre-industrial times. Many of us could experience the harsher impacts of a 2ºC warmer world within our lifetimes – 20 to 30 years from now – and  4ºC is likely by the end of the century without global action.

The report lays out what these temperature increases will look like, degree-by-degree, in each targeted region and the damage anticipated for agricultural production, coastal cities, and water resources.

“The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense cyclones,” said World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim. “In the near-term, climate change, which is already unfolding, could batter the slums even more and greatly harm the lives and the hopes of individuals and families who have had little hand in raising the Earth’s temperature.”

The report, based on scientific analysis by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and Climate Analytics, uses advanced computer simulations to paint the clearest picture of each region’s vulnerabilities. It describes the risks to agriculture and livelihood security in Sub-Saharan Africa; the rise in sea-level, loss of coral reefs and devastation to coastal areas likely in South East Asia; and the fluctuating water resources in South Asia that can lead to flooding in some areas and water scarcity in others, as well as affecting power supply.

“The second phase of this report truly reiterates our need to bring global attention to the tasks necessary to hold warming to 2ºC,” said Rachel Kyte, the Bank’s vice president for sustainable development. “Our ideas at the World Bank have already been put into practice as we move forward to assist those whose lives are particularly affected by extreme weather events.”

Open Quotes

The scientists tell us that if the world warms by 2°C – warming which may be reached in 20 to 30 years – that will cause widespread food shortages, unprecedented heat-waves, and more intense cyclones. Close Quotes

Jim Yong Kim
President, World Bank Group

Bill Moyers and Sheldon Wolin, 2008. Do we live in a Democracy?

by

Bill Moyers and Sheldon Wolin 2008  Video I

Bill Moyers and Sheldon Wolin 2008  Video II

***

Wikipedia:

Wolin’s work addresses participatory democracy with primary focus on the United States.

He makes a distinction between democracy as system of governance

and any of the formal political institutions of the state.

In other words,

he decouples democracy from governance

and towards a political system based on democratic principles.

***

Sheldon Wolin

Sheldon Wolin

Sheldon S. Wolin (born August 4, 1922) is an American political philosopher and writer

on contemporary politics.

He is currently Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.

His most famous work is Politics and Vision: Continuity and Innovation in Western Political Thought.

In 1950, Wolin received his Harvard University doctorate for a dissertation titled Conservatism and Constitutionalism:

A Study in English Constitutional Ideas, 1760–1785. After teaching briefly at Oberlin College,

Wolin taught at the University of California, Berkeley, from 1954 to 1970.

In a political science department that was largely composed of empirical studies of micro-political issues,

Wolin was a political theorist who managed to build that component of the program by bringing

Norman Jacobson, John Schaar, and Hanna Pitkin into the department.

He was a major supporter and interpreter to the rest of the world

of the theory behind the Free Speech Movement,

and he became a mentor to one of the FSM’s more prominent activists,

 Michael Lerner on whose Ph.D. committee he served.

He also published frequently for The New York Review of Books during the 1970s.

From 1973 through 1987, Wolin was Professor of Politics at Princeton University

where he mentored a large number of students

who have subsequently become leading figures in contemporary political theory,

including most notably: at Berkeley, Hanna Pitkin (Emeritus, Berkeley),

J. Peter Euben (Duke University) and Harlan Wilson (Oberlin), and at Princeton, Uday Mehta (Amherst College),

Wendy Brown(Berkeley), Frederick M. Dolan (Emeritus, Berkeley and California College of the Arts),

Dana Villa (Notre Dame), Nicholas Xenos (Massachusetts), Kirstie McClure (UCLA)

and Cornel West (Princeton).

At Princeton, Wolin led a successful faculty effort to pass a resolution urging university trustees

to divest from endowment investment in firms that supported South African apartheid.

Aside from Oberlin, UC Berkeley and Princeton,

Wolin has also taught at UC Santa Cruz, UC Los Angeles, International Christian University (Tokyo, Japan),

Cornell University, and Oxford University.

US President Lyndon Johnson (right) meets with...

US President Lyndon Johnson (right) meets with special assistant Bill Moyers in the Oval Office, White House, Washington, DC, 29 November, 1963. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

I am a girl: Poisoned in Afghanistan: Education Today!

by

100612 PP 2 (Medium)

125 girls, 3 teachers poisoned at Afghan school

Posted on: 11:03 am, May 23, 2012, by , updated on: 08:53pm, May 23, 2012

 
Girls poisoned in Afghanistan
***
KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) — Some 125 girls and three teachers
 were admitted to an Afghanistan hospital on Wednesday, May 23rd,
after being poisoned in their classes with a type of spray, a Takhar provincial official said.

The incident occurred in the provincial capital of Talokhan,

in the Bibi Hajera girls school, said Dr. Hafizullah Safi,

the province’s director of public health.

***

Forty of the girls were still hospitalized, he said, with symptoms including

dizziness, vomiting, headaches and loss of consciousness.

***

Blood samples have been sent to Kabul in an effort to determine the substance used, he said.

“A number of girls from 15 to 18 were brought from a school to hospital today,”

said Dr. Habibullah Rostaqi, hospital director.

“Generally they are not in a critical condition.

We are looking after them, but let’s see what happens later.

We understand so far from the situation, they are more traumatized.”

“The Afghan people know that the terrorists and the Taliban

are doing these things to threaten girls and stop them from going to school,”

said Khalilullah Aseer, spokesman for Takhar police.

“That’s something we and the people believe.

Now we are implementing democracy in Afghanistan and we want girls to be educated,

but the government’s enemies don’t want this.”

***

There have been several instances of girls being poisoned in schools in recent years.

***

In April, also in Takhar province, more than 170 women and girls were hospitalized

with suspected poisoning after drinking apparently poisoned well water at a school.

Local health officials blamed the acts on extremists opposed to women’s education.

While nearly all the incidents involve girls,

earlier this month nearly 400 boys at a school in Khost province fell ill

after drinking water from a well that a health official said may have been poisoned.

I will punish the student,” Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak told

a press conference on Tuesday.

***

0

***

ReBlogged from PRESS INSIDE :http://saccsivdotcom.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/80-school-girls-poisoned-in-faryab-province-of-afghanistan/

logo6

80 school girls poisoned in Faryab province of Afghanistan

By SAYED JAWAD – 21 May 2013, 9:36 pm

school girls poisoned in Faryab

According to local authorities in northern Faryab province of Afghanistan,

at least 80 school girls were poisoned in Sherin Tagab district on Tuesday.

District chief for Sherin Tagab, Syed Luqman confirming the report said

the school girls belonged to Islam Qala girls school.

Mr. Luqman further added the incident took place after an unknown individual

attacked the compound of the school with toxicant gas,

leaving at least three girls unconscious.

***

He said the number of school girls later increased

to 80 after inhaling the poisonous gas.

This comes as several girls were poisoned in north-eastern Takhar province of Afghanistan last month.

However, education ministry officials denied militants involvement

behind the poisoning of school girls and

called it a psychological issue.

***

Education officials also warned to try

those school girls who ‘claims’ of being poisoned in the future.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan Online Newspaper on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS

***

Yahoo! News Singapore

70225864-dbcf-4a00-827c-9fe9a930576b_RVB_AFP_20CMAFP News – Wed, May 8, 2013

Afghan minister vows punishment for fainting girls

th 

I will punish the student,” Education Minister Ghulam Farooq Wardak told

a press conference on Tuesday.

“From now on, if I find anyone saying ‘I’m poisoned’

and the poisoning is not proved by the hospital,

***

“I will punish the teacher, I will punish the head teacher and

I will punish the school director,” he added.

***

Afghanistan’s education minister

has threatened to punish schoolgirls who

claim to suffer from alleged “poisonings” that many officials

believe are actually temporary psychological illnesses.

***

Scores of girls’ schools over recent years have seen mysterious mass faintings,

nausea and similar symptoms that are often blamed by police and the local media

on poisoning by Taliban insurgents or toxic gas leaks.

But no laboratory evidence of poison or other toxins has ever been found at schools

and no deaths have occurred,

with the girls often released from hospital after only a few hours.

***

In the latest case, 200 girls were reported to have been “poisoned”

at a school in Kabul on May 1,

causing an outbreak of screaming, stomach aches and vomiting.

***

The education department said the government was determined to

crack down on the causes of outbreaks of

‘psychological illnesses among young girls’.

“When one student faints,

it spreads around and everyone might think it’s poisoning,”

Mohammad Kabir Haqmal, spokesman for the ministry, told AFP.

***

“If tests prove it is mass hysteria or any other natural cause,

of course no one will be punished”.

***

What the minister said was that we will pursue those who disrupt the classes.”

***

Wazhma Frouqh, a female education activist,

criticised the minister’s stance and said

that previous cases of “poisonings” had dissuaded families

from sending their daughters to school.

“The minister should not have said that he will punish schoolgirls,”

she told AFP.

“His job is to find out what has happened and protect schools.”

***

Girls were banned from going to school under the Taliban,

but numbers have risen since the extremist regime was ousted in 2001

and the government says 40 percent of pupils are now female.

***

70225864-dbcf-4a00-827c-9fe9a930576b_RVB_AFP_20CMAFP News – Wed, Apr 18, 2012

photo_1334684798378-1-0

‘Poison’ scare at Afghan girls’ school

More than 100 Afghan schoolgirls were taken to hospital Tuesday after

drinking water believed to have been poisoned by opponents

of education for girls, an official said.

“I think some radical elements who oppose girls going to school are behind this act,”

said district governor Mohammad Hussain, adding that police were looking into the incident.

***

The schoolgirls fell ill after drinking water from a tank at their high school

in the small town of Rustaq

in the northeastern province of Takhar, Hussain said.

Education ministry spokesman Abdul Saboor,

however, cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the cause of the incident.

“According to our reports a number of these schoolgirls

were panicked and taken to hospital

and they were then quickly dismissed.

“But some others are still there.

We think it is a small incident,

but we are continuing our investigations.”

***

Afghan girls were banned from going to school or working in offices by the hardline Islamist Taliban

regime until it was overthrown by a US-led invasion in late 2001 for sheltering Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The Taliban have since waged an insurgency against the Western-backed government of

President Hamid Karzai and some 130,000 NATO troops in the country.

Millions of girls now go to school,

but they and their teachers are occasionally attacked.

***

Provincial health director Hafizullah Safi said 140 schoolgirls had

been admitted to local health facilities

but most were released after recovering from symptoms which included headache and nausea.

“Most of the schoolgirls who were brought to the hospital after falling ill have been dismissed,

the other girls in the hospital are in stable condition,” he said.

In similar cases last year hundreds of girl students were taken to hospitals across the country

after falling ill from suspected gas attacks or water poisoning.

Authorities at the time mostly blamed the Taliban,

though some suggested that the cause might have been mass hysteria,

‘a phenomenon recorded around the world, often among young girls’.

***

Also printed in the New Zealand Herald : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10799685

***

ReBlogged from Morning Cup O’ Joe: http://morningcupojoe.com/2010/06/29/afghanistan-school-for-girls/

In Afghanistan from 2006 to 2008, there were 461 attacks on schools for girls,

and in 2008,

15 girls were attacked with battery acid on their way to school.

***

Afghan Schoolchildren in Kabul

Afghan Schoolchildren in Kabul (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Related articles

Afghanistan34P-Takhar

Afghanistan34P-Takhar (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Join Congresswoman Jackie Speier, in support of the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act) to end military rape.

by

English: Jackie Speier (D-CA), Member of the U...

Below is an email from Congresswoman Jackie Speier and Courage Campaign. Congresswoman Speier started a petition on the MoveOn website, where anyone can start their own online petition.

Congress: Support the STOP Act to end military rape. 
Sign the Petition!

Dear MoveOn member,

Sexual violence in the U.S. military is a crisis.The Pentagon estimates that sexual assaults increased from 19,000 in 2011 to 26,000 in 2012. That’s 71 sexual assaults EVERY DAY, and in roughly 56% of cases, the victims are men.

Making matters worse, each branch of the armed forces has its own judicial system, and it’s currently legal for base commanders to overturn a jury’s guilty verdict, as happened at Aviano Air Force Base in February 2013.

The STOP (Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention) Act takes the prosecution, reporting, oversight, investigation, and victim care of sexual assaults out of the normal military chain of command—which has proven grossly ineffective—and places jurisdiction in an autonomous Sexual Assault Oversight and Response Office.

That’s why I started a petition to the United States Congress, which says:

I stand with Congresswoman Jackie Speier in support of the Sexual Assault Training Oversight and Prevention Act (STOP Act) to end military rape.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Congresswoman Jackie Speier

This petition was created by the Courage Campaign on on MoveOn Petitions Political Action Edition, which is licensed to and paid for by MoveOn.org Political Action. We are not responsible for the contents of this or other petitions posted on the site. The Courage Campaign didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

Want to support our work? We’re entirely funded by our 8 million members—no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

Related articles

How does your garden grow? Flower remedies for healing…

by

DSCN1058 DSCN1062

The Pomegranate tree (Punica granatum)

This tree was planted by my grandmother in 1955.

 Last year the fruit went into making jam,  grenadine, and vodka.

***

DSCN1063

***

DSCN1068

Yarrow (Achillea millifolium)

 The flower of invulnerability. 

Achillea commemorates the Greek hero Achilles, who used yarrow to heal wounds.

Throughout history until the early part of the 20th century it was used in treating wounds,

and to staunch bleeding.

Its oils are anti-inflammatory and antiseptic,

the tannins are astringent and stop bleeding,

the silica promotes tissue repair.

An infusion is good for and eyebath, as skin lotion for varicose veins.

Good for the digestive tract, stimulates appetite.

*

Yarrow stalks were used in China, to reawaken the spiritual,  I Ching used yarrow stalks for divination.

Last year I made Yarrow Beer. 

***

DSCN1075

***

Angelica (Angelica archangelica)

The flower of inspiration.

In ancient history it was a protective herb against illness, as well as evil spirits.

It stimulates the circulation, and is good for people who feel the cold.

It warms and invigorates the stomach, it is used for nausea, poor appetite and weak digestion.

It detoxifies the blood and protects against infection.

The oil is antibacterial and anti-fungal, a disinfectant uses to preserve food (wrap in leaves).

It relieves period and premenstrual pain.

***

Apple tree, Yarrow, Borage, Chamomile, Lemon balm, Lavender, Rue, Chrysanthemum, Sage, and Thyme.

DSCN1076

***

DSCN1079

Morning Glory with Feverfew.

Feverfew (Chrysanthemum parthenium, Tanacetum parthenium)

The flower of relief.

“Feverfew is ruled by Venus and hath commended it to succour our sisters to be a general strengthener

of their wombs, and to remedy such infirmities as a careless midwife hath there caused;

if they will be pleased to make use of her herb boiled in white wine,

and drink the decoction, it cleanseth the womb, expels the afterbirth

and doth a woman all the good she can desire of a herb”.

                                                               Culpeper

It is currently a remedy for headaches and migraine. Research and clinical trials

have shown that intractable migraines in 70% of sufferers improved after taking feverfew.

One in three had no further attacks. Can be eaten fresh, makes a bitter tea.

***

DSCN1082

Echinacea (Echinacea augustifolia) Purple coneflower.

The flower of wholeness.

Three of the nine species are native to North America, and have medicinal benefits.

Purple coneflower was one of the most important medicinal plants

known to the native Americans.

Applied externally to wounds, burns, insect bites and swollen lymph glands,

taken internally for headaches, stomach aches, coughs and colds, to treat measles and gonorrhoea.

From 1895 to 1930 American doctors proved the effects of E. angustifolia in healing boils and abscesses,

blood poisoning, postpartum infection, malaria, typhus and TB.

German studies in the last 60 years have proved the remedy for septic conditions,

rheumatoid arthritis, antibiotic resistance, whooping-cough in children,

flu, catarrh, chronic respiratory track infections, gynecological infections,

urinary infections and skin infections.

***

DSCN1091

***

Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis)

The flower of bees.

Lemon balm influences the limbic system in the brain which is concerned with

mood and temperament. A sedative, enhancing relaxation and inducing natural sleep,

calming tension and anxiety, and even mania and hysteria,

lemon balm is also restoring.

It can be taken as a tea frequently during the day or night.

Good for the digestive system, a bitter tonic support to stimulate the liver and gall-bladder.

A strong infusion in a warm bath will help calm you.

***

DSCN1093

Rue (Ruta graveolens)

The herb of grace.

Rue is a powerful remedy and low doses are the rule.

It is used in the treatment of strained eyes and headaches caused by eyestrain.

It is useful for nervous headaches and heart palpitations.

It is an antispasmodic, and is used in treating the nervous system for indigestion.

The rutin strengthens fragile blood vessels and varicose veins.

An ointment containing rue is good for gouty, rheumatic pains

and for sprained or bruised tendons.

In Chinese medicine rue is specific for snake and insect bite.

The tea expels worms.

CAUTION: Do not use during pregnancy. It can cause a rash.

***

DSCN1070

Borage (Borago officinalis) and Chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla)

Borage

The flower of courage. 

Borage has a relaxing effect, and is said to dispel grief and sadness.

Modern research shows that borage stimulates the adrenal glands, the organs of courage,

increasing the secretion of adrenaline.

The hormonal properties of borage are present in the seeds which contain gamma linoleic acid.

The oil from the seeds can be used for menstrual problems,

allergies such as eczema, hay fever, and arthritis.

Borage tea can be taken to clear boils and skin rashes,

for arthritis and rheumatism, during infections to bring down a fever.

The mucilage in borage has a soothing action to

relieve sore throat and to sooth cough.

***

Chamomile 

The flower of equilibrium.

The famous physician Dioscorides recommended it as a medicine for fevers in 900 BCE.

The Egyptians revered chamomile for its medicinal virtues, for its power to cure acute fever,

and dedicated it to the sun god Ra.

It was one of the nine sacred herbs of the Saxons who used it as a sedative.

German and Roman chamomile’s are similar, and serve the same uses.

It relaxes and relieves tension and spasm, and recommended

for colic in babies, abdominal pain, and any digestive upsets.

***

DSCN1092

Clary Sage (Salvia sclarea)

The flower of elation.

Clary sage is a relaxing tonic to the nervous system, and excellent for stress.

A tea helps headaches, asthma, migraine, insomnia and indigestion.

It has an antispasmodic action and can relieve muscle tension, abdominal pain and constipation,

reduce period pains and ease childbirth.

It will help lift the spirits in depression.

Used topically, it can be applied to the skin to draw out inflammation and infection.

Aromatherapy Oil

Clary sage oil can produce a heightened state of elation or

euphoria, deeply relaxing and sleep-inducing.

***

DSCN1102

***

Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale)

The flower of survival.

Used in medicine in Ancient Greece and was praised in herbals in the Middle Ages.

Taraxacum is from the Greek word, taraxo, meaning pain or remedy.

The leaves are edible, and may be used in salads, or cooked like spinach.

This plant is highly nutritious, rich in vitamins C and B, and pro-vitamin A,

and minerals potassium and iron.

Dandelion is a spring tonic, it expels toxins, wastes and pollutants through the liver and kidneys,

cleaning the blood.

***

Garden and vegetables…to keep me alive and healthy…grown from seeds.

DSCN1083

 

DSCN1085

DSCN1095

The End (or the beginning). The compost!
Related articles

Sources:

Flower Power, by Anne McIntyre, 1996, Henry Holt and Co. NY.

The New Age Herbalist, Editor Richard Mabley (1941), 1988, Simon and Schuster Inc. Gaia Books Ltd., London.

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) in Scotts Valley...

Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) in Scotts Valley, CA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Feverfew

Feverfew (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Challenges New Shell Tar Sands Mines .

by

Please watch this video by the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation as they Challenge the Shell Oil Tar Sands Mines in Canada.

Related articles
English: Photograph of the Athabasca Tar Sands...

English: Photograph of the Athabasca Tar Sands in Alberta, c. 1900-1930 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

View original post

Change the world by changing yourself? Eating less, anti-aging!

by

My grandmother often said, “You are what you eat.”

Here is the science to back this up, a video by

Dr. Michael Mosley. A Junk food addict!

***

“I changed my diet 18 years ago.

I love to eat,

just not meat!

I was getting that ‘chunky’ middle age body,

so I fasted! And the FAT never returned.

Also…I have not seen a doctor for ANY illness since!” 

                                                         D.A. Hartley

***

DSCN7668

***

I hope that you watch this video,

it just recommends a baby step, no radical diet,

but watching this could help you live a healthy life.

***

Reaching the ripe old age of 50, Dr. Mosley wondered how healthy

he really was. He found that he was only slightly overweight,

BUT

pre-Diabetic,

pre-Cancerous (6 types of cancer),

pre-Heart Disease.

***

THE ARTICLE…

What did cavemen really eat when they sat down to dine, morning, noon and night?

The Paleo Diet guys spun some interesting theories —

all of which turned out to be nonsense.

But the truth is, if you’re trying to isolate the “health key” to early man’s diet,

it really may hinge not so much on what he was eating.

Because one BIG health benefit early man had going:

he rarely got three squares a day.

In fact, it might have regularly been a day or two

(or four) between filling meals back in the bad old days.

So if you get a hankering to emulate cavemen, the key is probably this:

eat a fair amount less than you’re eating now.

This is the basic tenant arrived at when a leading British journalist and physican,

Michael Mosley, set out to become healthier and lose weight,

while making as few changes as possible in his life.

Dr. Mosley is considered the “Sanjay Gupta of England,”

and today we are recommending a video he recently produced on this subject.

Related articles