Sharing Abundance - Working from your heart.

“Life and death are not opposites. Death is integral to the whole/holiness of the sacred web of all that is. In this experiential workshop with slides, movement, trance, song and sacred theater and whatever arises in spontaneity/gaiety we will explore a way of viewing death that actually comes from the realm of our pre-patriarchal ancestors. Very little is known or taught about how our early ancestors lived, and in this space together we will learn from them and bring forward a much needed shamanic integration about life and death for body mind and spirit. We will also learn what it means to “midwife” death in our current time and how to transform fear about death into pure love."  Leslene della-Madre

 

“With tears and prayers and tender hands, Mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darlings death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread. “ Louisa May Alcott, Little Women

 

 

Death can be looked at as both the end and the beginning.  I see it as part of the sacred cycle of breathing and expiring, combining and recombining, gathering and giving away.  However, I tend to think we moderns like the birth process better than the death process.  We can’t see any joy when a spirit leaves us as our ancestors did. 
 

Many of the books I read as a teenager set the stage for death.  The Victorians didn’t seem to have the same mindset as we moderns do.  It wasn’t usual for the dying to be in bed surrounded by loved ones and friends.  There were prayers and poems read, final kisses and words said all providing the dying one the support they needed to reach the place between the earthly plane and the divine.  The gatherers were equal in volume as the gatherers at a birth.
 

This past Sunday I popped into my favorite bakery for a muffin and coffee.  The baker had saved me a pistachio one; he knows it’s my favorite.  When he went to pull it out of the case, he broke down with a deep sigh.  Clearly he was upset and then quickly apologized.  He told me he can’t look at the chocolate muffins without crying and thinking of his friend. 

 

These past days have been rough for him.  He told me his tenant who became his friend passed.  The chocolate muffins were his favorite.  He can’t not look at the muffins and see his friend.

 

The baker went to check on him and found him on the floor.  He had suffered a stroke.  The baker quickly called the squad.  His older friend was admitted to the hospital.  When his grand-daughters arrived at the hospital, they demanded all his things.  The baker gave them his friend’s keys and wallet.  The girls disappeared.  

The baker stayed with his friend.  Holding his hand and walking with him to the crossroad.  The baker believed – it’s what friends do.  He was sad in for his loss, but also sad that the grand-daughters were there to also say goodbye.   

When the baker returned home to his rental building, he found that his friend’s apartment had been raided by the grand-daughters.   They were looking for material things he didn’t have.  The baker explained to me – they didn’t realize the wealth their grandfather shared abundantly were in acts of kindness over coffee, conversation and chocolate muffins.

The baker was a man who was working from his heart.

~#~

Deep Peace to You

Deep peace of the running wave to you.

Deep peace of the flowing air to you.

Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.

Deep peace of the shining stars to you.

Deep peace of the infinite peace to you.

- Adapted from ancient Gaelic runes

 

This is John Rutter’s music set to the ancient words with the Edinburgh Singers. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvffR7dIbQk

 

~#~

 

My friends from Europe have asked me what is going on here.  I’m asking myself the same.  What is going on here?  Why can’t my government get along?  As a CCWWW, I know that things reflect each other.  My government only mirrors what is happening in the general population. 

 

I think we are not working from our hearts.  We have lost sight of the abundance we have and focus only on what we don’t have.  Many of us are living from scarcity.  When we work from scarcity it is okay to not get along and put others down.  It is easy to shame, laugh at or ridicule someone who‘s not doing as good as we are.  It becomes easy for us to climb over another to get “X.”  We have lost sight of compassion and love. 

Think about it:  How do you look at a homeless person on the street?  How do you view a family living on minimum wage and going to a food pantry?    

~#~

Recipe for chocolate muffin with chocolate chips was created by cooking Goddess Nigella Lawson – May you find time this week to share abundantly with a friend over coffee, tea and conversation.

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 tablespoons best quality cocoa powder

3/4 cup superfine sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips, plus 1/4 cup for sprinkling

1 cup milk

1/3 cup plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 egg

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

Special equipment: Muffin tin with paper muffin cases

 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

 

Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa, sugar, and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into a large bowl. Pour all the liquid ingredients into a measuring jug. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together, remembering that a lumpy batter makes the best muffins. Spoon into the prepared muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top and then bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are dark, risen and springy

Forsythia – let there be flowering

BEMS@Copywrite

Maker's Moon - What wants to be conceived/born/shaped/made from our own minds/hearts/loins/hands? - CAYA Moon Question


"Forsythia is pure joy.  There is not an ounce, not a glimmer of saddness or even knowledge in forsythia.  Pure, undiluted, untouched joy."  ~ Anne Morrow Lindberg




I woke up today and the weather guy was droning on about “weekend of snow.”   There is a nice thin layer of cake frosting covering my car windshield and if this was January, I’d be smiling, but not so much now in March.  Then my son looked out the window and groaned:  “You’ve got to be kidding.” 

This past week I crunched across the community garden to our plot to bless it.  When I dug in to plant my egg, I quickly discovered that the top soil is still pretty much frozen.  This is very different from last year when we were having sweatshirt weather and the weeds were already up. 

My Grandmother use to say:  “Three more snow falls after the forsythia bloom.”  I went to where my Forsythia are and and and …. No green, no green buds only twigs sticking up out the ground.  Disappointed I tramped back into the house.  Yes, the robins are singing and the rain sometimes smells like spring and the crocuses and snowdrops are blooming, and the trees all appear ready with their buds, but not the forsythia .  Ohio this year is having a traditional winter season.

I admit.  I was spoiled by last year’s early spring weather that started in February. 

As a CCWWW, I have a love of nature and a passion for the wild and elemental.  These are a reminder that all creation is a gift from the divine.  These are a reminder that I’m just one piece that is interconnected.  I'm longing to lay in the grass and watch the summer wind blow the leaves. 

~#~

Let there be new flowering

by Lucille Clifton

let there be new flowering
in the fields let the fields
turn mellow for the men
let the men keep tender
through the time let the time
be wrested from the war
let the war be won
let love be
at the end

 

~#~

Potential tomato plants

Part of my practice as a CCWWW is growing my own vegetables and herbs. It is having a relationship with the devias or spirits of the garden and plants. My garden is a special place were we can meet. It is a place where I have learned many things that are magical.  It is in the garden that I learned about the tomato love spell.

Tomatoes are relatively easy to grow: sun, light, water and dirt.  And, it ceases to amazes me that some people have never seen a tomato plant growing in a garden.  These same people have told me they have never felt their fuzzy vines or smelled their distinct fragrance when brushed against.  They have never taken a bite out of a sun riped tomato.  They haven't held their tiny seeds in their hand.  (Maybe this is what intimidates people from growing them?)

I want to make sure we're all on the same page.  In Ohio, you don’t get tomatoes off the vine from your garden until end of June (maybe) July and August definitely.   It takes about 40-50 days to get tomatoes ripened off the vine according to the package and Ohio Cooperative Extension.  It also takes a specific type of weather – hot during the day and cooler during the evening. 

Tomatoes are part of a big family of plants known scientifically as Solanaceae or to gardeners the nightshade family.    Below are some of the cousins, and as in all families some are good to have around (edible) and some are toxic.

Mandragora (mandrake), Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Lycium barbarum (wolfberry), Physalis philadelphica (tomatillo) , Physalis peruviana (Cape gooseberry flower), Capsicum (chili pepper, bell pepper), Solanum (potato, tomato, eggplant), Nicotiana (tobacco), and Petunia

If you are thinking of “making” your own tomato plants - you need about 8 weeks to get those seeds ready.  I usually count 8 weeks back from US Mother’s Day – so now is the time for Central Ohians.  Mother’s Day Weekend has been usually our last known heavy frost day.  Tomato plants are annuals here in Ohio and don’t like the cold.    Here's a map of the world for planting times.

You start the seeds in plastic trays purchased from your local garden shop – or you can reuse the plastic lettuce containers and cardboard egg cartons.  You fill the trays (egg cartons) with dampened sterile soil mix. And plant the seeds.  I’m using a heirloom mix this year.  The seed containers should be placed in a southern facing window.  What is nice about the plastic lettuce containers is that they have a lid.  The egg carton can be cut down to fit the lettuce container and the lid creates a mini greenhouse that is waterproof.     

Before planting the seeds I thank the soil, thank the water, thank the sun and thank the seeds for the tomatoes that will help feed my family.

To be continued……..

Sacred Phrase Yum

@BEMS

As a girl, I knew Christmas season was here when I opened my front door.  A certain perfume of spices would greet me.  The other clue was my Aunt’s rusted Pinto station wagon would be in the drive behind my Mom's rusted red van.  I'd  quickly glance at the snow level on their windshields and this would indicate that today was the day.  My Mom and Aunt had been baking for about 8-9 hours straight while we were in school.  My family dining room table would be covered with goodies: Georgia Pecan Chewies,  Grandma’s favorite coconut cookies, Swedish S almond cookies and these chocolate meringues with a hershey kiss that would melt when they hit your tongue.  I could imagine my mouth filled with this thick soup of goodness.  There would be plates of jeweled colored candies dusted with a thin layer of powdered sugar.  Each gem color having its own unique taste: cinnamon, wintergreen, peppermint and clove.  The sugared treasures would last well into the spring.  I'd stand at the end of the table still dressed in my thick winter coat and hat and go: “Yum.”

~#~

Some of our most powerful memories are associated with smell and taste.  The olfactory nerve, responsible for smell, in evolutionary terms is our oldest sense.  It is one of the senses that we have in common with bacteria.  This rudimentary sense enables us to respond to chemicals around us.  (Think of opening up the jug of soured milk – what is your response?)  Another cool thing about this sense, it can regenerate.  As you age, your other senses wear out – you have to wear bifocals, you may have to wear a hearing aid – you will still have smell.  You will still be able to smell the hint of apple blossoms during the spring; and smell a chocolate cake baking in the kitchen.

It fascinates me how these smells seem to be wrapped around my memories.  Scientists believe is because of where the olfactory is located – next to our memory maker the hippocampus.  This closeness may be the reason scent is mixed with memory

~#~

In my earlier essay on Love Champions, I wrote about the heart chakra.  One of the seed mantras for the heart is "Yum.”  Yum in Sanskrit means compassion and love.  

How is it Yum – which I associate with yummy goodies and happy memories be also the seed mantra for the heart chakra?  How is it that this meditation phrase about love and heart energy is also what I’ve learned to say when I bite into a chocolate cake with Hershey frosting and think of all the wonderful women who have baked this for me. 

When I say it do I reinforce this memory with love?  When I think fondly on my Mom and Aunt’s day of cooking and baking – did I reinforce that memory each year as a child with the sacred phrase of Yum?

~#~

Yesterday I went to the candle shop at the mall.  I caught a whiff of the blended Christmas scents and for a momment I was transported back to my parent's dining room.  I was there again looking at the goodies and the plates of multi-colored jewels. 

It was a momment of love - a momment filled with comfort and a little girl's joy.  And, again I said, "Yum" reinforcing this love that is bigger than my childhood's memory.

Love Champions - Sightings

Runners Embrace Chance to Help Residents Recover

If the New York City Marathon had not been canceled because of Hurricane Sandy last week, Michelle Leichtling would not have found herself in a grief-stricken neighborhood on Staten Island on Sunday, trying to salvage a stranger’s soaking-wet wedding album.

Macur, Juliet. Runners Embrace Chance to Help Residents Recover. The New York Times. 4 Nov. 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/05/sports/marathon-runners-embrace-chance-to-help-storm-stricken-new-yorkers.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

What's so funny, 'bout peace, love and understanding

Elvis Costello and Elmo on Sesame Street

“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.” ~ Albert Enstein

  “Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”  ~ Carl Jung


I have been really thinking about what is going around me lately.  Trying to explain things I believe in (e.g., social justice, why PBS should be funded, why just having lists of women's names in a binder are limiting, why healthcare should be for everyone, a process model everyone can use, cookie ingredients, relationships, why human trafficking needs to end, why access to birth control and emergency contraceptives is important ....fill in the blank) Well it all gets messed up..... 

I find myself coming back to living out of love.  Specifically, thinking about the act of giving and receiving love.  And, it is very hard down here on earth to at least keep in balance. 

If we were to believe we are all precious beings of love rather than having an attitude of accomodation - maybe we would get along better.  I've been meditating a lot on the balance between the iron and pearl pentagam and how to reclaim unity.  I keep coming back to trying to fully understanding how the Love Spell works.

Elvis Cstello - well he says it all.   Check it out.  What's so funny 'about peace, love and understanding. 

You say talisman and I say amulet….. Turbulence, Tempestuous – Lets call the whole thing off.

“Honest disagreement is often a good sign of progress.”  ~Mahatma Gandhi

“Thus, we see that one of the obvious origins of human disagreement lies in the use of noises for words.”  ~ Alfred Korzybski

“The last sound on the worthless earth will be two human beings trying to launch a homemade space-ship and already quarreling about where they are going next.” ~ William Faulkner

~#~

When written in Hebrew, the Bible has many names for God.  Is one better than another?  I don’t know, but in English one is mainly written – “God.”  The same can be said about the word love.  In Italian, Greek and other languages in the world there are many, but in English we have only one.  I think sometimes we get too caught up in using the right word and we end up quarreling about who is right.  Ultimately someone’s feelings get hurt and bridges get burnt and wars fought.

Take for example the words Amulet and Talisman, according to Webster’s Dictionary:

Amulet: a charm (as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to aid the wearer or protect against evil (as disease or witchcraft).

Talisman: 1: an object held to act as a charm to avert evil and bring good fortune. 2: something producing apparently magical or miraculous effects. 

Note: on Talisman comes from the Greek word Teleo which means "to consecrate.”

I seem to think of these two items as one as the same which to some I would be quite wrong.  I also feel I tend to use talisman more often; perhaps it is due to my exposure of this word in the books I read growing up.  In some of my reference books, they clearly identify a distinction between the two.  A talisman must be charged with magic whereas the amulet has the magic in it.  In others, they use the word interchangeably.    Both cases, they agree like I do that you need to do a blessing/consecration ceremony to let the object know what it is intended to be used for.    

~#~

A friend sent the Dali Lama’s quote to me on Facebook.  Unknowingly this has come at a good time.  My work has become a turbulent and tempestuous environment.  I’m finding myself working with people who have different values than me.  They seem to see work as products that need to be checked off by some random date rather than how I see it as something that will make a difference and something of quality.  (As I’ve spoken before I see my work is an extension of Motherfather Spirit.)  I really try to practice the Dali Lama’s philosophy, but more often than not I get pushed off my chair and my blood pressure is racing.  The same can be said about how I practice my spirituality; sadly this is one of the reasons why I end up practicing in a solo kind of way.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t be in community.  But, if I’ve found that if I walk away angry and upset after a meeting; or I feel like I’m being spoon fed knowledge and others aren’t opened to a different point of view; I’m treated more of like a guest, or I’m coasting along for the ride than perhaps it is better to evolve alone.      

It takes a lot of courage to walk away.  In doing so, I believe you’re strengthening your heart chakra and practicing the love and kindness spells.  Ultimately, you are following that master law of the universe: you reap what you sow.   Your small act could be the tipping factor in helping the universe be a nicer place to live.

Okay – so walking away from your job isn’t so easy.  The only way I've found to cope is to think out of the box.  I always say to myself: how I can be like Merryweather who can change a curse into a more positive outcome (Disney, Sleeping Beauty).    And, for added protection I hang an evil eye (talisman/amulet) in my office charged to ward off nastiness.   Worst case scenario - I sprinkle salt on the floors before leaving to help absorb the negativity - the cleaning crew come and sweep it up.   

In those meetings where you know you will never win - I've taken up meditating - so hum....... and a walk during lunch.

~#~

Activity

So Hum meditation is a contemplative meditation.  So means "I am" and Hum means "that."  I really like my own meaning - this whole negative conflict is - so hum.....this office in-fighting is - so hum.....

Breath in thinking "so."  When you exhale think "hum."

So Hum meditation

Auntie Grace’s Shortbread Mixed with Peace and Love.

Basic Shortbread

2 cups of sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon each of baking powder and salt
1 cup of softened butter unsalted (2 sticks)
1/2 cup of confectioner sugar sifted.

Addition:

2 tsp ground coriander - for peace and protection
Grated zest from one large lemon - for love, purification and blessings
1/2 tsp of lemon extract
2 Tbsp or fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together flour, baking powder, dried coriander and salt. Cream butter and sugar til light and fluffy.  Add in lemon zest.  Add flour mixture and then add in lemon juice and lemon extract.  Pat dough into 9"x9" ungreased pan. Place your hands over the pan and imagine the intent as being there already.  Bake 20-25 minutes.

Cut into squares. 

Love Champions: Heart Chakra Healers

Ohio 2012 State HS Track Meet

“When you have love in your heart, you draw the very best out of everyone, for love sees only the best and therefore draws forth the best. Be not afraid; open up, hold nothing back, and let it all flow freely.” ~ Eileen Cady

“Always show more kindness than seems necessary, because the person receiving it needs it more than you will ever know.” ~ Colin Powell

 “Only when we give joyfully, without hesitation or thought of gain, can we truly know what love means.” ~ Leo Buscaglia

My son came home from the Ohio’s 2012 State High School Track Meet finals very excited.  He said I had to see the pictures he took on his cell phone: “It was so great.”  I initially thought it was a picture of one of his classmates winning one of the races or a field event.  He showed me his tiny cell phone screen; it was a picture similar to the Associate Press pick-up (Picture above).  He gave me a play-by-play commentary on how the West Liberty 3200 meter runner, Ms. Vogel, picked up the injured girl (her competitor) and helped her across the finish line.  Ms. Vogel was coming up from behind and then pushed her across the line before her.  His coach was quickly told the team: “This is what good sportsmanship is all about.  It’s what you keep talking about.”  My son then said the whole stadium crowd stood and applauded.  Looking at the picture, I thought no this is what love looks like.

That picture went viral.  People seemed to share Ms. Vogel’s act of kindness.  However, there were others who didn’t feel the same way.  Paraphrasing one American radio talk show host, he felt Ms. Vogel’s act was another indication of the decline in American culture which is suffering from a decline of “hard manliness” (Columbus Dispatch).   I sit back and wonder – when did kindness, caring and loving cease being a part of American’s core ideal?   Founding Father Thomas Jefferson stated: "Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence."

The backlash against someone doing showing kindness isn’t an isolated incident.  I’ve been seeing it on a more frequent basis – just turn on the news or drive in traffic during our heat record days.  Even on the PBP, some of the writers have received “nasty messages.”  Sadly, part of me believes if Mother Theresa would have demonstrated Ms. Vogel’s act of compassion even she would have received put-downs.   It is my belief that the decades of oppressive, cruel and hateful behavior are now enshrined as the Great American Archetype, the hero who has true grit and will stand their ground using these behaviors.  Somewhere, the pieces “about pulling together” and “helping someone up” has been cut out of the American quilt.  I also believe based on the work done by Caroline Myss, these behaviors exhibited, indicate symptoms to a greater problem – imbalanced chakras at both an individual and society level. 

~#~

7 Chakra Energy Centers

“Sometimes there’s more in the picture than meets the eye.”  Both my Grandmothers always used this phrase.  The same can be said about the human body.   We can see and touch the body that’s in a solid state, but what we can’t see are the numerous energy bodies both within and around the body (i.e., Etheric, Astral, Mental and Spiritual).  Each of these bodies gives off different electromagnetic wave frequency. 

Chakras are the seven major and 122 minor energy centers found in the body and provide the connection between physical body, its energy bodies and the cosmic source (Motherfather Spirit). 

Chakras have been described as specific types of flowers, spinning vortexes and wheels.  Each are spinning and emitting energy at different frequencies.  The seven chakras’ frequencies relate to the colors found in the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet.   The size and brightness of a person’s chakras vary due to multiple factors such as age, physical condition, energy levels, disease, or stress.  Additionally, each chakra provides a specific challenge for one’s spiritual quest on this earthly plane.    

“The state of each chakra reflects the health of a particular area of your body. It also reflects your psychological, emotional and spiritual well-being.  Every thought and experience you've ever had in your life gets filtered through these chakra databases. Each event is recorded into your cells. In other words, your biography becomes your biology.  When chakra energy is blocked or misdirected, emotional and physical illness can arise” (Myss).

~#~

The Heart Chakra is an interesting energy center.  It contains lessons about our relationships with others, how we accept ourselves and our gifts, love, commitment and compassion, hatred, grief, and self-centeredness.   It also understood that the Heart Chakra maintains a sense of balance between the three chakras found above (experiences mentally and intellectually) and three chakras found below (experiences in the physical world).  It does this by providing stability to the mind and body by integrating the messages received by the other six chakras.  In many cultures and faith traditions, the Heart Chakra is considered the central home to the spirit or soul. 

One could say that their Heart Chakra is in balance if they if they have no problem with accepting themselves and others and having an understanding and ability to use and share their unique gifts and talents with the world.  This person understands that we are all interconnected and need to care for each other.  They are forgiving, trusting and nonjudgmental and people feel good around them.

If you are feeling or acting in the following manner: dishonest with money, possessive, jealous, reckless, angry, resentful, cruel, fearful  – your Heart Chakra is out of balance.  If people are avoiding you – you might self-reflect on these behaviors and emotions.

~#~

Activities that help heal my heart chakra

People move in and out of balance in all their Chakras.  For me, my imbalance is a result of forgetting to take care of myself.  This means: eating candy for stress rather than taking a walk; not taking a lunch break which includes a walk; not journaling; clutter overload because I plant myself in front of the TV.

I'm a firm believer in the phrase: "Healer - heal thy self first."  If you aren't together there's no way you will be able to help others, let alone help the world.  I'm also a believer in leading by example - in this case healing by example.  

Below are some of the tools I use on myself - you may find these helpful or find out what works for you.  As I've stated before in this blog, sometimes you may need some assistance in healing old wounds.  A CCWWW has no problem seeking a licensed counselor or a social worker to help out - (note the second W is for wise not weak). 

Good stones/crystals to meditate with - All the green stones – I’ve had good success with moss agate, green jasper.  Additionally, I have a nice piece of rose quarts that I use. 

A meditation I like in general.  There are many "healing the heart chakra" on youtube.  I really like meditating to Andreas Vollenweider.  

Journaling or a good hike in the woods.

Foods that health the heart chakra

•Leafy vegetables: spinach, kale, dandelion greens, etc.

•Air vegetables: broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, squash, etc.

•Liquids: green teas

•Spices: basil, sage, thyme, cilantro, parsley

Moosewood Green Goddess Dressing - served over a bed of mixed greens
Moosewood is my favorite restaurant in Ithica, NY.  If you are headed out to hike in the Adirondack or Vermont traveling from Ohio - a great place to stop.

1 cup vegetable oil (olive oil)

2 tablespoons cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon honey or 2 tablespoons apple juice

5 to 6 spinach leaves

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

1 teaspoon fresh (or dried) basil

1 teaspoon fresh (or dried) marjoram

1 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 cup buttermilk

Blend all of the ingredients, except the buttermilk, for one minute. While the blender is running, slowly pour in the buttermilk. As soon as the dressing thickens, turn off the blender or the dressing will separate and become runny. It should be thick and creamy. Chill at least 30 minutes so the flavors have a chance to meld. Other herbs can be used to vary this dressing. Dill, tarragon, oregano, a dab of Dijon mustard and freshly ground black pepper are all possible additions or substitutions. Fresh herbs in season are always our choice when available. Yogurt or sour cream may be substituted for the buttermilk. However, buttermilk makes the creamiest and stable (non-separating) dressing. Refrigerated and tightly covered, it will stay fresh for up to a week. If the dressing separates, re-blend.

Makes about 2 cups (16 servings).

Approximate values per serving: 129 calories, 14 g fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 1 g protein, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 fiber, 152 mg sodium, 98 percent calories from fat.

Heart Healing Ice Tea

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon balm leaves

• 2 tablespoon fresh lavender buds

• 2 cups hot water

• 2 cups cold water and ice

1. Steep lemon balm and lavender in boiling water about 3    minutes.
2. Add cold water and ice to pitcher
3. Strain tea into pitcher
4. Serve over additional ice (lemon wedges are optional).

Note - I like my tea strong.  If this is too much for you dilute it.  

Bibliography:

Myss, Caroline. Anatomy of the Spirit. Crown Publishing Inc. 1996.

Myss, Caroline. “Chakras.” 2010. www.myss.com Web. 29, 2012. http://myss.com/library/chakras/