| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Clare |
Posted - Apr 15 2004 : 12:49:11 PM
Just thought I'd throw this topic "out there" to see if any of you relate in a similar way.
I find that my gardening/yard time is actually a deeply spiritual experience that has theraputic value for me. The rhythm of tending to my gardens, even in just pulling weeds and invasive grasses is soothing.
I've come to find books and information on labyrinths to be very interesting. The thought of combining three of my interests- walking, being in a garden setting, and meditation time is quite enticing. You can learn more about them at this web site: http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm
I was so inspired by walking one that I wanted to try something similar in my own back yard. I didn't feel I had the time, energy or resources to do a true labyrinth, so I decided to use my lawn mower and cut a spirial into my grass. I've had it for three years now and really like it. My yard is somewhat secluded, so I don't feel too self-conscious walking it and find that it is a great centering tool for me. (And, as an added bonus, my granddaughter and nephews LOVE to run through it. They think it's a "crop circle", but they like it anyway!)
Are there members who have other experiences to share? I'd love to hear from you! It would be nice to share the journey!
Clare
Gardener, Stitcher, Appreciator of all things Natural, & Spiritual Explorer |
| 25 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| MeadowLark |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 9:12:24 PM
Again another very cool article Clare! How timely too! All the stress of the last two weeks are being manifested in a painful muscle spasm in my neck and shoulder! I need to let nature heal... by getting back in touch with it again!
Being is what it is. Jean Paul Sartre |
| Clare |
Posted - Sep 09 2005 : 9:06:29 PM
I thought this was the best place for the link to this interesting essay. Some will find the concepts new and provocative, and others will find timeless truth within. More food for thought:
http://commongroundmag.com/2005/cg3209/natureheals3209.html
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| little feather |
Posted - Aug 15 2005 : 5:00:36 PM
Hi Ellen,
We planted a lot of sage, tyme, lavender, lambs ear, one of my favorites, elfin tyme, hen'n chicks and buttons (succulents) white bella lavender- it's so beautiful! I'll have to pull out the old list of what's all in there!
Thank you for the great link! It's wonderful. Good luck and lots of fun with your project!
Where ever you go, go with all your heart!
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 10:00:57 AM
Sqrlbee I like your thinking where is the dust that has not been alive?
Are we all from the primordial stew gene machine?
Thanks for your link too.
Have you ever got up early when the dew is on the spider webs and mounted them?
One more thing before I pull my boots on is worry and doubt prayers and visualizations maybe self full filln programing for things you do not want? What was that Butterfly effect thing?
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 14 2005 : 09:59:36 AM
Thanks for the website Tawyna. What did you put in the sensory garden?
Did anybody see the links page she has with the virtual labyrinth from the labyrinth society? what do you feel on sacred geometry? Is that the healer? how do we restore a sacred sense for this generation?
Looks like I will be visiting this http://www.labyrinthsociety.org/html/labyrinth_walk.html
for a read but got to go finish up what I started yesterday. I'm ditching in some wire for electric down by the pond.Then got to see ifn should I do moonlighting or path lighting?Doing this woody vine pulling I finding all kinds of yellow what I'm calling lilies but they maybe some kinda swamp iris. Anybody know?They have yellow flowers with spots inside and flat leaves and lots of babies coming off by way of shoots. |
| Eileen |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 3:29:08 PM
That Boxwood hedge in Ireland is just exactly like what I was dreaming of building from my little boxwood starts. It would probably take 10 years for them to become full and trimable. I stll may just do it! I loved the labyrinth we made in my lawn with cornstarch for a ceremony earlier this spring and walked it as long as I could still see it. I believe it was the same labyrinth as in Ireland.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
| sqrl |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:54:42 PM
Wow wee, now this is my kind a talk. I agree with on all points. When you allow yourself to be open to the energies of the Earth you can feel, smell and taste her energy. Remember we are all made of the same stuff, the same atoms just in different combinations. Ya know the the only difference between human life blood and plant life blood is one atom. they have magnesium and we have iron
Blessed Be
www.sqrlbee.com/artisan
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| little feather |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:52:33 PM
My pleasure.
Our local Hosiptal, John Muir, uses the Labyrinth to bring patients to.
They've told me that they look so forward to being able to walk the Labyrinth each week. I believe that it is very healing!
Where ever you go, go with all your heart!
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| Clare |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:18:57 PM
Oh WOW Tawyna, another fantastic labyrinth!!! Thank you for sharing, too!
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| little feather |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:14:02 PM
Oh, wow, did I stumble onto an amazing thread here! As I've read through, I found myself in tears over and over as topics change from one spiritual realization to yet another!
Where to begin to add my thoughts and feelings?
First- through my spiritual re-education I have found that GOD 'is' the space between all of our molecules. That he is the energy that connects everthing thing, every molecule as it vibrates. Hence- we are all one and all children of God. That is how I understand the converstaions here between Clare and Ellen.
Also, I've used this little "game" for negating negative thoughts and thought patterns. For every negative thought that pops into my mind- or if it has happened to go as far as to pop out of my mouth. I first ask for forgiveness- to forgive myself, because I know that God does, then I think of as many positive thoughts as I can to balance out the energy!
It helps me to stay focused and balanced.
I am so amazed to find so much of myself, my true heart self in the pages written here by women I have not yet met and am only just getting to know! Thank you all for sharing so much of your selves.
I too have a Labyrinth in my life. In fact, over a year ago, my Hubby and I decided to find a church. He's Catholic- I'm not! I've actually always considered myself more spiritual than religious. But, I did want my boys to have the memories I do of the "Church" family. My grandparents took me with them every summer while I visited. Some of my most precious memories. Perhaps I also made the decision for myself as well.
I found a church because of their Labyrinth. I've added their site if anyone would like to take a peek.
Since we joined the Church I've started to teach Sunday school. It's a very small church so we have a "one room Sunday school", some Sunday's only being my own children.
My first project was to plant a "sensory" garden with all the kids during Sunday school. It was one of the most rewarding experiences
I've had yet!
Thanks for letting me share!
Lots of love and positive energy!!
http://webspace4me.net/~cgibbens/index.html
Where ever you go, go with all your heart!
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:05:55 PM
or is that babble like a brook
Race you back outside!!! |
| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 12:03:16 PM
Clare
Thanks for taking the time to answer my ponderings. I am literally pond ering. I am clearing out around our pond and fixing to add a pump to get a little action/sound. Keep running in on my water/lunch/tea breaks to catch up with you here. Kinda nice to find somebody inside to chat. Now if you could just fan me. LOL just kidding LOL I do enjoy finding somebody to bounce my thought off.
The pond has a good supply of duck weed/water hyacinths/lilys/cattails and papyrus. The herons have been roosting near by so who knows if the fish are all gone. It is being over run by the vines...so I'm trying to look at the chaos theory like looking underneath all these vines. I realize uncertainty affects every teeny weeny electron and we don’t know if those electrons are going to live life as a particle or a wave …kinda unsettling.
So do I have a bet on my lumpy chunk of the universe?
Meditation for me has been like one of those shake up snow domes thingies.I have to wait for the flaky stuff in my mind to settle down before I can see what I truly need.
Renovation has become my motion.I'm pulling struggling on these vines bent over:::grunt grumble puff puff::: it isn’t some big chain wrapped around here, if I sit back relax and use my body's ballast to tow them out, they are just twigs. The 1000vine mess begins with one pull.
Anybody got any clues on how to keep the honeysuckle from the grape? Got crafty ideas on what to do with grape vines? My other stumper is how to get a old horse trough over there to step down as a spill off/waterfall into the pond...so I can babble with the brook. ;)
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| Clare |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 10:52:53 AM
Well, Ellen, I certainly do not have all the answers and am continually learning and growing and accepting as I am able to grasp new concepts. Here's the short answers to your questions, for to go in depth takes more time/space than we have here, plus I may not know the complete answers yet... in fact, I'm pretty sure of that! 
Now you got me wondering are we like tiny fish surrounded by a field of water but unable to see this water? Does what is going on in this field send out waves that affect us? I believe so. Like the consciousness of a collective. Our govt. is an example
Likewise, what we do and ***think*** sends out waves into this field around us? Absolutely!!!! All thought is creative. What we send out comes back.. hence a very good reason not to dwell on negative thoughts.
Man, I'm creating tidal waves! How do we block the negative thoughts from seeing how to best get to our goals? By consciously choosing to re-frame our thoughts and experiences knowing them to be those that are happening for our greater good, for our own evolution in this life experience, and knowing that "the light" does no harm. Know that you can be surrounded by the light and live in the light of this universal love.
If you are in tune, like you mentioned, are you aware when you shifted your awareness from the ordinary? I'm an extremely human, evolving woman, so some days are more conscious than others, depending on what's going on in my life. I'm learning to be grounded in it no matter what is happening.
Was it in that moment when you tapped into the energy? I don't know that I can identify one moment. I do know what got me started was questioning life. I'm 52 now, so at about 42 I was asking all the BIG questions, wondering if life was just suffering, then death. A girl friend said, "You need to read 'this' book". And that's what got me started on this journey.
Did you feel in that moment like you had a map to the path you need to take? This has been a gradual thing for me. First there was learning that this even existed. Second there was trying to wrap my mind around the concept. Third there was being open to see if this would indeed be happening in my life. Fourth there was knowing, without a doubt, that it is happening whether I am conscious of it or not. Fifth there is deciding that YES, it is real and I'm going to experience it... just being in a positive frame about it attracts the understanding into your life.
Is it intuition or synchronicity or the collective unconscious? I think they all work in unision.
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 10:03:40 AM
Clare, now you got me wondering are we like tiny fish surrounded by a field of water but unable to see this water? Does what is going on in this field send out waves that affect us? Likewise, what we do and ***think*** sends out waves into this field around us? Man, I'm creating tidal waves! How do we block the negative thoughts from seeing how to best get to our goals?
If you are in tune,like you mentioned, are you aware when you shifted your awareness from the ordinary? Was it in that moment when you tapped into the energy? Did you feel in that moment like you had a map to the path you need to take?
Is it intuition or synchronicity or the collective unconscious?
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| Clare |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 08:30:09 AM
Oh Ellen, to have a labyrinth such as the one in your link! That would be great!
As for your questions:
Aren't the molecules that vibrate at slower speeds what we presently perceive as a tree? my understanding is yes
Would the hyper fast vibrating ones be the invisible energy of our thoughts? yes, as well as Spirit/Creator/Universal Knowledge
When you speak openly from your heart and the hearts of others seem to open? YES!! provided they are open to it.
Isn't the only difference between the tree and Clare or Michele the configuration and speed of their molecules? yes, my vibration being different from theirs.
Don't the Buddhist call this mindfulness when we tap in to, what say, how a dog knows the earthquake is coming or like when as a mom knows her baby is getting close to edge or danger. I believe this is correct. Also could be called Intuition.
Where did you catch this movie? On Eileen's advise I also watched the movie. I found it at the regular video store. It is subtitled. Very good.
What do you all think about energy attracting like energy? The positivity of the tree attracting the positive thoughts from Clare and Michele? The trees are helping them to vibrate at the same harmonic level? I make a conscious decision to be in tune with nature. When we do that is when we become open to the vibrations that are happening all around us. It is then that we think beyond ourselves.
megalithic art is all spiral driven isn't it? to the best of my knowledge, yes. This is the way energy flows, and is a reflection of that. I walk my spiral daily. Very grounding and cleansing for me.
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 07:48:12 AM
Taken me a bit to go back and digest these pages! Cool thoughts that go in different directions with a couple pages. I’ve walked labyrinths.
http://www.knowth.com/labyrinth-ard.htm
megalithic art is all spiral driven isn't it?
I keep a mary garden to trot off to every morning to meditate.
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| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 07:33:36 AM
Eileen, are you talking like the invisible energies of the chaos theory? All molecules are energy. All energy is in motion at varying speeds. All around us at all times.
Aren't the molecules that vibrate at slower speeds what we presently perceive as a tree?
Would the hyper fast vibrating ones be the invisible energy of our thoughts? When you speak openly from your heart and the hearts of others seem to open?
Isn't the only difference between the tree and Clare or Michele the configuration and speed of their molecules?
Don't the Buddhist call this mindfulness when we tap in to, what say, how a dog knows the earthquake is coming or like when as a mom knows her baby is getting close to edge or danger.
Where did you catch this movie?
What do you all think about energy attracting like energy? The positivity of the tree attracting the positive thoughts from Clare and Michele? The trees are helping them to vibrate at the same harmonic level?
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| westernhorse51 |
Posted - Aug 12 2005 : 05:50:51 AM
Clare, I do understand what you mean. It is weird but ever since I was a small child I always had this "thing" for nature. Even as a teen when everyone else was into boys, all kinds of girly things, I would be up a tree! I climbed more trees in my lifetime and I still get the urge and yes, I still climb trees. One of my favorite things in life is still climbing trees. I sit up there & think, pray, cry, whatever, it is my "safe place" still. I always feel as though the tree is cradling me as silly as it may sound. With my husband illness comes alot of stress and when I cant get to a tree for whatever reason I sit on my patio in peace because my wild flowers are taller then me and I have privacy, but it doesnt beat the tree. God gave me this incredible love for nature and I try to always use it wisely and respectfully. Michele
she selects wool and flax and works with eager hands Prov.31:13 |
| Eileen |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 3:35:37 PM
Hi Clare, what a wonderful feeling it is to get that connection with those trees. I feel I have been lucky in my life to have known about those connections as long as I can remember and I am always thrilled when I find someone else who has had them.
Yes Ellen I too think it is a form of harmonic resonances. I don't know if there have ever been any studies on the subject that I can refer to but I am certain that thought energy is contagious especially when there is a lot of energy in the thought such as the panic mind set or the mob mind set, but I also think that there is a more subtle thought energy that is shared by people who share the same type of ethical beliefs or artistic patterns.
If you have not already seen it I would recommend that you check out a movie called ;"The Weeping Camel" There is a very real connection with music shared between all the creatures of the earth and every one of us including plant life have a harmonic resonance that can be discovered. They do this in the movie to heal a Camel and restore her to harmony with her baby after a long labor. It is a fascinating movie. I watched it many times to get the whole impact of what happened during the filming of this documentary.
We live in an amazing world and are truly connected to everything that is in it.
We humans are stewards and would that we all could see and hear the connecting notes.
Eileen
songbird; singing joy to the earth |
| ByHzGrace |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 1:17:10 PM
Hey I guess you just answered a question I had in the Wagon. It is ok to resurrect old threads?
Isn't this harmonic resonance? Like when I pluck my E string on my mandolin and my guitar talks back? Or what about yawns? Are invisible energy of thoughts contagious?
Ellen
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| Clare |
Posted - Aug 11 2005 : 12:41:16 PM
Reviving an old topic here, girls! I just wanted to share an experience I've been having, and I thought, ya know, I bet my Farmgirl Sistas (and Bros) could relate.
On my lunch breaks I walk in the park. We have a nice trail system here along the river. Well, since it's been 90-100 degrees for the last couple weeks, walking - even at 11:30am- really works up a sweat. I finally decided there was absolutely no reason I couldn't walk off the trail on the grass in the shady areas. So, I've been doing this... it's a great heat relief. Then... in one section of the park there are lots of oak trees, and some others I can't identify, but nice shade provided. And I walk through there. I noticed one day how calming it was to walk on the grass in the shade among the trees. Then I started reaching out and just lightly brushing my fingertips across the trees as I walk past. I'm telling ya, I get a jolt of energy from each tree that is amazing! I know we've talked before about hugging trees for grounding, so I just thought I'd pass along this new and amazing experience I'm having. I've also experimented with looking at a tree's aura/energy field ala James Redfield's books, and find that I can see it if I squint my eyes. But as soon as I blink or think about what I'm doing it's gone... but it is soooo interesting to me... We all know our environment is alive and supporting us, and this is just the proof of it applying to my own little life.
**** Love is the great work - though every heart is first an apprentice. - Hafiz
Set a high value on spontaneous kindness. - Samuel Johnson****
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| celticlady |
Posted - Jan 21 2005 : 11:31:38 AM
Bramble,
Thanks for the advice!
I was just wondering, how do you become a landscape designer?
Also, I admire you for being a stay at home mom. That takes a lot of sacrifice and commitment but it is the best thing for the kids. I too am a stay at home mom and I truly love it! Take care!
Dar
"live each day as if it were your last". |
| bramble |
Posted - Jan 11 2005 : 8:42:26 PM
Clare-- The icons are no longer on that line with my post! Just a head and a piece of paper the pencil is gone!
Dar-- The plants I mentioned to Clare all tolerate those conditions but do best if staggered in a naturalized, informal placement. I did once see nandina used as a hedge at a McDonald's of all places and it was very effective in screening a refuse area. Virginia creeper would be very fast growing and cover your fence in no time and has great fall color. I am also between Zone 5&6 but on the opposite side of the country! As for my plant knowledge...I am a seasonally "retired"
landscape designer that "moonlights" as a teacher. I've been a stay at home Mom since my son was born, doing freelance work from home for contractors and independent clients. More frustrating than fascinating but I love the creative aspect. Hope those ideas help both of you "hide" from the neighbors!
with a happy heart |
| celticlady |
Posted - Jan 11 2005 : 8:04:21 PM
There actually is a fence dividing my property and the neighbors on the east. It's a wire fence and would be good for a trailing plant. But I live in eastern washington and it gets very cold. We have a short growing season (I think we're in zone 5 if I remember right) and the fence in question is in the shade most of the day. SOOOO...what kind of pretty, flowering, TALL hedge would do well there?
Thanks for the advice Bramble, you seem to know a lot about plants.
(I only have a green thumb when there's some green dye around).
Dar
"live each day as if it were your last". |
| Clare |
Posted - Jan 11 2005 : 7:46:02 PM
Bramble, the icons should be in in the brown line across the top of any post that you make. They will not show in the posts that others make, because you can't change or delete someone else's message.
Thanks for the planting recommendations. I'll contemplate this some more. |
