December 29, 2012

This girl has totally inspired me to buy a hula hoop. (Not the girl at the end!)

The Grasshoper Totem

As an animal totem, the grasshopper appeals to artists, musicians and dancers. To wit, the lilting song this creature emits is an inspiration to our muse; its skittering and jumping is divine choreography. The artist within us all easily recognizes the grasshopper making its own dance steps, and grooving to its own special melody.

The grasshopper moves to its own rhythm and tune, indicating this creature is a advocate of intuition and listening to our inner voices. The grasshopper encourages us to listen to our own stirrings – those beautiful chirping lullaby’s that sing in our hearts are indications of our inner beauty and creativity. The grasshopper totem reminds us these inner musings must never be silenced – rather, they should be nurtured, and always remain as the background music to the performance of our lives.

The grasshopper chooses those of us who are innovators, forward-thinkers, and those who progress in life by unorthodox methods. This is because grasshopper symbolism recognizes tremendous leaps of faith, impressive jumps in progress and consistent forward momentum. Those with this totem are likely to aim high, and achieve amazing feats – they take great leaps where others fear to tread (or jump, in this case).

Another special feature of the grasshopper totem is that it calls to those who have natural clairvoyant abilities. Just as the grasshopper uses thousands of tiny eyes to formulate the “big picture” so too do those whom the grasshopper is called. In other words, those with this totem are visionaries. They see things intuitively, seeing beyond what the concrete world holds, and they use this special vision to see the world with a childlike wonder.

We can call upon the grasshopper when we need a sense of adventure in our lives. When we feel stuck in a rut, the grasshopper can bounce us into magical viridian worlds filled awe and joy.
The grasshopper can also help us when we need a little creative inspiration. If muses kept pets – the grasshopper would certainly be a first choice.

 For a huge list of  symbolic meanings visit http://www.whats-your-sign.com/index.html

I swear this girl is a fairy. I sooooo love Joanna Newsom

Here is my tree sighting for today. Looks happy to me.

Tree Spirits

Huna is a philosophy of ancient Hawaiian magical
shamanism and healing. In Huna, it is believed that everything is "alive,
responsive and aware" therefore everything has a spirit. Huna teaches that
spirits are connected even if they are of different life forms. For instance,
human spirits connect more closely with other human spirits. But, human spirits
connect with animal spirits as well, especially dogs and horses. Huna states
that human spirits also have a very spiritual link to the tree. 

Supposedly, tree spirits
act as guardians and protectors. 

Here are some pictures that I have taken of trees recently. 

I have not always seen things like this. Only in the past year or so.

December 8, 2012

When I got home today there was a dead grackle on my back patio. It was very strange and very sad.
My dog went right past it like it wasn't even there. There were no wounds or bugs on it.
I just took it as another sign.

If you are a believer in spirit animals, this is what a grackle symbolizes.

Grackles are very happy birds that look past the emotional turmoil and find joy in the smallest of things. Black is the color of the inner and the feminine and the purple and bronze coloring around the head usually indicate that emotions are coloring the thinking process.
Situations are not always what they appear to be; particularly when dealing with emotions. Emotions that are not dealt with can even go on to produce physical congestion in the body.
Grackles love to live in pine trees and the essence of pine can be used to help alleviate strong emotional states, particularly feelings of guilt.
The grackle showing up is a sign that it is time to clear away emotional congestion and to deal with your emotions.

This print can be found here

This Guy Rules

My New Plant- Gynura Procumbens

It is said that Gynura Procumbens (Longevity Spinach)
• Lowers blood sugar (diabetes), cholesterol (lipid, serum, triglyceride levels).
• Topical inflammation, rheumatism, viral ailments, diarrhea, dysentery, febrifuges, hypertension, urinary tract infection, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic.
• Anti-cancer: Inhibition effect on growth of cancer cells. 
• Contains Asparaginase, kind of enzyme to inhibit protein syntheses by hydrolyzing asparagines (amino acid which is very essentially, needed by cancer/tumor cells) into aspartic acid and ammonia, so the cancer cells/tumor cells will stop growing and die.
• Poultice: relieves rheumatic and general body-pains.

From what I have read you can gain the health benefits of this plant from eating 3-7 raw leaves per day.

Please Note:
Spinach contains purines, which are organic compounds that your body turns into uric acid. Having high levels of uric acid in your body increases your risk of developing kidney stones. The oxalic acid in spinach can also cause the levels of calcium oxalate in your urine to rise, which can also promote kidney stones.

When I first heard about this plant and it's healing abilities I searched like crazy to find some in the United States. I found 3 people growing and selling it. I wound up buying mine from a lovely Etsy seller named Wendi. To view the listing for these incredible plants please visit here. Gynura Procumbens