Here is another list to stick on your computer monitor or on your fridge or even on your mirror. It is a simple reminder that we can let go of our ego and listen with our heart.
When we listen with our heart, it is easy to be kind, happy, and in harmony with the world.
This is an easy list to practice on a daily basis and it does not take much effort. This list is really about being in love with life and with every thing around us. Enjoy your next year.
Many blessings,
Judy
Prep Time: 20 Min Cook Time: 25 Min Ready In: 5 Min 8 Servings
3 1/2 cups peeled and diced potatoes
1/3 cup diced celery
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3/4 cup diced cooked ham
3 1/4 cups water
2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1 teaspoon ground white or black pepper, or to taste
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
Combine the potatoes, celery, onion, ham and water in a stockpot. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium heat until potatoes are tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the chicken bouillon, salt and pepper. In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour with a fork, and cook, stirring constantly until thick, about 1 minute. Slowly stir in milk as not to allow lumps to form until all of the milk has been added. Continue stirring over medium-low heat until thick, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir the milk mixture into the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through. Serve immediately.
Many blessings,
Judy
I saw this poster, and thought,
“That is the problem we have today, everyone would rather fight than try to work things out. I think that it is a product of impatience, and ego, and training. We have learned through history that the one with the bigger stick seems to win. So, that is what we focus on – winning. Winning is really a form of losing when the solution only solves the problem for one person or group. If you win, you have failed, as a leader, because not everyone is happy. While I agree that there are some folks that you will probably never satisfy, the majority are happy and look for solutions to what keeps them from doing their job, or from living their life in peace and with ease.”
Perhaps I am wrong in my thoughts. Perhaps this poster has it right. Perhaps we should defend ourselves, and do what is in our power to prevail over others with our own thoughts and values.
What are your thoughts?
Blessings
Judy
It is not very often that a day is really awful.
Here is a start to your list.
Now – you can finish it. If you need help, check out the rest of the list at http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/101-ways-to-feel-happy-on-a-daily-basis.html.
Many Blessings This Day,
Judy
The big day, Christmas Day, is over. The guests have gone. Leftover food is bagged and frozen. The beds are stripped and in the laundry. Tired and energy flagging, everyone wonders what day it is and whether there is something they should be doing but forgot. Some folks are taking advantage of Boxing Day sales and going out to Nature to rebalance and reenergize.
How do you manage your time between the two days? The toll that Christmas takes from all of us means that we need to have lots of water and lots of green food - veggies and salads to bring our body back to balance.
Many Blessings,
Judy
Picture is from an email so the original source is unknown.
Clients and friends tell me that they find it difficult to sleep at night between Christmas and New Year and even into January. Part of the reason may be that the Sun is still low in the sky and the days are shorter than we would like. Part of the reason may be too that as we move into the next year, we are unsettled. Meditation and chanting can help improve sleep.
Most people think that chanting is part of meditating and that it needs to be done in an upright, lotus position as shown in the picture above. That is simply not true.
Yes, chants are used in meditation. Fact, chants are meditation and can be done anywhere. That is why, when I am having trouble sleeping, and say one, two or all of the chants below until I fall deeply into sleep.
My favorite chant is "The Loving Kindness" chant. The version that I learned goes like this...
May I be filled with loving kindness. May I be well.
May I be peaceful and at ease. May I be happy.
May you be filled with loving kindness. May you be well.
May you be peaceful and at ease. May you be happy.
May we be filled with loving kindness. May we be well.
May we be peaceful and at ease. May we be happy.
The chant that I learned back in the nineties is the OM chant. "Om Mani Padme Hum". I can say this chant for about twenty minutes before I am asleep. You can look up the meaning of this chant. However, the Dalai Lama says that this chant will...
“transform your impure body, speech and mind into the pure body, speech and mind of a Buddha.”
Love starts from your house, to your neighborhood, to your community, to your nation and to the whole world. Spread love to all those you meet. Let everyone feel the Universal love that raises us all. Merry Christmas to you!
To all of you that have been reading my blog and to those of you that send me emails and post comments, “Thank you!” Thank you for taking time to acknowledge that the writing resonates with you.
Love, light, and laughter,
Judy
“This year, work to be like Cardinal. Here is Cardinal's message.
Have a wonderful Christmas Eve.
Blessings,
Judy
If you are one of the people that felt incredible energy shifts that have been happening to us on Earth since the Full Moon on December 7 2022, then know that you are not alone. Many that feel the change talk about being tired all the time. Others speak of feeling small aches in their bodies that sap the energy from them. These small aches are changes happening at a cellular level in real time.
Astrologers and mystics are writing about the change that is needed to bring humans and the Earth or Mother Nature back into balance. Shaman talk about the energy required to shift humans from being apathetic and from being narcissists to becoming spiritual beings. The process is about changing the concept of "taking because 'I' deserve it" to one of "what is in the best interest of all of us as a group". The change is hard.
Some of the changes that need to happen on an individual basis include:
For some, these changes will not happen and they will not be able to contend with the growing vibration of goodness and rightness and integrity. When they cannot shed core beliefs, they will fall to terminal illnesses.
Those that do shift will experience peace, steadfastness, quiet joy, and an expansion of vision - seeing what needs to be done. The stress lifts. A new connection with animals emerges.
It is all good.
Many blessings,
Judy
Where do we find time to be mindful? All the time! It is a choice to be mindful. It is a choice to be distracted. It is a choice to be at one with what you are doing.
When you hear the phrase, "be with me now", then you know it is time to let go of the busy-ness that piles up on our shoulders. Shake it off! Breathe! Let it all go.
This is your day to be mindful all day, in everything that you do.
This time of year, our mind is full and we need to be able to breathe through the stress so that we can accomplish what we need to do without getting all stressed out. It is difficult to change our behavior. Three deep breaths in and out and you will feel the tension lesson around your shoulders. Let it go.
Blessings,
Judy
Over the last twenty years, I have attended quite a few winter solstice events and hosted a dozen or so winter solstice ceremonies with my husband. We love the time of the longest night as the celebration of the closing of Nature’s year and the welcoming of the new year ahead. There is excitement about moving from a short amount of daylight to a day that gets longer light.
Past celebrations start with smudging all the guests and then creating a sacred space to hold the ceremony. After the sacred space is invoked, I lead several short meditations, we have some drumming and fire ceremony - even if it is the fireplace - and close with a sharing circle and then closing the sacred space. After the ceremony, we have food and chatting and laughing.
The ceremony, for me, is a tradition that helps me keep my spiritual balance through out the year. It is a time where the camaraderie of the Tribe of people that attend our gatherings increases the energy of the prayers and meditations that we do, and, increases the energy in our house.
I am grateful for our celebrations and togetherness. I wish you peace, love, and sanctuary at this Winter Solstice.
Blessings,
Judy
The grumbling I have been hearing about not having enough time for Christmas… how there is not enough of it; how we don't need daylight savings time anymore; how it seemed to be getting darker at an earlier time, and how much time friends and family take, never mind the amount of time you spend at work. And, who has time for Christmas shopping?
If we did not have clocks and if we did not have time, would we still do the same things? Would we still need to find food to feed ourselves? Yes! Would we still need to make sure that we had shelter? Yes! Would we still do things with friends and family? Yes! We would act mostly in the same way.
So what does it mean when people say, "I can't take time for that!" What they are really saying is that they do not really want to do the activity in question.
Yet, we need to find the time to be compassionate for our self and for others. We need to find time to be in harmony with our friends and family. We need to find time for self healing. We must absolutely find time to live our life, to love, to meditate, and to be mindful.
Many blessings.
Judy
Just being more conscious of one's self will make this Christmas a much easier time for you. The list above is to stick on your fridge, or in your wallet so that you don't forget. Too often, we forget that if we don't care for self first, no one else will do it for us. No one can sleep more for us, or drink more water for us. Others cannot exercise for us or relax us. Those things must come from inside us.
Make a pledge to yourself that this Christmas season, you will be kind to yourself first, and then kind to others.
Many blessings.
Winter snow - Picture by Judy Hirst
It is December and Christmas is very close. Do you know the following things about December?
1. The Moon celebration is called "The Moon of Long Nights".
2. During this time, the water is believed to be revitalized.
3. The event of Winter Solstice, held on either December 21st or 22nd depending on the length of the year. This honours the longest night and the return of the Sun Goddess, Lucina.
4. Our Ancestors thought that December was a time to endure, for the elderly to die, and for the world, and their life, to be reborn.
5. During this cold time of December, our Ancestors spent time on introspection and renewal - weaving new clothes, creating new tools, honouring the Gods and Goddesses.
6. It is common for people to use this time as time of purification. People have saunas and roll in the snow. Others participate in sweat lodges. Some simply steam. The hot and the cold are the balance to purify our bodies.
7. The trees that we honour at this time are the family of evergreens - pine trees will be decorated for Christmas
8. The colour traditionally associated with Christmas was dark red.
Many blessings,
Judy
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Since I was little, I have been intrigued by tales of the Nightingale. She is featured in many fairy tales, such as “The Nightingale” by Hans Christian Anderson. In all of the stories, people want to own the Nightingale to possess her beautiful song.
For this Christmas, Nightingale brings a message that true freedom is not about being able to capture and control things and people or animals; true freedom is about being free to let all beings act and live exactly as they are meant to… unconditionally as nature intended.
Nightingale’s message is also in this beautiful traditional Christmas carol from Spain.
The Gift
A poor orphan girl named Maria
Was walking to market one day
She stopped for a rest by the roadside
Where a bird with a broken wing lay
A few moments passed till she saw it
For it's feathers were covered with sand
But soon clean and wrapped it was travelling
In the warmth of Maria's small hand
She happily gave her last peso
On a cage made of rushes and twine
She fed it loose corn from the market
And watched it grow stronger with time
Now the Christmas Eve service was coming
And the church shone with tinsel and light
And all of the townfolks brought presents
To lay by the manger that night
There were diamonds and incense
And perfumes
In packages fit for a king
But for one ragged bird in a small cage
Maria had nothing to bring
She waited till just before midnight
So no one would see her go in
And crying she knelt by the manger
For her gift was unworthy of Him
Then a voice spoke to her through the darkness
Maria, what brings you to me
If the bird in the cage is your offering
Open the door and let me see
Though she trembled, she did as He asked her
And out of the cage the bird flew
Soaring up into the rafters
On a wing that had healed good as new
Just then the midnight bells rang out
And the little bird started to sing
A song that no words could recapture
Whose beauty was fit for a king
Now Maria felt blessed just to listen
To that cascade of notes sweet and long
As her offerings was lifted to heaven
By the very first nightingale's song
-Unknown Author
You can listen to Garth Brooks sing this beautiful Christmas song at The Gift - YouTube. Remember that links to YouTube change over time so this song may disappear.
Many blessings,
Judy
Many blessings
Judy
“Yellow Roses” - Picture by Judy
The Oxford Dictionary defines family in several ways… one definition is “all the descendants of a common ancestor”. That is a really big definition! It is even bigger if you think that genealogy blood work shows that we are all descended from “the seven daughters of Eve”. This is actually the name of a book written by Brian Sykes. Check it out for Christmas season reading.
Back to the point - family is big. When one of the family members does you wrong, it is very hard to forgive the family member. So much that needs to be forgiven happens in families…
You get the picture of some of the family actions that require forgiving. Even worse, some of these activities cause individuals to stay stuck in a place where they relive the moments and feel the recurring pain.
There are many practices that one can use for forgiving family members. What many do not understand is that forgiveness does not mean accepting the family member. Forgiveness does not mean you have to be buds with the family member or that you have to like what they did or even like them. Just as you choose your friends that you hang out with, you can choose which family members that you associate with. Forgiveness means that you can move on in your life without them, that they no longer have a hold on your life.
In the process of forgiveness, the Abundance and Healing take hold in your life. You can now move forward. You can follow your own path.
Blessings,
Judy
Picture from Cropsandsoil.oregonstate.edu
A while ago, I had a bad reaction to some food that I ate. I was sick to my stomach and my hands and feet and face swelled. My husband suggested that I do a journey via karma clearing to see what was causing the reaction.
As I tumbled back in time, I heard the words – NIGHTSHADE, Potatoes, Peppers, apples, plums, peaches…. and then I saw different vignettes of me eating a food, and choking and dying. There were quite a number of foods that did this, however, mostly they came from the nightshade family. Not knowing exactly what this family contained, I looked it up and found…. The nightshade family or potato family includes Datura (Jimson weed), mandrake, deadly nightshade (belladonna), capsicum (paprika, chili pepper), potato, tobacco, tomato, eggplant and petunia.There are superstitious beliefs about the nightshade family (Potatoes, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant) and how they may harm the immune system or be unfit to eat. Actually, many of the vegetables in the nightshade family are staples in one's diet, particularly in the Middle East where Eggplant, Peppers and Tomatoes are eaten in abundance. These vegetables are also known for their great medicinal purposes. However, they may be poisonous to some like me.
I also did some research on Apples and found “Apples - apple seeds like the seeds of some other fruits in the rose family such as peaches and bitter almonds, contain cyanide. It's part of the apple's way of protecting its offspring. The level of cyanide is quite low, but if you store up a whole lot of apple seeds and eat them all at once, you can ingest enough cyanide to hurt or even kill you.” Did I mention that in one life, I seemed to die of cyanide poisoning? It seems that the different types of peppers also can do a number on my system.
In the karma clearing, I asked for all reactions to all of the fruits and vegetables that I reacted with to be healed across all space and time and that the healing be brought into the present moment now and for all time to come. So far, I am okay with green peppers and potatoes.
May you enjoy your food whole heartedly
Many blessing,
Judy
(Reach me at lightstationwisdom@gmail.com)
I recently watched the first “Avatar” movie as part of my preparation for watching the sequel - Avatar II. As I watched, it made me think about “trust”. There are so many examples of trust and trust that is broken that one wonders how to trust anyone.
The Archangels tell us that we often put our trust in people that only wish to use and abuse us. We need to find people that we can really trust – or people who can really say, "I see you" – the famous line from the movie, "Avatar".
Often, people draw us in because they have an agenda that they think we can help them fulfill. A relationship based on an agenda is a false friendship, and one that will let you down.
Today, check in and see where you place your trust.
Blessings,
Judy
When people come to me to learn how to read the Tarot cards, I tell them that they must find a deck or two that feel right to them. If they do not already have a sense of a deck, I usually start them out on two of my favourite decks - either the Universal Tarot by Maxwell Miller or the Zen Transformational Tarot by Osho. Although the Zen deck reflects a Buddhist path, the journey depicted in the cards is true of most people's lives.
The first card in any Tarot deck is "The Fool". I love this card because it is a happy card. It speaks of innocence and joy! Who of us does not want to achieve a state of joy that provides harmony in all that we do?
The first step in understanding any card is to look at the picture , at the central figure or item, and then look at all the supporting pictures or symbols as we move out from the central picture. In this card, the picture of a young man or woman - possibly in their late teens or early twenties - is looking expectantly into the sky, and offering a charming bouquet of flowers to whomever they seem to see. The uncomfortable part of this figure, for us, is that the person is dressed unusually colourful and is stepping off a cliff into space. We say that this person is not acting normally and must be a fool to do something so dangerous.
The opposite interpretation is probably more accurate and begins the message of this card. The person stepping off the cliff does so with absolute trust, and shows their trust to the heavens - what we would call The Universe, Great Spirit, or Mother/Father God - by offering a gift, and showing no hesitation in taking this BIG step. We may even feel some jealousy that someone is able to take that big a risk without any fear. Fear is so pervasive in our lives that we believe all people should feel fear.
As we move out to examine the rest of the picture, it becomes clear that even if the Fool falls from the cliff, the river below will cushion the fall and carry the person on a great adventure. The clouds lie below the person and give the impression of big, pillowy cushions that will soften any fall or journey the person may take. Indeed, the individual will step off into LOVE and experience the ONENESS of all. This card shows how we may depend on NATURE to carry us just as the ANGELS carry us.
Osho says: "A fool is one who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it……………In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you." Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 2
If this card turns up in a reading, the querent is being asked to return to their natural state and to trust their instinct. It is about knowing that the message from The Universe is true, and that any action taken is fully supported by the ONENESS of all things. You may ANGER some by your actions, however, this card is about TRUST.
May your journey be an adventure unhindered by your family and friends. And may they stand by you as you travel.
Blessings,
Judy
Picture on Peace from a friend’s email
It is December and our thoughts turn to Christmas… staff parties, buying presents, family gatherings, and a demand on one’s time to meet all the obligations. It is a time of stress!
A common Christmas carols says – Peace on Earth, Goodwill to man – I think it is from "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day". The song was on the car radio. I started thinking… peace. For many it means no war or persecution. For others, it means not having to deal with anything that is drama or is negative.
I like this poster that says, and I paraphrase, peace is being calm in your heart. That feels right.
Many blessings,
Judy
