Elementals Speak - Fir, Spruce, And Pine - The Christmas Trees

 It is soon time to begin looking at Christmas trees.  The Elementals shake with frustration when their beloved trees are mistakenly identified as pine, when they should be fir, or as spruce when they should be pine.  So, the Elementals asked me to give a brief lesson in how to tell the trees apart.  And, yes, they are all EVERGREENS, remember, however, that calling a tree an evergreen is like calling you a human instead of using your name.

A Guide To Recognizing Christmas Trees

 

Look for the number of needles that come out of the same spot on a twig. If a twig bears needles in groups of two, three, or five, you can safely call it a pine.

Pine Tree Branch

If the twig carries its needles singly, it’s a good bet you’ve got a fir or a spruce. If the needle has four sides and, thus, rolls easily between your fingers, it’s a spruce.

Spruce Tree Branch

Pull off a needle, and roll it between your fingers. If it feels flat and doesn’t roll easily, it’s a fir.

Fir Tree Branches

Note:  This information on the trees comes from www.finegardening.com.  I am grateful for their informative site.

Blessings,

Judy

Coyote Plays

 

Coyote has many personas in many belief systems.  In North America, Coyote is seen as a trickster.  In other places, Coyote is the messenger from the gods.  Still others think that Coyote is a special guide that warns you when trouble is coming, and tells you to beware.

Coyote comes in today to tell everyone to play more.  Her observation is that humans are too serious and that humans miss all the possibilities to increase their productivity and creativity. 

Her message is that you do not need to play for a long period of time; you just need to play to relax your focus so that you can let go of the tunnel vision that plagues many people.

Coyote says that by looking at things with a fresh eye, you can tell whether you need to be in service to the situation, or to offer a prayer for the situation, or, even whether you should be doing some soul searching around the situation.  Nature creates events to allow us to grow.

Blessings,

Judy

Wild Rice Soup Recipe From Our Ancestors

A while ago, we had friends over for a pot luck gathering.  I made several things.  However one of the favourite “eats” was this wild rice soup.  Several people said that they would serve it for Christmas, if I would share the recipe.  Some of us plan our Christmas menu ahead of time, and like to test the results before the big day.  Here is the Wild Rice Soup recipe.

  

Wild Rice Soup 

8-10 Servings 

Wild rice was, for hundreds of years, one of the -main food sources for the Indians of Minnesota. It is a large reed-like grass and grows in three to four feet of water. This grass, with its long sweeping flower cluster on top, sometimes grows eight to ten feet tall.

Ingrediants

1/2 cup wild rice ( I used ¾ of a cup of wild rice)
1 pound bacon (I left out all the bacon and drippings and added 2 tablespoons of virgin olive oil.)

3 tablespoons bacon drippings (Leave out for vegetarian soup)

1 cup finely chopped celery 
1 cup finely chopped onion 

¾ cup finely chopped red pepper
2 14¹/2-ounce cans (ready to serve) chicken broth (I used 7 cups of distilled water and a 2 vegetarian broth cubes)

2 white potatoes, cubed
2 10³/4-ounce cans cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 

Variations:

Add grated carrot, or green onions, or finely chopped leek, or finely chopped mushrooms.

Wash wild rice. Boil rice for 15 minutes and drain; set aside. If you use the bacon, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon and discard all but 3 tablespoons bacon drippings. Sauté celery, onion and green pepper or whatever veggies that you use either in the drippings, or in olive oil, until onion is transparent. Put in a large kettle and add rice, broth, mushrooms, soup and diced bacon. Cook on low heat for 1 to 3 hours.  (I find that 3 hours gives it the best flavour.)  Do not add salt.

Blessings,

Judy

Spirit Says “Play Well!”

The word of the day is “PLAY”.  Play with friends.  Play an instrument.  Jump, walk, bike, run, jog, or play with the dog.   Let yourself go and be relaxed.  You are now off duty.  In playing, you learn about yourself.  It is time to do more learning.

Things to ask yourself:

• When is the last time you laughed out loud?
• When is the last time that your body felt totally relaxed and refreshed from sleep?
• When did you simply go and have fun with your family or friends WITHOUT an agenda?
• When did you last do something for you?

Blessings,

Judy

Today’s Word - Responsibility

The Poster says:  Responsibility — No single drop of water thinks it is responsible for the flood. —Author Unknown

In this time, we all have work that we must do.  Creator is urging everyone to now take responsibility for their own lives.

• Be accountable to yourself.  The onus is on you for who you are and what you have created.
• Others are responsible for themselves.  Do not try to take away their journey by making decisions for them, or assuming responsibility.
• Remove yourself from victimhood.  You have choices in your life that you can make everyday, in every moment.  And, you can take responsibility for them.
• Make mistakes and acknowledge them as a learning experience that adds to your wisdom.

Blessings,

Judy

Staying In Balance

Sometimes, I get what I call “odd” messages when I am in meditation.  By odd, I mean that the information is not framed in my common images or understanding of things.  When the frame of reference is not common, I have to do a bit of research.  The theme of the information was balance.  I found this short lesson from Osho and had an “Ah ha” moment.

The Art of Staying in Balance

The most difficult thing, the almost impossible thing for the mind, is to remain in the middle, to remain balanced. And to move from one thing to its opposite is the easiest. To move from one polarity to another is the nature of the mind. 

It is difficult for the mind to come to the right diet, difficult for the mind to stay in the middle. It is just like a clock's pendulum. The pendulum goes to the right, then it moves to the left, then again to the right, and again to the left; the clock's working depends on this movement.

If the pendulum stays in the middle, the clock stops. And when the pendulum moves to the right, you think it is only going to the right, but at the same time it is gathering momentum to go to the left. The more it moves to the right, the more energy it gathers to move to the left, and vice versa.  - Osho

Many blessings,

Judy

A Message From White Tiger

 

White Tiger entered my space and announced that it was here to walk with me for a while.  I was startled.  A white animal usually means that something big, in a spiritual sort of way, is going to happen to you, and generally, it involves a confrontation of some kind.  This was not good news!

White Tiger said slowly and quietly, “There is nothing to fear.  Now, you need a teacher to walk with you.  I have asked to come to do this thing.  You and other humans are interesting to me.”

With that comment, White Tiger sent me some thoughts to share with others.

• Learn to really “see”.  So much of what you see is not true.  Learn to expand your mind and to try to see the things behind the picture.  Learn to see in the darkness.  You can you know – you have just been told that you cannot.
• Mark your territory.  This is about learning to create boundaries.  You need to set boundaries at home, at work, at play, with your family and with your friends.  Too many have forgotten that boundaries are about asking permission.  Many assume they have the right to do any number of things.
• Adapt your covering (clothes) to the places that you will travel.  There is a caution about drawing too much attention to yourself.

Many blessings,

Judy