Poetry from the Heart-Part 5

I cannot speak for all women, only for myself.  I have noticed in my own life as I transcended to a different section of the trinity, I began to see life differently.  The changes I seen were not a couple of things here and there, but for me it was a full transition.  Often the changes happened so fast that it felt like a whirlwind running at high speed.  We learn a whole new way-and our path becomes a different trail.  But the more you can just flow with these experiences, the more you will come to realize, that is all part of our spiritual growth.  The good, the bad, the ugly, all of it is part of learning new ways.

Sweet Scents

(c) 1996 Eva WhiteOak Thomas

Spiral Dancers, dancing on a golden thread,

Visions and thoughts are filling my head.

Sweet Scents of what was once secure,

leaves my emotions very unsure.

Spiral Dancers, from here and there,

have set me free, floating on air.

Sweet Scents of what was once pure,

leaves me empty and very bored.

Spiral Dancers, of my most inner fear,

have began to bring out yesterdays tears.

Sweet Scents of something once filled with power,

leaves me feeling like a broken flower.

Spiral Dancers, that once danced in faith,

Now runs away to totally escape.

Sweet Scents of what was once soft,

leaves my spirit cold and aloof.

Spiral Dancers, when did I lose sight,

within the darkness of my own fright.

Sweet Scents of yet to come,

leave me feeling very numb.

Spiral Dancers, I no longer feel your dance,

And the song that brought light into my broken trance.

Sweet Scents of a strength, I once held

leaves my ears ringing with echo's of bells.

Spiral Dancers, will this pain ease,

From whispers of a silent pleads?

Sweet Scents of my weakness that's no longer strong,

leaves me with questions like where do I belong. 

From a Mist

(c) 1998 Eva WhiteOak Thomas

It appears you have stepped out from a mist,

Your darkness wrapped around you in a tight fit.

The paleness of your skin reflects in the moon,

Yet your shadow self continues to bloom.

You shield many thing but your true essence cannot hide. 

 I sense you, feel you and can hear your cries.

I understand unspoken words that cannot escape your lips,

And the darkness that comforts you as you so wish.

It appears you have stepped out from a mist,

Lingering about in a crowded abyss.

Your mysterious aura, your mysterious feel,

Can sensed by those from a familiar wheel.

It can be seen how close you hold the darkness around you,

and the  comfort you feel within the darkness, is this not true?

Many things are hidden with the shadow self, that feels right,

Especially those that linger at night.

It appears you have stepped out from a mist,

Not alone, but yet alone as you so wish.

The darkness of your eyes and the paleness of your skin,

Is a trait that you do have other kin.

The fire that runs through your soul,

Reminds me of tales that I was once told.

The rapture runs deep within your essence,

I know it is you, in its purest quintessence. 

Weekend Getaways

What can be more romantic?

Since life is always so busy these days, weekend getaways could almost be considered medicine. Getting away whether on motorcycle ride, a hike through the woods or going out and doing photography are all things to break you away from your busy life.  One thing I have had lately is HUGE wake up call reminding me life is really short. And although we are always rushing around trying to work harder, and longer hours to make ends meet, relaxing and enjoying life needs to be put onto your schedule.

Since I live in the South, I mainly write about about beautiful locations that are pretty close around.  But I have lived in many different states that also have beautiful vacation spots.  Take for example Colorado.  Colorado has the most beautiful place to explore and that is the "Garden of the God's".  It is a huge park that has giant rock formations.  One of them is called the "Kissing Camels".  Another spot in the Garden of the Gods is called "Eagle Rock" which use to be my favorite spot to go to and just relax or just listen to nature.

Below you will find some links of different pages I have written.  Please take a look because you just may be interested in visiting one of the places as a surprise for your spouse.  It could be a surprise romantic weekend getaway!  How romantic is that?

Brasstown Bald, North Georgia Mountains

Now the drive to Brasstown Bald is as beautiful as actually getting to this park.One the way there are many places to stop and do some photography.  If you love the Appalachian Trail you will be able to stop at the point that leads you the full 2,178 mile trip to Maine.  Click on the link and read more about Brasstown Bald located in the North Georgia Mountains.

Georgia Covered Bridges

If you love historical things, you should do a research for Covered Bridges that is in your area.  My husband and I love to photograph covered bridges, so we did a search of the them in our area and this link shows the bridges and gives a little history behind them.  I love the feel and the history of Covered Bridges, do you?

Tallulah Falls, Georgia

This is really a funny how I wrote this article.  It was Easter Morning and my husband and I decided to head up to Black Mountain and try to do some photography right as the sun was breaking through the top of the mountain. After freezing our backsides off waiting for the sun to come up, we were not able to get the right angle shot of the sun AND we were actually pushed out of our space where we were standing.  So driving home, we seen a sign that lead to the Gorge at Tallulah Falls.  We have been through Tallulah Falls many times but never noticed the sign for the Gorge.  So we decided we would check it because we really wanted to shoot some landscape photos.  This article shares everything we found.  I promise if you make this one of your weekend getaways, YOU WILL NOT BE SORRY!! 

Weekend at Grandfather Mountain, North Carolina

I do not even know where to start on this weekend getaway! This is a photo that I took from the top of Grandfather Mountain.  You HAVE too put this trip on your list.  Although it makes a great weekend get away, you  may want to go and check it out and than plan on going back to spend a few more days.  Grandfather Mountain is among one of the most beautiful places I have seen.  By the end of the day, all you will want to do is stop by and grab some dinner to go, get to your hotel, eat and crash! There is so much to do there, you will literally have to make yourself leave!

North Georgia Waterfalls

If you really enjoy waterfalls, this would be a great weekend getaway trip.  There are several falls, Anna Ruby Waterfall, Toccoa Waterfall, Tallulah Falls Gorge State Park and many more.  There is nothing better than hearing the sound of a creek beside you as you walk to the falls.  During each season the view will be different.

Spirit Guides

Spirit Guides and Animal Spirit Totems

When it comes to Spirit Guides and Animal Spirit Totems, there is a lot to learn.  I wanted to share a few things I have researched, and share some of my own experiences.  As I write more pages, I will be adding them here, so please bookmark or follow my blog to see updates.

Spirit Guides

When it comes to spirituality, we are all given Spirit Guides that are there to help us.  It does not matter if your Spirit Guides are angels, animal totems, family members who have passed or spirit guides from your ancestors from long ago.  Each guide we are sent are sent for a reason, to help us learn and to keep our journey safe.

Please click on the link to read more about Spirit Guides.

The Hawk

I personally believe that Hawk has been one of my animal totems forever.  I have always had a very special connection with them. I believe that each person has very sacred gift that are all influenced by the animal spirit who have chosen them.  When you are working with the spirit world, it is not like going into a candy store and choosing everything you want.  A spirit guide, animal totem and even angels choose us to help.

Please click on the link to read more about Hawk Totems

The Bear

The bear is a very interesting animal totem to have.  Bear came to me back in the late eighties or early 90's.  It was during that time I was learning many different kinds of alternative healing.  Bear is not only a healer but very protective.

Please click on the link to read more about Spirit Bear Totems

The Horse

I have always loved horses.  I was thrown from a horse when I was 12, another horse threw me in a rose bush, but like the saying goes, I always got back on!  However, although I love horses, unfortunately it has not chosen me, so it is not one of my totems. Horses represents strength, new journey's and travel.  

Please click on the link to read more about Horse Totems

The Wolf

Once again, I have always loved wolves.  However, I would have never dreamed or thought wolf would ever be one of my animal totems.  But it choose me and presented itself to me in a very unusual way.  I share a lot of my story how wolf came to me on the link below.

Please click on the link to read more about Wolf Totems

Animal Spirit Totems

I have added a lot of different information on this page all related to animal spirit totems.  There are a lot of links and different stories about what kind of medicines a lot of animals have.  I have also listed a list of animals that each and everyone of us are born with.

Please click on link to read more about Animal Spirit Totems

Drumming to the Earth's Heartbeat

Earth's Heartbeat

This is something very special to me, my drum.  I have actually made two, one Goat skin and one Elk skin.  I attend two ceremonial drum workshops a few years apart.  The classes lasted all day and it was very powerful and very sacred.  My Elk skin drum was blessed as a Siberian Medicine Drum, and it is used to honor the Earth.  I will share the beginning of this journey.

Many years ago (it actually seems like a thousand years ago) I was looking through a local paper and seen a group of people that met up during the New Moon and the Full Moon for a Drumming Circle.  The circle met and played drums, sang honoring songs to the earth and passed a talking stick around if you had something that you wanted to share. 

At that time I was doing Gourd Art and made gourd rattles to display in different shops.  When I seen the ad in the paper, I had to attend at least one of these drumming circles but I did not have a drum.  I called the lady that was holding them and explained that I wanted to attend but did not have a drum.  She welcomed me with opened arms and I took one of my gourd rattles to play.

I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed, excited and a little intimidated to be with a group of people that were so powerful. Once the drumming started I left this world! I went straight to the Earth and automatically connected with its heartbeat.  I could feel the vibrations of the drums all through me, it was the MOST power thing I had ever felt.  After a while, I tried to play my gourd, but I was so intrigue with the drums nothing else mattered to me.  

Soon I became a regular at the Drumming circles. I had several people offer to let me use their drum, but I always refused. I could not bring myself to accept any offer, I knew it had to be my drum that I would play for the first time. 

I am not sure how long it was perhaps a year or two, I heard about a drum making ceremony that was being held. My spirit popped up so fast it reminded me of a cartoon.  It was hard but I came up with the money and shortly afterwards I was making my own drum. It was a very long day and it was very draining but it was very sacred.  I had made my first drum, a Goat Skin Drum and at the end of the day it was Blessed but I could not beat it for a couple of days until it was completely dried.

When I got the drum home and was totally alone with it, my heart sank. I knew in my heart this drum was not to be my drum. I tried to connect to it, but it just would not happen.  Soon afterwards, I bartered this drum for my 3rd degree in Reiki.

A long while after that I attended another Drum making ceremony and this time I knew with every fiber I was, this was my drum. Through every second of the ceremony I was fully connected to it. It felt like it was a part of my spirit that had been missing for life times.  This drum is a Siberian Medicine Drum and will always be connected to my heart and soul.

As I sat in different circles playing my drum, I could actually feel the thumping of Natures heart.  I was referred to as a Drum Traveler which meant I could travel in the circle through the drums and hear each of their voices. Although there has been many circles I have attended and have played a lot, one of my favorite times was when I attended a ceremony and was drumming right behind SilverRaven Wolf.  She is an Author who I truly admirer.  Our drums had almost the exact sound, it was amazing!!

I would recommend to anybody that truly wanted to feel the earth's heartbeat, to make a drum.  It is one of the most powerful ceremonies and the rewards will completely overwhelm you.  To feel the Earth's heartbeat is like pure unconditional love enveloping you in nothing but comfort and love.  

Connecting with Nature-Part Two

One day I was driving down the road and was in a horrible emotional state.  I pulled off into a Walmart shopping center parked and cried.   I turned my head to look out of my side window, and a crow feather was floating down right beside my car.  I actually sat there in  shock for a moment, I opened my car door and grabbed the feather and sat there holding it.  When I got home I went straight to Ted Andrews book and looked up Crow Medicine:  It says where their is crow, there is magic.  Crows are symbols of creations and spiritual strength.  They remind us to look for opportunities to create and manifest the magic of life.  They are also messengers calling to us about the creations and magic that is alive within our world everyday and is available to us.

For a while during the time the crow feather experience, I was losing touch with many things that was in my heart and a part of my soul.  If you try to cute off your connection with Nature, it leaves you with a huge emptiness that is truly unbearable.  All of the years that it took me to learn nature's language, then trying to run away from it really threw me for a loop. Never again, will I allow that to happen, NEVER!

Often when we need insight on a certain situation, we can go outside and send out a prayer or affirmation.  Since Hawk also has visionary medicine, if we hold a Hawk feather and speak our affirmation out loud, Hawk will help us.  It may not happen right in that moment, but rest assure you will get a reply by message, signs, visions and even dreams.

I wish I could sit here and tell you that connecting with nature is easy, but it isn't.  It takes a while to learn how and mainly depends on how much you can truly trust your intuition.  When you learn to fully 100% trust your intuition often that will mean going against the "Norm".  I have personally had people turn against me and accused me of being something I am not. Do you know why?  Because many people fear what they do not understand.  When I feel at my weakness, if I go outside and touch a tree, it helps me to gain strength.  Often when I need to purge and get a lot off of my energy, I will lay on the ground and ask Gaia to take it from me.  I believe and trust enough in Nature to know if I need help she will help me.

That does not mean you should not give back to Nature.  In today's world so many people do not show any respect for what is happen to our environment.  Trees are cut down by the thousands every day.  When you visit Elders you are always suppose to take a gift with you, usually everyone will bring sacred tobacco.  That is no different than sitting against a tree or touching a tree to ground and make a connection.  You can pour a glass of water at the base of the tree and the trees will be grateful for that, because you are showing them respect and honor.  It is the same with the earth, if you laid on her soil to purge, leaving some sacred tobacco is a symbol of respect and honor.

The connection we make with Nature is truly a very individual thing.  It is like what we believe and consider our spiritual path, it is something that belongs to each of us regardless of what others think. If there was a recipe for connecting with Nature, it would be respect, honor and believe.  When I say "Life is filled with magic, if we allow our eyes to see it"  I mean ever word of it.  The animals, insects, flowers, trees, mountains-everything has magic.  All it takes is allowing yourself to see it, feel it, breathe it in and understand we are all connected.

Connecting with Nature-Part One

Every culture and religious belief -have symbolic meanings when they see  certain things in Nature. Some cultures more so than others; have a deep understanding that we are all connected to everything in Nature and everything has an energy.

Many Spiritual leaders in the Native American culture understands Natures language through different symbolic signs.  It is almost as if communication is made possible through telepathy and a spiritual language. 

Many dancers and different ceremonies incorporated different things from nature in their dance, regalia and ceremonies.  Things that are often used are: feathers, animal teeth and bones, animal skins and mask made from things in Nature such as wood and other natural material. When I had my naming ceremony, I made an Oak necklace out of oak leaves and acorns to wear. Other things used are, shells from the ocean and sage from earth for smudging and cleansing the space before ceremonies.  I wrote an article called: Smudging-Cleansing your Space that will explain what smudging is and what to use. One of the reasons items from nature are incorporated is because of its energy.  Animal skins-presents the energy of that animal and is used as a way to give honor to it and to share its medicine.  Wood has earth energy which is powerful and give strength to ceremonies.  The point is, everything in nature has energy and is considered sacred because of the "medicines" they carry.

The Signs

Often people who receive messages in dreams and cannot understand the meaning of the messages- will go to Elders or Medicine People to get help understanding the dream.  I know this to be a fact:  often when you go to Elders or Medicine people for help with answers and/or meanings; they will not give you a few words in a sentence-often they tell medicine stories that could help you with finding your own answers. I also know for a fact: if you ever ask a question to an Elder or Medicine person, they will answer your question with another question.  Again this helps you to find your own answers. I believe this is done because every message that Nature gives us, does not mean the same thing for every person.

How does someone even begin to understand Natures language and signs? First by understanding each of us are connected to natures energy and by trusting what your intuition is picking up when you see or feel something.  You will not always understand every sign and/or even spot every sign you are being given.  You will have to work with the interpretations and research on your own as to what symbolic meanings are and what they could mean.

One of the best class rooms to study in is nature.  Sit outside, listen and watch everything going on around you. Walk in the woods and along trails that has a creek next to it.  Feel nature, hear her songs, feel her energy.  Lean up against a tree, close your eyes and feel the ancient wisdom that is associated with the tree.  Feel the energy flowing for its bark, smell the scent of the leaves, connect with the strength of the tree.  

Something important to remember is the same meanings or the messages you receive from Nature, will not always mean the same thing for everyone else and the message may not always mean the same thing to you. When you see a deer, one time it could be telling you what lays ahead and another time it could be telling you there is a message from the spirit world that will be coming soon. 

I have shared this story on another article I wrote; one time I was looking out my kitchen window admiring this beautiful wildlife scene.  Chickens were walking through my yard, squirrels were playing and I had a pair of Hawks living in my trees.  The next thing I heard was this horrible sound from a chicken.  I ran down to the back yard and there was nothing left but a pile of chicken feathers.  Now, Hawk and Wolf are two of my Animal totems so I honor them greatly, but when Hawk took that chicken, my first instinct was to get mad.  I sprinkled some tobacco and sage where the pile of feathers were, grab a few of them and passed them out  at a drumming circle I attended.  As I sat there thinking about what I just witnessed, I heard a voice say, "It is all part of the cycle of life.  No animal will take more than it needs."  Hawk brings me a lot of messages, and I have learned a lot from him.  All it takes is trusting and believing in everything Nature provides for us. 

                                                                  To Be Continued......

Part Time Job-Couponing

You have heard the expression, "Money doesn't grow on trees" right?  But the amount of money you can save by using coupons will almost make you feel as if it does. 

I have written several articles about couponing but wanted to write an on going piece about using coupons on my own personal blog.  

Being a frugal person I have used coupons off and on  throughout the years. I did not use them on a regular base,  until last year (2011).  I began to take it more seriously and challenged myself to see exactly what I could do with them.  So, I decided to see my couponing as a part-time job, writing myself a check weekly for the amount of money I saved using coupons on that weeks grocery bill.

Let me tell you one of the first things I noticed right off the top:  People do not like standing in line with a person in front of them using coupons.  Another thing I experienced was actually having a lady laugh and shake her head at me because I had my coupon book opened on top of my cart.  My first thought was how rude, but than I realized, she may have been laughing at me but when I seen how much money I save, who had the last laugh?

So, how did I decide I was going to do this: At first I went to online coupon sites and gathered what coupons I knew I would use.  Than each Sunday, I began getting two different newspapers at the store (because they do not deliver papers in my area).  I signed up at several different coupon sites and also checked my local store sites for any additional coupons they may have.  So I spent time clipping, sorting and paper clipping the coupons together. I put all of the paper clipped in a envelope and finally I felt they were organized.  But this method got on my nerves real fast. So I had to figure out something that would work best for me. (More on that a little later). 

I checked the sales papers and compared specials to my grocery list, matched up coupons and off to the store I went.  After coming home and looking at the receipt and how money I save, writing that check was sweet!  Every month I would take these checks, cash them and tuck the money away in a safe place.  I repeat the same process every week.

Here are some of my favorite sites!

SavingStar  is an ecoupon site that works with your store discount  cards.  They have several stores like Ingles, Kroger, Bi-Lo and more.  Each of these stores give customers saving cards.  When you enter that card number in the appropriate place on SavingStar, that activates any ecoupons you choose.  When you make the purchase from the store, the info is sent to SavingStar and they pay you the amount of money the coupon was for.  Once you accumulate  $5.00 they pay you via your Paypal account-Almost free money!! I have personally had several pay outs so I know this site is legit. 

Coupons  At Coupons.com you upload their printing program and go through the site and place a check by the coupons you want.  When you are done, you press print and you are done.  I know you can only print the coupons twice before they let you know you have reached your limit. AND if your printer messes up by chance and your coupons did not print, you are out of luck because the site cannot reset the printing limit.  I lost 7 coupons last week because my printer decided it wanted to give me a hard time.

Couponsurfer It is the same directions as Coupons.com

Becentsable Is a really good site that covers a lot of different things. They offer coupons from different drug stores, department stores, grocery stores and so on.  They also have a coupon data base. 

These are just a few sites that I use regularly.  There are many, many more.

This link was shared by John Sitton  and it is something that benefits everyone in a household that has to take prescriptions:  Cost2Coast Rx Care  You can save 55%-75% on your prescriptions, and it is FREE.  You go their site and add your name and telephone number (which is used as your member number) print the card laminate it and SAVE!!