( Non profit meeting, yoga, and catching up with friends )

In three hours I'll be teaching some Tai Chi moves to Brian for his progress at the studio. In five I'll be congregating with my tribe to go to the Rainbow Gathering together. I guess I should probably go wash some undies now. :P

When my sister realized how much the family drama was hurting me and that I was really sad, she made a list of 31 (the number of our age) things that she likes about me and remembers about our life together as kids. It really made my day and helped me to feel better when I was feeling really alone.

It feels like when I try to do something "right" it backfires on me. When I spoke up about the lodge leader I was ostracized. When I went to see my grandpa for his birthday a miscommunication turned into a huge family feud that is apparently still going on. Even after everything was supposedly cleared up I'm still being given a hard time today. I feel really alone and really depressed. I'm being labeled a vulture but I feel like I'm being circled by hyenas. I just want to heal and move forward.

Ek Tara - Jeet Bogal


Extended dance mix:

I've heard about half a dozen dead-Michael jokes today and the neighbors are blasting old Jackson Five songs. I'm just waiting for someone to declare today a holiday. What sort of customs would Michael Jackson day have, I wonder?

Yesterday a black wasp landed on my leg and just sat there for a few minutes. I looked at it in awe of the cute little bug-tenna that were moving up and down. Wasps really are adorable creatures.

1.) Blood initiation:


2.) Initiation With Ants:


3.) Lip Plates:


4.) Scarification:


5.) A More Beautiful Wife:


6.) The Town's Annual Sacrifice:


7.) Tongue Slashers and Cheek Piercers:

I haven't had my period since the tail end of January.
Today (my birthday), it finally decides to show up!

Time to go dance and rejoice!

On my mother's birthday (15th of June) I went to a cave to be a lone and fast for several days. I came out the day before my own birthday (tomorrow).

Prior to setting out, it is essential to do rituals involving offerings, blessings, and giving thanks. Normally I have little to show of such activities but my friend, Brian, was eager to document my process.

( Twelve photos of my most recent isolation fast, just a click away )

In our culture you get two kinds of sage... white sage and cooking sage. And I'm never impressed with the quality I get in any store, even herbal stores. When I went up to the Sun Dance in Tuba City last year, we stopped by the side of the road to collect wild sage. The smell of the incense made with that sage permanently spoiled me from enjoying the commonly found white sage. I'd been told there were a lot of different kinds of sage but I had no clue there were this many.

There are, apparently, 900 species that are called "Salvia". And that name alone connects two dots for me. Alecia should be amused... There is a psychoactive plant referred to as Salvia is more properly Salvia divinorum, "Diviner's sage".  And actually, there are several strains of divinorum. That plant is a whole wonder of its own that I hope to explore in the future if I can ever manage to grow any. Although you can go to headshops and buy the dried material, smoking it is not my cup of tea. According to Mr. McKenna's instructions, chewing the fresh leaves is much more beneficial.  Unfortunately, forms of divinorum do not grow easily in AZ.  I tried four strains and none worked out.

So I'm thinking that I'm going to start studying sages, primarily sages that grow in Arizona. Some friends and I are trying to find a place to live together soon, if we get a place, its our hope to grow a garden. I'm going to dedicate a portion of the garden to:

1.) Salvia arizonica (Arizona sage)
2.) Encelia farinosa (Brittle brush)
3.) Larrea tridentata (Creosote)

I CHALLENGE THEE!
To find a better 80's song on youtube...



And no, Real Life does not beat Gene Loves Jezebel. Though they were neck to neck for a long time.

It couldn't have happened better if we'd planned it. Four sweat sisters drawn together without planning on a powerful Full Moon. It felt perfect from the moment we arrived. Almost as if I was watching something play out that was already pre-determined. It brought to mind something I read in 's journal:

"Man must think he has Free Will. He has no other choice."

We were all there to play our roles. In the living room, the four of us discussed relationships, goals, and did networking. I prepared some Good Earth Sweet & Spicy herbal tisane and we migrated to Liz's princess-like room to imbibe of holy sacrament and share more information (secret women club stuff).

Then we all went outside and sat in a circle. I sat South, facing North. The other girls sat where their wise higher selves suggested. Liz brought some white sage and we all blessed ourselves. I started the circle by invoking the bell, chanting for life-purpose fulfillment, and greeting the moon. Then we moved in a circle and each sung songs and said prayers. After the first round I sung my Grammy's moon song and then added some homemade incense to a charcoal in a shell and blessed my items. As I blessed the four stones my father gave me, they told me that they were meant to be the glue. Although I would have liked to be greedy about them and keep them all for myself, I knew that they are part of something bigger then me and I can't try to hold back that power for myself. I gave each girl a stone, representing the direction in which she represented. And it was funny to me how fitting each girl was to that direction. A song came from the stones and we collectively wrote five verses. One for each direction and then a last one for the Moon. It is our sister circle song.

North - Earth/Wisdom - Liz - Sandstone with crystalline structure
East - Air/Information - Ari - Borite (spelling?)
South - Water/Compassion - Starlyn - Volcanic Glass
West - Fire/Introspection - Julia - mystery shard

We went in more rounds... chanting, praying, and singing. We even howled at the moon. Other animals bayed with us in the night. After several hours, our circle concluded and Julia drove me home. Which now brings me to my enjoyment of rice cooked with safflower and golden raisins, with soy sauce and seaweed seasoning. And yet, this too shall pass. ;)

Me in one of my favorite yoga poses...



Wolffe gave me a ride to see my Dad today. He's doing really well, all things considered. Believe it or not, he's back to work already. The job paid for the time he missed and is taking care of his medical bills.

My dad surprised me with a gift of four rocks. One from then North farm, one from the East farm, one from the South farm, and one from the West farm. What good timing! My beautiful mother also gave me some clothing. Its always so wonderful to see my parents. They really are wonderful people. :)

This was one of the things that greeted me this morning. I like to contemplate the moment of death often. What was David Carradine's moment of death like?

the story: David Carradine Found Dead In Bangkok

OMFG... I want to have this guy's baby!!!
Sexy-Shamanic street performer: Shibaten




Edit...
1:36pm: Not to self - get a hammered dulcimer, learn to ride my unicycle, and go looking for a man like this who wants to get down. An accordion player wouldn't be bad, either.

I went to bed at nearly 5:00am. I can never go to sleep on time when I'm excited. I still woke up a half an hour before the alarm was set to go off at 10:00am. I just finished making two raw pie crusts. One with hemp seeds and one without. ;)

I'm getting in the mood with music and dancing. In five hours I will be giving my first stand-up talk about Rainbow Arc. My mood music is as follows:




1.) "What Else Is There" by Royksopp =
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADBKdSCbmiM

2.) "Electric Feel" by the MGMT =
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtUI5MC9tVM

3.) Stir It Up (cover)=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eARgffZGtsE
(I'm especially fond of the pedal-repeat technique he is using)

Edit:
Raw pies are officially DONE. The filling is made with papaya, banana, and lemons. It tastes like a nectarine sunset in July. The recipe called for strawberry slices on top of the crust. Raw pie is so awesome.

My acquaintance, Mr. Bear Graves, never locked his home when he lived in Arizona. He believes that a lock only keeps an honest man out.

I had my bicycle stolen three times in less then a year that I lived at Damon's. Every time the lock or the bar it was attached to was cut.

Yesterday I unwittingly left my bike unlocked in front of a Walgreens for six hours. The tire was flat and I was more concerned with getting to yoga. I didn't know why, but something special was going to happen at yoga. I was so sure of it that I paid $20 for a cab. I could feel it. I failed to see the lock slip outside of the pole of the handicapp sign I thought I was locking it to. Many hours later when I returned with Wolffe and his van to pick Emoto (thats the name of the blue bike) up, it was still there and no one had messed with it.

Fortune presents gifts not according to the book. :)

And last night's kundalini class was very special indeed. It was more like a ritual. My sweat sister, Liz, went with me. They were running late and things happened not according to the book. Mr. Reed invoked us two girls with "Ong Namo Guru Dav Namo" and then Jeannine showed up and Mr. Reed took a place in the middle front with us girls on either side and his partner in the front center. We did several intense kriyas with breath of fire involved. I had visions. Now that's what I call a good time!!!

Moral of this story: If you follow Starlyn around you're bound to get a windfall of forgotten material possessions in her wake.

Today was one of those super-productive days that I wish could happen all the time. I've noticed in the past couple of years that I get days like this in the spring to summer time of the year. Its like a whole week fits into one day. I slept less then five hours yet woke up before the alarm clock and was rested - despite a late night of drinking wine with the girls. No hang over, no snooze button. I just got up and started doing stuff.

( My amazingly productive day... )

Have a wonderful day!

There is nothing like a good bottle of wine, a bunch of friends, and the original Creepshow movie.

For my twin and for Adam Webb: