Greetings!  I have a request to explain something more of myself as  a healer, so here goes.  Like the rest of  you, I have my own daily struggles, and in particular, struggles as a healer.  It's not every day that someone identifies themselves as a healer, except in the more recognizable, more accepted ways, as  medical doctors.  It's only in more recent times that accupuncture has become a more accepted form of  healing.  Two things work against me:  how the majority of people view healers such as myself, and my own  personal struggles as a human being and a healer. 

I have my own health issues of  body, mind, and spirit that I need to address on regular basis.  I have some chronic health problems such as asthma and fibromyalgia, to name a few.  Every now and then I experience depression.  For a while I believed that my own health issues precluded me from being a healer.  Then someone wiser than me pointed out that even doctors experience health problems, but that doesn't prevent them from being good doctors.  He pointed out, that in fact, my own problems served to make me more understanding about the sufferings of others.  I have also experienced the loss of  loved ones; so I  very much empathize with the loss others experience.  My own problems help me understand the healing problems of others, whether they be physical, mental, or spiritual.  And remember, I know that the Healer in me,  is God, however we individually define the Divine.

As a healer, I experience a kind of  loneliness in that we live in such a materialistic society.  So many people are aware of their pain but they don't know the source.  They don't accept that spiritual illnesses can manifest as physical illnesses, so they do not seek help.  Likewise, physical illness make us hurt mentally, and even spiritually.  These days because of all the social turmoil and natural disasters, so many people are hurting so terribly, but don't know to whom or where to turn.  Sometimes I feel discouraged by all the negative forces working against me and all people who are working toward the good things in this life and the next.

For my own pain, I use the same remedies I recommend for my clients.  Herbal remedies when needed, accupressure (an easy version of accupuncture), vitamins and supplements, tarot, meditation and especially prayer; am I big on prayer!   I love the Psalms.  I keep a journal and I write other things, including poetry.  And as always, when it's time to go to the doctor, I go, and I follow his or her advice.  I am accepting of all good things from all religious beliefs, but I myself  do not fit into any particular organized church, although I was raised catholic.

Some of my biggest challenges have come from organized religion.  By this I mean as far as my own beliefs and their reluctance to accept my "profession" as a healer.  Particularly priests and ministers, or at least those with whom I have come in contact.  For example, we all know hospitals are full of sick people. (Duh!)  Yet, I have offered numerous times to be part of the healing/ministerial staff.  All my efforts have been met by deafening silence.  How do I get around this?  Somehow I have an endless, and growing list of people who call me for my services.  Medical staff never seem to mind.  In fact, they are respectful and mindful that what I am doing is as important to the patient as their own services.  Still, I would like to be accepted as a cardcarrying healer, if you will.  Maybe I am better off  working the way I do.  I would like to work my way into surgical rooms;  after all, doctors and all medical staff are quite aware that holding a person's life in their hands is a sacred duty, and that they need prayers too.  I have always wanted to belong to the medical profession in one way or another, but life has a way of  happening, so here I am, a different kind of  healer.  Anyway, I know I could take the things that take place in an operating room.  Maybe some day.

The most wonderful part of  what I do as a healer is the prayer part.  I can be sick or well, it can be day or night, I can be laying on hands in prayer, or I can be far from my  "clients" and still be immersed in prayer for them.  In fact, I always pray for the well-being and happiness of all of you, and for all people around the globe.  I pray for your health, success in life, for those you love, and all other good things.  For those who do not wish to be prayed for, I respectfully understand.  It is so tremendously gratifying when I run into someone who has asked for prayers and they report how well it has turned out for them.  (Even though I always tell them that God always answers prayer, and sometimes the answer is no.)  In some way they have been uplifted and have changed.  Often they will refer to specific words I said to them and how they helped them.  I am always surprised by this and their memory.  That's why I always take great care in the words I use.  Words are powerful and are my healing medicine. 

It bothers me tremendously that organized religions are so unwilling to open their doors to other ways of  thinking and being.  Maybe it shouldn't, but I feel that it is a serious type of discrimination to refuse or ignore the most sacred rights and services of half of humanity, namely those of women!   These ordained men have never carried a life within their bodies, nor have some even held a human life in their arms.  Well, now I'm getting on my high horse, but that's how strongly I feel about the subject.  Priestesses have been around a long, long time.  Another ability in my healing bag is intuition, which I use all the time.  If you wish for specific prayers, I am here to serve.  So, my Dearies, this is who I am and what I do, even if  I am green!   

Blessings to you and those you love!

The image of Christmas we hope, and try to make happen, at least many of us, is one of togetherness, sharing, and merriment.  Well. there is a flip side to all the Ho-Ho-Ho.  I would say that most of this is caused by the abnormally high levels of stress and anxiety that many people experience in the effort to make it all happen.   We have heightened expectations about Christmas; what we should do, what we expect of ourselves and others.  Not to be forgotten, is the amount of money we think it takes to make it all happen.

As proof of this, how many novels, how-to books, and movies do we have commorating, memorializing, and parodying the foibles and exasperations of Christmas?  True, there are many people, thankfully, who do experience a wonderful, blessed holiday, but there are many, too many other families for whom Christmas is a desperate, unhappy, even terrible time of year.

There are a number of "spoilers" for this time of year and in many ways they are interrelated.  I'll start with crime.  We are all familiar with warnings about home safety; stuff about the Christmas lights, fire-safety, falls, and burglary.  Here, I'd like to address burglary.  I experienced this two Christmas's ago, and I can verify that this is one huge spoiler.  It's an experience where the burglars take all your good stuff, and leave a bad, bad feeling that lasts for a very long time.  The very best thing though, was that we weren't home at the time, so none of us got hurt.  The police officer said it was very lucky for us that we were gone.  Also, my puppy was home and got scared out of her wits, but at least they didn't hurt her or steal her.  Nonetheless, let me say that it is a horrible invasion of your privacy, and that is hard to live with.  There are still some things I haven't able to replace,and sometimes I am still terribly outraged about the incident.

One way to protect yourself from this, is to avoid advertising what you have in your home.  Many people like to leave the drapes or curtains open so others can enjoy their Christmas tree all lit up.  I think this is a big mistake.  Burglars have the habit of casing homes for what is inside, and the habits of the people who live there.  They are worse than Santa Claus; they know all about you.  Change some of your habits, like which way you go to work, etc.  We are such creatures of habit and burglars and other criminals have that all figured out.  Don't depend on home alarm systems.  Burglars can be in and out in minutes, easily beating the police.  If you do become a victim, the best advice I can give you, is to kiss your stuff goodby, because in all liklihood you will never see it again.  But, to regain your peace of mind, make a list of your possessions they took, take a thorough inventory of how they got in, repair it, and make certain all windows and doors can be adequately secured.  (Still keep in mind that burglars don't knock, usually they break in, but at least maybe you can slow them down.)  Thank God for what you have, and remember, things, as important some of them are to us, can be replaced.  People cannot.  Prayer and meditation will help you regain your sense of safety and wholeness, as much as is possible.

Why do burglars do what they do?  For some, it's their job, how they make a living.  I'm sure that there's a certain amount of "thrills, chills, and spills," some of them experience.  For many these days, they have a need for drug money, seeing how expensive that habit is.  In the next "chapter", I'll talk about drugs and substance-abuse and it's effect during the holidays.  Stay tune.  In the meantime, please relax about the holidays.  Try to enjoy them.  Don't overspend.  Gifts don't have to be "stuff".  Doing good for others is a wonderful way of giving.  Don't expect too much of yourself.  Be good to yourself.  Don't spread yourself  too thin.  There's only one of you!  Do things that help you relax.  You don't have to be like the Jones's.  If you celebrate Christmas, spend time reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas.  If you don't, you can still wish your friends and others a Merry Christmas, and when your celebrations come around, hopefully you will experience the same greetings for your holidays.

Blessings and Peace to you and your family!

There is a current flap concering the usage of the terms, "Christmas tree", and "Merry Christmas".  It seems that some people have a concern for inclusion, and claim that these terms exclude some people, or are maybe even offensive.  They prefer, no:  they are fighting for changing these age-long terms to, "Holiday Tree, and "Happy Holidays". 

I don't know about you, but in my healing practice, such as it is, I am a great believer of common sense.  (I told you I wasn't into spooky stuff).  I too believe in including people into various practices, holidays, etc.  But I say this is a big broohaha over ideas that aren't even based in logic.  We can all agree that religion and politics are "hot" topics, but there's no need to become unglued about every little thing.  If we follow this line of thinking, we might end up referring to them as, "tree", and "nice day".  Balderdash, I say!

Isn't it disproportionate to expend so much energy about what to call a Christmas tree, when so many people on both sides are dying every day in Iraq?  I'm not arguing politics or patriotism here, just the facts as a human being.  What about the people in Pakistan who are freezing to death as a result of the earthquake that ruptured their lives?  Or closer to home, the victims of the various hurricanes that struck our shores?  See what I mean? 

Those arguments about the Christmas tree and Merry Christmas simply pale in comparison.  Our efforts would be better spent, for example, in getting our homeless people out of the streets and into shelters, not only at night but also during the day too.  Or continuing to help the hurricane victims restart their lives with housing and all the other things people need to live.  When was the last time the teachers in your area got a raise?  I could go on endlessly, but this is just to point out how easy it is to get caught up in a whirlwind of ideas that seem to have a basis, but are really quite foolish "platforms" built of twigs, when we have work of real consequence to keep us occupied if we are truly sincere.

The facts are these...people of all persuasions celebrate their holidays in their own ways, and address them in their own ways.  Whether they be Jewish, Muslism, Christian, Masai, Ethiopian, Ukranian: whoever they are worldwide, we can be gracious enough to either celebrate with them, or not.  But as mature people, we can have sense enough to respect all people, whatever their race, color and creed.  If we are fortunate, we will also be respected.  Forget the move to homogenize every little thing. 

Differences are good.  In fact, they are really good.  One size does not fit all; one flavor is boring.  I pray that we can adopt the number one rule of baseball--KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL!  The "ball", is love, hope, health of body and soul, and all good things for ourselves and other people.  May we be generous of heart and spirit.  May we use our God-given common sense in our everyday lives. 

Blessings and peace to you and your family.

Greetings!  I am happy to be here.  It already seems such a friendly place to be.  I simply wish to get to know people and let you all know, those who already have your beliefs in God and spirituality, as well as those of you who do not, for whatever reason; that all of us are basically in the same boat. 

And, not only paddling our own canoe, in a sense, but we all have the same goals in life.  We are all looking for happiness even though we sometimes haven't a clue how to get it.  We love our families even if sometimes they drive us absolutely crazy  (how about these holidays, huh?).  You get my meaning. 

The world at present seems to be spinning off its' axis, or trying to find a way to do so.  As for civilization, it seems to me, anyway, that the word has yet to be invented.  I hear more and more people saying, "the world's coming to an end".  I don't know about that, because I am a history buff.   I'm not a fortune-teller,  but I can suggest that there are some solutions we should be looking into, if we haven't started to yet.

I would suggest some of the oldest solutions in history:  prayer, meditation, changing behavior that no longer works, spirituality, healings of all kinds.  We cannot separate the body from the mind, nor either of these from the soul.  Some of what I say may sound kooky to you.  Then forget about it.  What is useful, use it.  If you have solutions of your own, please suggest them.

Let kindness and gentleness rule your soul.  Let action rule your heart.  And let peace be spread like a quilt to all who come in your path.

Blessings and peace to you and your family!