The Ancient Whispers Newsletter

Welcome to the Ancient Whispers Newsletter, a multi-cultural newsletter with a little something for everyone of any creed or religion. Here you will find inspiring quotes, irreverent jokes, crafts, and most importantly, historical and/or religious scholarship. Every Wednesday a new edition should appear on this website with reminder emails sent out the night before to those who have opted to join one of the many forums and mailing lists to which I subscribe. If you wish to share this newsletter with others, please keep it intact with the original authors' names on all the articles. Any articles or sections, to which an author or URL is not affixed, were written by Candace (with the exception of the various jokes found herein).

Questions, comments, and topical requests are encouraged and should be posted to the AskCandace open forum at yahoogroups. I'd like to start a help column for the newsletter, so if you'd like to have your problem featured in a newsletter, let me know when you post.

The Foundation for Shamanic Studies
http://www.shamanism.org
The Foundation for Shamanic Studies offers workshops, networking, books, and community

Shamanism
http://deoxy.org/shaman.htm
Shamanism is a great resource when researching the various shamanic traditions

Dance of the Deer Foundation
http://www.shamanism.com
Located in California, this group offers workshops, art and exploration of Huichol shamanism.

Siberian Shamanism
http://www.buryatmongol.com/sibshamanism.html
Shaman is technically a word describing the religious leaders of the Siberian people, so here is a resource for Siberian Shamanism.

In May get a weed-hook, a crotch [fork], and a glove,
And weed out such weeds as the corn do not love.

May is named for Maia Majestas, the Roman goddess of spring who encourages crops to grow. She is the chief goddess of the Seven Sisters or Pleiades. She can be equated with the Irish Queen Medb or Celtic Meave. Hawthorm, her sacred plant, blossoms during this month. Artemis, Diana, Faunus, Flora, and Pan also have dominion over this month.

The Anglo-Saxons called this month Thrimilcmonath, "thrice-milk month." In England, May was also called Sproutkale. Winnemanoth, "joy month," was the Frankish name, and the Asatru name is Merrymoon. The Irish call May Bealtaine or an Ceitean, the first weather of summer. The two weeks before Bealtaine is ceitean earrach, spring May-time, and the two weeks after Bealtaine is ceitean samhradh, summer May-time. Bealtaine, also associated the God Bel, means 'the fires of Bel'.

The first Full Moon of May is called the Flower Moon. It shares the names Planting Moon, Hare Moon, Pink Moon, and Green Grass Moon with April. The May moon is also the Bright Moon, Dryad Moon, the Moon When the Pony Sheds, the Frogs Return Moon, and Sproutkale.

The sun passes from Taurus to Gemini around May 21st. Those born in May have the lilly of the valley for their birth flower. The stone for the month of May, and for Taurus, is the emerald, though agate, chalcedony, and carnelian are sometimes mentioned for May instead, while Gemini lays claim to agate, particularly moss agate, and pearl. Aquamarine, lapis lazuli, kunzite, rose quartz, and sapphire are associated with Taurus, and chrysoprase, sapphire, and topaz are connected to Gemini.

Lunar Holy Days

The Thursday before the New Moon is the festival of Mjollnir, celebrated in honor of Thor's hammer. During the Middle Ages, this was a good time for ritual contests and trial by combat.

Apollon

Hathor returns to Punt

Plynteria

Plato

Sailing of the netjers after Hathor

Peter Hurkos

Gwydion Pendderwen

Tefnut

Ragnar Lodbrok

collection of dandelions for dandelion wine

Earth Religion Anti-Abuse Act

Rosalia

Madb Dydd

the Mothers

birth of Artemis

Hermes Trismegistus

Bonn Chroat Preah Nongkoal -Sacred Furrow Day

In Saint Sarah of the Gypsies

birthday of Apollo

John Dee

Celebration of the Tao

Fontinalia

Ludi Saeculares

receiving of Ra

Ludi Saeculares

Morning Glory Zell

Ceremony of Horus

I know of a highly stressed executive, an old friend of mine, who carried the ulcers and other accoutrements of our culture with pride- until he became seriously ill with host of ailments.

Conventional medicine tried to treat these as separate incidents and events. He grew worse with each specialist he dealt with. While they fixed one symptom, another would appear. My fiend is a highly intelligent man and he began to realize that there was something wrong with his treatment. He began to realize that the body was like a corporation, all parts interacting and depending on each other. I introduced him to some Shamanic concepts. I remember his amazement at the relevance of what he had previously thought to be weird ideas. My friend has not been healed but he is on the way to healing in more than just the physical sense.

The word Shamanism has been mercilessly bandied about in the popular press and media to the extent that we have an image of a new age hippy beating a drum and mumbling strange incantations. The influence of popular culture has been to reduce the idea of Shamanism to a fad and rather boring image. Shamanism, in its true sense, is something very different from this image and in fact offers new ideas that are, I believe, essential in the modern stress infested and unhealthy environment in the post-industrial world.

What is Shamanism? The word Shaman comes to English from the Tungus language via Russian. Among the Tungus of Siberia it is both a noun and a verb. While the Tungus have no word for Shamanism, it has come into usage by anthropologists, historians of religion and others in contemporary society to designate the experience and the practices of the Shaman. It is difficult to extract in a few hundred words the essence of Shamanism but a few general points might help to suggest what it is.

Shamanism is essentially an ecstatic means of altering consciousness and thereby extending and enlarging the ordinary world. Like all definitions about Shamanism this one is not adequate, but it is a beginning. Let me use my friend as an example again. Frank achieved much more than a dose of an alternative medicine, he achieved a new vision of life and a new insight into possibilities and connections, which, at a fundamental level, is what Shamanism is all about. My friend’s worldview has been reshaped, altered and he relates to his health and daily world in a very different way. There is also no way that Shamanism can be sold off cheaply as just another theory about life.

Shamanism is about total transformation and of the very rebirth of the human psyche and in this sense it is more akin to what most people understand as a religion than anything else. In fact, there is strong evidence to suggest that Shamanism in its different forms was a sort of ur-religion, an original religious state form that all other mystical religions derived. But that is another discussion. What concerns us here is the relevance of Shamanism for the modern person struggling in a world of demands and secular needs.

There are a number of levels at which Shamanism can be discussed. Possible the most well known is that idea of the Shaman as the healer, or the traditional healer. Many Shamanic techniques can be used to establish a better state of modern health, for example by stressing the interconnection of all things that have become so divided in our world.

Social scientists like Wallace conceive of the process of becoming a Shaman as an instance of mazeway resynthesis. This term refers to the sudden re-organization of ones mode of structuring the world in an attempt to make sense of a highly anxiety-provoking environment. It thereby serves a therapeutic function.

The contemporary world is one that is characterized to a large extent by stress, pressure and a narrowing focus on the immediate needs of the self. It is no wonder that the executive and the businessperson is becoming jaded, looking for other experiences that surely must be more meaningful that the modern. This has been a constant theme throughout our century and as we enter in the new millennium this question seems to shout louder and the lack of an adequate response becomes even more deafening.

Simply put, Shamanism and Shamanic vision suggests a far richer and more complex universe than the model that we presently have. There are many of us who feel, at least, the truthfulness of this statement, even if we are not convinced about the Shamanic world itself. This alone suggests that we investigate what Shamanism has to offer.

Modern business, especially in the Internet age, is beginning to understand one the essential elements of Shamanism and this is the complexity of intercommunication. As the term networking becomes more important to our world so an ancient truth is revealed in modern guise; and that is that the world is not a simple process of cause and effect but a complexity of interaction and reaction.

Shamanic though is thought which understands this fact at a very deep level. And it is particularly in the healing process that Shamanism realizes the relatedness of the physical body with the mental and spiritual, a knowledge that modern medicine is only now coming to terms with. The difficulty and depth of Shamanism cannot be approached by these few words, but the modern man and woman will possibly identify a few aspects that may intrigue them in the above.

If we take a further step in an encounter with the Shamanic world we find that the most difficult idea for the modern person to deal with, particularly from a Western perspective, is the radical way in which Shamanism contradicts our ordinary conceptions of logic.

For centuries we have been conditioned into a certain mode of thought which is, simplistically, a linear, logical one- thing –after- another kind of thinking. We find it very hard to get used to Shamanic ideas that suggest a view of the world that is seemingly illogical. How do we cope with the idea of Shamanic initiation that suggests a death of the human psyche and body and a rebirth of the human in another form? One version of this myth is the Australian aboriginal depiction of an initiate being reduced to a skeleton and the having all his flesh and blood replaced.

Or are these only metaphors comparable to the Christian myths of drinking the blood of Christ? How do we deal with a worldview where things happen simultaneously and where time has a flexible meaning? (One immediately thinks of developments in modern quantum physics that approach this vision.) The point is that understanding Shamanism, if this understanding is to be more than the most superficial, requires a change and adjustment our worldview and cultural perspective.

Shadow boxes are highly individual crafts. Just about anything can be used in one. All you really need is a box, things to put in the box, and glue gun. You don’t even need the glue gun if you intend to make a temporary box.

This time of year, there are plenty of things to use in a garden themed shadow box. Flowers are coming into bloom and maybe you are ready to buy new gardening supplies but you are loath to simply throw the old ones away despite the fact that they’ve outlived their usefulness. These can be arranged in your shadowbox along with flowers (dried or fresh), stones, Spanish moss, sticks, small eggs*, and anything else you wish to include. Add some flower seed packets or some miniature gardening tools that can be found at any gardening center.

Hang your shadow box on the wall in the kitchen put it on your porch or patio. It also makes a great gift for a gardening friend or a natural altar depending upon what you put in it. Some other themes for your shadow box might revolve around vegetables, tea, or herbs. Many garden stores have miniature figurines for gardens. These are the perfect size for shadow boxes.

* Don’t steal eggs from birds nests. Many birds will push an infertile egg from its nest once the chicks have hatched. You can use this discarded egg in your arrangement if you wish, or even the shell bits if it breaks upon impact. In the fall when the birds fly south, you can even collect the old nest for use in a new shadow box.

The Bacabs (Becabs, Bacabab, , Cantul-ti-ku) are rain gods of the Mayas (possibly borrowed from the Toltecs). All four are brothers and considered gods of agriculture. They are included among the attendants of the rain god Chac-Mool. Each acts as one-quarter guardian of the 260-day calendar and all are patrons of beekeepers. During the fourth month of Zotz, beekeepers prepared for their festival which was held in Tzec, the fifth month. The ceremony was variable depending upon which day was determined as the most auspicious.

Called the Four Wind Gods, these four brothers are the supporters of the four corners of the Earth called the Acantum or Ah Hoyaob, “Water Sprinklers,” and Pillars of Heaven. Cauac’s color is red, and he is the first guardian of the south. However, as the first guardian of the year, his color is sometimes listed as blue or yellow. The cult center of Cauac (Chac, Hozanek, Tochthli) is in the city of Chichen Itza where he has a sacred well. The second bacab is red for the east. This would be Kan (Acat, Acatl, Hobnil), though his color is listed as yellow. Mulac (Can Tzicnal, Tecpatl) is the third northern guardian with white as his color. The final bacab is Ix (Calli, Zac Cimi) with black for the west.

The Bacabs, the sons of Itzamna and Ixchel, are often depicted as four old men with upraised arms. They are also shown as human-headed water jars and are personified as various animals, usually frogs, tortoises, or jaguars. According to another Maya belief, the sky is held up by four trees of different species and color, the green ceiba tree (silk-cotton tree) at their center.

Description: Chervil is found in mountain meadows from the Pyrenees to the Caucasus. In Britain, it is found in Wales, Northern England, and Scotland. It is a perennial with a thick root and heavily scented foliage. The leaves are large and somewhat downy beneath. The first shoots are almost triangular, lacy leaves with a simple wing curving up from each side of its root. The stem grows from two to three feet with many leaves. The flowers are white and appear in the early summer from compound umbels. In appearance the plant is very similar to hemlock, though it has a bright shade of green. The fruit is large (an inch long), dark brown, and flavorful.

Effects: gentle
Planet: Jupiter
Element: air, fire
Associated Deities:

Traditions:
The name Myrrhis odorata is derived from the Greek word for perfume and it’s myrrh-like smell.

Magic:
An elixir or an incense can be fashioned from chervil to increase the sense of those parts of the self which exist beyond life- the divine or immortal spirit. It is used in rituals of death and dying to help deceased let go.

It was suggest that elderly people in need of courage or strength should eat the root boiled and dressed with oil and vinegar to increase their lust for life. A tincture of chervil is also said to be an aphrodisiac.

Known Combinations:
none noted

Medical Indications: (Caution: The plant resembles hemlock and you should be sure of identification before using it.) Parts Used: root
Chervil is an aromatic, carminative, expectorant. It is useful for coughs and flatulence, and is a gentle stimulant for an upset stomach. The root may be eaten fresh or infused in brandy or water. The root is also antiseptic, and it was once used to treat the bite of serpents and mad dogs. An ointment of chervil would also be advantageous to new wounds.

Nutrition:
The foliage and root can be added to salad or boiled. The seeds are used as a seasoning herb. The leaves and seeds are sweet, resembling anise in flavor and lovage in odor. Chervil is a favorite herb in German cuisine.

Mercantile Uses:
Chervil is a favorite of bees. In the north of England, the seeds are crushed and used to polish and scent oak floors and furniture.

It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.

I, I am the spirit within the earth.
The feet of the earth are my feet;
The legs of the earth are my legs.
The strength of the earth is my strength;
The thoughts of the earth are my thoughts;
The voice of the earth is my voice.
The feather of the earth is my feather;
All that belongs to the earth belongs to me;
All that surrounds the earth surrounds me.
I, I am the sacred works of the earth.
It is lovely indeed, it is lovely indeed.

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Quote : Anonymous
If you want to feel rich, just count all of the things you have that money can't buy.

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The Power of Stones: Brochantite
For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Power of Stones Archive.

Brochantite is a copper derivative which ranges in color from emerald green to green-black. It may be used to strengthen and align the chakras, and it also enhances survival skills. Brochantite is said to lose its luster when danger looms or someone has been disloyal or duplicitous in thought or deed. It can also be used to defend against environmental pollutants.

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Humor : Baseball in Heaven

Two friends, Kirk and Bernie, were two huge baseball fans. Their entire lives, Kirk and Bernie talked baseball. They went to 60 games a year. They even agreed that who ever died first would try to come back and tell the other if there was baseball in heaven. One night, Kirk passed away in his sleep after watching the Yankee victory earlier in the evening. He died happy. A few nights later, his buddy, Bernie, awoke to the sound of Kirk's voice from beyond. "Kirk is that you?" Bernie asked. "Yes, it's me," Kirk replied. "This is unbelievable" Bernie exclaimed. "So tell me, is there baseball in heaven?" "Well I have some good news and some bad news for you. Which do you want to hear first?" asked Kirk. "Tell me the good news first," replied Bernie. "Well, the good news is that yes there is baseball in heaven," said Kirk. "Oh, that is wonderful, So what is the bad news?" asked Bernie. Kirk answered, "You're pitching tomorrow night."

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A Dreamer's Guide : Pail to Palsy

For past articles and the bibliography, please go to the
Dreamer's Guide Archive.

Full Pails of milk is a prediction of good future prospects and pleasant activities, any other full pail means you have many close friends. An empty pail however is a sign of famine or a lean time. A young woman carrying a pail is a symbol of employment. Buying a pail is a warning to be careful in business, and selling them means people will confide in you. You will have plenty of money if saw a clean pail, but a dirty one indicates deceptions from friends. Knocking one over or spilling anything from a pail is a warning to be more careful in money.

If you were in Pain, you are the cause of your own unhappiness through your petty inability to let go of the past. If others were in pain, you are making mistakes in your life. Persecution by an enemy is indicated if children were in pain.

A pain in the heart predicts illness, though a pain in the chest indicates financial gain. Use caution in business if you had a pain in the shoulders, but a pain in the stomach is a promise of pleasant social activities. Unhappiness is augured by a pain in the teeth, and pain in the ears suggests you are being talked about. You will discover lost valuables if you suffered a pain in the throat. Death is suggested if you had pains as if you were giving birth. You will receive good news if you had pains in your legs, though pain in the feet means you will get out of trouble. Success is foretold if you had pains all over the body.

A Paint shop is a promise of abundance. A newly painted house is a promise of success in some plan you have devised. The thoughtless criticism of others will cause you unhappiness if there was paint on your clothes.

A pleasant life is foretold by a Painter at work, and if he went up a ladder, important and beneficial events are in the works. If he came down the ladder, you will be unhappy in love. All your worries will be smoothed away if you saw many painters at work. A long-lasting marriage is foretold if a painter used enamel. You will be happy in your employment if you were a painter.

Painting something means you will be pleased in your current occupation, though if you were painting a picture, your love will seek love elsewhere. Painting your face is a prediction of joy with little profit. You are deceitful if you painted your cheeks, and painting the face of a woman you know indicates she is deceitful. DO not trust anyone who is painted up in a dream. Viewing beautiful paintings denotes the false stories of friends, which will leach away any pleasure to which you were looking forward.

You will live a long time if you painted your own portrait, but painting someone else’s portrait is a sign that your friends are playing you false. You will be gratified if you painted a picture of your ancestors, and painting children means your present difficulties will be overcome. You will make good purchases if you painted landscapes. Satisfaction in your home is augured if you painted any other pictures.

You are undecided about marriage if you had a Pair of anything. A pair of twins means something remarkable is about to happen. Poverty is predicted if you had a pair of earrings, and a pair of shoes indicate disagreements in the family.

A Palace denotes pleasures of a short duration, while many palaces probably means you would do well to invest in real estate. People hold you in high esteem if you lived in one. Entering one is a warning to avoid your enemies, while wandering through a grand palace is a promise of brighter prospects and new social standing. If you saw many fine ladies and lords dancing or talking, you will have many profitable and pleasing associations.

If you were Pale, gossip being spread is untrue. Going pale due to fright is a promise of riches, while pale children are a prediction of honors. A pale loved one or relative foretells family quarrels, but a pale friend indicates happiness.

A Palisade is a warning not to alter your plans to please strangers, for doing so will impair your own interests. You will hear news of an engagement if you were inside one, but if others were inside, an engagement may be called off.

Seeing a Pall indicates sorrow and misfortune. You will soon have cause to mourn someone you love if you lifted the pall from a corpse, but placing one over a coffin is a prediction of some inheritance. Putting on an altar is a sign of great sadness through death. Beware sickness if you concealed anything with a pall.

Great affection is foretold if you were a Pall-bearer. Four pall-bearers carrying a coffin are a sign of honor; the more they are in number, the more distinguished you will be. A woman will deceive you if the pall-bearers were in the military. You will suffer constant harassment by enemies if the pall-bearers were poor.

Some temporary uneasiness in love will assail you if you dreamt of a Pallet. Perhaps you have a jealous rival.

Palm trees are a message of hope, happiness, and success. A friend beneath a palm means your present difficulties will be overcome. Withered palms are a warning of an unexpected sorrow. Traveling down an avenue of palms is an omen of a cheerful home and faithful spouse.

The Palm of the hand is a prediction of an inheritance from a distant relative, and happiness and joy are indicated if you noted the palm of someone’s hand was particularly attractive. If you smelled perfume on someone’s palm, you will enjoy prosperity and abundance. Friendship and good fortune will be yours if you kissed someone’s palm, and dignity and honor will be yours if you placed an engagement ring in someone’s palm. A child’s palm foretells peace.

Palmistry is an indication of suspicion. If you had your palm read, you will have many friends of the opposite sex, though your own sex condemns you. Reading someone else’s hand is a prediction of distinction through your intellect. If you read a holy person’s hand, do not neglect your friends no matter how high you climb.

If you had heart Palpitations, you will have true and constant friendships. Success in any enterprise is predicted if a child’s heart stuttered. Palpitations in the heart of a sick person suggest big disputes.

If you dreamt of being afflicted with Palsy, you are making plans which will prove to be unstable. A palsied friend means you will not only be uncertain as to that friend’s loyalties, but you may also suffer an illness.

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Quote : John Lennon
"If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that... I believe in what I do, and I'll say it."

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