Fall 2010: Creating Community

Musings

by Carol Bedrosian

There's untold power in people united. May the force be with us.

    Despite the unsettling social and economic tumult of our time, we are living in an incredibly exciting and defining era of American history! On our cover, Lady Liberty stares unwaveringly ahead, a proud American symbol of freedom, liberty and international friendship welcoming the communities of the world to our shores for over 100 years. The rich diversity of cultures and creative genius drawn by her torch into this communal melting pot created. ... Read more

News & Notes

You’ve Got the Power • St. Patrick Offers Breast Cancer Insight • Brazil Votes Against Corruption

Dear Carol,
     I read through some of the articles and info in the summer edition of Spirit, including your own interesting “Musings,” and it left me with one big question. How does one select a treatment/process best fitted to one’s needs? I am totally at a loss to make a judgment and selection. I have to wonder about other readers with their own issues: how do they select something? Perhaps you can advise..... Read more

Starspeak: The Cosmic Forecast

by Eric Linter

Astrology reading for September, October, November 2010

"There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of the birds, the ebb and flow of the tides, the folded bud ready for the spring.” — Rachel Carlson

The destabilizing T-square, a fixture in the heavens since last winter, continues to test the laws and ways of mankind. By late autumn, alignments shift. We will then encounter a new and persisting catalyst, Uranus’ liberating square to controlling Pluto. Changes during the next half dozen years will often come swiftly and be profound. Expect inventive... Read more

Whole Foods Healthy Cooking

by Michelle Hirsch

Calming the Craving with Smart Snacking

Let’s face it — we all need a snack now and then. Snacks are the in-a-hurry foods that are part of everyday life. Whether we’re too rushed for a meal, bored, stressed, traveling or just plain hungry, a quick snack is what we reach for. For some, it may be a 3pm slump, a deadline at the office, or running kids to afterschool events. For others, it may be an overly ambitious schedule that makes it challenging to fit everything in. Regardless of the cause... Read more

Energy Medicine

by Donna Eden

Using conventional and energy medicine together for fibroid healing — a  personal story.

     My daughter Tanya began feeling pain in the area over her ovaries when she was in her mid-thirties, and the early stages of fibroid growth were detected. Her symptoms included long periods with heavy bleeding, painful intercourse, bladder incontinence, blurry vision, and pain in her pelvis, back, legs, and arms. She was living in Boulder and my work had me traveling almost constantly. When I was able to visit and work with her, it was obvious which energies were most problematic... Read more

EarthTalk

From the Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine

Dear EarthTalk: I am very concerned about the amount of chlorine in my tap water. I called my water company and they said it is safe just let the tap run for a while to rid the smell of the chlorine. But that just gets rid of the smell, perhaps, not the chlorine? ... Read more

Feng Shui for Everday

by Lynn Taylor

Hi Lynn,
My bathroom is old — sink, vanity, shower/tub enclosure. Nothing is rusty, but there are cracks in the sink, the vanity is 70’s style and the old casings of the sliding glass shower doors are impossible to keep clean. I don’t have the funds right now to buy new fixtures and hire out the work, but I want to do something! It’s a small bathroom ... Read more

Commonsense Medicine

by Mary Shaffer

 Wake Up Your Immune System   

     As I learn more about how the body works, I’m reminded of the miracle of this creation. Scientists can produce life in the laboratory, but not without the genome from living tissue. Are they ever going to get it? They cannot create life — or so I think!
     The lymphatic system is yet another amazing part of the body. It includes a network of conduits, glands and organs that carry a clear fluid called lymph..... Read more

Common Security Clubs

By Tracy Fernandez Rysavy

Gather with people in your city or town to help each other navigate tough economic times and build community resilience.

 More Americans are bowling today than ever before, says Harvard University professor Robert D. Putnam. If that factoid brings to mind images of league competition and laughing groups in ugly shoes, think again. Many of these people are actually bowling alone.

     The phenomenon is a symptom of the increased isolation in American society, writes Putnam on his Web site and in the book where he first explored this idea, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (Simon & Schuster, 2001). We’re inviting people into our homes less. We’re joining fewer clubs. We often don’t know our neighbors.... Read more

A Simple Technology for Cooperation

By Miles Sherts

There are few things more important today than learning to communicate with each other in a way that supports our individuality while also recognizing our interdependence.

We live in an age of astonishing technology that allows us to do things that were unimaginable to our ancestors. We can push a button on the computer and find any information in minutes, travel around the planet in a day, talk directly to someone on a different continent and send images through wires instantly. Our level of personal independence is unprecedented in human history. Yet for all this seeming progress, we have not learned how to live and work together in peace. ... Read more

It’s Divine Knowing You: The Spiritual Meaning of Community

By Jason Shulman

Founder of Society of Souls, spiritual teacher Jason Shulman reveals why spiritual communities provide an express ticket to enlightenment.

 Sangha. Congregation. Havurah. Tribe. It has been consistent throughout recorded history that a vital component of the personal spiritual journey has been its connection to the group, the relationship of the solitary seeker to his or her brothers and sisters on the path.
     On the most obvious level it’s easy to understand: we want people to talk to, we want to share our experiences, we want support and love from like‐minded people as we take the sometimes difficult journey of awakening to our true nature, of finding God.... Read more

It Takes A Village: Getting to the Root of The Bullying Epidemic

By Linda Marks

Allowing disrespectful behavior to take root within our culture has produced an epidemic of bullying in our schools, communities, corporate and government offices. We must act now to reverse this destructive trend and restore safety, sanity and compassion to our communities. 

Creating a climate where all are welcome, respected for their differences as well as their similarities, given the space to be who they are and contribute to the greater good will indeed fuel the cultural change we need to prevent bullying and other kinds of violence from continuing, and help build a safer and more compassionate world.... Read more

Heal Your Nature Deficiency

by Mike Adams

Do you suffer from a "nature deficiency?" If you’re like most people in modern society, you spend most of your 24 hours of the day indoors. You work under artificial fluorescent lights, you eat and sleep inside a house or apartment, you commute in the artificial environment of a car, bus or train. You rarely get outside and even when you do, it might only be an artificial park with concrete sidewalks and maintained lawns..... Read more

Music Reviews

by Jason Victor Serinus

Choral Music
I can see the gates of heaven…
Cameron LIVE! .....the CD …..the DVD
One Dark Night I Left My Silent House
New Lullaby
 

Eric Whitacre, Choral Music: Naxos 8.559677

     Even before his YouTube Virtual Choir recording of “Lux aurumque” (Light of gold) became an international hit, Nevada-born Eric Whitacre, 40, had become the golden boy of American choral music. The reasons for his fame... Read more

Book Reviews

by Gail Lord

The Bushman's Way of Tracking God: The Original Spirituality of the Kalahari People
Angel Animals Book of Inspiration: Divine Messengers of Wisdom and Compassion
Essential Shiatsu: Essential Shiatsu for Troubled Times
The Power of Compassion: Stories that Open the Heart, Heal the Soul, and Change the World
Inner Child Healing Cards

Bradford Keeney, PhD
The Bushman's Way of Tracking God: The Original Spirituality of the Kalahari People
Beyond Words, Hillsboro, OR, 2010
 
     Imagine living in a society brimming with music, joking and joyful dance. A place where conversation and social connection are the lifeblood of the community. Good-natured teasing among the group leads not to hostility, but to giggling, bringing everyone down to the same level. ... Read more