Recalling his mother’s New Year’s Day black-eyed peas recipe, Michael W. Twitty traces this legume back to the Middle Passage and its roots in Africa, recognizing it as a seed of Black resilience. When my mother was still here in body, she made a small pot of black-eyed peas every New Year’s Day. The pot …Read More
Category: Spirit
Thanksgiving Day Blessings
God is good.God is great.Let us thank him for our food.Amen. I grew up with this children’s prayer to bless the food that I ate. It’s short and easy to remember. Today, I remember those moments of grace. We joined hands as a family, took a moment out of time to be grateful, and asked …Read More
Can you Exorcise Depression? ~ Andrew Solomon
“Spirits leave me alone to complete the business of my life and know that I’ll never forget you.” Andrew Solomon’s long battle with depression first brought him to traditional Western medicine with medication and counseling. As a writer, this struggle led him to research treatments in other parts of the world. He tells a colorful …Read More
Take Your Medicine Wheel
“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle. That is because the power of the world always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in …Read More
Morning Prayer ~ John O’Donohue
Matins ~Morning Prayer Poem by John O’Donohue 1 Somewhere, out at the edges, the night Is turning and the waves of darkness Begin to brighten the shore of dawn The heavy dark falls back to earth And the freed air goes wild with light, The heart fills with fresh, bright breath And thoughts stir to …Read More
#31: Spirit of the Shamanic Drum (Stephen Cavitt)
“What we are hungry for in the Western world is a reanimation of spirit.” ~ Prof. Stephen Cavitt The shaman enters the dream-like state to bring back wisdom, guidance, and healing. There are many ways to navigate the multiple layers of reality. One of those ways is the drum. Many shamanic traditions use the hypnotic …Read More
The Road Not Taken ~ Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken —by Robert Frost Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other, as just as fair, And having perhaps …Read More
The Interconnected Web – How Wolves Change Rivers
The world is an interconnected ecosystem. Within this system are the predators—the characters in the stories that we love to hate. Ever since Little Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs encountered the Big Bad Wolf, there has been a campaign against the wolf. We are quick to judge these animals that travel in …Read More
Hope Springs Institute ~ Retreat Center
“From this place springs hope for inner and global peace” Hope Springs Institute proves that one person can manifest a dream by just being present to the calling. This retreat center has evolved into a non-profit, self-sustaining institute operated by a board of directors. Mission of Hope Springs Institute To provide sacred space for growth, …Read More
Chakras Explained ~ Avatar: The Last Airbender
“Chakras are like Chocolate!” declared my yoga teacher. The one thing I know about Chakras is how to pronounce the word … like “Chocolate.” I do not know that there is any other similarity with the bitter-sweet delicacy made from the roasted and ground cacao bean. What are Chakras? Today, scientists know that the body …Read More