Ronda Snow's Blog, page 14
August 31, 2014
Exiled in the love of an evolving world
From one of my favorite poets for your Sunday morning
Originally posted on Wuji Seshat Nibada:
Photo Courtesy: http://www.deviantart.com/art/Ania-479072594
Searching my heart for its true joy
This is the thing I find to be:
That I am not weary of time, though
It moves too quickly, and words and people
Drown out my own sorrow, this world
Deserves more than my self-interest
The salty sweetness of pleasure grows old
But helping others, that peace never ends
I found the small moments of empathy
In my days, the best, the cherishing of others
A more luminous goal than self-satisfaction
And now I am caught by the suffering of others
Not in a bad way, but in a collective-realism
That I too, had it easier than others
That I too, was born more fortunate
And thus to serve others may be the only way
For me to ever understand humanity.
Happy Labor Day weekend to USA folks
Due to the holiday, no ‘merry monday’ post tomorrow – those will resume Sept. 8
Just a reminder that email Tarot is still available 24-7, no appointment needed.
Enjoy!
August 30, 2014
Q&A: What is the natural treatment for this?
To protect the questioner’s privacy, there are some blanks left in the question. Fill in the blanks with any Western mainstream medical diagnosis and the answer is still the same.
Q: I was just diagnosed with __________________. Is there a natural treatment for that?
A: When it comes to real holistic and natural health, it isn’t so much what…but how.
_______________________ is a western medical diagnoses based on counteracting certain symptoms. Even if you give an unprocessed “natural” herb or change to a certain diet…or what have you…because you are giving it just to counteract one certain diagnosis, it is still western or Allopathic medicine. Herbs and supplements can have side effects too if used improperly. Using ‘natural treatments’ just as a one to one substitution for processed medication isn’t all that different from using prescription medication in the first place.
In the case of Holistic Health, the HOW matters.
The holistic approach is systemic, functional, big-picture. A holistic evaluation would look at everything that is going on with you, not just this one particular thing. It wouldn’t focus on just fixing this one problem, it would look at everything and try to find every way to make life as healthy and robust for you as possible. Holistic health looks for the root cause of this and everything else that may be wrong. To borrow from that old adage, holistic health tries to raise the water level and lift all the boats in the harbor…not just patch the hole in one boat.
____________________ is related to _________________________. As a general rule, skin conditions like these often require changes in diet, improving hydration and digestion in addition to any topically applied oils or tinctures. While the applied oils and such might interfere with the western prescribed treatment…the diet and any ingested herbs may not be…so a “best of both worlds” approach often can work in cases like yours, DEPENDING on what else you have going on…which shows the other big problem here.
Without knowing all the details, it is impossible to make any suggestions for you at all. You just can’t substitute “natural” treatments for western ones based on a western diagnosis alone. It just doesn’t work that way. Natural and Holistic means getting to know you – not just your latest diagnosis.
The other big problem is that it is unsafe and unwise to answer questions like this over the internet. You can not substitute an online question for a real, detailed, customized evaluation with a holistic practitioner.
That goes triple for skin conditions. Pictures just can’t do a good evaluation justice. There is no substitute for seeing it in person.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is a good place to start in this case. They are very expert in diet changes and herbal supplements used together. A good herbalist would be good as well. It might take some work to find practitioners in your area. Unfortunately, you still have to use some critical thinking to tell real traditional medicine from hucksters and ‘snake oil’. Real, caring, well trained, knowledgeable traditional / holistic health practitioners ARE there to be found. The internet can help, local magazines, word of mouth…ask at spas, yoga or martial arts schools or anywhere else that is associated with health of any kind. The Holistic community is, unfortunately small in many communities, so most of the time it is a pretty well networked group.
So that is the long answer…the short answer? The natural treatment for ______________ begins with a detailed in person evaluation with a knowledgeable holistic practitioner. You and that practitioner will take it from there.
Good luck!
August 29, 2014
The Friday Abide
Much like media medium John Edward (and many others), I like working with pop-culture references. Those things are popular for a reason. Things like books, movies, tv and music are wonderful teaching tools. The broad appeal makes them easy to use and understand.
In today’s case, I’m hoping you might remember the movie “City Slickers” with Billy Crystal and Jack Palance. Hurray for YouTube…you can see the scene I’m talking about HERE.
City Slickers was a fun movie. This scene though, was unbridled wisdom and truth. It really does work that way. Find the bones of it all…the underlying skeleton, the structure at the core…find your “one thing” and other things functionally fall into place. Find that cognitive framework, and whatever life throws at you, you have that framework to use to cope with it. Psychology call is ‘coping skills’ or ‘stress tolerance’. It doesn’t matter what the details are of your individual stresses…so far as it doesn’t harm other people, it doesn’t matter what your individual ‘one thing’ is. What matters is that you HAVE a “one thing” and remember to use it on the whatever-stresses that life inevitably throws at us.
Often it seems like there isn’t a ONE thing, but an aggregate of lots of little things. In my experience, there is a core idea, a central theme to that aggregate…which still is functionally a one-thing. Here, let’s look at the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyers. Edward the vampire says that there is only one basic law, one essential core rule guiding their community, but that one thing breaks down into lots of little details. The basic rule of not revealing their existence to humans is the core of all the other little things they do to blend in and take care how they hunt and feed.
The same idea applies to the real life adaptability and joie de vie the cowboy talks about in the first clip. Even if you draw from a variety of sources for your ‘coping skills’…what is the one core idea among them all. What is the central pillar of all those coping skills connects all the others. That is the one-thing. That is the source for building new tools if and when new stresses arise.
A key ingredient to my one-thing is Taoism. I’m not saying everyone should embrace Taoist philosophy. (NO thing is the one-thing for everyone) All I’m saying is that Taoism the philosophy that I know the best. If I talk about it here, the intent is is to lead by example. I’ll talk about my one-thing hoping it can help you find and use your one-thing, whatever your one-thing may be.
Plus I’d like to continue in the vein of Amy Putkonin’s “Tao Tuesday” project. Tuesday isn’t going to fit my new fall schedule very well so I’m creating the “Friday Abide”.
It’s an odd name, but it is also inspired by pop culture. ‘Abide’ is a word that the movie “The Big Lebowski” and “Dudeism” uses to describe the “contentment” Taoism talks about. I think abide is the better connotation of the two. “Contentment” almost implies a sort of happiness with a situation, with tinges of both acceptance and acquiescence. To me, abide has more of a flavor of peaceful co-existence, but not necessarily agreement or acquiescence. You can abide by something with out being all blissed out happy with it. Abide allows for more authenticity. Abide allows for both peaceful good emotions and makes room for the less than content ones – until such time that something can change. Taoism embraces change. Taoism abides.
So Friday Abide will be commentary on the Tao Te Ching, just like Tao Tuesday used to be, plus anything else that might be relevant to the idea of core principles, finding your ‘one-thing’ or other pop culture nifty-ness that might come along. Mostly Taoism though. It’s my thing.
Wishing you a peaceful day of abiding with your one-thing.
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#PeaceTarot is a daily Tarot meditation and how-to guide to help you find a moment of peace when modern life isn’t.
August 27, 2014
Blog Cabin update, 27 August 2014
Originally posted on The Vampire Diet:
You know how you have to multitask and juggle things to get all of thanksgiving dinner all ready all at the same time?
That’s how life feels lately. With a little mad scientist thrown in.
Unfortunately, The Vampire Diet is the dish moved to the back burner at a slow simmer for a few more weeks. Weekly menu ideas will continue same as always, but other posts and recipes may be off kilter for a while
Here’s the wafting scents from the other pots on the stove…
Menage A Tarot Podcast: never dreamed I’d be a podcast co-host! So grateful to David Dear, tarot reader and podcaster extroidinaire for putting Menage A Tarot podcast together. It is a casual conversation between Tarot experts about all things Tarot from ordinary to the sublime. I’ve already learned lots from talking with David and our third co-host Kate. Please listen on iTunes…
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August 25, 2014
Merry Monday: Steering Wheels
When I was in college, in the PA program, they told us “If you aren’t type A personality now, you will be by the time we get through with you”.
It’s true. Not so much that they brain washed us, but it was a valid acknowledgement that those of us who chose the profession have a tendency toward control freakiness. My sister called it bossy. I told her it was leadership ability.
She didn’t buy it either.
Truth is, it seems humans like a little structure and a sense of control…even if it is false one, like pushing the elevator button a bunch of times just to make sure the signal got through or (even more laughably) to make it go faster. For some of us, we like the driver’s seat more than others. But even the most laid-back of us like to have some degree of control.
Luckily we do. The problem is that sometimes the driver’s seat is located in weird places. The trick is to find it. The trick to finding it is, in my experience, a big picture look at things and some good old Buddhist-style detachment.
That isn’t to say you don’t give a rip about anything. It just means that you are less attached to how things turn out. You might have to give up a little control in some places to gain a lot in others.
Emotions are what they are. You don’t necessarily choose them…they happen at the speed of light. But you can control where they go and turn down the volume after a minute or two. You don’t control the genuine emotion…but you can control what you do with it. You may not be able to dictate the condition of traffic or the road…but you have the steering wheel, you control how the car reacts to all the chaos out there. You control the temperature inside the car, no matter what nasty weather is outside…metaphorically speaking, anyway.
We can’t control what other people think, do, say, or feel…but you can control how you nurse the wounds or celebrate the joy other people bring into our lives.
A little control can go a long way toward relieving stress. You might not be able to brow-beat reality into meeting your exact expectations…but there is still a lot of controlling you can do – from the inside out.
May your steering wheel turn easy on this merry monday :D
August 24, 2014
Episode 2: “You Know, THAT client”
August 23, 2014
New Artwork
Episode 2 coming soon
Menage A Tarot is podcast featuring casual conversation between three experts in the field discussing all things Tarot.
Hosted by David Dear of MyOwnMinister.com, Kate of DailyTarotGirl.com and yours truly
August 22, 2014
Pita Chips
Fiber from whole wheat and oatmeal…omega 3 from flax meal…careful, these crunchy snacks might just be good for you.
Originally posted on The Vampire Diet:
$4.00 for a bag of chips suddenly seems like a bargain…if those chips are preservative free, all natural pita chips. Those things are work to make. It takes days. Literally days. But if you are willing to invest a little time and some pantry items you can make twice as much, with equal or greater quality for just a couple of dollars.
Day 1 : make dough and fry pita bread / flat bread
2 cups warm water (120 – 125 degrees F)
4 1/2 tsp dry yeast (2 packets)
2 tsp salt
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cups flax meal
1/2 cup corn meal
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour + generous amount of bench flour, at least 1/2 cup
1 tsp old bay seasoning (optional)
1 tsp garlic powder (optional
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
nonstick spray or a few drops of cooking oil
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August 20, 2014
Tarotbytes: Queen of Swords
Originally posted on Modern Oracle Tarot:
“Look to the heart of the matter. Look for the deepest root cause. Violence is fed by fear of the unknown. Courage is fed by learning and knowing.” – Ronda Snow, #PeaceTarot
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