On Pixie Lighthorse

Somewhere last Spring I discovered Pixie Lighthorse through my teacher, Elena Brower. Elena read Prayer of Honoring Equality in a talk and Pixie's words and structure resonated with me and stirred something in my heart. I went to her site and found out that she lives in Central Oregon (my former and formative home - where I had my studio, met Nate, conceived my children). This discovery came at a time when I was feeling particularly homesick and Pixie's words, voice, and demeanor instantly made me feel cared for and held. I immersed myself in her site for a few weeks then ordered her first book Prayers of Honoring and read every word when it arrived. I started to share her prayers at the end of each class - prayers filled with earth-based spirituality and Native-American medicine. Her words began to work their magic on me.

Then, in the fall, I enrolled in Pixie's course, Honoring Grief with Owl - a grief course - or rather, a grief journey. I don't have the words to fully express what that course gave me, but suffice it to say, I grieved. I grieved for my childhood, the loss of my mother, the loss of me as my mother's daughter, past decisions, past identities, past trauma and pain. I grieved for my ancestors - my grandmothers and for all women, for it all - intensely, viscerally, madly, cathartic-ly all Fall. I emerged from my Death Lodge with a depth of experiential wisdom, release, and clarity I had not know previously. 

So with the release of her new book Prayers of Honoring Voice, I am planning my classes with direct inspiration from these prayers. I want to put my class plans up for you to that you can work them into your home practice, but I will do what I can. If you feel called, I encourage you to get her book and let her words work on you too. Let me know what is working, how you are feeling, what is changing.

With Love,
Kat

Prayers of Honoring Voice

$21.15

By Pixie Lighthorse

Buy on Amazon

Prayers of Honoring

$24.00

By Pixie Lighthorse

Buy on Amazon

Turmeric Lemonade

I've been drinking this all 2017!

Ingredients
- juice of a whole lemon
- 2 inches, sliced, fresh ginger
- 1-2tsp+ turmeric
- 1-2 tbs raw honey
-pinch of cayenne (optional)    

for a 24 oz class jar
Boil 20 oz of water. Add all ingredients to the jar, once the water is boiling add it to the jar, let it steep. Enjoy all day - taking sips through out the day.
 

Here are a few more ayurvedic remedies to try this winter. 

Inversion Truffles

Here's a supped up and healing version of the truffles I made for the Inversion Workshop (as requested).  The recipe couldn't be easier. In the recipe picture below, I spike these truffles with healing herbs like chamomile and fortified them with bee pollen. I made these for my husband and call them Healing Balls. Take the herbs and bee pollen out and you have the same truffles. To simplify things for you, here is the virgin recipe.

Ingredients
16 oz chocolate (I used raw chocolate with a high cacao ratio)
1/2 cup unrefined coconut oil
6 tbs water
2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of pink sea salt
1/4 cup raw or unsweetened cocoa powder for rolling

1. Over a double broiler (a steep mixing bowl over a pot of boiling water), melt chocolate with oil and water. Stir in vanilla and salt.

2. Transfer to a baking dish until set - 2 hours or so. (let stand about 30min before rolling) 

3. With a 1-in ice cream scoop (I ran out a bought one at Target), make balls, roll, place on parchment-line baking sheet and refrigerate. Last two weeks in an airtight container, but they rarely last a day!

Apocalyptica

In times like these, when I have no real words of potency, I turn to the masters. In this case, the poetry of David Whyte.

From Consolations: The Solace Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words

Destiny ... always has a possessor, as in my destiny or your destiny or her destiny, it gives a sense of something we cannot avoid or something waiting for us, it is a word of storybook or mythic dimension. Destiny is hardly used in everyday conversation; it is a word that invites belief or disbelief: we reject the ordering of events by some fated, unseen force or we agree that there are edges of even the most average life. But speaking of destiny not only grants us a sense of our own possibilities buts gives us an intimation of our flaws, we sense, along with Shakespeare that what is unresolved or unspoken in human character might overwhelm the better parts of ourselves. 

When we choose between these two poles, of mythic triumph or fated failure, we may miss the everyday conversational essence of destiny: our future influenced by the very way we hold the conversation of life itself; never mind any actions we might take or neglect to take. Two people, simply by looking at the future in radically different ways have completely different futures awaiting them no matter their immediate course of action. Even the same course of action, coming from a different way of shaping the conversation will result in a different outcome. We are shaped by our shaping of the world and are shaped again in turn. The way we face the world alters the face we see in the world.

Strangely, every person always lives out their destiny no matter what they do, according to the way they shape the conversation, but that destiny may be lived out on the level of consummations or complete frustration, through experiencing a homecoming or a distant sense of exile, more likely some gradation along the spectrum that lies between. It is still our destiny, our life, but the sense of satisfaction involved and the possibility of fulfilling its promise may depend upon a brave participation, a willingness to hazard ourselves in a difficult world, a certain form of wild generosity with our gifts; a familiarity with our own depth, our own discovered, surprising breadth and always, a long practiced and robust vulnerability equal to what any future may offer. 

Adventure: Kalefest!

Our CSA, Olden Organics hosted it's Annual International Spontaneous Kalefest out at the farm this Sunday. The weather was like Fall in another part of the country (notice the t-shirts) so it was a perfect day to be outside. We took a tracker pulled hayride, enjoyed the potluck lunch, picked up a few things for dinner from the mini Farmer's Market, tasted fresh squeezed cider, had kale smoothies, and fed the camel (what!). It was a very satisfying family adventure. Thank you Tracy and everyone at Olden for a great season and great day!