IN THIS ISSUE

Musings - by Megan Jones
From the Publishers

ARTICLES

Gather the Women - by Mary Elizabeth Young
Confessions of a Flaming Liberal - by Marilyn Nyborg
Depression - Pam Nixon
Reiki - The Healing Touch - by Angela Moore
Natural Alternatives to HRT - by Jan Templeton

ASTROLOGY CORNER

Saturn - by Carol Barbeau

ARTIST'S CORNER

Prayer for the Third Millenium - Corrie Moone
Swallow Tail - Pat Hale
Old Friend - Pat Hale
Mend the Tear - Jean Bromert

BOOK REVIEW

THE ALMANAC

An online publication devoted to whole health, spirit, and vitality.

Published by:

Mystik Moon Promotions
513 Warner St., Sedro Woolley WA 98284

The Almanac is intended to provide a forum for the exchange and discussion of information and ideas about issues related to health and spirit. The articles published here are intended to inform and to promote dialogue; they are not intended as a basis for diagnosis, treatment or prescription for disease, illness or injury. See a licensed health care practitioner if you have concerns about your health.

The editor, publishers, and contributors to The Almanac are not responsible for any situation arising from participation in or application of anything written for or advertised in these pages.

Readers are invited to submit articles and artwork for publication. Submissions will be accepted and published at the discretion of the editor and publishers. Articles should be kept to a maximum length of 1000 words, and will be edited for brevity and coherence. Submit articles, poetry and narratives to Megan@mystikmoonpromotions.com. Submit artwork to either Molly@mystikmoonpromotions.com or to Janet@mystikmoonpromotions.com.

by Janet Hickox

Have you ever noticed that sometimes a key word or theme keeps coming at you? You may start having dreams about it, start receiving mail or email about it or even have a book drop off a shelf in front of you with that key word as its title! It is almost as if the universe is tapping you on the shoulder and saying, “Notice Me!”

Well, the recurring theme in my life these days is PROSPERITY! The word first appeared to me last month (May as of this writing) in the form of an email from a business acquaintance who was playing this online game. Appropriately enough, the game is called The Prosperity Game, and I signed up to play it that very minute. Apparently the universe was setting the stage for June’s theme because I didn’t hear a word back for two weeks. And then, POW! The floodgates opened up and suddenly PROSPERITY is all around me, and it came in by way of The Prosperity Game and InVeStworks.

The Prosperity Game is a 21-day program, which, according to Elyse Hope Killoran its creator, “allows us to practice the art of deliberate creation in complete safety as we stay alert for evidence of real world results.” Each day you receive a virtual check in increasing amounts that you must spend. For example, today I had to spend $8900! The purpose, of course, is to help overcome the blocks/obstacles that keep you from achieving your desires. The game also comes with a downloadable e-book primer that is packed with wisdom.

If you or someone you know is interested in playing the game and discovering for yourself what beliefs are blocking your prosperity, go to www.prosperitygame.com. and sign up for this free game. You will be glad you did!

The second round of prosperity came in the form of InVeStworks – a prosperity program that provides a “real world” opportunity for enlightened wealth building. InVeStworks founder, Suzanne Kirkland Kincaid created a step-by-step system to create unlimited sources of income utilizing 7 Steps to Enlightened Wealth. Her goal is to empower people to:

Her philosophy is to have people create multiple streams of income for themselves in order to free up 10% of their time and their money to give back via their favorite charities or programs. This concept was a no-brainer for me, and intuitively I knew this was part of a greater divine plan.

Next week Suzanne will be meeting with Neale Donald Walsch’s (Conversations With God) group in Oregon. She has also been invited to share her awesome idea with Jimmy Twyman’s (Emissary of Light) group and later this year she will present InVeStworks at the Gather the Women Congress in Northern California. This is truly PROSPERITY in the making.

If you would like more information, go to www.investworks.net. If you decide that you want to be a part of this exciting opportunity, you can contact me at Mystik Moon Promotions.

I can hardly wait to see what the universe has in store for me next!

GATHER THE WOMEN

by Mary Elizabeth Young

Here are ten reasons women's voices should be heard:

1. We look at the big picture and take a holistic or global view on issues.
2. We create partnership and cooperation.
3. We're compassionate.
4. We want to see win/win for all involved.
5. We're about inclusion.
6. We nurture and support life.
7. We trust our intuition.
8. We find joy in our creativity.
9. We are protectors of the young.
10. We have a deep level of sensitivity and honoring of feelings.

These are just some of the reasons why women need more than ever before to inspire, connect with others, speak out, get involved and become activated for the well being of the world. We have been silent for too long and our communities and world need to hear what we have to say.

This is not to say men do not have access to these qualities or, for that matter, that some women don't tend to override these natural instincts. Never-the-less, these are some of the qualities we attribute to the natural state of women.

The qualities we characterize as feminine are the technology we must apply to the problems we are facing in the world today. We must now be willing to leave the safety of our comfortable lives, release men from having to provide a lifestyle which is based on having more and more material goods, and take responsibility for creating a world that can sustain itself for generations to come. Our voices must be brought to the table….the corporate table, the boardroom tables, the school board tables as well as the dining table. Men and women bring a different perspective to these tables and it is imperative that we are both there.

In a country where 52% of the population is women, only 10% of our representation are female. There is a disproportional balance of power. We revisit the feminist movement from a very new place. We are not seeking power, but partnership. We come from love, not anger. We want to bring balance, not control. We are gathering to create the conversations, dialogue and connection that will lead to solutions. These solutions can bring people together on the positions that otherwise continue to isolate and divide us in our local communities as well as in the global perspective.

This is the reason why an organization called WOVA (Women of Vision and Action) created a global movement known as Gather the Women. (www.gatherthewomen.org.) During the month of March, we called on all women to harness their power and wisdom for the benefit of all life and come together to create positive solutions for our families, communities and the world at large. On March 8th 2003, International Women's Day, we gathered women in 23 countries and 41 states throughout the U.S.

In October 2003, we are sponsoring an International Congress called GTW:Weaving a World that Works. GTW continues to “circle up” around the globe offering e-circles and forums on line. We invite your participation. It is time to bring all views together to find our common ground. We will not get to this place where we find more that connects us than what alienates us until we gather and communicate.

Mary Elizabeth Young, a resident of Nevada City, CA is a local businesswoman and one of a team of women who are bringing “Gather the Women” to Nevada County.

CONFESSIONS OF A FLAMING LIBERAL

by Marilyn Nyborg

When I was a teenager, my friends were rebelling by experimenting with smoking, drinking and boys. My rebellion was a little different. I came from a very biased family who did not like anyone who was not Lutheran, Republican, White and preferably Swedish. So, I became a Catholic. As soon as I could vote, I registered as a Democrat, and if I could have become Black in the 60’s,I would have.

Some things have changed since then; some things have not. While I am not sure my voting style will ever change, my view of the activism of my past has shifted considerably. As I look at it now, it seems that often we were really just trying to win. We were trying to change people’s minds, to make others understand how right(eous) we were in our opinions and how wrong they were. There was no dialogue. We didn’t listen and respond to what we heard. We simply preached to convince.

My old activist self was reactivated by the events of 9/11, but from a very new place. I found myself listening (another confession here) to Rush Limbaugh and really listening for what was behind his thinking. (another example of new behavior) I did not need to RE-act to what was going on in the world; I needed to understand what was going on in the world. I was responding from a new consciousness, one I did not hold in the ‘60’s. I believe it to be more compassionate and coming from a deeper place within me.

I have recently chosen to manifest my concerns about the world through a new movement called Gather the Women (www.gatherthewomen.org). One of the intentions of Gather the Women is the effort to bring the masculine and feminine into partnership and the need to bring balance to the world itself. Because of the depth of my involvement, I have done a great deal of pondering--examining and questioning my own beliefs. The questions I have been living with have been how we might achieve that balance, how to begin to create a new way.

One of the things I have had to examine is what it means to be this flaming liberal! What I am observing in the world of politics and in daily conversation, particularly as it is projected and amplified by the media, is the degree of separation and isolation we have created. You have your position and I have mine; I have facts and experts to match your facts and experts. If we cannot convince the other they are wrong, we raise large sums of money to create propaganda to get more people on our side and the other side does the same. When that doesn’t work, eventually we get a bigger army than your army and we go to war.

We argue, pontificate and cajole….but very few people actually ever change their mind as a result of these conversations; in fact, most of us are not listening anyway! We are too busy creating our rebuttals, our return volley… before the speaker has even finished speaking. We have lost the art of dialogue, conversation and connection. Soon we are just faceless liberals and faceless conservatives at war.

We are wasting a great deal of time and energy. More importantly, the greater needs of the community, of our children and the world at large get lost in this ongoing argument over right and wrong.

I look at my interest in seeing masculine and feminine come into balance and it is obvious that at the physical level, when these two extremes come together, they give birth to a new form, a third entity. Whenever two extremes come together there is the potential for the birth of a new form, a new idea a new solution. Being willing to listen to the deeper underlying concerns and fears, hopes and possibilities creates the space for something new to be born.

A group of anti-abortionists and a group of pro-lifers had this realization and they decided to meet and talk. They concluded clearly they would not convert the other to their beliefs about the issue…BUT they did find common ground. No one wanted to see unwanted pregnancies among children and young women. They came together and created a program that has been very effective. They birthed a new form, a solution that went beyond their differences. When human connections have been made, when a human face is seen and recognized behind the words, people do wonderful things with and for one another.

I realize the value of walking a middle way, knowing that extreme world views (even the ones I feel are the correct ones) lead to polarization and separation which, in turn, limits possibilities and keeps us from discovering new solutions that lie beyond the positions we've taken.

I invite you to explore with me this middle way. I pledge my willingness to give up my positions, my righteousness, my attachments. I pledge to see and accept others in spite of our differences. I pledge to listen, to pay attention, to tell the truth and not be attached to the outcomes. I invite you to join me and then stand back to see what kind of wonderful new future can be born in the space we have created.

Marilyn Nyborg, a resident of Grass Valley, CA is a hi tech recruiter and coordinator for “Gather The Women” events worldwide. She helped coordinate the gatherings held in 16 countries and 28 sttes on International Women's Day, March 8, 2003

Yogi Bhajan has given us Kundalini yoga and specific meditations to change the biochemistry of our bodies and brains. These practices promote pleasurable states of being - joy and bliss. We feel happy for no apparent reason. This happens because the channels of the brain that connect us with higher states of experience and love are accessed and opened. As we practice these exercises and meditations, we experience who we are really are. We open up a field of consciousness within ourselves whereby it becomes easier, or at least possible, to confront the hidden agendas that we have allowed to cut off our divine connection.

These exercises and meditations are powerful tools for breaking up the stuck energy in our bodies and psyches that have so tenaciously created and maintained separation and depression as a status quo. An initial goal is to stop and then reverse the descent into deeper states of immobility, self-abuse and pain. The meditations then create a safe inner space of acceptance, which allows us first to look at how we disconnect and then enables us to reverse the process. Over time we generate an ongoing experience of our own inner light and connection with our own soul.

Meditation to get out of Depression

The following meditation contains many meditations to relieve stress and depression. Yogi Bhajan taught it in 1979. This meditation totally recharges you and is an antidote to depression. It builds a new biochemical system, gives one the capacity to deal with life, and establishes a direct relationship with the pranic body.

Instructions:

Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine and extend the arms straight forward, parallel to the ground.

Close the right hand in a fist, wrapping fingers of the left hand around it, bases of palms touching, thumbs together and pulled up straight. Eyes are focused on the thumbs.

Inhale for 5 seconds, and immediately exhale for 5 seconds. Then, hold the breath out for 15 seconds.

Repeat the cycle, for 3-5 minutes when you first begin, and work up to 11. Progress slowly. You can also work up to holding the breath out for 1 full minute.

Testimonial by Sadhant Singh

I have found this to be a very quick and powerful way to change my emotional state. It seems particularly effective against depression and sadness, and just three minutes can completely alter my state of mind. Another nice thing about this meditation is that it is a quiet one, so I can easily duck into a bathroom stall and, in just a few minutes, raise my consciousness and prepare for something new or recover from something trying.

Pamela Nixon is a certified Kundalini Research Institute Kundalini Yoga teacher and a registered Yoga Alliance teacher with advanced training in yoga and yogic healing techniques. She studied and trained with Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D., Her personal growth and transformation through yoga stirred her desire to spread these teachings..

This summer, she will be teaching at Balance Point Fitness in La Conner on Tuesday evenings from 5:30 to 7:00. She will also be teaching in Redmond at the Redmond Senior Center from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m every Thursday. This fall, she will be offering workshops in Kirkland at Stonehouse Books and Growth Center. Pam hopes to offer more classes in Skagit County by this fall. Contact Pam by phone at 360-588-1223 or email pamenixon@aol.com. She also offers private sessions.

REIKI--THE HEALING TOUCH

by Rev. Angela Moore

Reiki is Spiritually Guided Life Force Energy, a gentle, non-invasive form of Holistic touch healing, that assists the body in it’s natural healing process. Reiki works by correcting the flow of energy through the body, allowing the body to heal naturally. As a Holistic practice, Reiki treats a person on all levels: physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Reiki, being gentle and non-invasive, can be used alone or in conjunction with other healing modalities.

Unlike drugs, Reiki does not cover up the the natural signals our body gives us such as symptoms of an illness or trauma. It works at a subtle energy level to treat the cause. Reiki energy is intelligent and will go where it is needed most. The practitioner does not decide what kind of healing the client needs, but allows the energy to work in it's own way. Reiki can be used in any situation.

A typical Reiki session lasts 30-90 minutes. During which the client relaxes, fully clothed on the table. The practitioner rests her hands on or above the body in various positions, to assist in clearing the energetic body. A Reiki session is usually very relaxing, Some people fall asleep or enter a state of meditation.

Typically, the energy feels very warm and tingly, but everyone experiences it differently. Every session will be different as it gives you what you need at that particular moment. After a Reiki session, most people are both relaxed and energized. It is suggested to drink extra water after your Reiki session, as your body may go through a detoxification process.

To become a Reiki Practitioner the energy is passed from the Master/Teacher to the student through a direct person to person energy attunement, which clears the major energy centers allowing the energy to flow through the hands and body of the practitioner to themselves for self healing/clearing or assisting a client in healing.

NATURAL ALTERNATIVES TO HRT

by Jan Templeton

You’ve all read recent articles of the possible dangers and side effect of synthetic hormones especially estrogen. As Dr. John Lee, author of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause states, “...due to toxins, synthetic hormones, a high-sugar and refined carbohydrate diet and many other factors, nearly the entire population is swimming in a sea of estrogen.”

This is causing hormonal imbalance and health challenges for every one of all ages (men, children, and women alike) not only menopausal women. Dr. Lee has coined the term “estrogen dominance” to describe what happens when the normal ratio or balance of estrogen to progesterone is changed by excess estrogen or inadequate progesterone. Estrogen dominance is known to cause or contribute to cancer of the breast, ovary, endometrium, uterus, and prostate. If you experience unexplained weight gain, depression, fatigue, mood swings, loss of libido, PMS, memory loss, migraines. Prostate problems, or a combination of these symptoms, it may simply be an imbalance of your estrogen and progesterone.

The very first step to hormone balance is education. Then you can implement a program to bring down high estrogen levels through detoxification, use of essential oils, whole food and hormone-free diet, exercise, natural hormones, stabilizing blood sugar, and digestive support.

Natural progesterone, a cholesterol derivative, is chemically identical to the natural hormones our bodies produce and thus has been shown to cause no side effects. Manufacturers of synthetic progesterone actually alter the chemical makeup of natural progesterone in order to create progestins, which are then patentable. These progestins are believed to cause serious side effects such as birth defects or abortion fluid retention, epilepsy, migraines, asthma, cardiac or kidney dysfunction, and severe depression.

Progesterone is needed in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopausal women for many reasons, but one of its most important roles is to balance or oppose the effects of estrogen. Estrogen levels drop only 40-60% at menopause, which is just serious enough to stop the menstrual cycle. But progesterone levels may drop to near zero in some women. Because progesterone is the precursor to so many other steroid hormones, its use can greatly enhance hormones balance.

Jan Templeton is a Nutritionist Counselor and Aromatherapy Practitioner, specializing in food and vitamin therapy and natural hormone therapy. Watch for upcoming Natural Alternatives to HRT workshops this fall at the Bellingham Food Coop. For more information call 360-647-7667.

SATURN

by Carol Barbeau

In astrology we often give Saturn, the energy of discipline and duty, a hard rap. The visiting of this energy--called a transit--is not usually the best time for most folks since it asks, "Have you done your work?" Difficult though they may be, however, Saturn transits are truly a gift because Saturn is an energy regarding the laws of manifesting what we want in the world. It has the ability to help us focus, concentrate and work our Karma. In fact, Saturn is the planet of Karma and where it is in your chart shows where you have more work to do.

Saturn takes approximately 29 1/2 years to make a complete circle of all 12 signs of the zodiac. For the past two years it has been in Gemini which has left many of us a bit scattered and confused as to where our obligations lie. There have simply been too many people requiring too much of us. Now, however, as Saturn prepares to leave Gemini and enter the sign of Cancer, we are being offered an option to go where our heart and soul lead us.

Cancer is the sign of experiencing feelings, intuition and a sense of connection to our own past and our own history. As Saturn enters the sign of Cancer on June 3, 2003 until it leaves this sign on July 16, 2005 to enter Leo, our task is to look at our own reality through the filters of how it feels to us. Saturn says "Where you put your ideas, feelings, emotions, work and energy is where you will MAKE SOMETHING HAPPEN.” While it is in the sign of Cancer, we are asked to judge ourselves with how we FEEL about what we are doing and where our energy is going.

Cancer is a water sign which correlates with emotions, and Cardinal which demands action. Many of the Gemini generated questions we have been asking of ourselves as to where our DUTY lies will be answered during this next 2 years. What were you told you needed to be or do? This will be brought back, reevaluated, reassessed and our lives redefined during the Saturn retrograde period from October 25th 2003 to March 7, 2004.

So, get ready to redefine your views on what you ought to do, how you do it and perhaps even why you do what you do. Saturn is not our enemy. This large planet of ultimate outcomes gives us exactly what we put into it. Saturn has the job of accountability and where it is in your chart is surely going to lead you to greater understandings of yourself and a greater connection to what you really want to do. Surely, that is a wonderful gift for us all.

So, enjoy this transit, get with a professional astrologer to better understand how to use this changing energy and truly be comfortable and happy with this change. Remember feelings are indicators of what is truly going on and they will be increasingly harder and harder to ignore.

Corrie Moone is a writer and has her own publishing company (Moone Light Publishing). She is currently marketing her latest book, "Prepare to Die...A Text and Workbook" (morbid yet practical ;)from her home in the PA Pocono Mts.

Mend the Tear

Is the search for the angelic a call from your soul to fulfill an interconnectedness that knows no physical bounds, yet opens you to the discovery that this angelic "spirit" is already within you?

The Call reveals why this is the time of unfolding consciousness, how you can manifest this consciousness; what purpose Angelic Humans serve in the design of humanity's evolution. This is a book of self-discovery; a primer for the soul remembering a calling to this time and space providing a portal through their ever-awakening consciousness for light, truth and divinity to flow.

Written by Toni Sar'h Petrinovich, Ph.D., The Call was ethereally given to her intact with the request that she send out "The Call" and write a manual to satisfy the needs of those who responded. Toni Sar'h was born remembering her true connection in and through Source and has spent her life bringing the vibration that fills her soul - that of the Violet Flame of Transmutation -to all those who wish to experience the Mystical Union of the God/Man.