9.25.2012

Beast of Beauty

Nature's Abstract

"Why should one reject the perfect in favor of the imperfect?  The precise and perfect carries no overtones, admits of no freedom; the perfect is static and regulated, cold and hard.  We in our own human imperfections are repelled by the perfect, since everything is apparent from the start and there is no suggestion of the infinite.  Beauty must have room, must be associated with freedom.  Freedom, indeed, is beauty.  The love of the irregular is a sign of the basic quest for freedom."
  - Soetsu Yanagi  The Unknown Craftsman


"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god." - Sir Francis Bacon


"Beauty is a form of genius - is higher than genius, as it needs no explanation.
It is one of the great facts in the world like sunlight, or springtime,
or the reflection in dark water of that silver shell we call the moon."
  - Oscar Wilde

Nature's Abstract

"Ask a toad what beauty is.”  - Voltaire


“The divine is not separate from the beast.” - Lenore Kandel


"There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion."  - Edgar Allen Poe


 “Truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is.”  - Nadine Gordimer

Nature's Abstract

 “What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth.” - Keats


 “The heart suffers when it cannot see and touch beauty,
but beauty is not shy it is synonymous with existence.” - Hafiz


 “Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.“
 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
"There is a beast in man that needs to be exercised, not exorcised."  - Anton LeVey


 "Beauty lifts the soul and the sublime shatters the ego." - J. Campbell


"If women can learn to surrender the seductiveness of youth and to value themselves 
by other than adolescent standards of beauty, they can explore the dignity of elder beauty 
and reclaim the right to age without stigma."  - Z. Schachter-Shalomi 

Beatrice Wood - a hero of mine

 "Beauty will save the world."  - Fyodor Dostoevsky


4.23.2012

Paridaeza Flower Essences For Sale



Flower essences work on a vibrational level to encourage balance.
They work on the subtle body.
They are not biochemical medicines.

Essences can effect change slowly or quickly; the change will be subtle: changes in eating, sleeping, dreaming, energy, thinking, feeling, moving.








It’s important each day to take a moment to center yourself and draw attention to what you are working on in your emotional/mental life.  This is something you can do each time you take the essence.  Awareness of the body, thoughts, and emotions is the foundation from which you can create and witness change.








 All of these flower essences (except the White Lily which was given to me by a friend) have been created with Love off the land I caretake organically on Blue Mountain in Virginia (since 1998).  I harvest the flowers at their peak on a sunny day, and using well water and the sun, I allow the essence to become, then I prepare and bottle it.  I do this with intention and gratitude and sometimes with the help of a friend.  Here are some of the flowers that bloom on this land.  I will be working to make essences out of more of them over the coming years…


  “I do not have to go to Sacred places in far-off lands. 
The ground I stand on is holy.
Here, in this little garden I tend, my pilgrimage ends.
The wild honeybees, the hummingbird moths, the flickering fireflies at dusk
are a microcosm of the universe.
 Each seed that grows, each spade of soil is full of miracles.  
And I toil and sweat and watch and wonder and I’m full of love.  
Living in place, in this place.  For truth and beauty dwell here.”
- Mary de la Valette

 ~ ~ ~


Paridaeza Flower Essences: 
Each Essence is $4.95, See Price at Bottom for Special Offers.
 
Bee Balm (Monarda didyma) - Spark and Vigor *
Assists with inspiration and will that one may be joyful and live their dreams - Clears psychological obstruction so that one may grow and transform - Helps workaholics not be so serious
 -  Helps leaders use their power positively for others
 



Bloodroot (Sanguinaria Canadensis) 
- Learning from Our Elders
Promotes creative visualization, balancing the intellect - Connect with one’s heritage - Heal old wounds - Move from despair to the light - Embracing one’s roots as one moves forward in their evolution
 - Heart Chakra
 



Dogwood (Cornus florida) - Deep emotional trauma *
Brings our gifts up from the depths of us, giving us a new ability to be in this world, including psychic abilities, connection to all that is, a deeper knowing - Awakens the Phoenix that rises from inside of us after a traumatic experience



Mayapple (Podyllum peltatum) - Meditation Assistant *
Readys one for growth, teaches temperance, good for impatience and the need for instant gratification,
Be Here Now
 



Mimosa (Albizzia julibrissin) - Delivering Your Truth *
Facilitates intuition and awareness so that one may open to others without doubt, with power, particularly if one is introverted, timid, or dependent - Helps with depression that may result from being closed off to others - Personal strength
 



Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) - Rebirth and Release *
Aids in letting go of a need to control by understanding that life is eternal and infinite, hence beyond our control - Teaches about the cycles of death and rebirth
 



Red Horsechestnut (Aesculus x carnea) - Live and Let Live *
Teaches one to not be overly concerned, worried, anxious, or fearful for others, to allow them to be and live their lives - also helps animals with respiratory issues



Spring Beauty (Claytonia virginica) - Open Heart Center *
Supports one in healing the Heart, which often closes from painful life experiences and fear - This flower opens to the sun each day and helps your Heart to flower, to be open and let the light in
 



Sweet Cicely (Myrrhis odorata) - Enthusiasm for Life *
Helps to release anger or tension that one feels in the "pit of my stomach" - Brings hope when one is depressed and feels there is no end in sight, brings about sweetness when one is feeling low
 



 Virginia Bluebell (Mertensia virginica) - 
Freedom from Restriction, Safe to Love *
Transmutes fear and clears blocks, particularly in throat and feet chakra areas - Allows for free expression of Love without fear, especially in speaking, chanting, or singing (throat) and moving or taking the next step (feet) - Aids in saying what needs to be said and doing what needs to be done (Love)
 



White Lily (Lilium candidum) 
- Integrate Sexuality and Spirituality
Works to bring wholeness to one’s sexuality - Join with others at a higher level of consciousness - Helps one to gain a healthy understanding of  sexuality and find the balance between prudishness and excessive promiscuity that is not fulfilling and feels empty - Aids in healing sexual trauma, which can arise from many circumstances:  rape, prostitution, invasive medical procedures, physical abuse in a sexual relationship, porn addiction, and so on  - Crown Chakra
 



Wisteria (Wisteria japonica) - Relax into Intimacy*   
Increases vitality while smoothing emotions, helps with focus, softens - allows one to enjoy, to not be uptight, but be vulnerable in relating - Promote calm through chaos and turmoil, particularly helps with separation and/or lack of equality in relationships - Great for use with any type of meridian therapy
 

 ~ ~ ~
* These essences have been “Honeybee-potentized” - a name I have given to those essences that came into being while sitting on one of my organic beehives in the sun.  I do this so that the essence is also infused with the life-giving, steady tenacity of the Honeybee.  Flowers and Bees are intimately linked and together they make a potent essence.







Price List*
All orders come with a printed sheet of details about each essence.
10 mL brown glass bottle with dropper - $4.95 each (plus shipping, add below)

Individual Essence -

  ***Please note which Essences you would like.***

Buy 3 get 1 free! (4 for $14.85) 
Purchase 3 individuals, add shipping below, and tell me which 4 essences you want.




Shipping and Handling - Sent first class mail via USPS in recycled packaging.

$4.95 flat rate for up to 2 bottles

$9.95 flat rate for 3-24 bottles

SPECIAL OFFER!  ‘Full Kit’ One of each, 12 total, for $39.95! (plus shipping, add above)

 (a savings of almost $20 off the individual price!)



Take two to four drops four times a day, under your tongue or mixed in  a few ounces of water,
ten minutes prior to eating or one hour afterward. You can take them more often if you want, as needed.
Listen to your Inner Guidance.  You can also add them in with a bath or lotion, etc.
  I would love your feedback after using these Essences...


These Flower Essences are in a base of 140 proof Vodka.
They have been made with a homeopathic succussion of 6X.

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA; These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

*If you are buying several Ravenwind Botanica products at one time, whether the same item or not, you can save substantially on shipping as I will ship it all together, please inquire and we'll get the payment set up right for you.  :)  You can click on 'Ravenwind Botanica' in the list to the right to see all products available.  Thanks for supporting my work.

                                                                        

3.28.2012

A Day in the Life


Happy Cactus
Burst into bloom with all this heat we've had - early Summer in late Winter!


Crazy Cat
Calyx doing his thing.


Brave Spider
In the bee hive, surrounded by propolis.


Wild Dinner
Harvested from the yard - free food full of nutrients and organic!




This rainy day has determined that my scheduled landscaping will be done another day, so Mathieu and I worked more on house designing; we have come full circle over the past year and are looking into yurts again.  I checked on my new bee packages that were just installed a week ago today.  They're doing well:  producing lots of comb, bringing in pollen, and doing their "purr" buzz.  They even started building comb on the queen cage:

Each hive had constructed 10 times this much comb in 5 days.



I went into my other hive (Monkey is her name); I have 3 total now.  Monkey has made it well through her second winter; no need for sugar water.  A thunderstorm suddenly started to come in, so all I could do was get into the top super.  I noticed 2 spiders inside the cover, one of them a Black Widow - both of them the type that stay put in their web nook - not hunters.  I wonder what they do in there and if there might be symbiosis.  If not, why wouldn't the bees kill them?  and what are the spiders eating?  Bees?  other insects?  I'm guessing other insects and the bees leave them alone because they aren't bothering the bees.

I harvested some wild greens to saute for dinner, above, clockwise from bottom left:  Redbud flowers, Garlic Mustard, Plantain, Wisteria flowers, Smilax shoots, wild Chives, Chickweed, and Violet leaves and flowers in the center.  You'll notice I pulled up the Garlic Mustard by the roots.  I did this because it is an invasive non-native and it is prolific.  I want to weed it out, but even pulling it up all the time does not get rid of it.  The roots too are edible if it doesn't have a flower stalk.  Throw the roots away if you don't eat them; don't put them in the compost.


Here is the finished product, with humane, local, organic Chicken. I simply wilted the greens in a little olive oil in a skillet and added the flowers later with a little salt.

Listening: