Peaceful Greetings!
My dear brothers and sisters and I call you that from my heart. You have exemplified nothing but genuine love and concern from the very first day lil Aginah ,my granddaughter, posted my serious health challenges to brother Daood's network. And we thank Allah for his patience and "sticktoitness" as my grandmother would call it as he diligently post our literature that reaches around the country.
I was told by the pre admission doctor that the typical moyamoya procedure would take 12 hours. Well, the actual day of surgery, July 2, 2010, Surgeon Fernandez Gonzalez at Thomas Jefferson hospital (where they're known for being the best brain surgeons in the country), told me, friends and family that his plan was to perform 2 procedures -- the STA-MCA bypass or EMS (encephalomyosynangiosis) -- but couldn't give us a definite until he was inside the brain.
His first choice was the MCA bypass, but because the STA (superficial temporal-to- middle cerebral artery) was very small, this led Surgeon Gonzalez to perform the EMS that markedly improves cerebral blood flow and only requires 4 hours of surgery. Yes, with God Allah's Mercy major brain surgery was performed Friday, July 2nd at 8:30 am and I was home Sunday, July 4th at 1:00 pm. God is the Merciful Redeemer.
Praise be to God Allah, the One Lord and Creator that I'm home and healing amongst family and friends. Modern medicine saved my life, but so did alternatives to pharmaceuticals... I'm weak, and a little depressed, but that's expected when my life has been turned upside down overnight. However, I'm grateful to God Allah the Cherisher and Sustainer of life. I'm back taking God's medicines... Herbs. Also vitamins and natural supplements, sugar free diet, fruit, veggies, fish and drinking lots of pure water. The journey God sent me on some thirty years ago was because He saw and prepared me for moyamoya (God Allah the Omnipresent ) when it was unbeknownst to me that I even had a rare brain disease until manifested on April 28, 2010 while driving to Whole Foods market to buy water, food and herbs. I stopped at the light, sneezed and my head felt like it exploded--literally. God then sent His angels (2) to save my life. Read more... http://choicezthebook.blogspot.com
Surgeon Gonzalez says, it make take up to 6 months for the EMS procedure he performed to connect. May we continue to ask God The Healer to Bless and Comfort me in recovery! And that the procedure increases MUCH SOONER blood and oxygen to a blood starved brain bypassing the areas of bloackage.
I'm revisiting Grandmom Leslie's sayings, "when you remember God He remembers you."
I love you all
Aginah carter-shabazz
Philadelphia, PA
Friday, July 16, 2010
Friday, June 4, 2010
SUMMER WHITE NIGHT DANCING W/THE STARS
FUNDRAISER
LADIES & GENTLEMEN
All Around Town "Friends of Aginah" R Joining Us 4
A SUMMER WHITE NIGHT
with our own
DANCING WITH THE STARS
Live Music by DJ Philly & The Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble
Lower Level OLDIES SALSA TANGO * 1st Level VENDORS ROW
2nd Level Social Networking * 3rd Level Smooth Jazz * 4th Level Catered Buffet
Sunday, July 25, 2010
7:00 PM - 12:00 Midnight
African American Museum Philadelphia
701 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
TICKETS: $50 for 1 / $80 for 2
Deborah 215.760.2040 * Nas 215.407.7006
Deneen 267.475.1231 * Email aginahhair@aol.com
VENDING available: Call Marvell today 267.496.1051
Early Bird Ticketshttp://www.summerwhitenight.eventbrite.com
Sponsored by Deborah Lewis-Uqdah
An event planners production
All about hair
http://Aginah.com
AGINAH'S HEALTH CHALLENGES
Dearest Friends and Supporters:
On April 28, 2010. In excruciating pain and desperate, holding on to her head after feeling like it just exploded when she sneezed quickly pulled into a parking spot at Whole foods Market in Wynnewood slowly exited her truck while holding her head with one hand and closing the door with other then spread her arms and hands across the hood of her truck when two women "Angels, she called them" walked up to ask if she was in distressed. Slowly sliding to the ground she said to them both please don’t let me die here as they held on to her. She didn’t struggle to hold back another round of tears. "Please help me don’t let me die here," she begged the ambulance driver who finally pulled up quickly but it seemed like it was forever.
"Please don't let me die," she also told the EMS "I have migraine headaches she told him as he ask questions to keep her conscious never in all my years has it felt like this. We're almost to Lankenau hospital he told her." With that, the door opens to the ambulance and she was quickly rolled into the emergency room.
Nurses began to cut off her clothing hook up Intravenous in her arms. By that time her family were there trying to make out heads or tails what is happening to their matriarch. She tried to tell the doctors what happen but she could only form the words while holding her head tight to keep it from exploding again “Please don’t let me die.” Doctor ordered nurse to give her a shot of morphine. He had to ease the pain to prepare her for a cat scan of the brain. Resting quietly shoulders slumping, she heard the doctor say to her family she's hemorrhaging from the brain. And she’s not going to make it it’s nothing more we can do for her here. Doctor told her family he’s waiting for Jefferson to call with a bed in Intensive Care. Hospital phone rang Jefferson got a bed. Ambulance rush Aginah to Jefferson where she was taken to the neurology Intensive care unit.
She is now facing several doctors and nurses trying to stabilize her. They were bringing in all kinds of machines including cat scan equipment to her room. At 5:00 am she went to surgery while her tearful dad and daughter Nas, also family and friends stood by asking surgeon what were her risk. She survived surgery with minimal pain. She awakens with her son Sultan wiping his mother’s face with a warm cloth. By the morning the hospital room was filled with lots and lots of people very upset and just wanting to know if Aginah was going to live and recover fully. But only G-d knows if she will ever recover fully from Moyamoya disease of the brain.
Knowing Aginah, her healing process will be sooner than anticipated by the doctors. She is recovering but must take it slowly before she can return to work.
I'm asking you, as I'm sure Aginah would be most grateful for your contribution to help her to keep a roof over her head and able to pay for future testing and research. The need is real and we need your help because we don’t want to see her struggling while suffering especially being a woman that has always given to the masses. At one time friends would call her an angel without wings. She gave generously to so many.
Give what feels good to your heart a contribution will indeed make a difference in her life. Buy one ticket for Summer White Night and one for a friend. http://summerwhitenight.eventbrite.com
It will only take a minute to click the buy a ticket button and it will help her tremedously! Godwilling.
Sincerely,
Family & Friends
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL
Here is the email I promised so I wouldn't have to tell the story over and over 'cause sometimes talking long builds pressure in my head.
Looking at my MRI and Catscan results on screen for my follow-up visit, I do have Moyamoya a rare disease of the brain and possibly since birth. Moyamoya - the tiny blood vessels that grow outside the brain are smaller than normal and intertwined appearing more like a spider web which blocks blood flow to the brain. The Hemorrhage I suffered on April 28th was on the right side but moyamoya is more pronounced on left side. Left side of brain does not have same connections as right side. Neuro Surgeons at Thomas Jefferson Hospital said too dangerous to operate on right side because front of ear where there is pulsing major artery grew outside the brain up the side then over the top center of brain and attached itself down inside of brain.
Moyamoya can present in two ways: Brain hemorrhage or brain stroke. Arteries need to be connected on left side. Left side is susceptible to a brain stroke as was the right side but the hemorrhage actually prevented a brain stroke. Previous CT Scan perfusion (showed blood flow) is decreased on right side and reason for hemorrhage. Surgeons will not operate on right side for fear of disconnecting already established arteries even though the connection of the arteries is not a normal connection. Least invasive surgery on the left side may be done to prevent possibility of a stroke because of lack of connection of the arteries. Surgery can possibly make arteries connect and increase blood flow to the brain. Surgery possibly using burr holes (drill holes at back of skull & around forehead) for arteries to connect naturally and increase blood circulation in my head.
Next step: CTA perfusion with dye to look at and compare blood flow in right side and left side of brain. Depending on results surgery will be scheduled. This CTA testing is scheduled for June 7th.
Neurosurgeon Dr Gonzalez says I have pristine organs which most likely kept me from never losing consciousness which could have resulted in a coma. I said it's 25-30 years taking herbs but you know doctors discount that. He also pointed to the picture of my brain on the screen and said your brain is bad but when he looks at me its remarkable how well I look and doing. Looking forward to the 7th but Gonzalez says right now I'm fine though I will have headaches until the blood is fully drained from my head.
New Update:
I had a reaction from the test on June 7th so the results are scheduled for reading with Dr. Gonzalez/Dr. Rosenwasser on June 16th. At that time I will have more understanding how much blood flow is circulating on the left and ride of the brain. I will also have a surgery date and doctors will confirm the procedure possibly drilling the burr holes and my risk and benefits.
I'm Grateful to be alive. G-d is Most Merciful.
Thank you all for your prayers and concerns
Aginah
________________________________________________________
CREATESPACE
An Amazon.com company
BOOK CHOICEZhttps://createspace.com/3358962
DOCUMENTARY Justice For Her DVD'shttps://createspace.com/255327
On April 28, 2010. In excruciating pain and desperate, holding on to her head after feeling like it just exploded when she sneezed quickly pulled into a parking spot at Whole foods Market in Wynnewood slowly exited her truck while holding her head with one hand and closing the door with other then spread her arms and hands across the hood of her truck when two women "Angels, she called them" walked up to ask if she was in distressed. Slowly sliding to the ground she said to them both please don’t let me die here as they held on to her. She didn’t struggle to hold back another round of tears. "Please help me don’t let me die here," she begged the ambulance driver who finally pulled up quickly but it seemed like it was forever.
"Please don't let me die," she also told the EMS "I have migraine headaches she told him as he ask questions to keep her conscious never in all my years has it felt like this. We're almost to Lankenau hospital he told her." With that, the door opens to the ambulance and she was quickly rolled into the emergency room.
Nurses began to cut off her clothing hook up Intravenous in her arms. By that time her family were there trying to make out heads or tails what is happening to their matriarch. She tried to tell the doctors what happen but she could only form the words while holding her head tight to keep it from exploding again “Please don’t let me die.” Doctor ordered nurse to give her a shot of morphine. He had to ease the pain to prepare her for a cat scan of the brain. Resting quietly shoulders slumping, she heard the doctor say to her family she's hemorrhaging from the brain. And she’s not going to make it it’s nothing more we can do for her here. Doctor told her family he’s waiting for Jefferson to call with a bed in Intensive Care. Hospital phone rang Jefferson got a bed. Ambulance rush Aginah to Jefferson where she was taken to the neurology Intensive care unit.
She is now facing several doctors and nurses trying to stabilize her. They were bringing in all kinds of machines including cat scan equipment to her room. At 5:00 am she went to surgery while her tearful dad and daughter Nas, also family and friends stood by asking surgeon what were her risk. She survived surgery with minimal pain. She awakens with her son Sultan wiping his mother’s face with a warm cloth. By the morning the hospital room was filled with lots and lots of people very upset and just wanting to know if Aginah was going to live and recover fully. But only G-d knows if she will ever recover fully from Moyamoya disease of the brain.
Knowing Aginah, her healing process will be sooner than anticipated by the doctors. She is recovering but must take it slowly before she can return to work.
I'm asking you, as I'm sure Aginah would be most grateful for your contribution to help her to keep a roof over her head and able to pay for future testing and research. The need is real and we need your help because we don’t want to see her struggling while suffering especially being a woman that has always given to the masses. At one time friends would call her an angel without wings. She gave generously to so many.
Give what feels good to your heart a contribution will indeed make a difference in her life. Buy one ticket for Summer White Night and one for a friend. http://summerwhitenight.eventbrite.com
It will only take a minute to click the buy a ticket button and it will help her tremedously! Godwilling.
Sincerely,
Family & Friends
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL
Here is the email I promised so I wouldn't have to tell the story over and over 'cause sometimes talking long builds pressure in my head.
Looking at my MRI and Catscan results on screen for my follow-up visit, I do have Moyamoya a rare disease of the brain and possibly since birth. Moyamoya - the tiny blood vessels that grow outside the brain are smaller than normal and intertwined appearing more like a spider web which blocks blood flow to the brain. The Hemorrhage I suffered on April 28th was on the right side but moyamoya is more pronounced on left side. Left side of brain does not have same connections as right side. Neuro Surgeons at Thomas Jefferson Hospital said too dangerous to operate on right side because front of ear where there is pulsing major artery grew outside the brain up the side then over the top center of brain and attached itself down inside of brain.
Moyamoya can present in two ways: Brain hemorrhage or brain stroke. Arteries need to be connected on left side. Left side is susceptible to a brain stroke as was the right side but the hemorrhage actually prevented a brain stroke. Previous CT Scan perfusion (showed blood flow) is decreased on right side and reason for hemorrhage. Surgeons will not operate on right side for fear of disconnecting already established arteries even though the connection of the arteries is not a normal connection. Least invasive surgery on the left side may be done to prevent possibility of a stroke because of lack of connection of the arteries. Surgery can possibly make arteries connect and increase blood flow to the brain. Surgery possibly using burr holes (drill holes at back of skull & around forehead) for arteries to connect naturally and increase blood circulation in my head.
Next step: CTA perfusion with dye to look at and compare blood flow in right side and left side of brain. Depending on results surgery will be scheduled. This CTA testing is scheduled for June 7th.
Neurosurgeon Dr Gonzalez says I have pristine organs which most likely kept me from never losing consciousness which could have resulted in a coma. I said it's 25-30 years taking herbs but you know doctors discount that. He also pointed to the picture of my brain on the screen and said your brain is bad but when he looks at me its remarkable how well I look and doing. Looking forward to the 7th but Gonzalez says right now I'm fine though I will have headaches until the blood is fully drained from my head.
New Update:
I had a reaction from the test on June 7th so the results are scheduled for reading with Dr. Gonzalez/Dr. Rosenwasser on June 16th. At that time I will have more understanding how much blood flow is circulating on the left and ride of the brain. I will also have a surgery date and doctors will confirm the procedure possibly drilling the burr holes and my risk and benefits.
I'm Grateful to be alive. G-d is Most Merciful.
Thank you all for your prayers and concerns
Aginah
________________________________________________________
CREATESPACE
An Amazon.com company
BOOK CHOICEZhttps://createspace.com/3358962
DOCUMENTARY Justice For Her DVD'shttps://createspace.com/255327
Thursday, January 14, 2010
REAL FOOD IS UNREFINED, UNPROCESSED...
What's For Dinner?
Food problems for many people today, and for most people who lived before us, are more about getting enough to eat than about what to eat. But those who have access to, and can afford, any food any time of the year, have become almost obsessed with discerning the right choices from the many types of nourishment offered by the Fourth River of Healing. In fact, advice on what to eat and how to exercise are multi-billion dollar industries in America at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The Wise Woman Tradition has no rules, so we are free to eat whatever we wish. But too much freedom can be frightening. To narrow my choices, I looked at historical food choices worldwide, reviewed scientific analyses of nutrients in foods, and kept a firm focus on health as wholeness.
The best diet, I decided, is one that contains as much nourishment and as many choices as possible that are sacred, whole, abundant, seasonal, fresh, accessible, local, varied, wild, and storied.
Abundance includes consuming abundantly, and consuming that which is abundant. We increase health when we breathe abundantly, when we drink an abundance of water, when we enjoy an abundance of loving support, when we eat what is abundant in our environment, and when we ingest the wholeness of the world in each moment.
When we consume that which is abundant, rather than that which is scarce, we satisfy ourselves without guilt, blame, or shame, increasing our health even more.
Abundance gives rise to generosity. Abundance creates safety, security, and ease. We crave abundance, so we contrive it. We process and refine foods, add fake flavors, false colors, and preservatives. Is it any wonder that such food, eaten in abundance, creates disease/distress/death? Real food is unrefined, unprocessed, unbleached, unpreserved, unenriched, and when eaten in abundance creates health/wholeness/holiness.
Seasonal nourishment is in synch with the rhythms of the Earth. It helps us change with the seasons. Since out of season produce is often more heavily sprayed, choosing food that is seasonal protects our health by reducing the chemicals we consume. And it protects the health of the Earth because it reduces the amount of fuel required to transport and keep the food.
“ Ninety-eight percent of [tomatoes] sold in January, February, and March are from Mexico. . . . they are picked green, gassed to turn them red, transported in refrigerated trucks, and kept in refrigerated distribution centers.”
Vince Staten (1993)
Fresh is just picked, tender, intimate, and vital. Fresh is ripe, tasty, and nutritious. Fresh is full of nuances and subtleties. Fresh is bubbling with life force. In the Fourth River we breathe fresh air, drink fresh water, have fresh experiences, entertain fresh thoughts, and eat fresh food .
Fresh is in the moment: flours ground fresh, nuts freshly roasted, oils freshly pressed, vegetables and fruits harvested ripe, fish just caught.
Fresh is not raw. Cooked foods, fermented foods, dehydrated foods, even frozen and canned foods are fresh. (Because fresh produce rots on the way to market, it is picked green and may not develop its full array of nutrients. Produce grown for commercial canning or freezing however is allowed to ripen fully and picked at its peak of flavor, nutrition, and freshness.)
Accessible is free. That which is most nourishing to the health/wholeness/holiness of all is usually easy to get, free to everyone, and easily accessible. Scarcity, expense, and remoteness appeal to us, intrigue us. We are more curious about the rare thing than the common thing.
Strengthening and feeding ourselves with what is accessible from nature is easy, free, unhindered. Available, reachable, understandable. The glass become s half full. Weeds are powerhouses of nutrition, not enemies to be destroyed. Problems are allies of wholeness.
Local refers to a locus, a place. When we strengthen and feed ourselves from what is accessible it is usually local. When we locate ourselves within a family, the Fourth River brings us stories, photos, mementoes, sap rising up from ancestral roots. When we locate ourselves at a place on the Earth, even if only for a short while, the Fourth River brings us health in local weeds, legends, sacred spots. When we locate ourselves within ourselves, the Fourth River brings us home to ourselves.
Variety is more than the spice of life. Life is variety. We are stronger and more nourished when we use a variety of exercises and foods. Confining ourselves to narrow choices or limiting our diet by avoiding any whole food almost a lways leads us to malnourish ourselves. While there is not much harm in following a restricted diet for a few weeks or months, eating by severe dietary rules of any kind erodes health/wholeness/holiness.
We are omnivores, willing and able to eat an enormous variety of foods. Our early ancestors ate about 2000 different foods. Dr. Weston Price traveled the world observing native diets; he found that those who ate the most varied diets lived longest and had the fewest degenerative diseases. The Hopi cultivate hundreds of kinds of corn, while most twenty first century Americans eat only one hundred different foods.
Add variety by eating seaweed: try arame, hijiki, kombu, wakame, sea palm fronds, dulse, nori. Add variety by eating more beans: try black lentils, orange lentils, anasazi beans, split peas, pinto beans, lima beans. Add variety by eating whole grains: try brown rice, kasha, millet, quinoa, teff. Add variety by eating wild berries and wild greens: try dandelion leaves, chickweed or miner's lettuce, wild onions, mallow and violet leaves. Home gardens, ordinary vacant lots, even the pots of houseplants, offer us an enormous variety of edible weeds.
Wild food is our original food. Uncultivated, it is nature's gift to us. The nutrients in wild foods trigger cellular memories of health/wholeness/holiness. Even a bite of wild food (on a daily basis) has a profound effect on wellbeing and health. Wild foods are holographic and complex; they resonant in the whole body, reconnecting us to health and flexibility. Wild foods grow where and when they wish. Eating them opens our senses and nourishes the part of each one of us that is wild.
The nutrients in wild foods are more biologically active at the cellular receptors than the nutrients in cultivated food (yes, even organic foods). We’ve been co-evolving with wild plants for hundreds of thousands of years. Our cells, our bodies, our spirits, know how to u se the strength and nourishment found in wild foods to create optimum health for us.
Green Blessings, Susun Weed
Food problems for many people today, and for most people who lived before us, are more about getting enough to eat than about what to eat. But those who have access to, and can afford, any food any time of the year, have become almost obsessed with discerning the right choices from the many types of nourishment offered by the Fourth River of Healing. In fact, advice on what to eat and how to exercise are multi-billion dollar industries in America at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
The Wise Woman Tradition has no rules, so we are free to eat whatever we wish. But too much freedom can be frightening. To narrow my choices, I looked at historical food choices worldwide, reviewed scientific analyses of nutrients in foods, and kept a firm focus on health as wholeness.
The best diet, I decided, is one that contains as much nourishment and as many choices as possible that are sacred, whole, abundant, seasonal, fresh, accessible, local, varied, wild, and storied.
Abundance includes consuming abundantly, and consuming that which is abundant. We increase health when we breathe abundantly, when we drink an abundance of water, when we enjoy an abundance of loving support, when we eat what is abundant in our environment, and when we ingest the wholeness of the world in each moment.
When we consume that which is abundant, rather than that which is scarce, we satisfy ourselves without guilt, blame, or shame, increasing our health even more.
Abundance gives rise to generosity. Abundance creates safety, security, and ease. We crave abundance, so we contrive it. We process and refine foods, add fake flavors, false colors, and preservatives. Is it any wonder that such food, eaten in abundance, creates disease/distress/death? Real food is unrefined, unprocessed, unbleached, unpreserved, unenriched, and when eaten in abundance creates health/wholeness/holiness.
Seasonal nourishment is in synch with the rhythms of the Earth. It helps us change with the seasons. Since out of season produce is often more heavily sprayed, choosing food that is seasonal protects our health by reducing the chemicals we consume. And it protects the health of the Earth because it reduces the amount of fuel required to transport and keep the food.
“ Ninety-eight percent of [tomatoes] sold in January, February, and March are from Mexico. . . . they are picked green, gassed to turn them red, transported in refrigerated trucks, and kept in refrigerated distribution centers.”
Vince Staten (1993)
Fresh is just picked, tender, intimate, and vital. Fresh is ripe, tasty, and nutritious. Fresh is full of nuances and subtleties. Fresh is bubbling with life force. In the Fourth River we breathe fresh air, drink fresh water, have fresh experiences, entertain fresh thoughts, and eat fresh food .
Fresh is in the moment: flours ground fresh, nuts freshly roasted, oils freshly pressed, vegetables and fruits harvested ripe, fish just caught.
Fresh is not raw. Cooked foods, fermented foods, dehydrated foods, even frozen and canned foods are fresh. (Because fresh produce rots on the way to market, it is picked green and may not develop its full array of nutrients. Produce grown for commercial canning or freezing however is allowed to ripen fully and picked at its peak of flavor, nutrition, and freshness.)
Accessible is free. That which is most nourishing to the health/wholeness/holiness of all is usually easy to get, free to everyone, and easily accessible. Scarcity, expense, and remoteness appeal to us, intrigue us. We are more curious about the rare thing than the common thing.
Strengthening and feeding ourselves with what is accessible from nature is easy, free, unhindered. Available, reachable, understandable. The glass become s half full. Weeds are powerhouses of nutrition, not enemies to be destroyed. Problems are allies of wholeness.
Local refers to a locus, a place. When we strengthen and feed ourselves from what is accessible it is usually local. When we locate ourselves within a family, the Fourth River brings us stories, photos, mementoes, sap rising up from ancestral roots. When we locate ourselves at a place on the Earth, even if only for a short while, the Fourth River brings us health in local weeds, legends, sacred spots. When we locate ourselves within ourselves, the Fourth River brings us home to ourselves.
Variety is more than the spice of life. Life is variety. We are stronger and more nourished when we use a variety of exercises and foods. Confining ourselves to narrow choices or limiting our diet by avoiding any whole food almost a lways leads us to malnourish ourselves. While there is not much harm in following a restricted diet for a few weeks or months, eating by severe dietary rules of any kind erodes health/wholeness/holiness.
We are omnivores, willing and able to eat an enormous variety of foods. Our early ancestors ate about 2000 different foods. Dr. Weston Price traveled the world observing native diets; he found that those who ate the most varied diets lived longest and had the fewest degenerative diseases. The Hopi cultivate hundreds of kinds of corn, while most twenty first century Americans eat only one hundred different foods.
Add variety by eating seaweed: try arame, hijiki, kombu, wakame, sea palm fronds, dulse, nori. Add variety by eating more beans: try black lentils, orange lentils, anasazi beans, split peas, pinto beans, lima beans. Add variety by eating whole grains: try brown rice, kasha, millet, quinoa, teff. Add variety by eating wild berries and wild greens: try dandelion leaves, chickweed or miner's lettuce, wild onions, mallow and violet leaves. Home gardens, ordinary vacant lots, even the pots of houseplants, offer us an enormous variety of edible weeds.
Wild food is our original food. Uncultivated, it is nature's gift to us. The nutrients in wild foods trigger cellular memories of health/wholeness/holiness. Even a bite of wild food (on a daily basis) has a profound effect on wellbeing and health. Wild foods are holographic and complex; they resonant in the whole body, reconnecting us to health and flexibility. Wild foods grow where and when they wish. Eating them opens our senses and nourishes the part of each one of us that is wild.
The nutrients in wild foods are more biologically active at the cellular receptors than the nutrients in cultivated food (yes, even organic foods). We’ve been co-evolving with wild plants for hundreds of thousands of years. Our cells, our bodies, our spirits, know how to u se the strength and nourishment found in wild foods to create optimum health for us.
Green Blessings, Susun Weed
Friday, January 1, 2010
SEVEN RIVERS OF HEALING PART 1
What Are the Seven Rivers?
Whether we see ourselves as body-machines, dirty temples, or ever-changing perfection, we all want and need help with healing injuries, illness, and deviations from our healthy norm. But with a limitless number of techniques to choose from, not to mention a multitude of practitioners, how do we choose? Who can we trust? What do we do? The Seven Rivers of Healing give structure to our quest for health.
The Wise Woman Tradition encourages us to make use of every healing option. But we can't use them all at once. Where do we start? How can we gauge what is most appropriate? How can we avoid harming ourselves in our attempts to heal/change? The Seven Rivers of Healing is a ranking system, a way to order our choices and determine what to do first.
The Seven Rivers of Healing contain all the techniques and all the substances used for healing throughout all times and all places. They flow from the most ancient past to the inconceivable future, collecting every method of healing ever known and bringing them to us today. They apply to all aspects of our beings, all parts of our wholeness: physical, emotional, mental, symbolic, and sacred.
The Seven Rivers of Healing connect orthodox and alternative medicines. Their flow represents a truly complementary approach to health care. One that can carry us on the magic carpet of science into the Great Mystery. One that allows all people to honor their individual beliefs about life and death and what we do in between. One that honors the interconnectedness of all. One that helps us in our search for completeness and in our desire to leave the world a healthier place for our children and grandchildren.
The Seven Rivers of Healing offer us a truly integrative approach which invites the hard-nosed realist to try out energy approaches and brings the shaman into the operating theater. It arose, in part, from my distress over the lives lost by those who believed that modern medicine can only do harm. It arose, in part, from my distress over the damage done to those who believed that modern medicine can do no harm.
The Seven Rivers of Healing is a pattern based on the recognition that we can be harmed by that which claims to heal us. The Seven Rivers of Healing affirms that all forms of healing do work -- but not that they are all always safe or beneficial. The flow of the Seven Rivers of Healing follows the most important precept in healing: "First, do no harm."
The Seven Rivers of Healing are not limited to any one tradition. Whether you are most comfortable in the scientific tradition, the heroic tradition, or the Wise Woman Tradition, flowing with the Seven Rivers of Healing will broaden your vision of health and increase your healing options. For the purpose of this book, however, I will frame my discussion primarily from the viewpoint of the Wise Woman.
First, Do No Harm
Every healing option, every method and material has its place in The Seven Rivers of Healing. They are arranged in the Rivers according to the frequency and severity of their harm, including unwanted side effects. Thus, the First River carries healing options that never cause any harm. The Second River carries options that may occasionally cause very mild harm. The Third River carries options that may, at times, cause some slight harm.
The Fourth River carries options that sometimes cause moderate harm. The Fifth River carries options that always cause some moderate harm but rarely death. The Sixth River carries options that always cause moderate harm and can sometimes kill. The Seventh River carries options that always cause harm and frequently cause grave harm or death.
Techniques, treatments and diagnostic procedures from the first four Rivers, when properly used, rarely cause harm and rarely have detrimental side effects. (If they do, the effects are usually mild and short-lived.) Techniques, treatments and diagnostic procedures from the last three Rivers, even when carefully and properly administered, almost always cause some harm, sometimes severe harm, as a consequence of their use. In addition, they usually have unwanted side effects that can be severe and long lasting.
Interaction with our physical being increases as we move through the Seven Rivers. In the First River, we are alone: not so much as the gaze of another person touches us. In the Second River, we open our minds: thoughts and ideas enter us, hands touch us lightly. In the Third River, we open our senses: vibrations, sounds, colors, and subtle energies move around and through us.
In the Fourth River, we open our mouths and take substances into our bodies: we move ourselves vigorously, circulating fresh blood deeply into our open and receptive cells. In the Fifth River, we enlist the aid of strong touch, powerful plants, even acupuncture needles to help us open and change. In the Sixth River, we disable or ignore our natural warning systems so we may ingest isolated, synthesized substances (drugs and supplements) which have powerful actions on our bodies and minds.
In the Seventh River of Healing, we are opened with knives, entered with needles and tubes, opened with radiation, penetrated with magnetic fields, altered with psychoactive allies.
Not only are we more at risk because we are more open (and more opened)--physically and mentally, emotionally and psychically--as we move from the first to the last River of Healing, but we are also more at risk because the currents of each successive River flow deeper and faster, sweeping us toward our goal with more and more force and urgency.
Each River increases the reality of the life/death struggle/union. In the first two Rivers, we encounter the thought of death, we learn about it. In the Third River of Healing we dream of death, we fear death. In the Fourth River we acknowledge that death is needed to feed life. In the Fifth River we are rescued from death by strong medicines and heroic measures. In the Sixth River, we brush death's shoulder, using poisons for their healing power. In the Seventh River we mimic death with anesthesia. We break ourselves into pieces. We are killed and returned to life. Or not. All Rivers return to the ocean, to the All, to the Void.
Each River can take us to the healing we want. Each River alone could be enough to create the health we seek. But when we understand and use them all, sequentially, going only so far as we need to gain health/wholeness/holiness, then we find ourselves healing in unimaginable ways. With the Seven Rivers of Healing to guide us, we can remember the playful child we once were and explore our healing options with a light and amused heart.
Green Blessings,
by Susun Weed
Whether we see ourselves as body-machines, dirty temples, or ever-changing perfection, we all want and need help with healing injuries, illness, and deviations from our healthy norm. But with a limitless number of techniques to choose from, not to mention a multitude of practitioners, how do we choose? Who can we trust? What do we do? The Seven Rivers of Healing give structure to our quest for health.
The Wise Woman Tradition encourages us to make use of every healing option. But we can't use them all at once. Where do we start? How can we gauge what is most appropriate? How can we avoid harming ourselves in our attempts to heal/change? The Seven Rivers of Healing is a ranking system, a way to order our choices and determine what to do first.
The Seven Rivers of Healing contain all the techniques and all the substances used for healing throughout all times and all places. They flow from the most ancient past to the inconceivable future, collecting every method of healing ever known and bringing them to us today. They apply to all aspects of our beings, all parts of our wholeness: physical, emotional, mental, symbolic, and sacred.
The Seven Rivers of Healing connect orthodox and alternative medicines. Their flow represents a truly complementary approach to health care. One that can carry us on the magic carpet of science into the Great Mystery. One that allows all people to honor their individual beliefs about life and death and what we do in between. One that honors the interconnectedness of all. One that helps us in our search for completeness and in our desire to leave the world a healthier place for our children and grandchildren.
The Seven Rivers of Healing offer us a truly integrative approach which invites the hard-nosed realist to try out energy approaches and brings the shaman into the operating theater. It arose, in part, from my distress over the lives lost by those who believed that modern medicine can only do harm. It arose, in part, from my distress over the damage done to those who believed that modern medicine can do no harm.
The Seven Rivers of Healing is a pattern based on the recognition that we can be harmed by that which claims to heal us. The Seven Rivers of Healing affirms that all forms of healing do work -- but not that they are all always safe or beneficial. The flow of the Seven Rivers of Healing follows the most important precept in healing: "First, do no harm."
The Seven Rivers of Healing are not limited to any one tradition. Whether you are most comfortable in the scientific tradition, the heroic tradition, or the Wise Woman Tradition, flowing with the Seven Rivers of Healing will broaden your vision of health and increase your healing options. For the purpose of this book, however, I will frame my discussion primarily from the viewpoint of the Wise Woman.
First, Do No Harm
Every healing option, every method and material has its place in The Seven Rivers of Healing. They are arranged in the Rivers according to the frequency and severity of their harm, including unwanted side effects. Thus, the First River carries healing options that never cause any harm. The Second River carries options that may occasionally cause very mild harm. The Third River carries options that may, at times, cause some slight harm.
The Fourth River carries options that sometimes cause moderate harm. The Fifth River carries options that always cause some moderate harm but rarely death. The Sixth River carries options that always cause moderate harm and can sometimes kill. The Seventh River carries options that always cause harm and frequently cause grave harm or death.
Techniques, treatments and diagnostic procedures from the first four Rivers, when properly used, rarely cause harm and rarely have detrimental side effects. (If they do, the effects are usually mild and short-lived.) Techniques, treatments and diagnostic procedures from the last three Rivers, even when carefully and properly administered, almost always cause some harm, sometimes severe harm, as a consequence of their use. In addition, they usually have unwanted side effects that can be severe and long lasting.
Interaction with our physical being increases as we move through the Seven Rivers. In the First River, we are alone: not so much as the gaze of another person touches us. In the Second River, we open our minds: thoughts and ideas enter us, hands touch us lightly. In the Third River, we open our senses: vibrations, sounds, colors, and subtle energies move around and through us.
In the Fourth River, we open our mouths and take substances into our bodies: we move ourselves vigorously, circulating fresh blood deeply into our open and receptive cells. In the Fifth River, we enlist the aid of strong touch, powerful plants, even acupuncture needles to help us open and change. In the Sixth River, we disable or ignore our natural warning systems so we may ingest isolated, synthesized substances (drugs and supplements) which have powerful actions on our bodies and minds.
In the Seventh River of Healing, we are opened with knives, entered with needles and tubes, opened with radiation, penetrated with magnetic fields, altered with psychoactive allies.
Not only are we more at risk because we are more open (and more opened)--physically and mentally, emotionally and psychically--as we move from the first to the last River of Healing, but we are also more at risk because the currents of each successive River flow deeper and faster, sweeping us toward our goal with more and more force and urgency.
Each River increases the reality of the life/death struggle/union. In the first two Rivers, we encounter the thought of death, we learn about it. In the Third River of Healing we dream of death, we fear death. In the Fourth River we acknowledge that death is needed to feed life. In the Fifth River we are rescued from death by strong medicines and heroic measures. In the Sixth River, we brush death's shoulder, using poisons for their healing power. In the Seventh River we mimic death with anesthesia. We break ourselves into pieces. We are killed and returned to life. Or not. All Rivers return to the ocean, to the All, to the Void.
Each River can take us to the healing we want. Each River alone could be enough to create the health we seek. But when we understand and use them all, sequentially, going only so far as we need to gain health/wholeness/holiness, then we find ourselves healing in unimaginable ways. With the Seven Rivers of Healing to guide us, we can remember the playful child we once were and explore our healing options with a light and amused heart.
Green Blessings,
by Susun Weed
SEVEN RIVERS OF HEALING INTRO
SEVEN RIVERS OF HEALING Check Back Daily
Have you ever felt amazed and overwhelmed by all the different approaches to healing available to you?
Seven Rivers of Healing provides a clear path through the maze of health care choices.
Relieve your anxiety, enlighten your mind, and empower yourself through the personal delivery of easy-to-access knowledge.
Rediscover your inner wisdom with this 46 week self-study course and sharing with you at CHOICEZ the blog with peace, health and harmony.
The newest work makes sense of the many differing approach to healing available to you.
The symbolic model of the Seven Rivers of Healing helps you place every method--from orthodox to traditional, meditation to medication, Reiki to surgery--into its appropriate place, discovering how and when it is useful.
Refreshingly, Weed does not ignore or vilify any technique, or try to present any one way as the only right way for everyone.
Instead she provides a route you can travel to find a path back to the healthy norm that is the essential you.
Like many world-changing ideas, your central belief seems obvious once pointed out: The best way back to your healthy norm is to use the safest methods first. Then, if needed, move on to more potent procedures that might cause harm along with their healing.
The Seven Rivers of Healing provides the information you need to find deep healing by returning home, returning to the source.
Whether or not you are currently facing an acute or chronic problem, Seven Rivers of Healing will provide you with life-changing, and maybe even life-saving, information.
Seven Rivers of Healing
46 week self-study course
By Susun Weed
To be continued-
Have you ever felt amazed and overwhelmed by all the different approaches to healing available to you?
Seven Rivers of Healing provides a clear path through the maze of health care choices.
Relieve your anxiety, enlighten your mind, and empower yourself through the personal delivery of easy-to-access knowledge.
Rediscover your inner wisdom with this 46 week self-study course and sharing with you at CHOICEZ the blog with peace, health and harmony.
The newest work makes sense of the many differing approach to healing available to you.
The symbolic model of the Seven Rivers of Healing helps you place every method--from orthodox to traditional, meditation to medication, Reiki to surgery--into its appropriate place, discovering how and when it is useful.
Refreshingly, Weed does not ignore or vilify any technique, or try to present any one way as the only right way for everyone.
Instead she provides a route you can travel to find a path back to the healthy norm that is the essential you.
Like many world-changing ideas, your central belief seems obvious once pointed out: The best way back to your healthy norm is to use the safest methods first. Then, if needed, move on to more potent procedures that might cause harm along with their healing.
The Seven Rivers of Healing provides the information you need to find deep healing by returning home, returning to the source.
Whether or not you are currently facing an acute or chronic problem, Seven Rivers of Healing will provide you with life-changing, and maybe even life-saving, information.
Seven Rivers of Healing
46 week self-study course
By Susun Weed
To be continued-
Sunday, December 6, 2009
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