Archive for September, 2008
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Tomorrow is the first day of October. The fall equinox has passed. The wheel has definitely turned from summer to fall, from South to West. The four shields model of working with nature and psyche has much to teach us, and enticing doorways of exploration to offer through the West.
To place ...
Posted in Four Directions | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
Cowboys, dogs, and dirtbikers: visitors to Monkey Valley
You might be noticing that all of these invaders of my privacy are men. Men who break the law and ignore the postings I have put up every 20 to 50 meters around the perimeter of the property. But one time there was ...
Posted in About Monkey Valley, Wild Nature | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008
Cowboys, dogs, and dirtbikers: visitors to Monkey Valley
Privacy is something I savor, and my need for it is probably stronger than most peoples'. It is amazing to me how often my privacy has been impinged upon at Monkey Valley. One time I was skinny dipping in the creek, as I ...
Posted in About Monkey Valley, Wild Women | No Comments »
Saturday, September 20th, 2008
Cowboys, dogs, and dirtbikers: unexpected visitors to Monkey Valley
As remote as it is, you might be surprised to hear the unexpected visitors I've had at Monkey Valley. One time I was coming back from a run to the 5 KM marker—a favourite out-and-back route that takes about 45 minutes—and found ...
Posted in Retreat Centre Information | 6 Comments »
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Cowboys, dogs, and dirtbikers: unexpected visitors to Monkey Valley
The Douglas Lake Cattle Company has the grazing rights for the land all around Monkey Valley. So it is not really surprising that I've seen quite a few cows—and a fair number of bulls, too—but that's another story. It was a real ...
Posted in About Monkey Valley | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008
The nearest neighbours to Monkey Valley are 30 KM (20 miles) away, in the hamlet Aspen Grove. This community was once a stop on the Merritt-Princeton stagecoach line! There are also some neighbours in another community, a similar distance by road, at the east end of Missezula Lake. Given how remote and hard ...
Posted in About Monkey Valley, Retreat Centre Information | 2 Comments »
Sunday, September 14th, 2008
I woke up this sunny morning with a yen for chocolate cookies... for breakfast. With a cup of decaf... served on the porch.
The wonderful thing about Saturday mornings is there's time for indulging such fantasies. So I got out the silver mixing bowls and baking sheet, and the delightful measuring ...
Posted in Recipes | 2 Comments »
Friday, September 12th, 2008
Indian ice cream—a gift from the land
At the August vision fast at Monkey Valley, the spot where our council circle met had some translucent reddish-orange berries that looked very succulent. I licked one and found it to be very bitter. The faster asked what they were, but I didn't know, and ...
Posted in Recipes, Vision Fast, Wild Nature | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, September 10th, 2008
Cultural misappropriation of sacred ceremony
Cultural misappropriation is a danger in adopting traditional ceremonies for contemporary use. It is true that peoples on every continent have used solo time in nature for spiritual purposes. It is a human birthright—a way of connecting directly to the natural world and to deeper realms ...
Posted in Vision Fast | No Comments »
Sunday, September 7th, 2008
A rite of passage
Peoples of many cultures have created traditions and ceremonies involving solo time in wild nature. In North America, the plains peoples are the most well-known groups to use the ancient practice of the vision quest. John Murray recounts, in editors Michael Tobias and Georgianne Cowan's The Soul ...
Posted in Vision Fast | No Comments »