KS&L 414 The First Thanksgivings in the New World by Tina Erwin

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  I have spent many hours speaking to the ghosts of Thanksgivings past, to those stalwart souls who survived the early years of life in these United States. I have often pondered just why it was so amazingly cold during those particular years. In 1776 the Potomac river froze over. In the follow on years, the cold was so tremendous that most babies died of starvation. It is a wonder that anyone survived the severe cold.        However, one year was especially viciously cold. The year was 1789. At the beginning of this year, an unknown volcano in Iceland belched out 56 billion tons of sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere of this planet for a staggering eight months straight. That loss of sunlight created a devastating situation globally and ultimately led to the riots throughout Europe, and precipitated the beginning of the French Revolution. Rivers all over Europe froze. Crops died from the sulfur dioxide. There was famine across all of Europe – which pushed more people to come to the United States hoping for a better future. 

       Those plucky settlers who came to the United States were also affected by this massive amount of sun-blocking chemicals, for the jet stream would have spread this choking poison all over the planet. But no one knew this. All they knew was that every winter day was a torture of the unending struggle of never having enough to eat, never feeling completely warm and never having a sense of complete safety. I'm sure they must have wondered if life could possibly get any harder.

       Children died of starvation faster than adults. Very probably all would have perished without the kindness of the Native Americans who shared their ways, successful ways that seemed ‘savage’ to the Europeans but were the pathways that enabled the native peoples to thrive in this bountiful land. Perhaps that lesson is that there is bounty all around you if you know how to find it. Sometimes you simply need to have someone teach you how to see it and even sometimes what it looks like! 

       So as we gather around our plentiful tables, perhaps we can give special thanks to all of those people who paved the way for us to be here today, by sacrificing what was warm, plentiful and safe for the rugged, often heartless adventure, that was and still is, the United States.

 Photography by Tina Erwin   

Rescue Remedy by Tina Erwin

       The Karmic Savings and Loan is primarily about how karma works and how we create, and are affected by karma in our lives. Sometimes, it is worthwhile to consider that to have knowledge about certain things means that we have earned the karma to know it. One of the interesting tenants of the spiritual path is that as we progress, we are offered certain tools to help us along that path and truly Bach Flower Essences are a miraculous tool to have. They are absolutely a gift from God.

         Everything that happens to us begins on the etheric level. Eventually, inevitably, it manifests on the physical level. So when we are faced with the physical manifestation in the form of a bruise, a wound, or grief we seldom think to treat that problem on the etheric level. However, the wise ones among us know that treating the etheric level automatically results in accelerating the healing on the physical level.

         A Bach Flower Essence is the energetic essence of a specific plant. God placed every single plant on Earth for a reason and through a miracle, a man named Dr. Edward Bach discovered how to translate the energy of specific, non-poisonous flowers into a form that can be used by human beings, animals and even plants.

         The most famous of Dr. Bach’s essences is something called Rescue Remedy. This is a creation from the essences of five plants: Star of Bethlehem, Cherry Plum, Rock Rose, Impatiens, and Clematis. This unique combination has the uncanny ability to virtually, instantly bring balance to the body in any situation, any trauma, and any grief. You can also use it literally every fifteen minutes or as long as the stressing situation lasts. The trick is to remember to use it.

         How do you use this amazing tool? Rescue Remedy comes in the form of liquid in a Brandy suspension, in a spray or pastilles. Delivery methods include:

         • placing several drops in a glass of pure water and drinking it slowly.

         • placing a dropper full under your tongue and feeling it penetrate your etheric body and bringing a measure of peace and calming to you.

         • putting a few drops in spring water in a spray bottle and spraying an individual if necessary.

         • Since it also comes in a spray bottle, spray it in your mouth or on a wound.

         • It also comes in a gummy form, called pastilles and you can chew or suck them to bring you balance.

         How and when do you use this magnificent, yet humble tool?

         • In an accident, the etheric body of a person or an animal is damaged. Use it on both wounds, points of trauma or orally or all of the above.

         • Do this for animals as well. Perhaps a bird flies into your window and is really stunned on the ground. If you can pick up the little creature, gently place one drop of Rescue Remedy in its mouth. Then hold it in your hands to give it warmth and healing. Within 5-7 minutes, the bird may simply fly out of your hands.

         • It would not be far fetched to use it on your car if it was in an accident where you spray the car with water and Rescue Remedy.

         • Consider using it for other injured animals or even plants that have been damaged.

         • If you have a stubborn blemish that will not go away, try Rescue Remedy on it neat, undiluted. Do the same thing with a wound, bruise, area of swelling, or ache.

         • In a death or divorce situation, use Rescue Remedy for trauma, Mimulus for fear and Star of Bethlehem for pure grief. This is an exceptionally dynamic trio.

         • Rescue Remedy on burns is incredibly important, because burns represent a fiery internal rage that has now become manifest in the physical body. Always look for what you are really ‘burned up’ about. If you can identify this early, take Rescue Remedy before you burn yourself. After a burn happens, use Rescue Remedy and Lavender Essential Oil on the burn.

         • Try Rescue Remedy on tumors, cysts anything. It only affects you physically in as much as you are treating the etheric body.

         It is worth taking the time to study how the Essences work and also to note that there are essences that come from wild flowers in Alaska, essences that are made by other companies as well. The point is that this is a very, very dynamic healing tool. Keep Rescue Remedy in your purse, your car, at home, at the office and in luggage when you travel. Be creative in how you use it and grateful that you even know about this amazing healing gift.

          Also, at this hectic time of year, using these essences can keep you much calmer, happier and with the feeling that you can handle what is coming your way, especially all those unexpected things that often seem overwhelming.

For more information on Bach Flower Essences, look for the book/phamplet: Bach Flower Essences for the Family by Wigmore Publications September 1993. ISBN 0-946982-05-8

KS&L 411: Find the Courage to Do the Right Thing When Karma Shuffles the Deck by Tina Erwin

       We are living in times of heightened awareness of the United States Constitution. Most people don’t know on a comfortable basis exactly what the Constitution actually says about freedom, but we quote it as if we do.

       The entire point of the Constitution is to protect the rights of the individual against the ravages of grabs for power like any big government is likely to do. This is the macrocosm.

       The microcosm is the issue of doing the right thing. This is quite a bit harder to do than it would appear. Just do the right thing. Straightforward, easy to get, just do it.

       That’s pretty easy if the issue is basic right and wrong. It’s quite a bit harder if the issue is about 28 shades of grey. Maybe it comes down to loyalty.

       The military makes every single member take an oath to “protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

      Well, protecting the country from a perceived foe is pretty straight forward, but what about protecting our precious Constitution from ourselves? From that domestic enemy? Who might that be realistically? Here are two real life examples.

       Many Christmases ago, a very wayward sailor decided on Christmas day that he and a few cohorts were going to take over a nuclear submarine. Pretty astounding, I know. They made quite a plan. None of their shipmates knew about it. But someone who never took any kind of an oath did know this was going to happen, the girl friend of the master planner. So she tipped off Naval Investigative Service. She saved countless lives. She did the right thing because she is an American who believes in basic goodness.

       But what if doing the right thing domestically is questionable? What if you know that your government is doing terrible things, is violating every constitutional right that we all hold dear? What would you do? What if you believe that the government’s justification for this action is the grossest violation of the Constitution? What if you learn that your government is lying to the American people? What would you do?

       What if you find yourself in a position to advise a high-ranking government official to do the right thing? What if his decision could affect the lives of thousands? What if he tells you it is for the protection of a fleet, or ‘innocent lives’ and yet you know in your soul the ends of his plan do not justify the means he is considering: the shredding of the Constitution.

       Courage is not action when life is easy.

       Courage is action when karma shuffles the cards and deals you the hand of a lifetime. Deals you the hand that will make a critical difference for all of history.

       It’s corny isn’t it, standing up for the right thing? But what if all of us, in our day-to-day jobs stand up for the right thing, when it isn’t popular, cool or politically correct?

       If you know it’s wrong, Say So!!!!

       If it violates the Constitution, Say So!!!

       If what this person is planning will do more harm than good, STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!

       Patriots don’t wake up and decide to be patriots. Patriots wake up to find themselves standing the midst of do or die situations and in that karmic shuffle of the deck, there he or she is, holding on to that spiritual ideal that is our Constitution.

       If you know that our government is harming us, and you are a politician, use the correct political means to change what is happening. Be a patriot in that critical moment. This is why you were voted into office.

       Can you be spiritual and be a patriot? Heavens, I hope so! Doing the right thing, working hard to discern what is the right thing is why being on the spiritual path is so challenging. No one said this would be easy.

       Stand up and don’t just thank a veteran. Be that patriot. Be the person who stands up for the right thing in every moment that you can. Find the passion in you for changing what is clearly wrong.

       Sometimes that will be to defend trees.

       Sometimes to defend bees against annihilation by greedy fertilizer companies.

       Sometimes it will be to stop bullying in schools.

       Sometimes it will be to hold politicians accountable for violating the public trust.

       Sometimes it will be to hold government, physicians and pharmaceutical companies accountable for all of the lies about vaccines.

       Sometimes it will be to stand up for children.

       Hold people accountable.

       Be your own patriot.

       Do the right thing.

The Painful Truth about Exiting a Relationship by Tina Erwin

          The sad truth is that divorce is happening at an ever-constant rate. We all wish it weren’t true, especially the children who suffer at the apparent loss of love, but it is a ruthlessly recurring reality.

         Yes, we know: everything happens for a reason, a reason we can’t always see, a reason we may not want to face and a cause that we wish could have been avoided. At least you know you aren’t alone. Maybe it would be good to have a guidebook on how to breakup, as if a “how to” could somehow make it a wee bit less painful. And a guy who offers us hope that there is life after the “D” word has written just such a book.

         Frank Love’s, How to Gracefully Exit a Relationship offer that road map out of the emotional chaos of divorce. As you read his book, he offers what appears to be often hard won experience in what not to do as well as what to do. He encourages the reader to ask questions, to seek answers to queries about the relationship and it’s foundation. He also offers the reader a pathway through the often emotionally blinding maze of cruel emotions that act has handmaiden to the word divorce. The irony of Frank’s book is that if you read this before you get married, you may not end up in divorce in the first place. Much of his point of view is how to have and maintain a stable and long-lasting relationship.

         The Lightworker’s Guide to Healing Grief also offers a look at divorce through the eyes of grief, especially the grief that children feel.

        

   “Divorce is so common these days that it is the unusual child who has “original” parents still married to each other. No matter how many divorces there are, when it happens to a family, it usually causes a profound sadness, and all parties will grieve it in their own unique way. Yet it is even more than this.

Divorce is a shockwave that undermines any individual’s concepts of love. For some, it is the end of family love—that unique nucleus of safety, security, and happiness. Divorce creates a sense of vulnerability that will always have to be grieved. The safe haven of your home no longer exists. The love you trusted and the people you trusted have betrayed you. Now you have to open an entirely new chapter of learning how to live and to love again when the love that was your foundation in life is shattered. . .

The sense of security all parties used to have is gone now. The couple made a commitment, and someone did not keep it. One of them becomes an alcoholic or abusive, and changes have to be made. This situation may seem like emotional abandonment. Another way to look at this is to realize that a different path has been chosen, one away from hurt. Grieving this choice will eventually move the family into a better place.

Sometimes you each have to realize that something has to end before something else can begin in your life. Grief is part of this process.” (The Lightworker’s Guide to Healing Grief, pages 6-7)

         All relationships/marriages struggle to make it work over time. Bright, blinding, new, romantic love is seldom realistic. The romance will ultimately wear off and the realities of personal habits, childhood traumas, and personality anomalies, which affect each of us, will surface in any relationship. What determines whether or not your relationship will survive is how true you are able to be to each other on a day-to-day basis. It’s hard work.

         Long marriages look like a lucky break, but the luck is in the insight, loyalty and skill each person brings to the table. A marriage that starts out off kilter will be instantly off course unless both parties welcome compromise into their lives and begin to face the realities of being an adult, of being a whole person.

         Some personality problems are not reparable. (I know it’s absolutely sacrilege to say this but it’s true.) Some personalities will not be able to overcome severe sexual, physical or emotional abuse. That person will try, may seek counseling, but sometimes, nothing can change who and what they became because of what someone did to them. Some souls can overcome staggering abuses and be amazing spouses. No one can know this until the attempt is made to see it through at least for a while.

         Everything happens for a reason. Frank Love also addresses this quite well and most gently. Even though your heart is breaking, sometimes ending something that is toxic will eventually free you to have a better life. Everything happens for our greater good even if we cannot see it at the time. The person who rejects being a ‘survivor’ and embraces being a whole, functioning, happy person will ultimately live the happiest live because he or she will have embraced the lesson at hand and moved forward with that dauntingly acquired book of wisdom.

    Frank Love’s, How to Gracefully Exit a Relationship is available on Amazon.com.

 Tina Erwin's The Lightworker’s Guide to Healing Grief  is available on in ebook and print-on-demand through Amazon and wherever ebooks are sold.