Healing the whole

When we get out of the glass bottle of our ego,
and when we escape like squirrels turning in the
cages of our personality
and get into the forests again
we shall shiver with cold and fright
but things will happen to us
so that we don't know ourselves

Cool, unlying life will rush in,
and passion will make our bodies taut with power
we shall stamp our feet with new power
and old things will fall down
we shall laugh
and institutions will curl up like burnt paper.

D.H Lawrence


You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves

Tell me about dispair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whowever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver

Seaside by Lorna Cameron

Lunch, seaweed art, shell shopping, reflecting and of course embracing our July elements....Surprisingly!! Windy, cold, rainy day at Tentsmuir which is my favourite Scottish beach so far as it has great forest with cycle paths, picnic area and the icing on the cake... sand and sea...Tingly skin and rosy cheeks, always good too! Toby's first time at the beach....I love this dog, he is a treasure.

Too old to make sand castles? Lads C'mon! You what? Huh!! Okay Jelly fish hunting it is then. So there were six jellyfish to be found all different colours...I've just posted the purple one below.

Unfortunately the rain marked my camera lens in these, and I've just sussed out today that I have to change the date on my camera each time I take photos otherwise it keeps imprinting all different dates from 2003....wierd! A rather sombre poem, very unusual for me after a day at sea.




















No maybe

Maybe in anticipation
I found joy, at one time
A thought of what, maybe
No more does the moon change the tide
Or the sea air aid the senses
Flowers have no scent
Bees have no direction.
The trees void of leaves
and sky of armageddon
There is no maybe!

Lorna Cameron

Hello

Hello

Shakespeare

From Shakespeare's Macbeth, 1605:

LADY MACBETH
We fail!
But screw your courage to the sticking-place,
And we'll not fail.

Meaning

Be steadfast and of good courage.




This quotation from Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's best-known lines. Mark Antony delivers a eulogy in honour of the recently murdered Julius Caesar:

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Caesar.

Caesar had been assassinated by a group of conspirators led by Brutus. Brutus had previously delivered a speech in which he claimed that the murder had been done in the name of freedom. In a clever speech, Antony turned the mob against Brutus and the other assassins.

From Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1603. Horatio describes to Hamlet the appearance of his father's ghost:

Hamlet: What, look'd he frowningly?

Horatio: A countenance more in sorrow than in anger.



From Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, 1594:

JULIET:
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.


Meaning

What matters is what something is, not what it is called.



From Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, 1601:

DUKE ORSINO:

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,
That breathes upon a bank of violets,
Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:
'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.
O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,
That, notwithstanding thy capacity
Receiveth as the sea, nought enters there,
Of what validity and pitch soe'er,
But falls into abatement and low price,
Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancy
That it alone is high fantastical.

From Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1603:

What a piece of work is a man! how noble in reason!
how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how
express and admirable! in action how like an angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me,
what is this quintessence of dust? man delights not
me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling
you seem to say so.



This line derives from Shakespeare's Hamlet, 1600:

LORD POLONIUS

'Though this be madness, yet there is method in 't. Will you walk out of the air, my lord?'



To be, or not to be, that is the question


To be or not to be is probably the best-known line from all drama or literature. Certainly, if anyone is asked to quote a line of Shakespeare this is the one that first comes to mind for most people. It is, of course, from Shakespeare's play Hamlet, 1603 (Shakespeare's actual title is - The tragedie of Hamlet, prince of Denmarke):

HAMLET:

To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.--Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.

I love the extent of exploration shakespeare's mind and heart go to, the granduer of dialouge and the passion that drives his work.

Lorna Cameron

Olive branch

“To laugh often and much

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived
This is to have succeeded.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Alfred Vogel and Jan De Vries

Alfred Vogel grew up in Aesch in Basel (Switzerland) and even in early childhood became familiar with medicinal plants and their mode of action through his father and his grandparents. Phytotherapy and the desire to help his fellow men became his life’s work, which he pursued passionately into old age.


Phytotherapist, Nutritional Adviser and Commentator

* Alfred Vogel managed a herb and health store in Basel at the age of 21.
* Almost immediately he began to advise his customers on the power of Nature as well as on healthy nutrition and lifestyle through lectures and his own publications.
* He began to prepare remedies himself and to sell them to his customers.
* Even then Alfred Vogel was convinced that a life in harmony with Nature means eating as naturally and as healthily as possible.
* In the 1930s he relocated from Basel to Teufen in Appenzell.
* Here he further developed his skills as a herb gatherer and improved the remedies he made for himself.
* In Teufen he made the crucial discovery that the mode of action of fresh plants was fundamentally better than that of dried ones.
* From then on Alfred Vogel manufactured his herbal remedies from freshly harvested plants whenever possible.
* In 1963, at an age when others think of retirement, he founded Bioforce AG in Switzerland.
* Today Bioforce AG is one of the most prominent manufacturers of herbal remedies in many European countries, Canada, USA and Australia.



Researcher and World Traveller

Throughout his life Alfred Vogel was a passionate traveller. Being a Phytotherapist and naturopath, he was full of curiosity: all plants and herbs of the Earth were of interest to him. He took every opportunity to visit foreign countries and cultures:

* From the 1950s, Alfred Vogel travelled in numerous countries on all continents.
* His special interest lay in primitive peoples with a close relationship with Nature.
* His experiences with the people of the prairie and the primeval forest showed him that the skilful management and support of Nature can often do more than the alleged skill of man.
* For example, when he was with the Native American Sioux in the USA he discovered the immune active plant Echinacea purpurea (purple coneflower), which became the symbol for the A.Vogel brand.

In 1923, Alfred Vogel established a health store in Basel, Switzerland to share the healing power of herbs, about which he had learned from his parents and grandparents, with all those who crossed his threshold. His greatest desire was to help people stay healthy and so he asked them to examine their lifestyles and diet, rather than simply seek a remedy when something ailed.

For those who could not get better by these changes alone, he worked patiently to create suitable herbal medicines which would bring the benefit of the whole fresh plant to those who sought his aid, painstakingly developing his own unique range of fresh herb tinctures. Having moved in the early 1930s to Teufen in the Appenzell region of Switzerland, where he was able to practice as a naturopath, he cultivated his extensive gardens there, always following his precept of working in harmony with nature. His plants were grown and cared for without the use of any artificial fertilisers or insecticides, hand sown, hand weeded and hand harvested to ensure the gentlest of environments for his herbs.


His reputation grew during the 1940s and his tireless work continued, learning about and working with many native European plants.


Realising that native peoples throughout the world had accumulated knowledge about plants native to their homelands, in the 1950s he began to travel extensively seeking further answers to his patients’ problems – answers which still work for us today.
One country Vogel visited was the USA from where he returned with Echinacea purpurea seeds which he painstakingly cultivated at his home in Teufen and in the Alpine region of the Engadine.


In November 1962 he wrote about his work with these plants.


“I have now raised Echinacea in the Engadine and have acclimatised it slowly, because it has gradually to become accustomed to the long, hard winter. In Teufen too, I have an Echinacea plantation which I have raised from seed. Five years ago, I tried my luck in Engadine with about one hundred plants. About fifty withstood the first winter and developed in a mediocre way because they did not come into bloom before the cold weather once again set in. For three years the plants fought against the cold weather until finally, in the fourth year, the strongest amongst them managed to produce a few flowers. At the time I increased the plants by dividing them so as to raise the annual production. At the beginning of September, in the fifth year, almost 90% of the plantation came into flower so assuring me that they had become accustomed to the climate as well as to the cultivation period.”

A.Vogel and Black Elk“Echinacea purpurea has been treasured by the Native Americans for centuries, not simply for its beauty but because of its exceptional healing powers. When we consult a medicine man about an inflamed, slow healing wound or a malignant boil, he gathers the Echinacea leaves, crushes them and applies them to the affected area. We are also invited to eat it to obtain quick healing both internally and externally.”

A few years ago I was at a conference, the main speaker was Jan De Vries. Jan spoke of many constructive healing experiences through his work at his clinics, personally and also of bioforce. He then spent the rest of his time answering questions from the audience. I was quite near the front of the crowd and had been working up the courage to ask him something about dealing with a chronic condition which has now spanned more than nine years of my life. As always I was determined to beat this chronic condition which has been interspersed with very severe relapse and periods of remission and even more frightening at times been life threatening. As the evening progressed and more questions were answered the eagerness to ask Jan of what in his experience he had found helpful for people with my condition dissolved, as I really didn't know where to start.... remembering the last time I'd spoken to a doctor about the symptoms and healing avenues I'd explored it had taken two and a half hours, and at that it was only the tip of the iceberg. As I sat there taking in all the positive energy, I realised I could not possibly put my hand up and expect Jan de Vries to deliver a two minute prescription "the cure" I'd been seeking for the complex issues and symptoms that I was dealing with, especially as I was sitting there at that moment in time looking and feeling very healthy.

Afterwards as tea was provided I had a nice conversation with a few people I knew and a couple I didn't. I then searched through the many books and read the tincture remedies that were displayed on a side table. Equipped with my purchase (tincture and copy of "The Nature Doctor" by Alfred Vogel) I felt an air of excitement passing through me as I made my way out of the room.

One of the guys from my philosophy class that I'd had missed that evening in order to go to the talk had kindly offered me a lift home, telling me just to wait on him if the talk finished before they were. Parking my butt on a armchair in one of the corridors of the hotel outside our philosophy class boardroom, awaiting my lift home I was eagerly thumbing my way through this wonderful new book, when Jan walked by heading up to his hotel room. I nodded my head and he about turned and came over to where I was sat. "I'm impressed to see you already soaking up the contents of Dr. Vogels book." he said as he signed the cherished book. I continued to have an interesting conversation with him for a few minutes 'till my pal appeared.

The moral of the story...."Sometimes you just aren't supposed to put your hand up. So a big thumbs up for the bright sparks we see through the fog."

Dr. Vogels book (www.mainstreampublishing.com) has supported my family and I through many an illness.

Dear Dr. Vogel although you are no longer here in body your spirit and remarkable knowledge live on as your work continues to be invaluable to those of us who are considered "too complex" and therefore basically ignored by many mainstream professionals. I smile every time I look at your kind face and am eternally grateful for your advice and wise words. The encouragement, support, natural, homeopathic remedies, lifestyle and nutritional guidance offered in your book are exceptional and have lightened the load in what has been an extremely challenging, confusing and frightening decade for my family and I.

Lorna Cameron

"To live according to the principles of nature is much more than a technique. It requires respect and sympathy for creation." by Dr. Alfred Vogel.


The A.Vogel Helpline
Open Monday to Saturday
8.30 - 5pm
Call them on 0845 608 5858


For lots more information on Alfred Vogel or Jan de Vries click on links at top right side bar.

One Candle

'One candle can light many others' -
just don't burn yourself out too soon!

The sea has got power, but the tides are governed by the pull of the moon!
Life is a Like a Mirror - Essenes (Jewish ascetics)

What You don't like in others you aren't comfortable with in yourself! Herman Hesse
- As Above, So Below - As Within, so Without - Hermes

Every year I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing, and which shirking pain, misses happiness as well. No one ever yet was the poorer in the long run for having once in a lifetime 'let out all the length of all the reins'.

Mary Cholmondeley

· Life is what you make it; you are a co-creator of your own reality: you are where you are now because you chose to learn these lessons

· you get what you need, not necessarily what your ego desires

· Your reality is based on your word, thought and deed

· your life experiences become what you focus on - you attract situations that symbolize internal relationships. Therefore be aware of and dissolve negative thoughts / subconscious blocks - Chi follows Yi eg. if you are violent & aggressive - then you will attract these situations and project your reality onto outside events

· What you resist will persist - resistance causes friction

· Life is about learning, without learning there is no progress or evolution; experience is a great way to learn - learn about SELF - mind, fears, beliefs, patterns etc. The body dies, the level of consciousness doesn't -it continues to the next life - until it ultimately merges with its maker.

· Do what you are inspired to do; strive for happiness in work and play but with respect to others (those who cross your path, our planet) - avoid being selfish or arrogant

· Love what you do or do what you love, preferably helping others, for the benefit of others

· Treat others how you want to be treated - we are all equal - we are all the same inside (we all have bones, organs, muscles etc,) - let's start acting that way and start sharing and harmonizing with our neighbors (including poor & developing world) -integrating and transcending our differences

· don't do unto others that you don't want done unto you - (in fact you can't - what goes around comes around - Law of Karma) (you are one with others)

· Be aware of and minimize fear, worry, doubt, anger, hate and all other negative thought and emotions. You're only harming yourself!

· Practice non- judgment and communing with nature - stop and smell the roses!! watch the sunset

· Become a silent observer / witness, detached from the outcome - surrender to the Flow of Life; 'JUST WATCH' - passive awareness

· Grow spiritually, leading to a grander version of yourself, however don't get into the spiritual ego trap

· Be spiritually discerning instead of judging

· Have preferences instead of desires

· There is no right and wrong only consequences

· Belief is restricting whereas knowing is empowering (Dr. W. Dyer)

· Be a love finder not a fault finder!

· Forgive and accept self and others!

· Love self, 'Love all, Serve all!' Sai Baba

· We are One, I Am That I Am

· Know that you are worthy of love, happiness, health, prosperity and abundance

· ' Two simple rules for life: Know thyself, take nothing in excess.' Socrates

· Be aware that on the journey you will uncover many parts of yourself that you didn't know existed and /or tried to hide from self and others.


· Be aware that you may change friends or your friends may change too!

· Be aware of the pace of your learning,

· Be balanced and integrated in your approach - mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual levels

· Be aware of negative ego, fears, desires, greed, jealousy - 'know it all' ego

· Be aware of ignorance, delusion, greed, changeability, gullibility, anger / hatred / ill-will, jealousy,

· Be aware that change is inevitable - so resistance is futile

· Be aware of timing - timing is everything

· Be aware your day to day responsibilities & necessities - but try to gradually cut these down

· Be aware that there are no guarantees, and this is a pathless path - teachings are only a map - not the territory - finger pointing to the moon, not the moon itself.

· Be aware of cults, giving away personal power, blind faith - faith without reason/ experience

· Be a student not a follower

· Don't believe anything - Experience it for yourself. Knowing is more powerful than belief

· And don't be attached to the trappings, psychic powers, increased power & charisma

· Be aware that you are probably reading this page for a reason - the time maybe right for another boost to your life!

· Be aware it is worth it! (but no guarantee)

· BE AWARE OF AWARENESS!!! Be aware when you lose your rag/ centre/ balance.

· JUST BE, BE RELAXED & ALERT- Rest in the 'clear & knowing state', rest in 'mere experience', abide in pure luminosity - true nature of mind.

www.Sortlifeout.co.uk