Butterfly Dreams

 I did it! On Monday, I enrolled in the January 2026 SoulCollage®, facilitator training with Mariabruna Sirabella!  I'm excited to spend a 'Month of Sundays' (and Wednesdays) delving into Facilitation of this fascinating practice!  Part of the enrollment is to write a little personal history with SoulCollage: When and how did you learn about SoulCollage®? I got a copy of Seena's earlier book in 2008, and made my first card in November of that year. What SoulCollage® workshops have you attended and which Facilitators have you worked with? My first in person class was with Glenda Goodrich in about 2009. Several of us gathered a bit later - with kids - to make cards in Kerrie Savage's home. Our friend Heidi had attended a workshop at Breitenbush, and was excited to make more cards! Around 2010, I was a member of the KaleidoSoul community (on Yahoo!), and recently added a couple of Anne Marie Bennett's SoulCollage®, books to my collection! Notebook and SoulCollag...

  In Soul Collage Evolving, Seena speaks of the 'Oneness beyond form, ... a Mystery out of which these forms arise,  and back into which they return.  She invites us to watch for images that embody these mysterious Transpersonal energies, and set them aside in a special folder. Source - this is the primary Transpersonal card, representing the essence of the Great Mystery behind all existance. The source of all that is and shall be, infinite & formless.  Here is is a 5 minute clip of Seena, speaking on Source Source - galaxies Soul Essence  - this card reminds us of the spark of Source existing at the heart of every Soul.  We are each beautiful jewels in a sparkling, infinite net, invited to express our special potential. The background may echo that of our Source card.  Witness  - invites us to step back and see ourselves as a multi-faceted form, without judgement. It helps us identify our Neters, see the patterns they create, and Vitalize ou...

   "King, did you hear that? The hands of a healer, I say." Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkein Reiki altar Shortly after moving to McMinnville in the early 1980s, I began volunteering for Hospice. A few months later, I met my massage mentor Jeanne Christensen at a community event where we both had booths.  I'd grown up with a family practice of massage, rubbing my mom's back and feet from ~ 5 years old - and of course, receiving massage from her!  I got a short session from her booth partner,  and quickly signed up for a series of massage classes Jeanne was offering!  When I learned that like my mom, Jeanne had polio, and massage was a saving grace of her treatment, I realized I'd found my career path! Jeanne was looking for a couple of massage therapists to join her practice, and open a clinic! Little did we know that 42 years later, Nan and I would have renewed our licenses over 20 times each, and still offer sessions! Medicine Basket A blessing of growi...

   As October comes to a close, we are finishing our fourth and final  BlogBoost  challenge for 2025 -  we did it!  (This year I participated in 2)   The next challenge will begin with the new year in January, so save the link!  Whether we posted daily, or just 'regularly,' we all gain from each challenge. Thank you Paul for inspiration and hosting! Camp Arrah Wanna- Oregon Cascades As  Mark Twain said , "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts."   Visiting each other's blogs offers unique way to travel, giving us  peeks into each other's worlds. Perhaps someone's post revived an old interest, or sparked a new one, and ours provided the same for another.  As our  challenge  ends, new opportunities beckon. F ollowing our blog challange host Paul's tips, I plan to continue posting several times a week, and visiting other blogs. Checking my sta...

 I'm one of those folks who never stopped crafting, drawing and creating ... Prayer flags and spirit dolls I  was the kid who drew in the borders of programs, and chose paint by number kits, then got blank canvases to use the leftover paint for my own creations! In grade school, I was asked to draw a camel for some Christmas art project.  My mom took knitting to meetings, taught me to knit, crochet and sew, and took candle making and basket Weaving classes! We made dolls and did embroidery... after retiring, my dad learned to tie his own flies for fishing.  My mother-in law Dorty and I learned to spin together when she was in her 60s (and she learned to knit, crochet and do needlepoint ... I took a few Art classes in college, and later at our local Community College, and often doodle / sketch in meetings .... I enjoy encouraging folks to access their own innate creativity and wisdom, so am drawn to teacher trainings with that emphasis. (Next up - SoulCollage®)  ...

  This afternoon I harvested the small volunteer pumpkin from the garden, Hollowed it out, and then found a pattern for an incised face.  My daughter got pumpkins today as well, which she, her husband and two teens will carve tomorrow - my grandkids love the toasted pumpkin seeds! Dios de los Muertos pumpkin   Winter squash is often more tasty than pumpkin - one way I prepare either is a  Pumpkin Pie Quinoa bake  . I use an Air Fryer (about 25 minutes at 325°), this makes a nice filling in half an acorn or delicata squash (scoop some out, to use in the filling) I sometimes add 1/4 C shredded coconut, raisins, 1/4 C carob powder &/ or 1 Tbsp cacao nibs! Lovely pumpkins Here's  another blogger 's take on ways to spice it up - "Quinoa, like anything else, has to be cooked right to taste right..." Do you love quinoa?  Or find it just 'so-so'?