Hermia from A Midsummer Night's Dream

My client Heather Brown Kotel chose Hermia from A Midsummer Night's Dream as a character from a legend or literature to portray. She is a lovely subject. We had great fun!

HERMIA: I would my father look'd but with my eyes.

HERMIA: My good Lysander! I swear to thee, by Cupid's strongest bow, By his best arrow with the golden head, By the simplicity of Venus' doves, By that which knitteth souls and prospers loves, And by that fire which burn'd the Carthage queen, When the false Troyan under sail was seen, By all the vows that ever men have broke, In number more than ever women spoke, In that same place thou hast appointed me, To-morrow truly will I meet with thee.

HERMIA: Never so weary, never so in woe, Bedabbled with the dew and torn with briers, I can no further crawl, no further go. My legs can keep no pace with my desires. Here will I rest me till the break of day. Heavens shield Lysander if they mean a fray! (lies down and sleeps)

HERMIA: (waking) Help me, Lysander, help me! Do thy best To pluck this crawling serpent from my breast. Ay me, for pity! What a dream was here. Lysander, look how I do quake with fear. Methought a serpent eat my heart away, And you sat smiling at his cruel pray.

HERMIA: Am not I Hermia? Are not you Lysander?

A Client's Testimonial for a Reading and Healing Session

"Hi Pandora thank you thank you thank you!! Right on the money!!! It was amazing! I was on a very very strong parasite cleanse. Probably why my stomach hurt. I am off if it starting today. My body gave the ok today to start u r tea. Brewing it now. You are an amazing healer! So glad I popped into the health food store at that moment :-). You have no idea how much you helped me! S.S., Chatham, MA

Big Brothers and Big Sisters

"Big Brother Big" is not 1984's prequel. Goldstein does not have a hip hop alter ego in a new nefarious comedy. But, that is what your phone will read, when Big Brothers and Sisters of Cape Cod returns your phone call. I am looking forward to speaking with Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Cape Cod on my radio show in one of the upcoming weeks. I personally know how important having mentors is growing up. Having people outside of your family who care about your welfare, expose you to new ideas, viewpoints, places and interests and model good behavior is so important for good self-esteem and confidence in children. Many of the kids in this program come from low-income, single-parent house holds. Their parents enroll them, knowing they will be paired with solid, kind, virtuous, trustworthy, folks with wonderful values who want to help guide someone in need of a mentor.

Big Brothers or Sisters can be retired, single, married, grandparents, of any profession or skill set. All these children need is love, mental and emotional support, and dedication.

After talking with so many folks who have crossed over, I gotta wonder, why do we wait until we die to love people? Why do we place so much importance on romantic love and marriage? How alienated are we from our brothers and sisters on the planet when we are brainwashed into this paradigm that puts sexual and romantic relationships up there with or above career in importance, and the attainment or development of all other relationships down there with stamp collecting? Why wait to open the floodgates of cosmic/divine love?

Cape Cod fosters creativity, virtuousness, community, kindness, fairness, and embodies the values of hard work. It's a place where the working class are valued and where the media doesn't rule the atmosphere of the day. Its small enough, that it keeps people's behavior in check. Unlike in Los Angeles, a chaotic sea of nomads scrambling to knock each other down to get ahead which is known as a place where generally you cannot count on people's word, where people will leave you hanging, where no plans are ever certain, and where flakiness is an epidemic and promises are forgotten. I find the salt of the earth mentality mixed with a pro-intellectualism environment to be such a bastion of sanity and a paradise. Respect is based on what people do and who they are, not on what car they drive and what neighborhood they live in. I love my husband and our son very much and I am happy that he moved us here.

Of course, life is full of dichotomy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q4foLKDlcE

Artemis Goddess of the Hunt

Autumnal Greek Goddess of the Hunt, is the protector of virgins. She is symbiotic with wild animals, and in her Roman incarnation Diana, is connected with the moon. My model is Andrea Laurie, professional massage therapist.

"Finesse"

"Vision"

"Gently Certain"

Women's Night in November

My Sister

My dear sister is having what one of her doctors suspects to be seizures caused by prenatal trauma. This doctor said that sometimes adolescents who experienced trauma in their early development experience a relapse in seizures. I helped raise my baby sister, taking her delicate elfin munchkin self six to ten hours a day from babyhood through her third year. During this period I think she was having infantile seizures, absent seizures and perhaps even grand mal seizures, which involve the stiffening of muscles, and jerking of limbs. She also seemed to have atonic seizures, where her head would drop down, and sometimes she would collapse. She was born with a deficient umbilical cord, which hadn't properly delivered oxygen or nutrients in that last month of her gestation. She had died for twenty minutes soon after she was born, and it is truly a miracle that she survived.

My sister is having symptoms of partial seizures, with dizzy spells and blurred vision. She is getting brain scans this week. Please, send her your prayers. I'm theorizing though, that she's been having partial seizures for years without us correctly identifying them. There are certain behavioral clues, we may have missed, which include emotional symptoms. The onset of seizures are scary because they can indicate tumors, although that seems unlikely with her history. One doctor was worried about brain pressure, but they believe they have ruled that out. Some types of seizures can even be brought on by low blood sugar or an electrolyte imbalance. She has been steadily progressing in some areas, she can ride a horse Pendragon, at a local stable, with help. She is writing her own Arthurian legend, and I want her to be able to finish it. And go on to write the novel. She has been obsessed with the story of King Arthur for years. She has studied the legend, the historical time period (5th and 6th century), Celtic mythology, and everything related to it.

Today, I spent some time in an old church. Sometimes it feels really good to pray. I think Saint Francis of Assisi may have actually visited me in the nave. I should spend more time on pews. When I told my darling friend Marisa, who had been busy downstairs, she said that he's her all time favorite saint, and that she prays to him. Maybe he will answer mine.

Mediumship, Nuns and Callings

The title of medium is something that one really earns. Like any skill, it's something that develops and improves with time. For me, being a medium isn't like flipping a switch. My spirit doesn't leave or hover over my body allowing a ghost to enter my vessel. The few times I did experience this, walking and talking with someone else's voice...it was very unpleasant. Negative entities and mean spirited ghosts with boundary issues are the worst offenders. The purpose of the work I do is to help convey specific messages for loved ones, help people to discover their limitless nature and healing potential, and occasionally to help spirits cross over by listening to what it is they need to express for them to find resolve before crossing over. While, many of the messages from our spirit guides, friends and loved ones are playful, being an amusement park for the disembodied is not my idea of a good time. And if a spirit makes you feel like a puppet, they have crossed the line.

When I translate messages, usually one of three things happens: one, either I hear very clearly, non audibly, but verbally specific words that are often phrases which were used by the departed; two, I get messages as thoughts or ideas that I then put words to; or three, I get images or feelings that tell a story. Although, my ego isn't commanding the ship, my brain is processing. Sometimes I get words which are not part of my vernacular, the diction I use varies from disembodied person to disembodied person, and mostly reflects the personal essence which I am translating into human terms. If someone had a potty mouth in life, they often have it in death. If someone was poetic, intellectual, sarcastic, whimsical, or outrageous, those elements come through.

Not everyone who passes over or becomes a guide maintains the same personality they had in life, sometimes seem to adopt a personality from a former life, while offering convincing evidence they are who they say they are. Sometimes, the personality is obscured, by a loving light oversoul, that just exudes kindness and angelness. It is always such a pleasure to convey specific information that pertains to both the lives they lived, and the lives they are living now, and the difference and influence they are trying to make in their current incarnation as guides. Every time, I am so eager to do these folks justice. Every time I hope for the best, and endeavor to do my best to convey that which presses on their spirits. It is liberating to be able to bridge the worlds, but it takes so much energy and soul muscle. It really uses so much of my brain and heart, intuition and clarity. Blessed to have had this occupation find me.

Here is a list of the careers I wanted to have when I grew up, in chronological order. Because it amuses me. What did you think you were going to me when you grew up?
Actress
Dance choreographer
Lesbian
Nun
Botanist
Professor of Philosophy
Poet
Novelist
Fine artist
Playwright
First grade teacher
Screenwriter


Who knows? Maybe some of these are still in my future, although I'm pretty sure the nun thing wouldn't work out anyway...Hear my interview with poet, novelist, and playwright Jeannette De Beauvoir (a.k.a. Jeannette Angell) http://www.womr.org/podcast/jeannette-de-beauvoir/

We talk nuns, domestic violence, special friendships, PTSD, veterans, and millgirls.

Circle of Friends

Babysitting is a great way to extend your small family!! Until my husband and I are ready to have more kids, it's certainly nice for our son to get a taste of what having siblings is like. And I actually feel much happier and more comfortable with two or three children in the backseat. My first sonogram suggested that I miscarried a twin early on, with my first pregnancy, so it makes sense that it feels more natural with more children around.

Angel Readings and Healings

The veil is definitely lifted as we move from the Autumnal Equinox through October and November. The angel readings and shamanic healings are always so powerful at this time. I love getting feedback from my clients about the life-changing nature of the work I am facilitating. Together with the guardian angels, elemental energies, and the healing desire of the soul and the body, we do some awesome work! The Soul is such a rich resource of timeless wisdom and creativity. Tapping into the unlimited potential and timelessness of Spirit, is one of the lovely ingredients to solving solutions iat crossroads and times of transition. And, it's just really fun as well!

Upcoming November and December guests on my radio show, "Healing Wisdom" include professor and author Sandra Ingerman, professor of anthropology and author Barbara Tedlock, Dr. Roger Walsh author of the World of Shamanism, and Best-Selling author and feminist Naomi Wolfe, all of which I am very much looking forward to.

Podcast Interview with Lesley Tierra, LAc, AHG

Interested in healing herbal remedies for colds & flu, children, arthritis and post-menopause? Listen to the Healing Wisdom podcast below to hear herbalist and author Lesley Tierra LAc, AHG, and I discuss herbs for Autumn.

Ms. Tierra founded of the East West School of Planetary Herbology, alongside her husband Michael Tierra. Lesley Tierra is the author of The Herbs of Life, A Kid's Herb Book, Healing with the Herbs of Life, and Healing with Chinese Herbs.

Ms. Tierra is a nationally and California State licensed acupuncturist and herbalist who combines acupuncture with herbal, food and inner growth therapies in her private practice. A professional and Advisory Board member of the American Herbalists Guild, she has studied and used ancient mystical, spiritual and shamanic methods along with modern psychotherapeutic techniques for over forty years and co-led women on vision quests for five years.

Here is the podcast. Enjoy!
http://www.womr.org/podcast/herbalist-lesley-tierra-part-1/