Chy Does Persephone

Chy is a librarian and mother of four...

Cancer Survivor and Alternative Treament Advocate

Susan Liberty Hall, sister of the late LA Lakers' owner Jerry Buss, former Playboy bunny, author and alternative-medicine-for-breast-cancer-recovery advocate, talks about her new book, "Ha, I Laugh in the Face of Cancer", with me on Healing Wisdom. Listen here: http://womr.org/podcast/cancer-survivor-susan-liberty-hall/

"Location Scouting"

This picture reminds me of a French film from the 60s where there's suddenly a dreamlike tableaux or "series of shots" which seems confusing and out of context. Part dogma, part maude. But the poetic French voice over makes it all okay.

Mais que dire de son imagination? Où était son comeuppance? Pourrait-elle retrouver, dans la stérilité de son monde de banlieue? Voudrait-elle? Son cœur était auxiliaire à son bonheur. Comme tirer un as de pique d'une diseuse de bonne aventure gitane, était son sort de ses mains? Destin a été perdu avec la mer n'est plus une toile de fond pour ses crimes et des craintes? La mer, la mer .... un vieil ami familier, dont elle serait coupée pendant la durée de son humble existence. "

English subtitles read: But what of her imagination? Where was her comeuppance? Could she find it again, in the sterility of her suburban world? Would she want to? Her heart was auxiliary to her happiness. Like pulling a Ace of Spades from a gypsy fortune teller, was her fate out of her hands? Was destiny lost with the sea no longer a backdrop for her crimes and misgivings? The sea, the sea....an old familiar friend, from whom she would be severed for the duration of her humble existence."

Pandora's Jukebox

Check out my music show every 4th Sunday of the Month from 9pm to midnight EST. Here's my playlist from last night...like Cinderella in her glass slippers this will soon disappear.

https://spinitron.com/export/womr75-pl860-DcT0Vyjs.html

Holidaze and Holy Days

Big holiday weekends scare the heck out of me. Mayhaps, that's because I lived on the busiest street in Venice Beach. A million people, was not uncommon number of city folk and tourists reaching their dreamboat destination on a single day. That's a verifiable statistic. Traffic was impossible, so I was oft a shut-in. Not a fan of the beach until I discovered angels and the night. Now, I dig the sandy beaches in daylight hours. Anyhow, I'm numbing up for this weekend's beastly traffic with endorphins, brought on by having two of Hero's friends over for afternoon play and dinner at Cafe Peoples for a hit-and-run-dinner. Three kids is a great number. They've been playing all sorts of imaginary games, flying a kite, hitting the car with a t-ball. Of course, three kids means more leftovers for me. Which is the downside of a surplus of kiddos.

Great holiday weekend for readings! Love my work!

Paris 1900

Erika Wildman and Jessamy Scovil as Parisian stage performers...

And me, feeling my inner Native American man trapped inside a white man trapped inside a white woman...trying to express my inner Sully from Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman.



And, me being girly....

Warrior Flapper Goddess: High (Art) Alert

These are from my photoshoot with Zumba Goddess Jessamy Scovil.

The Infamous Can Detox Festival

Red Dead Nettle is an herb that grows like a weed on Cape Cod. I found it in my friend's garden patch, she was about to prepare for planting. We used her phone app to identify it. Discovering that it is purgative, astringent, diaphoretic, and styptic, we decided to harvest it. We dusted it off and made bunches to dry in the sun.

Red Dead Nettle helps against hemorrhaging, assists in reducing fevers, dries phlegm, and increases sweating. Makes a lovely detox tea by itself, but I added two cups of Red Dead Nettle to a quart of water. Brought it to a boil and simmered on low ten minutes. Next, I added two sprigs of Spearmint and two leaves of Greater Celandine to steep another 10 minutes. Add honey for a tasty cup.

Look what other stars are showing up to the yearly parade of botanical couture...

Nettle can't keep his hands off Red Raspberry. We never thought we'd see those two hookup. They are so hot together! I'm a little worried about Red Raspberry though, she's a bit of a midget this year, and we're thinking she's on one of those Paleo vegan diets with absolutely no bat guano or fish bone. Say what? Not even now and then? That girl's got restraint. But she's lookin' fine!

Flowers are in this year. Thank God, wasn't it high time? Good news for Sweet Woodruff. That pattern is just to die for. And she's great infused with cocktails, or so I hear. Wouldn't you like to know. Oh, I think she just batted a petal at us. I feel faint.

Let's face it, a few years ago we would have never thought that Lilies of the Valley would hook up with 5Dolla Garden Hose, but they seem to be really happy. And judging by the rust on his ring nozzle, I'd don't think he's going anywhere.

You should have heard the birdcalls when this lady showed up this morning. Wow, does Lady Slipper know how to make an entrance or what? She's wearing her own scent too. So creative!

Spring is Here!

Back at the homestead, mama and son eat their first al fresco spring meal together under an umbrella in the sprinkling rain. Salad with a generous portion of lox and goat cheese on a bed of strawberries, pear, red bell pepper, avocado, spinach, romaine, onion, grated carrot and beet. Yay, eating at home.

Podcast Interviews with authors Llyn Roberts and Rosemary Gladstar

Llyn Roberts is the author of many books including, "Shapeshifting Into Higher Consciousness". She's the former director of the Dream Change Coalition. She's been fully initiated into shamanic medicine by the Quechua and Tuvan shamans. Her forthcoming book was co-authored with Sandra Ingerman, while she lived in the Hoh Rainforest of the Pacific Northwest. Click here to hear Llyn Roberts talk about shamanic healing: http://womr.org/podcast/shapeshifter-llyn-roberts/

Rosemary Gladstar is called the Godmother of American Herbalism. She is the founder of the California School of Herbal Studies, author of The Science and Art of Herbalism home study course, organizer of the International Herb Symposium and The New England Women's Herbal Conference, co-founder Traditional Medicinal Tea Company, and co-founder of United Plant Savers. She is the author of numerous herb books including the best seller Herbal Healing for Women. Click here to listen: : http://womr.org/podcast/herbalist-rosemary-gladstar/

This Week on Healing Wisdom is Author Shaman Llyn Roberts

Llyn Roberts is the author of "Shapeshifting into Higher Consciousness", "Shamanic Reiki", "The Last of the Shor Shamans", "the Good Remembering" and "Spiritual Wisdom of the Altai".

From her website:
AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR, Co-Founder of the Olympic Mountain EarthWisdom Circle, Llyn Roberts, MA - is an acclaimed teacher of healing and shamanism. A modern-day mystic and spiritual ecologist, her work inspires a deep sense of belonging with the natural world.

Llyn has trained extensively with traditional Andean healers and has beeninitiated into shamanic circles by Quechua peoples in South America, and in Siberia. She received her master’s degree in Tibetan Buddhist and Western Psychology in 1985 at the Naropa University and interned in India through The School for International Training.

Tune into Healing Wisdom this Thursday at 9am on WOMR 92.1 FM, WFMR 91.3 FM, or streaming at womr.org to hear my interview with Llyn Roberts.

Mother's Day at The Optimist Cafe

Using psychic ability to predict the future is something I don't subscribe to because I think that there are many potential outcomes. And if there is in fact one more likely future for us, it's possible that we are not supposed to know what it is. I usually rephrase questions posed about the future when clients give them to me. I ask how to avoid certain pitfalls or what is for the greatest good in a situation. In my psychic work with clients, I ask for wisdom from their angels to come through, for the angels to communicate information or ways to interpret elements in their lives to help them move along their path. Being accurate is less important to me than being helpful. My aim is to support clients' in their intuitive sense, joy, sense of purpose, and help them ask questions, and come to their own conclusions and offer various perspectives which I willingly acknowledge as ethereal and not cold hard facts. I try to offer different framework to help them move along in their journey to a more holistic place and offers lens with which to view tangible things. Someone once said that the best answer to a question is a question, right?

I love my dear husband and son very much, and that is worth more than any present. Why do people even give presents, when love is the best thing in the world to receive? ...Although, someone anonymously paid for our mother-son breakfast today at a cafe. That was so sweet! And it was a very lovely Mother's Day gift. In enabled me to leave our adorable harried waitress a large tip...although he probably had already covered that too. I'm not above the sentimentality of the physical world. I wouldn't doubt that some angel was involved in making that happen.

Despite it being my profession, in my personal life I still have the occasional reservation about speaking about angels, because a common interpretation of people who do so is that they are being imaginative, cloying or sappy. My experience of the angels and those who make it to the other side where they become guardians or spirit guides, is that they have just as much texture in personality essence and diversity in their expression of self as do those who are living. Every angel isn't Glenda, the good witch. They empathically understand the ins and outs of what it is to be human, so they are instep with the egoic journeys of those whom they are assigned to assist. Some swear, cry, laugh, play, act headstrong, get frustrated, and some are mischievous.

God Save the Queens!

God Save the Queens! Ptown is a Ragnar Valhalla and a Photobomber's Paradise

God, I love people. I did a brand ambassador event today with my husband for the fun of it, and I can see how it can be addictive. I enjoyed being high energy, non-stop silly, cracking jokes and sharing slogans of my own making. Even with laryngitis and ill fitting attire. It rocked. Even with the bumping pop hits carving pathways in my brain and the propensity for my gravely voice to, like a herring swimming up stream, have a hard time making its destination. Even wearing tennis shoes and khaki shorts didn't keep me from enjoying all the runners like they were Disneyland, and I was a Japanese tourist. (Sideways peace signs.) "Enjoy the nectar of Ragnar!" "Would you like the champagne or cocktail of runners?" I felt like a barista at a Ren Faire. "Wilst thee, fair maiden taketh both thy lemon mint and thy acai grape libation? Huzzah! God save the Queens!"

When I was seven and auditioning for commercials in Los Angeles, I felt like a shill and a brand whore to the point that my punk rock attitude prevented me from landing any gigs. Barbies? Fuck Barbie, she can never relax and she's molded to the shape of her footwear. Didn't they outlaw foot binding, people? Okay, so maybe I was a little more introverted, "I prefer to use my imagination, than play with toys." A little Wednesday Adams with the casting directors. "Let's start with you...The scrawny one with the gap. How would you describe a slinky to your best friend?" "Dead people are my best friends, and they don't like when I play with plastic slinkies." "Blondie. No the one with the cheerful smile. What do you love about the new My Little Pony?" "LeRoy says you're disingenuous, and that Scratch n' Sniff My Little Ponies pose a hazard to my health." "Who's Leroy?" "My pet snake. He's right behind you. He died last year..."

Flash forward to my career as a medium. I keep seeing this blonde chick running on the beach at 3am. This time she passes by me close enough to make conversation. I'm in my below-freezing Russian/Siberian hovel/schtettel/bread line attire: layers of Northface mountain climbing gear, my dear dead grandfather's world war II hat (the only possession which my stepmom didn't steal from me to sell at a yard sale), Doc Martin's knee-high boots and a tattered coat that looks like I walk wolves for a living. I'm attempting to read an inscrutable channeled dictation in my notebook. It's Uma Thurman asking, "Why don't you use a flashlight?" I laugh. "Because I like being in the pitch blackness." "What about one of those small dim clip lights?" "But then, I wouldn't be able to see the angels as well." "Why are you sitting on the ground, why don't you use a lawn chair?" "Because, I like being connected to the earth." "What about a low one? Aren't you cold sitting on the wet sand?" "The freezing temperatures keep me awake, and besides, I like to know I can take off running if I need to. Not being one to want to leave behind dinky high turnover furniture of little sentimental value, in my wake."



Gallery opening. Some star turned artist illuminating his still life and abstract out-of-focus photos. Everyone's talking about how amazing they are. I'm with my husband and mother, talking as loudly as I can about how horrible they are. Trying to bring some semblance of sanity to the bullshit fest. Speaking in arty lingo (drawing from the training I received from a very early age). Lingo I've long since forgotten. I'm trying to start a truth trend. Vincent Gallo spots me wild-eyed and wades through the dressed-to-the-nines in artfunk celebutantes and hangers-on, pointing at me, and moving as quickly as possible. I bolt as quickly as I can, crouching down, reliving a shining moment from my elementary school basketball career. Maneuvering swiftly to avoid a foul. Outside, I cling behind a door, (one part leech, one part stealth bomber,) frozen like an opossum. Barely breathing. He looks both ways, manically. His wife asking him what he's doing. I think he said, the girl, the girl. I was so relieved when he lost my trail. My husband and mom finally exited the belly of the whale, into the parking lot of Bergamot Station. "What the heck was that about?" "We were afraid Vincent Gallo was going to attack you." "I was afraid he was going to abduct me, handcuff me to a stove and Buffalo 69 a brainwashed, drugged up fragment of my former self. Phew!"

What is the point of these ramblings? LA is surreal and a strange place to grow up. It's nice to realize that there's a whole world out there with amazing authentic people leading meaningful, useful and productive lives with grace, beauty, strength and courage...and costumes.... With the advent of the selfie, youtube, self-publishing and reality TV, the world stage has expanded. There's enough media to go around. There's the potential there for balance between people realizing their dreams (as people promote every kind of career and platform imaginable) with people creating a global community.

Herbalist Authors & Shamans on Healing Wisdom

In honor of International Herb Day, here are some interviews from Healing Wisdom with author herbalists and author shamanic healers:

Sandra Ingerman, MA
Sandra Ingerman, MA, is the author of eight books including Soul Retrieval, Medicine for the Earth, Shamanic Journeying: A Beginner’s Guide, How to Heal Toxic Thoughts, The Shaman’s Toolkit, and Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation. Sandra is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist and Professional Mental Health Counselor. She is also a board certified expert on traumatic stress as well as certified in acute traumatic stress management. Most recently was chosen as one of the Top Ten Spiritual Leaders of 2013 in the November/December Issue of Spirituality and Health.

My Sandra Ingerman Interview Here

Rosemary Gladstar on Healing Wisdom

Rosemary Gladstar is going to be on Herbal Wisdom on WOMR May 8th at 9am

Rosemary Gladstar is a Master Herbalist, founder of the California School of Herbal Studies, the oldest running herb school in the United States, author of The Science and Art of Herbalism home study course, organizer of the International Herb Symposium and The New England Women's Herbal Conference, co-founder Traditional Medicinal Tea Company, and co-founder of United Plant Savers. She is the author of numerous herb books including the best seller Herbal Healing for Women, The Storey Book Herbal Healing Series, and Herbal Remedies for Vibrant Health. Tune in this Thursday May 8th at 9am EDT to WOMR 92.1fm in Provincetown, WFMR 91.3fm in Orleans, or streaming at womr.org!

We're both excited for her to discuss the Fire Cider controversy, trademarking traditional medicines, how herbs get a bad reputation, industry trends, and more!