Category Archives: Knowledge Center

Spirituality

Elemental Healing

When you have a reading with me, I give you an elemental cross reading. In a reading session, these cards are often displaced showing me insight on your life and how spirit is acting as an alchemist in transmuting these elements to manifest the life you’re currently living.

As a thank you for booking with me, I send you a mini booklet on the meanings behind each position and each element. Generally speaking this is how I heal others and how they gain insight, most of the time people need a little logic to believe you, and reading with the elements gives the client a balance of logic and spirit.

So for example, this graphic I made shows how an elemental cross should look if you want to achieve in buying a house. Where the elements should be placed in a reading. If the elements are showing in their respective positions, while the individual may be balanced, in terms of buying a house the process is often very uprooting so the individual may appear to be slightly unbalanced. When helping a client, I often suggest that this is how your energetic pattern should appear if you want to buy a house, etc.

Research, Spirituality

Goddess Kali

Artwork generated with the help of Artificial Intelligence

Shaktism views the Devi as the source, essence and substance of everything in creation.[3] Its texts such as the Devi-Bhagavata Purana states:

I am Manifest Divinity, Unmanifest Divinity, and Transcendent Divinity. I am Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, as well as Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati. I am the Sun and I am the Stars, and I am also the Moon. I am all animals and birds, and I am the outcaste as well, and the thief. I am the low person of dreadful deeds, and the great person of excellent deeds. I am Female, I am Male in the form of Shiva.

Devi-Bhagavata Purana

In the perspective of the Devas/Devis, the Goddess Kali is the goddess of ultimate power, time, destruction and change. She is someone I personally have seen in my third-eye and work with in my magical practice. I don’t strictly associate with any gods or goddesses as I now understand who they really were/are, and worship of any particular one being contributes to lower vibrations. Some of them however have shown themselves to assist in times of need and change. When I first started this path nearly 14 years ago, I worked with my heritage gods/goddesses but it still didn’t feel right. The goddess Kali was one that did show herself to me. During some intense change and sadness, she has shown herself, during some of the most difficult times in my life. When I was going through something difficult years ago, she showed herself for the first time in the name of liberation. Liberation from a toxic environment, liberation from a time in my life where I couldn’t see a way out. I dug deep into my spirituality and she appeared. This is why she became apart of my practice, she has appeared before me and helped set me free. I now call upon her essence in times of need and change to help guide me through safely.

Apothecary, Knowledge Center, Lifestyle, Wellness

Lifestyle: Apothecary – Herbal Remedies You Can Find in the Grocery Store or Your Garden

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Herbal remedies are plants that have a medicinal effect. Herbal remedies have been around for thousands of years. In fact, some evidence suggests that plants were used for medicinal purposes over 60,000 years ago. The earliest written evidence dates back to over 5,000 years ago.

Such herbal remedies have been making a real comeback in recent years. 

Herbal remedies contain powerful chemicals that many pharmaceutical companies and scientists are studying. Many of these plants are either available in the grocery store or can be grown quite easily in a garden. Using these plants in your diet can have a significant effect on your health and overall wellbeing.

These herbal remedies can often be just as effective as pharmaceuticals in the prevention and treatment of disease:

  1. Ginseng. Ginseng is one of the most popular plants in Chinese medicine. The most popular varieties are American ginseng and Asian ginseng. American ginseng is considered to have a greater relaxing effect, while the Asian variety is more stimulating.
    1. Consider these benefits: Ginseng is an excellent antioxidant and reduces inflammation. Ginseng has shown promise for improving brain function and treating erectile dysfunction. It could also lower blood sugar, lower fatigue, and have benefits against cancer.
  2. Garlic. Garlic is readily available and a powerful herbal remedy. Most people enjoy the taste of garlic, bad breath notwithstanding.
    1. Garlic has been shown to significantly reduce the duration and severity of cold symptoms. Hypertension responds positively to garlic consumption. In fact, garlic is at least as effective in treating hypertension as some medications.
    1. Garlic also lowers cholesterol levels, may help prevent Alzheimer’s, and could help with the process of removing heavy metals from the body.
  3. Turmeric. Turmeric is used in Ayurvedic medicine and is also a popular spice in Indian food. Turmeric is also readily available in any grocery store. The primary active ingredient in turmeric is curcumin.
    1. Turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory. It is as effective as aspirin and ibuprofen in treating inflammation. It is also believed to be beneficial in treating and preventing cancer. Depression, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s are also believed to be helped by the consumption of turmeric.
  4. Ginger. Another very common grocery store item, ginger, is excellent for the treatment of nausea and morning sickness. Ginger can be used as a spice or made into tea. More benefits include:
    1. You can use it to help treat muscle pain and soreness.
    1. Ginger is another excellent anti-inflammatory.
    1. Indigestion, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol can all be reduced by ginger.
  • Valerian root. This might be a little harder to find. In fact, you’ll probably have to grow this one on your own, but it’s worth the effort. This flowering plant has many health benefits.
    • Headaches, insomnia, digestive issues, muscle pain, fatigue, and anxiety can all be helped by valerian root.
  • Chamomile. This daisy-like flower is most commonly consumed in tea form. Chamomile is believed to treat insomnia, reduce cold symptoms, boost immunity, and lower stress levels. Chamomile tea is available at your grocery store.

Herbal remedies can’t replace all pharmaceutical drugs, but they are viable replacements in many situations. Of course, you should still include your doctor in your herbal remedy plans.

Herbal remedies can be very effective and inexpensive. $1 of garlic can easily last a week. If your budget is tight, herbal remedies can be a great way to boost your health without breaking the bank.

Even if you’re in 100% perfect health, herbal remedies can help to keep you healthy. You have nothing to lose. In fact, your food might taste even more delicious while you’re making your body healthier.

Apothecary, Articles, Knowledge Center, Lifestyle, Wellness, Woodnote Lab Notes

Lifestyle: Apothecary – Mugwort

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Generally speaking mugwort grows along streams or river banks in large patches. Mugwort is part of the sage family and is a cousin to sagebrush, which has a similar scent. However, culinary sage is actually in the mint family, which is different than the sage family.

An edible plant, but is used more like an herb than anything else. With it’s distinctive scent, Mugwort is used to flavor meats, and was also commonly used to flavor beer before hops were introduced. In fact it has been a key ingredient in the infamous absinthe. In addition to the culinary uses, it is also medicinal, and is sometimes called the “dream plant”, as it is known for enhancing dreams and is often dried and smoked for this purpose. Mugwort is also antibacterial and anti fungal and is good for topical uses for itching and burning, helps with rashes and poison oak.

Menstrual Cycle Pain

One of the uses of mugwort tea is in the treatment of dysmenorrhea, more commonly known as menstrual cycle cramps. It is also known to stimulate and regulate menstruation and support the body as it changes through menopause.

Toxin Effects

This herbal tea is also linked to cleansing the kidneys, reducing the chances of infection and improving function. it encourages sweating. Further, eliminate toxins from the body through the skin.

Malaria Prevention

Malaria is a contagious very bad disease caused by a parasite that invades human red blood cells, transmitted by mosquitoes. The most effective malaria drug is Artemisinin. It contains a large amount of Artemisinin.

Strengthens The Immune System

The high concentration of vitamin C active antioxidants makes mugwort tea a wonderful choice for boosting the immune system. Vitamin C can stimulate the production of white blood cells, and act as an antioxidant, which can neutralize radicals that cause inflammation and weaken the body’s defenses.

Antimicrobial and Antifungal Properties

Clinical studies have shown that wormwood tea has an antimicrobial effect. E. coli (a disease that damages the kidneys, intestines, and brain caused by an unhealthy red meat-borne parasite.) and salmonella (it’s a poisonous germ.) protect against various types of bacteria, including.

Sources

PlantsHospital.com

GrowForageCookFerment.com

Inquiry, Research, Theory

Research Framework

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I have been reading up on experimental design for biologists and working on a reading repertoire to get caught up on some knowledge before entering this course. Experimental Design for Biologists by David J Glass was recommended to me by one of my scientific advisors. And I’m very glad I am taking the time to read this because it has certainly opened up my mind to how researchers conduct their research! Research itself is very different than artistic practices although artistic practices DO contain some research.

 

The point in the book that I’m at is learning how to build a framework for your research and essentially thinking and that concept has really sunk in especially with my recent strong desires to get really organized. At the moment my framework is LSF (light, sound, form) and identifying its’ existence in the pursuit of proving a special kind of existence. LSF is not a new concept and there have been many researchers before me pursuing various sides of LSF. However, not many of these previous researchers have developed a bit of a framework. It was either for light, sound or form, not for all three.

 

This concept of developing a framework has really stuck with me and made me think about my own research. So far it’s all just been reading about LSF and how art can be applied, but then I thought more about a point/observation I had made several years ago with a colleague of mine. We were talking about the golden ratio and how in many forms in our physical reality contains this number sequence and form. It was peculiar to me because at the same time I had also read a monograph about PI being the intersection of linear and non-linear reality as well as a recent article about ‘golden’ being a reductive word for the word light.

 

Which brought me to the realization/observation that everything in our physical reality is an expression of the golden ratio or light itself and it’s many variations and therefore the investigation of LSF itself. To me LSF transcends the golden ratio, it explains how every physical thing is an expression or an intersection of light. Therefore, my framework would be proving a special kind of existence within the LSF framework in that physical reality is light itself.

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Blog, Intern, Lifestyle, Reflections, Spirituality

The Simple Truth

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Depending on your perception, life can be indefinitely complicated. What really matters is the truth. Truth creates understanding, equality, peace, love, freedom and is what ultimately unites all of humanity. The real truth merely asks that it is checked against your own reality. Only then can it become real and truthful.

The obvious is that which is never seen until someone expresses it simply — Khalil Gibran

There is nothing easier to know than the truth because it is life itself. The hindrance is desire. When understood, problems shift perceptions to stem from that of not knowing the truth of life. You cannot control life, but you can control the way you see it. The way to do this is by adhering to the truth.

 

A man should look for what is and not for what he thinks should be — Albert Einstein

Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be changed from one form to another. Consciousness is an energy, and thoughts are levels of energy. You can subscribe to good levels of conscious energy by focusing not on what you see, but how you see it. The universe as it relates to energy, life and consciousness can be understood. This is the ultimate truth that has the power to transform mankind.

What confuses me the most is why people spend their whole lives acquiring money, only to spend all of their money trying to get their life back— Dalai Lama

The sight of a marvel landscape or astonishing phenomenon becomes a peak moment for most people. Why is this? Your mind opens up to the present moment when something is special. The truth is, every moment in life is special and you can be open to life most of the time, you just have to see the truth to see life. Nothing will ever make any real difference in your life unless it affects your relationship with the balanced physical world, thereby, only changing your mind. Changing the world does not change us. The change in frame of mind institutes the end of unnecessary suffering, conflict and confusion.

Truth is found in the content feeling that resides on a moment to moment basis. The truth demonstrates that you do not need to experience negativity to enjoy positivity. The bad will still happen, you will just perceive it differently.

Mental health is no less important than physical health. Meditation is a workout toward the truth.

Imagine the nature of a monkey; crazy and sporadic. Now imagine that monkey is drunk out of his mind, and was just stung by a wasp. This personification begins to characterize the nature of a free human mind on a day to day basis. The fact that the mind constantly fishes and strives for content aligned with logical explanations is hardly apparent until you challenge yourself to suppress your mind of any reasoning for a period of time. The practice of meditation is essentially the practice of calming the drunk stung monkey within. With this daily practice the beautiful talent of mindfulness begins to develop and strengthen. Like a muscle, your mind becomes stronger and is better able to control your thoughts according to your happiness, efficiency and desires. Mindfulness is a generally underrated skill that when mastered has the ability to conquer fears, doubts, undesired emotions and is only limited to the imagination. The connection between the truth of life and meditation is strong. Perception becomes clear, and doubts dissolve into irrelevance. Most importantly, the practice reveals the gift that lies within everyone and defines truth itself; the present moment.

The present is the ultimate gift and truth of life.

Everyone is given the present in every moment and will continue to receive it forever. The concept of the future and the past are distortions of the present that keep people chasing what isn’t, thereby missing the present in the process. All of what people want lies in the present. Most people just don’t know how to unlock their mindfulness of its existence. The present has to be our goal, because it is the only thing that exists.

Full acknowledgment of the truth will not happen over night. It begins with acceptance of the phenomenon that is the natural world. Mentality is powerful. When aligned with recognition of the balance of life, it persuades true life to shine through. All the best things will happen to you, and so will all of the worst, if you don’t know the truth.

The more present you live, the more fulfilling life gets.

Fulfilled: Is the way we feel when we are completely open to all of life. Becoming fulfilled allows you to feel the way you want to feel all the time. Fulfillment is true happiness. Any doctor will tell you that good feelings in life come from a release of chemicals such as dopamine, endorphins, adrenaline and serotonin in your brain. They do it by allowing you to experience true life. Like a drug, its effect is temporary and must be up kept with the knowledge of life’s truth which is eternal. If you disassociate your fulfillment from the happenings in the environment around you, you are allowed to become fulfilled 100% of the time. True freedom comes when you are able to stay fulfilled independent of what happens in the environment.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world — Mahatma Gandhi

If everyone looked at the big picture in life, we would see the same thing. The underlying enemy of mankind narrows down to cognitive dissonance. Overcoming this frequency and learning the simple truth would unite human beings, and we would all live in paradise.

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Conceptual Success

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The concept of a goal is an interesting one. While it’s necessary to create a goal to achieve results, the processes involves a shift of focus away from the present moment of time. The essence of any spiritual practice is to allow yourself to resonate as close as possible to the present moment. What is the answer to this discrepancy? It is the culturally based definition of success.

In the context of a western society, the elusive goal called success looks like wealth and fame. As a portrait photographer, I have been exposed to a large collection of collegiate and high school graduations within the north east region of the United States. I see this to be a perfect representation of the region’s societal prescription. In this part of the world, class officials and leaders preach to their students messages that ultimately vocalize the wealth and fame version of success. They say that acquisition of upper echelon employment will provide a sufficient amount of wealth required to be happy. This is the goal they set out for the millennial generation to follow.

I don’t believe this can this fulfill the spirits of every human being that is born into this society, and is the reason for a good chunk of the hardships that this genre of life brings. Anyone who has been exposed to a drastically different way of life in other global communities will see the same vision. Each context of society seems to know they should be chasing happiness, however the concept of profit has driven more developed parts of the world such as the United States to devote their souls to acquiring materialistic wealth while namelessly robbing their happiness in the process.

Don’t be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value. — Arthur Miller

If people are able to raise their appreciation for the present moment, this concept may also become clear. Setting a goal must lay forth a fulfilling path that is centered to the individuals passions and desires, not to the tune of a corporate profit. Success will come when passion, the art of creation, and happiness find their place to guide the path set by an ultimate goal. This way, the process of shifting focus away from the here and now can be enlightening, and success can come from within.

A goal is an amazing entity. Looked at with full appreciation and dominant compassion, manipulation of elements within the universe converge to display a desired outcome. What could be more beautiful than that?

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A Centered Take on Society

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To my objective vision, today’s society is a living and growing entity made rational and tangible through the five human senses, while attenuating the unknown.

Society cares for the individual only so far as he is profitable -Simone de Beauvoir

Having been raised in western cultural norms, and recently exposed to the radical dichotomy that exists between global cultures, it has become clear to me that accepting yourself while staying true to your passions holds the key to a positive frequency of life. This way, everything can be perfect.

Accept yourself as you are. And that is the most difficult thing in the world, because it goes against your training, education, your culture. From the very beginning you have been told how you should be. Nobody has ever told you that you are good as you are → Osho

This concept has awakened my beliefs to a direction that is not bound by convention. My thoughts have gravitated towards making sense of the world we call home. Essentially, I see truths that point toward many different avenues to achieve the same desired outcome. I believe everyone has a unique and essential perspective of the world. I personally find a great sense of curiosity in exploring these avenues, and appreciating our dimensional gift that is the present moment. Through the experience of natural forms of stimulation such as exercise or practiced gratitude for our existence, we are able to give our body the exact programming and rewards that it is primitively set up to receive in order to subscribe to a positive frequency of life.

We are in a transitional period with our bodies, in that many demands of modern western culture see no need to fulfill these natural reward systems. Instead, they are replaced with stresses on the acquisition of money and material worth. Unless you are actively pursuing something that you absolutely love and are passionate about, the relatively new prescribed path of life called your job becomes ultimately empty and completely unnatural to the human body and its coordinated psyche.

It is almost as if society has engineered itself so that we can consistently innovate and create new things more quickly and more easily. From an evolutionary perspective, it is almost as if this machine wants to be born, so it has reprogrammed society to live for the machine, rather than to live for the natural human needs system.

We are all on this incomprehensibly large sphere hurling its self through infinite space and time. How come nobody seems to talk about it?

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The Bicycle

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niles2Out of the numerous mechanical inventions that human-kind has come up with, perhaps one that has the greatest potential to enhance an exploratory and spiritual mindset is the bicycle. Not only does it serve as an active form of transportation, it provides a platform for adventure.

In its integrity, the bicycle can be seen to metaphorically demonstrate the acquisition of a joyful and simplistic lifestyle. By adhering to a notion that does not continuously strive for never ending amelioration to all of life’s nuances, but rather content and simple gratitude, the beauty of existence glows more intensely than that of a life experienced by chasing expectations or problems.

I want to wake up and put my best face forward to the day. If I take care of myself the day is going to take care of me. | Ultra Romance

As a sport to many and a hobby to others, bikes create experiences. People first started riding bikes at the turn of the century. It was about getting out to the country side and being independent. People still exist today that are spearheading this movement. As compared to a person who has become integrated into certain modern societal cultures, these people subscribe to a frequency that is more heavily in tune with the relationship between them selves and the appreciation for the present moment. In this sense, the reward of existence that matches the aesthetic of discovery carries an identical reward to that of a bottomless bank account. With recognition that everyone is given the present moment and will continue to receive it forever, the greatest gift that promises to keep on giving, may in fact be the bicycle.

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I’m Niles

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LIFE IS WILD. ENJOY THE RIDE. 13043577_10205931100545589_1830278714234636204_n-300x300

I enjoy looking at life through the lens of the bigger picture. To me, this reveals that our most powerful tool is our free will. It provides freedom of choice that ultimately affects our well-being and happiness. Perspective lends inspiration to exercise my free will, and new experiences build my appreciation for the art that is my ambiance.

Myself, along with everyone in this world is unique and has something compelling to offer. I believe answering the simple question of why I get out of bed in the morning holds the key to becoming fully authentic and fulfilled throughout my life. To express my true self I am actively pursuing everything that inspires me to be a better version of myself day in and day out. If I can align my battles with passion and joy, in my mind I’ve won the game of life.

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