THE BADGER October 2016

THE BADGER The badger is a fierce animal, very much respected and honored both in Northern American Native traditions and in European Celtic ones.

A badger will not let go and will continue tenaciously to look for another way to tackle his/her goal, just like a good healer will not let go his/her search until the best solution is found for the person in need. Badgers have their homes underground, so that they can go to the roots of things, the good healer does the same and keeps looking until she/he can find the most profound reason for a dis-ease or a psychological issue.

We use the term healer in the very broad sense of somebody who takes care of a another person, be it a MD, a nurse, a psychotherapist, a physiotherapist, a masseuse, a spiritual healer.

Whenever there is a person in need and somebody who takes care of her/him, that is a healer.

Sometimes the need is subtler and more profound than a simple medical intervention, the human touch is needed and it really is the Panacea that cures all diseases.

We believe that the arts in all their beauty, science for everyday life, spirituality, philosophy, food and the healing arts are beneficial to restoring that balance, health and sense of worth that each and every human being deserves.

We offer you THE BADGER, the persistent healer, all the articles come from experts in different fields, each person has his/her own idea of what a balanced life is, they are here to pass on information, give inspiration, receive your comments, suggestions, contributions.

Each human being holds in his/her hands at least one of the keys, let's continue our quest!

THE BADGER Year 2 Volume 4 October 2016 Autumn has just started with its shorter days, falling leaves and times for deeper reflection. The harvest is in the storerooms of our souls, this is the a moment of gratitude for the abundance of life, gratitude for those who have come before us and those who will follow, it is also the perfect time for preparation. In the darkness of our inner caves we can find the most precious jewels of creativity and innovation.

In times past the farmers could rest a while and prepare for the new year of hard work, saluting the sun into the deep dark night until it would rise again and the cycle could start anew. Trades stopped on the choppy seas until the soft breezes of spring would allow sailing again. This is a season for putting down quiet roots in the ground and work in preparation of the next cycle in our lives.

Good autumn

Antonella Vicini THE BADGER Editor Cover photos and

Graphic Lay out

Antonella Vicini

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CONTENTS Commitment Into the Matter Dragon Farming Taming Waves Poetry Readers' Corner Voices from the Stars

Antonella Vicini Andrea Exo Fredric Lehrman Paolo Benda Giosuè Carducci Salvatore Mongiardo Laura Bottagisio

Magic!

Adrian Rooke

Becoming Medicine

David Kopacz

Aromatherapy

Renato Tittarelli

CONTENTS Food is our Ally and our Pleasure Mother Earth speaks Travelling and remembering Travelling East Human Lathe Biosas Quilting Away Breathing Deep within

Daniele Sampalmieri AV Claudia Enrico Judy Hayes Raffaella Vicini Tanya Tewell Antonella Vicini Lida Perry Milena Screm Jose Maffina

CONTENTS Namaste

Giosie Colagrossi

Dermoreflexology

Samantha Fumagalli Flavio Gandini

The Nature of Druidry

Philip Carr Gomm

Learning from Pythagoras Witnessing The Authors

Salvatore Mongiardo The Falleroni short bios and photos

Thanks

and links to previous volumes

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COMMITMENT Antonella Vicini

COMMITMENT: a willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in, or a promise or firm decision to do something.

Soon after publishing the Summer volume of THE BADGER, I started to be intrigued and somewhat obsessed with the word commitment and its ramifications, its meaning and the consequences that come from real commitment.

Looking at the this word, I realized it comes from a Latin word committere litterally to send together in the original meaning, in a broader sense to gather, to connect. Possibly from this meaning came the current understanding of being voluntarily engaged in a task, a cause, a job, family, etc.

But what do we commit (to)? We can commit a murder, or we can commit to greatness, the word is the same, the intention is equally deep and rooted, the attitude is profoundly different.

Autumn time for me is usually darker and more difficult to deal with than the other seasons, I have a harder time finding its beauty in the shortening days and the rains that accompany this time of the year.

Yet this is the season of movement, of action, of incarnating what was only an idea in spring and a color of emotion in summer, now it turns into something real that shows our commtiment, or lack of it.

I am not really sure how this time in history will be remembered and called, but, looking at it from the inside, I can say it is marked by the lack of commitment for many and the fanatic one of few.

Only what is exceptional and out of the norm seems attractive, people do not want to commit to long term relationships, they would like jobs but there is very little chance of long term employement, with its daily ties.

Everything is in a perpetual state of flux and transformation, therefore finding some fixed points in life becomes a commitment in itself.

In these flowing times of change it is essential to find what are our real values, what are the things/people who matter the most for us, in other words: what are the qualities that define us as human beings?

Looking for these answers is the first step towards a life long commitment to life and its manifold aspects.

This is not a time to sit idle and watch life go by, but this is a time for action, however small and/or insignificant we consider it.

Just going to work and doing our job in the best possible way is a daily commitment that develops discipline in us, making us stronger and spiritually closer to the ideal of the ancient Ora et Labora : pray and work, or, better, work is prayer.

Whether we cook dinner for our families, or prepare that report that was needed yesterday, or collect garbage, or struggle to save a person's life on the operating table, it doesn't matter what we do, but how we do it.

Are we aware of our activities? Do we perform them wide awake or half asleep? Do we love what we do?, thus commiting ourselves to improving and growing daily, or do we drudge along hoping for something better to come our way?

Every experience makes us grow in awareness, if we grab the chance it gives us, but in order to achieve this result we need previous commitment to learning, growing, embracing what is different and new, thus widening our inner and outer space.

There is no one sadder than a person who says"I cannot do it, I am too old/too young/too inexperienced/too qualified... for that" .

Life is a continuous discovery, although it is true that some physical efforts become harder with the passing of time, yet people start running marathons in their 60's and continue in great health until much later in life, age, or any other mental reason, are only our excuses not to act.

Perhaps we could tell the truth by saying: I am too rigid, too set in my ways, it hurts to change, I like how I am and it is other people's fault anyway...

Sounds familiar? However unpleasant?

Let's break our habits, walk different paths daily, not just going to work or our daily chores on a different route, but making sure to learn or add some new thoughts daily.

Let's take ourselves on a discovery tour of our towns, getting lost and then finding our way again, learn a new language just because we like the sound of it, lose track of time observing animals in nature, the list is endless.

Above all we cannot stay still waiting for something to happen: it won't.

We need to commit to our lives, our dear ones, our work, our values, whatever matters the most. Once we have committed for real, the daily decisions will be easier to take and abide by.

I wish you a good autumn of commitment and discoveries just around the corner.

Antonella Vicini Photos by Renato Tittarelli https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm8ZbcUIFXI Amazing 80 year model!

Post Scriptum Since I like to practise what I preach, I want to introduce THE BADGER Quarterly LTD, the company set up by me, Judy Hayes, Lida Perry, Raffaella Vicini, Fredric Lerhman, Renato Tittarelli, Daniele Sampalmieri in order to support and promote the quarterly issues as well as the many other activities we will introduce in the next few months.

After two years of intense and growing activity, we now invite you to subscribe to THE BADGER next year volumes that you will be able to download and read at leisure, thus creating your private archive of keys to balanced and serene life.

Instructions and details of our subscriptions can be found in the first and last pages of this volume and on our website: http://antonellavicini8.wixsite.com/thebadgerquarterly or write to thebadger@thebadgerquarterlyltd.co.uk Thank you for your continuous support of THE BADGER. Antonella Vicini Director THE BADGER Quarterly LTD

INTO THE MATTER Under the Surface Andrea Exo

Whatever we can perceive through our senses is made of many small bricks, by themselves they do not tell us much about what is happening.

However, if we observe their behaviour we can learn more: let's take 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 of oxygen, this is H2O the best known chemical formula in the world describing a molecule of water.

Does it really describe water? If water is at a below zero temperature we have ice which is a very different substance from a cool beverage in a hot climate.

If we place our precious liquid in a pan on the stove, we will observe how it evaporates. Therefore we have a gas, neither refreshing, nor touchable like ice.

Yet, in each of these phases it is still H2O, how is this possible?

The different behaviours of matter are defined as "emerging", they cannot be described by the forces and laws that define them individually.

If we observe "under the surface", we will notice this phenomenon in everything. Protons and electrons have no colors, but when we join them in one atom, we can see the electomagnetic waves react with different forces of the nucleus and they show us rainbows.

If we observe our mind, we will notice the emerging properties of the brain, one of the organs in our body. A molecule of water is the same both in a glass and inside a cell, but if it interacts with our synapses it will help in manifesting consciuousness that we certainly cannot find emerging from a boiling pot of water!

Shall we dig deeper?

In order to create consciousness many ingredients are required: the first ones are the senses, if a child were born without seeing, hearing, touching, tasting he/she would be like a stone. Everything starts from the external world: the more we learn during our infancy, the more our mind processes, catalogues, coordinates according to the patterns inherited from our parents.

Oftentimes the grandparents notice the similarities between the grandchildren behaviours and their own children.

When DNA is read by the brain it is shaped with a structure that is very close to the parents or the grandparents.

Physical resemblance is only the external part, but under the skin there is more.

Growing up the child learns to walk and speak, miraculously he/she becomes conscious of himself/herself.

Now the mind produces the paradox: how can the mind be both the object and subject of our inquiries, our fears, our most intimate attempt at finding the answers to the questions: why do we exist, why do we die, why do we live?

In spite of our ever evolving technology, the emerging property "consciousness" represents the highest mistery. Every discipline created by human beings, both sciences and exoteric paths or religions, is centred on the question "who are we?".

We have seen that matter is apparently uniform: protons, electrons and neutrons. Eveything created is a property emerging from the combination of all these basic elements. They mixed themselves up and have thus created the only creature which is capable of observing and studying them: human beings.

Before becoming conscious, we can say that everything "happens out there". However, when consciousness arises "everything happens inside".

There is a microcosm under the skin that can manipulate and alter the macrocosm as well as feeling emotions.

Under the surface suffering is an emerging property of consciuousness, in the same way we can transform water into ice (thus changing the effects of liquid water) we can avoid and transform the pain produced by the combination of the same ingredients.

Most psychological suffering is mainly caused by our frustrated desires in both our microcosm and macrocosm. For example I may dream of a house, a job, a holiday and I can smell the scent of the sea, even feel the sand under my feet....

Then I wake up in my bed, nothing has changed.

Another common cause of suffering is our attempt to plan and control our future, an impossible task for most of us.

The person who has wishes and knows how to go after them is happy, the person who doesn't know how to use his/her body, senses, organs in order to achieve the goals will be depressed, disillusioned and not satisfied with life.

All exoteric disciplines, all the good rules within religions, all the philosophical literature lead us to the consciousness of two aspects: body and mind.

The mind has two aspects: the evaluation phase and the archaic phase.

The first one thinks, plans, dreams and suffers because it would like to have certainties.

The second one is more connected to our animal brain; it drives the car, goes up and down stairs, coordinates our running steps, breathing, etc.

The evaluation phase can access this brain: when I learn how to play the piano I use the evaluation phase in order to instruct the archaic mind on how to do things. The pianist during the concert simply plays, he/she doesn't think about the notes or the fingers, just like a runner runs or a writer types on the keyboard.

The body suffers if there is too much evaluation: the mind shuts into its dreaming and the archaic part, the only one that can make them become real, is switched off and suppressed.

Here is a practical example: I want to paint my house, my evaluation phase will go into crisis, because I have never done it before. If, instead, I don't overthink it, I will buy brush and colors, I will let my archaic part act, little by little I will see my hands handling the brush and the wall will be covered in color. The more I will keep at it the better I will become.

If who we are is the result of an emerging property of our senses, we can then analyze the results (the mind investigates upon itself), understand what has produced them, change perceptions so that we can let something else emerge. Every discipline teaches how to do this: by altering the perceptions we also change the form.

The highest bliss for human beings, the goal of meditation, psycoanalysis, hypnosis or prayer is stopping the evaluation phase and "simply perceive", without filters, without prejudices, without any pain; because everything simply is.

The evaluation phase, often is so influenced by morals, negative experiences, the environment, thus it often becomes the first obstacle between us and joy.

Freeing the actions of the archaic mind is the goal of initiation, the highest bliss, infinite peace. Love does not emerge from evaluation, Love is an archaic emerging property of our heart.

Andrea Exo Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

Dragon Farming Dragon Magic Fredric Lehrman

In 1982, on my first visit to Glastonbury, England, as I was browsing away an afternoon hour at a bookstore in the center of that mystical town, I noticed an elegantly shabby workman in conversation with the manager at the sales desk.

As I came nearer I could hear him describing what looked like an artwork that he was offering for sale. His tuneful Scottish voice was quiet yet confident and seemed to reach me across the space from no particular direction, as if appearing privately inside my mind .

The manager was not ready to examine the drawings and prints in the man’s rustic portfolio, but I was. I approached as the manager stepped away, and I asked the man if I could take a look. We went outside to a garden table.

The first piece he showed me was a simple image depicting a powerful dragon in flight towards the sun. Using a simple roofing nail, he had scratched the design into a slate shingle removed from a local barn roof that he had been renovating in the previous week. Here it is:

Etching on Slate by Scottish Tony, 1982

I bought it from him immediately, and we agreed to meet again the next day so that he could show me some additional items.

That second meeting lasted several hours, and we discussed a wide range of topics, the first of which was the dragon. I asked him my basic dragon question: “What is the significance of the dragon? Why does it appear in virtually every culture and time throughout world history?”

After several seconds of silent thought, his eyes opened and turned skyward: “It’s somethin’ that’s a’ risin’ upp.”

No one has explained it to me more succinctly.

A year later I was fortunate to have my first first personal dragon encounter, and in that meeting the Dragon told me its mission. Here is what it said:.

“We Dragons are unique among creatures, as we are hybrids of multiple other species. Neither reptile nor bird, we fly without tiring, walk on land, and swim without needing to come up to breathe. Whether very small or very large, we have exactly as many legs as we need and are truly intercontinental and adaptable to any environment. At different times and places, people see us differently, as we take our cues from the local collective mindset. We are ready to serve, and our agenda is to assist the learning process that you would call individual and social evolution.

(Among ourselves, we call it “Destiny or Else!” and smile.)

Thus wherever individual humans band together for a cooperative venture, we Dragons are the best mentors to help you integrate the dissimilar talents, interests, and skills your project requires. Why? Because we are the embodiment of that integration. If you invite us, we will enfold your team, your crew, business, faculty, platoon, army, theater company, board of directors, or any conscious grouping of individuals for a common purpose, and rewire your extraphysical egoless connectedness and awareness just as your own individual learning efforts build new neural networks in your brain.

We have taken an oath of moral neutrality, which means we are amplifiers of your own guided or misguided missiles of intent, so as to give humankind a ‘fair trial’ opportunity. We must be available for both the prosecutor and defense team, the ‘good’ or the ‘bad.’ That’s why some Dragons seem terrifying, while others are not. We know that we can’t teach you anything you don’t want to learn, so we let your team make its right or wrong group decisions, regardless of whether you win or lose, succeed or fail. If you ask us to give you the keys to the castle, it’s then up to you whether you improve it or burn it down after you move in. That last statement may give you pause, but professional ethics require it to be included.”

That transmission was passed to us on a bright Monday morning in a hotel room in mid-town Manhattan. I was among a group of nine people who had been invited to meet at that time and place. Of the nine assembled, everyone knew at least one other participant before the meeting, yet no one present already knew all the others. I knew at least three very well, and the rest not at all.

At 9:30 we started moving the furniture into a circle. I don’t know who began that, but we all seemed to understand, and simply moved the chairs and sat down. Then we kept talking to each other until the group quieted down, and we waited for whoever was in charge to tell us what we were there to do or discuss.

No one spoke, as we all assumed that someone present had called this meeting for a reason, and they would now tell us why. Eventually we realized that, whoever that was, they were not going to say anything.

Finally my neighbor to the right spoke up, and said: “Well, I guess we’re here because there is something we’re supposed to do together. I don’t know what it is, but I do know that if I work with people, it’s important that I trust them. So I’d like to propose that we begin by telling each other what we don’t trust about each other, just to get that out of the way. I’ll start, unless someone has a better idea.”

There were no objections, so he began in a counter-clockwise direction by addressing each person, many of whom he had neither met nor spoken to before that morning. It was both interesting and a bit challenging, until gradually we all gradually understood that this was an unloading process for the speaker, and we could just listen without argument or defense. Some people got one or two sentences from him, others a longer commentary. It took about eight minutes for him complete the circle, and then before anyone else could say anything, he added, “And now I’d like to tell you what I don’t trust about myself…”

When he was finished, the person to his right began the same process, with no other speech or interruptions, until we had all spoken about each other and about ourselves. It took about 90 minutes for all of us to speak once and be spoken to by eight. When the last round finished, we all spontaneously settled into silence.

Somehow, when you know what you can’t trust about someone, it makes it possible to trust them. If someone confesses to you “I can’t trust myself to be on time…” then, paradoxically, you know you can trust them to not be on time. You just factor it into your plan that they probably will be late, and then you don’t have to fret about it.

Now, in the silence, I knew we all understood that new insight. It was as if the conversation continued between all of us on an unspoken, telepathic level. No talk was necessary, because we were now linked in a circuit of trust, and we all sensed it together. I looked around to my right and noticed that the light had a strange clarity, almost as if I could see the air itself, like a colorless gelatin tunnel that enclosed the circle of chairs and linked us together. I knew that the rest were all discovering the same thing, but each with their own way of describing it. The ring had a subtle, rippling, living form, and we were all looking at it in a strangely calm state of astonishment. The energy was enormous.

Sitting opposite me across the circle was one of the friends I already knew, and with whom I had briefly discussed our common interest in dragons. I looked at him, and with no thought or hesitation I broke the silence by announcing, “This is a Dragon!” He responded with the single word, “Yes.”

We all, silently, began looking around, and saw that the coil that connected us was part of a larger entity that extended out of the room and down the hallway towards the door. After wrapping us as part of itself, the other end went towards the windows and up into a corner near the ceiling. We all turned, still in that calm astonishment, and saw a large face, transparent, almost liquid, of a friendly Dragon smiling down at us. It stayed looking at us, a vital and “real?!!” being, for perhaps 15 seconds, and then elegantly faded away.

Cut Paper Dragon by Don Ed Hardy, from his great exhibit “2001 Dragons

We decided not to talk about this until we came back from lunch. We each went our separate ways, and returned two hours later to share our thoughts. During my lunchtime walk on that perfect summer day in New York, I seemed to be receiving a download of information that included the Dragon’s message above and has helped me make sense out of much that had happened before and since, right up to now, and gives some possible orientation for the future.

When we reconvened, there were many stories and new realizations that took up the rest of the afternoon. Towards the end, I asked, “What’s today’s date?” Someone said, “It’s June 6th.”

“Isn’t that a holiday of some kind?” I knew it wasn’t Mother’s Day or Father”s Day, but I was sure that it was something that most people knew.

Then someone said, “It’s ‘D-Day,’ June 6 1944, when the Allied armies landed on Omaha Beach in Normandy during World War II.” I asked what the D stood for, and the answer was that it was just a military code, d = day, h = hour, m = minute. The landing time depended an many critical factors, and to be a surprise it had to be kept secret.

So I said to the group, “I think we should commemorate the experience we had this morning by keeping the same name to help us remember it every year; But we’ll think of D-Day as ‘Dragon Day.’ After all, based on what we know now, wasn’t that the largest Dragon action ever? An Allied Forces Dragon involving over 200,000 personnel engaging in battle with the Axis Dragon that was occupying Europe? The Dragon is the energetic entity that connects and coordinates of all those individual participants on either side.”

Next time I’ll tell you the rest of the story since then, and how 25 years later I have verified that I hadn’t just dreamed this up, that it did actually happen, and that what the Dragon gave us that morning was true.

Fredric Lehrman

TAMING WAVES Practical Radionics Paolo Benda

With radionics we can express our multidimensional potential, through the activation of our sixth sense, thus radionics becomes an initiatic path towards awareness of our subtle bodies. We will resonate with the different energy centres (chakra) and we will be able to know more about our own subtle layers.

The ancient metallurgic path of Alchemy that used to transmute lead into gold, in actual and spiritual realities, becomes Radionic Alchemy through inner and outer intuition, thus activacting self awareness.

I believe that radionics should go hand in hand with astrology: The sky has an influence on our planet earth, in the mineral, vegetal, animal and human worlds. There can be a physical and emotional reflection also on human beings. Therefore, the birth chart will give us information about the physical byotipe (energy form), the character (sensory perception), concrete intelligence (connectedness, linked to the emotional sphere) of the person under observation.

For this reason the stars give an inkling, but do not bind: they shape the byological structure of the psycho-sensitive being called human.

Once the radionic pratictioner has received the basic data about the person, he/she will pay attention to the imbalances in all aspects: physical, etheric, astrolological and psychological. This exam will also take into account the birth chart of the person under observation. Following an evaluation according to astrological medicine and completed by the radionic diagnosis, a therapy can be found that is respectful of the karmic goal of this incarnation. Such a path will allow the person to feel respected in this life time goals and will support him/her inner growth as well as rebalancing his/her back to health.

In such a way the disease is considered and lived in a conscious way, as an opportunity for learning.

Using radionic therapy we can touch how the world, usually invisible to our senses, actually interacts with us in physical reality, thus enabling communication with subtle energies.

The historical moment our planet is going through allows us to confront ourselves as never before, for this reason we need a different definition of disease, thus giving us a clearer context where radionics can help human beings in their development.

To sum it all up the job of the radionics pratictioner centres around changing the information field around the person, so that he/she can become aware of him/herself, at the same time he/she can refine his/her sensitivity in order to access the multidimensional world around us.

The space around us is not empty, but it is pervaded by energy, ether, the famous 5th element now disappeared from science. When we interact with ether, we interact with physical and subtle bodies.

For these reasons radionics is the tool that enables the pratictioner to interact with and investigate upon the subtle bodies of human beings.

Paolo Benda Edited and translated by Antonella Vicini

POETRY San Martino

(1883)

La nebbia agli irti colli piovigginando sale e sotto il maestrale urla e biancheggia il mar; ma per le vie del borgo dal ribollir de' tini va l'aspro odor dei vini l'anime a rallegrar.

Gira su' ceppi accesi lo spiedo scoppiettando sta il cacciator fischiando su l'uscio a rimirar tra le rossastre nubi stormi d'uccelli neri, com'esuli pensieri, nel vespero migrar.

Giosuè Carducci 1835 - 1907

Saint Martin Day The fog up the steep hills climbs in the thin rain and the mistral below howls and churns the sea; yet through the hamlet's alleys from the fermenting casks goes the pungent scent of wines to touch the souls with glee.

On the burning logs turns the skewer crackling stands the hunter whistling on the threshold to see in the reddening clouds flocks of blackbirds, like exiled thoughts as in the dusk they flee.

Giosuè Carducci 1883

READERS' CORNER Saluto alla Colonna Superstite del Tempio di Hera Lacinia Scritto per l’inaugurazione della Nuova Scuola Pitagorica 18 agosto 2016 Salute a Te, Superstite Colonna, Unica e sola tra le trentasei Del grande Tempio di Hera Lacinia.

Le sue tegole di bronzo dorato Che brillavano ai raggi del sole Mostravano la rotta al navigante.

Da quando i Crotoniati Ti innalzarono Hai visto tanta umanità passare E Tu silenziosa la guardavi.

Un giorno venne un giovanetto greco Di bell’aspetto e dalla lunga chioma Dall’isola di Samo insieme al padre.

Si chiamava Pitagora e a Crotone Vide un grande sissizio celebrare E belle donne offrire un Bue di Pane.

Egli visse poi a lungo tra le genti Di Siria, Egitto e infine Babilonia E rientrò famoso alla sua Samo.

Esule ritornò alla Tua ombra Ed insegnò libertà, armonia Serenità, fraternità, amicizia.

Poi, chiusa la Scuola, il grande Tempio Crollò: Tu sola rimanesti in piedi Ad attendere questo lieto giorno.

Grazie, Colonna nobile e solenne!

Tu hai sfidato i terreni eventi E oggi attorno a Te noi qui raduni.

La Nuova Scuola apre le sue porte Per tracciare un sentiero di armonia Ad un mondo confuso e smarrito.

Salvatore Mongiardo Nota La Colonna Superstite era la seconda - da sinistra guardando il mare - delle sei colonne del lato est sulla scogliera. I lati maggiori avevano ognuno quattordici colonne. Sul lato ovest di sei colonne c’era l’ingresso del Tempio.

Per una dettagliata ricostruzione guardate il video: https://youtu.be/_cQ3tfkl2bs

Hail to the Surviving Column of the Hera Lacinia Temple written for the inauguration of the New Pythagorean School August 18 2016 Hail to you, Surviving Column, the only one among thirty six from the great Hera Lacina temple.

Its golden bronze tiles used to shine in the sun showing the way to the sailors.

Since the inhabitants of Croton erected you you have seen many people go by and you silently kept watching them.

One day a young handsome Greek man with long hair came from the island of Samos together with his father.

His name was Pythagoras and in Croton he saw the celebration of a grand banquet and beautiful women offering a bread shaped like an ox.

He lived a long time among the people of Siria, Egypt and eventually Babylon and famous returned to his Samos.

In exile he returned to your shadow and he taught freedom, harmony, serenity, brotherhood, friendship.

Once the School was closed, the great Temple collapsed: You were the only one standing waiting for this joyous day.

Thank you, noble and solemn column!

You have defied earthly events and today you gather us around you.

The new school opens its doors in order to draw a path of harmony for a confused and lost world.

Salvatore Mongiardo Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

Note: The surviving column was the second one from the left, on the east side of the temple where there were 6 columns. The entrance was on the west side.

The main sides had 14 columns each.

For a visual reconstruction you can watch this video: https://youtu.be/_cQ3tfkl2bs

VOICES FROM THE STARS 2016 Turning Point Year Laura Bottagisio Mars and the evolution of our Inner Warrior

Since antiquity there was one celestial body that looked different, for its reddish color, among the many luminous points in the night skies.

Observing its faster motion it became clear that it was a planet in our solar system, its shining was the reflection of the light received from the sun.

The red planet has had many names, up until it received its Greek one Ares, Mars for the Romans.

Since those were patriarchal society, Mars lost its original nature of life defender (as it was considered in matriarchal societies), but it became a "war god".

Its myths changed, giving birth to a capricious and destructive god, used to scheming and separating.

Human beings have followed this energetic line, placing themselves right in the centre of the world built on rivalry, competition, struggle for power and supremacy.

The energy, needed to re-establish the creative principles underlying the creation and still present in us, is given life right at the moment of birth, the most creative action of life.

Mother and child, who have lived in symbiosis during pregnancy, become double in the flesh, even if they still remain in constant contact via their souls.

The new born healthy growth depends on the quality of this connection, the more loving it is, the better the new person will develop, so that in his/her life he/she can be reborn to him/herself, according to the soul project upon incarnation.

The red planet is the archetype of this life force, in ancient times its task was the defense of life against any destruction.

With the passage from matriarchal to patriarchal values, Mars has started to wear more and more sophisticated weapons and armors, up to our days.

The materialist and rational era has come to an end, the awakened feminine wave has lead to a decisive turning point and now sun and moon, father and mather, masculine and feminine need to find the correct balance in order to live in unity.

From the enchained triads we go towards liberation, from a destructive triangle based on guilt and feeling victims of fate, we go towards creativity based on the awakened inner self.

What wars do we still fight in our inner territory? Large or small wars against ourselves? Do we still need an enemy to fight against? Are we victims?

If we still behave in this way, we need to emerge as creators, first of all of ourselves and then of new situations in our lives. When we re-create ourselves we give voice to the creative force present in each cell of our bodies, they only need our assent to start the re-generative process.

When we take responsability for our lack of harmony and we change, walking towards the light, then the entire world becomes a place of light.

Now Mars can transform and take on again the clothes of the light inner warrior who uses his sword not for wounding, but as a warning against what may annihilate our lives.

From darkness to light, this is the path on which the red planet is leading us.

It is doing it right now, this part of the year 2016.

Mars motion is self explanatory and describes the great opportunity we have of unearthing all the ghosts at work in the depths of our psyche and bring them into the light.

Mars, the warrior, has just completed its transit between Scorpio and Sagittarius, for many months in 2016 it has travelled between these signs to alleviate the potentially painful impact with our dark side.

When Mars was passing through Scorpio it has given us the vital rush in order to bravely face the thought forms that had made us slaves in the past; by moving into the Archer without hesitations, the warrior planet offered them to the vibrant light of sagittarian fire which can take the thought forms in the sky where cosmic energy can dry and dissolve them.

From our lower mind, that produces regressive thought forms, to the upper mind, that creates according to the cosmic harmony of life: this is the path indicated by Mars transit this year.

Mars entered Scorpio on January 4th 2016, on August 3rd has finally entered Sagittarius, from there it will continue its normal path.

Mars' sword can now become a sword of light that shines light in the darkness and shines with thousands of new explorations in the inner spaces of the soul, so that our most precious talents can be expressed and made visible to the world.

Under these lights the Soul awakens, it starts to breathe in a wider more open way, it can move its first steps, slowly at first, then more secure and fast.

At the end of the dark night of the soul, there is its awakening in the light, what a wondrous adventure this is!

Whoever is born twice is completly free, he/she has no fears, he/she is not disturbed by darkness because it has become "The magical Black Light shining with Star rays, deep inside us is the Occult Truth of Silence", a place for magnificent creative inspiration while listening to divine light.

Laura Bottagisio Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

MAGIC of Autumn Adrian Rooke As much as we respect and honor the spirit of a place we visit or go for a ceremony (as we did at the White Camp reatreat), we also show our respect and connection with the times of the year in their eternal flow.

Along the wheel of seasons we have important times when celebrations occurr, they are: Alban Elued (Light of the Water) the Autumn Equinox Alban Arthan (Light of Arthur) the Winter Solstice Alban Heruin (Light of the Shore) the Spring Equinox Alban Eiler (Light of the Earth) the Summer Solstice After the summer of richness and solidity we are now heading towards the water time of Alban Elued, the fluidity. At this moment in time, light and darkness are in apparent balance, in preparation for the equinox.

At this time of the year in Britain the hedges are luscious with berries of all kinds, succulent and tasty, some trees are giving their fruits now, like apples and hazelnuts. This is the last big harvest, a quickening of nature before the winter rest, when we celebrate by sharing the abundance of nature.

Everything is ripe and abundant, nature is frantic these days to produce more and more. I found a small swallow fallen from a nest and managed to put it back in it, I then realized it was the second brood of the year. The parent swallows were doing their best to feed the little ones and make them strong enough for the long flight back to Africa.

Equinox is a time for reflection and gratitude for our inner harvest, the ceremonies we perform at this time reflect our gratitude for both the outer and inner abundance of life.

In the past if our ancestors didn't have a good harvest they wouldn't have had sustenance during the winter months.

The path to Samhain, which is celebrated at the end of October/ beginning of November, starts with the days becoming shorter and the night longer.

At this point in the wheel of seasons, we acknowledge that we are going into winter.

By then the leaves have fallen, the darkness is dominant.

This was a time when people had to decide which animals to keep for breeding purposes and which they had to slaughter (because they could not support them through the dark winter months) and eat in a big feast where the ancestors were invited. The ancestors are also tricksters and like to play jokes on the living, since at this time of the year the veil between the worlds is very thin.

(Ancestors'worship has always been an important trait in the ancestral religion at the basis of Druidism Editor's note) This is a time for deeper reflection, not just on the recent harvest, but about the entire year, so that we can keep what is needed now and let go of all the excess baggage we carry with us. In this way we can travel light through the winter months. This is a lesson for our life in any season.

In ancient times activities stopped outside, people would not travel much, since the seas were too rough, the road soggy with water and icy, so our ancestors remained huddled up in their communities, preparing for the future spring.

Alban Arthan marks the beginning of the light defeating darkness, the sun seems to stand still, then it starts moving towards spring then summer. In this way the cycle ends and restarts, the entire circle is equally necessary, since we are of nature and nature is in us.

If we behave like the season we are in, following its rythms and needs, then we are ready for each moment.

The winter festivals are there to remind us of the importance of this resting time, instead of travelling outside we can journey inside, exploring with our power animals the magical inner worlds.

By spring time that internal journey will have prepared us for the new external ones.

The autumn/winter months are used to feed the mind with reflection, books, stories, rather than the body. In this way we can slow down internally, we become quiet, less frantic in our desire for achievement.

We can feed ourselves in winter time with all the good things, friends, adventures of the summer time, in this way we can become fond of this season.

Adrian Rooke Collected and Edited by Antonella Vicini

AUTUMN Yellow the bracken Golden the sheaves Rosy the apples Crimson the leaves Mist on the hillside Clouds grey and white Autumn, good morning!

Summer, good night!

Florence Hoatson

Becoming Medicine Walking the Medicine Wheel David Kopacz

I first heard of Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) in the year 2000 when I saw a copy of Being & Vibration on the shelf at the bookstore. That was the edition that had the partially opaque dust jacket through which peered Joseph’s eyes from a photograph on the cover. It was like he was looking through from another dimension.

I read that book, then I read House of Shattering Light. I was quite interested in shamanism at the time and was reading a number of books on that topic.

I was an early career psychiatrist at that point. In 2001 I was certified through the American Board of Holistic Medicine. I also started studying at a healing school and learned many different healing modalities.

In 2010, my wife and I moved to New Zealand and I worked at Auckland District Health Board, first at Manaaki House doing Assertive Community Outreach and then at Buchanan Rehabilitation Centre, where I eventually took on the role of Clinical Director. Buchanan is a 40 bed residential psychiatric rehabilitation programme where we used many different holistic approaches and had a strong recovery focus.

While I was Clinical Director, I started writing a monthly column for our 70 staff who covered the service 24/7. I called it “Thoughts From the Clinical Director.”

I was inspired to go back to my beat up copy of Being & Vibration and quote from Joseph Rael’s section on becoming a True Human Being and also his 18 Ideas at the back of the book. So I started thinking of Joseph again when I was “down under” and this was a full circle moment connecting the years between 2000 and 2013.

Late 2013 we moved back to the US, locating in Seattle, Washington in the Northwest corner of the country. We took a trip down to Portland, Oregon and one of my favourite places there is Powell’s “City of” Books. I saw a book called The Visionary. I’d been reading books on mysticism and so I picked it up. The art on the cover looked very familiar, then I read the subtitle: Entering the Mystic Universe of Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow). “What a find!” I thought. I read Kurt Wilt’s book on Joseph and then I emailed Kurt to thank him for his book.

At the time I was developing a class for war veterans based on Joseph Campbell’s model of the hero’s journey. Veterans go through the classic initiation process of separation, initiation, and return – however they do not have a corresponding initiation to help them re-acculturate to the civilian world. I was looking at issues of acculturation, nervous system conditioning, and narrative and how these could provide another view of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder that was non-pathologizing.

Kurt speaks of the hero’s journey in his book on Joseph. Kurt thought Joseph might be interested in what I was doing and he gave me Joseph’s email. Joseph invited me to come down to the Southern Ute Reservation and visit with him for 3 days. I flew from Seattle to Durango and spent October 18th, 19th, and 20th of 2014 visiting Joseph.

There is a line in The Police song “Secret Journey,” where a young seeker meets a holy man and says “I strained to understand him, I chased his thoughts like birds” (from the album Ghost in the Machine). I instantly liked Joseph and we sat in my rental car in a parking lot for an hour talking. I didn’t always know what we were talking about or where the conversation was going.

At one point Joseph was explaining that “we don’t exist.” He pointed out that we would sit still for long periods of time, then one or both of us would get excited and have a burst of movement. He said at that point we were coming into existence, but then immediately passed back out of existence.

Then Joseph had me drive around in circles and we would go to some location from his childhood. We would pull off the road and stare at an empty hill and he would recount what happened there many years ago. I was puzzled as to why we had to go to these exact locations in order for Joseph to tell me the story of his life. I understand this in several ways now.

It seems from Joseph’s cultural background that events and places on the earth are linked and in taking me to these places the story had more power, we were going back to the roots, so to speak of the story. Also, I was literally following in Joseph’s footsteps over the years of his life, going to the places of his visions and traumas.

Joseph was also initiating me into a different mode of thinking into the non-ordinary world – a circular thinking that is so different than the linear thinking that is dominant in the United States. We were driving in circles and my head was spinning in circles, eventually I became comfortable being in this circular place.

I had made this pilgrimage to meet Joseph with the idea that I would get some ideas for my book on the hero’s journey for veterans, but as I wrote up my notes on the first night I thought “We should write a book together.”

The next day I mentioned this to Joseph and he said “That is what I was thinking, too.” So we started writing Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD which is due out October 15, 2016 through Pointer Oak, Tri S Foundation, and Millichap Books.

Writing with Joseph isn’t what I thought it would be. I drafted out chapters that he would write, that I would write and that we would write together.

Rather than write, Joseph started sending me pieces of his art or he would call me, sometimes waking me up in the morning and he would say “I had a vision, we need to put this in the book.”

Or he would send me a book on Pope Francis with a note “Put this in the book, my foster mother Lucia had a statue of St. Francis with a bird on his shoulder and I did a dance at Assisi in Italy. Also put something about Pope Francis.”

To Joseph these connections seemed obvious and to me I initially thought “How am I going to put Pope Francis, St. Francis, extraterrestrials, and dark matter in a book on veterans and PTSD???” Eventually though I started to enjoy the mental and spiritual challenge of tracing Joseph’s connections and as I researched the different topics connections jumped out at me.

I started to see my job as creating a bridge connecting the topics of Joseph’s visionary leaps. When I first met Joseph and we talked about writing a book I thought, “Joseph can be a doorway that I can walk through so that I can write about more spiritual topics and I can be a doorway that Joseph can walk through to write about more mainstream medical topics.” It seemed like a match made in heaven.

Joseph and I wrote our book and gave it to our publisher, Paulette Millichap. She said “This is very interesting, but where is the book you said you were going to write on veterans and PTSD?” “Hmm,” I thought, “I guess that got lost in the shuffle somehow.” Paulette forwarded a description of the book on veterans we originally set out to write and it did sound like a fantastic book, a much needed book. The first half of 2016 was all about me trying to take apart what we had written, keeping the sections on veterans and madly writing the connecting pieces.

I told Joseph, “Ok, we’ve written two books, so we’ll break them into two separate books.” Then Joseph would call and say, “I’ve had a vision, put this in the book…” and I would say to him, “Joseph, we are now writing three books together” and he would laugh and laugh. Who knows how many books we are writing now? I have titles for four different books at this point and the first book hasn’t even been published yet!

Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD is our first book together and it is coming out soon (Becoming Medicine is our working title for the next book). In this book we critique a purely biomedical approach to PTSD. Using Joseph’s description of intentional suffering, we examine how veterans can use their mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual pain as doorways to transformative initiation into a new state of being. We talk about how the medicine wheel is a holistic framework for experience – it gives pain and trauma a place to go and a place to be held.

Joseph and I speak of our own circles of life creation, examining how different events relate in a circular way in our own lives. Joseph described a vision to me that he had “God holds back a place of goodness in our hearts, no matter how much killing or trauma someone does in the military, there is still a held-back place of goodness in their heart.”

Hopefully our book provides a map and pathway for veterans (and for all of us in society) to move from a place of war and conflict back to that held-back place of goodness so that we can all have peace in our hearts, peace in our minds, and peace in our society and world.

David Kopacz Article and photos

AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE Renato Tittarelli In this volume we will continue our exploration of the aroma-alchemic massage: I would like to remind our readers, first of all, to look for new aromatheraphy mixtures, following our needs and taste as well.

Oftentimes during our massage we will go through the transition phase, called Nigredo in alchemy and purification in naturopathy, we can prepare ourselves for it by accepting the sense of unease (physical, mental, emotional) it may bring us.

What matters the most, both as pratictioners and clients, is our serene acceptance of who we are, without judgement.

During the different sessions of aroma-alchemic massage we can understand the changes in energy of what moves us according to the alchemic phases of Nigredo (as described above = transition), Albedo (research), Rubedo (evolution).

General Rules: 1. Check the warnings in our previous article (THE BADGER year 2 Volume 3) 2. Treatments should never be longer than 40 minutes 3. Support conscious breathing during the massage 4. Leave time for relaxation after the treatment 5. It is advisable to drink infusions and rest after the treament 6. After the treatment the pratictioner should wash hands and arms in order to remove any impurity left by the essential oils.

7. Choose appropriate oils for each treatment

Aroma-alchemic massage stimulates the brain: endorphins and happiness Our endorphins have a powerful natural analgesic and euphoric effect on our body, without any side effects, since they are produced by us.

The correct flow of endorphins regulates our immune system and makes us feel well. They work like biochemical keys, opening and closing doors, increasing or decreasing the nervous cells ability to communicate.

Receptors of endorphins can be found everywhere in the body: heart, skin, brain, pancreas, kidneys, etc.

Everytime we wake up happy or we are in a fulfilling situation, there is a great release of endorphins in our body. However, if we are disturbed by a physical or spiritual ailment we notice a decrese of endorphins. Simply placing our hands on our own or someone else's body will stimulate endorphins that will alleviate pain and suffering.

We can then define endorphins as transmitters of happiness and transducers of vital energy. In all complementary medicine paths a great importance is given to all the elements that facilitate the correct balance of the human energy field, in turn such field will start the natural homeostatic process of re-establishing health.

In such a context endorphins are important, not only because they allieviate pain, but they are abundant when the entire body is relaxed, has great vitality and expands in joy.

We can thus decide to do some prevention work welcoming affection and cuddles, physical contact, smelling a pleasant essence, taking care of our food, physical exercise, conscious breathing, music, meditation, entertainment to sum it up: all the aspects of life that can produce endorphins.

The essential oils used during the massage activate the lymbic system and the hypothalamus, they work directly on our nervous system influencing our emotional state and the endocrine system, which can be stimulated by the essential oils, without the use of hormons.

The aroma-alchemic massage can be enhanced by making it a full immersion in a pleasant and relaxing atmosphere: soft lights, subtle scents, candles, background music. By adding these small, yet important details, our massage experience will become positive, restful and deep.

This attitude will allow us to appreciate beauty in the small things of daily life.

To be continued.

Renato Tittarelli, photos and article Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

FOOD IS OUR ALLY Ancient Proteins Tofu Daniele Sampalmieri Tofu, also known as bean curd, is a food made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks. There are many different varieties of tofu, including fresh tofu and tofu that has been processed in different ways. Tofu can be soft, firm, or extra firm. Tofu has a subtle flavor and can be used in savory and sweet dishes. It is often seasoned or marinated to suit the dish.

Tofu originated during the Han dynasty in China some 2.000 years ago.

Chinese legend ascribes its invention to prince Liu An (179–122 BC).

Tofu and its production technique were introduced into Korea and then Japan during the Nara period (710–794).

The spread of tofu in many East Asian countries probably coincided with the spread of Buddhism, because it is an important source of protein in the vegetarian diet of Buddhis monks.

Tofu has a low calorie count and a relatively large amount of proteins. It is high in iron, and depending on the coagulants used in manufacturing (e.g. calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate), it can have higher calcium or magnesium content.

Although pre-made soy milk may be used, some tofu producers begin by making their own soy milk, which is produced by soaking, grinding, boiling and straining dried (or, less commonly, fresh) soybeans.

Tofu is easy to digest and assimilate, 100 grams contain 87 grams of calories, 11,5 grams of protein, 3,5 grams of fiber, 8 grams of fat, 3 grams of sugars. Eating tofu helps in lowering the colesterol level, reduces the risk of arteriosclerosis and hypertension, moreover the isoflavones help to increase the mineral thickness/density/consistency of our bones, it thus prevents osteoporosis. Tofu is a good source of calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, manganese, selenium, polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially Omega 3), Vitamins A,D.E,K.

Daniele Sampalmieri Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

TOFU ALLA MEDITERRANEA Ingredients: TOFU 150 grams Red Onion 20 grams Soy sauce 5 grams Black olives without pits 20 grams Capers 15 grams Wild fennel 2 grams Plum tomatoes 80 grams Marjory 1 gram Fresh thyme 0,5 grams Fresh basel 4/5 leaves Rocket salad a few leaves Fresh chili pepper to taste Olive Oil, salt according to taste (always in moderation) Preparation: Slightly brown the red onion with little olive oil.

Add the tofu cut in cubes and stir fry in the pan with some soy sauce for about 3 minutes, or until the tofu turns brown.

Add the sliced olives, capers and fresh chili, mix in well.

Add also marjory and thyme, add salt if needed (remember that soy sauce, olives and capers are already very salty).

Almost at the end of your cooking add the plum tomatoes sliced in halves.

Turn off the heat after one minute, add fresh wild fennel, basel leaves and the rocket salad.

Mix it well and serve.

Buon Appetito!

FOOD IS OUR PLEASURE CASTAGNACCIO Antonella Vicini Castgnaccio (chestnut pie) is a typical autumn dish that can be considered both sweet and savoury. It is made with chestnut flour, which needs to be fine and is naturally sweet. It is well known in Italy in all the regions with these trees and it used to be food for poor people, now it represents an interesting and healthy alternative to mass produced desserts.

Each region has a different recipe for it, I am giving you a recipe from a friend and I add some variations to taste.

Castgnaccio has been known since the XVI century, possibly it was born in Tuscany, but nobody is entirely sure, what is sure that, from the original simple sweet bread, it became more of a dessert in the XIX century with the addition of pine nuts, sultanas and rosemary leaves.

You will need a low and wide pan in order to cook it well.

The second secret is the long time you will allow the chestnut flour to soak in water, this will make the dough more elastic and tastier.

Ingredients: 300 grams of chestnut flour 1 tea spoon of salt 3 glasses of water, or half water/ half milk (soya or rice milk work just as well) (2 tea spoons of honey, although I prefer no sugar) 2 spoons of pine nuts 2 spoons of sultanas half a glass of olive oil some rosemary branches

Preparation: Let the flour soak in water with salt for 5 to 6 hours, make sure you cover the container at room temperature when you are ready to prepare the castagnaccio wash the sultanas and soak them in water for 10 minutes prepare the rosemary leaves Now add the pine nuts and sultanas to the smooth dough, making sure you leave some behind to decorate the top grease a low non stick pan and palce the mixture inside, levelling it well, add the remaining sultanas and pine nuts.

Last the rosemary leaves, if you like the taste, and a little olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes at 195 degrees, when you see the surface dry up and cracked it is time to let it rest and cool down, ready to be enjoyed.

You can keep it out of the fridge for 3 or 4 days.

Enjoy!

A note on chestnut flour: it is naturally gluten free, you can use it in countless preparation, just bear in mind that it needs a lot of liquid and does not raise easily.

Antonella Vicini

MOTHER EARTH SPEAKS Story Telling Time Pescolino (Little Peach) Claudia Enrico Pescolino was a young peach tree. As many of the plants of its species, grown in a nursery and cultivated forcedly, it didn’t seem very strong.

It was about three years old when it arrived and I put it in a nice pit, previously disinfected with ash, filled with manure and drainage stones.

Its first flowers were very beautiful… large and dark pink and the peaches that came later were wonderful: purple, violet and red colors mixed together and streaked. The taste was acceptable, it is a well known fact that young trees don’t immediately produce high quality fruits.

Pescolino grew with difficulty and seemed frail. After a couple of years, in spring, I saw that there was something wrong with its trunk. A few inches from its insertion with the soil, a sticky resin was starting to flow from some cracks. It was the fungus disease called “bacterial cancer.” There is almost no cure for such a disease. It can be prevented, but once it’s revealed it’s usually too late. The tree dies slowly because its lymphatic vessels become necrotic.

For two years I treated Pescolino with copper. But instead of getting better it was getting worse, and those cracks now became a dangerous hole in its weak trunk. I gave it up for dead and decided that the following spring I would have it removed.

Then I talked with my homeopathic doctor about this problem that meanwhile had started to affect other trees. He prepared some drops for me, using his method. I treated the tree as he explained to me, and little by little Pescolino began to react. I talked with it a lot, explaining what I was doing and imbuing it with courage.

And so Pescolino healed. At the end of a long and hard winter, its trunk was perfect. I didn’t prune it, waiting one year for it to become stronger.

(Pruning sometimes may be a trauma for a tree. This is done to produce more fruit from a tree, but in Nature nobody prunes trees.)

The result was a wonderful blossoming Pescolino, really transmitting its joy. I’ve had to help it, thinning out some peaches while they were small; otherwise its branches would have broken under the weight. In spite of that, the production has been abundant, perfumed, very colorful and tasty.

Pescolino taught me that trees can communicate with human beings on a deep level, and even if their life is a “still� one, they can caress your face with their leaves when you are near them, and let you feel in your heart their gratitude for becoming their friends.

Claudia Enrico Š 2005 Edited by Antonella Vicini

TRAVELLING The Path of Remembrance Part 2

Judy Hayes A Sacred Site: Devils Tower or Bear Lodge Butte I had no preconception of Devils Tower nor was I eagerly anticipating the trip. I had never even seen pictures of this National Monument. I assented to the visit because it was part of the planned itinerary for our little group of travelers on a particular Tuesday in June.

What I found there astonished and amazed me and left me with a profound sense of awe at the spiritual essence of the place. It has left an indelible impression on me. Even as we approached from many miles away the monolith lifted itself into the blue sky. In northeastern Wyoming this natural geological wonder rises 1,267 feet above the nearby Belle Fourche River and surrounding countryside. Enough to leave one speechless!

To learn about the geology that shaped this amazing sight leads to a sense of wonder at the power of creation, whatever one’s religious or scientific beliefs.

Between 225 to 195 million years ago an inland sea covered the area where Devils Tower rises today. The sedimentary rocks that surround it provide evidence of the deposits laid down under water. The cycle of the sea retreating and returning was repeated in the millions of years that followed, resulting in many subsequent deposits of sedimentary rock.

Then approximately 50 to 60 million years ago tremendous forces within the earth uplifted the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills. Magma (molten rock) began to make its way to the surface and, while it is agreed that Devils Tower is composed of this igneous material, there is still significant debate about how the Tower actually appeared on the earth’s surface.

Did it intrude as a plug through the earth’s surface or was its appearance the result of the forces of erosion over eons of time? This latter theory proposes that the forces of erosion began to wear away the much softer sedimentary deposits around the harder igneous rock, thus exposing it and allowing it to become a towering presence in this lush landscape. In either case it is truly a wonder of nature.

In addition to being a geological wonder or perhaps because it is, this place has been sacred for many, many lifetimes to approximately 20 native tribes of the northern plains. As is true in many cultures, there is a legend to explain its origin, its mystery and its significance. The following visual tells and illustrates one version of the story, that of the Kiowa tribe.

Other tribes tell other variations of the creation story. The commonalities are the presence of a bear in the story and the belief that the vertical crevices in the tower were etched by the claws of the bear. In fact, the native peoples have always preferred to call this sacred place Bear Lodge.

As I followed the mile long trail that circles the base of the tower, I felt as one with it. I began to understand and experience the reverence for this place that the native peoples feel, although I didn’t pretend to belong to it, as they do. As I walked, I felt compelled to speak in hushed tones, much as I would in a house of worship. Time and again I stopped on the path trying to comprehend its majesty. The trail at the base of Bear Lodge monument meanders through a forest of beautiful trees dominated by Ponderosa pines. There were birds soaring overhead, deer grazing in the woods and swallowtail butterflies in great abundance searching out the many wildflowers in bloom.

Along the trail I saw tangible evidence of the reverence that the native peoples accord this monumental presence. In many quiet copses of trees brightly colored cloths were tied to the branches. Also known as prayer bundles, prayer ribbons or prayer flags, these cloths are “physical, symbolic representations of prayers and are here by Native American people as part of their religious ceremonies.� (www.nps.gov/deto)

Another reminder of the sacredness of the sight was the voluntary ban on climbing the tower during the time I was visiting. Since June, the month of the summer solstice, is the most sacred month to the Plains Indians, climbing the tower is discouraged during this month.

In reality, even without such reminders of its cultural significance to the native peoples, I would have experienced its spiritual dimension. Even though it was a busy time of year and there were others on the trail, it was possible to find a place of perfect peace and solitude to suspend all motion, pause for several minutes, breathe in the fragrance of the forest, listen to the sounds of the birds and the movements of other creatures in the understory, feel the wind on my face and contemplate the majesty of this extraordinary place.

In learning more about Devils Tower after returning home, I discovered the existence of a documentary produced by PBS in 2001 depicting the struggle of the Lakota to preserve the sacredness of Bear Lodge or Devils Tower, as it has been named by the government. The PBS website features a guide prepared by one of the films producers titled, Ethics for Visiting Sacred Sites.

Here is the last of his recommendations: Find a quiet location and quiet time to experience the spirit of place.

Even at crowded places of mass pilgrimage, out-of-the way spots exist for reflection, contemplation and inspiration.

In retrospect, I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to experience the sacred spirit of this remarkable and unique place.

Judy Hayes Here you can find some videos about this sacred place on earth:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Hu4w5eTYMM drone flying towards it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RSeKA8jqeA short video on facts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLYQcqOzCvY short documentary

TRAVELLING EAST TOKYO Raffaella Vicini

Last year the sea has brought me a new job and a chance of many adventures in Asia, after Hong Kong, here are my first impressions of Tokyo, the huge and amazing capital of Japan.

This past summer I have spent almost two months travelling around Japan, after 5 days from my arrival on the ship we stopped in Tokyo, the only time I had of seeing this city.

So I grabbed this chance and spent an entire day walking its busy streets.

Tokyo 東京 Tōkyō = "Eastern Capital" has been the centre of political life in Japan since 1603 under the name Edo, it was renamed Tokyo only in 1868.

During my brief visit I was able to see a lot of the old and the new coexist one next to the other, in a chaotic yet orderly manner.

From the calm of the temples, to the busy shopping streets, to the bright adverts on the walls, to unlikely statues, everything is mindful of the past and projected into the future, or possible futures in this metropolis of 14 million people.

The city strikes me as very well organized, efficient, clean and easy to navigate, in spite of my lack of Japanese!

Underground services, buses, trains are extremely clean and on time, everybody is busy, yet there is no impression of urgency in people's attitude.

When you cross the road there are both lights and sounds and a timer to indicate how much you have in order to walk to the other side of the street.

There are areas for smokers in parks, no litter on the ground and no visible trash bins, that was an unresolved mistery for me.

I was impressed by the statue to the Akita dog who kept going to the railway station, even after his owner had died, still he waited for his return.

Each area of the city has its peculiarities: you can see ancient temples where hundreds of people go daily to pray and leave offerings; then you may go to the technological areas where you can find any kind of gadget imaginable. Or you can see the famous mangas (cartoons), so loved by Japanese people, an unlikely evolution of their refined paintings.

A monorail train connects the centre to an island where there is a huge ferris wheel in a park with a replica of the Liberty Statue and the Brooklin Bridge....

In the centre of this oasis of peace there is a a giant Gundam with lights and sounds. (Gundams are giant war machines, with a human pilot, in the shape of robots and equipped with super weapons).

On the streets you can see women in elegant kimonos, men in western business suits, adolescents dressed in the clothes of their favourite anime characters (Japanese hand-drawn or computer animation) often wearing wigs/hair of all rainbow colors.

There are many futuristic looking buildings, shopping malls with any possible good, expensive items along side the 100 Yen (local currency) shops where you can find all sort of household goods for such a low price.

This is a city where everybody works many hours a day, everybody is extremely polite and well mannered, yet it seems that some warmth and vitality are lacking. It is very difficult to perceive the true soul of the country in such a metropolis.

Yet I was impressed, upon arrival, when the traditional drums were played.

Taiko (太鼓) are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments; a Taiko performance consists of many components in technical rhythm, form, stick grip, clothing. The musicians use different types of barrel-shaped nagadōdaiko as well as smaller shime-daiko.

The reverberating sounds of the drums was like the ancient rythm of the country announcing its presence.

In smaller cities I found again the drums, the traditional dances and, I believe, I contacted the real spirit of Japan with its ancient and glorious history, its traditional arts, culture, wisdom and poetry.

Enjoy some photos of shining Tokyo.

Raffaella Vicini Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

HUMAN Tanya Tewell

The two paintings that I have chosen for this issue were inspired by the fundamental principles of change and transformation. Change seems to be one of the few aspects of life that we can rely upon.

I have used two woman as models who embody some very unique qualities of transformation. Both women are people who I have worked with for several years and have a physical presence and facial aspect which is chameleon- like in their ability to embody a wide range of emotion and expression. At times, they seem to change into another person altogether.

They can be at once youthful and an elder. This is a trait that is beyond facial features or physical structure.

It is an intriguing and mysterious quality which presents some unique challenges for me as a figurative painter. I literally feel that I must capture the image in order to translate it into paint. Or maybe I am capturing it through the act of painting. I do not know. However, I do know that these women were the perfect people to represent this kind of transformative change.

This theme of change was underscored recently for me when a friend of mine died in a very unexpected and tragic way. It once again reminded me of the frailty and impermanence of life. It is something that I must be reminded of again and again. It is important that I maintain this awareness of the fleeting aspect of life so that I take time to perceive and value the eternal aspects of the day to day realities.

In the painting “The Seer,” the woman portrayed is actually someone who makes her living as a psychic. The word “psychic” seems to cheapen what she actually does with people which is serving more as a guide with a profound sense of intuition. She also works with the police department of a large city. She specializes in finding missing people. It is often a case of finding a body so, using her gift in this way, is a mixed blessing, to say the least.

When you meet this woman you are struck first with her eyes. They are large and luminous and radiate a great power and positive energy. In spite of the tragedies that she encounters in her work, she embodies a humor and acceptance of life. There is a stillness and strength but also an ability to change when needed. When you have a reading with her, her face and eyes can transform like clouds racing across the sun. That is the only way that I know to describe it. I hope that I have captured some of this quality in the painting.

The faintly rendered figure in the background is for me a haunting reminder of the past. It is taken from a wall painting in Pompeii but for me serves as a more universal symbol of the circular nature of time. This is an intriguing aspect of how the woman in the painting intuits the future as she says that all people and events overlap organically instead of progressing in a linear way.

In this painting, I have also included the less obvious symbolism of the dragonfly. This is almost woven into the central figure. It is also an old symbol of change and transformation. In the movement of the dragonfly, fortune can quickly turn but there is also the iridescent beauty that it gives to the world. I use the image of the dragonfly frequently in my work. The bird on the wall is also a symbol that I often use to symbolize a bridge between past and future. It takes various forms in the compositions of my paintings.

In the second painting “A Strange Trick,� I have used one of my favorite themes of the double image. It is the same woman but with subtle changes due to the position of the face and the lighting and also her wonderful ability to morph into another persona. After I painted the image, I realized that the figure on the left had a striking resemblance to my friend who died recently. It is one of those acts of synchronicity that makes one reconsider assumptions about reality.

The background becomes a part of the foreground in the bricks and texture of the walls. The walls are inspired by Etruscan tombs and ancient fresco paintings. The walls and figures are crumbling and fading and this idea extends into the portrayal of the figures as well. There is a pentimento effect here which has more to do with a concept of time than a painting technique.

As an American living part time in Italy, I am profoundly affected by the sense of history all around -- through the people, the structures, and landscape. It seems that the past is constantly percolating up into the present and time has a more circular rather that linear nature. I often see the living faces of the Etruscans in the people in present day Italy.

The faces portrayed in the amazing tomb paintings in Tarquinia come alive in this way and the gap in time seems nonexistent then. I have been so impressed and influenced by the richness of the ancient civilizations in central Italy that it has completely altered my vision of time. It has also changed the subject matter in my paintings. Crumbling walls and tomb paintings hold a special fascination, as well as, the classic faces that I observe in modern people. It is an endless and amazing exploration for me that keeps me striving to convey these ideas in my paintings.

Tanya Tewell

λάθε βιώσας BONARIA MANCA Antonella Vicini Into the jungle Vibrant the life flows on the walls, the ceilings, the doors of Bonaria Manca's house.

Uninterrupted run the years of her life, the people she has met, the family she still cherishes both in her memory and in her daily life.

Watching her paintings gives the feeling of plunging straight into her heart, a jungle of emotions, events, memories, where everything happens simultaneously in a circular time out of normal linear conventions.

Episodes of her life are painted next to the new testament life of Jesus, from his birth to the beautiful cross that would look perfect in a gothic church, each element becomes both earthly and celestial at the same time, so that the humble events of daily life acquire both fantastic and divine nature, while the sacred story of the Messiah takes on the quality of human living.

The dancers under the stars follow an ancient repetitive and haunting tune, while Bonaria's parents get warm sitting near her fireplace, since the winter used to be so cold back home.

The houses in the many villages depicted on the walls huddle up around the main scenes, while few traits show the empty canvas that will be filled with the joy of the newlywed on a beautiful canvas.

Life, life and more life pours out of Bonaria's art, without constraints, without reserves, with total adherence and joyful participation.

I was stunned into silence the first time I saw such bounty of life, such abundance of imagination and courage, her paintings made the house alive, the stories wanted to be told, seen and accepted. I left in tears for the impact her work had had on me. I let time go by until I could face again her intensity, here below you will find some of her knowledge.

Like a wise woman of long ago, Bonaria speaks in short sentences, rich in meaning, telling some of her life stories, some sparkle of hard earned wisdom: “The hands of an embroiderer should not get dirty with menial work, looking after animals, cleaning or cooking.�

(In this way she was teased by her relatives, yet she did just so until one day:) Life exploded inside me and I had to follow it, even if I didn't understand it.

Nature is in me and I believed in it.

Usually we see it: this moment of life just before our eyes, but we don't believe it. I did and, in my simple way, I painted it, thus following God's project. So I have lived fully the life God has given me.

We are here to share what we have, we cannot just keep it to ourselves.

We are like a bunch of leaves, we do not know where we are going.

We are forever walking: this is our existence.

Originally from Sardinia (Orune, Nuoro), Bonaria comes from a very big family with many brothers and sisters, everything was simple back then, however poor.

Bonaria has a long history as both embroiderer and sheperd woman, therefore nature and manual labour are integral parts of the poetic paintings both on the walls and on canvas. She came to her actual residence in Tuscania in 1951 and never moved away. Here her inspiration took over, as she described above and her life was filled with images and stories.

Important art historians and experts have dedicated her intense pages on several publications and they have organized exhibitions in Italy and abroad.

People like Bonaria are precious, they shine in the life of any person who may meet them. Regardless of how much art we can understand or appreciate, we are able to see her greatness and the depth of her presence in life.

On my first and during my most recent visit with Bonaria, she said her farewell with a beautiful song that came spontaneously to her, it was a touching and profound moment, a hymn to life in all its beauty and greatness, beyond our limitations.

I do believe art is a great healer, certainly art has made her whole, so that Bonaria could grace the world with her numerous works of art.

Antonella Vicini λάθε βιώσας (living in hiding) Epicurus considered friendship the highest good, both materially and spiritually. However friendship can only be cultivated in a small circle, away from the storms of life.

The motto: Live in hiding (away from the crowd) is especially appropriate for art that often hides from the glitter of the media market, in order to achieve peace of mind and greatness of spirit. Last year I started this journey introducing you to a secluded piece of land where several artists have chosen to live and work, following the ancient motto of Epicurus in their own ways.

Inspired by Bonaria's art I have created this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwCij1e4UT0&feature=youtu.be This is Bonaria's website organized and managed by her niece Paola Manca, she is also the photographer for all the artist's work you will see in the next pages. http://www.bonariamanca.it/ List of the art work shown in the following pages: 1. I Pastori e la ricotta, Sheperds making ricotta cheese, fresco 2. Genius Loci et Lares, fresco, Sardinian Dance, detail 3. The Birth fresco 4. Nativity, fresco 5. Blessed are the meek, fresco 6. Il porto preistorico, The prehistoric port, 90's 7. Il vaso di fiori, The flower vase, 1985 8. Bonaria porta i fiori ai suoi cari, Bonaria carries flowers for her loved ones, 90's 9. Battesimo, Baptism, 1999 10.

L'armatore, 90's From 1 to 5 we enter into Bonaria's house with its walls and ceilings covered in stories, from 6 to 10 I have chosen a very small selection of her canvas. You can consider these just a taste of her art.

All the photos in this article were taken by Paola Manca, the copyright of all images goes only to Bonaria Manca. Please check the artist's website for a full catalogue and photos of all her works. http://www.bonariamanca.it/

QUILTING AWAY Autumn: A Phase in the cycle of life Lida Perry After the summer’s sparking colors, the thriving blooming of the flowering plants, the abundance of the harvest, autumn marks the moment in which not only the fruits of the earth are gathered, but the soil is prepared for the winter pause.

I am at my balcony overlooking my garden, a small square of land between my neighbor’s edge and the car parking space, I look out and from my high position I have a sweeping view around me; in the golden late afternoon light of an autumn day, what I see gives me a sensation of chaos, of decadence…

Wet and dark decomposing leaves, plants that seeminlgy have given up any productive activities, earth hardened by a torrid summer, that not even a sporadic rain could dampen.

I feel frustration and sadness... I have to do something…

In the next few days I try not to notice the sadness, the annoyance, the discomfort the feeling of death that the sight of my garden elicits within myself.

Then one day equipped with all my tools and a strong determination, I begin to cut, and uproot everything I touch. I am vaguely aware that my approach would, most likely, horrify an experienced gardener, but I procede undeterred, and with some aggressiveness .

Eventually my frenzy is appeased. I take a break.

I look around and what I see is more chaos, confusion and devastation.

I realize that I did not pay any attention to what I was uprooting and cutting. I realize that my garden with its flowers, its plants have given me pleasure and joy, they responded to all my care by gifting me with their beauty, their fragrance, their colors.

I think of the way in which I entered their space: blindly, without awareness or respect. I followed only my impulse, my need to put things right without any consideration and regard to the meaning they have had for me.

What a metaphor!!

In my work as a psychologist I often have met people that come to therapy so distracted by anxiety that all they want is to give quickly some semblance of order to their confusion, to eradicate the roots of their conflicts, to eliminate the behaviors and the deep-rooted attitudes and limiting thoughts with the compulsion to tear away all that brought pain and anguish.

The profound judgment that we hold about our actions, our thoughts, our being, who we are even, does not let us appreciate what we have built around our essence, as for example our defenses: they had the function to protect us from too painful and intense experiences, when we did not have the resources to deal with them.

The therapeutic process tills the soil, it frees the terrain from the weeds so that there is more room for the new seeds of thought, for new awareness and new growth.

Nature is about cycles, Autumn symbolically is about the cycle of reaping and preparing for a pause before rebirth.

There are many therapeutic paths that can facilitate this process and help us enter a deeper space where we can touch our essence and honor all that we have been , who we are and who we are becoming.

Complementary therapies can also facilitate this process and help us enter a deeper space by becoming more aware of how we feel.

Yoga offers many breathing techniques (pranayama); what I find very helpful is a way of breathing that is circular, with its roots in Krya yoga.

This kind of technique has no pauses between breaths and between the inhale and exhale, this approach helps the person to stay focussed on the breath, so that he/she can have the experience of the infinite flow of energy bringing awareness inside. The breath becomes a vehicle to the discovery of what is happening in our emotional world: when we become witnesses of our behavior we have more choices available.

Often I suggest a Reiki treatment. Reiki is a System of Natural healing that has come to us from Japan where it was developed as a healing method by a Buddhist scholar, Mikao Usui. Often during a Reiki treatment the person feels a deep state of relaxation and well being.

Whatever path we choose, when our thoughts, previously chaotic and overlapping, become clear and essential, the useless chit-chat of our mind is silenced and we, in the quietness, can perceive our true nature and our path to healing.

Lida Perry Edited by Antonella Vicini

BREATHING BreathWork at the source of spirit Milena Screm Breathing, this essential element of physiology and life, is not limited to one organ, but includes the entire body. One aspect is the mitochondrial breathing in each cell, this is a natural chemical modulator of the emotional states, it acts on perceptions, reducing or amplifying them. Such activity also influences the vagus nerves, as well as the answers of the the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system (1).

The deep breathing with the oxygenation coming from it, when it is linked to mental attention/presence, stimulates new synapses to be formed, new ways of processing experiences.

Therefore breathing is an innate "portable kit", it is easy to use, always available, it is natural and without contraindications, it helps us to handle the complex weave of micro and macro events that make our daily lives.

It is not a magic wand, rather a priceless resource to take cafre of (i.e. taking to heart) the health of our body, moods, mental activity, actions, relations, it helps us to act on the quality of our life.

Breathing is the most important of the vital human rythms, since it is essential to life. It manifests and expresses our relationship with the world, it influences our relationships on the physical, mental, spritual planes.

Breathing is the energy stretching towards unification of all its parts and with the entire creation: a systemic communication between the inner world, with its different parts, and the external one.

Breathing is an exchange, a flow of information, it is nourishment.

Mastering the breath tames all passions, it conquers serenity, it prepares the mind to meditation and re-awakens spiritual energy.

Tibetan Mystical Teaching

Studies on life quality have received ever increasing attention in the last 30 years both in psychology, medicine and sociology. Even if the level of material well being has improved in the last 50 years in many countries, the psychological unease has also incresed, some serious diseases have become more common, social unease has shown in a variety of ways.

Scientific reasearch have thus started to look for subjective indicators, as well as objectives ones, that can influence adversely the individual ability to direct constructively his/her inner and outer actions towards personal life satisfaction.

Therefore, besides the objective indicators (such as income, physical health, housing, social role), a new research has started in order to have a better understanding of life quality.

Since it has become clear that both life quality and well being are relative concepts: each person elaborates a personal interpretation, according to his/her physical state, social role, psychological features and interaction with the environment.

Positive Psychology (2), with Martin E.P. Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (who is the auhor of the Flow Theory (3)), places these considerations at the centre of its research: it affirms that Emotional Intelligence (4) (Salovay-Mayer-Goleman), together with the development of potential and skills, is the central aspect for the development of personal well being.

Positive Psychology studies mainly personal well being, connected to positive emotions and feelings, the hedonic dimension.

However its work doesn't stop there, but it explores also the eudaimonic dimension, according to the aristotelic concept of Eudaimonia (5) that does not include only personal satisfaction, but also a path of integration with the surrounding world.

Oftentimes this word is considered like happiness, but its field is wider, since it includes interaction and reciprocal influence betwen personal and collective well being, therefore individual happiness happens in the social arena.

Once the person has overcome his/her conditioning, due to personal events, he/she can discover a much wider dimension than his/her ego.

The defences soften and decrese, processing emotions and mind become more efficient and aimed at real well being. Self awareness increases, as well as the chance to connect the visceral mind with the sophisticated cerebral cortex going through the heart coherency.

In that dimension, in that deep and true soul contact, the feelings of understanding and compassion for other people with gratitude towards life can flower and direct our actions and behaviours.

During this long process that goes through the body and our feelings, since they are more honest and truthful dimensions of our being, during the path of awakening when we decide to move towards a deeper meaning of life, thus taking on the responsability of our choices in present time, breathing has a deep metaphorical meaning and a decisive practical function.

East and West, philosophy and science, psychology and mysticism all agree on this aspect.

"Five years ago, I had a beautiful experience which set me on a road that has led to the writing of this book. I was sitting by the ocean one late summer afternoon, watching the waves rolling in and feeling the rhythm of my breathing, when I suddenly became aware of my whole environment as being engaged in a gigantic cosmic dance. Being a physicist, I knew that the sand, rocks, water and air around me were made of vibrating molecules and atoms, and that these consisted of particles which interacted with one another by creating and destroying other particles. I knew also that the Earth’s atmosphere was continually bombarded by showers of ‘cosmic rays’, particles of high energy undergoing multiple collisions as they penetrated the air.

All this was familiar to me from my research in high-energy physics, but until that moment I had only experienced it through graphs, diagrams and mathematical theories. As I sat on that beach my former experiences came to life; I ‘saw’ cascades of energy coming down from outer space, in which particles were created and destroyed in rhythmic pulses; I ‘saw’ the atoms of the elements and those of my body participating in this cosmic dance of energy; I felt its rhythm and I ‘heard’ its sound, and at that moment I knew that this was the Dance of Shiva, the Lord of Dancers worshipped by the Hindus."

From The Tao of Physics, Fritoji Capra, 1975 (6)

MilenaScrem Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

NOTES 1. The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is one of the two main divisions of the autonomic nervous system, the other being the parasympathetic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system functions to regulate the body's unconscious actions.

2. http://www.pursuit-of-happiness.org/history-of-happiness/martin-seligman-positive-psychology/ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/11946304_Positive_Psychology_An_Introduction pdf downloadable http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow?language=en 3. In positive psychology, flow, also known as the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. Named by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, the concept has been widely referenced across a variety of fields (and has an especially big recognition in occupational therapy), though the concept has existed for thousands of years under other guises, notably in some Eastern religions. Achieving flow is often colloquially referred to as being in the zone.

4. Emotional intelligence (EI) or emotional quotient (EQ) is the capacity of individuals to recognize their own, and other people's emotions, to discriminate between different feelings and label them appropriately, to use emotional information to guide thinking and behavior, and to manage and/or adjust emotions to adapt environments or achieve one's goal(s).

Although the term first appeared in a 1964 paper by Michael Beldoch, it gained popularity in the 1995 book by that title, written by the author, psychologist, and science journalist Daniel Goleman. Since this time Goleman's 1995 theory has been criticized within the scientific community.

There are currently several models of EI. Goleman's original model may now be considered a mixed model that combines what have subsequently been modeled separately as ability EI and trait EI. Goleman defined EI as the array of skills and characteristics that drive leadership performance. The trait model was developed by Konstantin Vasily Petrides in 2001. It "encompasses behavioral dispositions and self perceived abilities and is measured through self report". The ability model, developed by Peter Salovey and John Mayer in 2004, focuses on the individual's ability to process emotional information and use it to navigate the social environment.

5. Eudaimonia (Greek: εὐδαιμονία ) is a Greek word commonly translated as happiness or welfare; however, "human flourishing" has been proposed as a more accurate translation.

6. http://www.fritjofcapra.net/

Deep Within Healing Emotional Wounds Jose Maffina

We carry our emotional wounds inside, often we don't even realize it, we have no awareness of them. Yet they are inside us and can negatively influence our lives.

We cannot recall consciously what happened and why, we cover them up with bandages, we hide them away in the closets of our memory.

In order to meet them we need to descend into ourselves, we need powerful and light vehicles in order to reach the depths of our souls, so that we can operate at a sutble level.

Creative visualizations are such a vehicle, they are very powerful as well, using their symbolic language they reach what is buried inside us and let it resurface in a way that doesn't scare us away.

Using guided meditations we work on an energy level that reflects back onto our reality. By using this tool we can discover what is usually hidden to our rational mind.

However, we need to leave out of visualizations our need to control, being afraid, judging what we see. Letting go is a vital step here, when we do we allow our inner resources to work in sinergy with the visualization. What we see cannot be explained rationally, nor conditioned, or manipulated.

By letting go we allow our deep self to be free, so that our inner energy can communicate with us and co operate in our healing.

My latest book offers a complete path to healing accompanied by creative visualizations, explanations of the metaphors and instructions on how to use them.

Healing our inner wounds is a journey, we just need to make the first step of releasing, so that new energy can come in place of the old wounds.

By healing those neglected wounds, we can have clearer vision, lighter steps and a happier heart.

Jose Maffina Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

NAMASTE PRANAYAMA - PRATYAHARA Giosie Colagrossi Prāṇāyāma is breathing both as flow and nourishement, breathing as a key to knowledge, breathing as the cycle of the universe, breathing as rythm and realization of the First and Only Spirit, conscious breathing is practiced together with Asanas (postures) that are performed with kindness for our bodies, presence and listening.

All these elements lead us naturally to Pratyahara पत हर.

Pratyahara is derived from two Sanskrit words: prati and ahara, ahara means food, or anything taken into ourselves, and prati, meaning away or against. Together they mean "weaning away from ahara", or simply ingestion.

We can also say that when we start to look inside, then we also start to neglect the information of the mind and the senses.

It is trough the ceasing of mental activity (the entire thinking process) that there is an inner stillness which is not influenced nor distracted by seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling the information from the outer environment.

In order to overcome our fascination with the objects of senses, we focus our attention inside, centering on Creative Energy that has moulded the obejcts of our desire.

Autumn is the best season for this practice, when we can lead our attention back inside, these are the most appropriate styles of breathing in order to achieve this goal: Brahmari Pranayama : sitting in Vajrasana (the diamond position) or in Siddhasana (the adept position) covering the eyes and ears, inhaling with both nostrils and exhaling by emitting a subtle sound, listening to the head vibrations, like a humming bee.

By repeating this breathing a few times, this sound will lead us inside ourselves, calming the mind, preparing for meditation, curing insomnia.

So Ham Pranayama : So Ham = I am what I am. The breathing is slow, like in Ujjayi (see our June 2016 Volume), we contract the glottis in order to produce a deep, low and steady sound. We listen to the sound emitted and visualize So (inhale) Ham (exhale). This Mantra (sacred prayer) is natural and part of us.

In order to understand Pratyahara we can close eyes and ears covering them with our hands, even if we cannot see, we can still hear, we even perceive better the inner ear vibration. This training is aimed at retreating from external distractions, it helps us to concentrate according to our need.

Pranayama and Pratyahara, when practiced regularly, prepare body, mind and spirit to the subtler and more mystical levels of Yoga: Dharana, Dhyana, Samadhi.

NOTES: (Dhāraṇā, from Sanskrit धरण , is the collection or concentration of the mind, joined with the retention of breath) (Dhyana in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism means contemplation and meditation. Dhyana is present in Yoga exercises and leads to samadhi and self-knowledge) (Samādhi, Sanskrit: समधध, in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools refers to a state of meditative consciousness. It is a meditative absorption or trance, attained by the practice of dhyāna. In samādhi the mind becomes still. It is a state of being totally aware of the present moment. In the Ashtanga Yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali.)

Om shanti

Bhramari Pranayama https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onQiVRq8WLA So Hum https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKNzaWGm0o8 http://sivanandaonline.org/public_html/cmd=displaysection&section_id=1 440

A YOGA STORY One February evening I was in my teacher's Ashram near Bangalore.

Right behind the new buildings, there was a hill covered in lush vegetation. It was almost dark and I was very restless because I needed clarity on a very important personal matter.

I have always trusted nature whenever I have something to understand, I send out my message to the universe and I wait for the answer.

Sometimes my inner darkness was an obstacle between me and the answer, so I challenge myself and risk it all, even my life.

That evening I decided to climb the hill barefooted, asking for a sign from the sky.

There were huge scorpios and the monkeys were both vicious and sometimes even aggressive. Among the trees it was almost dark, I had no idea where I was stepping, so I stopped centering on my breathing, I wanted to win my fear, calm the fast heart beat and the anxiety of all my emotions. I did it by retreating in that inner place made of silence and total trust (pratyahara).

In just a few moments I could let go of the sense of separation between me and what was around me, I continued my climb up the hill where I received the sign I had been asking for. I cannot recall the way down, since it was so happy and fast.

Jay Gurudev

Giosie Colagrossi Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

UNDER THE SKIN DermoReflexology and the Power of Dreams Part 2

Samantha Fumagalli e Flavio Gandini We continue our exploration of dreams and their importance for our awake state.

Here below is a reminder of the four different types of dreams from the first part of our work: Every human being, according to the fourfold division has : Physical body - matter Etheric body – vital energy Astral body – soul Causal body – spiritual spark each one oversees specific functions, perceptions, actions and reactions.

In dreaming there is a similar division: we have physical sensations, psychic events, memories processing, we perform actions, we react to conditioning.

This means we can make a primary distinction among the physical, etheric, astral and causal aspects also during dreaming. (see THE BADGER June 2016, Year 2 Volume 3)

In the first part of our work we defined the circumstances, the sceneries and the general caracheristics of dreams. We will now examine the different types of dreams, the first two are physical and mental dreams, or daily life dreams.

Physical Dreams This first category has to do with dreams that develop as a consequence of physical inputs; in this way our body needs and the material phenomena around us while asleep are projected and transformed in our dreams.

Noises, sounds, people moving around are perceived by the dreamer and inserted in the dream in order to continue sleeping. It can be a car horn, the noise of a truck passing by, a train, church bells, our neighbour doing some renovation work at home, music from a radio, etc.

To the same category belong also physical needs, such as hunger, thirst, need to go to the bathroom, a pain or some kind of unease, or even an uncomfortable position in bed. If a leg is very tired, we may dream of having a hard time walking, or the leg will feel heavy, etc.

If somebody is hammering away, we may insert the experience in the dream as a knock on our door, or a drumming, etc.

We interpret what disturbs us in a way that is coherent with our dream, so that we are not forced to wake up, thus interrupting our rest.

A typical example was a man who used to go to bed very late, in the morning, due to the sounds of people waking up around him, he used to dream about waking up, having breakfast, taking a shower, he was doing anything he could dream of, just in order to delay getting up as long as possible...

This type of dreams has the task of preserving as long and as much as possible the quality and length of our rest. Sleeping is very important in our life: it regenerates the energy used during day time and heals the physical body, therefore protecting it comes naturally to us all.

In order to have an idea of our capacity to preserve sleep, we can think of people living very close to railway tracks or stations, as well as busy roads: habit enables people to have selective insensitivity to noises, sometimes to the point of not hearing them anymore.

As mentioned earlier, transporting elements that could disturb us into our dreams preserves the quality of our sleep, instead of interrupting it.

This is an automatic and selective process, while asleep people are not consciously aware of what is happening around them, however – within certain limits – they are. Since sleep doesn't block our consciousness, but modifies it by dimming it temporarily: we will not wake up because of an annoying noise, but we will wake up if a dangerous noise happens, even if it is a slight perturbance.

A good example of our ability to discriminate is the new parents' immediate awareness of any noise coming from their babies, usually it takes a much louder volume to wake up an adult.

These elements are, therefore, the oneiric realization of needs, wishes, worries on a practical level that are satisfied during the night, so that our sleep can continue in the best possible way.

Mental Dreams, or daily life dreams.

First of all we want to underline that for us mental refers to the activities of the mind connected to daily work, therefore we indicate the thinking ability connected to the physical and etheric bodies.

This ability in our dreaming state is expressed at a different level of consciousness from the awake state, since some elements, previously unnoticed during the day time, emerge to consciousness.

There are elements in our daily lives that we seem to absorbe subliminally, they are not evaluated by our mind, but they still become part of us.

Often these aspects produce the "strange" sensations we cannot explain about events, people projects or places.

These impressions and associations are linked to our thinking activity and generate mental dreams. These are the most common types of dreams after the physical ones.

Such kind of oneiric processing can also be found in animals and consists of processing the daytime experiences. Often animals re-live the events of the day in order to improve their learning and to relieve or lighten the accumulated tension.

The two main functions listed above keep their value also for human beings, but they add some more complex ones.

The first one is a way of learning and needs no explanation: repetition of teachings is the base of learning, whether it is a school lesson, a manual activity or a life experience.

For the freeing activity, it can happen in two ways: the accumulated tension is released or lightened up by re-living intensely (even in just one session) the traumatic event, or it can decrese gradually through several dreams of the event, without such extreme emotions.

The freeing goal is enriched further, because – by underlining the events of the day – it supplies more information about our sensitivity, thus supporting a deeper acquaintance with ourselves.

It helps us to understand those aspects of our personality that usually are in the shadows, controlled or repressed.

By bringing to light those events that have touched or moved our psyche, dreams indicate that something not yet understood can give us the grip we need to tackle more conscious work.

Another useful aspect of mental dreams is becoming aware of subliminally received and stored elements. The sensations archived without conscious awarenes can now find explanations.

Mental dreams also include the re-creation of recent and not so recent daily life events, especially if they have had a strong emotional impact on us: such as discussions, love problems, work related issues, etc.

We can also add to this list the impressions after a film or a touching book.

Some dreams are very easy to recognize for their simplicity, since they are direct references to our awake daily life, but there can also be a certain amount of transformation of our impressions during our dreams.

These two types of dreams are still within the sphere of physical and material life, in our next article we will access the uncoscious world, the astral and the realm of supersensible.

Samantha Fumagalli and Flavio Gandini Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

LEARNING FROM PYTHAGORAS

Pythagorean Life Style 1.

Salvatore Mongiardo

My goal is to describe the Pythagorean Life Style both in the outer form and in their inner reasons, in order to achieve my goal I rely on classical sources and my own interpretation.

Let's imagine we are on the Ionian sea and we go back in time for 25 centuries: then Pythagoras used to get up very early in the morning, in order to observe the sky, as he had been instructed to do by Babylonian seers.

The philosopher could hear the celestial sound of the stars that he perceived through his eyes, like a musician who can hear the music by looking at the score.

His students went to be with him for the sunrise by the sea. When Pythagoras appeared they bowed and honored him as a symbol of the god Apollo, then they bathed in the sea.

After the swim, there were dances accompanied by the sound of the cithara, there were songs of paen, often they had been composed by Pythagoras himself.

Pythagoras then used to teach under a white tent, where only mathematicians were admitted, since they were the only scholars who were capable of asking questions. While the acousmatics, who could only hear what was being said, remained outside.

After the teachings they would walk in solitary gardens, avoiding crowds and useless chit chat. One of their sayings was " do not live in the same house with swallows" , i.e. avoid shallow chattering.

If they passed by a temple, they only entered it if they had already decided to honor the gods there.

They avoided chance encounters while returning home from school, but they preferred to devote time to gymnastic exercises and they liked to compete just for fun, not for victory.

They followed a strictly vegetarian diet, since they felt that animals were their younger siblings and human beings had to protect them. They didn't use wool for their clothes, since it was the animal's clothing and could not be taken away from the sheep. Their clothes were made of linen that used to become whiter after each washing, a symbol of purity and light.

At the end of the day they used to have dinner together and celebrated with the communal banquet, where each person could partake of bread and wine.

When they went to sleep, before closing their eyes, they had to examine all the events of the day and ask themselves if they had made any mistakes. After this self examination, they fell asleep, if they had dreams they used to talk about them as if they belonged to awake reality.

Pythagoras had learnt the art of dream interpretation from the Jews.

The Pythagoreans worked on developing will power that was challenged daily in three different arenas: master over gluttony, lust and sleep.

One of their ways to put their resolve to the test was preparing a banquet and then leaving without eating anything.

I am only mentioning here as an aside the numerous meanings given to numbers (besides the mathematical research), such as the number 8 that was a symbol of justice, because it could be divided into halves, that corresponded to the number 4, again if it was divided in half there was the number 2, divided in two gave 1: the number eight always generated two equal parts.

Pythagoreans didn't do anything randomly, each action had a meaning.

They were constantly striving to awake and expand their consciousness in order to win over the shadows of existance.

Their aspiration was an organized vision of reality, therefore they considered real life only if it was filled with meaning, thus refusing a shattered, individualistic and selfish vision of life.

There was a very strong need to analyze and perform each action, even the simplest ones, like getting dressed, eating, studying, etc, thus they always looked for a reason, a logic behind everything,

Salvatore Mongiardo Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

THE NATURE OF DRUIDISM A Conversation with

Philip Carr-Gomm

I met Philip Carr-Gomm some 6 years ago on a trip to UK, I was accompanying a group of Italian students of Druidism to meet the leader of OBOD (Order of Bards Ovates and Druids) and perfom some ceremonies together. Since I was the interpeter I had ample chance to converse with Philip and learn much about Druidry. I have kept in touch in spite of the distance, since the respect and honor for his path have grown in me over time.

What follows is the result of a very plesant conversation with Philip on many topics related to Druidism and his new novel.

AV: How did you discover this path?

PCG: What attracted me initially, and so long ago, was the hidden story of magic behind the dull daily world I was living in. London in the continuous rain was a very grey place indeed. At the school I attended the teachers seemed to agree on teaching the most boring topics to study.

One day I started to discover new fascinating ones: druids, legends, magical mysteries, Stonehenge and more.

I was very lucky to have somebody there to teach me when I was so young (11), those learning experiences helped me to grow and develop.

Later in life, I got interested in psycology and in psychoanalisys.

While completing my studies I realized how important it would be to bring together psychology and the magic of Druidism, bringing together these two approaches to life that belong to all culture as the perennial wisdom (Sanathana Dharma).

The organization I am honored to lead, OBOD, is an expression of Druidry which is part of the universal religion, it is thus open to all approaches to spirituality.

AV : what have been the consequences of your position as leader of OBOD? PCG: Since 1988, (when I was asked to become the head of the OBOD), my life has changed totally, giving me amazing opportunities in my personal and professional life. I have travelled around the world and I have met amazing people from many traditions. I have seen the order grow from a few members to the 19.000 we have now.

Although druidry seems so ancient, in a way it is new (300 years of recent history). It is low in dogma, you can take it as a religion or simply a spiritual approach to life.

You can be deep into it or just take some elements for your private ritual.

There is never any judgement about people's way of being in druidry.

AV: what are the moments, or ceremonies you prefer connected to your Druidry?

PCG: With the passing of time I noticed that my love of the land has increased, so I want to be more and more outdoor and on the earth.

I think is directly connected to the many years of practice on this path.

Although I like all the rituals around the wheel of seasons, I have a preference for Sahmain with its ancestral connection and deep dark mystical nature. The other feast I love is Imbolc, at the beginning of February, possibly because that was the first ceremony I took part in and also because it is simple and imbued with feminine energy.

AV: Can you tell me an amusing story about your experience with Druidism?

PCG: Some time ago I was in Iona* with a big group of druids in our ceremonial robes, including our long cloacks, we were walking in silence when we saw an old lady just ahead of us.

We were so quiet that I was concerned she might get scared by seeing us behind her without any warning signs.

But I had not taken into account the strong Scottish spirit, when she turned around, she only nodded saying "Good evening" to the 20 odd druids, meekly we all responded "Good evening".

AV: Can you talk about the spiritual path in Druidry?

PCG: Among the many privileges of my work as chief of OBOD, I really cherish reading the applicants reviews after the end of their path into Druidry. Their papers often describe up to 20 years of their lives, they are all different, all incredibly touching.

When I read these essays I see how the term enlightenment does not describe the many events happening in their lives.

People experience many moments of raised consciousness, bliss, joy, transformation, many peak experiences, these are ubiquitous and are found in many different traditions.

For about 10 years I didn't want to share my own stories,until the first time I felt comfortable enough to do it and then I realized that many people had the same experiences.

I think this is the difference from the past, when only a select group could have these experiences, now more and more people have access to these levels and states of transformation, expanded awareness and change.

This gives us hope for our world at a time of great difficulty.

I think this attitude is due both to a more liberal political and religious era and also because of the connectedness of the internet era.

We now have 19.000 members of OBOD, entirely because of the revolution in publishing, so that people can study online and proceed on the path.

In the past just a few chosen, initiates, enlightened people had access to this knowledge. I believe they have been working for centuries in order to raise consciousness in humanity, we are now benefiting from their groundwork.

Maybe the terrible situation we have come to is going to produce a major change on our planet. +++

AV: Can you tell us something about your novel?

PCG: My Novel is about this question, this hanging balance between light and darkness, good and evil.

The inspiration came to me, but I didn't want to write it, because of its dark subject, since in the past I had only written about the light.

It's a story of how we have our best intentions as human beings, yet we end up making terrible mistakes, The protagonist is the druidess of Broceliande who was a prophetess, but it all went badly.

When I was in Brittany I heard a rumor about her affair with a German war pilot.

So I added to the historical characters a young and idealistic German pilot, who is asked to spy on her by the SS; he just follows his spirit and it leads him the wrong way.

We human beings are often flawed, but sometimes redemption comes, so in the end there is hope.

The novel deals with difficult questions and it is connected with many layers. Genevieve, the prophetess is one of the many connections to the Arthurian legends which are so important in Brittany. There is also a monk who built a chapel to the Holy Grail.

In a way the novel tells the story of the bright knowledge** coming out of the Cauldron: the three drops of Awen, what was left was baleful knowledge, poison***. I wanted to show both sides of awareness.

The light and darkness during the second world war seemed to have been purified away, but this process hasn't happened yet.

The deep healing has not yet taken place, as we can see by the many smaller wars around the world and the waves of refugees.

The stories of old come back to haunt us, so the path to healing is still open.

Philip Carr-Gomm Collected by Antonella Vicini

Notes: +++(Philip's considerations make me think immediately of all the traditional paths that have opened up to the multitudes, sometimes to misunderstanding as well, in order to support and enhance this process of global heightened awareness. I think of the many public teachings given by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, of the great Indian Gurus, of the Dervishes who left their Konya retreat to tour around the world so that people could witness their mystical dance, of the many native teachers from around the world who have chosen to teach unaware western people so that we could all be transformed by contact with true spirital awareness)

*a beautiful island of the inner Hebrides ** You may be familiar with the Welsh tale/myth of Cerridwen and her cauldron, the three drops of awen falling onto Gwion’s finger and bringing his wisdom in the form of poetic inspiration, shape-shifting and prophecy. Some connect this story to a Bardic initiation, or the three grades of Bard, Ovate and Druid; drinking from the cauldron of the Goddess is to drink deeply of awen. *** Druidry recognizes that knowledge is neutral. The cauldron of inspiration in Druidry provides both Bright and Baleful knowledge. It is our responsability to use the knowledge we gain in creative and positive ways. (from THE DRUID ANIMAL ORACLE by S. and P. Carr Gomm)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8OvAEK0qZs trailer of the book

WITNESSING The Falleroni Family There is only one place to go for excellent ice cream in the small town where I live: the Falleroni bar at the corner between old and new town.

In order to tell their story we need to go back to 1971, on the 6 th of February a real strong earthquake, followed by frequent after shakes, destroyed entirely the old city of Tuscania, killing people and their traditions in the medieval and renaissance centre.

Since my country has been so recently hit by another, even more serious earthquake not so far from here, I have decided to tell a story of resilience and strength, that of the Falleroni family, who lost almost everything in the aftermath of the destruction.

The old town used to be alive with shops and commercial activities, people had kept living in the ancient homes, but after the disruption they chose to live outside and never returned to the centre of town.

Many years later Tuscania looks beautiful, everything has been restored artistically, but most local people still prefer to live outside the city walls, in safer, although less charming buildings.

The same path was followed by the Falleroni family, they substituted the bar and general store they used to have in the old town, for a coffee bar in the more modern area with ice cream as one of their main products, but they never thought of leaving the area, they simply started over with the little that was left and their willingness to work hard to regain what had gone lost.

Nazzareno, called Neno by everybody here, starting making ice cream in 1963 over an open fire and with the fresh products from the local farmers such as milk, eggs, fruits, etc. It was rough at first, he had to learn by doing, but it was a challenge that eventually paid off.

When they moved to the building they are still in, they created the first bar in town with an area for ladies who might want to go for tea or coffee as well, it was a sensational novelty, before their innovation only men used to go to the bar in order to play cards, billiard and talk about sport.

While I was listening to Neno telling me his story I began to realize how much love and commitment showed trough his words, and he confirmed it to me by talking about his family, his Father whom he used to shadow in everything in order to learn the trade, his Mother who was helping in the bar well into her 80's.

In a small town like this, bars have always been places to meet, exchange ideas, gossip and information, it is still true.

When I go for my decaf soya cappuccino, I can meet the farmers, or sheperds from round here, or the musician who has come for a recording in one of the many churches in town, or an actor on her way to a workshop, or mothers who have just accompanied their kids to school.

There is no problem here, everybody is accepted and welcome whatever the provenance, integration may be a problem for big metropolis, but here the connections are always on a one to one basis.

It is truly an inclusive place, where to start networking and connecting, this is mainly due to the natural warmth shown by Neno and the rest of his family to their clients, accompanied by infinite patience for their requests.

Federica, Neno's daughter, is often compared with her grandmother for her interest and empathy with people, her endless patience and understanding of their problems and need to share difficult situation out of their family circles.Federica was standing next to her father while talking with me in a protective and affectionate way, her position spoke of presence, love, roots and active presence in her family life. While his son is the innovator, just like Neno himself used to be years ago.

I came away from our conversation feeling that, however much the family as a bureaucratic institution might have dissolved in bigger cities under the pressure of stressful living, here in the countryside it is not considered or experienced as a burden, but rather as a network of positive emotional bonds that can open in order to welcome newcomers.

Roots, family bonds, connections to society, we all want these, like an extended family of the healthy kind, I have found proof of their existance in a small family coffee and ice cream bar in little Tuscania: I feel lucky to have discovered this treasure that enriches my life and the lives of many, who just go there for a coffee or an ice cream.

Antonella Vicini

My thanks to the Falleroni family for answering my questions with warm kindness.

AUTHORS

Antonella Vicini http://badgermedicinespirit.wix.com/tirthayatra Writer and editor of THE BADGER, author of Talking with Gods, Sages, Fairies.... (a novel published in 2014). Steeped in classical and indological studies, I have spent all my life learning from people as well as from the ancient texts that keep revealing their immortal, thus contemporary teachings. A teacher at heart, be it in school or workshops, I am happy when I can share new visions and face new challenges. I am a professional rebirther and trainer (since 1987), Reiki master since 1991, stress management and leadership trainer, writer and visionary. I am deeply grateful to all my teachers and elders. Badger Medicine Spirit

Adrian Rooke I am a person centered therapist specializing in addiction and the consequences to family, I counsel the bereaved, and supervise other counselors. I am also a massage therapist and Reiki practitioner. I am a member of the spiritual companions and practice as a celebrant conducting Handfastings and funerals. I have been a member of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids for over 20 years, where I have served as the press officer for 12 years, I have also been a Tutor for many years . I also have an interest in Wicca.

Composer, pianist, Italian teacher. Andrea "EXO" Garella began studying piano at 9 years old under the guidance of Walter Ferrato who shared with him the art of improvisation and composition. Between 16 and 20 he reaped the fruits of his studies with long concert tours. In everyday life he works in education and training in the field of safety. He is also a licensed designer for mechanical and thermotechnical projects. He has always been interested in occultism and esoterism. He is about to publish a book where he will delve into these studies connecting such Masters as H.P. Blavatsky, Wolfgang Pauli, C.G. Jung, A. Einstein, Jeremy Narby, C. Castaneda,Rick Strassman, Jean Dubuis and more. Here you can find some of his musical pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmaMRyjF6o https://www.youtube.com/watch

Claudia Enrico www.joyfullrecipes.com has been a Reiki Master Usui Shiki Ryoho since 1995. She practices and teaches Reiki classes. She has been Managing Director of the Reiki Magazine Italia™. She wrote a recipe book “Le ricette per la gioia” (Verdechiaro Edizioni) and she has participated in conferences and meetings sharing her experience and message of health and well-being. She is now an Energetic Nutrition Consultant.

She lives and creates in Sanremo-Italy and she’s a free Spirit.

Daniele Sampalmieri born in Ancona, Italy. After his technical studies, he spent several years studying Yoga, Integrative Rebirthing, Meditation, Shamanism, Ayurveda, Nutrition and Cooking. He has lived in many countries because of his work in the food and beverage field. His home is in Kenya, he has been exposed to many cultures and even had the chance of living with some tribes. In the last 2 years he has devoted his attention to the Alkaline nutrition and Vegan cooking.

David R. Kopacz, MD The focus of my work is bringing creativity, spirituality, and healing to my work with clients as well as to the larger challenges that face health care and society. I work at Puget Sound Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Seattle in Primary Care Mental Health Integration and have an appointment as an Acting Assistant Professor at the University of Washington. I am board certified through the American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, the American Board of Integrative & Holistic Medicine and the American Board of Integrative Medicine. I have worked in a number of practice settings over the years. Prior to moving to Seattle I spent three and a half years in New Zealand where I worked in Assertive Community Outreach at Manaaki House Community Health Center and also served as Clinical Director at Buchanan Rehabilitation Centre.

Fredric Lehrman http://www.nomaduniversity.com/ is one of the original “Wealth Psychologists” who looked deeply into the subconscious habit patterns that may either support or thwart personal financial success. He began teaching these insights in the early 1970’s, and his seminars, articles, and coaching have been the launch point for many of today’s best known experts and authors ever since. Fredric’s personal career has included intensive study with master teachers in many disciplines, and professional success in music, psychology, martial arts, photography, and global entrepreneurship, networking and innovation. He founded Nomad University in 1974 as a way to expand the concept of education as a life-long individual path of self-directed learning. The ideas he articulated then are now starting to appear in new schools all around the internet-connected world of the 21st century.

Giosie Colagrossi after some years in England and Germany, she discovered India, where she lived and worked for 6 years. In 1988 she became a Yoga teacher in India with the Master Svamiji Ravi Shankar, there she taught in various schools and universities such as Sholapur - Bangalore – Gulbarga – Trivandrum – Simla –New Dehli -Calcutta – Puna. Upon her return in Italy, she continued her studies with a degree in naturopathy and iridology. She currently lives and works in the province of Viterbo, so rich in natural and artistic beauty.

Jose Maffina was born in Milan on July 1st 1948, she is naturopath and rebirther, with a Master in Psychosomatic and Flower therapy. She is experienced in channelling. Jose holds a column in Italian in the magazine Esthetitaly, as well as a daily program on the web radio www.newliferadio.it She leads meditation groups using creative visualization, she is also member of the Research Institute Cosmos in Milan. Jose has written books and produced CDs about her work.

Judith Hayes has both her undergraduate and Master’s degrees in Latin and has taught for her entire career at the secondary level, and briefly at university, in the United States. She also has taught Latin for two years in Viterbo, Italy as faculty of the School Year Abroad program. She made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2013 and last summer joined an archaeological excavation in the Galilee region of Israel.

Laura Bottagisio www.laurabottagisio.com is an astrologer and seeker. She started studying astrology at the beginnings of the 80's with Lisa Morpurgo, she later worked with the Cosmos Institute of Milan, where she learnt about the theory and practice of Vibrational Waters. She has attended seminars with gerard Athias and Jp Brebion on new medicine and bio analogy. She shares her discoveries in her blog. She also creates tableaux with recycled materials, in this way she creates images out of emotions and inner worlds.

Lida Lodi Perry https://www.facebook.com/lidaperry?ref=profile Lida was born in the North East of Italy (Vicenza) after graduating from a teacher Institute she came to the USA, where she continued her education at the University of Massachusetts with a degree in Psychology and later a Master in Social Work. She worked for many years at a drug clinic in the local hospital. In 1984 she went back to Italy to work with abused children as a director of a residential facility. She moved on to work as a supervisor and Psychologist at Milan Cancer Institute where she is still consulting, while having a successful private practice as psychotherapist.

She was also cofounder of the Rebirthing Institute with Antonella Vicini, she became a Reiki Master in 1992, she is still active with the local and international Reiki community.

Milena Screm http://www.insightformazione.it/ Supervisor Counselor & BreathWorker. Founder and president of INSIGHT School of BreathWork Counseling, in Milan (Italy). Author of fourteen books in psychology, published in Italy, France and Spain, among which: “BreathWork” (1998), “Autogenic Training” (1989,2012), “Rebirthing & Water” (1994), “The history of Rebirthing” ( 1992 ), “Rebirthing, breath for renewal”, this was the first book published in Italy on rebirthing (1989, 1993, 2011).

Paolo Benda www.laradionica.it www.paolobenda.it Born in Perugia in 1953, he has experiences in electronics, home automation, informatics, he is webmaster, web designer, researcher, writer and publicist. He is an independent researcher with specific interests and specialization in radionics, biology, biotechnology. He is the inventor and builder of machinery for radionics applied to non conventional medicine.

Philip Carr Gomm http://www.philipcarr-gomm.com/ Philip lives in the wide open landscape of the South Downs in Sussex, England, with his wife Stephanie. In his teens, he began studying Druidry as a spiritual path with Ross Nichols, the founder of The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. Later he took a degree in psychology from University College London, and trained in psychotherapy for adults at The Institute of Psychosynthesis, and in play therapy for children with Dr Rachel Pinney. He also trained in Montessori education with the London Montessori Centre, and founded the Lewes Montessori School. In 1988 Philip was asked to lead The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, and he combines this role in the Order with writing and giving talks and workshops.

Raffaella Vicini Born a double Scorpio, she has a degree in Law and has been working as lawyer for about 20 years.

Her rational side has lead her to the law, while the deep, profound and mysterious side of her soul has guided her towards a path of personal growth (Rebirthing, Reiki, Yoga and other techniques).

She loves to travel and learn about different cultures, she has met people of all colours, creeds, languages, learning and sharing their experiences.

Renato Tittarelli www.risoessenza.it www.renatotittarelli.it is a spiritual seeker and holistic practitioner. He has been teaching and sharing about non conventional medicines for the last 30 years: integral yoga, shiatsu, meditation, spiritual healing, numerology, alchemy, naturopathy, aromatherapy and massage. From 2000 has started to divulge more of his work in Italy and abroad working on the scientific as well as alchemical and hermetical aspects. He is the founder of SOAM (School of Holistic Aromatherapy and Massage), Didactic director or the Professional School of Aromatherapy in Livorno.

Samantha Fumagalli and Flavio Gandini http://www.vega2000.it/ http://www.dermoriflessologia.it have been researching for over 20 years in the field of psyco-alchemy. They are the creators of DermoReflexology and DermoAlchemy.

In 2000 they founded the Association Vega for the study and publication of the new discoveries. Their professional course in DermoReflexology has been acknowledged by ASI/CON since 2012 as part of the natural and holistic arts.

Salvatore Mongiardo www.nuovascuolapitagorica.org born in 1941 at Sant'Andrea Jonio, got his degree in Italy and his master in Germany and France.

He worked in international marketing for many years, then he devoted his attention to writing. He investigates on human destiny and the deep reasons for violence. Since 2015 he has been the director of the New Pythagorean School.

Tanya Tewell is a Professor of Art at a Middle Tennessee State University in Tennessee. She has taught at the college level for almost thirty years in painting, drawing, and artistic anatomy. Her teaching experience has also included working with gang members in South Phoenix, artists on the Navajo reservation, and prisoners on Death Row in Nashville, Tennessee. She has been included in numerous national and international exhibitions and ten solo shows. She has also initiated, directed, and participated in painting murals in South Phoenix, Punta Allen, Mexico, Muro Leccese and a very large mural for the former art building at Middle Tennessee State University.

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AROMATHERAPY MASSAGE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING with

RENATO TITTARELLI Rome October 2016 This 2 plus 3 year course will give you the complete methodology, the theory and practice of aromatherapy massage, as well as the use of essential oils.

The course will start in October 2016, two preparatory workshops will be held in May and September, please contact us for details.

At the end of the course the succesful participants will become legally recognized pratictioners in Aromatherapy.

CONTACT US AT

www.risoessenza.it www.renatotittarelli.it info@risoessenza.it

SACRED OGHAM ADRIAN ROOKE

Quilting is the art of creating very colorful quilts, using small pieces of fabrics stitched together preferably by hand, in different colorful and amazing patterns.

My Quilts are stitched and quilted by hand to assure a more precise assembly and even thickness.

It takes time to create a quilt: for a single bed at least 3 months are needed.

A quilt can be a very precious gift for a wedding, a special occasion, or for a significant person.

Visit my Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/lidaperry/?fref=ts

Many of my quilts can be reproduced but not copied.

Stay tuned for big news from

THE BADGER from January 2017 you will be able to subscribe for one or two years downloading each volume so you can read them with leisure in this way you will support the continuous growth and freedom of

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SUBSCRIPTIONS : 1 year = 4 volumes 15 euros if you subscribe by December 1st 2016 2 years = 8 volumes 30 euros if you subscribe by December 1st 2016 After this date the prices will be: 1 year 20 euros 2 years 40 euros For the early subscribers we also guarantee the same yearly price forever!

This is only going to be offered one time

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See you for our next issue of

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January 2017