THE BADGER SPRING SUMMER 2021 by Antonella Vicini

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 all artistic expressions in 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 7 VOLUME 1

April 2021 Dear Readers, time goes by and we are still fighting the Covid war, we will overcome, but now we are all more aware, more tired and, sometimes, we may lose hope. Help is at hand, once more THE BADGER has gone on an exploration and has brought back many voices, although one aspect seems to receive consensus: we need more artistic expression in our lives in order to be fully human. This Volume heralds also the launch of our new website: www.thebadgerproductions.com a great achievement and a sign of our steady growth over the years. In the new website you will find our volumes, our videos, our artists as well as the new courses produced by THE BADGER TRAININGS! Soon you will be able to find Evolutionary and Corporate Courses that embody our beliefs and ideas on how to promote a healthy and balanced personal and professional growth. Welcome to THE BADGER PRODUCTIONS! May this spring help us all to start new enterprises and, above all, present a new attitude for the challenges ahead of us. Antonella Vicini Director THE BADGER Quarterlty Ltd Cover Painting David Kopacz Lay out Antonella Vicini

CONTENTS Equinox in Harmony Manifest Education

F. Rico G. Rael A.Vicini

Owning Your Life

F. Lehrman

Poetry

F. Petrarca

Voices from the Stars

L.Bottagisio

Being Medicine Quilting Away Ancestral Roots A Remedy

D.Kopacz - J.Rael L.Perry C. Murgan A.Exo

CONTENTS Ars Medica

F.Gandini S.Fumagalli

Druidry

P. Carr Gomm

Chakras

C. Corte

Folk Dances

D. Manfrini G. Madonia

Reflections

R.Fanelli

Witnessing

Bri Bruce

The Authors

short bios and photos

Thanks

and links to previous volumes

Adverts

products and services we believe in

THE EQUINOX BLESSINGS CONTINUE Francis Rico The first Equinox of 2021 occurred at 2:37am PDT on Saturday morning March 20th – but this is like describing the moment that you notice big waves at your local beach – that your ocean break has become monumental! These waves are happening now – this Spring, and continuing as we move towards the June Solstice - they are happening both inside and outside of linear time – and they are happening all over our planet. With this Equinox, a tremendous energetic gift has arrived, straight from the heart of Creation. And, thank you for allowing me to share the following with you: One of the big arguments in the field of quantum physics was whether “light” was a particle or a wave. And, it turned out that both sides were “right” – light was either one or the other, depending on the intentions and the design of the scientist’s experiments. This awareness, that the experimenter is inextricably involved in the experiment, led to one of science’s most far-out conclusions: There is no “objective reality.” Because, there are no objects – our participation in the fluidity of energy organizes itself as what each of us creates moment by moment, and calls “reality.” Everything is vibration, everything is energy. Grandfather Beautiful Painted Arrow’s “Being & Vibration – entering the new world” is a textbook on vibration, and a mystery school of wisdom and practices supporting our agility and resourcefulness in this new global galactic environment.

At this moment, tremendous galactic waves of incoming energy are flowing into the here and now – bringing with them the potential for a tremendous vibrational amplification of our innate creative capacity. English can hardly express this expansive movement. About the best I can do is to tell you that light is something alive beyond particle or wave: Light is a seed from which Creation flowers. And if you align yourself with this incoming gift of light-seeds, you will experience an expansion of your creativity - with the potential to change everything on our planet. We can repair the damage we’ve done. We can come into harmony with all who we share life with. We can even restore sanity to our species, because as the youngsters are telling us, enough is enough! Intuitively we know that we have this potential – it is our destiny to create Heaven on Earth. Intuitively we know that the innate wisdom of Creation is to be found within us. This is the same deep intelligence that is contained within seeds - an energetic field of being, fully present, that manifests as what it already is – as a magnificent oak, or as a delicate flower - or as zucchini, rosemary, roses, watermelons, tomatoes, ragweed, and redwoods. And deep within this Presence - from which wolves, jaguars, elephants, whales, eagles, otters, flowers, trees, suns, moons, stars and far-flung galaxies emerge - are the seeds of unconditional love. This is the gift that is being offered to us. Imagine a seed packet. On the packet is an image of your body, colored like a rainbow. The packet is clearly marked: "Seeds of Harmony. From wild-harvest, grown in fields of Light." You shake the packet, and hear the seeds rattle inside - seeds of harmony between time and timelessness – of harmony between form and formlessness – seeds of harmony between masculine and feminine between light and dark – between particle and wave.

This packet contains wild flowering seeds of peace, seeds of compassion, seeds of liberation and unconditional love. It contains the seeds of life caring for life. But to accept this gift from Creation is not the end of the story. It’s our responsibility to plant, care, cultivate, harvest, and re-plant the seeds we select, creating the world we live in - the world we share with each other, with all of life. Even in the roaring incoming waves of this Equinox there is a quiet place within. Go into silence, and relax. Breathe. Drop down deep, into essence, directly to Source. Here, the place where the light of life's flame merges with matter is revealed - the fields of light where seeds of light are simultaneously planted and brought forth as Creation’s flowering gift of life itself. You are Creation inviting yourself to share light and love, with a compassionate and joyfully inclusive regard for the well being of all. Gather your friends and family! Stand together with your tribe, outside, under the open sky, in the beauty of the early morning. If you are alone, join us in Spirit - we'll meet you in the fields of light! Create a simple living ceremony that blesses each of you. Open to the moment. With love,

Francis Rico Teotihuacan, Mexico

MANIFEST Geraldine Rael Greetings to one and all, The past year of 2020 has been wrought with many hardships and losses for the entire world. Every continent has suffered grief due to a loss of a loved one/s due to disease of covid-19, loss of employment, homelessness, hunger, PTSD/mental anguish, family separation, racism, civil unrest, disasters due to climate changes, etc, etc. 2020 is a year that is now behind us, so that now we look forward to all the gifts that 2021 can bring. Yes, there are wounds but they will soon begin to heal, to fade. It is a time for renewal of self, healing of the People. Our activism in climate change lessening is needed more than ever. 2021 is made of 2+0+2+1 = 5. In my fathers teachings, Joseph Rael, Beautiful Painted Arrow the number five (5) is pronounced, Paah-Nu. It means, inspiration which takes us to manifest. You will find this in his book, The Way of Inspiration, he teaches “Inspiration is the key to life. It opens up the door for manifestation.” He is saying to us, Five is the power to Manifest. Let us be inspired to manifest. We manifest mentally by seeing in “wholeness” and we manifest by our action/activism. I call out to all of the People in our extended like minded communities, there are those of us that understand that we CAN aid in making POSITIVE change. It begins with self healing and it extends outward. We must support POSITIVE change and help it to grow.We will do this TOGETHER, we have to. It is TIME!

There are many ways to do so, peaceful protests, recycling, changing legislations, however we can also devotime to praying, chanting & ceremonies by the People. These ceremonies have the POWER to break/shatter, transform actually. We can transform metaphorically the changes that are needed for manifestation. During our winter solstice we bade farewell to the 5th world and entered into the 6th world, which is our new beginning, a new age, it is the Age of Aquarius …. Wishes of love to everyone, please have a happy, healthy and safe rest of this New Year. We can do this! Inspire to Manifest, Manifest, Manifest, M-A-N-I-F-E-S-T!! Blessing in love & light ….

Geraldine Rael Eldest Daughter Joseph Rael Beautiful Painted Arrow Photo Antonella Vicini

EDUCATION Antonella Vicini Education, or educating, both these words come from the same Latin root: “to lead out of” out of what? And towards what? I believe this is the question all educators of any school have asked themselves over and over again. Let’s take a journey in time to check how this term has been widely used as a way to discover what education was, is and can become in our new world. In prehistoric time education revolved around survival and the acquiring of those skills needed for immediate use. It is interesting that, as part of education, story telling is included as well, both in pre historic times and in traditional indigenous population to this day, story telling has had an important role. The stories were told in the long winter night, where the outer darkness was frightening and sitting around the communal fire was a comfort. The stories were told to all age groups, they were shared, they changed with the passing of time, but one goal was clear: to educate the members of the clan or tribe to the common values and knowledge that bounded them together. The little ones probably understood just the adventurous part of the stories, while the adolescents saw the future trials ahead, the adults understood the glorification of their daily lives and the elders (who were the story tellers) distilled the deep and sacred wisdom of each part of their stories. In such a way the stories educated, kept people together, shared common goals and knowledge as well as values which made that particular clan or tribe unique. The first schools in the western world appeared in those areas where the population chose to live in cities and needed a more formal curriculum for a different kind of urban life.

Schools were present in Egypt, in Asia Minor and later in Europe. The first western educational institutions appeared in Greece with the Presocratic scientists of Ionia (The Turkish coast). The teachings happened in the open air, often walking, in constant contact with nature which the scientists of the time were trying to understand with their early scientific methods and expressed in beautiful fragments of poetry. Like the excerpt from Parmenides here below where scientific research is described as a life long effort as well as an initation into the mysteries of nature.

Parmenides on Nature I Ἵπποι ταί με φέρουσιν, ὅσον τ' ἐπὶ θυμὸς ἱκάνοι, πέμπον, ἐπεί μ' ἐς ὁδὸν βῆσαν πολύφημον ἄγουσαι δαίμονος, ἣ κατὰ πάντ' ἄστη φέρει εἰδότα φῶτα· τῇ φερόμην· τῇ γάρ με πολύφραστοι φέρον ἵπποι [5] ἅρμα τιταίνουσαι, κοῦραι δ' ὁδὸν ἡγεμόνευον. Ἄξων δ' ἐν χνοίῃσιν ἵει σύριγγος ἀυτήν αἰθόμενος - δοιοῖς γὰρ ἐπείγετο δινωτοῖσιν κύκλοις ἀμφοτέρωθεν -, ὅτε σπερχοίατο πέμπειν Ἡλιάδες κοῦραι, προλιποῦσαι δώματα Νυκτός, [10] εἰς φάος, ὠσάμεναι κράτων ἄπο χερσὶ καλύπτρας. Ἔνθα πύλαι Νυκτός τε καὶ Ἤματός εἰσι κελεύθων, καί σφας ὑπέρθυρον ἀμφὶς ἔχει καὶ λάινος οὐδός· αὐταὶ δ' αἰθέριαι πλῆνται μεγάλοισι θυρέτροις· τῶν δὲ Δίκη πολύποινος ἔχει κληῖδας ἀμοιϐούς. [15] Τὴν δὴ παρφάμεναι κοῦραι μαλακοῖσι λόγοισιν. πεῖσαν ἐπιφραδέως, ὥς σφιν βαλανωτὸν ὀχῆα ἀπτερέως ὤσειε πυλέων ἄπο· ταὶ δὲ θυρέτρων χάσμ' ἀχανὲς ποίησαν ἀναπτάμεναι πολυχάλκους ἄξονας ἐν σύριγξιν ἀμοιϐαδὸν εἰλίξασαι

[20] γόμφοις καὶ περόνῃσιν ἀρηρότε· τῇ ῥα δι' αὐτέων ἰθὺς ἔχον κοῦραι κατ' ἀμαξιτὸν ἅρμα καὶ ἵππους. Καί με θεὰ πρόφρων ὑπεδέξατο, χεῖρα δὲ χειρί δεξιτερὴν ἕλεν, ὧδε δ' ἔπος φάτο καί με προσηύδα· ὦ κοῦρ' ἀθανάτοισι συνάορος ἡνιόχοισιν, [25] ἵπποις ταί σε φέρουσιν ἱκάνων ἡμέτερον δῶ, χαῖρ', ἐπεὶ οὔτι σε μοῖρα κακὴ προὔπεμπε νέεσθαι τήνδ' ὁδόν - ἦ γὰρ ἀπ' ἀνθρώπων ἐκτὸς πάτου ἐστίν -, ἀλλὰ θέμις τε δίκη τε.Χρεὼ δέ σε πάντα πυθέσθαι ἠμὲν Ἀληθείης εὐκυκλέος ἀτρεμὲς ἦτορ [30] ἠδὲ βροτῶν δόξας, ταῖς οὐκ ἔνι πίστις ἀληθής. Ἀλλ΄ ἔμπης καὶ ταῦτα μαθήσεαι, ὡς τὰ δοκοῦντα χρῆν δοκίμως εἶναι διὰ παντὸς πάντα περῶντα.

English translation by John Burnet (1892) I the steeds that bear me carried me as far as ever my heart Desired, since they brought me and set me on the renowned Way of the goddess, who with her own hands conducts the man who knows through all things. On what way was I borne 5 along; for on it did the wise steeds carry me, drawing my car, and maidens showed the way. And the axle, glowing in the socket for it was urged round by the whirling wheels at eax end - gave forth a sound as of a pipe, when the daughters of the Sun, hasting to convey me into the light, threw back their veils 10 from off their faces and left the abode of Night. There are the gates of the ways of Night and Day, fitted above with a lintel and below with a threshold of stone. They themselves, high in the air, are closed by mighty doors, and Avenging Justice keeps the keys that open them. Her did 15 the maidens entreat with gentle words and skilfully persuade to unfasten without demur the bolted bars from the gates. Then, when the doors were thrown back, they disclosed a widepening, when their brazen hinges swung backwards in the 20 sockets fastened with rivets and nails. Straight through them, on the broad way, did the maidens guide the horses and the car, and the goddess greeted me kindly, and took my right hand in hers, and spake to me these words: Welcome, noble youth, that comest to my abode on the car 25 that bears thee tended by immortal charioteers ! It is no ill chance, but justice and right that has sent thee forth to travel on this way. Far, indeed, does it lie from the beaten track of men ! Meet it is that thou shouldst learn all things, as well the unshaken heart of persuasive truth, as the opinions of

30 mortals in which is no true belief at all. Yet none the less shalt thou learn of these things also, since thou must judge approvedly of the things that seem to men as thou goest through all things in thy journey." The rewards are beyond anything imaginable as he proceeds to explain in the second part: II Εἰ δ' ἄγ' ἐγὼν ἐρέω, κόμισαι δὲ σὺ μῦθον ἀκούσας, αἵπερ ὁδοὶ μοῦναι διζήσιός εἰσι νοῆσαι· ἡ μὲν ὅπως ἔστιν τε καὶ ὡς οὐκ ἔστι μὴ εἶναι, Πειθοῦς ἐστι κέλευθος - Ἀληθείῃ γὰρ ὀπηδεῖ - , [5] ἡ δ' ὡς οὐκ ἔστιν τε καὶ ὡς χρεών ἐστι μὴ εἶναι, τὴν δή τοι φράζω παναπευθέα ἔμμεν ἀταρπόν· οὔτε γὰρ ἂν γνοίης τό γε μὴ ἐὸν - οὐ γὰρ ἀνυστόν οὔτε φράσαις. II Come now, I will tell thee - and do thou hearken to my saying and carry it away - the only two ways of search that can be thought of. The first, namely, that It is, and that it is impossible for anything not to be, is the way of. conviction, 5 for truth is its companion.. The other, namely, that It is not, and that something must needs not be, - that, I tell thee, is a wholly untrustworthy path. For you cannot know what is not - that is impossible - nor utter it; http://philoctetes.free.fr/parmenidesunicode.htm

Later on, from their work, Pythagoras' circles, the sophists and Socrates, the human race achieved its pinnacle in organized education with Plato’s Academy and a little later with Aristotele’s Lykeion. As you can see the words are still with us to indicate higher education institutions.

Pythagoras, the Platonic Academy and the Arystotelian Lykeoin had courses held in the open air, oftentimes walking, in order to underline the deep connection between the health of the inner mind and outer body, pragmatically described in the Latin motto:

MENS SANA IN CORPORE SANO, a healthy mind in a healthy body. Attention to the body and its functions and needs was considered normal and welcome, because a malfunctioning body could not support a functioning and curious mind.

Unfortunately, in the following Christian era this connection was lost, since the body and its appreciaton as the vehicle for the soul, was demonized as pagan and, consequently, disregarded and considered inferior to the mind and soul. We are still paying the consequences of this attitude in our schools to this day! ----------Education means supporting a young person from a state of ignorance of the ways of the world to a stage of knowledge and appreciation of his/her place in society and in his/her contemporary world. This process is still done with stories, with detailed information. However, I wonder if it is always done with love and care for the young soul that is being educated alongside mind and body.

This year of pandemic, when schools have been disrupted so often and for long periods of times, when I have also taught classes online, has made me stop and reflect on the role of education and what we can do, as conscious elders, to support our young ones in their path to knowledge. What can we study in order to educate ourselves? How can we pass on the stories that help us to learn about our past, our common values and the values of people from traditions and histories so different from us? Perhaps a new education is needed, a new way of approaching the delicate process of supporting young minds to grow and face the complex societies and times ahead of them. I believe that we need an education based on deep respect for the integrity and already present awareness of young people, from children to university level, an attitude of listening and observing before imparting knowledge, a sensitivity about the different phases of physical mental emotional and spiritual development of every young person. I am aware that the official programs call for results and too often are stifling for teachers of all levels, but humanizing the dreaded “programs”, making them fit the educators and the students, I believe this is a feasible proposition. I am also aware it is not the easiest path, but I cannot think of a better job in this society than that of educating young minds to an attitude of curiosity, interest and deeper awareness of what surrounds them. Families can also play a very important part in their children’s development by taking an interest, perhaps reprogram and re schedule their outer engagements in order to support their young ones during their more formative years. There are important lessons to be learnt from the pandemic: we can change our priorities, we can go back to living more with our families, instead of exploding into distant units, barely communicating with each other, so lost in our different lives that we rarely meet anymore on a deep level.

Families can be of any kind, not necessarily the one we were born into, but the family of our heart, the one we form with a partner, or the family of friends that we have created over time. In this way the young ones will have a warm place to go back to, where the education of the heart and soul can be done on a daily basis, while their minds are trained in more practical aspects and their bodies are encouraged to develop.

Antonella Vicini

OWNING YOUR LIFE A Report Fredric Lehrman Airports have only been around about 1200 months, and they have spread all over the planet. But now they are not very busy, relatively speaking. Restaurants started showing up a few centuries back and have taken many forms and proliferated in every town or city. But now, in many parts of the world, they are mostly closed or nearly empty. People used to have faces; but now we are told to settle for seeing only their eyes. How is who is where? When will the curtain go up so that the show as we knew it can start again? For how many daymares will this nightmare continue? What on earth did they put in the water? Wherever you are at this moment, consider this: The world as we knew it is changing, not standing still. The remnant cultural norms of life are fading away, leaving open space for discovery and innovation. This was predicted quite accurately in 1982, when a beautiful small book appeared. It was written down in a few weeks by someone in a solitary mountain cabin in California. Under the title, The Starseed Transmissions, it offered a future timeline that reached into the new millennium, up to and beyond the year 2012. The voice speaking through the scribe (Ken Carey), called itself “Raphael.”

Other “channeled” books at that time were already in print or in process of being written (often in trance states), with titles like The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980, Marilyn Ferguson)… True Hallucinations (c. 1980-83, Terence McKenna)… The Global Brain (1983, Peter Russell)… The Helianx Proposition (1984, Timothy Wyllie)… Seth Speaks (1984, Jane Roberts)… Earth Ascending (1984, Jose Arguelles)… The Teachings of don Juan (1985, Carlos Castaneda)… … to name just a few. Concurrently, in the realms of Science and Archeology, boundaries were being breached, new insights articulated, and eventually proven true by such brilliant thinkers as Rupert Sheldrake (The Presence of the Past and A New Science of Life), and Graham Hancock’s writings and lectures on ancient cultures. It has been my fate to have crossed paths with most of these enchanted authors and the beings who sponsored their work. I could go on with a very long list of writers, film makers, and tour guides who have explored the distant past and the possible decoding of the sophisticated knowledge preserved in writings and structures that astonish and mystify us even in this world of Einstein’s Relativity, Bell’s Theorem of Non-Locality, Schrödinger’s Cat, the Internet, and Quantum Entanglement. Let me tell you a few tales about how these mysterious writings come about. Where to begin… First of all, this is being written “from memory,” as my library is currently in storage and inconveniently hard to reach.

All the above-mentioned annotated books may therefore perhaps be slightly misquoted (for now), but I promise to correct any errors in my own “work-in-progress” on the topic of life-long self-education. Let me start with José Arguelles, best known now as the social apostle of the Mayan Calendar and an interpreter of knowledge associated with the year 2012. I met José in 1983, shortly after the publication of Earth Ascending, and a few years later travelled with him and a group of invited scholars on a tour of ancient Mayan cities undergoing restoration in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. We started at Uxmal c.750-900 AD, a jewel of early Mayan culture, and after exploring seven other remarkable sites finished at Chichen Itza, the last phase of Mayan culture that mysteriously “vanished” around 1100 AD, as temple building seemed to stop as the civilization slipped back into the simpler shelter of the forest.

Pyramid of the Magician Uxmal

Chichen Itza

Many years later, in the 1990’s, I decided to revisit José's hypnotic book for the 10th time, and I ended up staying awake all night, re-reading the entire volume, puzzling over the amazing illustrations, charts, and the formulas they expressed. It was coherent, but just beyond my capacity to comprehend. I waited until a civilized hour, and called José at his home. When he answered, I told him that I had yet again been wrestling with his beautiful book; and although the ideas were clearly stated I found them mysteriously difficult to grasp, as if reaching for them caused them to vanish. So I asked him, “José, do you understand this book?” He answered, “Sometimes almost. Maybe we’ll get it after 2012.” So perhaps that’s how you are feeling about the Covid Experience. It’s as if the pieces of the Life Machine are melting like watches in Salvador Dali’s famous Surrealist painting, entitled

“The Persistence of Memory”

The Pesistence of Memory Not only are the watches melting, but our world’s economic and political systems are in flux, and seem in many ways unwilling to “shape up.” In my own sequential self-employed careers as a classical musician, a rebirthing trainer 1972-1993, a professional photographer, a seminar leader, a financial consultant, a cultural trends lecturer and a designer of a new approach to education, I was not expecting to see on that list “becoming a writer.” But I started having my own inexplicable experiences that began in New York City and iby 1980 led me to Seattle, where I found myself establishing a new home. Then began a series of “paranormal” interactions starting with my first visit to Mt. Rainier where, while looking at the mountain, I began to hear a “committee” of voices telling me that I had to start lecturing about the Earth and the crisis of degradation of the planet itself through the shortsighted greed of modern industry. I had been thinking about this since 1970, the year of the first “Earth Day”, but I didn’t feel a need to change my career path in any way to make this a central theme.

So I said to this “committee” that I thought they “had the wrong guy,” The response was immediate and completely unexpected…. they said “JUST DO IT!.” Eight years later, in 1988, I had composed and completed a large coffee table book entitled “The Sacred Landscape” that was published in three editions and remained in print until 2003.

The day after I received my first bound copy, I sat down at my computer to write a letter that had nothing to do with the “assignment” that had taken so long to complete. But I found a phrase floating in my mind, and it wouldn’t go away. So I typed it onto the screen, and looked at the words: “The Earth is where we live.” “Yes, that’s obvious,” I thought. “But what IS this?” And immediately, The Committee, which had been silent for eight years, practically shouted at me: “That’s the first line of the children’s book…the job isn’t done until you tell the children!”

A year later that second book was published under the title, Loving the Earth: a Sacred Landscape Book for Children.

That was back in 1990. But in this year, 2021, I’m beginning to sense the Committee standing by again, but, so far, still silent.

Now finally, let’s get back to “The Starseed Transmissions.”

As clearly as I can remember, this book predicts, in beautiful and calm language, societal events from 1977 through 2012 and beyond. The information in the book was accurate; what was predicted did indeed happen precisely on schedule. Ken Carey has written that, during that month in the cabin in 1977, he was planning on writing a different book; but he felt a strong connection with another intelligence outside his own and decided to simply “take dictation.” The writing style in “Starseed” does not resemble the books he wrote under his own name. Skipping ahead to the predictions for 2005, the voice he called “Raphael” said that, in that year, a “separation” would begin that would gradually split the fabric of life into two divergent levels, one beginning to rise up and the other dropping away in a downward direction. This process would slowly become experiential to the souls that would go with the upward flow, while the “less open” population would choose to hold to the old awareness, and would be “left behind” in that reality.

I visualized it then as a “de-lamination” of the upper and lower surfaces of a wooden table that would split apart into two layers, the top half moving upwards into a fresh and more creative field of energy, while the lower layer would peel away and slowly sink downwards. The next sentence in that chapter said that among the souls “left behind” in their habitual roles would be many bankers and lawyers. (Not all of them; just the greedy ones!)

Anyway, in December 2020 I began thinking again about those 1977 predictions when it became clear to me that we are not going back after COVID-19 clears out, but forward and upward into a state of being where we begin to sense, understand, welcome and help to anchor a whole new reality. Look inward to consider that option. Having tested those possibilities, I have proven to myself that this can be made real.

Take heart; stay around and play your part

Fredric Lehrman

POETRY Zefiro Torna Zephiro torna, e ’l bel tempo rimena, e i fiori et l’erbe, sua dolce famiglia, et garrir Progne et pianger Philomena, et primavera candida et vermiglia. Ridono i prati, e ’l ciel si rasserena; Giove s’allegra di mirar sua figlia; l’aria et l’acqua et la terra è d’amor piena; ogni animal d’amar si riconsiglia. Ma per me, lasso, tornano i piú gravi sospiri, che del cor profondo tragge quella ch’al ciel se ne portò le chiavi; et cantar augelletti, et fiorirpiagge, e ’n belle donne honeste atti soavi sono un deserto, et fere aspre et selvagge. Francesco Petrarca 1304 – 1374 (Canzoniere 310)

Zephyr Returns Zephyr returns and brings fair weather, and the flowers and herbs, his sweet family, and Procne singing and Philomela weeping, and the white springtime, and the vermilion. The meadows smile, and the skies grow clear: Jupiter is joyful, gazing at his daughter: the air and earth and water are filled with love: every animal is reconciled to loving. But to me, alas, there return the heaviest sighs that she draws from the deepest heart, who took the keys of it away to heaven: and the song of little birds, and the flowering fields, and the sweet, virtuous actions of women are a wasteland to me, of bitter and savage creatures.

Francesco Petrarca Translation A.S.Kline

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAtUQQ3npBY Zefiro Torna poetry by Francesco Petrarca, Music by Claudio Monteverdi

VOICES FROM THE STARS Laura Bottagisio The conjunction of Juppiter and Saturn on December 21 st 2020 has given birth to new intentions and a clear inner change. Those people already acting according to the new paradigms can use more detailed information in order to expand the Evolutionary Wave. This wave has been growing over many years on the invisible planes and soon will take on a tangible form, when there is a sufficient number of human consensus to this new model of Life. Evolution is always looking for harmony among those forces that make up our becoming, it uses all the strategies and available tools in order to awake human consciousness, so that it can contemplate Life according to the cosmic principles that direct it. The Cosmic Laws are emanated by Universal Consciousness that is the origin of everything, it takes on a form in the Creation and it radiates from all things, and it moves according to these laws. We human beings are also part of this sacred dance, even if our moves sometimes are limited by our fears. However, we can direct our mind and open the gates of our limitations: what our mind can create, it can dissolve as well. We need to use our free will, a gift from Universal Consciousness to humanity, so that we can act and go towards the light consciously.

This short introduction summarizes the deep and noble meaning of the conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn. This celestial event will influence the events in 2021 and the years to come. The cycles of Jupiter (12 years) and Saturn (30 years) are opposed and conjucted, so that in 60 years they draw a 5 point star and a 6 point star, these geometries represent Humanity working for what is Good, Beautiful and True. https://www.laurabottagisio.com/it/giove-e-saturno-abbondanza-edessenzialita/ The latest conjunction determines the firing of the two stars that will find their common vertex in Aquarius. This kind of event had not happened since 1404, it also marks the official entry in the new Aquarian Age that will last over two thousand years. Cosmic times cannot be understood or perceived by our mind, but are perfectly in tune with our subtle bodies that vibrate at frequencies closer to those of Light. Now it is time to know who we really are, because Jupiter and Saturn work on the activation of our desire to walk on the path of Light. Our human structure is made of different bodies that vibrate at different frequencies. From the denser physical body that allows us to work in the material world, to the soul, the most subtle body, until we reach the Divine Sparkle, Pulsating Heart of the Universe. All of this is inside of us and is waiting to be recognized by us. Saturn is connected to the Karmic law of cause – effect, Jupiter helps us to deal with the Karmic “debt” so that it can be settled. Saturn/Karma and Jupiter/Dharma work together in order to bring back balance, they purify the coercive forces of the past, so that they cannot limit our future planning towards Harmony, Cooperation and freedom for the luminous principle inside us. In order to achieve liberation from ancestral fears, we need to accept and participate in this evolving flux.

If we trust the united action of Jupiter and Saturn, we will have great openings towards a better life. No worries then, if in our daily life there are challenging and conflicting events, these are the reamins of the past that come to the surface so that it can be welcomed, lived and transformed in renewed vitality and energy. In this way we will be able to make the right choices, according to our Soul that now has a glimpse at last of implementing the project chosen before our physical birth on Earth.

Saturn judges and Jupiter loves: love lightens up the pain and neutralizes the judgement. Saturn contracts, Jupiter expands: this is the perrennial breath of Yin/Yang. Saturn is sacrifice and Jupiter is Grace: when we call on the divine, to the action of making sacred every action and thought, the descent of grace surely follows. This is not a religious theory, but it is that movement, that breath of union between above and below that is activated by the 2 planets; this is also represented in in the Aquarian glyph and it is activated by both planets. Jupiter and Saturn, semi slow planets, are the link between the fast planets Mercury, Venus and Mars that interact with personality, and the slow planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto that operate in our deepest part, connecting us to the to the mysterious and (for now) hidden connections within the Cosmos. These connections are “hidden” because we have not yet activated our spiritual sight. Jupiter, connected to sight, becomes vision of the subtle planes when we manage to enter our essence. Only then Saturn, lord of linear time, becomes a wave and it transforms into a focussing force, thus creating the right opportunity and the right time, in perfect alignement and agreement with Celestial Will, this is an harmonic agreement that propagates in the ether. According to the Music of the Spheres, the two planets facilitate this quality leap if we introduce a third force: the venusian polarity of harmony and gratitude. Venus works in order to unite in the name of love.

The connection between ABOVE and BELOW presented by Aquarius and activated by the planetary conjunction Jupiter/Saturn remind us of the Force of Kundalini. She is coiled at the basis of the spine, she rises in a spiraling serpentine motion, she then reaches the seventh level of the head and opens in a crown to receive the cosmic energies when we activate the energies of our Heart. Mother Earth and Heavenly Father unite in us, our creative force draws on and joins with the creative force of Life itself. What a wonderful becoming! This process of ascension, now defined as quantum leap, was decreed on November 2nd 2020, when the conjunction Jupiter/Saturn was formed from the heliocentric perspective, that is, observed from the position of the Sun. In the earthly seasonal cycle, the first days of November always coincide with the start of the initiatory year honored by the ancient Celtic culture. Of the eight steps planned throughout the year, the first three, Samhain Yule and Imbolc (which coincide with All Saints' Day, the Winter Solstice and Candlemas) were accompanied by important planetary passages. One after the other, they have stimulated the Aquarian wave of transformation and the inner marriage between our earthly and heavenly parts. The full moon of Scorpio, the conjunction Jupiter / Saturn and the full moon of Aquarius have definitively activated the Cross of the Fixed Signs, cross of the incarnation and of the Second Birth, whose evolutionary process is identified in merging our physical and our soul heart into a single beat that creates the rhythm of Life.

In the book 'The Development of the New Man', the first of a long series, published in 1989 by the publisher The Age of Aquarius, the author Peter Roche de Coppens starts with this dedication:

"The dawn of a new day rises on the Earth This hour is not a current, but a vortex Each personal world reflects the burning sky For the Fire that devours the old forms " MASTER MORYA

Laura Bottagisio Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE David Kopiecz and Joseph Rael The goal of spiritual practice is self-transformation – yet the self is part of the world, thus, to transform the self is to transform the world. To think of the self in separation from the world is to cease being a self – yet this is often a stage of spiritual transformation, to retreat from the world.

Initiation, as described by Joseph Campbell, Victor Turner, and Arnold van Gennep, involves a separation from the world, an initiation into a new mode of being, and then a return, now transformed, to the world.

When we seek to persist as we are, in static form, we do not exist. When we separate from the world, we do not exist.

Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) tells us:

We do not exist. To understand this truth requires a transformation of one’s way of understanding the cosmos… Our existence comes across to us as a continuum, but it is not. We are constantly flashing on and off, strobe-like, a drumbeat, returning to the silent void and then back again to this perceptual reality. Another way to say this is that we are constantly being unmade and then remade. Each time we are unmade, each time we return to the void, we are changed in the remaking. In fact, it is only in those instants of non-being that we have the power to change. It is only when we are unmade and remade that the new thing can come into this perceptual reality. Change is only possible because we really are not the solid beings in continuous existence that we think we are. Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow), Sound: Native Teachings + Visionary Art, 1-2.

We might say that the only time we really exist is when we allow ourselves to not exist – to go from existence, to being unmade, and then blinking back into form. To persist in form is not to exist, to exist is a process, not an end-point: to be blinking, becoming, building, making. Joseph often tells me that Indigenous languages are verb languages, they do not focus on nouns (person, places, or things), but on relationships and actions between objects. Thus, our human destiny is to be unmade and remade – as often as possible.

Clearance Ceremony

Building Back Better It is obvious that there are a great many things wrong with the world – the spreading virus of the viral pandemic and the political pandemic of fascism and nationalism, all within the context of inequality, racism, xenophobia, greed, climate crisis, and species extinction. We have not been caring for the world – thus we have not been caring for ourselves. Many things have been unmade and now we are at the point of being called to remake the world. Joseph often tells me that the medicine wheel has been broken and our job and our ancestors’ job is to repair, to remake the medicine wheel.

Building back better is a phrase I’ve recently read in world physician Paul Farmer’s writing. His book of commencement speeches to graduating college and medical students is called, To Repair the World: Paul Farmer Speaks to the Next Generation. Farmer, who has spent much of his life working as a doctor in Haiti and Rwanda, exhorts young graduates to not just think of themselves, but to take on responsibility for the world. “It means that we live in a world of horrible inequities,” he writes, “and we are called to do something, as doctors and as humans, to repair the world,” (94). Farmer often uses former US president Bill Clinton’s term “build back better,” (170). When we see that the world is wounded and things have been unmade, our goal should not simply be to put things back to the way they were, or to “get back to normal.”

There were a great many problems with the “old normal,” I think that Bill Clinton, Paul Farmer, and Joseph Rael would agree, we shouldn’t seek to “get back to normal,” rather we should allow ourselves and the world to be remade, to always be building back better.

It would seem a simple enough thing to make the world a better place, yet why haven’t we done it? Why hasn’t it succeeded when we have tried? Maybe because we are too focused on preserving what is rather than focusing on what may be. We are too focused on persistence rather than becoming.

If we listen to the words of mystic, visionary, shaman, Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow), it may be that we do not succeed because we have a false fixed belief about who we are and what the nature of reality is. We do not exist – thus how can we have a problem? Maybe the problem is a result of our faulty mode of being based in persistence, based on me and mine, based on exclusion and hoarding rather than on inclusion, sharing, and caring. Maybe the problem is that we view ourselves as solid matter. Joseph writes, We humans perceive ourselves and the world around us as solid objects, flesh and bone, sitting on a padded chair, or on grasscovered earth. But all these things, the flesh, the bones, chair, grass and earth, are artifacts of one great collective act of perceiving in which all beings participate. What we perceive as solid, having dimensions and colors and other properties, are really just pulses of energy moving or vibrating, each in its unique pattern, so as to interact with our patterns, to excite the senses and create patterns, (Sound, 1).

Joseph’s statement sounds much like quantum physics when he writes, in “our act of perceiving, things take form,” (Sound, 2). Our perception is shaped by our conditioning, unless we undertake spiritual practice to perceive reality as unconditioned – as it really is.

All I am trying to do, here, is make the world a better place and I am all tangled up in not existing, perception creating form (in which case if there is a problem – I am creating it), and I just want to solve the damn problem! Ok, take a breath. Take another. Maybe one more. What is it that Joseph says about breath? “Life is breath, matter, and movement,” (Sound, 1). Joseph also often says that the Tiwa word for God is Wah-Mah-Chi: breath, matter, movement. Therefore, life is God and God is life. If we want to change life, we cannot do it, but we can become hollow bones to let Wah-Mah-Chi flow through us to re-balance and re-harmonize life. If the world is God, then to change the world is a spiritual task.

It is not so difficult to change the world – all you have to do is change the self, but it is difficult to change the self. However, if the self does not exist, then changing it is a piece of cake, or maybe it is impossible – it all depends upon your mindset.

When Joseph and I were working on our book, Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD, Joseph did a ceremony for veterans that was to be done before leaving for war and before coming home. It is a kind of initiation to put one in a spiritual mindset, to carry the burden of war and then to let it go.

Key to the ceremony are the words: nah meh neh – which means earth, and nah – which means self. There is a correspondence between nah and nah meh neh – an identity. The veteran pats his or her chest and hears the sound, nah-meh-neh, nah-meh-neh, nah-meh-neh. Then the veteran pats the earth with his or her hand and hears the sound, nah-meh-neh, nahmeh-neh, nah-meh-neh. The veteran then offers an empty cup to Father Sky and then scoops up some earth and slowly lets it spill from the cup back to the ground. When the veteran returns, before going into the home, he or she repeats the ceremony, only this time pours the cup of nah meh neh back onto Mother Earth in a little pile – then taking one hand and then the other, smoothes the nah meh neh back into Mother Earth, letting go of the things he or she has carried, but no longer needs to carry. The veteran heals by becoming empty like the cup, then full, then empty, then full – like a hollow bone through which Wah-Mah-Chi is flowing. The path of healing is to let go of thinking of yourself as a solid object, to stop holding on to and carrying the things of conflict, war, and struggle. http://www.walkingthemedicinewheel.com/videos/

When the Picuris Pueblo people heard of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they buried their weapons of war. This was more than a symbolic act; it was a healing ceremony to return nah back home to nah meh neh. Picuris Pueblo is 39 miles, as the crow flies, from Los Alamos, where the nuclear scientists worked on nah meh neh to create out of matter a bomb that destroys matter and what matters. Picuris is 238 miles from the Trinity site, where the first atomic bomb was exploded – the place where we first attacked our own soil, our own selves, with a nuclear explosion. WAR. Joseph has described how the sound of each letter has a meaning (see Being & Vibration: Entering the New World, pages 80, 89). W: twice carrying A: purity R: abundance When I first looked at the sound meaning of these words, I couldn’t make any sense out of how something so terrible could have a meaning that didn’t sound that terrible. I thought maybe it had something to do with twice carrying. Maybe we are only supposed to carry things just once. In the nah meh neh ceremony, the veteran lets go of war after he or she is done with it, instead of carrying it twice – once during the war, and then forever after in the only place within the human body that we can carry something – our hearts which are empty chambers like a basket with four compartments. In describing the center of the medicine wheel, whose sound is U, which means carrying, Joseph writes, “The human is a medicine bag. A medicine bag contains articles deemed sacred and holy by the person to whom the bag belongs,” (Being & Vibration, 69).

I figure that our hearts must be these medicine bags.

Center of the Heart

If the creation of a problem is when we over-identify with nah (the self) and forget that the self comes from nah meh neh (the earth), then maybe the problem with war is that it is a split of part of something larger – but what could that be? The word war is part of the word awareness, or a-war-eness. What is awareness? For one thing, awareness is the principle idea of the West in Joseph’s medicine wheel, just as carrying (U) is the principle idea of the center of the medicine wheel. Joseph describes how each direction of the medicine wheel has an inner direction, an outer direction, a vowel sound, a principle idea, and a season. I collected all these into an artwork that we published in Walking the Medicine Wheel: Healing Trauma & PTSD (page 70). You’ll notice that the U tipped to the East. That bothered me for a long time, actually just until this moment. I thought I made a mistake in the implementation of the artwork, placing the U on its side so that it is spilling out rather than facing upward so that it could be carrying. Now, I see there is a meaning in the U spilling to the side as the veteran spills the cup of nah back to nah meh neh. A: purity W: twice carrying A: purity R: abundance E: placement N: self E: placement S: above-below S: above-below

Medicine Wheel

If we interpret the sound meaning of the letters, we can see and hear that war is split off from purity by not placing the self in proper relationship to the above-below. The fact that there is a double abovebelow reminds us that the self is not static, but is in a state of perpetual remaking when in alignment with Wah-Mah-Chi. The double carrying of war is a carry-over of the double orientation to the above-below, the relationship between Father Sky and Mother Earth. Here is what Joseph recently wrote to me about war. “To be free of war is not to think about war-making. Let’s study the three letters of the word, war. W: twice carrying A: purity R: abundance War happens when you are not carrying forth purity and abundance. This is so important that you have to be twice carrying war – you need to always be working for peace. War: is where life dies. War: is where life disappears. The future for planet Earth is that it will no longer be. Life is going to disappear; it will no longer exist.” Here we are back to not existing. We might see that war is a perversion of the reality of reality that it does not truly exist as “reality.” However, in war there is destruction of the material bodies and objects, in spiritual truth there is an appearance and disappearance of breath, matter, movement. War is only one half of the equation, the disappearance through destruction without the appearance through creation.

War is thus a half-finished initiation. This is what warrior-scholar Karl Marlantes realized, “In our culture we mostly undergo a series of partial initiations and we undergo them unconsciously and without guidance,” (What it is Like to Go to War, 10). Marlantes, a Marine, Vietnam veteran, and Rhodes scholar, realized that there was “one very critical issue that was missing from this particular passage of mine―the spiritual,” (11). He realized that, “The Marine Corps taught me how to kill but it didn’t teach me how to deal with killing,” (3). Perhaps it is this missing spiritual element which would help the warrior who has perfected destruction become the healer who has perfected creation. Sometimes human beings turn to war to try to make the world a better place. Maybe that is necessary sometimes, when you get dictators like Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and others. War doesn’t seem like a very good way to make the world better though. It could be the start of an initiation, but as Marlantes points out, war is only the start of an initiation and thus war can never be the whole solution to making the world better. What would be better is if before we got to the place of war we could have the awareness of how to bring ourselves back into a healing orientation to the above-below, to Father Sky and Mother Earth. Our very being is the breath of Father Sky moving into the matter of Mother Earth. We are these three things: breath, matter, movement, and these three things do not exist as something static, but rather are pulsing in and out of existence. When we strive to persist and grab all the toys for ourselves, we cease to exist.

As a physician, psychiatrist, and holistic doctor, my daily work with veterans is trying to heal the wounds of war, to help veterans come home from war to a better place, a place of peace. Now, I understand at a deeper level about the relationship between war and awareness, between destruction and creation, and to Joseph’s teaching that we do not exist.

Yet, Joseph’s spiritual path is not a withdrawal from the world, but a re-entry into the world. From his vision of a Sound Peace Chamber, a circular structure, half above-ground, half below-ground, with men and women sitting in a circle and chanting for world peace – he has supported the creation of over 60 chambers on four continents and been recognized by the United Nations for his work for world peace. Lately, I have been focused on the concept of medical activism – the need for health care professionals to look beyond the suffering of the individual in their consulting room, and beyond the incessant prompts of the electronic medical record system, to look out into the world and to see the root causes of the suffering in the world and how they are creating more suffering patients for us. (See “Medical Activism: A Foundational Element of Professional Identity,” November 16, 2020 on my Being Fully Human blog).

Would not the wise healer intervene in the world before someone has become sick, rather than after the ravages of illness have disoriented and imbalanced the body? Would it not make more sense to solve our problems through awareness rather than war?

Planting the Seed of the Heart

Let me tell you, no matter the political outcome of war, the aftermath is very messy and painful and it continues for the lifespan of the warriors who struggle to return home in mind and spirit and soul, even after they have returned home in body.

Medical activism means bringing the awareness of creation and healing into the consciousness of the world. We have enough war and destruction. We have enough illness and suffering – both from the pandemic of Covid19 and the pandemic of fascism. We have had enough of the division and separation of the self from the world, of the nation from the community of nations.

There is no nah without nah meh neh; there is no self without the selfworld-place. Enter this book of my teachings as if you were climbing down into a kiva for sacred ceremony. Do not come to be instructed. Come to be initiated, (Joseph Rael, Sound, 3).

David Kopiecz and Joseph Rael

QUILTING AWAY After Covid-19... What ?… Lida Perry This past year (2020) has been apocalyptic. The whole word has faced incredible and unexpected challenges. The Pandemic has descended upon us quickly and aggressively. It has left us disoriented, scared and uncertain, as if we had awoken and found ourselves in a strange and unfriendly place, not sure whether we could survive. This virus has been very democratic, it has not discriminated! Everybody has been touched by it, at all levels: personally, physically, emotionally, socially, financially and spiritually. Many of us tried to harness all our resources, not only for survival, but we have also struggled to find a reason to this grave and unfamiliar situation where nothing seemed certain, where the only certainty was that everything was changing. We desperately needed to find a meaning, a context to give us some solace. Much has been written and said about the effect of the Pandemic. Articles were written, discussion were facilitated by “experts”, media had numerous interviews, all grasping and spinning theories, disastrous scenarios, hopeful visions, in the effort to trace the origin of the virus, it’s potential and long lasting effects, and all of this in the present historical context. However, very few have tried to look behind the present moment and the immediate effects.

What if there are other ways to read this event? Many questions come to mind: What if we consider what Covid-19 has brought to the world consciousness? If we consider this event in a larger context, could we find some answers and deeper meaning? Could we imagine it as a strong push towards a new step in humanity’s evolution.? We could argue that the Pandemic has awoken our collective consciousness from a deep sleep, after all we seem to have been lulled in our unconscious state by the search for happiness, feeling safe in our comfort zone, appeased by material things, all of these outside ourselves. For the sake of argument: why can't we consider other elements that come to play in the dynamics of the collective unconscious and the energetic force of the universe? Twenty years ago we entered a new Millenium and the Age of Aquarius, although only now we begin to feel its real impact. Ray Grass writes in one of his articles* that the Age of Aquarius is important on several levels: “It can open us to a reconciliation of our divine and human nature, ushering a more practical approach that manifests our spirituality in everyday context” He continues by asserting that the Aquarian Age: “opens up unlimited possibilities of existence and offers access to our free will, not only subjective but also at a collective level”. In the past two hundred years psychology has helped us in understanding the working of our mind, science has given us knowledge of the laws that run our world. All of this has helped us become more detached, more conscious and aware that we have many choices in our life- experience.

We cannot see the choices if we are inside our experience. “ We cannot see the forest for the tree” recites an old proverb. This might be the moment and the push for humanity to undergo an awakening in its evolution that is open ended, here enters the free will. In various esoteric texts, there is the idea that human beings have the capacity of free will and spiritual growth because of the separation from the cosmic source.

C. Jung explained this idea when analyzing the Myth of Creation. In simple terms, Paradise for Jung is symbolic of the blessed unconsciousness of Adam and Eve, the serpent represents the push toward evolution and awareness. Leaving the source, Paradise, the humankind began a journey that brought the development of a rational detachment and the possibility to choose wisely or unwisely**. The awakening of rationality brings danger, responsibility and pain. The Pandemic can be seen as the symbolic snake of the garden, it has given us the choice and the possibility to create a new social order where human beings live consciously and rationally, aligned with the divine order, by choice. “Here we can see the highest aspect of Aquarius with its potential for enlightened rationality” ( Grass) only then we can re-enter the Garden on our own volition through an understanding of the universal laws. “So what we expect the Aquarian Age to bring? “Some imagine a time of peace, love and brotherhood, while others envision a bureaucratic nightmare” (Manly Hall 1998) Most likely and optimistically there will be a reconciliation between these two extremes. Now what seems to be happening in the world is a strong tension between new approaches, ideas, creative energies and the restraining forces of conservative positions that want to hold on to the old familiar ways and resist changes. The only way out it is not compromise but reconciliation. One way to solve the tensions and the conflicts could be to use this strong energy collectively in a constructive way. Another side of this scenario is the personal aspect, if we want change into a new paradigm, each one of us must transform our lives to facilitate this process of global trasformation.

This is our task and this is where we need to put our attention! “Sometimes a single event from history can serve as a symbolic benchmark in the transition from one era to another” (Ray Grass, 1988)

Lida Perry Edited by Antonella Vicini *Ray Grass: The Mystery of free will. Aquarius and the Awakening of consciousness, 2002 **C.Jung Psychology of the unconscious, 2003, Dover Pubblication

Ancestral Roots Claudiu Murgan She sat on a rough cotton rug, striped with primary colours, eyes closed, palms resting on her crossed legs. The clearing in the forest, away from the beaten path and noise pollution of the city, called her silently. It was a patch of grass like the eye of a giant, wide open and looking upward. Around it, Douglas firs, proud and straight like a crowd of old English gentlemen gathered at the country club, mingled with wide and wise oaks whose trunks seemed to morph into wolves, bears, owls, and half-distorted human faces. They were the spirits that had haunted the forest and imprinted themselves in the ancient bark. There was no smell or sound in the void created by her presence, but she could sense familiar energy entities, hovering at the edges of the protective space and the tips of the trees. The tobacco bundle seemed to appear in her right hand, smouldering. First, she inhaled the smoke, then, with her left hand, she moved it slowly over her head, under her arms, and around her legs. The purification was a part of her ancestral ritual, a ceremony that now, as the only survivor of her tribe, had to perform by herself. A gentle nudge of thought replaced the tobacco with a rattle, and the beat started on its own as if embedded into her subconscious. The rhythm brought trepidation to her body, wave after synchronized wave until her physical surroundings disappeared. “Hey Ayayayaaa!” she yelled, unencumbered by mental limitations and empowered by the rise and fall of electricity dangerously convulsing her body.

The spirit of the wolf howled back, deep and profound as if ecstatic to have found its matching soul. A raven passed by, picking up her immaterial message to deliver it to her ancestors and family, now decimated by a wave of human evolution they could neither understand nor adapt to. She was the only material proof left of a tier of knowledge in humanity’s history who knew how to understand nature, how to thank Her for the nurturing offered in return, and how to connect with the realm of the spirits. Over the last century, her ancestors had migrated north into Canada from the Mid-west, pushed by the scorching weather that had depleted the land of its fecundity. It took her a while to readjust to the new surroundings, and only after identifying the patch of forest that became her ceremonial ground, her soul had found a level of peace. She let the rattle fall, and her hands touched the grass. She pushed her fingers into the mushy soil, reconnecting with the underground world. The heavy scent of the layers of composting pine needles, moss, and twigs almost choked her. With eyes closed but her mind alert, she pushed her thoughts beyond the clearing to those waiting for the sign that she was the same loving, empathic, and energy-sensitive being that represented their tribe as a time capsule might. Trauma, pain, and injustice poured through the shivering, emptying her and releasing the hooks that might have kept her in a state of spiritual stagnation. The intensity of her chanting increased, allowing energy to download and fill her almost pristine shell. The ancestors were there for her like a shield against the ever-pervasive dominating and consuming civilization. No one else wanted the knowledge she accumulated during these ceremonial sessions—how to reach and awaken the inner-self, how to live nimbly on a exhausted land, and why one should acknowledge that which is a part of the energy matrix that touched everyone. The members of her computerized society wanted access to every material need, while their minds were permanently connected to the crystal cloud, conversing in virtual chatrooms.

She didn’t want to go back to that spiritually-dry world where people noticed and admired her elongated pitch-black eyes and the hair reaching down to her waist. They marvelled at her Indigenous features, disregarding the ancient wisdom to which she repeatedly implored them to listen. She felt uprooted even if she was born in a suburb of the metropolis and had access to the same gadgets that made life complacent. Her colleagues’ faces— mere masks of permanent rictuses— made her feel even more displaced, pushing her to find the solace of the natural cathedral every time an anxiety attack hit her. She wanted to stitch herself into the ground’s canvas, already decorated with pastels of greens, reds, and browns, held by the roots of the oaks to become one of them, offering her bark to her ancestors to draw on the untold story of their disappearance. But the message she received was one of relentlessness. She would try one more time to transform those from the city. After that, she would definitely put down roots in the forest. *

The city expelled her. It didn’t like what she represented: the vestige of a world that had to be destroyed so a new one, more evolved, take its place. She felt like a bad seed in danger of soiling the healthy ones while waiting the harvest. The system pushed her out and deleted her digital imprint from all the databases that required identification in return for social daily needs. The forest patch became her home throughout the two seasons, dry and rainy, that split the year equally. The society’s shunning gave her the respite for deeper inner inquiry, for answers that escaped her rational mind in the tumultuous city life. Her Soul screams for recognition from behind the daily mask painted with grimaces, smiles, euphoria or clouds of unhappy memories. It is Love that her Soul wants to share with the world.

Its restlessness will soon break the Teutonic armour that centuries of social oppression muffled its pristine voice and childish manifestation. God never gives up on a Soul, she thinks. Once awaken into the bliss of the ever-present Divinity, the Soul starts a quest never quenched by normality, repetition, and dogma-altered minds by dark millennia. The Soul becomes a spiritual Don Quixote venturing into uncharted territories of feelings, sensations, and enhanced experiences, yearning for a deeper reconnection with a Father lost at birth.

Claudiu Murgan Photos Antonella Vicini

INTO THE MATTER The Power of Music Andrea Exo One year ago I was talking on these pages about how important inner exploration is and how important it is to "not die inside." A year later, it seems that the focus is always outwards: towards those who live around us, the newspapers, the magazines, the television... What's not working? "We and the earth are one." Restrictions on our freedom are hardly a problem for those who live in the suburbs or in the countryside: fields and farms, wide open spaces, freedom to move around. But in cities those living in large buildings, perhaps on the 20th floor, certainly have other problems: the constant noise of their neighbors, lack of contact with nature, their smartphones and computers as the only contacts with the outside world. There are two kind of people: people who can't get by without social contact, and the people, like me, who love contact with others but who are perfectly fine for weeks on their own, isolated, in meditation. So what can we do if we are forced to live in the cemented walls and if technology is the only means of contact with the outside world? Inner research can benefit from something that, 20 years ago, was not available to everyone. An effective medicine, a therapy without contraindications: listening to music.

I remember very well that as a kid I had a hard time hearing the songs I liked. CDs had just been released and they cost a lot of money. Online music was starting to appear but downloading was illegal and from this illegality came the paid services like Spotify. But, without having to pay, Youtube is saturated with great music, videos that teach meditation, yoga classes... There is definitely no shortage of content. It is good for us to remember that by dreaming we are able to visit places we have never seen before, we can even change shape and become an eagle, go from man to woman and vice versa, eat exotic dishes. Meditation and imagination combined with appropriate sounds can project us into new worlds at no cost. I want to be clear that these opportunities do not replace direct contact with the earth, they cannot replace the healthy silence of nature, they don't give us the need to breathe invigorating mountain air, or the well-being given by sea air.

However, if when we are at the sea we "lose ourselves" in the aperitif and when we are in the mountains we only think about where to eat, there is still a lot of work to be done and time is short. Time is short because we don't know when we will come out of the emergency. Time is short because, even if it ended tomorrow, a year has gone by and no one will give it back to us. Several actors have deleted themselves from social networks lately. Too many people comment violently on posts. Haters have become a category of people and they seem to have a profession. Where is the "know thyself" or "love thyself" if what we show about ourselves is the worst side? No one is happy to stay home during lockdowns. But if it is imposed on us there are only two options. Either rebel or live with the condition. But attacking, blaming, hating is not an option. Music has also expressed anger. It often helps to focus it. But anger must be vented by singing and dancing. There are countless groups that tell the story of man's struggle against injustice, poverty, differences. Listening to them helps one feel less alone.

There is also an additional aspect. With smartphone apps, with the new software synthesizers you can also play, compose, learn an instrument. When I was young you needed attitude, money, a good instrument and a good teacher. With technological simplifications we can find within ourselves the necessary discipline and learn online. I would have wanted that option 20 years ago! Since we are forced to stay more at home, we can find the inner depth. With good background music, moreover, we can rediscover sports such as chess and find entertainment.

All cultures have their own songs. For example, every ceremony has sounds or music before, after and during the most salient moments. In an old article on these pages, I emphasized how "the word is creating." Everything in the universe has its own vibration. Every atom has its own frequency until it is destroyed. The are two eternal alternatives: create or destroy. Good music can show us the way to salvation.

Andrea Exo Edited by Antonella Vicini

ARS MEDICA Cosnciousness and Ideals Samantha Fumagalli and Flavio Gandini Medicine should be the art of healing and not the: “Science that studies diseases, their cure and prevention” For this reason, according to our view point and Dermoreflexology®, the art of medicine is prevention above all aspects: looking after ourselves in a conscious way, we can adopt lifestyles and choices in agreement with our feelings, thinking, being and will. Countryside living can be considered a healthier life choice than city living which is usually more polluted. However, if a person desires the excitment of a metropolis: the theatres, museums, cultural events, different kinds of jobs, the courses available, the many services, etc... How much will it cost him/her give up all these things in order to breathe clean air in contact with nature? Since our choices are totally subjective, the main point is knowing ourselves, thus making the appropriate choices: that will make us happy and satisfied and conscious that the benefits far outweigh the inevitablel costs. Besides, we will be able to take full responsability for our choices and the decision to change them, when they didn't work for us any longer. The same line of reasoning works for medicine as well: how, why and when we look after ourselves, this aspect also includes the choice of medications, what kind of test and analysis, treatments, etc.

Medicine, as a science of diseases, their prevention and cure, can think it has the right to impose tests, diagnosis, prognosis and cures based on statistics studies; however, being based on figures only would undermine men and women's sacrosanct right to be human beings,with conscience, spirit and will. It is essential to evaluate the entire health state of a person, based on his/her lifestyle as well as personal choices, whenever we are confronted with a disease and the need to make decisions about a cure or medications. Otherwise, we end up treating everybody in the same way, oftentimes choosing the least worst rather than the best, but the least worst is not necessarily good. It's just not so bad! A “tailor” made medicine si more difficult, tiring and busy, like good politics and a good life! Perhaps it is even a dream, pure utopia. But if we stop aiming high, looking at the best, pursuing noble ideals, what are we left with? Only a progressive and unstoppable human degradation “The ideal is for us what a star is for the sailor. It cannot be reached, but it guides us.” Albert Schweitzer "A man without dreams, without utopias, without ideals, would be a monstrous animal, a boar with a degree in pure mathematics." Fabrizio De André

Samantha Fumagalli and Flavio Gandini Translation, edition and photo by Antonella Vicini

DRUIDRY Philip Carr – Gomm This volume Philip introduces us to one of his Tea With a Druid regular meetings: OUR BEING AS A FIELD OF FLOWERS Enjoy his reflections on the Equinox time, the time of the year and its consequences. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bu7mBVcT6DI&t=292s Enjoy his wisdom and deep knowledge both of druidic western tradition and eastern mysticism.

A.Vicini

CHAKRAS Evolutionary Wheels Chiara Corte 1. MULADHARA The “ chakras’ system is an evolutionary path”. * These were the words used by Gabriella Cella, my Yoga Master in the early 2000s. For a long time, those words meant nothing to me, even though I have been studying, practicing and teaching about chakras all my adult life. Back then, I understood that chakras were a logical sequence, I knew that energy went along the spine in a continuous flow, from the first chakra all the way up to the seventh. I knew it mostly because I had been taught like this and I believed it. I didn’t doubt the teachings, so I practiced trustfully, faithfully and for a long time. My teacher also said: “you

don’t have to believe me you have to find out yoursel" and so I did. One day I asked myself what does “evolutionary” really mean? What is the actual shape of a chakra ? I also began to wonder in which way chakras could encourage me to evolve in my life, and how they could become more than a fascinating theory, but life itself. How could they be considered not only an addition to powerful physical exercises, but also a conscious evolution through life?

What if I could practice, I mean really practice, the journey of development in my body-mind and spirit? By then, I had already learnt that yoga becomes interesting when it transforms your daily life in a concrete way.

Doctor Mukund Bhole ** once said: “most of my medical research happened on my yoga mat, practicing and meditating” (from a workshop in Genoa, June 2nd 2014)

So, I dared to do the same, I sat on my yoga mat and asked myself: What is a chakra? Why is that particular color traditionally attributed to i? There were endless questions. I followed in the path of the ancient Visionary Yogy practitioners: I practiced and I saw… This is also my invitation to you: please dare, leave the box of definitions and follow your evolutionary journey into your chakra system, explore it with your inner vision and find your own answers. For some my personal experience could be inspiring, maybe you will allow me to guide you through this journey that starts at the base the root chakra: PART 1- MULADHARA STEP 1 THE HOLY MOUNTAIN Where exactly is the Muladhara chakra? Let’s sit in the earth-related asana: the Holy Mountain.

Keep the spine straight, shoulders opened, stretch your arms above your head and lift your hands clasped up to the sky, legs and feet stay relaxed. Please breathe regularly and calmly. Feel your entire body in space. When the arms, the hands and the spine are aligned, the Muladhara point of contact can be clearly perceived. This point is a coin size part of your pelvic floor, between the anus and the genitals. Use your sense of touch, extend your capacity of feeling until you can easily touch the ground with your perineum. The Holy Mountain is a hard asana***, it is challenging to maintain it for a long time in complete stillness, but it is very useful, because it makes us able to imagine how strong and rooted we are: the position of the arms represents our root in the sky. You can imagine the same triangle going down into the earth from your pelvic floor to the ground as in a mirror. The upside down pyramid.

In this asana you can have the experience of the chakra as tridimensional, this position involves your physical body as well as your energetic one, that is wider than our physical one and includes various elements, in this case earth.

STEP 2 ADITY (The untamed land or mother of all gods) Which shape does Muladhara really have? Ease your body into the Adity asana.

Put your legs in a square form and lay down upon them. Hold on to your contact with Muladhara. Send your breath right there in Muladhara, and explore the shape and eventually the depth of your root, the name Muladhara means “the root”. Allow colors to emerge. Traditional teachings described the first chakra as a yellow or red square presided by a black elephant in a golden frame.

Let your personal vision emerge while breathing. All those elements appeared in my vision; a red root shaped like an inverted crystal pyramid whose base is made out of a golden frame. Said frame is the so-called gate of the underworld, where the black elephant preserves the unconscious memories of humanity. Even mine and yours are preserved there! STEP 3 PRITVI (The earth) How can we draw nourishment from the earth? Settle in Pritvi asana.

Keep in touch with the earth, the great container of our unconscious aspects. Place your hands upon the earth. Maintain the contact between Muladhara and mother earth.

Like roots filter nourishment from the soil, so you absorb from Muladhara one rejected aspect of yourself and open the door to your shadows. Do it consciously with a strong intent, one at a time, while breathing slowly. Take the energy that will come and hold it. Make its acquaintance and it won't be a scary energy anymore, instead it will be a pure one available to you, ready for the next adventure in the second chakra. As you percolate your shadow-aspect, be brave and let memories appear, make space for revelations, intuitions, remembrances, explanations, emotions one by one. If/when it’s too intense, you can stop the process, and stay still. Breathe. Take your time. Often it is not easy nor pleasant but it’s the transformation process that dissolves and releases. It is the first step out of seven: the ancient journey of chakras' evolution. STEP 4 SARPASANA (The snake) The serpent is a powerful symbol of transformation. It is the only animal that is capable of transcending the four elements of existence: it lives on the earth, it swims in the water, it breathes the air and it crosses the fire. That's why I consider it to be the ideal asana to complete this part of our journey. So let's lay down, breathe and you will enter this powerful body twisting. Lift your right leg. Then put your right foot upon the left knee, while your left hand reaches the right knee and pulls it to the ground. keep the right shoulder in contact with the ground.

Please allow the benefits of this practice to settle down and let them bring you to a higher level of consciousness. This set of four asanas is studied to guide you in the exploration of the first chakra Muladhara. This is my way of experiencing the first chakra through selected asanas. This is the first step of an evolutionary journey from Muladhara to Ajna and eventually Sahasra Chakra in order to empower our practice with authentic and personal material, as well as a way to discover the intimate sense of the chakra wheels.

Chiara Corte Edited by Antonella Vicini

NOTES: *The Literature about chakras is immense, I suggest you start with the article already published in THE BADGER Year 1 Volume 3, June 2015 by Giosie Colagrossi. Gabriella Cella Al-Chamali, Yoga Ratna, 1998 Chiara Corte, Yoga e danza, 2006 ** Dr. M.V.Bhole, Experiential Yoga, Yoga Anubhava. Anubhava is the sanskrit word chosen by Dr. M. V. Bhole to describe his approach to yoga as an educational and therapeutic tool, as well as an art and science of self-realisation. One of the meanings of the term anubhava is sensing, feeling and experiencing. In this approach, experiencing one’s breathing movements in simple postures is used for the relief of physical tension and to correct functional imbalances in the body, for the development of greater self-awareness and for meditation. Students and patients are helped to understand the mechanics of breathing and to correct any inconsistencies found before working with the specific techniques of yoga. This work on breathing, asana and pranayama is grounded on a thorough examination of the core texts of yoga, especially Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Hathapradipika of Svatmarama, as well as anatomy and physiology. http://www.yoganubhava.com/international/English/Home.html *** Asana = physical posture to be gradually achieved in Hatha Yoga.

FOLK DANCES An Introduction Duilio Manfrini and Gabriella Madonia Folk dances are one of the cultural expressions of rural society. They have always had many functions: they create social cohesion and identification. Folk dances are both expressive and recreational, they underline the importance of rituals and ceremonies. The dances mark the cycle of the year: the seasons, the harvest and grape festivals, local feasts, etc. They can also have practical purposes: to firm the barnyard, to prepare the beaten earth at home, to support the the fulling of buckwheat, crush the flax seeds, drive away wolves, snakes, etc. Folk dances are also magical: they help to grow hemp, encourage new broods, chase away sorcerers on the first night of May, defend wheat from parasites, make the nannies have abundant milk, make rain during drought times, etc. Therefore, dance is a social activity: it expresses, manifests and strengthens the bonds that unite men with each other and with the environment in which they live and which supports them. At the beginning, Rural Society is a closed community, it expresses itself with circle dance often accompanied by songs. It is a form of community dance that unites the dancers in a close knit group, without differences of age and sex. The participants experience the sensation of being part of a single reality. The circle of dancers turns completely inward excluding those who do not participate in the dance.

These peasants dance as they live: they take their neighbor by the hand and arrange themselves in a circle and this gratifies them because it implies the same type of social relationship that they experience every day. Then the community begins to open up to the outer world: so the dances in an open chain are born. The male roles in the community begin to show outside, they are usually positioned at the head and at the end of the chain; there is a greater personalization in behavior and a differentiation between the sexes. This new style makes us think that society was no longer closed and withdrawn into itself: communion is replaced by travel, the gaze of the dancers is turned outward, the chain moves in search of connections with the surrounding environment, both natural and human. The dance now reveals the variety of relationships existing within the confines of society. Between the XVIII and XIX centuries we see the importance of couples in dances. The new figure dances are born; all these dances can be traced back to Country Dances.

Couples are free to move according to their imagination and music. Their relationship with each other and with the other dancing couples in the same space becomes more important. Dances now express the chance of meeting new people. Eventually, we find the dances for closed couples: waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, etc. These dances become very popular in the XIX century, they came from the city and are repeated in an identical way in traditional settings. However, the two world wars of the XX century have almost entirely wiped out the traditional peasant society with its centuries-old traditions. A new society has taken over, driven by economics. So we need to remember that we belong to a different society from the ones that created Folk Dances. Folk dances as a communication tool still maintain all their power today, just as it was in the past: they are easily accessible and everyone can participate in them, besides every group can dance their roots and share them with others in a new global square. The main characteristic of Traditional Dances is the pleasure it creates for the dancers engaged in the movements.

Whether the dance is the recreation of historical moments, or celebration of yearly festival in a circle, dancing these movements connects us to our roots and gives meaning to our steps.

Duilio Manfrini and Gabriella Madonia Translated and edited by Antonella Vicini

REFLECTING ON OUR TIMES Rosella Fanelli This past year has invaded us with the offers of many courses, services, experiences that we can comfortably experience from home, with a short investement of time, at a very low price... What has happened to our real daily experiences, the ones we can feel with and on our bodies? The same reflections we can make about all the different aspects of our lives, so deeply impacted by the pandemic. For me it is the artistic performance in front of an audience, now virtually connected from remote places. When I dance, the sweat coming out of my body while I do the chakkar (Typical pyrouettes of Kathak dances), can this be perceived, felt and smelt if we are far away from each other? The light in the eyes of the dancer, while she represents the different emotions of love, astonishment, sadness, anger... can she evoke an empathetic reaction in the viewer? The viewer, on the other side of the screen, focuses on the space, its colors, furnishings, colorful costumes, and the artist's degree of photogenicity. The lights play a fundamental role, as does the audio quality of the video camera. But how does a performer feel when the video goes into OFF mode? As a performer and dancer I can testify that a whole series of feedbacks, usually triggered in real time: glances, applause, disagreements, nervousness, chatter are entirely missing. This is all useful information for the performer who can thus adjust his/her performance accordingly!

Communication becomes dumb and deaf, almost one-way. Therefore, it is difficult to reach the so-called Rasa, that is the emotional apex in which the scenic representation culminates, according to Indian aesthetics. The visual aspect prevails which is dependent on a more or less high quality of the technical equipment available. It follows that the technique is the master once again, it wins because it becomes decisive for the success of the show and of all the artist's work. And so, while in the past a lot of time was used to improve the artistic work on the psycho-body level, resorting to long and exhausting rehearsals, so that an excellent result could be reached; now a lot of time must be spent on the computer, doing remote tests, checking the audio equipment, video-cameras... All this preparation is needed even if you are simply at home, even if you do not have adequate skills and equipment, excellent knowldege of technology is required to continue to do your work as an artist.

What will the result be? A more phantasmagoric art, perhaps even more precise, but deprived of the emotional strength of presence. We Indian dancers are used to a bare scene, barely with a statue of Shiva Nataraja on the side of the stage. In the center stands the artist, who becomes a mediator between god and man, with one arm raised above the head and the other pointing downwards and he/she seems to say: everything I take from You (Divine), I (dancer / medium ) I pass it to the world!

The Indian dancer takes on an evocative role through his artistic skills: Abhinaya expressiveness of the face and eyes, gestures (Mudra), costumes / ornaments / make up (Aharya Abhinaya) are all encoded in the ancient tradition. He/she has also an educational role because the ultimate goal of dance-theater is to raise the state of consciousness in order to allow the human being to evolve, to emancipate him/herself in terms the perception of his/her own Self.

Often after a performance there is an awakening, one returns home with a feeling of renewed hope, a greater desire to express grace, kindness, courage, these are essential virtues for the transformation of the world. For the reasons explained above and more, I believe there is a need to include the artistic disciplines in the education of children and adolescents, as well as adults in order to receive training based on self-knowledge, on concentration of the mind, on the correct functioning of the breath, on grace, on the awareness of true inner freedom. I want to underline here how neuro-scientific investigation has finally shown the close relationship between dance, and in general the activity of movement, with cognitive processes. The physical exercise of the Kathak dance, for example, produces its benefits first on the brain, and then on the rest of the body, since the brain is unable to produce or store autonomously the "fuel" it needs to function properly. The brain draws 20% of the available energy from the body, hence the importance of an adequate dynamic psycho-physical practice, especially under stressful conditions such as the historical period we are living in, afraid and paralyzed by a disease that attacks the respiratory tract symbol of energy and communication,

By dancing we tune in to a non-verbal and pre-symbolic communicative register to grasp meanings where words remain stifled, we give voice to emotions, and this involves an integration of the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Aerobic activity stimulates the release of neuronal growth factors, it helps to strengthen neurons, to promote synaptic plasticity (the connections between neurons), stimulating the development of new neurons in the hippocampus (a region of the brain mainly involved in learning and memory). Devoting time to a systematic psycho-physical practice such as Indian dance influences the morphology, functions and integrity of the brain. Both attention and memory disorders benefit from it Perhaps this pandemic suggests a truce between the world of science and the humanist one, it shows us that it is no longer possible to ignore science, that the latter, in proceeding with its discoveries, will have to take into account the importance of Art, Poetry, Humanism. The great writers, from Flaubert to Proust, have never stopped believing that scientific culture is central to understanding the human being, just as many exponents of science are inviting a new scientific humanism. We are redefining the world view with a middle ground between the consolatory myths, on which cultural humanism is based, and the wonders of science that seek continuous verification. In conclusion, I am reminded of the dialogue between East and West which becomes the current commitment of all of us, citizens of the globe, who have the task of filling the gap between peoples. The experience of oriental culture in comparison with the western one, can become one of the bridges to ferry those who desire an inclusive, peaceful, better world.

Rosella Fanelli Edited and Translated by Antonella Vicini

WITNESSING In this column we let the protagonists tell their stories, today is time for Bri to share her path towards a new life and a new job.A. Vicini.

Eat Pretty Feel Pretty Bri Bruce As someone who lost 50kg over ages 22-25 and is now 32 and still happily climbing mountains with glowing skin, I’m often asked about food. I’m in the best shape of my life, and I feel fantastic. Here’s what I’ll say, though please know it’s challenging to shrink a 3decade journey and a 2-½-year weight loss journey into tweet-size philosophy, the kind demanded of me when questions are asked in the moment when people learn of the 50kg difference. “Wow!’ they exclaim. “How’d you do it?!” They want to know SOMEthing, and I only have a few seconds to fit a (short) lifetime of learning in. One thing I often say, in these moments after years of thinking is: “Don’t give up. Even though you will. Begin again until you have the body you want. There is no secret.” But in general there is something more complex but articulable I tend to stick to for myself, because I eat like a “drunk child” I often say and am no health role model on some days, but on others I am: some days ice cream or chocolate cake for breakfast and some days a healthy eggs benedict with fresh fruit, veggies and nuts. Behind all the madness and apparent chaos is certainly structure and, to me, obvious order: Eating beautiful, color-balanced, truly delicious meals regularly - once a day-ish, maybe 3-6 nights a week - gets me the nutrition and soul nourishment I need and my body needs.

More than that, it starts to erase the western-civilization-created distinctions between mind, body and soul that might be imaginary as far as I can tell - perhaps no difference in what I and my body ever need. And isn’t that obvious when I put it like that? But I grew up with that cleft - those distinctions - between mind, body and soul - firmly rooted in the Alabama Baptist religion I grew up in, in my community around me - school, family, eventually work. From being told to finish everything on my plate because there are starving children in Africa to growing up from the age of two as a ballerina trained to dissociate and deny the pain her body was experiencing...most of my early experiences weren’t about nourishing my body. And most of my emotional expressions were met with a demand to repress. “Suck it up,” “tough it out,” “only babies cry” - I know it’s worse for men, and the patriarchy’s oppression extends to all people. But at this moment let’s focus on me and how all those threads came together to weave a tapestry of - looking back with no shame or pain at the moment - a pretty severe food disorder by a young age, perhaps as young as 8 staring in the mirrored rooms of ballet studios with other girls taller and skinnier or heavier and thicker-chested than me and feeling what we all feel: inadequate. Trying to find some way to control that feeling of inadequacy, especially as life continued to spiral out of control as my parents divorced, became an obsession. Food and my body through ballet were things I COULD control - even if I couldn’t control my dad moving out. Oh the schisms! My heart still goes out to that younger version of myself as I keep working to extend to my present self patience and compassion as the story continues. At 17 I moved to Italy this tapestry of impossible reconciliations - like my own self constantly divorces itself to exist with so much cognitive dissonance. Italy’s food changed me.

Italy had smaller fridges, for one obvious thing! My host-mother in a village of 5,000 had no microwave, and when she finally got one months into my stay, she regarded it like I sometimes regard witchcraft - more suspicion than is rational. There, people finished everything on their plates because it was tasty, tasty, and went back for seconds and thirds of smaller portions - not because they had to - though I noticed children will be children and even Italian children preferred noodles and parmesan to the more advanced dishes we were eating. Also the food itself, the produce and cheese and bread and meat I presume (I don’t eat more meat than seafood & I always prefer veggies), tastes so much better in Europe and so much of the rest of the world because it’s not grown - as I learned in the monocrop soil of the United States I grew up in. The soil isn’t supposed to grow only one thing, like we’re not only supposed to eat one color or kind of food or do one of kind of building/artmaking - creative or destructive -to live a balanced existence. As far as I can tell, things in nature on this earth exist in balance, and I try to listen to my body’s responses as I lavish it with beautiful, healthy orange carrots of such vivid beta-carotene color -- but broiled with three kinds of cheese on top and roasted in salt and butter. They’re so sumptuous and simple I cry. They’re rich and layered and feisty and calming, like my memories of Italy -- but with more American quantities of cheese and butter. To feel great, I make sure to stretch every day and drink liters of water. And I move with joy - dancing and skipping about the hills - more than to punish or to burn calories. But I have to admit I still - I don’t want to say struggle with those body issues because I’m in a phase of accepting me. I don’t struggle with them. They’re just a part of where I am in my journey right now, and that’s fine. I don’t want to be a role model in any way for people. I want people to learn what tastes good to them in the moment and then how that same food makes them feel the next day. I want beautiful plates and colors and textures and noises of pleasure around the table like a boudoir.

I want this immoveable feast ,with or without a pandemic, because feeling good is for everyone all the time actually. I’ve done it rich and poor. Thin and heavy. I’ve lived around the world. It’s not only possible; it’s pragmatic and starts with the one small, delicious thing you’re going to do for yourself today.

Bri Bruce

Two simple recipes in order to complete my story: Roasted Carrots Preheat oven to 215°C Peel, whole organic carrots. Coat in room temperature, high-quality salted butter with a heavy hand or salt after. Throw a fresh herb on top if you have one. Roast to desired consistency - I like 8-12 min - making sure to aim for caramelization - color change. Top with pecorino romano and more fresh herbs and cracked black pepper. Simple Salmon Salt and pepper outside of thawed fish to heart’s content. Heat oil on pretty high in a saute pan until shiny. Place the seasoned fish skin side down; it needs to sizzle and don’t move it. Leave it 3-5min depending on thickness and then flip once, coat with room-tempature butter, cover, and remove from heat. Let sit until your intuition knows it’s right, about 5-10min. Fish will be opaque in the middle if safe to eat. Notes: -The skin should be crisp and can be easily peeled off or eaten if the fish is high enough quality. -Feel free to put it back on the heat and keep coating with butter as often as possible. Fat is not the enemy. Monotony is. Mediocrity is. -Depending on the quality of the fish, nothing more may be required.

AUTHORS

Antonella Vicini 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. 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 also lead workshops on shamanic journeying and soul healing. I am deeply grateful to all my teachers and elders. Badger Medicine Spirit

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.

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.

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.

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.

Samantha Fumagalli and Flavio Gandini http://www.vega2000.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.

Geraldine Rael I am a Native American woman of Ute and Peublo descent, I am the oldest daughter of Joseph Rael, Beautiful Painted Arrow. In the Winter of 2018 my Fathers gifted his Sacred Dances, to me in order to carry his Visions into the future, the way he intended:“After the seeds have been planted, Mother Earth and Father Sun wake them out of their dream time that they may become.” As his eldest daughter of his lineage, I will do my utmost to keep his Visions, as he set them forth: watering the seeds so carefully and lovingly sown through his Dances, his living art and his teachings. Many blessings.

Francis Rico www.shaman.zone Musician, feral shaman, and author Francis Rico combines ancient and modern wisdom assisting clients, students and fellow adventurers in awakening to the gift of their lives. His book, A Shaman's Guide To Deep Beauty, shares stories and lessons from a lifetime of dedication to the shamanic pathways and teachers of indigenous wisdom traditions. As a guide to the world's sacred sites, Francis brings insight, humor, and music along on every journey. His home lies in Northern California, where he shares the beauty of the wild coastal mesas, cliffs, and ocean.

Claudiu Murgan started writing Science Fiction when he was 11-years old. Since then he met remarkable writers that helped him improved his own trade. Claudiu's experience in various industries such as IT, renewable energy, real estate and finance, helped him create complex but real characters that brought forward meaningful messages. Claudiu is one of the co-founders of the Immigrant Writers Association in Toronto, and the Vice President of Authorpedia.org, the world's only encyclopedia for authors. You can hear the radio and TV interview Claudiu gave in the last 12 months on his website www.claudiumurgan.com

Rosella Fanelli is trained in Yoga and in Kathak, her great passion is the dance she has studied for over 15 years in India, and now performs and teaches in Italy as well. She received the highest distinction in her chosen dance ever conferred to a non Indian performer. She was invited to perform in major festivals of music and dance in India. She also received a grant from the Indian government to realize a dance drama, it was performed in front of the Taj Mahal with very positive reviews.

Andrea "EXO" Garella composer, pianist, Italian teacher, he 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 one of his musical pieces: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FmaMRyjF6o

THANK YOU! Thank you for reading our magazine, our tribe of committed Badgers is growing steadily Thank you! I want to thank the new and old authors who have added their voices and experiences to this great adventure, so that we can be better heard and received.

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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

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Many of my quilts can be reproduced but not copied.

BEAUTIFUL PAINTED ARROW VISIONARY ART CARDS

THE PATH OF THE RED ROAD A Powerful Tool for Transformation Through these beautiful and unique cards Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) shows us the Path of the RedRoad. A great wisdom teacher, Joseph Rael, imparts a personal message to each of us in the individual revelations of the cards. Beautiful Painted Arrow (Joseph Rael) helps us understand through the blending of two languages, two separate realities, that we each come as a gift to life. . . . His use of sound in the practices he offers is very illuminating and special.” Brooke Medicine Eagle on “Beautiful Painted Arrow”

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