CATALYST December 2009 by CATALYST Magazine

FREE DECEMBER 2009 VOLUME 28 NUMBER 12

CATA LYST CATALYST HEALTHY LIVING, HEALTHY PLANET

Muse by Chris Miles

140 S. MCCLELLAND ST. SALT LAKE CITY, UT 84102

Santa as Shaman • Terri Martin: evolution of an environmentalist • First Person: “Full Circle” • Soul Matters: toolbox for your heart & head • Brew your own tonics • Hot springs attracts cops • Hightower • Urban Almanac, Astrology, Resource Directory, Calendar, more!

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Who we are...

CATALYST is an independent monthly journal and resource guide for the Wasatch Front providing information and ideas to expand your network of connections regarding physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. CATALYST presents useful information in several ways: through articles (often containing resource lists), display advertising, the Community Resource Directory, Dining Guide, and featured Events. Display ads are easily located through the Advertising Directory, found in every issue.

Finding CATALYST

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IN THIS ISSUE

Your Sanctuary In The City

Volume 28 Number 12 • December 2009

FEATURES 14

BYPASSING RHETORIC AND PIERCING THE HEART KATHERINE PIOLI Terri Martin tells her story of a shift from fierce environmental defender to advocate for conversations on wilderness THE PSYCHEDELIC SECRETS OF SANTA DANA LARSEN Major elements of the modern Christmas celebration are based upon the traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of amanita muscaria, a mushroom considered sacred by ancient Lapplanders, and which also grows in Utah. FIRST PERSON BY YOU: THE READER A collection of first-person, nonfiction essays written by you, the CATALYST reader. This month’s topic: Full Circle. SOUL MATTERS COMPILED BY GRETA DEJONG We have searched our bookshelves and memories to bring you these little gifts. Enjoy!

REGULARS & SHORTS 6

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK GRETA BELANGER DEJONG

DON’T GET ME STARTED JOHN DEJONG Conservatively confused; ethics reform.

SLIGHTLY OFF CENTER: DENNIS HINKAMP Before you shop this season, think of the consequences.

JIM HIGHTOWER The worthiness of banker charity: Hustler of high finance reframes the story of big banks’ thievery as “a virtuous cycle.”

ENVIRONEWS AMY BRUNVAND Environmental news from around the state and the west.

AN INTELLECTUAL OUTLET KATHERINE PIOLI The new Jung Society of Utah invites all to learn about Carl Jung—and themselves.

THE ALCHEMICAL KITCHEN REBECCA BRENNER Small brews for big health: Make your own tasty tonics.

A WARNING TO NUDE SOAKERS KATHERINE PIOLI Enjoying nighttime au naturale can land you a “lewdness” charge in Utah County.

CATALYST CALENDAR OF EVENTS EMILY MOROZ Our favorites for the month, chosen from the online CATALYST calendar.

GREEN BEAT PAX RASMUSSEN New ideas from near and far for a healthier, more sustainable future.

COMINGS & GOINGS EMILY MOROZ What’s new around town.

TRANSFORM U AURETHA CALLISON A joyous gift: Auretha shares a few of her favorite gift ideas.

THE HERBALIST IS IN MERRY LYCETT HARRISON Sacred herbs: These ancient tools help give form to the human capacity for feeling and reverence.

COACH JEANNETTE: JEANNETTE MAW Finding your frequency: Calibrating for dreams come true.

METAPHORS FOR THE MONTH SUZANNE WAGNER Journey into the unknown.

AQUARIUM AGE: ASTROLOGY RALFEE FINN An operating manual for the month at hand. This month: Ride the waves—slow and fast.

ASK THE ASTROLOGER CHRISTOPHER RENSTROM Big talker: Sagittarian babies are quick out of the gate.

URBAN ALMANAC DIANE OLSON Day by day in the home, garden and sky.

Release Date ~ December 8, 2009

PSYCHIC READINGS • YOGA BOOKS & MATS • CHIMES CHRISTMAS CARDS & CANDLES • COMFY ROBES JEWELRY • SOOTHING TEAS • UNIQUE STATIONERY STONES & CRYSTALS • BOOKS TO FEED YOUR SOUL

his Holiday Season, Oasis Café and Utah Food Bank have partnered together helping those in need.

From December 1st thru December 31st, 2009, a special entree will be offered that patrons may price themselves. All proceeds from this special item will be donated to Utah Food Bank.

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December 2009

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

Was Santa Claus a psychonaut?

he house, at 60-something, feels cool until we go outside—here, it’s real cold. Clear night: stars visible over downtown. The weather beacon on the Walker Center a mile away shines steady blue, the bluest I’ve ever seen it. Sarah Jessica

Listed alphabetically

DISPLAY ADS IN THIS ISSUE All Saints Episcopal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Margaret Ruth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Awakening Heart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Mindful Yoga (Charlotte Bell). . . . . . . . . 47

Beer Nut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Moffitt, Marilyn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Bell, Elaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Montessori School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Belly Bliss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

Ninth & Ninth Pilates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Big Mind Zen Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Nostalgia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Bikram Yoga SLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

One World Cafe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Blosser, Kimberly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Open Book Store . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Blue Boutique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

People’s Market . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Body Whisperer (Megan Oberer) . . . . . 34

Pura Vida College of Massage . . . . . . . . 9

Buddha Maitreya Soul Therapy . . . . . . 39

RDT Dance Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Caffé Ibis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Red Lotus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Center for Transpersonal Therapy . . . . 47

RedRock Brewery. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Cerami Chiropractic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Residential Design (Ann Larsen) . . . . . . 17

Chambers, Steve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Rising Sun Coffee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Clarity Coaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Sacred Activism Conference. . . . . . . . . 13

Coffee Garden #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Sage’s Cafe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Coffee Garden #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Sagescents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Conscious Journey (Cathy Patillo) . . . . 39

Salt Lake Acting Co.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

CSA Community Supported Agriculture . . 2

Salt Lake County Aging Services . . . . . 25

Cucina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

School of Sahaj Energy Healing . . . . . . 37

Dancing Cats Feline Center . . . . . . . . . . 39

Sidford, Terry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Dianetics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Streamline (pilates/yoga). . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Dog Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Structural Integrity (Paul Wirth). . . . . . . 38

Dog’s Meow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Takashi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Dragon Dreams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Tandoor Indian Grill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Earthgoods General Store . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Thai Garden & Noodle House . . . . . . . . 23

En Route Movement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Third Sun (Troy Mumm) . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Faustina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Tin Angel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Five-Step Carpet Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Twigs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Flow Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

U of U Lifelong Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Full Circle Women’s Healthcare. . . . . . . 34

Underfoot Floors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Golden Braid Books #1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

UNI (Univ. Neuropsychiatric Institute). . 49

Golden Braid #2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Urban Shaman (Donna Henes) . . . . . . . 25

Healing Mountain Message. . . . . . . . . . . 4

UtahFM.org . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Imagination Place. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Vertical Diner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Inner Light Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Voiceovers (Scott Shurian) . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Japanese Shiatsu Massage . . . . . . . . . . 49

Wagner, Suzanne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

KUED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Wasatch Touring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Kula Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Weilenmann Schol of Discovery . . . . . . 11

Kura Door . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Wild Alaska Seafood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Lindy - Salon NV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

don’t. My main purpose in going to New York (first time in 23 years) was to visit Ralfee Finn, whose column “Aquarium Age” is probably the first thing you turn to when you pick up CATALYST. Ralfee and I have been what I call telephonic friends, as we’d previously met only once in her 10-year tenure, in Hawaii by half-accident, several years ago. But her voice is as familiar to me as my best friend’s, and her presence in my life as reaffirming. I had a wonderful visit; and I assure you I will not wait another 23 years to return.

Sunset by Bryant Park, NYC (taken on my cellphone)

Barker steps livelier than usual. Does her doggie duty. We go back inside. Warmth gushes. I am grateful. Also puzzled, when I pause to think, as I do now; I can’t fathom the mechanism that delivers such luxury to my door. It has something to do with paying my monthly gas bills, and with the faithful though spendthrifty boiler in the basement, the one for which I received a quote of $20,000 to replace, price of progress, though I wait for something solar I can afford. How the gas gets here—and electricity, and water: Even if I come to understand the mechanics, it will remain a mystery. I insist on it—not out of ignorance, but as a form of appreciation. A few weeks ago I sat at a window in the cafeteria of the New York Times’ new building drinking coffee at sunset with my old friend Bill Broad. Bill is a longtime science writer there, with Pulitzers and books under his belt. He understands how things work. We watched the traffic below, dotted lines of light flowing through windy rain; and the buildings twinkling. And together we were amazed that the manmade world works as well as it does: that water runs up 80 stories; that, considering the odds, we rarely crash into each other; that buildings, generally speaking, stay standing. It’s good to notice how much does flow. Even in the worst of times, we cooperate far more often than we

any years ago CATALYST printed a story about Lapplander shamans and their flying reindeer. I searched, but I could not find it. I did, however, find Canadian Dana Larsen. You can read his “Psychedelic Santa” in this issue. “This is a joke, right?” said art director Polly Mottonen, on her first read-through for graphics ideas. No joke. There is plenty of corroborative material. And plenty here to muse about. While checking his reference list, I visited the website of artist James Bursenos. I contacted James, and he graciously allowed us to use his painting “Resurrection of Santa Claus” to illustrate Dana’s story. In addition to his amazing paintings, I was intrigued by what he had to say: I am inspired to paint by a deep impulse to know myself. The daily practice of painting is my strongest link to infinity. Along with periodic ritual communion with plant allies, painting has taught me a method of gazing that allows entrance into and navigation through the vast ocean of consciousness. It has allowed me to receive, decipher, and present information gathered during these voyages. In this way, art becomes artifact. Painting and plant allies have also made me a student in the art of surrender. Each of these paintings was done in oil on hemp canvas and each was begun without a plan, only a vague question about time and

This holiday, give the gift of Voiceover! space, death, or sex, or something. The center of the canvas was my only reference point, the imagery presented itself through the process. Through an act of total abandon painting becomes an open channel for the universe to make itself known; the painter dissolves and the picture paints itself. I researched the topic of Dana’s story as extensively as I did because it concerns a mushroom regarded in the U.S. as toxic, with no redeeming value; a mushroom that grows in Utah. I wanted to present this information as responsibly as possible—meaning no one gets hurt, but also that I do not perpetuate longheld but inaccurate cultural biases. The mushroom in question, amanita muscaria, is a hallucinogen, a gut-wrencher or a tasty meal, depending on how it’s prepared. It is legal. It has a long history of use in many cultures. (There is evidence it played an inspirational role in the writing of “Alice in Wonderland.”) Here’s the catch: It won’t kill you, but its cousins can. An explorer in this area must be discerning. Or practical: Properly prepared a. muscaria is available all over the internet. DIY has its place; probably not here. You know this mushroom, by the way. It is the red one with white spots that has become practically a cultural icon for good cheer. It danced in “Fantasia.” It houses Smurfs. It’s painted on your grandma’s breadbox, the one from the ’60s that’s now in the basement and holds leftover canning lids, old seed packets and unopened boxes of Rit dye. It may have been painted on your nursery school walls. Which makes me wonder: Is the universe trying to make itself known through mycelium? Could A. muscaria possibly be trying to contact us? It sure looks like it’s trying hard. Who knows what down-to-Earth (or out-of-this-world) wisdom this mycelium might impart? That is, provided we were ready to hear—physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. That we were sturdy vessels, skillful listeners, with in-shape nervous systems. It’s a thought. Whatever your thoughts on the origin of the holiday at hand, I think we can agree on the benefit of sharing in its magic. I send you fond wishes for a magical holiday u Greta is the editor and publisher of CATALYST.

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DONT GET ME STARTED BY JOHN DEJONG

December 2009

Ethics reform S

ometimes you find out something is legal only when someone proposes making it illegal. Take campaign contributions. I’ve always thought the only justification for the massive amounts of money contributed to what have become, all too often, beauty contests, was that they were protected as free speech. The idea that a politician might receive campaign contributions that could

then be used for personal expenses sounds like bribery. I presumed that would be illegal. So I was surprised to hear that banning personal use of campaign funds was one of the new restrictions proposed by Utahns for Ethical Government’s initiative— and, by extension, a restriction Utah Republicans are incensed about. I wonder what Mike Leavitt did with upwards of $500,000 in campaign funds he had when he left office to become George Bush’s secretary of Health and Human Services. What did Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff do with his unspent campaign funds when he dropped out of the race for Bob

Bennett’s senate seat? Most politicians donate leftover funds to other politicians, presumably those of the same stripe—an insidiously effective form of political leverage. But it is also currently possible for a politician to use the funds to straighten out their finances and reimburse themselves for the “costs” of public service. Neither of these options would be allowed under the Ethical Government initiative. Utah Republicans have proposed a number of stop-gap measures in an effort to forestall the Ethical Government initiative. The latest is the proposed creation of an independent five-member ethics commission, composed of former legisla-

Conservatively Confused A

ccording to the Salt Lake Tribune, last month a Utah Senate committee spent some of its valuable time discussing the use of the phrase “liberally construed” in various laws already on the books. Curtis Oda, R-Clearfield was quick to deny any attempt at conservative correctness. But, one can just imagine the hairs on Republicans’ backs rising higher and higher each time they read the words “liberally construed” in Utah’s statutes. The Utah Valley contingent of the committee seemed concerned that evil judges and bureaucrats would use the leeway to “overreach their authority to the detriment of individual freedoms.” Of the 55 instances of the phrase found, most allow discretion on the part of various executive

branch agencies to widen the application of certain regulations. For instance, to include a new member of a class of regulated substances. Not satisfied with looking at laws that contain the phrase “liberally construed,” the committee directed its staff to root out any cases where executive agencies are liberally construing laws and regulations without specific statutory direction. This amounts to the legislature trying to make the executive branch follow the exact words of every law. This would be fine if the exact wording of every law made plain sense and took into account every possible situation. But many laws are cobbled together with willfully vague or arcane sections. A little bit of the House version,

tors and judges. This toothless commission would pass its recommendations on to the foxes in either the House or the Senate ethics committee for resolution. “Do I hear a motion to table [kill] the unfavorable ethics report on Senator Blahblah?” “So moved,” “Do I hear a second? “Second.” “All those in favor say aye.” “AAAAYYYYEEEE.” “Those opposed?” “nay” “Motion passes, next order of business.” The major problem with ethics in Utah’s legislature is the lack of any

a portion of the Senate version, some wording added at a lobbyist’s behest, a couple of last minute amendments and you’ve got laws that are clear as mud. Asking executive agencies to faithfully follow the letter of the law is like asking them to faithfully follow the recipe for sausage: take a couple of feet of intestine, some mystery meat, one medium rat turd, three hanks of hair, a dust pan of sawdust, a smidgen of brain and enough grease to make it sizzle when it’s cooked and stuff into the casing. How could anybody but the legislature follow a recipe like that? I’m not sure whether the inquisitors in this case are motivated by the presumption that judges and bureaucrats are as petty and tyrannical as themselves, or because they think they are the only ones in government with any integrity and that everyone else is petty and tyrannical.

SLIGHTLY OFF CENTER BY DENNIS HINKAMP

Shop carefully Before you shop this season, think of the consequences ike most things in life, what seems like the right thing to do at the time may not always end well. Break ups are always difficult— especially with someone you wish you’d never gotten involved with in the first place. There’s sort of an unwritten three date rule. Even if the first date was bad, you have to go out again so as to avoid hurt feelings, and then you have to go out a third time so they don’t think you went out the second time just to not hurt their feelings. This is exactly what is happening in the market-

place today. In a moment of consumer lust, I got involved with XM for three months of radio orgy, and have been trying to extricate myself from its clutches ever since. Apparently, the downturn in the economy has transformed every business into a whining, needy, angry ex. I knew it was a mistake to get involved from the onset. It was like when your dog chomps into a chunk of wasabi that you dropped on the floor, and then immediately looks at you with a facial expression that says,

“Man, I wish I hadn’t done that.” “Please don’t drop us,” XM says. “We’ll do better, we’ll give you service for free for the next three months.” “That’s a generous offer but I’m sorry, XM, it’s not about the money—you knew it was just a summer fling,” I say. “I was traveling

this was just a lapse. But now it’s winter and we both have to get back to our real lives. “Seriously, it’s not personal. Don’t call me at home and don’t call my cell phone,” I add. “No, I don’t want a complimentary upgrade. We’re done; move on. We just weren’t

“No, I don’t have any additional comments that could improve your performance. It sounds vaguely obscene just to hear you ask.” and I thought having 273 choices of entertainment would be a nice diversion while I was away from my home station. I’m usually monogamous when it comes to listenership;

meant for each other. Please don’t ruin the memory of what we had by making me get a restraining order.” Any service you purchase now becomes a bad codependent rela-

meaningful standards to hold legislators to. Currently it is only necessary to disclose conflicts of interest. “Yes, I’m in the construction business. “Yes, this bill would benefit me personally. “Yes, I’m gonna’ vote for it. “And yes, the Utah Republican party, which is funded by the special interests interested in this bill [over 80% of Utah campaign contributions come from corporations], would like you to vote for it... if you ever want to see a campaign contribution from them, or me, again.” Probably the most significant part of the reform is banning corporate donations. The federal government and most states ban campaign contributions from corporations. Utah allows its corporate citizens to make campaign contributions but currently bans donations from labor unions. Utah is one of 14 states that have a provision for a citizens initiative process, granting citizens the right to submit proposed laws directly to the voters. The legislature has made the initiative process as cumbersome as possible, to forestall just this kind of direct democracy. The courts recently struck down even more onerous restrictions. But the Utah constitution grants the initiative process equal standing with the legislature. Ethics reform is too important to leave to the legislature. While not perfect, this initiative is far better than anything we’ll ever see come out of the legislature. If you haven’t signed the petition go to www.utahnsforethicalgovernment.org to find out where you can sign. If you really think democracy is salvageable, sign up to do some petitioning yourself. u

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tionship. Everything from getting your diesel engine serviced to ordering a pizza comes with some sort of consumer satisfaction survey attached. “I loved you for the brief time we were together but this is not a long-term relationship,” I want to say. “You are so needy; you want me to rate your performance? I will not cheapen our relationship by doing that. “No, really, much of our relationship was satisfactory on a scale of 1-5, with one being highly unsatisfactory and five being highly satisfactory, but much of it was just neither satisfactory nor unsatisfactory,” I say. “If only I could express to you how I feel in a PowerPoint presentation, we could work this all out. And, no, I don’t have any additional comments that could improve your performance. It sounds vaguely obscene just to hear you ask.” So shop carefully or risk waking up with hangover in the cheap motel of buyer remorse. u

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out, startling those who heard him. This was no street evangelist rant ing at the passing crowd, but the archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Church of England. His sharp admonition was pointed directly at a particular set of sinners, who undoubtedly had never given any thought to the morality of their actions: the barons of global banking. As in our country, people in Europe are enraged at those hustlers of high finance who wrecked the world’s economies, then flexed their political muscle to get govern-

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kicked back in. So Europeans are now witnessing the spectacle of bankers draping themselves in radiant robes of ethical purity. “Profit is not satanic,” the CEO of Barclays recently proclaimed. “Size is not necessarily evil,” asserted the head of Deutsche Bank. But leave it to Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs (and the world’s highest-paid banker — $68 million in 2007 alone) to combine self-pity with self-adulation in a grandiose PR effort to reposition financial thieves as paragons of social altruism. “I know I could slit my wrists and people would cheer,”

Has he even read about, much less visited, any of the millions who are out of work or out of business because of the financial schemes and scams he and his peers conjured up? Who does he think he’s fooling? ments to replenish their bankrupt vaults. Infuriatingly, these bailedout bankers have now returned to business as usual, including grabbing monstrous bonus payments for themselves. In Europe, such greed is not only being assailed politically, but it is also being cast as a matter of fundamental moral failure. As another of Britain’s leading clergymen put it, “There is a general feeling that the level of bonuses we’ve seen have been obscene.” While top executives of Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and other big investment houses were initially puzzled and hurt by the public’s moral outrage, their audacious sense of personal worth and entitlement quickly

he acknowledged in an interview published Nov. 8 in London’s Sunday Times. But, he said of himself and his big banking brethren,”We’re very important. We help companies to grow by helping them to raise capital—companies that create more growth and more wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. It’s a virtuous cycle.” Just in case you missed the message of Blankfein’s morality tale, he concluded by portraying himself as a mere banker “doing God’s work.” Wow. What a wrathful god he must worship! One wonders: Has Lord Blankfein even read about, much less visited, any of the millions of Americans

who are out of work or out of business because of the financial schemes and scams he and his peers conjured up? Who does he think he’s fooling? Far from investing capital (including the trillions of dollars they took from us taxpayers) in companies and jobs, these financial whizzes continue to throw it into the global craps game of debt swaps and other speculative nonsense. The game enriches them and their super-wealthy clients, but it creates nothing whatsoever of social value. Nonetheless, this clueless clique is actually claiming we commoners should be applauding the return of their multimillion-dollar bonus bonanzas. Why? Because, they aver, the rich payouts allow them to contribute to charity. Such narcissism reminds me of a story about a selfish, no-good rich man who died and tried to get into heaven. But you can’t just walk through the Pearly Gates. An angel reviews your life, then St. Peter decides if you can enter. To counter the angel’s negative review, the rich man argued that he had a history of charitable giving. He’d once tossed a nickel into a beggar’s cup, he pointed out. Plus, some years later, he had aided a poor woman by giving her a nickel. Then there was the time he put a nickel into the Salvation Army kettle. Hearing all this, the angel turned to St. Peter and asked, “What in the world should we do with this man?” And St. Peter said, “Give him back his 15 cents, and tell him to go to hell!” Now that’s a story that these big banksters need to hear—and ponder. ◆ Jim Hightower is a national radio commentator, writer and public speaker. He has spent three decades battling the Power That Be on behalf of the Power That Ought to Be. © 2009 Creators.com

ENVIRO-NEWS

BY AMY BRUNVAND

DeChristopher “necessity defense” rejected A U.S. District Court has decided that Tim DeChristopher will not be allowed to defend himself by explaining why he thought it was necessary to break the law in order to block sales of improperly reviewed oil and gas leases likely to cause severe environmental damage to public lands near National Parks and wilderness. The court rejected the so-called “choice of evils” defense, a legal principle that accepts that breaking the law is sometimes necessary in order to avoid greater harm. An October document from the prosecution expressed fears that allowing DeChristopher to tell his story in court could open the door to other climate protests, since “the defendant’s hopes are to have a prominent platform for his global warming show; a platform from which he could educate the masses.” DeChristopher’s lawyers hoped to use the necessity defense since “a reasonable juror could find that global warming and climate change, and the other environmental and cultural results of the lease sale at issue, were greater evils than the offenses with which DeChristopher stands charged.” Bidder70.org: WWW.BIDDER70.ORG

Prominent activists take new roles Some of Utah’s prominent environmental activists have taken on interesting new positions: • Ted Wilson has been appointed to the Governor’s Balanced Resource Council. Wilson is a pioneering Utah rock climber and former Salt Lake City Mayor who has served as vice chair of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance and as executive director of the Utah Rivers Council. • Patrick Shea has also been appointed to the Governor’s Balanced Resource Council. Shea was BLM director during the Clinton Administration and is currently one of the attorneys representing Tim DeChristopher. • Brooke Williams, author of “Halflives: Reconciling Work and Wildness,” has joined the staff at the Moab office of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

Milford Wind Corridor Project now generating The largest wind farm in Utah began

operation in November near Milford, Utah. With 97 wind turbines, the First Wind project can power about 45,000 homes with clean, renewable energy. The Milford Wind Corridor is the first wind energy facility permitted under the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) Wind Energy Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Western US states.

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FGRC’s Green Infrastructure Program a positive sign A new Wasatch Front Regional Council (WFRC) program will document natural areas and features such as watersheds, wildlife corridors, nature trails, parks and working lands so that they can be considered in regional planning. WFRC is the multi-government association that plans regional transportation for the Wasatch Front. Long-range plans developed by WFRC have been at odds with the “transit first” strategy supported by environmental groups such as the Utah Sierra Club and Utahns for Better Transportation. The Green Infrastructure Program is a hopeful sign that Wasatch Front transportation planning is moving in a more sustainable direction. Wasatch Front Regional Council: WWW.WFRC.ORG

U.S. Magnesium (MagCorp) on EPA Superfund list In November, the EPA added U.S. Magnesium in Tooele County to the National Priorities List of Superfund sites—the nation’s most contaminated places that are priorities for cleanup. The EPA says MagCorp’s uncontrolled contaminants include metals, (arsenic, chromium, mercury, copper, zinc), acidic waste water, chlorinated organics, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins/furans, hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In a public comment supporting superfund listing, noted author Chip Ward wrote, “Consider this: As dioxins migrate into the lake and move up the food chain, first into brine shrimp that are commercially harvested and then into the prawns they are fed to, the last stop could be you as you eat that prawn in your favorite restaurant. In that sense, we all live next to MagCorp.” Utah cleanup sites: WWW.EPA.GOV/REGION8/SUPERFUND/UT/USMAGNESIUM/INDEX.HTML

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December 2009

Catalystmagazine.net

LIKE MINDS

An intellectual outlet New Jung Society of Utah invites all to learn about Carl Jung—and themselves BY KATHERINE PIOLI n a recent Thursday evening, the conference room on the fourth floor of the main library downtown spilled over with people. The room buzzed with quiet, polite conversation. Well-dressed older couples and bright-looking students found seats in chairs or on the floor. The room quickly hushed as a man dressed in black stepped to the front podium and pointed to the word projected onto the screen behind him: “Individuation.” Tonight, we would learn about individuation, one of the most important concepts in Jungian theory, encompassing dozens of other crucial ideas, such as the archetypes, the shadow, and the anima and animus. Welcome to the third meeting of Utah’s Jung Society, a group that explores the concepts developed by the late Swiss psychologist Carl Jung. The emergence of this group could not have been better timed. Jung’s name is now poised to reclaim international attention with the publication of “The Red Book”— a valuable addition to Jung’s work that, until this October, had been kept in a Swiss bank vault, hidden from the public eye. It almost seems that the hubbub surrounding the book’s unearthing has stirred Jung’s spirit; it was Jung, after all, who ordered the creation of the society in Utah through a dream. Machiel Klerk, founding president of the Jung Society of Utah and recipient of the dream, recalls that it began somewhere in the sky. Hovering over the house of Carl Jung on Lake Zurich, Klerk peered down and saw an elder Jung. The man was employed in constructing a concrete platform. The dream shifted. Jung sat in a chair and a voice spoke. “Now you have to draw this platform identical to how it was,” directed the voice. Klerk suddenly found himself with a pen in hand and, moving to draw a line, he began to recreate Jung’s project. “There are different way of looking at the dream,” says Klerk, who has studied Jungian psychology and now uses dreamwork in his therapy practice in Salt Lake. “I felt it was an inner voice saying that I needed to build a figurative platform for Jungian psychology.” The dream thus became the necessary catalyst for the creation of Utah’s first Jung Society.

It is an apropos beginning to a group whose focus of interest centers around a man whose method of psychoanalysis often includes dreamwork. Jung, born in Switzerland in 1875, was a student and colleague of Sigmund Freud. As Jung further developed his own theories he grew more and more distant from Freud, eventually splitting with him entirely.

The Red Book—a valuable addition to Jung’s work, was, until this October, kept in a Swiss bank vault hidden from the public eye.

and His Symbols.” He was hooked. “It gave me an idea of how to recognize and fulfill my potential,” Klerk explains. “I began listening to my dreams and my intuition. By listening to these parts of myself I was able to finally align myself with the desires of my own psyche.” For Klerk, this newfound motivation led him to create a business which he ran successfully for years before leaving it to pursue more a adventurous life traveling through Asia. Eventually, Klerk found his way to Salt Lake, where he worked as a therapist in clinics before opening his private practice. When the idea came to start a Jung society, Klerk sought out likely partners with which to build his platform. He quickly found four others from diverse professional backgrounds, all interested in bringing the concepts of Jungian psychology to the larger Salt Lake community. The Jung Society of Utah hosted its first meeting last September—a lecture on “The Red Book.” The platform, as Klerk explains it, is not a place to talk about subjects exclusively related to Jung, but is more broadly a “safe place where people can enjoy the company of other creative and inquisitive people in the community.” Although each gathering begins with an hour-long lecture often relating to Jungian concepts, the meeting continues long after the lecture ends as attendees mingle, drink tea and share thoughts. Often an artist has been invited to display work, adding further food for thought. As Klerk puts it, “People come to the gatherings wanting to connect on a deeper level than your normal daily interactions.” Salt Lake must be brimming with such people. Each successive meeting sees growth in attendance. It is an affirming sight for Machiel Klerk, and speaks well of our city, a place where people want to engage each other and learn from one of the masters of psychology the steps towards a fulfilling life. ◆ Katherine Pioli is a staff writer for CATALYST, except in the summer when she is a forest firefighter in Wyoming.

Dreams held great significance in Jung’s work. He understood them to be an important key by which to access feelings and desires perhaps hidden in the subconscious. But analysis of dreams was only one of many methods Jung used to help his patients discover their true potential. “People are often familiar with his theories,” says Klerk. “Though people may not recognize the name Carl Jung, they are familiar with Alcoholics Anonymous and the Myers-Briggs personality test. These both draw heavily from Jung’s methods of analysis.” Klerk himself did not come across Jung and his teachings until after he had graduated from college, when he found himself living life without a clear sense of direction or purpose. By chance, Klerk came across one of Jung’s early books, “Man

Jung Society meetings are held every first Thursday of the month at the downtown public library, fourth floor. All lectures are free and open to the public, although financial contribution through membership is encouraged to help cover the cost of events. The next Jung Society of Utah event is Dec. 3. Psychotherapist Lynda Steele of the Center for Transpersonal Therapy and Project Recovery will speak. Topic: “Addiction: A Spiritual Journey.” 6:30-9pm. Also: paintings by John O'Connell, poetry by Adam Love. Representatives from area addiction clinics available for Q&A.

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December 2009

Catalystmagazine.net

Bypassing rhetoric and piercing the heart Terri Martin tells her story of a shift from fierce environmental defender to advocate for conversations on wilderness

hen I met Terri Martin at her downtown office, she opened our conversation by asserting that she would not speak for the environmental movement in Utah. Martin is a long-time Utah environmental activist, and although I had been assigned to write a story of Utah environmentalism “then and now,” I felt no desire to argue with this wiry, steely-eyed woman standing before me. There would be no guesstimate, she told me, as to how the number of groups had expanded since her early work in the ’80s. She would not divine how the hot environmental issues would shift in years to come. “I can only speak to my personal story,” she added, with finality. Luckily, Terri Martin’s personal story is inextricably linked with the story of environmentalism in the West. Following the beginnings of her work gives a strong sense of the environmental movement in the ’80s. As her story continues, the challenges faced by that small group of early wilderness defenders, and also the mistakes that they made, come into focus. Finally, following Martin into the present reveals a path of individual discovery through a significant shift in relationship with people and environmental work. Martin’s experience and revelation lead us to one possible future for a sustainable environmental movement, and it all begins with a little girl watching with wonder the wild deer around her California family home.

An environmentalist is born: the journey to Lake Powell

BY KATHERINE PIOLI

“Growing up in the 1950s in the suburbs of San Francisco, my childhood haunts were acres of apricot orchards filled with deer and rabbit,”

Photo by Emily Moroz

PROFILE she recalls. “To me, they were wild spaces—and from a very young age I always felt most safe, most connected to my imagination and my own potential, in those spaces. I felt the presence of some kind of mystery and something larger than myself.” Martin’s early love for these wild spaces also taught her of the pain created by their loss as, one by one, the trees fell to the bulldozers and to “progress.” “The loss of those places is part of what shaped my life,” says Terri—a life as a passionate activist once reputed as “the bestknown, most respected and most feared and despised environmentalist in [the state].” In 1989, freelance writer Barbara Bannon introduced this “feared and despised environmentalist” to the readers of “Network,” a monthly newsprint magazine for and about Utah women that was popular in the 1980s. In her article, Bannon presented young Martin as a hard, unyielding, intelligent woman—well represented by the accompanying photograph of Terri standing arms folded, eyes and hips squared solid and unflinching towards the camera. “Terri Martin,” Bannon wrote, “not only survives but thrives on constant confrontation.” This tough girl image wasn’t purely a creation of Bannon’s imagination. Back then, Martin recalls, “You fought for these places with everything you could find. It was a hard scramble to figure out what you could get a hold of. The movement was young and the network much more skeletal.” Environmentalists like Martin went head-on into their work knowing that the fight would be difficult and maybe even a little dirty. Utah in the 1970s and ’80s was not an easy place to defend the environment. Its mountains and deserts were not nearly as well-known as they are today. Places such as Canyonlands had been national parks for little more than a decade, and had far fewer than a million visitors each year. Mining and oil interests, energy development and other corporate interests had their way with the desert, and environmentalists found few friends in Washington. The strongest card for people like Martin turned out to be the law. If a protection law didn’t exist, they fought to create it. Speaking with Bannon in 1989, Martin said, “The only way to enforce [conservation laws] sometimes or create an avenue [for conservation] is to litigate or threaten to litigate. To solve a

Martin’s experience and revelation lead us to one possible future for a sustainable environmental movement, and it all begins with a little girl watching with wonder the wild deer around her family home in Southern California. problem you have to come in with power.” These are serious words that would strike fear in the hearts of wilderness opponents. But, as a woman who watched her wild orchards disappear under the bulldozer’s treads, these were sentiments borne out of a fear of loss. “I was a fierce environmentalist,” explains Martin, “driven by a love of this place I had discovered. I wanted to be a voice for its protection.” When Martin first came to Utah in the summer of 1973, the forces working towards its environmental destruction were staring her in the face. She came as a college student, and took a three-month position as a lifeguard on Lake Powell. Before that summer, Martin knew nothing of the natural landscape of Southern Utah and nothing about Lake Powell’s controversial history. But, a woman of inquisitive mind, Martin quickly found the story of Glen Canyon in her personal research as she prepared for her trip into the desert. “Before I left Berkeley I found the book ‘Glen Canyon: The place no one knew.’ It was a big picture book of landscape photographs showing Glen Canyon before the river was dammed. I sat on the floor of the bookstore and I was stunned by the exquisite beauty of the place and the story of its loss. “We all enter the landscape in a certain moment and consider it wild and then over time see that wildness diminish. Then another generation comes in and sees it as wild and then sees it even further diminished. I arrived to be a lifeguard on Lake Powell at a time when the lake was still rising at a foot a day and devouring the land. The sage was being drowned and every day we would have to pull our lifeguard chairs back into the desert. It was bizarre. So it was always an interesting relationship with the lake. It is a stunning lake and what it symbolizes was and still is devastating to me.” The swelling lake was not the only act of destruction that Terri Martin saw that summer. Even as she daily readjusted the placement of her lifeguard chair, she watched on the horizon the steady growth of the Navajo Generating Station. The power station created yet another blight on the pristine desert panorama, and what upset her even more, it contributed nothing to the area’s own needs. All the power, she knew, was Californiabound, to the homes of people with no idea of what their consumption was compromising. “I watched that plant become completed,” Martin recalls, “and belch out sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide and create these plumes across southern Utah I developed in that moment a great sense that someone had to wage a battle against the projects that were being proposed—coal

mines, power plants, nuclear waste dumps, road paving projects.”

The wisdom of age: a shift in approach Martin’s journey continued through various federal agencies—BLM, Forest, Park—and just as many projects. At the time of her interview with Barbara Bannon, Martin was the Rocky Mountain regional representative for the National Parks and Conservation Association (NPCA). She was in the middle of a three-year fight to prevent the paving of the Burr Trail in Utah’s Garfield County. She had just finished fighting a power plant near Hurricane, Utah, and preventing nuclear waste from being dumped just outside the gates of Canyonlands National Park. As she continued her fight for wilderness, however, Martin became gradually less satisfied with her work and less sure of the righteousness of her path.

Reviewing the Department of Energy’s Environmental Impact Statement on building a nuclear waste dump next to Canyonlands National Park Dec. 1984 Meditating on her eventual break from the environmental community and her shifting approach regarding environmental work, Martin recounts an interview she once heard. A woman, a writer in her later 70s, was asked to speak of the wisdom that she had gained during her many years of life. The woman responded, not with a story of her infinite knowledge, but by saying that in her 20s she thought that she knew the truth about certain things. She had found as she progressed in life, however, that she became much less certain of the truth. For Terri, a similar shift took place as she approached her fourth decade and entered motherhood. In 1996, her daughter four years old, Martin left her job and devoted herself to her child. “I felt burned out playing in those fields of political power. I no longer felt the need to have power over someone,” she says. So Martin left her work in the environmental community and focused on motherhood. In this period, Martin found her life far less focused on being on the right, true and noble side of a fight, but rather focused on forging bonds of love, respect and a space for open communication. “Becoming a

“We came to realize that a lot of environmental work is based on the rhetoric of fear and looking at what we are at risk of losing. This negative perspective automatically creates an atmosphere of divisiveness, an ‘us verses them’ mentality. We needed to find a place to begin that was more neutral.” mother,” she says, “changed how I stood in the world.” It was a big wake-up call. More than just the power of relationship, Martin discovered the power of listening. “I grew up in a family where if you were mad at somebody you fell out of relationship with them, you gave them the old silent treatment. When I had a kid, I realized the abusiveness of that action.” In becoming a mother, Martin was exposed to an element that had always been lacking in her dealings with people on the opposite side of environmental issues. By treating them as a faceless enemy, she had invariably stopped listening to them. “Only after becoming a mother did I realize the power of relationship and the importance of tending to those relationships even through our differences.” This newfound willingness and ability to listen found application in her adult world when Martin recognized that a dispute among parents in her daughter’s elementary school was growing increasingly divisive. Martin recruited a professional mediator and, with a little guidance, the parents in the class were able to resolve the issue at hand. Martin was so completely blown away by the experience that she began training as a mediator herself, and entered a masters program in communication with an emphasis on conflict resolution. Her first significant project as a mediator came in 2003 in the midst of the controversy surrounding the sale of a block of Salt Lake’s Main Street to the LDS Church. “I decided if I was going to look at how we hold and work with difference,” says Martin, “that I would start in my own community.” Martin came to the situation after the land had already been sold. The ALCU had already sued the church and won, over an issue of first amendment rights. The church had subsequently won an appeal. The city split down the middle, Mormon against non-Mormon. In an attempt to solve the divide, then-mayor Rocky Anderson asked his staff to come up with a way to move the community toward more understanding across the religious divide. The final idea proposed a series of dialogues; intimate gatherings between LDS and non-LDS neighbors. Without a set of expectations or a list of guiding questions to work through, the purpose of the dialogues was simply to encourage communication across the divide. Reflecting on the experience, Martin found that the dialogues, in a friendly home setting, actually

Continued on next page

December 2009

Catalystmagazine.net

As Martin sees it, the point at which a conversation between two sides will become productive is not at the point of compromise, but in exploring what really matters to people and then finding overlapping interests. worked. “I would say that the process was transformative for a lot of the people involved.” Moving on from this experience, armed with the tools of empathy, mediation and a listening ear, Martin found herself slowly becoming involved once again with Utah’s environmental community. Two projects in particular—Women Protecting Wilderness and Faith and the Land—led Martin to her current work on behalf of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. Neither project is related to any single environmental issue or campaign. Instead, the goal behind each is to bring diverse and otherwise unconnected groups of Utahns to a space in which they can speak with each other. “It certainly is idealistic, but what we are attempting to begin is a conversation among people primarily regarding wilderness protection in the state,” Martin says. “When we first gathered to organize these conversations we came to realize that a lot of environmental work is based on the rhetoric of fear and looking at what we are at risk of losing. This negative perspective automatically creates an atmosphere of divisiveness, an ‘us verses them’ mentality. We needed to find a place to begin that was more neutral.” The Faith and the Land initiative was organized much like the conversation groups created during the Bridges pro ject in Salt Lake, a series of gatherings organized to attempt to span the religious divide. Martin approached various faith communities and found people willing to host small dialogue groups. The conversation was focused by two questions: “Why is wilderness important to you from a spiritual perspective?” and, “How does your faith tradition call on you to protect the natural world?” One such meeting in Vernal, Utah, revealed to Martin the true potential of such a project. At this particular meeting a woman came already prepared to defend her rights to the land against the “environmentalists.” Martin remembers, “She made it very clear from the beginning that she did not trust what I was doing and was very against my

She paraphrases Williams:“You can disagree with someone’s opinion,but not with their story. Story allows us to meet as human beings instead of enemies.”

Continued being there at all.” Martin, however, responded by asking the woman to stay as an observer. She encouraged the woman to listen to the other people’s testimonies of their relationships with the natural world. She also added that if the woman felt moved, she was more than welcome to share her own story. “When we had gone around the whole circle, we finally got to her she opened up. She talked about the forests near her home in Utah. For generations her family had gone there to hike and camp, so these places became for her a source of serenity, of deep grounding and renewal. She allowed us to hear her fears, that there were too many people in the forest, and that soon there would be too many rules imposed, restricting her access to the place she loved so much. For me, it was such an interesting moment. I told this woman that although we might disagree on the placement of a road or campground, I completely shared with her that passion for the forest.” It’s moments like these that allow Martin to envi-

Nine Mile Canyon October 1983 sion a positive and much more productive future for environmental work. To some extent, the clash of opposing interests and opinions will never end. The democratic process, she assures, will remain very much an active part of deciding how our lands will be used or protected. “It is necessary and inevitable that we will work through our political processes and debate and use legal means to organize and be the most powerful side.” But, she adds that if environmental groups continue to work as she did 30 years ago, with a blinding passion that completely forsakes the opinions of the opposition, then progress will come more slowly and at a greater cost. As Martin sees it, the point at which a conversation between two sides will become productive is not at the point of compromise, but in finding overlapping interests. “It reminds me of an interview with Obama,” she says, “when he was labeled as a centrist. He quickly corrected that notion, saying that instead of working towards the middle of an issue, he preferred exploring what

PROFILE: TERRI MARTIN really mattered to people and then looked for overlapping ground.” Finding an overlap of opinions seems a good idea in theory. But take the example of the oil and gas leases proposed for Southern Utah. For many people living in small rural towns, these new leases mean work and money for their families. For others, often who only visit the southern desert, it means another industrial footprint on an increasingly smaller piece of Utah wilderness. So how does one begin to find an overlap between these two groups? How does one create a space safe enough to allow each to share their needs and fears? For Martin, there is one woman who understands this conundrum and offers a viable solution. Martin pulls out a book by Utahn Terry Tempest Williams and reads, “‘How are we to find our way towards conversation? How are we to find ways to speak that opens minds instead of closes them? Story bypasses the rhetoric and pierces the heart.’” “I find myself rereading Williams a lot these days,” says Martin. Williams’ words, after all, mirror Martin’s own quest and hint at a space in which to find the solution to her questions. “You can disagree with someone’s opinion,” Martin interprets Williams’ words, “but not with their story. Story allows us to meet as human beings instead of enemies.” When Martin found herself confronted by the woman in Vernal, she had to take a step back from her position as an environmentalist. Martin understood that the woman felt threatened. This woman perceived her very identity to be at stake by the presence of Martin, whom she saw as an outsider, an environmentalist there to impose her values on the town and the surrounding land. Martin’s challenge was to put the woman at ease and invite her personal story into the conversation. “I was trying to say to her, let’s not fast-forward to a debate about how to manage these lands. Let’s start instead by listening to each other. Why did she love this place? How does she interact with the land? I needed to understand her, and conversely, have her hear my story. After creating that new relationship we might find some overlapping ground. Clearly we are going to have places that we disagree on, but maybe the battle won’t be so ideological.”

Building new relationships, telling new stories It is an interesting concept for the forward growth of environmentalism. At first it seems to be regressive, or at the very least unproductive. But sharing stories across ideological and political divides, finding that common ground, is a method that is actually taking root in many environmental circles. In southern Utah, two traditional opponents, the Nature Conservancy and multi-generation ranching families, are now working together to save the land that they both value. By talking and discovering their overlapping interest, namely maintaining healthy open space in Utah, these previously uncompromising opponents are finding

Katherine Pioli is a CATALYST staff writerans U.S. Forest Service fire fighter.

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ways to work together. In 2005, the Conservancy reported an agreement with five ranchers in southwestern Utah that would allow the Conservancy to purchase conservations easements on their land. The easements would protect the land from development, permit traditional uses of the land to continue, and allow the Conservancy to alter the land management practices to support the wildlife found naturally on the land. The agreement, thus, would allow the rural ranching economy to exist hand-in-hand with long-term protection of the natural environment. These new partnerships are positive proof that the shift in relationship that Martin advocates, and lives, actually works. Looking back to 1989, it is surprising to see exactly how much has changed for Martin in reaching this point. One of the sharpest examples of Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s personal transformation comes from an interview with her colleague and fellow environmental activist Dick Carter. Carter, founder and coordinator for Utah Wilderness Association, was at the time working alongside Martin to protect the existing Utah wilderness, yet when asked to give his opinion on Martinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s approach to the cause he sounded more like her conservative critics. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Her tough stand on issues may alienate people,â&#x20AC;? Carter told Bannon in the 1989 interview. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sometimes she makes her opponents feel that she is challenging their value systems and causes them to feel threatened.â&#x20AC;? Thirty years later, after tiring of the political power struggle, after becoming a mother, learning the power of listening and realizing the value of everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience, everyoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story, Martin finally realizes that her critics had a valid point. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I find [Barbaraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s article] so interesting now,â&#x20AC;? she says with a surprised little laugh. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Some people were very critical of me and I can finally see where they were coming fromâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;I was missing some things.â&#x20AC;? What she was missing might have just been a little bit of maternal instinct in an often testosterone fueled environmental war. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I see now that my work overlaps with an ethic of care. And much of what I am doing comes out of a womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experience. Suddenly from the role that women traditionally play as mothers springs this idea that you have to heed relationships and take care of them if you are going to take care of the things that you love, even when those relationships involve people you disagree with.â&#x20AC;? So with these words of hard-won wisdom in mind, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move forward with open hearts and open ears. Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s strive to protect our wild and open spaces but allow space for everyone in the conversation. â&#x2014;&#x2020;

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18 December 12 December2009 2009 Catalystmagazine.net CatalystMagazine.net

ANCIENT RITES REVISITED

The psychedelic secrets of Santa Modern Christmas traditions are based on ancient mushroom-using shamans BY DANA LARSEN

“The Resurrection of Santa Claus” by James Bursenos JAMESBURSENOS.COM

lthough Christmas is commonly viewed as a Christian holiday, most of the symbols and icons we associate with Christmas celebrations are actually derived from the shamanistic traditions of pre-Christian northern European tribal peoples. Sacred to these people was the red and white mushroom Amanita muscaria, also known as fly agaric. Commonly seen in books of fairy tales in association with magic and fairies, this mushroom contains potent hallucinogenic compounds once used by ancient peoples for insight and transcendental experiences. Major elements of the modern Christmas celebration—Santa Claus, Christmas trees, magical reindeer and the giving of gifts—are based upon traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of this most sacred mushroom.

Major elements of the modern Christmas celebration, such as Santa Claus, Christmas trees, magical reindeer and the giving of gifts, are based upon the traditions surrounding the harvest and consumption of amanita muscaria, a mushroom considered sacred by ancient Lapplanders.

The world tree Ancient peoples, including the Lapps of modern-day Finland and the Koyak tribes of the central Russian steppes, believed in the idea of a world tree. The world tree was seen as a kind of cosmic axis onto which the planes of the universe are fixed. The roots of the world tree stretch down into the underworld, its trunk is the “middle earth” of everyday existence, and its branches reach upward into the heavenly realm. Amanita muscaria grows only under certain types of trees, mostly birch and evergreens. The cap of the mushroom is the fruit of the larger mycelium beneath the soil which exists in a symbiotic relationship with the roots of the tree. To ancient people, this mushroom was literally “the fruit of the tree.” The North Star was also considered sacred, since all other stars in the sky revolved around its fixed point. They associated this “pole star” with the world tree and the central axis of the universe. The top of the world tree touched the North Star. The spirit of the shaman would climb the metaphorical tree, thereby passing into the realm of the gods—hence, the star on top of the modern Christmas tree, and also the reason that the super-shaman Santa makes his home at the North Pole.

Reindeer games The active ingredients of A. muscaria are not metabolized by the body, and so they remain active in the urine. In fact, it is safer to drink the urine of one who has consumed the mushroom than to eat the mushroom directly, as many of the toxic compounds are processed and eliminated on the first pass through the body.

It was common practice among ancient people to recycle the potent effects of the mushroom by drinking each other’s urine. The mushroom’s ingredients can remain potent even after six passes through the human body. It may seem odd to us now, but this urine-drinking activity preceded alcohol by thousands of years. Reindeer were the sacred animals of these semi-nomadic people, since they provided food, shelter, clothing and other necessities. Reindeer are also fond of eating the mushroom; they will seek it out, then prance about while under its influence. Often the urine of tripped-out reindeer would be consumed for its psychedelic effects. This effect goes the other way too, as reindeer also enjoy the urine of a human, especially one who has consumed the mushroom. In fact, reindeer will seek out human urine to drink, and some tribesmen carry sealskin containers of their own collected piss, which they use to attract stray reindeer back into the herd.

Santa Claus, super shaman The effects of A. muscaria usually include sensations of size distortion and flying. Legends of shamanic journeys include stories of winged reindeer transporting their riders up to the highest branches of the world tree. Although the modern image of Santa Claus was created at least in part by the advertising department of Coca-Cola, in truth his appearance, clothing, mannerisms and companions all mark him as the reincarnation of these ancient mushroom-gathering shamans. When it was time to go out and harvest the magical mushroom, the ancient shamans wore red and

Continued on next page

On the fly agaric (aka a. muscaria):

manita muscaria, commonly called fly-agaric, has a reputation in the U.S. for being one of those dangerous mushrooms—the kind that can kill you. A. muscaria’s extremely toxic relatives (the destroying angel and the death cap, for example) are responsible for that fear. This mushroom is likely to make you ill if you eat it raw. But in Russia, Italy and Japan, people consume a. muscaria as a culinary delicacy; it is even served in Japanese restaurants. The key: They boil and pickle it first. Eating large doses of this mushroom culinarily, without proper preparation, account for the only recorded deaths, according to EROWID.ORG. The North American Mycological Association says no reliably reported deaths have occurred in the past 100 years; over 90% of mushroom deaths come from other amanitas. And therein may lie the greatest danger in ingesting a. muscaria: Tom Volk, University of Wisconsin mycologist and professor of biology, says a. muscaria can be easily mistaken for Amanita pantherina and other Amanita species that

are deadly poisonous. In the U.S., a. muscaria is legal to possess because it does not contain psilocybin, although in Louisiana it is illegal to possess more than 40 of them “intended for human consumption.” Regarding its use as a psychedelic entheogen, muscaria is unlike the main psychoactive chemicals in psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, peyote and ayahuasca. Instead, muscaria contains both ibotenic acid and muscimol. Muscimol is the compound most directly related to the effects of the mushroom, and is both contained in the mushroom itself as well as created when the body metabolizes ibotenic acid. A. muscaria should be dried completely before use. The drying process helps convert much of the ibotenic acid into muscimol, reducing potential for toxic side effects (stomach cramps, gas, muscle twitching, trembling; convulsions are signs of something more serious). Dried of muscaria can be purchased online. As a spiritual tool, longtime amanita cosmonaut James Arthur [who is not James Arthur Ray] writes, “The experi-

ence attained by the entheogenic [en (in) theo (God) gen (generative)] use of this mushroom is extremely valuable, yet the rules for experimentation of this type are unforgiving. Never eat any mushroom, unless you are absolutely certain that it is the one you want. Verify its identification with an expert mycologist. This is not a recreational experience. The Shamanic ‘death (and rebirth) experience’ is called that for a very good reason. It is what it is.” While we are not aware of any North Americans who are connected with a culture that employs A. muscaria as an entheogen, it’s worth noting this is one potential sacred tool that grows literally under our feet, in the city and in the mountains. A. muscaria can be found wherever pine, spruce and fir—the Christmas trees—as well as birch and cedar trees, grow. It is also an image our culture is comfortable with: the dancing mushrooms in Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” are a. muscaria; as are the spotted mushrooms associated with fairies and gnomes in children’s picture books and

which snuck into decoupaged craft projects across America in the 1960s. We see them as lawn ornaments, in comic books, and as chairs for Smurfs. This mushroom seems to be calling to us in our own language. It will be interesting to see what modern-day shamans will experience if they engage skillfully in the conversation. —Greta deJong, Pax Rasmussen

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December 2009

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Many modern people have rejected Christmas as being too commercial, claiming that this ritual of giving is actually a celebration of materialism and greed. Yet the true spirit of this winter festival lies in celebrating a gift from the earth: the fruiting top of a magical mushroom, and the revelatory experiences it can provide. white fur-trimmed coats and long black boots. After gathering the mushroom from under the sacred trees where they appeared, the shamans would fill their sacks and return home. Climbing down the chimney-entrances of their yurt homes, they would share the mushroom’s gifts with those within. The mushroom needs to be dried before being consumed; the drying process reduces the mushroom’s toxicity while increasing its potency. The ancient ones strung the mushrooms they gathered and hung them to dry by the hearth fire—an echo of the modern stringing of popcorn and other items? The psychedelic journeys taken under the influence of a. muscaria were also symbolized by a stick reaching up through the smoke-hole in the top of the yurt. The smoke-hole was the portal where the spirit of the shaman exited the physical plane. Santa’s famous magical journey, where his sleigh takes him around the whole planet in a single night, is developed from the “heavenly chariot,” used by the gods from whom Santa and other shamanic figures are descended. The chariot of Odin, Thor and even the Egyptian god Osiris is now known as the Big Dipper, which circles around the North Star in a 24-hour period.

St Nicholas and Old Nick Saint Nicholas is a legendary figure who supposedly lived during the fourth century. His cult spread quickly and Nicholas became the patron saint of many varied groups, including judges, pawnbrokers, criminals, merchants, sailors, bakers, travelers, the poor and children.

For more indepth background on the role of amanita muscaria in the history and development of our culture: LINKS AND REFERENCES “Hidden Mysteries of Christmas: Mushrooms, Magic and Astrotheology,” by James Arthur [note: this is James Arthur, not James Arthur Ray]: JAMESARTHUR.NET “Santa and Those Reindeer” —excerpted from “The Physics of Christmas: From Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodaynamics of Turkey,” by Roger Highfield: CHRISTMASPAST.INFO/STORIES/ REALSTORY/HALLUCINOGENIC.HTML

HOLIDAY HISTORY

Most religious historians agree that the legend of St. Nicholas was a Christianized version of earlier Pagan gods. Nicholas’ legends were mainly created out of stories about the Teutonic god Hold Nickar, known as Poseidon to the Greeks. This powerful sea god was said to gallop through the sky during the winter solstice, granting boons to his worshippers below. When the Catholic Church created the character of St. Nicholas, they took his name from “Nickar” and gave him Poseidon’s characteristics Thousands of churches named in St. Nicholas’ honor were converted from temples to Poseidon and Hold Nickar. As the ancient pagan deities were demonized by the Christian church, Hold Nickar’s name also became associated with Satan (for whom, in fact, a jocular euphemism is “Old Nick”). Local traditions were incorporated into the new Christian holidays to make them more acceptable to the new converts. To these early Christians, St. Nicholas became a sort of “super-shaman” who was overlaid upon their own shamanic cultural practices. Many images of St. Nicholas from these early times show him wearing red and white, or standing in front of a red background with white spots, the design of the mushroom.

True spirit of Christmas By better understanding the truths within these popular celebrations, we can better understand the modern world and our place in it. Many people today have rejected Christmas as being too commercial, claiming that this ritual of giving is actually a celebration of materialism and greed. Yet the true spirit of this winter festival lies not in the exchange of plastic toys, but in celebrating a gift from the earth: the fruiting top of a magical mushroom, and the revelatory experiences it can provide. Instead of perpetuating outdated and confusing holiday myths, it might be more fulfilling to return to the original spirit of these seasonal celebrations. How about getting back to basics and enjoying some real magic with your loved ones this holiday season? What better gift can a family share than a little piece of love and enlightenment? ◆ Dana Larsen is a Canadian writer and drug policy reform activist. He is the author of “Hairy Pothead and the Marijuana Stone,” founder of the Vancouver Medicinal Cannabis Dispensary and director of End Prohibition—New Democrats Against the Drug War. WWW.DANALARSEN.COM

“Amanita Muscaria and Santa Claus,” by James Bursenos IAMSHAMAN.COM/AMANITA/RESURRECTION.HTM “Fungi, Fairy Rings and Father Christmas,” North West Fungus Group, 1998 Presidential Address, by Dr Sean Edwards: FUNGUS.ORG.UK/NWFG/FUNMAY 98.HTM “Fly Agaric,” Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month for December 1999: BOTIT.BOTANY.WISC.EDU/TOMS_FUNGI/DEC99.HTML “Santa is a Wildman,” LA Weekly, Jeffrey Vallance: WWW.LAWEEKLY.COM/2002-1226/NEWS/SANTA-IS-A-WILDMAN “Father Christmas Flies on Toadstools,” New Scientist, December 1986 “Psycho-mycological studies of amanita: From ancient sacrament to modern phobia,” by Jonathan Ott, Journal of Psychedelic Drugs; 1976 “The Real Story of Santa, The Spore Print,” Los

Angeles Mycological Society, December 1998 “Who put the Fly Agaric into Christmas?,” Seventh International Mycological Congress, December 1999, Fungus of the Month

BOOKS “Mushrooms and Mankind: The Impact of Mushrooms on Human Consciousness and Religion,” by James Arthur (2000: Book Tree) [this is James Arthur, not James Arthur Ray] “The Physics of Christmas: From the Aerodynamics of Reindeer to the Thermodynamics of Turkey,” by Roger Highfield (1998: Little, Brown & Co.) “Soma: Divine Mushroom of Immortality,” by R. Gordon Wasson (1968: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich) “Mushrooms, Poisons and Panaceas,” by Denis R. Benjamin (1995: W.H. Freeman & Co.)

THE ALCHEMICAL KITCHEN

December 2009

Old-fashioned root beer 1 cake of compressed yeast 5 lbs. sugar (organic preferred) 2 oz. sassafras root* 1 oz. ginger root 2 oz. juniper berries* 4 gallons filtered water 1 oz. dandelion root* 1 tsp. wintergreen oil

Small brews for big health Make your own tasty tonics BY REBECCA REBECCA BRENNER BRENNER BY ’m not one for deprivation, especially during the festive season when sugary treats, heavier meals, and a glass (or two) of wine or soda are de rigueur of social life. I am, however, always curious about how my indulgences might be met with mindfulness and more conscious choices. In the Alchemical Kitchen, traditional sugary treats are turned into whole grain cookies sweetened with local fruits and agave nectar. Heavier meals are accompanied by homemade cultured vegetables for easier digestion. Wine and beers that have been patiently aging in the basement are opened and splashed around in salutations. And this year, sodas are being home-brewed—just like our kombucha, kefir, beer and wine. The home-brewing of sodas, which were originally called small beers because of the tiny amounts of alcohol they contained, has been

This holiday season, instead of buying the brandname sodas, buy the ingredients for these recipes and give home-brewed small beers a go. practiced throughout history in England and the British Isles, as well as in early colonial America. Homemakers and ale houses would ferment local grains and herbs, creating refreshing drinks that were full of B vitamins, minerals and enzymes. Small beers also contained lactic acid and lactobacilli, which aid the body in digesting and assimilating food and nutrients. Early American small beers, such as root beer, ginger beer and birch beer, were made with local herbs, bark and roots. These local finds were fermented with grains and whey, creating a refresh-

ing, effervescent tonic. Common ingredients, such as juniper, dandelion root and molasses are still used today by conscientious small brewers. Unlike today’s commercial soda pop that is more akin to candy, small beers drunk with meals aided digestion and, during a heavy work day, replenished minerals and enzymes. In the early 1800s pharmacists promoted the health benefits of mineral water mixed with medicinal herbs. This early soda was healthy, but soon techniques were developed to artificially add carbon dioxide to water, replacing natural spring water and home fermentation. Soon, large brewing companies like A&W began to spring up all over the country, mass-producing soda. With mass production, local herbs, bark and roots were replaced with artificial flavors, chemical-laden preservatives, large amounts of sugars and, eventually, artificial sweeteners. Mass production of soda has also made it easy to overconsume, leading to health problems such as liver damage, tooth decay, diabetes, obesity, acid reflux, heart disease, anxiety and hyperactivity. Large amounts of water are used in the production of soda and the cans and bottles they’re delivered in. When not recycled, cans and bottles along with caps, lids, tabs, plastic rings and other packaging add to our ever-growing mountains of garbage. Vast amounts of fuel are used to produce, package, ship and cool soda. This is why food is such an amazing catalyst for positive change—cutting commercial soda completely from your diet would not only benefit your body, but also the world in which you live. This holiday season, instead of buying the brandname sodas, buy the ingredients for these recipes and give home-brewed small beers a go. Not only will you gain the satisfaction of creating your own healthy soda alternative, you will also have the pleasure of enjoying and reclaiming a delicious part of DIY history. u Rebecca Brenner, Ph.D., is a nutritionist and owner of Park City Holistic Health. For more healthy DIY recipes visit her at WWW.PARKCITYHOLISTICHEALTH.COM and WWW.PLAYFULNOSHINGS.BLOGSPOT.COM.

1. Wash roots in cold water and drain. Add juniper berries (crushed), wintergreen oil and ginger. 2. Pour two gallons of boiling water over root mixture and simmer for 20 minutes. 3. Strain through cheese cloth. 4. Add sugar and remaining two gallons of water. 5. Allow to stand until lukewarm. 6. Dissolve yeast in a little cool water. 7. Add yeast to root liquid. Stir well and let settle. 8. Transfer into a clean glass containers that can be corked or sealed tightly. 9. Keep in a warm room five to six hours, then store in a cool place for several weeks before serving. * Available at natural foods markets and Dave’s Health & Nutrition.

Ginger beer This recipe is from one of my very favorite cookbooks— “Nourishing Traditions,” by Sally Fallon. 1 c. organic ground ginger 1 c. organic white sugar Filtered water 3 cups of rapadura (evaporated sugar cane juice; purchase at Hispanic, Indian and some natural foods groceries) Juice of four organic lemons 1. Genuine ginger beer begins with a “bug” made by feeding two tsp. ground ginger and two tsp. white sugar to a culture for seven days. White sugar is used for the small quantity needed to make the “bug.” Rapadura is used for the larger quantity that goes into the beer. 2. Place 1½ cups water, two tsp. ground ginger and two tsp. white sugar in a jar. Cover, shake well and leave at room temperature for 24 hours. Feed the culture with two tsp. each of sugar and ground ginger every day for seven days, leaving culture at room temperature. On the seventh day, it should produce bubbles. If not, throw away and start again. 3. Dissolve rapadura in 10 cups boiling water. Place in a very large bowl or stainless steel kettle. Add lemon juice and 5 quarts of water. Carefully pour off the liquid from the “bug” and add to the bowl, reserving the sediment. Mix well, cover the bowl tightly and leave for about seven days. Transfer to eight quart-sized bottles with wire-held corks or stoppers. Let stand 14 days at room temperature before drinking. 4. To make a new “bug,” removed half of the ginger-sugar sediment (give to a friend as a starter—it has a shelf-life of about two weeks) and reserve the rest. Add 1½ cups water and feed with two tsp. each sugar and ginger for seven days, as before. Ed.’s note: If you want to try your hand at soda-making, but are unsure of tackling the project completely from scratch, head to the Beer Nut: They have extracts, which greatly simplify the process—as well as recipe books for the gung-ho who want even more options, and the reusable bottles and stoppers. Do we think this is a great gift idea? Oh yes!

Café CATALYST

Caffé Ibis 52 Federal Ave. Logan. 435-753-4777. WWW.CAFFEIBIS.COM. Caffé Ibis, open 7 days a week, is a 30-year-old award winning “Green Business” in historic downtown Logan. We feature triple certified coffees (organic, fair trade, shadegrown), along with teas and fine chocolates at our espresso bar. The WiFi equipped gallery/deli serves organic ethnic cuisine for breakfast and lunch. $, CC, V, TO. Coffee Garden 254 S. Main, inside Sam Weller’s Books and 900 E. 900 S. 355-4425. High-end espresso, delectable pastries & desserts. A great place to people watch. Mon-Sat 6a-8p; Sun 7a-6p. $, CC, V, P, TO. Cucina Deli 1026 Second Ave. 322-3055. Located in the historic Avenues, Cucina offers a full menu of freshly made sandwiches, gourmet salads, specialty entrées and desserts. Daily specials include parmesan chicken, lasagna, and poached salmon. Enjoy the European atmosphere inside or relax under the umbrellas on the patio. Mon-Fri 7a-9p; Sat 8a-9p; Sun 8a-5p. $$, CC, V, P, TO, CAT. Faustina 454 East 300 South. 746-4441. Faustina is an American bistro serving lunch and dinner prepared by San Francisco Chef Jared Young in an intimate downtown location.

Menu items include handmade pastas, signature salads, lamb, steak, fish, chicken and handmade desserts. Full liquor & wine menu. Try our new “Executive Lunch Delivery Service,” with daily “2 for $10” lunch specials! Open Mon.-Fri. from 11:30 a.m. & Sat. from 5:30 p.m. $$$$$, CC, V, W/B, L, P, TO, CAT. Nostalgia 248 E. 100 S. 532-3225. Salt Lake’s best-damn coffee, sandwiches, salads, soups and fresh pastries. A great destination for casual business meetings or a relaxed environment to hang out with friends. Local artists also find a home to sell their work in a new, hip environment. Free wireless Internet available. $, CC, V, B, TO, P, CAT. One World Everybody Eats 41 S. 300 E. One World Everybody Eats serves fresh, organic cuisine that changes daily. To encompass our commitment to community, ending waste and eliminating hunger, we allow you to price your own meal according to your individual created plates. Open 7 days a week, 11a-9p. $, $$, V, P, TO. Red Rock Brewing Company Casual atmosphere with award-winning, hand crafted beers and sodas. Fresh, inspired menu with something for everyone. Valet, Patio Dining, Weekend Brunch, Full liquor & wine menu, take-out. Sun-Thurs 11am-12am, Fri-Sat 11am-1am,

Brunch Sat-Sun 11am-3pm. 254 South 200 West, SLC, 801.521.7446, WWW.REDROCKBREWING.COM $$, CC Rising Sun Coffee We now offer vegan chai, vegan pastries, gluten-free, sugar-free, dairy-free beverage options in a convenient drive-through style. Our beverages are carefully hand crafted to give you a smooth taste sensation. Each drink is served with pride, care and love, using only the finest quality ingredients, resulting in rich indulgent flavors you are sure to enjoy. We only carry fair trade organic coffee and garden direct tea. Our delicious bagels are delivered fresh from locally owned and operated Stone Ground Bakery. 801-486-0090, 2100 S 266 W, SLC. Open MondayFriday 5:30a-6:30p, Saturday 6a-6p and Sunday 9a-5p. $, CC, V, TO Sage’s Café 473 E. 300 S. 322-3790. Sage’s Café serves the healthiest & freshest cuisine in Utah, without compromising the overall dining experience. Sage’s Café serves organic wines & beer, fresh pastries, triple-certified coffee & tea. Cuisine ranges from fresh pasta to raw foods. Sage’s Café sustains diversity, compassion, personal & environmental health, community & positive attitude. Hours: Mon-Thurs 11:30a-2:30p & 5- 9:30p; Fri 11:30a-2:30p & 5p-12a; Sat 9-12a; Sun 9a-9p. $-$$, CC, V, P, W/B,TO.

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Takashi 18 West Market Street. 519-9595. Renowned sushi chef Takashi Gibo has opened the doors to an incredible Japanese dining experience. Enjoy a beautiful presentation of classic sashimi or experiment with delicious creations from the extensive sushi bar. Savor the assortment of small plates (Japanese tapas), from the tantalizing menu prepared by Chef Morio Tomihara. Featuring premium sake, wines and Japanese and domestic beers. Open Mon-Fri from 11:30a. and Sat. from 5:30p. $$-$$$ CC V W/B TO. Tandoor Indian Grill 729 E. 3300 S. 486-4542 Tandoor Indian Grill serves the finest and freshest Indian food. We specialize in southern Indian cooking including dosas, tandoor grilled items, paneer dishes and lamb. An abundance of vegetarian options, and a full beer and wine list (by the glass and bottle). Executive lunch buffet; 20-person banquet room for business meetings. Mon-Thurs 11am-9:30pm, Fri-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 11am-8pm $$, CC, V, W/B, TO, CAT Thai Garden & Noodle House Two locations; 4410 S 900 E and 868 E 900 S. We provide a healthy and enjoyable dining experience for you in

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comfortable and relaxing surroundings. Join us today with family and friends to savor our deliciously fresh, homemade authentic Thai food. A welcoming atmosphere and friendly service with nutritious & delicious food! Beer/wine menu available. We also offer carry-out & catering. 9th & 9th—Lunch: Mon-Fri 11a-3p, Sat 12-3p, Dinner: Mon-Thu 5-9p, Fri-Sat 5-10:30p, Sunday 5-9:30p. 45th & 9th—Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30a-3p, Sat12-3p, Dinner: Mon-Thu 5-9p, Fri-Sat 5-10p. $, CC, V, W/B, TO, CAT. The Tin Angel Cafe 365 West 400 South, 801-328-4155. Perched on the south edge of Pioneer Park in downtown Salt Lake, Tin Angel Cafe offers a locally driven, award winning, European inspired menu on the patio or in the artful dining room. Live music, local art and a full list of libations round out the experience. Reservations recommended. WWW.THETINANGEL . COM . $$, RR, CC, V, W/B, L, P, TO, CAT Vertical Diner 2280 S. West Temple SLC. 484-VERT. Vertical Diner offers vegan versions of classic “American” fare, including biscuts and gravy and burgers. New hours: 8am-10pm— seven days a week. Summer Patio Concert Series begins July 17th. $, CC, V, TO. W/B

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December 2009

Catalystmagazine.net

LAW AND ORDER

A warning to nude soakers Enjoying nighttime nature au naturale can land you a “lewdness” charge in Utah County BY KATHERINE PIOLI y weekend began as innocently as it should have ended: Eight young friends, six of whom were fire fighters for the US Forest Service celebrating the end of another fire season, spending a weekend camping in Utah. Our destination was Diamond Fork hot springs, just east of Spanish Fork, Utah, toward Price. Diamond Fork is a popular destination for people from all over the state, and even the country. The pools, although usually “family friendly,” are well-known for attracting more than the occasional group of nude bathers. Even those unfamiliar with the locale’s reputation for bathing sans suits can get a good hint of its potential on the two-mile hike leading up to the springs. At the trailhead itself the Forest Service has posted a sign: “Although nudity is not prohibited on Forest Service land, discretion is advised.” A mile up the trail, a bridge crosses a fork of the canyon’s main creek. Scratched into the red paint on one railing is a message: “Warning, nude bathers.” At one pool, pranksterish vandals have scrawled on the stones in faint red paint “Nude Only.”

in, only to find the lower pools still occupied. As the sole veteran Diamond Fork hot spring-goer of the group, I knew how to find more privacy. I led us on to a more hidden series of pools. To our delight we found them unoccupied. For two hours we enjoyed ourselves in the hot water. We shared cheese and chocolate. We opened more than one bottle of wine. We set little red tea candles around the rim of the pool—just enough light to see each other’s faces as we shared stories and talked. Then, shortly before midnight, a middle-aged man walked out of the darkness and up to the edge of the pool. He sat down nonchalantly and started making small talk. He did not seem like the soaker type. He wore a red sweatshirt with Utah written across the chest and had a big brown mustache. I remember thinking offhandedly that he looked like a local hunter drawn in by curiosity. Although we were all naked, he did not at all appear alarmed or offended by our presence. So, warmed with wine and companionship, we gave him little attention until he asked us for marijuana.

At the trailhead itself the Forest Service has posted a sign: “Although nudity is not prohibited on Forest Service land, discretion is advised.”

On this particular Saturday evening in October, my seven friends and I arrived at the trailhead well after dusk in order to avoid the usual crowd. We hiked the two miles

That’s when I felt something was wrong. We told him we did not have any. Almost immediately, four other similarly dressed men walked in from the trail. They circled the pool.

The path to the springs

Suddenly, the light from our candles was drowned by bright flashlights. “This is the Utah County Sheriffs. You are all being charged with misdemeanors for lewdness. We need you to all cooperate. Get out, get dressed and present your identification or we will arrest you.” I thought for sure it must be a joke. I demanded to see one of the badges up close for verification. Couldn’t this be, after all, just a strange group of men looking for an excuse to embarrass some naked bathers (especially myself and the three other women in the group)? But the badge seemed real enough. I had to decide how to get out of my watery haven safely and somewhat modestly. I addressed the men in front of—and behind—me. Could you turn around, I asked them. Or turn off your flashlights so I can get out and put a towel around me? I won’t run, I promised. To his credit, whichever of the five he was, one flashlight blinked off. The other four remained pointed at our group. I realized that I wouldn’t win this battle. So I lifted myself in all my

womanly splendor out of the water and into the light and dashed for my nearby clothes. With enough on to cover and keep me warm in the chilly October night, I turned to address our intruders. That is when I noticed that one of my girlfriends still had not exited the pool. She was too embarrassed to leave the water. She only consented to climb out once I brought a towel over to shield her and wrap around her body as she stood up. The rest of the event occurred with curt politeness from our side, businesslike impartiality from the other. We were well informed that if we did not comply we would be promptly led down the trail and booked. And so eight citations were written that night by the Utah County Sheriffs. Eight misdemeanors were given for lewdness. Eight court dates have now been set and a group of bathers will soon be defending themselves or pleading guilty in a court of law in Provo. We still don’t know the harshness of the punishment. Theoretically, it could include jail time. It might be a $50 ticket. I have since heard from other bathers with misdemeanors for “lewdness” that the fine reached $1,000. For all I know, my name will now be included on a list of sex offenders, since Utah’s lewdness statute lumps me together with people who have sex and masturbate in public. I can be consoled by one thing: That night at the hot springs was not a complete bust. After taking down all our information, the sheriffs told us to enjoy the rest of our night. As long as we kept our bathing suits on, we could soak for as long as we wished. And so we did. How kind of them. u Katherine Pioli is a staff writer for CATALYST, except in the summer when she is a forest firefighter in Wyoming.

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December 2009

catalystmagazine.net Art, Health, Spirit, Natural World, Music, Events/Festivals, Meetings, Exhibits, Education/Workshops. See the full list of events and the ongoing calendar at www.catalystmagazine.net/events

CALENDAR BY EMILY MOROZ

Free Mondays at the UMNH Come explore the Utah Museum of Natural History—for free!—on December 7, when admission is waived. Thanks to the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Parks Program, admission to the Museum is free all day on the first Monday of every month; often hours are extended to 9:30a-8p.

In the name of science Salty sea and spellbinding sounds Dec 4, 2-4p: Life in the Salty Sea with Bonnie Baxter Unlock the mysteries of some ancient biological molecules and examine samples of pink lake water, brine shrimp, bacteria and salt crystals from Great Salt Lake with the director of the Great Salt Lake Institute and professor of biology at Westminster College Bonnie Baxter. Dec 18, 2-4p: Sounds of the West with Jeff Rice Decode the sounds you hear right in your backyard with formernlongtime CATALYST contributor (he now lives in Seattle) and sound enthusiast Jeff Rice. Hear a spider plucking its web, the song of a sage thrasher, and the lonely calls of some of the last remaining Wyoming toads. Rice is a nationally recognized nature sound recordist and one of the founders of the Western Soundscape Archive, a digital library of animal and environmental sounds housed at the University’s Marriott Library. His recordings and audio productions have appeared regularly on National Public Radio and in museum exhibits throughout the West. Scientist in the Spotlight at the Utah Museum of Natural History, 1390 E Presidents Circle, University of Utah. All lectures free and in the main lobby. 801-581-6927, WWW.UMNH.UTAH.EDU/SPOTLIGHT

Have a beer, hear a bird talk Birds are among a handful of animals who have evolved super fast muscles, and certain songbirds can contract their vocal muscles 100 times faster than humans can blink an eye. At this month’s Science Night Live! event December 9, held

Regular UMNH hours are Mon-Sat, 9:30a-5:30p and Sun 12-5p.

Cashing in on green (energy)!

Free films: NOVA & Star Trek This year, the international community of planet Earth has been celebrating astronomy and the unknown territory of outer space. Join the University of Utah’s Department of Physics and Astronomy for two free films on December 12: “Magnetic Storm,” a PBS NOVA feature, and “Star Trek: First Contact.” This month’s films mark the finale of the Department’s International Year of Astronomy Film Festival, which featured monthly astronomy-themed film screenings at the U all year long. Movies (and popcorn!) are free. Year of Astronomy Film Festival, Dec 12, 6-9:30p, Olpin Union Theater, 200 S Central Campus Dr, The University of Utah. 801-581-5697, WWW.PHYSICS.UTAH.EDU

at downtown’s Keys on Main, University of Utah biology professor Franz Goller will investigate the diverse aspects of vocal behavior in birds by asking, “How do birds produce sound?” The answer involves physics, ecology and evolution. Science Night Live! introduces College of Science faculty pursuing cutting-edge research in their field; casual and engaging social hour before brief presentation and discussion at 6p. Question and answer period to follow. Free; must be 21+. Science Night Live!—Nature’s Musicians: How and Why Birds Sing with Franz Goller, Dec 9, 5:30p, Keys on Main, 242 S Main. WWW.SCIENCE.UTAH.EDU/SCINIGHT.HTML

Previously known as “Lunch with Leo,” Leonardo After Hours is a collaboration with the Leonardo (a science, technology and art center to open next to the Main Library in spring 2011) and USTAR bringing researchers and experts out of their labs and studios into an accessible forum where the public can learn about their latest innovations. At this month’s Leonardo After Hours December 8, three local green technology experts will discuss what’s new (and next) in the world of alternative energy. From laser wind mapping to solar nanotechnology and smart thermo-siphons, you’ll hear why our country’s economic future may depend on aggressively pursuing these discoveries. Guests include Bob Barson of the Center for Active Sensing and Imaging (USTAR) at USU, Nathan Furr of the Business Management Department (BYU), and Dr. Kent Udell of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (U of U). Emceed by Salt Lake Tribune reporter Kirsten Stewart, Leonardo After Hours is highly visual and interactive, with ample time for questions and answers. Free, but limited seating, so be sure to RSVP! Light appetizers and cash bar available. Leonardo After Hours: Cashing in on Green (Energy)! Dec 8, 5:30-7p, The Olive Bistro, 57 W 200 S. RSVP: 801-531-9800, RSVP@THELEONARDO.ORG, WWW.THELEONARDO.ORG

To be considered as a featured calendar in the print version, submit related photo or artwork by the 15th of the preceding month to EVENTS@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET

CatalystMagazine.net

neurship. This year’s market will feature beautiful woodwork, jewelry, clothing, carved gourds, sculpture, crocheted items, body care products and more, all handmade. Market vendors accept cash, debit, credit and EBT (Horizon Cards). People’s Market Holiday Market, Dec 5 & 12, 12p-8p, South Amphitheater of Trolley Square, 600 S 700 E. WWW.SLCPEOPLESMARKET.ORG

Longest running holiday sale in town

Art and culture Influences of the Silk Road What do jade, chess, the camera obscura and Hinduism have in common? They were all exchanged on the Silk Road, a series of routes that spun through Europe, the Middle East and Asia from the first millennium B.C.E. through the second millennium C.E. The Utah Museum of Fine Art’s “Influences of the Silk Road,” open now, explores this confluence where many diverse religions, technologies and goods were exchanged. Explore objects from the Museum’s permanent collection that traveled on the Silk Road with a family treasure hunt through the exhibition, an insightful audio tour and a “spice sniff station.” And don’t miss the museum’s “Highlights of the Collection” tour, a 30-minute overview offered the first Wednesday of the month at 6:30p, and Saturdays and Sundays at 1:30p. No pre-registration necessary. “Influences of the Silk Road,” through April 25, 2010. Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Dr, U of U. WWW.UMFA.UTAH.EDU/ EXHIBITIONS_CURRENT

As if you needed one more excuse to shop local this year, here’s a delightful one: Come to this year’s SLC Arts Council’s 26th Annual Holiday Craft Exhibit & Sale and find handmade goods sure to satisfy all gift-giving needs. The art exhibit and sale kicks off at the December 4 Gallery Stroll and keeps going daily until December 20. That’s right, daily! Take a look at the goods: jewelry, clothing, kitchenware, ornaments, handmade paper, journals, puppets, glasswork, hand-spun wool and silk, found objects, and much more, made by over 60 local artists. We’re betting you’ll find something unique and lovely. Salt Lake City Arts Council’s 26th Annual Holiday Craft Exhibit & Sale, Gallery stroll kick-off & reception Dec 4, 6-9p; Open Dec 520, 1-7p every day. The Art Barn in Reservoir Park, 54 Finch Lane (1340 E 100 S). 801-596-5000, WWW.SLCGOV.COM/ARTS

Shop Local Stroll in Sugarhouse Stroll around the Sugar House neighborhood and see what the historic neighborhood has to offer at the Sugar House Summit’s Shop Local Stroll, December 5. Enjoy live holiday music, carolers, arts and crafts for children, free scarves and beanies for shoppers, and an Art Stroll at the Rockwood Art Studios, plus food vendors and hot chocolate stations and Santa in his “Shack” (Monument Plaza, 1100 East 2100 South). The stroll is part of a monthly series known as the Sugar House Summit, organized by community members and sponsored by Photo: Laurie Bray Westminster College and the Sugar House Merchants Association. Free.

Film Artful truth: Manufactured Landscapes “Manufactured Landscapes” is a striking documentary about the work of artist Edward Burtynsky, acclaimed for his large-scale photographs of the evidence and effects of China’s massive industrial revolution—quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines and dams. The film, showing at the Salt Lake Art Center December 11, follows Burtynsky through China, pursuing the origins of manufactured items—an iron, for instance—imported into the United States. “Manufactured Landscapes” shines light on both the nucleus of industrialization and the dumping grounds of its waste. Through powerful and beautiful imagery, the film heightens awareness about the devastation human consumption is wreaking on our planet. The film won Best Documentary Feature and Best Canadian Feature at the 2006 Toronto Film Critics Association awards, among others, and is the last of four in Salt Lake City Film Center’s “Creativity in Focus” contemporary art film series. $5 suggested donation. Manufactured Landscapes, Dec 11, 7-8:30p, Salt Lake Art Center Auditorium, 20 S West Temple. Free. MARLOWH@SLARTCENTER.ORG, WWW.SLARTCENTER.ORG

Sugar House Summit’s “Shop Local” Stroll, Dec 5, 11a-5p, around the Sugar House business district. 801-832-2551, WWW.WESTMINSTERCOLLEGE.EDU/COMMUNITY

Avenues Yoga Holiday Bazaar

Get your (local) shopping on People’s Holiday Market The People’s Market’s Third Annual Holiday Market happens at Trolley Square December 5 and 12. People’s Market founder Kyle LaMalfa (see our “Agents for Change” story about Kyle, November ‘09) and market manager Rosalyn Moreno are excited about the venue upgrade (last year it was at the Salt Lake Intermodal Hub) and its growing popularity—there are 37 market vendors this year, about double from last year. People’s Market is an all-volunteer farmers market on the west side of town promoting urban agriculture, food security, community pride, diversity and entrepre-

Come warm your toes and round out your holiday shopping with a unique variety of handmade gifts at Avenues Yoga’s first annual Artisan Bazaar, December 19. The yoga studio will have clothing, jewelry, artwork, and tasty treats for shoppers. This year’s bazaar features artwork by Leslie Thomas, Mark Knudsen, Jamie Johnson, Cat Palmer, and Bad Dog Rediscovers America, plus fabulous clothing from meSheeky and Solissa’s boutique and one-of-a-kind jewelry from Elizabeth Plumb and Kierra Jewelry. Free; suggested donation of $5 to benefit the House of Hope. Avenues Yoga Artisan Bazaar, Dec 19, 5-9p, 68 K St. WWW.AVENUESYOGA.COM

Swirling Sufis and more Music truly unites all cultures in “Sound of the Soul,” showing for free December 21, a documentary homage to the remarkable Fez Festival of World Sacred Music in Morocco. The festival has brought together a unique array of musicians from Muslim, Christian and Jewish backgrounds for the past 16 years. Directed by Stephen Olsson, “Soul” features an African Berber women’s chorus, a Portuguese Fado singer, the Whirling Dervishes of Konya (Turkey), and scores of traditional Jewish, Sufi, Kurdistani, Iranian and Arabic music. Presented by the Salt Lake City Film Center as part of the center’s Films Without Borders series. “Sound of the Soul,” Dec 21, 7p, Main Library, 210 E 400 S. Free. WWW.SLCFILMCENTER.ORG

December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

Get your (local) shopping on continued

CALENDAR books, stationery, toys, games, art, bird feeders, jewelry and comfy clothing. Dress warmly and take advantage of the Center’s 152-acre nature preserve with a snowy walk. Or check out one of the Center’s sustainable structures— two of Utah’s greenest buildings. All proceeds benefit the Ogden Nature Center and its mission to unite people with nature and nurture stewardship of the environment. Free admission.

Hearts of Women” will explore the common ties that unite women of different cultures all over the world. Free.

Ogden Nature Center Open House, Dec 5, 9a-4p. WWW.OGDENNATURECENTER.ORG

Jane Austen was a true literary luminary whose work still influences literature and art today, and the folks at Library Square are celebrating Austen’s legacy on December 5. Attend an herb gardening and cooking workshop, the English garden plein-air painting demonstration (only for distinguished ladies and gentlemen) or a “Creating Fiction Out of Literary Characters” workshop at the Community Writing Center. Get the answers to such questions as “Why does Austen’s work translate so well for modern audiences? And zombies— what’s that all about?” from author and Austen expert Jennifer Adams. The Friends of The City Library will have a Mini

Literally literary Isabel Allende at the U of U Ogden Nature Center open house Join the folks at the Ogden Nature Center for holiday shopping, free gift wrapping, nature crafts, live holiday music, eco-friendly locally made items, delicious treats and more at their annual Open House, December 5. Their Nest Gift Shop offers nature-themed

The University of Utah and the Tanner Humanities Lecture Series present an evening lecture December 2 by Chileanborn author, social activist and feminist Isabel Allende. Allende has sold over 51 million books worldwide in over 32 languages. Her novels and memoirs have established her as one of the world’s most respected Latin American writers. Through personal reflection and experiences, Allende’s lecture “In the

Isabel Allende’s “In the Hearts of Women” lecture, Dec 2, 7-9p, Olpin Union Ballroom, 200 S. Central Campus Dr. Panel discussion on Allende’s work, Dec 3, 11a, Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, Rm 109, 215 S. Central Campus Dr. U of U. WWW.THC.UTAH.EDU

Jane Austen visits the Main Library

Movement & dance All is bared “After Dark” Sugar Space presents “After Dark,” a hot, twirling, musical extravaganza with six performance groups in 90 minutes, December 4. “After Dark” will feature performances by the Slippery Kittens (Salt Lake’s very own “Purrlesque” group), Movement Forum (modern and improvised dance), Revolve Aerial Dance (what it sounds like: aerial, circus and trapeze-infused), as well as Ashley Anderson, Samba Fogo and Kate LeDeuce. This is an adult show (leave the kiddos at home), beer and wine may be served and the seating is limited—so be sure to snag your tickets early. “After Dark” will be some fierce Friday fun! After Dark, Dec 4, 9p and 10:30p, $12. Sugar Space Studio for the Arts, 616 E Wilmington Ave (2190 S). 888-300-7898, ADMIN@THESUGARSPACE.COM, WWW.THESUGARSPACE.COM

The “Buy Local Dance” (Yes, dance) Director of dance Sofia Gorder and her students at Rowland Hall take the idea of buying local to an entirely new level this month in their “Buy Local Dance,” December 10, 11, and 12. Since August, Gorder’s junior and senior students have been working on a multidimensional performance with 12 local professional dancers, including Kori Wakamatsu, Eileen Rojas, Jo Blake, Ursula Perry, Mallory Rosenthal, Megan Morrison, Laja Field, and Movement Forum Dance Company (of which Gorder, a Salt Lake native, is a member). Students also met regularly with a group of fourth and fifth graders from Mountain View Elementary in Glendale (as part of a service learning project) and taught them original choreography, which was likely an eye-opening challenge. So how does Buy Local translate into dance? Gorder asked of her students, “How can we extend the Buy Local idea into the arts? What does it mean to support fellow artists?” Students provide a unique array of insightful, mature answers: audio recordings of spoken word from their teachers, battery-operated humans, morphing props, and a community of women overcoming obstacles in a rural village. Both Rowland Hall and Mountain View student groups (plus the professionals) will perform together in the Buy Local Dance—quite a sight to see over 60 students ages 9-18 dancing together on one stage. Don't miss it! Buy Local Dance, Dec 10-12, 8p, Larimer Center for the Performing Arts, Rowland Hall, 843 S Lincoln St.

Ririe-Woodbury’s “Gravity” The push and pull of Earth’s gravity is essential to the flow of movement, physically, musically and visually. Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s performance, “Gravity,” (December 17-19) speaks of this inescapable force through the uniquely dynamic style of Ririe-Woodbury’s artistic director Charlotte Boye-Christensen. Boye-Christensen will also restage her 2008 work “Interiors,” inspired by street art and the work of Salt Lake artist Trent Call. Boye-Christensen, a Denmark native, received her formal training at the London Contemporary Dance School and has been choreographing, teaching and dancing for over 14 years. Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s “Gravity,” Dec 17-19, 7:30p & 2p Sat (matinee), Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W Broadway (300 S). 801-297-4241, WWW.RIRIEWOODBURY.COM/GRAVITY.PHP; tickets at WWW.ARTTIX.ORG

CatalystMagazine.net

Literary Luminaries: Celebrating Jane Austen, Dec 5, 10a-7p, Main Library, 210 E 400 S. WWW.SLCPL.ORG

sion December 13 on how this homestead traditionâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;arguably the first federal economic stimulus packageâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;might help or hinder our efforts to rehabilitate our broken relationship with the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most prized possession: its land.

Chekhovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shorts: Gene Pack

Whose land is your land, whose land is my land? with Dorothee Kocks, Dec 13, 2-3p, Main Library, 210 E 400 S. 801-466-5429, LZRDWMN@QWEST.NET, WWW.UTAHHUMANITIES.ORG/PUBLICSQUARETOPICS.HTM

Chekhovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shorts: Gene Pack reads â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Christmas Memory,â&#x20AC;? Dec 10, 7p, Special Collections Room at the Main Library, 210 E 400 E. Free. WWW.SLCPL.ORG

Festivities The last three days of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;09 Word has it thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a 72-hour party happening downtown at the end of this month.

Known as EVE, it promises to be â&#x20AC;&#x153;three days, three nights, one ticketâ&#x20AC;?â&#x20AC;&#x201D;December 29, 30 and 31â&#x20AC;&#x201D;for live music, performances, dance parties, DJs, action sports, blocking traffic, and more. The EVE Facebook page also boasts hundreds of drummers hanging off 50-foot art sculptures, a bonfire melting an ice palace, â&#x20AC;&#x153;the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest two-minute fireworks show,â&#x20AC;? human bowling, film screenings, a Battle of the Bands, and mysteriously-named events like â&#x20AC;&#x153;Paint Dipped Snow Ball Interactive Artâ&#x20AC;? and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yellow Snow Parade.â&#x20AC;? Sounds fun and a little crazyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;just what some of us need for 2010! Check the website often for updates. EVE Salt Lake City, Dec 29-31. NICEPEOPLE@EVESLC.COM, WWW.EVESLC.COM

Humanities Whose land is your land? In the 19th century, the U.S. government parceled out its vast land holdings in hopes of securing an honorable subsistence for all. Today, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the midst of heated debates about whether our remaining â&#x20AC;&#x153;commonâ&#x20AC;? lands should be preserved or developed to â&#x20AC;&#x153;stimulateâ&#x20AC;? the economy. Join writer and historian Dorothee Kocks for a lively discus-

Art for the whole family Bring the kids The Salt Lake Art Center presents its final Family Art Saturday December 12: Chinese ink scroll painting, inspired by traditional Chinese ink scroll artwork and guided by displacement artist Yun-Fei Ji. And at the Utah Museum of Fine Artsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; final Free Third Saturday for Families on December 19, take a guided stroll through the Museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Native American galleries and its â&#x20AC;&#x153;Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Artâ&#x20AC;? exhibition. Find examples of intricate patterns, interesting shapes and decorative linesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;then take them back to the classroom and design one-of-a-kind puzzles with your discoveries.

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Chinese Ink Scroll Painting, Dec 12, 2-4p, Salt Lake Art Center, 20 S West Temple. 801-328-4201 x121, WWW.SLARTCENTER.ORG Make Your Own Jigsaw Puzzles, Dec 19, 2-4p, Emma Eccles Jones Education Center Classroom at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, 410 Campus Center Drive, University of Utah. 801-581-3580, WWW.UMFA.UTAH.EDU/FAMILYPROGRAMS

Unleash your creativity in Park City There are tons of classes to choose from this month at the Kimball Art Center. Bring the familyâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and your appetiteâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;to the make-your-own Gingerbread House class (December 16, $25). Or ring in the New Year with styleâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;make a masterpiece for your noggin in New Yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hats and Crafts (December 28, $20). New this season is the Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Open Studio Nights, weekly classes taught by artists in various media. Each open studio usually features a demonstration, discussion and/or informal art critique, with a $10 suggested donation per student for three hours (this helps pay the instructors). Some Open Studios in December: Painting & Drawing for Teens and Adults, December 15; Silver Smithing for Teens/Adults, December 17; and Just for Teens (11-17) with Digital Photography, Pottery, Mixed Media Sculpture, and more, December 18 (includes pizza!). Bring your own supplies; students can stay until 9p. See web for full schedule. Make a day of it if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re coming from elsewhereâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s worth the trip! Kimball Art Center, 638 Park Avenue, Park City. To register: 435-649-8882, WWW.KIMBALLARTCENTER.ORG/ EDUCATION/ONLINE-REGISTRATION

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Every fourth Wednesday (in this case, second Thursday, December 10), join great local readers at the Main Library for short fiction readings in their Chekhovâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Shorts series. This month, local actor and beloved former KUER radio host of 40 years Gene Pack will read the classic Truman Capote story â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Christmas Memory.â&#x20AC;?

Used Book Sale from 10a-3p. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s more; detailed schedule at the Main Library website (click on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eventsâ&#x20AC;?).

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December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

BY YOU THE READER: FIRST PERSON

Full Circle First Person was a popular occasional column that ran in CATALYST in the 1990s — a collection of nonfiction short-short pieces written by you, the reader. We have resurrected the concept for your writing (and reading) pleasure. Tell your parents; tell your kids. We want everybody’s impressions and perspectives. You need not be a pro writer. (Though, of course, send us your best shot.) Pick a topic (see list) and write from your own experience. When we reach critical mass on a topic, we’ll print what we can fit. Entries should be 100-400 words (yes, shorter than most now cones were a Sunday treat at Amache, a “relocation/concentration” camp for Japanese and Japanese-Americans in Colorado during World War Two. We scraped small blocks of ice on Japanese ice shavers, one of which was ours. Did my mother pack that as an afterthought? A whim? The ice shaver was coveted here in the midst of the desert. In the blazing sun we carried it to the rec room at the end of the laundry barrack. Shhh, shhh, the blade sang, and beneath it, slivers of white flakes mounded into bowls. We poured on red or green Kool-Aid, and reveled in our Sunday specials. On particularly windy days we nicknamed them “dusties” because if we didn’t eat them quickly we found ourselves crunching a mixture of sand and ice. The best part was the soupy cold at the bottom. We slurped and licked and ended with red or green lips and tongues. We laughed at each other’s remarkable faces. Recently I brought out our new automatic SnoCone machine (super deluxe, guaranteed to produce fine slivers of ice) to make snow cones for my granddaughter, Autumn. I set it on “fine texture,” added ice cubes and watched as chunks of unevenly crushed ice clinked into the dish. Perhaps I was doing something wrong. I tried again. Same result. Autumn chose green syrup to pour over her portion. She bit into the ice. Her expression said, “disappointing.” Then I remembered the antique ice shaver tucked away on a shelf, saved as a tribute to my mother’s odd foresight. We froze a

block of ice and made snow cones the old fashioned way. “Look, Autumn, this works better than the machine.” Autumn and I both had big grins on our faces as we savored the syrup at the bottom. It was as sweet and icy as I remembered it many years ago. —Lily Havey

haven’t seen my father for years, and the journey to his bedside is short and exhausting. He is happy to see me, and as bad as he looks, as pasty and pale, I’m glad to be with him. The old man is bedridden and breathes through oxygen tubes. His wife, a saint, does her best to care for him, but because she works, the old man is left alone most of the day. The blinds are shut, the room is stifling in the drone of endless TV chatter. As we small talk, I’m especially sad that he doesn’t have the energy or will to sit outside in the fresh air, that he’s missing out on birdsong and cicada and stars. I don’t have it in me to stay long, and understanding why, he takes my hand and places it against his swollen cheek as I bend to kiss his bald, chafed head. Back home, a thousand miles from my father’s deathbed, I have planks to cut. Normally I go for the power saw, but on this day, listening for the phone and news of my father, I don’t want the noise, choose a hand saw instead. I mark the boards, create a kerf, fold my arm into the cut. I remember how all hand tools work best when they become an extension of the body. It feels good to use this saw, to renew an old friendship. I bought the saw 30 years ago, at a time when a lot of folks were weighing the satisfaction of handcrafts against the efficiency of power tools. The goal was to simplify life, live

in this month’s collection; longer items will be considered only if they just knock our socks off). Send entries to FIRSTPERSON@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET. For more details and guidelines, visit WWW.CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET/FIRSTPERSON. Upcoming topics include: Nothing Like it Losing Control Inner Light Hindsight The Right One Saw It Coming. close to the earth, dependent on one another, for sure, but independent of technologies that separate us from the forces of nature. Hard as I tried, I failed, a shop crowded with power tools a constant reminder that I did. Many years ago my father walked away from a family with five kids, and because of it, has no real relationship with any of us. My guess is he believed the choice would better his life. Whether it did or not, I can’t say. What I can say is, regardless of his efforts to reconcile the past with my siblings and me, the bridge was too far to cross. Even so, I hold no blame, and pray when his body gives out his spirit meshes with wind and rivers. In the moment, I carry an old hand saw, a tool that cuts cleanly when made an extension of the body. To touch the earth, to live more simply? For now, I listen for the phone to ring, and when it does, I hope the voice from the other side speaks the truth of our separations. And if the truth be told, I hope we believe it, and in belief, may we learn, may we forgive, may we begin again. —Andy Hoffmann he ambulance pulled in front of my home, sirens blaring. Third time this year. I was eight. My parents were going through a bitter divorce. I believe my mother had a series of nervous breakdowns, but at the time thought they were heart attacks. Thus instilled the extreme fear of death in me. My mother promised she would never die. I wanted to believe her, though I knew better. Fourteen years later she was murdered. A decade later, two of my brothers committed suicide and another died of a heart attack. Prior to my

birth, my only sister died of cancer at the age of five. Where do we go when we die? Is there really a heaven and hell? What happens to those who choose their own death? My mom taught me that life is karma. We are here to learn. That is what karma is—our lesson. She never could explain what happened after life, though she believed in reincarnation. We go to bed thinking we will get up tomorrow. However, we all die. And we do not know when. It could be tomorrow. I learned about impermanence as a child, but was frightened by it. Three years ago, I discovered Buddhism. I no longer live in fear of death, or am even baffled by it. It really does not matter as long as I live in the presence fully. This is where I have come full circle. —Ann Clark

t has been 26 years since he has spoken with her, his ex-wife, and when he hears her voice over the phone it sounds like a confession. There is no salutation, as though, he imagines, she thinks he has thought of her every day. It seems, to him, there is still a touch of anger, no, jealousy, at the back of her throat, stuck. “I have some old photographs of you from when we first got…” there is a broken pause, that feels like an olive branch. For him, the war has been over for a very long time. “Anyway,” she clears her throat, “I was cleaning out the office…and there are some great pictures of your mother and father…”

“Yes,” he says, cutting her off without meaning to. “I’d love them.” To him, it is a gift and he is touched by it. His children, when they were younger, and still now, but less frequently, had asked, “Did you ever have any hair? How come you don’t have any pictures when you were young?” “Yes, of course I had hair,” and he would move the question along, like so many other things about his past. There is something about the phone call that seems completely final. He knows this, he senses it, but can’t, at this moment, work it out clearly. It is so unexpected. Out of the blue. “If you’d like, I could drop by your office and pick them up.” “I’ll send a messenger.” “Okay,” he replies. “But I’m happy to just swing by. It’s not a problem.” “Our law firm uses messengers.” “I remember.” An awkward beat, “I remember.” He hangs up the phone, closes the door to his university office and begins to do the math, work the equation of this gift, hypothesizing in Xs + Ys. Photographs – X= phone call (Nothing) 26 years – phone call = pictures (Blank) He is not a mathematician, he teaches literature and playwriting. It makes no sense. Not now. After all these years and he wonders how those photographs could have survived. When he arrives home, his daughter is in the kitchen preparing a light dinner, pouring a glass of wine. His son lumbers into the frame. They both have questions. It is in their eyes. “Dad, you remember my friend Andy?” his son asks. “Of course,” his father says, trying to find the face. “He brought by an envelope for you today...from your exwife.” Then, adding quickly to help turn the corner, as if it could explain all, “…he works for a delivery service.” “Andy was surprised,” his daughter said, “when he found out you’d been married to…” “It was a long time ago,” he replies, picking up the package and going into the den and again, closing a door. Delicately, he places the enve-

admit, he’d grown out of everything and finally, at last, grown into those eyes. —Jeff Metcalf

love driving to work. During that short 20 minutes, the world unfolds before me, and almost every day I see something that surprises me. One day last fall, a 10 or 11-year-old boy appeared at the end of a driveway leading to a group of apartments. He was chasing a basketball around despite the giant backpack he carried. Each morning from then on he was in the same spot, always with the basketball, and always moving. The days became shorter and colder and he moved around even more, running after the ball, always wearing just a long-sleeved shirt. I watched him play and shiver and after a few weeks I began to really worry about his lack of a coat. I even considered buying one and leaving it at the end of the driveway for him to find. Then it snowed. When I reached his road he was there, standing stock still, wearing the most yellow coat I’d ever seen. It practically gave off heat it was so yellow. I was terribly relieved, but the look of mortification I saw on his face kicked an old memory out of the well I’d thrown it down. A memory of a passionately desired down ski coat; a memory of my single mother trying to accommodate that wish with a homemade version; and a crystal clear memory of proudly wearing my perfect coat for about five minutes until one of the cool kids asked what brand it was and I didn’t have an answer. Right then I wanted to stop my car and go hug that boy. I wanted to tell him I knew that pain, knew that fear, but also that warmth. But I didn’t. I kept driving. —Corrinne Lewis

“Day Job Samsara” by Amie Tullius lope on his desk, pausing for a moment before taking out a knife and carefully running a sharp blade along the seam. The photographs have a rubber band loosely wrapped around them. He sensed they had been arranged in a particular order for him, a code of sorts, the language of a gesture. Twenty pictures in all. Two for every year they had been married. One photograph in particular, the only one out of order, of him, 22 years old, the same age as his daughter now, in a dark green

v-necked sweater, a white polo shirt with the collar turned up, his left arm leaning against the driver’s side of their first brand new car, a yellow Volkswagen convertible, his right arm comfortably resting over his left, his hair gently blowing in the wind, a wonderful smile on his face, at the house they had first lived in, on Grace Street. He remembered the picture always. Wondered, perhaps, if it too had disappeared in the seam, discarded…dissolved. The eyes had always puzzled him though,

still did, something in the gaze, the dark brown intensity of his gaze, laser like, piercing through the camera lens. Those eyes were not of him. Slowly, he gets up from the desk and walks to the mirror in the corner of his office, leans over and examines the face. There are scars and lines. He has lost his hair and his face is heavy, eyes weighted by the years, by the stories he carries. Holding the photograph against the mirror he studiously takes inventory. He would have to

December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

GREEN BEAT

News and ideas from near and far for a healthier, more sustainable future BY PAX RASMUSSEN

DOE awards up to $5.5 million for the Automotive X Prize Competition The Department of Energy announced last month that it will provide up to $5.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support the X Prize Foundation’s work to inspire a new generation of energy-efficient vehicles. The X Prize Foundation creates and manages prizes intended to drive innovators to solve challenges facing the world. The Automotive X Prize is a private, independent, technology-neutral competition offering $10 million for clean, production-capable vehicles that achieve the energy equivalent of 100 miles per gallon of gasoline. As part of the Automotive X Prize competition, teams are designing innovative, commercially viable, high-efficiency vehicles. WWW.ENERGY.GOV/NEWS2009/8240.HTM

Bike bits First, the Salt Lake City Council has approved a resolution to donate unclaimed bicycles held by the Salt Lake City Police Department to the Salt Lake City Bicycle Collective. The SLCPD holds bikes that are abandoned, recovered as stolen property or as evidence in cases. After being held for a specified time period (typically 90 days) and attempts to contact bike owners are failed, the bikes can now be donated to the Bike Collective, instead of throwing them away or auctioning them off. The Bike Collective will then fix them up as needed and provide them to low-income residents or non-profit organizations. The resolution should result in 100-200 bikes per year donated to the Collective. WWW.SLCBIKECOLLECTIVE.ORG

Also, QBP (a bicycle distribution company), which is opening a new distribution center in Ogden, is donating $10,000 to the Ogden Bicycle Collective. The Collective will use the QBP donation, along with matching funds from the Utah Conservation Corps and Utah State University, to hire a full-time administrator. WWW.OGDENBIKECOLLECTIVE.ORG

Salt Lake City now has its own bike lane tattletale website. If you see cars parked illegally in bike lanes, snap a photo and write down the license plate, and use the anonymous web form to report violators. They’ll appear on the site. And remember, everybody, respect the bike lanes! www.SALTLAKE.MYBIKELANE.COM

Last but not least, it seems there is a rash of fake bike lane parking tickets appearing on windshields all over the world. Check out these websites for stories about citizen bike lane enforcement in Toronto, Boston, New York and London. WWW.TINYURL.COM/YQEVY8 WWW.TINYURL.COM/YKUY9O7 WWW.TINYURL.COM/YZUWEEF

Jordan River gets blue bins Last month, Salt Lake City announced the inception of a Jordan River recycling program. Blue bins will be installed at multiple sites along the Jordan River to promote “increased stewardship of the area.” WWW.SLCGREEN.COM

California slaps energy-hogging TVs Last month the California Energy Commission voted 5-0 in favor of the first energy efficiency regulation in the country. Starting on January 1, energy consumption of new TVs will be cut in order to meet certain energy standards—by about a third! Even stricter rules will go into effect on January 1, 2013, cutting energy use allowed by these appliances by 50%. Major electronics manufacturers were predictably outraged, but the Energy Commission more or less said, “Too bad.”

I’m not sure what the implications of a bunch of icebergs heading toward your shoreline are, but it seems to make news. WWW.NEWS.BBC.CO.UK/2/HI/ASIA-PACIFIC/8379690.STM

Cash for Clunkers… a crock? A couple of months ago, I reported on the $3 billion federal program, Cash for Clunkers, which was supposed to get millions of inefficient, old and dirty vehicles off the street and into scrapyards. So how did the program work out? According to an Associate Press investigation, not so well: Most of these polluting trucks and cars were traded in for new, but only marginally cleaner, vehicles. The most common swap (which occurred more than 8,200 times), was

the major pressure this population will exert on the climate. WWW.UNFPA.ORG/SWP/2009/EN/

GoodGuide app— what’s in that shampoo? There’s a new iPhone app that can help you get the inside scoop on questionable products. Using the camera in the iPhone, the app takes a picture of the barcode of any product and uploads it to GoodGuide’s server. You then get a page displaying ratings for that product—including details for health, environmental and social responsibility concerns. Plus, it’s free! WWW.GOODGUIDE.COM/ABOUT/MOBILE

350.org update Over the last few months, I’ve written about the International Day of Climate Action, organized through 350.ORG, which took place on October 24. Protests were held in nearly every country on the planet— the event was easily one of the biggest widespread political actions in history.

WWW.TINYURL.COM/YG6WE52

Light bulb “nutrition facts” Last month, the FTC proposed new labeling requirements for light bulbs, in response to a congressional mandate. The uniform label format would provide information on bulb life, brightness, energy cost, color temperature and wattage, as well as whether or not the bulbs contain mercury. WWW.FTC.GOV/OPA/2009/10/LIGHTBULBS.SHTM

New Zealand under siege—by icebergs You’ve heard about how global warming is melting the ice caps? Turns out, they don’t just melt—they break apart and run amok. Last month, the BBC reported that over 100 icebergs, some of which are bigger than 650 feet wide, are headed toward New Zealand. Scientists think these bergs broke away from the Ross Sea Ice Shelf in 2000, and have been drifting around since.

Michael Mielke with Jean Arnold who designed and led volunteers in transforming a an old weather balloon, mapping out the effects of Thousands of Ford Fclimate change before the photos from well 150 for a new 350.org event over 5,000 rallies and Ford F-150—an protests, from 181 countries, floodimprovement of less than three mpg. ed into the 350.ORG web servers. Here in WWW.CONTRACOSTATIMES.COM/BUSINESS/CI_13712112 Salt Lake, several hundred people showed up at Library Square to advocate awareness Slow climate change— of and response to climate change. have fewer kids The goal of 350.org was to get as many people as possible to learn one fact: that A recent report from the United 350 parts per million is what scientists, cliNations, called State of World Population, mate experts and progressive national has drawn dramatic links between overgovernments are now saying is the safe population and climate change. The U.N. upper limit for CO2 in our atmosphere. estimates that by 2050, world population From 1900 to 2000, atmospheric CO2 will be as high as 10 billion. The report increased from 295 to 365 ppm. The atmosstresses that support for women and prophere’s CO2 level is currently up to 387. viding family planning and reproductive health resources is the key to averting www.350.org

COMINGS AND GOINGS

December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

What’s new around town BY EMILY MOROZ

Morgan Valley Lamb at large

Ian Brandt opens Cali’s Natural Foods Cali’s Natural Foods, an almost exclusively organic (and local, where possible) natural grocery and bulk foods store, opened last month after several years in the planning. Cali’s is the newest project from Chef Ian Brandt, owner of well-loved Sage’s and Vertical Diner. In addition to the store, Brandt plans to hold community workshops, classes and art and music events at his newest location. Brandt describes the natural foods store as a combination of Liberty Heights-type quality with Costco affordability and quantity. It’s even located just around the corner from the Third West CostCo, so your vehicle might already know the way. Brandt and his team have been price-checking diligently and he says Cali’s prices have consistently been 20% lower than those at Whole Foods markets. In addition to working with a national natural foods purveyor, Brandt has teamed up with a hearty group of local companies to provide Cali’s with the majority of its products. The wheat for Cali’s bakery comes from Wheatland Seed in Tremonton, Utah. Wheatland’s founder George Perry, pictured above with Brandt grows 50% of his wheat organically, right here in Utah. Perry is 75 years old and semi-retired, but still delivers pallets of his wheat all over the state. Brandt is clearly happy about the opportunity to connect conscious consumers with Utah entrepreneurs like Perry. Cali’s features a fresh deli and pastry counter, gourmet packaged products, cleaners, paper products, chemical-free preservative-free “earth-friendly living essentials” and, of course, bulk foods. Cali’s Natural Foods, 1700 S 389 W, Unit C, Mon-Sat 3p-7p, 801-483-CALI (2254), IAN@CALISNATURALFOODS.COM, WWW.CALISNATURALFOODS.COM. General Manager & Chef Ian Brandt, 801-259-3106.

KUED wins Emmy Salt Lake City’s KUED-TV was honored as the first recipient of the Overall Station Excellence Award from this year’s Rocky Mountain Regional Emmy Awards. KUED general manager Larry S. Smith accepted the special award, which is based on a station’s quality, service, diversity and commitment over the course of the year, at the late October ceremony in Phoenix, Arizona. More than 50 stations were eligi-

ble in the Rocky Mountain region. The overall station excellence recognized KUED documentaries such as Stegner, Alta, Outside, the five-part We Shall Remain series, Utah NOW, Free Speech Messages and the state’s first full-length Spanish language political debate. Okay, so maybe there is a reason to own a TV!

Good news, locavores! Utah’s own Morgan Valley Lamb is now available at a handful of convenient locations in northern Utah: Harmon’s Grocery Store (all locations), Emigration Market (1706 E 1300 S), Liberty Heights Fresh (1242 S 1100 E), Tony Caputo’s Market (308 W Broadway), Rico Locals (779 S 500 E), The Store (2050 E 6200 S, Holladay) and Springville Meat (268 S 100 W, Springville). All locations offer a wide variety of Morgan Valley Lamb, including sausages and traditional Scottish lamb pies. For a map of Harmons locations, go to WWW.TINYURL.COM/YF5TPHX. For retail outlet information, visit WWW.MORGANVALLEYLAMB.COM/MORGAN_VALLE Y_LAMB/RETAIL_OUTLETS.HTML. Morgan Valley Lamb, James & Linda Gillmor, 435-864-7298, WWW.MORGANVALLEYLAMB.COM

Salt Lake restaurants earn top Zagat rankings Congratulations to Takashi, CATALYST’s favorite for sushi, which placed among the top restaurants in America in Zagat’s 2009 Survey. Zagat ratings aren’t small potatoes: Over 145,000 eaters dine at restaurants around the country and send in their opinions on food, décor, service and cost, and each year the results are bound into an important little red book. Takashi and the fabulous creations of owner Takashi Gibo earned a 27 (out of a possible 30). Also top-ranking were two other CATALYST haunts (do we have good taste or what?), Red Iguana and Mazza, both with a score of 26. Takashi, 18 W Market St, WWW.TAKASHISUSHI.COM Red Iguana, 736 W No. Temple, WWW.REDIGUANA.COM Mazza, 1505 S 1500 E and 912 E 900 S, WWW.MAZZACAFE.COM

KUED Channel 7, 801-581-7777, WWW.KUED.ORG

ATTENTION CATALYST ADVERTISERS: Help us keep our readers informed about changes in your business. Send us news about your company or organization—new services, products, projects, employees, location, menu, hours, honors, etc. Email us a brief message (include telephone and name): GRETA@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET

Here at

CATALYST Renstrom’s “Ruling Planets” Christopher Renstrom, CATALYST’s Q&A astrologer, launched his new website last month. For $1.99 per month, users get access to in-depth information about the planets that rule our astrological lives, as well as one question per month personally answered by Renstrom. Plus, the website is really pretty! WWW.RULINGPLANETS.COM

CATALYST writers on Huffington Post We’re happy to announce that our longtime writers Margaret Ruth (The Intuitive Life) and Donna Henes (Urban Shaman) now blog for the Huffington Post. WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/DONNA-HENES WWW.HUFFINGTONPOST.COM/MARGARET-RUTH

Website news For our readers out there who see only the print edition: Check out the new features on our website! First, keep an eye on Christopher Renstrom’s weekly astrological Q&A. Each week he’ll answer a question from one of our readers, available only online. Also available only online is Self Life, a biweekly blog aimed at raising questions —and maybe even answering a few—about who we are, why we behave the way we do and generating some ideas for how we can approach our ideals. The blog is written by Benjamin Bombard, a CATALYST writer and KUER radio producer. WWW.CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET/SELFLIFE Another new blog on our website is The Intuitive Life: the blog of Margaret Ruth. Click on the pink/purple button on the left-hand side of our homepage to read Margaret Ruth’s perceptive blog that explains clearly why metaphysical stuff works in our lives. Other website additions: Check out the other buttons on the left-hand side for easy access to all of our past Chef Profiles, as well as past Jim Hightower commentaries. Last but not least, we now offer advertising options on our website. Email SALES@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET or call Mike at 801-558-2505 for more info. —Pax Rasmussen, CAT webmeister Visit us online at WWW.CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET

December 2009

CatalystMagazine.net

TRANSFORM U

A joyous gift

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A few of my favorite things BY AURETHA CALLISON

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Leslie Peterson, N.D. Naturopathic Physician Since 1996 Full Circle Women’s Care Hormone Balancing Annual Exams Menopausal Support Chronic Illness Treatment Gastrointestinal Health

150 S. 600 E. Suite 6B Salt Lake City www.fullcirclecare.com • 801.746.3555

he qualities of a great gift are a blend of usefulness, thoughtfulness and aesthetic prowess. Call me a gearhead, but I think great, long-lasting tools reflect a commitment to the earth and to our hard-working roots. Here are a few of my favorite functio nal and creat ive gifts, certain to be appreciated in these practical times!

Nail cleaner: $17 Any gardener, artist or workman will be thrilled with this tool that allows for cleanup of the dirtiest goo under one’s fingernails. We order this in bundles to get free shipping and have it on hand as the perfect stocking stuffer! WWW.TINYURL.COM/YFUVEDK

Combine with earth-friendly orange hand cleaner for greasy clean-ups I love orange cleaner to get oil off my hands, stickers off shoes, grease spots out of laundry, etc. It’s a great all-purpose product for any creative adult.

headlamp! I keep one in my car (for safety and signaling) and one in my backpack. How many times has something fallen into a dark spot and holding a flashlight doesn’t work? A great gift for travelers. Turbo pliers: self-adjusting 9.75”, $25-35 These have saved my child-sized hands from great distress. My man keeps trying to sneak them out of my sight into his truck. They are known as “the pliers” at my house. I really think this is the most useful tool in the world. WWW.SHOPHSG.COM/WHITEFORD.HTML

An art basket featuring WATERCOLOR PENCILS! These pencils are my favorite tool to get those who draw to become those who paint! Be sure to include watercolor paper in a medium sized notebook and a good-quality watercolor paintbrush. Utrecht in Sugar House is my number one art supply source. They carry Staedtler big white erasers—wonderful for removing smudges from walls and patent shoes.

WWW.TKOORANGE.COM/INDEX.HTML

For southpaws? Leftie scissors. Righties have no

Knife sharpener from Ace Hardware: $12 My engineer

idea what a big deal this is!

friend Paul turned me onto this nifty knife sharpener he carries in his pocket. For

WWW.SHOPSCISSORS.COM

kitchen knives, get the red one. Sharp knives are safe knives. DMT Diamond Mini- Sharp WWW.COASTALTOOL.COM/OTHER/DMT/MINI_SHARP.HTM

Another great stocking stuffer for young or old? A

For wine lovers: enormous lucite or glass diamond wine bottle stoppers! $18 -35. Put some bling on your bottle! Several local glass artists carry beautiful wine bottle stoppers. WWW.ENCHANTEDEYESTUDIO.COM

Local crafts Glass or wooden items made from local artisans are appreciated for their dura-

bility and beauty. I recommend purchasing medium sized cutting boards, big wooden salad bowls are always needed at my house (hint), and I love supporting our local artists. We’re always on the lookout for huge pottery mugs that can double as soup bowls. If you’ve liked someone’s work, call them up for a Christmas order right now. Just can’t choose something practical? Head to Second Hand Chic (959 E 3300 S, 801.433.0044) for a lot of one-of-a-kind. Vintage nudie refrigerator magnets, anyone?

What not to gift? Clothing, makeup, fragrance, jewelry and artwork, unless you have a specific request to do so. Over many years, I’ve learned to hint to parents and relatives what gifts I would appreciate most. My mom knows clutter and tchotchkes are no longer appreciated as my sister and I streamline our lives. If unsure or it’s

someone you don’t know well, buy a gift certificate to an ethical business with a diverse product selection (Earth Goods General Store on 9th East) or a local bookstore (Golden Braid, Sam Weller, King’s English, Ken Sanders). You can’t go wrong supporting local businesses. Happy giving and receiving to you! ◆ Auretha Callison is an image stylist living in Salt Lake City. WWW.INTUITIONSTYLING.COM.

December 2009

COMMUNITY

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

To list your business or service email: SALES@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET.

Prices: 3 months ($180), 6 months ( $210), 12 months ( $360). Listings must be prepaid in full and are non-refundable. Word Limit: 45; we will edit for grammar, style and length. Deadline for changes/reservations: 15th of preceeding month.

ABODE cohousing, furniture, feng shui, garden/landscape, pets, home repair Architect—“Green” + Modern 1/10 801-355-2536. Specializing in the integration of outdoor and indoor space. Enviro-friendly materials. Remodels, additions and new construction. WWW.JODYJOHNSONARCHITECT.COM Dancing Turtle Feng Shui 10/09 801-755-8529. Claudia Draper, advanced certified feng shui practitioner. Free your energy, free your life! The result of blocked chi appears as clutter, lack of money, sickness, fatigue and overwhelm. I promise you that if you do any three of the suggestions I give you—your life will change! Exotica Imports 3/10 801-487-6164, 2901 S. Highland Dr. A vast array of affordable gifts, artifacts, exotic furniture & home accessories from around the globe, including incense, candles, lamps, brass, music boxes, carvings, feng shui items, exotic musical instruments, wind chimes, fountains & more. Garden Ventures 11/09 801-699-6970. Love your garden, not the work? Garden Ventures offers quality garden maintenance, creative design, and consulting services. We can provide a one-time clean-up or set up a regular maintenance schedule. Specializing in waterwise plants and landscapes. (Please, no lawn care.).

Sugar House Plumbing 4/10 801-638-4705. Jeff Weight, Licensed and insured plumber. Do you need to replace an old water heater? $99 discount on water heater replacements. Is your toilet or shower wasting water? I can help you go low-flow. Call for a free estimate. I have 20 years experience. I am absolutely the best plumber you will ever have. LGBT friendly. Underfoot Floors 4/10 801-467-6636. 1900 S. 300 W., SLC We offer innovative & earth friendly floors including bamboo, cork, marmoleum, hardwoods, natural fiber carpets as well as sand and finishing hardwood. Free in home estimates. Please visit our showroom. WWW.UNDERFOOTFLOORS.NET, UNDERFOOTFLOORS@AOL.COM. Wasatch Commons Cohousing 11/09 Vicky 801-908-0388. 1411 S. Utah St. (1605 W.) An environmentally sensitive community promoting neighborliness, consensus & diversity. Balancing privacy needs with community living. Homes now available for rent or sale. Roommates wanted. Tours 4th Wed at 5p and 2nd Sat. at 1p.m. WWW.COHOUSING.ORG, WWW.ECON.UTAH.EDU/COHO DogMode FB 801-261-2665. 4010 S. 210 W., SLC. WWW.DOGMODE.COM Icon Remodeling FB 801-485-9209. 1448 East 2700 South, SLC, UT 84106. www.iconremodeling.com Residential Design FB Ann Larson 801-322-5122.

Jespersen Design Associates 11/09 801-918-0111. Design and Project Management Services with emphasis on modern and contemporary solutions. New Construction, Remodeling, Renovation, Restoration and Interior Design. Sustainable, Smart Design. Call for complimentary initial consult. WWW.JESPERSENDESIGN.COM

instruction, galleries, for hire

Green Redesign & Feng Shui 4/10 435-640-1206. Michelle Skally Doilney, U.S. Green Building Council member and Certified Feng Shui Consultant. Offering practical, budget-conscious and “green” Interior Redesign and Traditional Feng Shui consultations to homes and businesses in the Greater Park City and Salt Lake regions. Class schedule online. MICHELLE@PRACTICALENVIRONMENTS.COM. WWW.PRACTICALENVIRONMENTS.COM.

Alliance Francaise of Salt Lake City 5/10 801-571-0723. P.O. Box 26203, SLC UT 84126 International cultural organization conducts French language classes. Beginners through advanced levels taught by experienced native teachers. Three semesters, 10 sessions each. Also offers Children's classes, Beginner and Intermediate levels. Monthly social gatherings. In addition, we sponsor French related concerts and lectures. WWW.AFSLC.ORG

ARTS, MUSIC & LANGUAGES

Idlewild 10/10 801-268-4789, WWW.IDLEWILDRECORDINGS.COM. David and Carol Sharp. Duo up to six-piece ensemble. Celtic, European, World and Old Time American music. A variety of instruments. Storytelling and dance caller. CDs and downloads, traditional and original. IDLEWILD@IDLEWILDRECORDINGS.COM Michael Lucarelli. Classical guitarist, 801-2742845. Listen at WWW.LUCARELLI.COM FB

BODYWORK massage, structural integration (SEE ALSO: Energy Work & Healing) Alternative Health Care 5/08 801-533-2464. Ardys L. Dance, LMT Practicing the art of therapeutic healing since 1988. Specializing in visceral manipulation: organ-specific myofascial release of scar tissue around internal organs damaged through surgeries, illness or accident. Craniosacral therapy, neural mobilization of the brain, an amazing new therapy. Body Alive! 1/10 801-414-3812. Linda Watkins, BFA, MEd, LMT. Offering the very real possibility of release from chronic or acute pain resulting from injury, illness or the aging process. Specialized work in deep tissue full body sessions, structural and visceral work, craniosacral therapy (Milne certified), Jin Shin Jyutsu. Tailored to meet your specific needs. “The pain of everyday life” does not have to be your reality! Visa, MC, American Express. WWW.LINDA-WATKINS.COM. Deep Tissue & Structural Healing 3/10 Francisco Fernandez, LMT. 801-628-1705. 702 E. South Temple. Deep tissue massage promotes the release of trigger points to alleviate chronic or acute pain. Combined with extensive stretching and the use of heat on muscles, this meticulously performed technique will lead to optimum movement. Therapy for the regular Joe to the top-notch athlete. By appointment only. DEEPTISSUEHEALING@GMAIL.COM

Emissary of Light Massage Therapy 801-604-2502, 1104 E. Ashton Ave. (2310 S.) #102 (across form 24-Hour Fitness). Master Massage Therapist Kimberly Blosser uses a combination of modalities,

including Ashiatsu, Swedish, deep tissue, Cranial Sacral, sports, and reflexology all in one amazing massage experience. Private studio conveniently located in Sugarhouse. Call for an appointment. Sports Massage Specialist 2/10 801-870-5809. Are you an older (over 40) athlete who is serious about their running, golf, tennis, cycling, or skiing? Do you believe you can still improve? Perform/compete at a higher level, reduce the natural affects of aging on your body, reduce risks of injury, and recover from injuries more quickly and completely. I specialize in Sports Massage for the aging athlete. To get the most out of your physical potential you need to do more than train. Located in the Sugarhouse area. Sugarhouse Bodywork—Deep Healing Massage 9/10 Eddie Myers, LMT, 801-597-3499. Jan Olds, LMT, 801-856-1474. 1104 E Ashton Ave by appointment. Eddie offers an eclectic blend of deep tissue, Russian Sports and Swedish Massage from the heart. Jan offers her own unique blend of Lymphatic Massage and Structural Integration and is well known as a neck and shoulder expert. Combined experience of over 28 years. Carl Rabke LMT, GCFP FOG 801-671-4533. Somatic Education and Bodywork. Feldenkrais®, Structural Integration and massage. Offering a unique blend of the 10 sessions with Awareness Through Movement® lessons. Discover the potential for learning and improvement at any age, as you come to inhabit your body with ease, vitality and integrity. WWW.BODYHAPPY.COM. Myofascial Release of Salt Lake 3/10 801-557-3030. Michael Sudbury, LMT. In chronic pain? Can’t resolve that one issue? Connective tissue restrictions distort the body’s proper functioning and balance, and can cause problems in every system. Releasing the restrictions allows the body to finally heal as it should. WWW.MYOFASCIALRELEASEOFSALTLAKE.COM Rolfing® Structural Integration 5/10 Certified Rolfers Paul Wirth, 801-638-0021 and Mary Phillips, 801-809-2560. Rolfing improves movement, eases pain, and brings about lasting change in the body. Addressing structure together with patterns in movement and coordination, we help people find ease, resilience, efficiency and comfort. Free consultations. WWW.ROLFINGSALTLAKE.COM.

Healing Mountain Massage School. 801-355-6300.

Inner Light Center A Spiritual Community

December 2009

RESOURCE DIRECTORY

meditation and healing tools you can use to support your spiritual practice and to assist others in awakening the Soul and heal the personality. WWW.SOULTHERAPY.COM/SLC

Metaphysical, Mystical & Spiritual Studies

Sunday Celebration & Children’s Church, 10:00 a.m. On-Going Offerings: Insight Meditation, Prayer Circle, The Way of Mastery, Reiki Share, Oneness Deeksha Gathering, Kripalu Yoga, Qigong, Dances of Universal Peace, Dream Circle, Healing Circle, Readings of Rev. John Todd Ferrier, Mystic Moon Cycles Women’s Toning & Meditation Solstice Circle. Join us for our Holiday Programs: December 13th Pot Luck 20th Annual Christmas Program December 31st at 12:00 noon Releasing and Claiming Ceremony

4408 South 500 East Salt Lake City, UT 84107 801-268-1137 www.InnerLightCenter.net

COMMUNITY

BOOKS, GIFTS, CDS, CLOTHING books, gifts & jewelry, imports, music stores Dragon Dreams, a New Age Gift Boutique FB 801-509-1043. 920 E 900 S. Meditation and chakra CDs, ORGANIC skin care products and incense, books, crystals, local artist consignments and mystical things like magic wands, fairies and dragons. Psychic readers daily. Blue Boutique. FB 801-982-1100. WWW.BLUEBOUTIQUE.COM

EDUCATION schools, vocational, continuing education A Voice-Over Workshop 10/10 801-359-1776. Scott Shurian. The Salt Lake City voice-over workshop teaches the art of voicing commercials and narrations for radio, TV, multi media and the World Wide Web. Personal coaching and demo production also available. WWW.VOSCOTT.COM Canyonlands Field Institute 6/10 1-800-860-5262. P.O. Box 68, Moab, UT 84532. Authentic nature and culture. River and hiking trips and camps for schools, adults and families. WWW.CANYONLANDSFIELDINST.ORG Elaine Bell. Art Instruction. FB 801-201-2496.

Healing Mountain Massage School 801-355-6300. 455 South 300 East, Suite 103, SLC, UT 84111. Morning, evening, & weekend programs. Graduate in as little as 7 months. 8 students in a class. Mentor with seasoned professionals. Practice in a live day spa. ABHES accredited. Financial aid: loans/grants available to those who qualify. WWW.HEALINGMOUNTAIN.ORG Red Lotus School of Movement. FB 801-355-6375. WWW.REDLOTUSSCHOOL.COM

ENERGY WORK & HEALING energy balancing, Reiki (SEE ALSO: Bodywork) Buddha Maitreya Soultherapy Center FB 801-349-2639, see ad. Discover more vitality, happiness, peace and wellness. Private and group healing/meditation sessions. Soul Therapy retreats. For sale: Buddha Maitreya

Lilli DeCair 10/10 801-533-2444 or 801-577-6119. Holistic health educator, certified Thought Pattern Management practitioner, coach, shamanic wisdom, Medicine Wheel journeys, intuitive consultant, mediator, minister. Usui Reiki Master/teacher offers all levels complete in 10 individual classes, certification & mentoring on request. Visit at Dancing Cranes Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons for psychic sessions. Cafe Alchemy and Mayan Astrology, nutritional nudges, stress relief hospital visits, fundraising. Send a psychic telegram. On the board of directors, Utah Mental Health Assn. Familiar Frequencies 1/10 801-474-1724. Patty Shreve. Energetic Healing for Animals. Providing shamanic healing techniques to resolve behavioral and health issues and opening a conduit to connect with your animal’s perspective. Sheryl Seliger, LCSW, 4/10 Counseling & Craniosacral Therapy 801-556-8760. 1104 E. Ashton Ave. (2310 S.) Email: SELIGERS@GMAIL.COM Powerful healing through dialogue & gentle-touch energy work. Adults: Deep relaxation, stress reduction & spiritual renewal, chronic pain & illness, head & spinal injuries, anxiety, PTSD, relationship skills, life strategies. Infants and Children: colic, feeding & sleep issues, bonding, birth trauma. Birth preparation & prenatal CST. State of the Heart 2/10 801-572-3414 Janet Hudonjorgensen, B Msc Quantum-Touch® Instructor and Practitioner. Quantum-Touch energy work helps to maximize the body's own capacity to accelerate its own healing. Once the root cause of disease is addressed a space is created for mental, emotional, physical, spiritual healing to occur. Offering monthly workshops, individual sessions. WWW.QUANTUMTOUCH.COM !

HEALTH, WELLNESS & BODY CARE Ayurveda, beauty supply, birth services/ prenatal care, Chinese medicine/acupuncture, chiropractics, colon therapy, dentistry, health centers, health products, homeopathy, naturopaths, nutritionists, physical therapy, physicians, women’s healthcare Abundant Health of Ogden 1/10 801-782-7491. Linda Hallmark, I-Act Certified Colon Hydrotherapist, FDA-approved closed system. Colon hydrotherapy is a safe & gentle way to cleanse, hydrate & tone your body. Discover why so many clients love this practice. Diet and nutritional support also offered. Make a step toward your health and wellness goals today. A.I.M: Frequencies – Balance – Self-Healing DaNell 801-680-2853, Dixie-(Ogden) 801-458-

1970. Everything is energy, therefore everything has a frequency. Imbalances have a frequency that can be brought into balance and neutralized by applying a balancing energy 24/7. Sanctuary, The Path to Consciousness, by Stephen Lewis tells of this technology – here now. Self-heal inherited predispositions, physical & mental illnesses & environmental toxicity–24/7 using this tool. Pets too. 8/10 WWW.INFINITECONSCIOUSNESS.COM. Cameron Wellness Center 3/10 T.W. Cameron, BSN, ND. 801-486-4226. 1945 South 1100 East #202. Remember When Doctors Cared? Once, a doctor cared. He had that little black bag, a big heart, an encouraging smile. Once, a doctor actually taught about prevention. Remember “an apple a day?” Dr. Cameron is a family practitioner. He takes care of you. He cares. Colon Hydrotherapy—Massage 2/10 801-541-3064. Karen Schiff, PT. Licensed physical therapist, certified colon hydrotherapist, I-ACT member, FDA approved system. Clear out old toxins & create the environment within you to realize your health goals. Gently soothe, cleanse, hydrate & tone your body’s primary elimination channel. Enhanced results with nutritional guidance & abdominal massage. This ancient work is a gentle, external method to relieve digestive distress, PMS, menopause, infertility, more! WWW.KARENSCHIFF.COM Eastside Natural Health Clinic 9/10 Uli Knorr, ND 801.474.3684; 2188 S. Highland Drive #207. Use Natural Medicine to Heal! Dr. Knorr uses a multi-dimensional approach to healing. Focusing on hormonal balancing including the thyroid, the pancreas, and the ovarian and adrenal glands; gastrointestinal disorders, allergies. Food allergy testing, parasite testing and comprehensive hormonal work-up. Utah RBCBS and ValueCare provider. EASTSIDENATURALHEALTH.COM Five Element Acupuncture LLC 8/10 Pamela Bys, RN, BSN, L.Ac. (Dipl Ac.) 2670 South 2000 East, SLC; 256 Historic 25th St., Ogden. 801-920-4412. Five Element Acupuncture focuses on getting to the root cause of all problems. It treats symptoms as well as causes. Live Healthy and Live Long. WWW.ACUPUNCTURE5E.COM The Holistic Gourmet 5/10 Pati Reiss, HHC. 801-688-2482. Confused about what to eat? Addicted, tired, stressed? The Holistic Gourmet offers these services: food & nutrition counseling, addiction recovery, brain chemistry balancing and repair, cooking & nutrition classes, personal cooking and catering. With integrative nutrition and meditation, there is hope...there is breath... there is food! PATI@PATIREISS.COM, WWW.PATIREISS.COM Todd Mangum, MD, Web of Life Wellness Center FB 801-531-8340. 989 E. 900 S., Ste. A1. Dr. Mangum is a family practice physician who uses acupuncture, massage, herbs & nutrition to treat a wide range of conditions including chronic fatigue, HIV infection, allergies, digestive disturbances and fibromyalgia. He also designs programs to maintain health & wellness. WWW.WEBOFLIFEWC.COM Planned Parenthood of Utah 3/10 1-800-230-PLAN, 801-532-1586, or ppau.org. Planned Parenthood provides affordable and confidential healthcare for men, women and teens. Services include birth control, emergency contraception (EC/PlanB/morning after pill), testing and treatment for sexually trans-

mitted infection including HIV, vaccines including the HPV vaccine, pregnancy testing and referrals, condoms, education programs and more. Precision Physical Therapy 9/10 801-557-6733. Jane Glaser-Gormally, MS, PT. 4568 S. Highland Dr., Ste. 140. Licensed PT specializing in holistic integrated manual therapy (IMT). Safe, gentle, effective techniques for pain and tissue dysfunction. This unique form of therapy works to identify sources of pain and assists the body with self-corrective mechanisms to alleviate pain and restore mobility and function. BCBS and Medicare provider. Now expanding services into Park City and Heber. Transcendental Meditation Program in Utah Natalie Hansen, 801-635 8721 or 801-4462999. The easiest and deepest meditation, automatically providing rest twice as deep as sleep, most researched and recommended by physicians, for improved IQ, enhanced memory, better coordination, normal blood pressure, and reversal of aging, TM greatly deepens happiness and calmness, and is the bullet train to enlightenment. WWW.TM.ORG 9/10 Wasatch Vision Clinic FB 801-328-2020. 849 E. 400 S. in Salt Lake across from the 9th East TRAX stop. Comprehensive eye care, eye disease, LASIK, contacts and glasses since 1984. We accept most insurance. WASATCHVISION.COM Acupuncture Associates FB 801-359-2705. Natalie Clausen. Center For Enhanced Wellness FB 801-596-9998. 2681 E. Parleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Way. Dr. Michael Cerami, Chiropractor. 801-4861818. 1550 E. 3300 S. WWW.DRCERAMI.COM FB Dragon Dreams. 989 E. 900 S. 801-509-1043. WWW.DRAGONDREAMSGIFTBOUTIQUE.COM FB Millcreek Herbs, LLC. Merry Lycett Harrison, RH, CAHG. 801-466-1632, WWW.MILLCREEKHERBS.COM FB Millcreek Wellness Center FB WWW.MILLCREEKWELLNESS.COM 801-486-1818. 1550 E. 3300 S.

MISCELLANEOUS Living in the Fire of Change: Sacred Activism & Social Transformation 12/09 Conference & Community Forum, Dec. 11-12, SLC, at All Saints Episcopal (1710 Foothill Dr.) Discover new views and tools. Become the catalyst behind the impulse to change. Meet James O'Dea, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Andrew Harvey, Sequoyah Trueblood and local leaders. Keynote downloads, sponsorship, registration: www.SacredActivismConference.com, Mali@MaliRowanresents.com. Space Available 8/10 801-596-0147 Ext. 41, 989 E. 900 S. Center for Transpersonal Therapy. Large plush space. Bright & comfortable atmosphere, available for workshops, classes, or ongoing groups. Pillows, yoga chairs, & regular chairs provided, kitchenette area. Available for hourly, full day or weekend use. Volunteer Opportunity 4/10 801-474-0535. Adopt-A-Native-Elder is seeking office/warehouse volunteers in Salt Lake City every Tuesday and Friday 10:00 am - noon. Come and join a wonderful group of people for a fascinating and gratifying experience. Contact Joyce or MAIL@ANELDER.ORG, WWW.ANELDER.ORG.

Catalyst 801-363-1505. 140 McClelland, SLC. CONTACT@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET. Wind Walker Guest Ranch and Intentional Eco-Community Spring City, Utah, 435-4620282. We invite you to Join Us for a day, a weekend, a week, or a lifetime. Family and Corporate Retreats, Horses, Spa services, Festivals, Workshops, Love in action! Limited space now available in the eco-village. Entice your spirit to soar. WWW.WINDWALKER.ORG 3/10

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MOVEMENT & SPORT

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dance, fitness, martial arts, Pilates, yoga Avenues Yoga 4/10 68 K Street, Salt Lake City. 801-410-4639. Avenues Yoga is a friendly, down-to-earth place where all are welcome. We offer classes for all body types and ability levels, from Kids classes, Deep Relaxation & Restore, and Flow classes, to Power, Yoga for Climbers, Core, Kundalini and Pilates. December events include Tribal Flow with Lisa Johnston 12/5 and an Artisan Bazaar 12/19. For details, visit our website at: WWW.AVENUESYOGA.COM Bikram Yogaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Salt Lake City 3/10 801-488-Hot1 (4681). 1140 Wilmington Ave (across from Whole Foods). Bikram certified instructors teach a series of 26 postures affecting every muscle, ligament, organ & all of the body, bringing it into balance. 39 classes each week. All ages & ability levels welcome to all classes. The room is warm by intention, so come prepared to work hard & sweat. Check for new classes in Catalyst calendar. WWW.BIKRAMYOGASLC.COM Bikram Yogaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Sandy 801-501-YOGA (9642). 9343 South 1300 East. Local Introductory Offer-$29 for 30 Days Unlimited Yoga (Utah Residents Only). POWERED BY %100 WIND POWER. Our South Valley sanctuary, nestled below Little and Big Cottonwood canyons, provides a warm and inviting environment to discover and or deepen your yoga practice. All levels are encouraged, no reservations necessary. All teachers are certified. 30 classes offered, 7 days a week. Community Class-1st Saturday 10am class each month is Free To New Students. WWW.BIKRAMYOGASANDY.COM 12/09 Centered City Yoga 9/10 801-521-YOGA (9642). 918 E. 900 S. and 625 S. State St. Centered City Yoga is often likened to that famous TV â&#x20AC;&#x153;hangoutâ&#x20AC;? where everybody knows your name, sans Norm (and the beer, of course.) We offer more than 60 classes a week to keep Salt Lake City CENTERED and SANE. WWW.CENTEREDCITYYOGA.COM. Ecstatic Dance SLC 12/09 Dance the way your body wants to, without choreography or judgment! Get out of your head, into your body, and discover the innate body wisdom you possess. Ecstatic Dance is an authentic, spontaneous, expressive, meditative movement practice inspired by various people, cultures and practices.Sat Nov 21 & Sat Dec 19, 10a-12p; beginning January, every first and third Sat, 10a-12p. $10. Columbus Community Center, 2531 S 400 E, SLC. WWW.ECSTATICDANCESLC.BLOGSPOT.COM. Mindful Yoga FB 801-355-2617. Charlotte Bell, E-RYT-500 & Iyengar certified. Cultivate strength, vitality, serenity, wisdom and grace. Combining clear, well-informed instruction with ample quiet time, these classes encourage each student to dis-

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cover his/her own yoga. Classes include meditation, pranayama (breath awareness) and yoga nidra (yogic sleep) as well as physical practice of asana. Public & private classes, workshops in a supportive, non-competitive environment since 1986. WWW.CHARLOTTEBELLYOGA.COM. Red Lotus School of Movement 8/10 740 S 300 W, SLC, UT, 84101. 801-355-6375. Established in 1994 by Sifu Jerry Gardner and Jean LaSarre Gardner. Traditional-style training in the classical martial arts of T’ai Chi, Wing Chun Kung-Fu, and T’ai Chi Chih (qi gong exercises). Children’s classes in Wing Chun Kung-Fu. Located downstairs from Urgyen Samten Ling Tibetan Buddhist Temple. WWW.REDLOTUSSCHOOL.COM, REDLOTUS@REDLOTUS.CNC. NET. THE SHOP Yoga Studio 10/10 435-649-9339. Featuring Anusara Yoga. Inspired fun and opening in one of the most amazing studios in the country. Classes, Privates, and Therapeutics with certified and inspired Anusara instructors. Drop-ins welcome. 1167 Woodside Ave., P.O Box 681237, Park City, UT 84068. WWW.PARKCITYYOGA.COM The Yoga Center 4/10 801-277-9166. 4689 So. Holladay Blvd. Hathabased yoga classes 7 days a week, including vinyasa, slow flow, Anusara, prenatal, gentle and restorative. Workshops, corporate and private sessions available. All levels of experience welcome. WWW.YOGAUTAH.COM Erin Geesaman Rabke Somatic Educator. 801-898-0478. WWW.BODYHAPPY.COM FB RDT Community School. 801-534-1000. 138 W. Broadway. FB Streamline. 801-474-1156. 1948 S. 1100 E. WWW.STREAMLINEBODYWORKS.NET

CLARITY COACHING When you’re ready for the change that changes everything.

Wasatch Massage, Laurél Flood, LMT. 1104 E. Ashton Offices (2310 S.) Suite 210. 801-910-0893. Give the gift of healing. Wasatch Massage offers the best massage for the everyday human, horse, and dog. Gift certificates are available. This season, take the pain out of holiday shopping: buy one get a second for 50% off.

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PSYCHIC ARTS & INTUITIVE SCIENCES astrology, mediums, past life integration, psychics

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801-487-7621

April Olas: Clairvoyant Readings & ThetaHealing. ? Gain a deeper understanding, clarity and direction about your situation through a reading with April. Heal physical,emotional, spiritual, relationship, and financial issues and shift into a new empowered direction through ThetaHealing. Available for phone appointments daily call 801-644-1975 or in person Thursdays at Dragon Dreams on 9th & 9th in SLC call 801509-1043. For more information about April and ThetaHealing, or to book your appointment online please visit: WWW.APRILOLAS.COM Candice Christiansen 6/10 480-274-5454. I have returned to Utah after a

short hiatus to Arizona. I share my clairaudient, clairsentient, and clairvoyant abilities as I connect with divine source in answering questions about your past, present and future experiences. I communicate with those that have passed to the other side, offering the safety, love and support you deserve as you get in touch with your magnificence. Join me on your perfect journey to heal your soul and reconnect with your divinity. Channeled Readings through Spiritual Medium 4/10 801-968-8875, 801-577-1348. Deloris, as heard on the Mick & Allen Show (KBER Radio, 101.1), can help you with those who have crossed over and other paranormal activity. She can help bring understanding regarding past lives, life purpose and relationships. Available for parties and night clubs. DELORISSPIRITUALMEDIUM.COM Intuitive Insight 12/09 Mary Wintzer. 435-640-0261. Guiding your path using your life’s signposts. Lilli DeCair: Inspirational Mystical Entertainment 11/09 mc 801-533-2444 and 801-577-6119. European born professional psychic, holistic health educator, reiki master /teacher, life coach, Poet, singer, dancer, wedding planner/official, Shamanic 9 Day Medicine Wheel Journeys. Looking for Psychometrist ? I seek a psychic who can hold a possession of someone who is dead or distant and describe his or her character. Write to Tom Weber, P.O. Box 1321, West Jordan, UT 84084 Margaret Ruth 801-575-7103. My psychic and tarot readings are a conversation with your guides. Enjoy MR’s blog at WWW.CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET & send me your ideas and suggestions. WWW.MARGARETRUTH.COM Julie Sudbury Latter, Master Astrologer 6/09 801-539-0539. 25 years in practice. Personal readings by phone, in person. Relationship compatibilities, career options, life crisis and lessons, life direction. Readings for loved ones passed on. Understand what your loved one experienced in the death process. Soul & Psyche 4/10 801-293-0484. Cynthia Hill, PhD. Experience the dynamic combination of Soul-centered astrology and ‘energetic psychology’. For me, one’s birth chart is a blueprint of the soul's intent and purpose, as well an exquisite map of one’s current and past-life cellular, vibrational, mind-body habits and patterns. In this way, one's astrology is one's psychology. We will explore personality strengths and challenges, relationship and family dynamics, and current and future cycles of personal and spiritual growth. The session creates inspiration, healing and empowerment through Self knowledge and understanding. 35 years experience. Soul Path Healing 11/09 Open and heal disowned energy–once reconfigured, everything shifts. Chakra dreamscape repatterning. Clairvoyant; connected to spirit guides. 25 years practice in healing arts. Transform your dance through time, relationships, experience. Refresh a direct connectivity with the universe. Experience beautifully expanded processes, which await your fresh-

minded participation. Contact your healer: GLENDA@SOULPATHHEALING.NET Transformational Astrology FB Ralfee Finn. 800-915-5584. Catalyst’s astrology columnist for 10 years! Visit her website at WWW.AQUARIUMAGE.COM or e-mail her at RALFEE@AQUARIUMAGE.COM Intuitive Therapy FB Suzanne Wagner, 801-359-2225.

PSYCHOTHERAPY COUNSELING & PERSONAL GROWTH coaching, consulting, hypnosis, integrated awareness, psychology / therapy /counseling, shamanic, sound healing Avatar ? 801-244-8951. Avatar is a consciousness training course that teaches us to live deliberately. It gives us tools for experiencing compassion and true cooperation on our planet and opens doors unimaginable. Rebecca Hunt is a new Avatar Master. Call regarding a free introduction. Jeff Bell, L.C.S.W. 4/10 801-364-5700, Ext. 2, 1399 S. 700 E. Ste. 1, SLC. Specializing in empowering relationships; cultivating hardiness and mindfulness; managing stress & compulsivity; alleviating depression/ anxiety/grief; healing PTSD & childhood abuse/ neglect; addictions recovery; GLBT exploration as well as resolving disordered eating, body image & life transitions. Individual, couples, family, group therapy & EMDR. Center for Transpersonal Therapy 12/09 801-596-0147. 989 E. 900 S. Denise Boelens, PhD; Heidi Ford, MS, LCSW, Chris Robertson, LCSW; Lynda Steele, LCSW; Sherry Lynn Zemlick, PhD, Wil Dredge LCSW. The transpersonal approach to healing draws on the knowledge from traditional science & the spiritual wisdom of the east & west. Counseling orientation integrates body, mind, & spirit. Individuals, couples, groups, retreats, & classes. Steven J. Chen, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist 801-718-1609. 150 S. 600 E. Healing techniques for depression, anxiety and relationship issues. Treatment of trauma, abuse and stress. Career guidance. Sensitive and caring approach to create wellness, peace, happiness and contentment. WWW.STEVENJCHEN.COM. 9/09 Sue Connor, Ph.D. 3/10 1399 South 700 East #10. 801-583-7848. Mindful psychotherapy strategies can provide for relief from anxiety, post traumatic stress, addiction, disordered eating, chronic pain/illness, depression. Improve your response to stress with effective self care strategies. Start feeling better now. Check out group schedule. WWW.MINDFULSLC.COM Stephen Emerson, LCSW 12/09 801-487-1091. 150 S 600 E, Ste. 7B Offering mindfulness based psychotherapy to facilitate growth, change, and healing for individuals, couples, and families dealing with life transitions, stress, emotional difficulties, low self-esteem,

relationship issues, addictive behaviors, and trauma. Also specializing in the treatment of performance anxiety for musicians and other public presenters. See STEPHENEMERSON.COM. Email: STEVE@TECHFORPEOPLE.NET Marianne Felt, MT-BC, LPC 9/10 801-524-0560, EXT. 3. 150 S. 600 E., Ste. 7C. Licensed professional counselor, board certified music therapist, certified Gestalt therapist, Red Rock Counseling & Education. Transpersonal psychotherapy, music therapy, Gestalt therapy, EMDR. Open gateways to change through experience of authentic contact. Integrate body, mind, & spirit through creative exploration of losses, conflicts, & relationships that challenge & inspire our lives. Robin Friedman, LCSW 10/10 801-599-1411 (Sugar House). Transformational psychotherapy for making lasting positive change. Discover effective ways of finding and expressing your deeper truth and authentic self. Relationship work, trauma recovery, depression/anxiety, sexuality, addictions, creative explorations of life-purpose and self-awareness. Individuals, couples, groups. Also trained in Expressive Arts Therapy. WWW.ROBINFRIEDMANTHERAPY.COM ROBIN@ROBINFRIEDMANTHERAPY.COM Teri Holleran, LCSW ? Red Rock Counseling & Education, LLC 801524-0560. 150 S. 600 E., Ste. 7C. Transformational therapy, consultation & facilitation. Discover how the investigation of loss, trauma, body symptoms, mood disturbances, relationship conflicts, environmental despair & the questions related to meaning & purpose initiate the transformational journey. In-Home Mental Health Therapy 8/09 801-244-9049. Frank Clayton, LPC. Ideal for people who won’t or can’t leave the house, including teenagers shutting you out, claiming they are “fine” (when you know they aren’t) and people too busy to keep office appointments. Some insurance accepted. Law of Attraction 7/09 or trade? Lynn Solarczyk 801-510-0593 or LYNNSOLARCZYK@MAC.COM. Teaching the law of attraction— what it is, and how to apply it to your life. LIVINGLOA.BLOGSPOT.COM Jan Magdalen, LCSW 1/10 801-582-2705, 2071 Ashton Circle, SLC. Offering a transpersonal approach to the experiences and challenges of our life cycles, including: individuation-identity, sexuality and sexual orientation, partnership, work, parenting, divorce, aging, illness, death and other loss, meaning and spiritual awareness. Individuals, couples and groups. Clinical consultation and supervision. Marilynne Moffitt, PhD 1/10 801-266-4551. 825 E. 4800 S. Murray 84107. Offering interventions for psychological growth & healing. Assistance with behavioral & motivational changes, refocusing of life priorities, relationship issues, addiction & abuse issues, & issues regarding health. Certified clinical hypnotherapist, NLP master practitioner & EMDR practitioner. Namaste Consulting, LLC 6/10 Candice Christiansen, LPC 480-274-5454. Holistic therapy that provides individuals, couples, and families a safe space to expand their internal and external contexts and live with purpose and integrity. Specializing in relationship / sexual issues, addiction, sexual identity, parentchild / teen conflict, and disordered eating. Sliding scale fee, in-home therapy for your comfort. NAMASTEADVICE@YAHOO.COM Linda Rhees L.C.S.W.—NeuroDynamix 3/10 801-209-2005. 150 S. 600 E. Suite 1A, SLC,

Utah 84102. Unlock your brain's potential! Train your brain to respond the way it is designed to respond. EEG biofeedback assists resolution of depression, anxiety, headaches, chronic pain, attentional disabilities, cognitive disabilities, trauma, and substance abuse, among other concerns. Function at your optimum best. Free consultation. WWW.NEURODYNAMIX.ORG Stephen Proskauer, MD, Integrative Psychiatry 8/10 801-631-8426. Sanctuary for Healing and Integration, 860 E. 4500 S., Ste. 302. Steve is a seasoned psychiatrist, Zen priest and shamanic healer. He sees kids, teens, adults, couples and families, integrating psychotherapy, meditation and soul work with judicious use of medication to relieve emotional pain and problem behavior. Steve specializes in creative treatment of bipolar disorders. STEVE@KARMASHRINK.COM. Blog: WWW.KARMASHRINK.COM. Steve Seliger, LMFT 4/10 801-661-7697. 1104 E. Ashton Ave. (2310 S.) #203. Specializing in helping people develop healthy loving relationships, conflict resolution for couples, developing powerful communication skills, resolving parent-teen conflicts, depression, phobias, ending & recovering from abuse, conflicts & issues related to sexuality & libido in men & women, sexual orientation issues. Sarah Sifers, Ph.D., LCSW 2/10 Shamanic Practitioner, Minister of the Circle of the Sacred Earth 801-531-8051. Shamanic Counseling. Shamanic Healing. Mentoring for people called to the Shaman’s Path. Explore health or mental health issues using the ways of the shaman. Sarah’s extensive training includes shamanic extraction healing, soul retrieval healing, psychopomp work for death and dying, shamanic counseling and shamanic divination. Sarah has studied with Celtic, Brazilian, Tuvan, Mongolian, Tibetan and Nepali Shamans. Naomi Silverstone, DSW, LCSW FB 801-209-1095. Psychotherapy and shamanic practice, 989 E. 900 S. #B5. Holistic practice integrates traditional and nontraditional approaches to health, healing, and balance or “ayni.” Access new perceptual lenses as you reanimate your relationship with nature. Shamanic practice in the Inka tradition. Jake Shannon, Master Hypnotist ? 801-635-4488. To transform, first form a trance... Take a journey down the rabbit hole to a whole new world of hypnosis, meta-cognition, mnemonics, and more. Call right now for your appointment. www.ScientificMindControl.com SoulCollage® with Rose, Certified Facilitator 801-975-6545. SoulCollage® is a way to

understand yourself and use that understanding to find your own truths. Small collages are created using pictures from magazines. Each collaged card represents a personality part, person, energy or archetype present in your life. Classes at the Lotus December 17th and 18th. WWW.SOULSURKULS.COM SOULSURKULS@YMAIL.COM

3/10 Matt Stella, LCSW 1/10 Red Rock Counseling & Education, LLC 801524-0560 x1. 150 S. 600 E., Ste. 7C. Psychotherapy for individuals, couples, families and groups. Specializing in relationship work, mens issues, depression, anxiety, addictive patterns, and life-meaning explorations. Daniel Sternberg, PhD, Psychologist 12/09 801-364-2779. 150 South 600 East, Bldg. 4B. Fax: 801-364-3336. Sensitive use of rapid release methods and EMDR to free you from

Feline Health Center Nancy Larsen, M.S., D.V.M. Let us help you give your festive feline the gift of health this holiday season. Mention this ad for $5 off your next visit. One time use. Expires 12-31-2009.

The health of your cat is important. Choose an experienced veterinarian and a local cat health center that cares about your cat’s well-being as much you do. Dancing Cats is all about cats. We have been caring for thousands of Utah’s felines since 1993. This gives you the assurance that your little friend will be in the best hands. When you bring us your cat for vaccinations, regular check-ups, examinations or other important health evaluations, you can rest assured that it will be treated like one of our own. We provide both conventional and alternative medicine including acupuncture, homeopathy

(801) 467- 0799 • 1760 South 1100 East

December 2009

COMMUNITY RESOURCE DIRECTORY

unwanted emotions to allow you more effective control and happiness in your life. Individuals, couples, families, groups and businesses. Treatment of trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, tension, stress-related difficulties abuse and depression.

Big bellies need big love. • Check out our Expectant Mom Packages • Gift Certificates Available

Rebecca Overson, LMT 150 S. 600 E. Suite 6B Salt Lake City www.BellyBlissMassage.com call 801-792-8893

Jim Struve, LCSW 6/10 801-364-5700 Ext 1. 1399 S. 700 E., Ste. 2, SLC. Mindful presence in relationship-based psychotherapy. Specializing in life transitions, strengthening relationships, fostering resilience, healing from childhood trauma & neglect (including male survivors of sexual abuse), assisting partners of abuse survivors, addictions recovery, sexual identity, empowerment for GLBT individuals/ couples. Individual, couples, group therapy. Flexible times. WWW.MINDFULPRESENCE.COM. The Infinite Within 9/10 John Knowlton. 801-263-3838. WWW.THEINFINITEWITHIN.COM Marlena Tumlin, MS, CT 3/10 801-410-4951. Certified in thanatology: death, dying and bereavement. Help for people of all ages grieving life’s losses. Learn “good grieving” techniques to emerge stronger and more able to cope with changes and transitions. Group and individual sessions available. First evaluation session free.

Clarity Coaching FB 801-487-7621. WWW.KATHRYNDIXON.COM.

SPIRITUAL PRACTICE meditation/study groups, churches/ministry, spiritual instruction, workshops Goddess Circle 4/10 801-467-4977. Join us 2nd Monday of every month for Wiccan ritual. Free, open, women & men, beginners, experienced & curious all welcome. 7:30pm at SOuth Valley Unitarian Universalist Society (SVUUS), 6876 S Highland Dr, SLC. WWW.OOLS.ORG Inner Light Center Spiritual Community 801-268-1137. 4408 S. 500 E., SLC. An interspiritual sanctuary that goes beyond religion into mystical realms. Access inner wisdom, deepen divine connection, enjoy an accepting, friendly community. Events & classes. Sunday celebration & children’s church 10am. INNERLIGHTCENTER.NET 10/10

Elizabeth Williams, RN, MSN 10/10 801-486-4036. 1399 S. 7th E. #12. Lic. psychiatric nurse specialist offering a safe environment to heal inner wounds & process personal & interpersonal issues. Specializing in relationship issues, loss & grief work, anxiety, depression & self-esteem. Adolescents & adults, individuals, couples & group therapy.

Kanzeon Zen Center International FB 801-328-8414 with Zen Master Dennis Genpo Merzel. 1268 E South Temple. WWW.GENPO.ORG.

The Work of Byron Katie 7/10 801-842-4518. Kathy Melby, Certified Facilitator of The Work of Byron Katie. The Work is a simple way to access your own wisdom and lead a happier life. Specializing in developing loving relationships, relieving depression, and improving your outlook on life. Individuals, couples, families, groups and retreats. WWW.THEWORK.COM

Meditation group at “The Center” 8/10 801-915-6795. 1104 E. Ashton Ave. (2310 S.), #204. Facilitated by Clinton Brock, this organic contemplative meditation approach emphasizes relationship with the Divine through devotion, will, surrender, fluidity and Love. Call Clinton for more details. Weds meditation from 6-8:30 p.m WWW.THECENTERCONTEMPLATIVE.ORG

Morning Star School of Meditation 5/10 801-607-2963. Meditation courses combining Christian contemplative practices with the best of Eastern traditions, both in Salt Lake and Utah County. Day-long retreats at Sundance. Reach new levels of consciousness, reduce stress, find joy. Directors: Dr. Pam Mayes and Colin Forbes, with 70 years combined meditation experience. WWW.MORNINGSTARMEDITATION.ORG Salt Lake Center for Spiritual Living 6/10 801-307-0481. Elizabeth O’Day, Minister. A home for your spirit. 870 E North Union Ave. (7150 S at 900 E), Midvale. Sunday celebration Services at 9:30 and 11am; childcare at both services, Youth Church at 11. “Empowered people sharing in spiritual growth.” WWW.SPIRITUALLYFREE.ORG. Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa Tibetan Buddhist Temple 8/10 801-328-4629. 740 S. 300 W. Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa offers an open environment for the study, contemplation, and practice of Tibetan Buddhist teachings. The community is welcome to our Sunday service (puja), group practices, meditation classes and introductory courses. WWW.URGYENSAMTENLING.ORG Vedic Harmony 3/10 942-5876. Georgia Clark, certified Deepak Chopra Center educator. Ayurveda is the oldest continually practiced wellness enhancer in the world. Learn how it can help you harmonize your lifestyle and well being. Primordial sound meditation, creating health workshops, Ayurvedic wellness counseling, Ayurvedic oils, teas and books, Jyotish (vedic astrology). Georgia has trained in the US and India. TARAJAGA@EARTHLINK.NEt SoulCollage® is a way to understand yourself and use that understanding to find your own truths. Small collages are created using pictures from magazines. Each collaged card represents a personality part, person, energy or archetype present in your life. Classes at the Lotus December 17th and 18th.

Pilar Pobil’s Christmas Open House Saturdays December 5th, 12th, 19th 12-6pm 403 E. 8th Ave, SLC 801-359-2356 View Pilar’s paintings and enjoy some holiday cheer!

self-sustainable beer flow

Office Space Available

REDUCE

362 E. Broadway (3rd So.)

REUSE

RECYCLE

with organic products from the Earth to the bottle

A gracious, inviting space • ~ 360 sq. feet

100% Wind-powered

hardwood floor • fireplace • built-in bookcases Plus private bathroom, private entrance (large entryway), gorgeous garden view

1200 S State St.

Price includes heat, electric, a/c, wi-fi. Available immediately. $470/mo. Greta, CATALYST: 801.363.1505

Tibetan Buddhist Temple www. Urgyen SamtenLing .org 801.328.4629

2008

Hours: Sun 10-5pm M-Sat 10am-6:30p

Introduction to Tibetan Buddhism Course

T’ai Chi

Tuesdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. $50 course fee 8-week course: Jan. 12-March 2—Register at 1st class

Free Demo Class: Friday, January 8th 7-8 pm 15-week session begins week of January 11th

Beginning Practice Course

Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa

801-531-8182 / beernut.com

Thursdays 6:30-8:00 p.m. $50 course fee 8-week course: Jan. 14-March 4—Register at 1st class Pre-requisite: intro course or permission from Lama Thupten

Calm-Abiding Meditation Class Saturdays 10:30-11:30 a.m.

on-going drop-in class

Advanced Practice and Teachings Mondays, 6:00-8:00 p.m. on-going w/ Lama Thupten Sunday Pujas

Visitors welcome!

x Puja of Compassion (in English): 9-10 a.m. x Main Puja: 11:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Green Tara Practice Tuesdays & Thursdays 7:00-8:00 a.m.

on-going

WINTER, 2010 Schedule 740 South 300 West SLC The Buddhist Temple is open from 6-9 a.m. MondayFriday. Drop in to light a candle, sit quietly and begin the day in peace.

Fundamentals of Wing Chun Kung-fu Free Demo Class: Saturday, Jan. 9th 9-10:15 am 15-week session begins Jan. 16th teens/adults/families

RED LOTUS

Ba Gua–“Eight Trigram Palm”

School of Movement

Mondays, 7:30-9:00 pm

begins January 11th

Wudang Qigong and Meditation Tuesdays, 6:15-7:15 pm

begins January 12th

Youth Wing Chun Kung-fu ages 7-12 Saturdays 10:30-11:30 a.m. begins January 16th

Wing Chun, Iaido and Kendo On-going classes—call for days/times

Where change happens! www. RedLotus School .com 801.355.6375

December 2009

HOLIDAY

Catalystmagazine.net

SoulMatters COMPLIED BY GRETA BELANGER DEJONG

“I open the door. The gorgeous guest from afar sweeps in. In her hands are her gifts — gifts of hours and farseeing moments, the gifts of mornings and evenings, the gift of spring and summer, the gift of autumn and winter. She must have searched the heavens for boons so rare.” — Abbie Graham We have searched our bookshelves and memories to bring you these little gifts. Enjoy!

Time for Grace Whether it’s beans or ribs, carrots or cupcakes: Bless your food before you eat it. It’s more important that your words be heartfelt than eloquent. When you bless your food, it then blesses you, connecting you with the circle of life. To inspire you— In a Grateful Heart: Daily Blessings for the Evening Meal from Buddha to the Beatles (M.J. Ryan; Conari Press, $15); Graces: Prayers and Poems for Everyday Meals and Special Occasions (June Cotner; HarperSanFrancisco, $15)

Gr/Attitude You needn’t wait for the officially-sanctioned days of grace to express gratitude. Partly, it’s an attitude. Give thanks for: love, life, light, air, water, food, clothes, emotions, ideas, health, family, friends, teachers, pets, home, job, body, skills, laughter, success, money, lessons, the Creator, the Earth, birds, butterflies, angels, flowers. What else? Say thank you. Write thank you notes. Light a candle. The principle is simple: The more you give thanks for what you have, the more you’ll have to be thankful for.

Bless This Home

Millions on this planet are homeless. To be “homeful,” try this: Visualize glowing white light surrounding the outside of your home. Then picture the light filling every nook and cranny of every room inside. It surrounds and fills everyone and everything in every room, and blesses all the activities. Your subconscious mind supports your mental images, creating protective light in and around your home. Bless your home once a day to make it brighter, lighter and safer. Wherever you stay when you travel becomes your temporary home, so bless that place, too. Try expanding the boundaries of how you define home. In a more inclusive sense your neighborhood is also your home. So is the town or city in which you live. Keep going: the state; the country; planet Earth, too. The solar system, the Milky Way galaxy, the universe!

Appreciation 101 Find an object in your immediate vicinity that you take for granted. Look at it from different angles, study the play of lights and darks, enjoy its design or form as it contrasts with its background. Reflect on its utility, its history, on the components

that make it up, where they came from, and who was involved in getting them here. Now do the same thing with an activity or job that holds no real interest for you.

Celebrate Something Now Weak wanting can lead to an ambiguous life, a flat, boring existence in which nothing seems to make any difference. To accomplish useful service and give passion and guidance to your life, throw yourself into some of your desires. Yet carry them lightly, without dramatizing how wonderful life will be if you achieve them or how terrible it will be if you do not. Balance caring deeply about the fruit to come with delighting in the flower before you now. There are always flowers before you, regardless of circumstances. Make a list of your blessings (or things you would miss if they were taken away) and celebrate one of them. Celebrate alone. Invite others to join you (you needn’t even tell them the reason). “The atmosphere of celebration is contagious, and people are happy to join in creating one if for no other reason than that the sun is shining or it is raining, whichever you prefer.”

—adapted from Naturally Powerful, by Valerie Wells (Perigee/Berkley, 1999. $14)

Magic for the Season Because of its connection with the sea, salt often represented rebirth and cleansing in ancient cultures. Put a little salt on both sides of your threshold to welcome guests. As they pass it, all negativity will be collected and kept neatly outside of your house. Phone “calling”: The holidays are times when we may think of people we have grown distant from. For various reasons, that may be easier said than done. Here’s a little ritual to open the way energetically (perhaps you can adaptit to cell phones): Put the name of the person or place with whom you want to open the lines of communication under your phone. Choose an oil that fits the circumstances (rose for love, mint for healing, etc.) and dab it on the paper. Hold both hands down over the phone and visualize light filling it and going out through the telephone line. Leave the paper in place until you connect with that individual or place. That cup of coffee can be more than a stimulating beverage. Share a ritual cup with a friend, adding vanilla to improve loving feelings between two people sharing coffee together, cinnamon for energy, or perhaps orange coffee to inspire devotion. Charge it with positive energy as you stir it (clockwise). Basil for luck: Smelling basil is said to generate happiness, and when it is received as a gift, it promotes luck. Why not start some basil plants? Dance! In the words of a New Guinean shaman, “Dancing makes spirits rejoice.”

—from Magick Made Easy, by Patricia Telesco. HarperSanFrancisco, 1999. $16 continued on page 45

S u z a n n e Wa g n e r Psychic, Lecturer and Author Psychic Questions and Answers session at the Golden Braid Bookstore

Dec. 16, 2009, Jan. 20, Mar. 17, 2010 $15.00/person 6:30-9:00 PM

Each person will be allowed to ask two to three questions of Suzanne

For information or to register: 322-1162 To schedule a private session with Suzanne or to order books, call (801) 359-2225 Email suzanne@suzwagner.com

Or visit www.suzwagner.com Call (801) 359-2225 for more information. Integral Numerology Channeling Class Relationships Class December 12-13, 2009 January 16-17, 2010 February. 6-7, 2010

PSYCHIC FAIR EVENING Melanie Lake (801) 693-8522 Tarot, Kinesiology, Essential oils.

Suzanne Wagner (801) 359-2225 Numerology, Palmistry,Tarot, and Channeling.

Ross Gigliotti (801) 244-0275 Tarot, Past Life Regression, Intuitive Coaching, NLP, Hypnosis.

Wade Lake (801) 693-8522 Numerology and Tarot.

Adam Sagers (801) 824-2641 Tarot, Numerology, Astrology Art.

Nick Stark (801) 394-6287 office (801) 721-2779 cell Tarot, Clairvoyance, Shamanic Counseling, Numerology.

Shawn Lerwill (801) 856-4619 Channeling, Intuitive Arts, Clairvoyant.

Vanah Mntshali, TDR (801) 706-3448 International Psychic Medium, Palms, Cards, Bones.

Krysta Brinkley (801) 706-0213 Horary Astrology, Tarot Palmistry, Numerology. Larissa Jones (801) 856-4617 Tarot, Intuitive Essential Oil Readings, Healing with Essential Oils. Cassie Lopez (801) 643-0863 Psychic Mentoring, Palmistry, Tarot, Yoga, Numerolgy, Healing Arts.

Golden Braid Bookstore Dec. 15, 2009, Jan. 20 Feb. 16, 2010

6-9 pm

$25 for 20 minutes

First come first serve. Arrive early, space fills quickly. (801) ✷New✷

322-1162 Psychic Fair

at A Gift of Touch 2766 E 3300 S • 11-5 pm

2ND Sunday of each month. Call 801-706-0213 for appointments.

Snapshot of your Essence with Adam Sagers – Thur. Dec. 3, 2009, 7-8:00 pm at the Golden Braid. Original art work blending an individuals birth chart, with Divine Geometry and the principles of shamanism. Free lecture. Transformational Tarot with Cassie Lopez – Sat. & Sun., Dec. 56, 2009. 10 am-5 pm. $200 includes a book and tarot cards. www.cassielopez.com New and Full Moon Fire Ceremonies – Weds Dec.16, Jan 15, Jan 30, 7pm in Ogden Canyon. Enjoy Nature at her finest and experience the power of the moon. Dress appropriately for outdoors. Potluck dinner. Limited space. 801-721-2779 Full Moon New Year’s Ceremony with Nick – Thur. Dec. 31, 2009, 8 pm. 801-721-2779 Traditional Astrology with Krysta Brinkley – Thru., Jan. 14, 2010, 6:30-7:30 pm. Learn how receptions can give deeper insights to your psyche, even more than aspects! This is a free event at the Golden Braid, 151 S. 500 E., SLC. Listen to Your Gut Feel – Jan. 21, 2010, 6:30-7:30 pm. Wade and Melanie Lake will be talking about the role your digestion plays in enhancing your intuition. This is a free event at the Golden Braid, 151 S. 500 E., SLC . Learn how to make living superfoods full of enzymes and Lactobacilli to enhance your immune system and digestion with Wade and Melanie Lake – Sat., Jan. 30, 2010, 10 am-4 pm. $100 includes instruction, recipes, supplies and foods to take home. 801-693-8522 More information is available at: www.IntuitiveJourneys.ning.com

December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

THE HERBALIST IS IN

Sacred herbs Frankincense

These ancient tools help give form to the human capacity for feeling and reverence BY MERRY LYCETT HARRISON heresa Vuihill is the curandera for her small village in a remote area of northeastern New Mexico. I met her over a decade ago, when she kindly agreed to speak to me about her work with herbs and show me her garden. After offering me tea, she explained that few of her neighbors could afford traditional medical care with doctors, and even if they could, the nearest hospital was 40 miles away. She acts as the first and possibly only responder to the health concerns and emergencies in her community. She carries the deep wisdom, experience and confidence of her traditional role. The town’s small, poor population is a unique blend with ancestors of Mexican, Spanish and Native American descent that has been able to

clutched the necklace around her neck so firmly that Theresa was unable help get the wet clothes off of her. Theresa promised she only wanted to get her out of the wet clothes so the woman could get dry and warm again. The old woman finally eased her grasp and Theresa could see what she had been clutching: a silver medallion of a Christian saint, and a locket. The woman was petrified of losing her charms, but Theresa calmed her fears by telling her she understood. What she understood was that the locket held the root of a highly prized plant with strong healing and spiritual value. It was an osha root,

Sacred herbs at this time of transformation and solstice can help mark a moment, lift spirits and prayers and ground an intention. retain many of its old ways and customs. The architectural pride of the town is the elegant Catholic cathedral on the highest point which looks huge and opulent next to the tiny small homes nestled at its base. One can sense the great degree of spiritual devotion by observing the well-beaten dirt path and worn stone steps that lead to it. Theresa was generous in sharing her story and experience with me. She emphasized how important Osha root it was that she understood the ways and traditions of her community so that she earned their trust. I could tell people really counted on her, and she was proud to serve them. By way of illustrating how she works, she told me this true story. One night, she was called to come to a home at a very late hour. A man was panicked that his elderly mother had died. When Theresa got to the home she found the man drunk and the woman on the floor in a puddle of water, soaking wet and unresponsive. The man explained that he had come in and found his mother lying on the floor so he threw a pail of water on her in hopes of reviving her. Theresa went to work to assess the situation. She was able to rouse the woman and get her to sit up. But the old woman was frightened and

Ligusticum porteri. Myrrh Osha grows above 7,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains and has a very long history of curing illnesses as well as significance as a sacred herb used in ceremonies, sweat lodges and as smudge to bless and clear energies. Sacred herbs are respected and cherished allies to the people who use them traditionally and as prescribed. A relationship with the plant is established and maintained, often by the healer or shaman who requests the plant’s participation for a purpose. Engaging with the spirit of the plant is

that grabs our attention and allows us to accept its clearing properties? Egyptians burned frankincense in their temples and the Queen of Sheba imported the trees as a gift for King Solomon. The tree from which the resin is harvested only grows in certain arid regions—Oman, Somalia, Ethiopia—so Sheba’s trees did not survive. The fragrant resin was a popular, profitable product on the spice trade route. The “tears” are acquired by wounding the tree so it oozes the resin. In three months it is hard and dry enough to pick off the tree. The resin from the third harvest is apparently of the highest quality. Quality is determined by the degree of opacity. Religious use accounts for the largest demand of it, but is has anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and analgesic properties and is used in the perfume business. It repels bugs, too. Myrrh, too, is a resin from a different species of “balsam tree” (Burseraceae) that grows in similar regions. The Egyptians used it in embalming; it has great antibacterial properties. That is why it is so effective as a mouthwash. It was burned at funerals. When I say burned, imagine a burner the size of a table top and how much smudge smoke that would produce. It was more like a fumigation. These resins were considered the life blood of the plant that held its soul. When burned it was imagined that the fragrance was being offered up to the gods in a fashion similar to the way we enjoy perfume. Stephen Buhner writes in his book “Sacred Plant Medicine,” “Ceremony may be self-derived, it may come from vision, it may be given by a teacher, it may be cultural. But from all sources it has the same underlying root. It is a process in which the human capacity for feeling and reverence is given form and expression. One tells the earth, one tells Creator, what is felt and thought through specific actions and movements and intentions….in the process humans, the spirit world, the different elements of Earth are bound together in a living fabric that is alive, vital and new.” Shriveled roots, bundles of leaves, braids of grass, brews of vines and scatterings of resins are ancient tools that are used in service of this process. Sacred herbs at this time of transformation and solstice can help mark a moment, lift spirits and prayers, and ground an intention. When using herbs for these purposes, tread carefully, honor the plant, ask it for what you want and say thank you. ◆

“Ceremony may be self-derived, it may come from vision, it may be given by a teacher, it may be cultural. But from all sources it has the same underlying root. It is a process in which the human capacity for feeling and reverence is given form and expression.” part of the process. We do this, albeit in a primitive fashion, when we recognize the refreshing qualities of mint and we know how to grind up peppercorns to connect with its flavor. That said, there is something “other” about the spirit of plants traditionally regarded as sacred. How is it that tobacco was the herb of choice to carry prayers to the Creator? What is it about white sage

Merry Lycett Harrison, owner of Millcreek Herbs, LLC, is a clinical herbalist, teacher, author and wild guide and a professional member of the American Herbalists Guild. WWW.MILLCREEKHERBS.COM

HOLIDAY Continued from p. 43

Look Up! Check the Catalyst “Almanac,” for the date of the new and full moons. (The new moon is the night of “no” moon, the opposite of full.) Then try these:

Star Light, Star Bright, First Star I See Tonight... The custom of wishing on stars appears around the world and likely originated in animistic nature worship. Go for a walk at twilight and wish on the first star you see. Keep your wish simple, maintain hope in your heart, and see what happens!

New Moon “Seeding” A day or two before the actual date of the new moon, gather ideas, “seeds” of what you’d like to grow in your life. Write each one out on a separate piece of paper. To symbolize your seed/goal planting, on the night of the new moon tuck each paper into the earth (soil in a flowerpot will do). Help it germinate with appropriate physical action. With intention and attention, new moon goals should blossom by the next full moon.

Full Moon Release This is a good time to let go of habits, people and circumstances. Fill a large bowl with water, and place it where it will catch the light of the full moon. Use watersoluble ink on 1x1-inch pieces of

unlined white paper to identify the people, thoughts, etc. you wish to release. Place the papers facedown in the water. “The water dissolves the ink, releasing the limitations into the light of the full mon and freeing you of negative energy.”

Greet the Day, Say Goodnight Sunrise. Sunset. Spectacular or just like yesterday’s, each is nonetheless an opportunity to greet the day and say goodnight. “If the stars should appear one night in a thousand, how we would believe and adore, and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the City of God which has been shown. But every night come out those envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson, obviously before the advent of light pollution. City stars may not seem like much to write home about. Smog doesn’t help. But when the weather is clear, step outside. Move away from any immediate lighting. Look up. It puts things in perspective.

—adapted from Magick Made Easy, by Patricia Telesco. HarperSanFrancisco, 1999. $16

December 2009

catalystmagazine.net

COACH JEANNETTE

Finding your frequency Calibrating for dreams come true BY JEANNETTE MAW

hether it’s a wish list to Santa, a longing in your heart or a formal set of goals and intentions, there’s something important to know when it comes to getting what you want. It’s not a matter of figuring out how to make it happen (that’s not your job) or proving yourself worthy (you already are). In order to receive or experience whatever it is we want, we must first calibrate to it energetically. That is, to adjust our energy to match what we want. Energetic calibration is simply to get on the same frequency as that which you desire. Since everything is made of energy, and everything has a frequency – that means you and your desire need to line up energetically in order to join up. (Remember that dissimilar frequencies don’t hang out together; similar frequencies do.) So the best way, indeed the only way, to experience manifested desires is to get on the same frequency. Which is what your role is— creating that energetic alignment, or calibration. If there’s something you’ve been struggling and failing to achieve (adopting healthier eating habits, getting your head above financial water, rising earlier each day to meditate), it may be because you’re miscalibrated to it. Before we talk about how to recalibrate, let’s get clear about what keeps us from already being there.

What’s your comfort zone? Early in the course of our lives we acquire a “zone” or “range” of how we’re used to experiencing life. That zone represents the level of satisfac-

tion and fulfillment we typically experience in a given area, which we become so used to that we don’t consciously realize it and seldom stray from it. (Some authors call this phenomenon our personal blueprint or set point.) For some of us, the range of experience is quite narrow, while for others it’s much broader. For example, Donald Trump appears to have a high comfort zone for financial wealth, while my ex-boyfriend’s

while I reside in my comfort zone of fast and furious. In every aspect of life, we each have a range of how good we’re willing to let things be. You can spot your personal comfort zone by consciously examining the circumstances and results in your life. You may find you gravitate to a certain level of income, a certain type of relationship or typical level of health—not getting much higher or lower than your set point. Until we consciously choose to

Assaraf says the meditation trains your brain to focus, the visualizing leverages the brain’s reticular activating system (the center for arousal and motivation), and the affirmations allow you to adopt empowering beliefs, all of which leads to reconditioning of the mind—that is, recalibration. “comfort” zone appears to be the barely-getting-by kind of low. You’ll recognize that all comfort zone aren’t necessarily comfortable, right? It’s just what we’re used to. And often we defend it—even though it may actually be a rut. Once conscious of this phenomenon, you may become a no-limits sort of person. Or you may choose to live within a comfort zone in one area of your life, and play with the limits in another. If I’m used to men treating me poorly, no matter how much I say I’m ready for Prince Charming, he can’t show up while I’m in this range. Or, if I’m used to living a fast and furious pace in life, no matter how strong my longing for peace and quiet, I won’t experience it

allow things to get better and claim a new standard for ourselves, we continue to experience life within that range.

Creating a new zone This means getting used to life treating you better. This means feeling worthy. This means creating a new “normal” for yourself. Sometimes it’s as simple as consciously acknowledging to yourself that you choose differently now. Or it may require investing more energy to calibrate to a new set point. Author John Assaraf (“The Answer”) suggests this practice: Three times a day for 30 minutes each session, practice 10 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 minutes of visualizing your desire, completed

with 10 minutes of affirming aloud what you want. Assaraf says the meditation trains your brain to focus, the visualizing leverages the brain’s reticular activating system (for powerful manifesting), and that the affirmations allow you to adopt empowering beliefs—all of which leads to reconditioning of the mind—that is, recalibration. Although Assaraf makes an excellent case for this disciplined routine in “The Answer,” you may also have success using just one of the elements he describes. I’ve also found success with two or three minutes each (instead of 10) of meditation, visualization and affirmations. Regardless of how we practice it, magic happens once we get conscious about acclimating ourselves to a new reality.

Recalibration in action For the last decade or so, Michelle fluctuated from 20 to 25 pounds over her desired weight. No diet or exercise program she tried resulted in sustainable weight loss, despite also working with hypnosis and other techniques. Gay Hendricks’ book, “The Big Leap,” clued Michelle into the idea that she was likely experiencing an “upper limit problem.” Bumping into an upper limit is to reach the top end of your comfort zone. So while she may say she wanted an ideal weight, Michelle’s programming was set to keep her where she was “comfortable”: with 20-plus extra pounds. With awareness lies freedom! Michelle began to practice self-love and worthiness by embracing a stronger appreciation of her body. Although she’s not yet at her ideal weight, Michelle is within five to 10 pounds of it. This is your invitation to look at what you’ve been wanting, and ask yourself if it’s outside your range of “normal.” If so, support your achievement of it by calibrating to a new normal and expand your comfort zone to allow this desire into your life. The books mentioned above are excellent guides for your journey if you’d like support in the process. As always, and especially for this upcoming new year, best wishes for all your favorite dreams and desires coming true! Namaste. u Jeannette Maw is a Law of Attraction coach and founder of Good Vibe Coaching in Salt Lake City. WWW.GOODVIBECOACH.COM

METAPHORS FOR THE MONTH

December 2009

A tarot reading for CATALYST readers by Suzanne Wagner Arthurian Tarot: Gareth & Lyones, The Eachtra Mayan Oracle: Etznab, Kan, Ben Aleister Crowley: Oppression, Emperor, Abundance Medicine Cards: Blank Shield, Wolf Osho Zen Tarot: Ice-olation, We are the World, Moment to Moment Healing Earth Tarot: Eight of Wands, Ten of Crystals, Grandfather of Wands Ancient Egyptian Tarot: Chariot, Eight of Swords, Five of Swords Words of Truth: Commitment, Love, Hatred, Oppression, Truth

n the Arthurian legends, the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;Eachtraâ&#x20AC;? refers to an otherworld adventure that takes one beyond the mind and ego. Such places existed in the â&#x20AC;&#x153;twilightâ&#x20AC;? realm and in the direction of the west, the setting sun. By letting go of what we think we know and journey-

front of you. Destinations are never the actual goal, anyway; the journey is everything. This month, it will become clear that much effort is necessary, but with the beginning of the journey comes a renewed flow of energy in anticipation of the adventure. For those traveling for the holidays, be prepared for delays or changes in plans and arrangements. This same energy can cause you to become obsessive over romantic relationships. It is important to find ways to stay balanced; do not pine for the past. If you can, release the pattern that has allowed you to stay stuckâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; you have the opportunity to find a valuable and balanced relationship. Think of your life as a dance that flows in a way that allow you to connect to a higher level and deeper emotions. In love, it is important to not cling to each other, but to feel secure enough within yourselves that you choose to walk the path

Just because something is true from your exper ience does not mean it is true for others. If you impose what is right for you on others, you create disappointment, isolation and impasses. ing into the unknown, we begin to feel fully alive. That is what happens this month. The only way through is to know that this time is about not knowing the outcome, but rather about taking the journey that has been placed in

together as equals supporting each other in the amazing unfolding of intimacy and love. There are always dangers in believing in the shallow veneer of romantic love. Remember that true love deepens over time and allows

the expression of each personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s truth. Love is not constricting and limiting. Love is supposed to be generous and supportive. The burst of new love is always expansive and wonderful. But be aware if fear begins to contract the expansiveness of love into packages that may be beautiful as they lull you into a dreamlike state, but are traps nonetheless. True love is willing to move, moment by moment, with all the changing flows. So this month, take a look at what you are committed to. Are you committed to love, being right, oppressing others out of fear, or to the truth, as you see it? Just because something is true from your experience does not mean it is true for others. If you impose what is right for you on others, you create disappointment, isolation and impasses. As a global community, during the month of darkness and diminishing light, remember that we are all united in a goal of peace, prosperity, love and appreciation of each otherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gifts and abilities. Hold on to the truth of your heart. Know that by letting go of personal history and stories, you uncover ways that you could not see when you were egoically needing to be right. The winter is a time of sharing and coming together with loved ones. Appreciate the huge effort everyone is making during this holiday season and open your heart to a new place of generosity and grace. â&#x2014;&#x2020; Suzanne Wagner is the author of numerous books and CDs on the tarot. She lives in Salt Lake City. SUZWAGNER.COM

Center for Transpersonal Therapy, LC Transpersonal Therapy is an approach to healing which integrates body, mind and spirit. It addresses basic human needs for self-esteem, satisfying relationships and spiritual growth. The Center offers psychotherapy, social support groups, workshops and retreats. Heidi Ford M.S., L.C.S.W. â&#x20AC;˘ Denise Boelens Ph.D. Wil Dredge L.C.S.W. â&#x20AC;˘ Chris Robertson, L.C.S.W. Lynda Steele, L.C.S.W. â&#x20AC;˘ Sherry Lynn Zemlick, Ph.D. 989 E. 900 S., Salt Lake City, UT 84105 â&#x20AC;˘ 801-596-0147

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December 2009

AQUARIUM AGE

catalystmagazine.net

December 2009 Ride the waves — slow and fast BY RALFEE FINN his month, you don’t even have to listen closely to hear the waves of stress crashing on the shorelines of consciousness. You also don’t have to stretch to hear the universal chorus shout: “Enough already.” Uranus, direct as of December 1, is challenging our

angst is palpable. Forewarned is better prepared, which means rather than be overwhelmed by the breakneck pace early in the month, be willing to surf the current and get done what needs to be done before “hurry up” turns into “hey-I-need-to-think-

The first two weeks of the month, daily life moves at almost lightning speed and regular routines blaze by in a daze of hurry-up. already distended capacity for change, and as it does, some of us— no, make that lots of us—are going to need a time-out. But there isn’t time for a time-out. The first two weeks of the month, daily life moves at almost lightning speed and regular routines blaze by in a daze of hurry-up. By mid-month, the planetary pace slows down...down... as that deceleration morphs into molasses. This is the result of the pending Mars Retrograde beginning December 20 and Mercury Retrograde beginning December 26. When the two planets that drive the mechanics of daily life are retrograde simultaneously, collective

about-it-for-a-long-time-first.” Here are the astro-mechanics behind the emotion: Mars is the first source of December’s activity, and in keeping with its nature, it keeps us busy all month. A Mars/ Jupiter opposition, from Dec. 1-20, promotes overextension as a way of life. From Dec. 2-19, a Sun/Mars trine joins that already expansive Mars/Jupiter signature, making excess, in all areas of life, probable. While it may be a useless warning, do your best to stay moderate. This entire Sun/Mars/Jupiter bundle offers lots of opportunities for success, but all the success in the world means nothing if you’re too exhausted to show up for the

applause or the award. By December 4, a Sun/Jupiter sextile turns some of that Sun/Mars ambition toward generosity and enthusiasm, which is appropriate for the season, as well as for our times, when so many need so much. Mars goes retrograde on December 20; by December 17 you’ll start to feel the pace slow down. Get those holiday projects finished before then. Mars is usually pretty cranky when it is retrograde; it’s not used to moving “backward” or retracing its steps. What’s more, this Mars Retrograde is in Leo, which is likely to turn Mars frustration into dramas, major or minor. Again, this warning may be in vain, but do your best to avoid melodrama, yours or others, and you’ll manage the holidays with skill. Mars stays retrograde until March 10, but there’s plenty of time for that discussion in January’s issue. Mercury goes retrograde on December 26. Make those travel plans now, and expect travel delays around the holidays. Mercury stays retrograde until January 15, 2010. For those who don’t know about Mercury Retrograde, the best use of Mercury’s “backward” motion is to

review the details of what’s been previously set in motion. Mercury Retrograde is not a good time to initiate new plans or projects. An eclipse on New Year’s Eve promises to turn the holidays even more emotional than normal— whatever “normal” is. We often feel the effect of an eclipse weeks before the actual event, so if you start to feel strange tremors that cannot be identified as retrograde malfunctions, you can probably chalk it up to tremors in the lunar force. Translation: Expect you and those you love to be highly sensitive. I’m not suggesting you modify your behavior in some co-dependent way, but it could be worthwhile to think about the consequences of your words and deeds. This is, after all, the season of glad tidings and good cheer. And while I’m not promoting denial as a way of coping with the stress of an already too stressful time, I am advising all of us, myself included, to remember to be kind. So many of us get so anxious about what’s coming next, that we often tend to forget we are all in this life together, for better or for worse. ◆ Visit Ralfee’s website at WWW.AQUARIUMAGE.COM or email her at RALFEE@AQUARIUMAGE.COM

If you know your ascendant and/or your Moon sign, read that, too.

Aries

March 21-April l9

Meditate on “The Hanged Man” Tarot card, and allow that image to help you to embrace a new perspective. You might feel discombobulated at first, but it’s guaranteed to stimulate a new creative process.

Taurus

April 20-May 20

Stay open to compromise but don’t assume it is your only choice. Give in where necessary, but don’t relinquish what matters most to you.

Gemini

May 21-June 21

Be passionate and indulge your appetites. And don’t worry—it’s not likely you’ll

drown in an ocean of desire, and if you do, you could be reborn as the goddess or god of love.

Cancer

June 22-July 22

Instead of worrying obsessively, turn your anxiety over to NoFreti, the ancient Egyptian goddess who transforms worry into trust. Remember, a positive attitude translates into positive action.

Leo July 23-August 22 Trust your intuition, and allow that self-confidence to guide your decisions. I’m not suggesting you have all the answers. I’m simply advising you to honor your own wisdom.

Virgo

August 23-September 22

Life is moving fast, but that’s no reason to rush through every moment. Take each day at your own pace and you’ll have an easier time handling the intensity.

Libra

September 23-October 22

Closure isn’t always easy, but can be rewarding. Spend time gathering the loose ends of your life and contemplating how to bring certain areas to completion.

Scorpio Oct 23-Nov 21 Be aware of your limitations, and you’ll expand your strengths.

This sounds contradictory, but you are learning to reconcile opposites, a necessary step to authentic power.

Sagittarius Sept 23-Oct 22 Your mission, should you accept it, is figuring how to hold steady in the midst of so much activity. Here’s a hint: Don’t get sucked into any soap operas, your own or others’.

Capricorn Dec 22-Jan 19 You are facing a mountain of hard work, both internal and external, and while you seldom resist a gargantuan task, this phase is going to require effort,

energy, and realistic expectations.

Aquarius

Jan 20-Feb 18

You are not backsliding, so don’t forget how much you’ve grown. There is simply still more to do, but you are farther along than you can imagine.

Pisces

February 19-March 20

Whether you are aware of it or not, you are merging several worlds, which is why you may be feeling slightly out of sorts. Give yourself time to synthesize, and you’ll make the necessary adjustments. © 2009 by Ralfee Finn

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Deep questioning An auspicious Jupiter expands horizons

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Call 801• 654 • 1800 BY CHRISTOPHER RENSTROM has all the makings of a captivating storyteller. Born with four planets in Sagittarius in the seventh house, she is very much a people person. There’s nothing remotely shy and retiring about her. She learns by imitating and she imitates because she wants to be a part of every group she meets. You may notice that she will unconsciously take on the accent of someone she’s talking to and may even copy their gestures and mannerisms. This isn’t mockery; it’s her way of “trying somebody on,” like one would try on a coat to see how it looks and fits. Children of Jupiter (Jupiter also rules the zodiac sign Pisces) are always incorporating elements of other people’s personalities into their own. It’s what makes them so enriched and enriching. Whatever your daughter decides to do in life, she’ll do with a seriousness of purpose. That’s because she feels—like most children of Jupiter—that she was put here for a reason. Even if she winds up pursuing a career in education, law, or philanthropy (she has the planets for it), she would do it in service to a cause that celebrates and promotes people’s creativity and ingenuity. Sagittarius is perhaps the most spirited of all the fire signs (the other two are Aries and Leo), and developing the human potential to its fullest is what this sign is all about. u

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My daughter was born on December 13, 2007. Though not yet 22 months old, her verbal skills are very advanced and she seems to be able to memorize bits of song already. And she constantly loves to draw. Are people born under this sign more artistically inclined? —Anthony. Sagittarian babies are quick out of the gate—and out of the crib. Born under the sign of the centaur (a mythological creature, half human and half horse), they take life at a full gallop. Sagittarians are ruled by their enthusiasms and interests, and they’re eager to engage the world in every possible way. Given that her ruling planet, Jupiter, is also in Sagittarius, it’s clear that your daughter has a big personality and wants everyone to know it. Beethoven, Michelangelo and Maria Callas were all Sagittarians, so I think it’s safe to say that people born under this sign are artistically inclined. They can also have “artistic” temperaments. Jupiter was named after the Greek god of storms, and the planet’s famous red spot is actually a storm that’s been raging since the 17th century, when it was first spotted by telescope. Although children of Jupiter can be tempestuous, they’re quick to get over themselves and rarely hold a grudge. This is because they have a wonderful sense of humor and are just as likely to poke fun at themselves as anyone else. Mark Twain, Charles Schultz (the creator of the Peanuts comic strip) and Jon Stewart are all Sagittarians— humorists with a moral bent. They can be pointed, but not acerbic; irreverent without being disrespectful. You may find as she gets older that you’ve got a naturalborn entertainer on your hands. She is certainly a great mimic—and

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Christopher Renstrom is the creator of RULINGPLANETS.COM—the first on-line, interactive astrology magazine. He writes the daily horoscope for the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGATE.COM. If you have a question you would like him to address, send the date and time of your birth to CHRISTOPHER@CATALYSTMAGAZINE.NET. Christopher also answers questions every week on the CATALYST website.

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December 2009

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catalystmagazine.net

m e ber c e D DAY B Y DAY IN THE HOME,GARDEN & SKY BY DIANE OLSON Look for the Moon passing through the Pleiades star cluster December 28th. DECEMBER 1 Today the Sun rises at 7:32 a.m., and sets at 5:01 p.m. December’s average maximum temperature is 37 degrees; the minimum is 21 degrees. Average snowfall is 13.7 inches. The average duration of continuous snow cover along the Wasatch Front is 29 days. DECEMBER 2 FULL LONG NIGHTS MOON. Look for a paraselene, or moon dog, whenever you see high, thin, cirrus clouds near the Moon. Moon dogs are saucers of reflected moonlight hovering to the side, sometimes attached to a halo. The sunlight version is a parhelion, or sun dog. DECEMBER 3 Cold-blooded creatures are, for the most part, taking a nice long snooze. Toads have long since shoved their way into the ground, and snakes are tangled into knots in dens. Some fish, including carp and bass, also hibernate, burying themselves in mud. Others head for deep or rapid waters where they eat each other, or patiently await a warm day’s insect outing. DECEMBER 4 The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts a colder-than-normal winter, due to low sunspot activity. Sunspots are temporary dark spots on the Sun caused by intense magnetic activity that

inhibit convection, forming cool spots. DECEMBER 5 If the weather allows, now’s a good time to prune summer-blooming shrubs and cut back berry bushes and perennial flowers. DECEMBER 6 Turn the compost pile one last time and cover it with a tarp to prevent nutrients from leaching out. DECEMBER 7 Poinsettias need six hours of indirect light and a warm room to flourish. Don’t let them stand in water. The Aztecs called the poinsettia cuetlaxochitl, meaning “skin flower,” and used it to both produce red dye and reduce fever.

DECEMBER 14 The 110th Christmas Bird Count: Citizen Science in Action, runs today through January 5. WWW.AUDUBON.ORG/BIRD/CBC

hydrostatic pressure, and eventually shoot out a single, sticky seed at 50 mph, as far as 50 feet. Once established on a new host, it sends out bark-penetrating roots to pirate water and nutrients. Though toxic to humans, mistletoe berries provide high-protein winter fodder for deer and elk.

DECEMBER 15 Christmas trees can consume a quart of water per day. Make sure yours is adequately hydrated.

DECEMBER 24 FIRST QUARTER MOON. Pogonophobia is a fear of beards. Pogonophobes, beware of Santa tonight.

DECEMBER 13 Tonight’s Geminid meteor showers should be a good show. Look to the east, just after midnight.

DECEMBER 16 NEW MOON. Recent studies suggest a feedback loop between our faces and our feelings. People who can’t frown because of Botox injections seem to be happier, on average, than people who can frown. I suggest forgoing a face full of toxins and just smiling more. DECEMBER 17 Look for Mercury to the left and just above the crescent Moon tonight. Early Greek astronomers believed Mercury to be two separate objects: one visible at sunrise, which they called Apollo, the other visible at sunset, called Hermes. DECEMBER 18 Relative to body weight, a hummingbird’s brain is bigger than ours. DECEMBER 19 Cool gifts for nature lovers: birdseed, feeder, house (those made with rough wood give birds a better grip) or bath; field guides; garden books; macro and micro scopes. DECEMBER 20 Go for a walk, preferably with a dog. Borrow one if you don’t have your own.

DECEMBER 8 LAST QUARTER MOON. WWW.DAILYCOYOTE.NET. Check it out. And buy the book. (It would make a great gift.) DECEMBER 9 Australian aborigines drink liquefied green tree ants to relieve cold symptoms. Probably tastes better than Robitussin. DECEMBER 10 Birds love peanut butter. Smear some on a bagel, roll it in raisins, nuts or birdseed, and hang it from a tree. DECEMBER 11 Don’t let your pond freeze or the fish will suffocate. Run a pump or de-icer, or break the ice daily. DECEMBER 12 Got a gardener on your holiday list? WWW.SEEDSOFCHANGE.COM has excellent tools. Their hand trowel rocks.

DECEMBER 21 WINTER SOLSTICE. Today is the shortest day of the year, as Sun reaches its farthest point south. For the next three days it rises and sets at the same time, then begin its journey back to the northern hemisphere. DECEMBER 22 Ilex vomitoria, a type of holly plant, was used by Native Americans to make a highly caffeinated ceremonial stimulant known as “the black drink.” After consuming large quantities, users often purged themselves by vomiting. DECEMBER 23 American dwarf mistletoe is a common parasite that grows on conifers. As its berries ripen, they build

DECEMBER 25 In Venezuela, it’s customary to rollerskate to early morning Christmas mass. DECEMBER 26 Pot up some more bulbs now to offset the January doldrums. DECEMBER 27 Dark-eyed juncos, sometimes called snowbirds, feed primarily on weed and grass seeds during the winter. They often form large, hierarchal winter flocks, with larger birds dominant over smaller ones and older birds over younger ones. DECEMBER 28 Look for the Moon passing through the Pleiades star cluster tonight. An open cluster of relatively young blue stars, the Pleiades have been known since antiquity. Homer mentions them in the Iliad and Odyssey. DECEMBER 29 It generally takes a storm about 24 hours to travel from the west coast to the Wasatch Front. DECEMBER 30 For a good time, read “Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex,” by Mary Roach. The funniest science book ever. DECEMBER 31 FULL BLUE MOON. A blue moon is a second full Moon in a month. One occurs, on average, every 2.7154 years. The Sun rises at 7:51 a.m. today, and sets at 5:09 p.m. Happy New Year to you all. Thanks for reading. Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light. It was what I was born for— to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world— to instruct myself over and over in joy, and acclamation. —Mary Oliver Diane Olson is a writer, gardener and bug hugger.

All Saints Episcopal Church invites you to explore the presence of the Divine in human existence. The door is always open.

Opportunities for Christmas Celebration CHRISTMAS EVE Thursday, December 24 6:30 p.m. Family Service with Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pageant, Christmas Carols and Holy Communion 10:30 p.m. Christmas Carols and Anthems 11:00 p.m. Midnight Service with Choir and Holy Communion

CHRISTMAS DAY Friday, December 25 10:00 a.m.

Holy Communion with Christmas Carols

Sunday Worship at 8:00 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Adult programs of inquiry offered regularly on Sunday at 9:15 a.m. On the corner of Foothill Dr. & 1700 South Learn more at www.allsaintsslc.org or call (801) 581-0380

All Saints Episcopal Church

In a religion that was born in a barn, an open door goes without saying.

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