Here it is folks!~ I put it all together outside, with the birds and the bees and trees. Enjoy!~

SECOND EDITION

SUMMER 2015 đ&#x;Œ? 1ST PRINTING

Full Moon đ&#x;Œ?

Summer Edition MULTIMEDIA ZINE WEAVING STORIES OF SOOKE & SOUTHERN VANCOUVER ISLAND

MYTHOS RAVEN IN LIFE AND LEGEND

REWILDING ARTS HEALING IN NATURE'S PLAYGROUND

YONI THE SACRED PORTAL

SOOKE SCOOP

Welcome to our second edition! đ&#x;Œąđ&#x;Œ?

South Vancouver Island, stretching from Sooke all along the Juan de Fuca Way is a rich and biodiverse region inhabited by 'Supernatural' wildness, cultural abundance and an open-hearted community. A need has been seeded: to give voice to the quilted patch-work of stories that make up our unique and friendly home. The Sooke Scoop endeavours to be an ongoing glimpse into our every day, collective mythology in the making. Enjoy! 

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Union at Sooke Yoga What's the Scoop: Nature+Technology Blessing or Curse?

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Raven: Trickster, Messenger and Bird Brain Extraordinaire One can hardly delve into the Mythos of the Pacific Northwest without coming across the flight path of the ubiquitous and adventure-seeking (to put it mildly)...Raven. In oral histories, legends, literature, Raven has influenced our cross-bred mythology from the very beginning.

SECOND EDITION

Raven has entered the thicket of our ancestral dreams.

My first encounter with Raven was on my first epic train ride across the vast expanse of Canada, 22 years ago. Stopping over in Jasper, I was excited for my wobbly train legs to touch stable, unmoving earth, and to breathe in the rejuvenating mountain air.

As I walked along the train tracks, I ran into a couple of bad-ass looking birds, black as coal and undeniably large, blocking my passage along the railway. The two birds were wary but not afraid.

Studying me with a curiosity that seemed rather "human" I felt like I had crossed over to the other side of the tracks. These were definitely not 'thug crows'. They spoke with their heads askew.

I attempted to speak back to them. I got it all wrong it seemed by the disconcerted looks I was getting. Ravens don't "Caw" and aren't harsh. They spoke with a soft "Rawk" amongst other sublime sounds I couldn't begin to vocalize. Why was I talking to Raven in the first place I wondered? I felt as though I had slipped into a different dimension, one where the language veil between humans and birds was becoming very thin. Was it the sweet mountain air playing tricks with my mind...? I deeply inhaled.

Back on the train, I rifled through my backpack and dug out my 'Western Birds' guide, Family Corvidae...

Raven, Corvus corax...large perching birds with strong, longish bills; nostrils covered by forward pointing bristles. Crows and ravens are very large and black. Note the wedge shaped tail. Much larger than crow; has a heavier voice and is inclined to be not as gregarious, often solitary. Hawk-like in-flight, it alternates flapping and sailing, gliding on flat wings. When it is perched and not too distant, note the "goiter" look created by the shaggy throat feathers in the heavier "Roman-nose" bill.

As usual, field guides tend to explain phenomena through a blend of scientific curiosity, bland reductionism and while overstating the obvious. Back to the phenomena and experience itself. This was a close encounter of an avian kind... (Hear the Podcast at SS)

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Raven goes right to the core of the human mythos.

Universally acknowledged, admired and reviled, Raven can be found at creative play and mischief on every nook and cranny of our beloved Earth. đ&#x;ŒŽ Here, in the Pacific Northwest, Raven has an abiding presence & power.

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SECOND EDITION

Yoni::The Sacred Portal đ&#x;Œšđ&#x;Œ’đ&#x;Œ“ đ&#x;Œ”đ&#x;Œ?đ&#x;Œ–đ&#x;Œ—đ&#x;Œ˜

By Naomi Grace::Art by Catie Atkinson Yoni. An all encompassing name for a sacred portal. Vagina, clitoris, labia, lips, g spot, womb‌ A portal of power & wisdom. We are here to help one another birth a new way of being. A new way of honouring. We must take the time to honour our temples, our yoni’s, this sacred portal. A space from which we can tap into our innate power as women and honour as men.

When we honour our bodies & our wombs we attract lovers who honour us as well on this journey through our awakenings. May we be unafraid of our own power, our own bodies. May we bask in the radiance & pleasure that we so rightly deserve as women in this lifetime. May we heal it for ourselves, for our families, our partners, children, for the earth. Let us take back & realize our own power. It was never meant to be given away. We must look at the wounds that may reside there or the shame that we may feel. We are pure beings. Yoni's are the private sacred space of our mothers, lovers, sisters and daughters, a portal of divine love. May we honour that love now.

Begin to allow yourself to inquire. If you do not embrace or feel comfortable with your own yoni allow yourself to inquire as to why. Are there past hurts that have happened? Have you not honoured your body the way you so rightly deserve? Allow the questions to come, allow the answers. Hold space for your own feelings & past experiences. Allow them to come up & know that you are safe.We must heal our womb to allow for the love to pour through us. It is there waiting to heal. Our yoni’s deserve our utmost respect, awe & admiration.

Here are some ways to honour your yoni: – Yoni Steams and Massage – Giving your moon blood back to the earth. – Using cloths pads, organic cotton, or menstrual cup – Gentle & natural products when bathing. – Not allowing entrance or penetration until you are fully aroused & engorged – Place your hand lovingly there & just allow gratitude for it. – Embrace it, the hair, smell, touch, taste, all of it. Celebrate it in your own unique way! – Choose and allow a partner that honours the sacred flower that is your Yoni First published in Tribe de Mama online magazine at www.tribedemama.com Naomi Grace can be contacted at RainbowLoveFamily@Gmail.com

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SUMMER 2015 đ&#x;Œ? 1ST PRINTING

SECOND EDITION

NATURE + T ECHNOLOGY: BLESSING OR CURSE ?

PART 1: FROM SCI FI TO WIFI...IS TECHNOLOGY GOOD FOR US? The title is a ruse of sorts. Technology has been from its early inception both a blessing and a curse. Can we find a balance? All Life on Earth depends on it. This is part 1 of a meditation on Nature and Technology.

My personal history with the Noosphere goes back to the 80s when I acquired my first low-baud-rate modem for my The Noosphere is more than the world-wideCommodore Vic 20: a computer that connected to my tiny web. It is the God~Gaian~Inter-Galactic Mind. television and had less memory than a single, poor quality photo from today's sub-average cell-phone.

And yet we got by. The excitement of opening up the world of information through a phone-line (text only) onto my boob tube screen seemed like high-tech wizardry in those days. Cracking the code of all the alphabet spy agencies in the book, held the future promise of hacking into the world's top secret facilities to disarm all the Cold War nuclear weapons on Earth. That meme/fantasy was planted in me through the Hollywood movie, War Games. I was born into the mad 'Shadow of Fear', of nuclear mushroom clouds dotting the horizons of the Earth. In my more diminutive virtual-reality, I did manage to phone up a local BBS (Bulletin Board System) and meet other local hackers online, forming a campaign to bring our beloved Bloom County comic back to the local newspaper. Our virtual friendship began online, (about 20 of us) and we agreed to harass the paper until we got our cartoon back.

William Shatner, selling We won the battle and imagined future digital conquests. Dreams had to start small Vic 20s to Star Trek before they'd coalesce into a cultural-collective movement of powerful social media. geeks back in the day.

DREAMING OF A HI-TECH UTOPIA For the next decade, I delved into the world of computers. This was no accident. As a young pup (grade 6) I was selected to attend a province-wide event sponsored by school boards and governments. At this event, the attendees were granted a peek at our future world of computer technology and what would later become the Internet. On a big screen was displayed a simple digital interface linked to a computer with a primitive 'game controller'. The speaker wove all manner of scifi possibilities into our young, impressionable minds: shopping from home, talking to friends across the world,watching movies from the comfort of your living room. Keep in mind this was around 1980.

I had yet to encounter the likes of Orwell (1984), Huxley (Brave New World) and other dystopian Science Fiction.The dream was a fantasy island of tech-geeks pining to make Star Trek a reality.

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SECOND EDITION

CYCLING AS EMBODIMENT: CENTAURIC TECHNOLOGY đ&#x;š˛ The only problem was, in our "real world", the technological advances never lived up to the high expectations of that vision. It was moving much too slow for me in my teenage years. After years of programming, and hacking into software, I lost interest in computers altogether. Another world pushed and pulled me in a very different direction. No, not girls, the ubiquitous siren's call. It was the living, breathing world of Nature that slowed me down and awakened something deeper... Lurking beneath the veneer of my civilized concerns was something wild wanting to be unleashed. Part of this push and pull came from my pedalling adventures, exploring further to the outer reaches of my industrial hometown, into the sun-dappled-county-back-roads. The simple and divine technology of the bicycle literally saved my ass from becoming a high-tech fetishist. And being able to breathe the relatively "fresh", pungent air of the county farm roads increased my vitality in ways I had never Social Media is both a experienced before. Instinctively, I recognized that my body was hungry for a blessing and a curse.

Unmediated experience and healthier world. My soul was thirsty for a deeper spring to slake my thirst than social interaction is on the I could find on the dusty book shelves and droll podiums of the University. I wane. This does not bode needed to dwell in Nature. My body convinced my mind of that essential truth. well for Nature or Culture

So I made my way out to British Columbia to dive in deep. My computer tech savvy went the way of the Dodo and I tapped into my latent wildness. The bicycle đ&#x;š˛ was my chosen centauric machine, my steed. I rode everywhere.

Ironically, it was my cycling adventures that later reconnected me to cybernetic technologies in the form of digital speedometers, and a digital camera, the first Nikon Coolpix. I suddenly realized that computers had 'gotten up to speed' while I had personally slowed down to a brisk cycling cadence.

Was there a way to bring Nature and technology together, in an harmonious way that would not destroy the integrity of social, spiritual and ecological worlds from which digital technologies emerged? I knighted myself in a quixotic quest to discover and embody that very calling.

TECHNOLOGY AS BLESSING And so, I chose a simple life that Henry David Thoreau would have given nod to: that of a feral human, living on the edge of two colliding worlds. I immersed myself in the surrounding habitat, shedding most of the accoutrements of modern life: cars, telephones, houses, and even money for a while. Taking up primitive skills, I taught myself how to craft my own shelter, fire, tools and rafts. Joining a community of primitive skills enthusiasts in Sooke, I realized the old ways were not "dead" at all, but we're part of an Archaic Revival that was stirring in the land.

Fitting myself with solar panels, a kayak, and a powerhouse laptop for its day, I joined extremes of technology. I lived a gentle life out-of-doors, more in tune with Nature's rhythms than a "life of quiet desperation" which had since become increasingly noise-polluted since Thoreau's time. Was I fooling myself? Perhaps.

In that time of liberty, I have never moved more freely and softly as when I adventured into my own Walden. There were sermons in stones to be heard...

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Henry David Thoreau My Philosophical Companion

SUMMER DIGEST

SookeYoga.com~Summer 2015

UNION AT SOOKE YOGA

Alanda Carver, or Siri Amir Kaur has been teaching yoga several years now. Partially paralyzed in a car accident for 17 years, her journey into Kundalini Yoga began a life-long path of healing her broken body, mending Spirit and elevating to her Divine Lovely Self.

Kundalini Yoga as a Technology Of Empowerment

By Dante Chicano

Yoga is a Sanskrit word meaning 'yoking' in the sense of union or bringing-together. Union to what?

To God. Cosmos. Higher Self, Wholeness. Take your pick.

In the everyday world of 'little ol' me' , we forget that we are already conjoined at the hip with the Entire Universe. Our sense of separation from the Divine has many threads, and they all seem to lead nowhere. We have been entrained by daily life, to forget who or what we really are.

Yoga as a practice encompasses far more than poses and stretches in tight-fitting pants. It is an ancient technology of practices that involve engaging with All.

Yoga is Union. Kundalini Yoga is the chosen practice of Sooke Yoga's Alanda Carver, or Siri Amir Kaur. This ancient Wisdom goes back at least to 500 B.C. and is considered a Raj Yoga which is inclusive of all yogas combining meditation, mantra, physical exercises and breathing techniques; it is said to encompass "the eight limbs of yoga into a singular practice of excellence and ecstasy."

"Yoga developed as a series of practices to help you work with your Human-Operating-System" Alanda explains, "We are spiritual beings having a 'human experience'. Our bodies and minds

are tools to help us have this spiritual experience."

“Kundalini” literally means “the curl of the lock of hair of the beloved.” This image speaks to the beauty and flow of awareness that is also described as an incredible reserve of untapped power within all of us. It is often depicted as a sleeping serpent, located in an area towards the base of the spine. Releasing that serpent energy, opening the heart and awakening Divine Mind are some of the results of practising this Yoga. "Kundalini Yoga has meditations that can literally work with any aspects of the human psyche," Alanda explained.

UNIONatSOOKEYOGA 2015-First Printing

What is Yoga Good for? Happiness: Physical-Mental-Emotional-Spiritual History of Kundalini in the West

In 1969, a teacher by the name of Yogi Bhajan came to the West out of a sense of urgency. He felt that our civilization was undergoing a fundamental crisis that required a powerful antidote to the listlessness and overtaxed harmony of the BodyMind-Spirit. He came to share the well-guarded secrets of Kundalini Yoga, even though in his first lecture, he spoke to an empty hall. No matter. After noticing the youth of the era were experimenting with altered states of consciousness using psychedelics in an attempt to connect to something higher (with mixed results), he set about teaching Kundalini to the young people longing for family and a deeper connection with themselves and one another. And he got results. The widespread and worldwide popularity of Kundalini Yoga is a testament to the effectiveness of its teachings.

Yogi Bhajan started 3HO (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization). Isn't that it in a nutshell? Who doesn't want to be healthy, happy and holy? Well, there are always the Eeyores out there...

Human Beings have been utilizing the 'Technology of Happiness' for Ages. It seems there is something 'cracked' in the Human Psyche. Even Huntergatherers have their 'Soul Retrievers'. In recent years, psychoanalysis and pharmaceuticals have coopted the soul's ability to heal itself with divine intervention. The post-modern obsession with the alienated 'poor lil' ol' me' self' (Piglet), seeing one's self

Kundalini out West In 1969, Yogi Bhajan (pictured on the right) arrived in North America to teach the secrets of Kundalini Yoga.

Alanda Carver leads a class in Kundalini Yoga. I did the breathing throughout my photography session and felt so much more alert throughout it (without coffee). There are exercises on everything, and every class is different. A prosperity meditation I did yielded immediate results. What is this magical practice called Yoga?

Yoga is Union. It is Holy Matrimony with the Divine Spirit.

Kundalini Yoga has meditations that can literally work with any aspects of the human psyche...We can strengthen the energy system that runs our body so that we can operate on less sleep, more stressful situations and excel in them..

Alanda Carver

as a victim of Cosmic and Shadow Government Forces...while somewhat factual, is also a mirage.

There are indeed 'Conspiracies'. And one of them is a conspiracy against yourself.

It is the greatest taboo knowing who you really are.

As Alan Watts famously said, "Come off it Shiva!"

Yoga is Union. This Union can be had anywhere, anytime. It is happening all around us in the dance of Lila, Cosmic Play. The Universe, God, Nature Is. You Are. Yet the most obvious truth in the world is immediately forgotten. Yoga and other 'Technologies of Self' are inborn healing powers that we can tap into to awaken and become more fully who we are potentially. And to Re-Member...

If you have never tried a yogic practice, and feel stuck, or disengaged, give it a try. Kundalini Yoga is a 'householder' path, meaning, it is meant to be practiced by everyday folk, like you and I. Remember who you are. Yoga is Union. "And don't you know that God is Pooh Bear" -Jack Kerouac

MERCHANTMONTHLY Summer, 2015

SPEED STICK đ&#x;’Ł ☕ ď¸?

Killer-Express Espresso Bar ready to EXPLODE!

"Everything the Stick has ever done has been dictated by the customers.

The investment in this space is because we know that there are customers who want to come in, who can't wait. And when the line is very busy, they can be waiting for 20 minutes.

By doing this we're hoping we can have both sides of the operation be more efficient." David Evans

By Boho Baggins

I love my V0S 1N0’s! (The Stick's localinside take on an Americano) Slow... sipping, sauntering in sloth-like while I settle into Stick in the Mud’s warm glow, basking in the coffee sensorium. But there are definitely those moments I have turned away from the long lineups, and just wanted my brown medicine to go‌pronto!

I love the Stick in the Mud‌getting social and slow with my coffee is the allure of my favourite coffee shop ever.

I was told not to talk about the OTHER Stick, but it can’t be withheld any longer!

The Secret is out ~And it will BLOW your MIND~!

SpeedStick is open 6 days per week during peak hours right next to The Stick's main branch.

Tuesday through Sunday from 9AM till 1PM

http://stickinthemud.ca

with needles, moxibustion with mugwort (one of my favourite herbs), cupping, and Gua Sha. Suzanne also does nutritional counselling to form a holistic approach to

By Dante Chicano this ancient healing art. "It can help people relax and get a sense that there is I have always been intrigued by the pearls of wisdom from the Far East. As a hope in the world and change. You don't have to be stuck in the body or mind-set lifelong student of Philosophy, I have you are in. Acupuncture can be a great sought out a bridge to the World’s 'switch' to help you get into a transition Wisdom Traditions. Where the West from one state into another, a more meets the East can be discovered right desirable one" Suzanne explained. here in Sooke at Standing Cedars Acupuncture Clinic. The practice of Sundays 11-6 acupuncture can be traced back 5000 Mondays 2-7 years in China, which far exceeds recent Thursdays 10-6 Western medical practices in age.

Fridays 10-6 My partner Naomi was suffering Community Clinic from post-partum symptoms after the Mondays 11-2 birth of our daughter: low energy, Suzanne Herchak, R.Ac depression, stiffness, anxiety and various Standing Cedars Acupuncture pains. It was decided that she needed a 250-893-5621 treatment at the local acupuncture clinic www.standingcedars.ca with Suzanne Herchak, R.Ac. Suzanne’s gentle demeanour and skilled healing arts put Naomi at ease and allowed a more intuitive-yin healing approach. Suzanne is soft in her approach. When Naomi finished the treatment, her vitality glowed in her rosy cotton cheeks and bright eyes. She was immediately elevated and booked another appointment. Suzanne has been exploring this healing art for years, and its various modalities, from acupuncture

Standing Cedars đ&#x;Œ˛ Acupuncture

In Suzanne's Words...

My Approach to acupuncture is to be really gentle. I find that a lot of practitioners, depending where you trained, can be a little more vigorous and aggressive with the needling style. I'm hoping that people can come in feeling grounded and welcomed in the space. My key interest is working with those with mental-emotional concerns, such as depression, and need a lot of support in that realm but can't necessarily find it outside. Also..indigestion concerns, fertility concerns, pregnancy support and gynelogical issues. There's definitely a lot I can do with that to help. I'm trained and able to help with pain relief. I'm trained to work with kids too. I believe Acupuncture can bring peace and harmony to the world.

MERCHANTMONTHLY Summer, 2015

'Kids need to practice their creative skills, it's the same as anything, if you don't use it- it stops working. The brain needs stimulation, and I find that creating something stimulates the mind and emotion.

It's healing, it's self expression- creating something gives you a sense of achievement, appreciation and self esteem. I know this for a fact because I practice creating and I see it in every one of my students- no matter the age (and I have taught ages 1-100, literally.)

To create, you can be any age, any gender, any race- you don't have be this way, you don't have to be that way- you just have to be you and let your creative self free.'

-Shanna Hamilton, Kids Art studio

Kids Art Studio Let Your Creative Self Free~ Sooke Sailing Association Summer Camps~ speed and direction, leaving and returning to the dock, and different points of sail. Some of which are taught both on and off the water. Seven-foot Optimist sailboats as well as two-person kayaks are used in the program. By the end of the course, the children will be able to safely sail and kayak on their own!

Sail Canada Certified Coaches and our volunteers will ensure every experience is a positive one.

Summer sailing camps will be held at Coopers Cove in Sooke by the Stickleback Eatery from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. The majority of the lessons will be hands on with skills warm ups in the mornings, lunch break then back out on the water.

Camp #1 runs July 27-31, Camp #2 from Aug 3 to 7. Three Sooke Sailing Association is offering Summer Sailing Camps again levels are offered (Wet Feet, Opti 1 and Opti 2.) Week one will be this summer for 6 to 14 year olds. There is a sailing co-op in Sooke Wet Feet and Opti 1 with week two for previous students will cover for families and adults and sailing courses available to upgrade Opt 1 and Opti 2. No experience is necessary. To register go to your skills and safety. moss.checklick.com or for more information on the program Your children will have the time of their life, and learn to sail at go to www.sookesailing.com or www.bcsailing.bc.ca. The the same time. They will learn the basics of sailing in a unique local phone number is 778-425-4030. We have limited spots this environment, focusing on fun and boating safety. This includes year as we proceed with our plan to do this on our own so book launching, docking, steering, balancing, and basics like wind early.

MERCHANTMONTHLY Summer, 2015

What's the Scoop? Mount my Steed...

Strap a GoPro to my chest and GO!~

By Dante Chicano

Bicycling is Centauric Technology đ&#x;š˛ By that I mean, it engages our Animal Body, and becomes a part of our physical-spiritual being. The gentle and swift bicycle builds power whilst taking us on an adventure. It is a gentle guide in the here and now. I am a Cycling-Sagittarian-Centaur by birth and choice.

Computers are Cybernetic.

They are an external brain of sorts and link us to the Noosphere ('sphere of human thought'). Strapping a GoPro camera to my chest affords me to mostly forget about it, and get more engaged in dialogue and senses. Sharing some of my adventures and conversations is the essence of What's the Scoop? ~ Sooke Scoop's Video Blog.

This past issue, we cycled to Sooke Yoga and filmed a few classes and had conversations with Alanda Carver. We ventured out to Shiringham Distillery and spoke to Jason MacIsaac about his local and already legendary spirits. We zipped into Speed Stick and chatted with David Evans about the need for express espresso. We sat in awed silence for Carey Newman's powerful Witness Blanket speech and interviewed Suzanne Crocker on her film All the Time in the World. We relocated a lost Bee Swarm for our ReWilding Weekend. We even pursued Sasquatch with a group of boys, and attended Seedy Saturday with the Beast. Look for more "What's the Scoop?" vids to come at SookeScoop.com

Also featured at the Scoop: Sheringham Distillery.

William's White Whiskey or Vodka.

This past Mother’s Day was also the 7th Anniversary of Karen Stone's A Sea of Bloom, Sooke’s premiere flower and gift shop! Come and check out all the wares, from flowers, to locally crafted jewelry and crafts, and even an Apothecary! Aseaofbloom.com

sheringhamdistillery.com southshoregallery.ca

South Shore Gallery owner Jessie Taylor celebrated her 1st Anniversary!

Stunning art showcases a diversity of incredible local artists.

If you wish to learn about more local businesses, see our Merchants Page at SookeScoop.com or email us at SookeScoop@gmail.com if you have any further inquiries.

TEL (250 EPHON )580 E -001 0

Sooke Scoop Culinary Arts

CULINARY ARTS Summer 2015

SookeScoop.com

Issue No. Two

NATURE'S CHEF ABOVE AND BEYOND CATERING Private Holistic Chef, Tom Kral delivers fresh, local, wild foods directly to your location of choice. Whether it be in your own home, business, backyard, a camp site, beach, or park Nature’s Chef brings the culinary adventure on the road to you. Scouting fresh, local food afield and preparing your food from dirt to plate, every meal is a hand-crafted work of art, every dish a divine culmination.

Nature's Chef Tom Kral with sour dough pizza and delectable wild green~sprouted salad

What are the advantages to having an adaptable, private chef? Custom crafted menus that meet all the needs of the clients while maintaining a high standard of healthy and wholesome nutrition. Not to mention that every meal has Chef Kral's signature style infused with love and genius.

"Let thy food be thy medicine!"

Foraging in Local Gardens

From delectable, foraged wild foods alongside the freshest farm grown goodness, Tom brings the restaurant to wherever it needs to be. His one of a kind culinary journeys are tailored to a unique experience: food as magic and medicine with epicurean relish. Book your culinary adventure today!

Sea-Vegetable Lasagna

natureschef.ca naturescheftk@gmail.com 250.580.0010 facebook/natureschef

"

CanapĂŠs

Wild Ferments

Raw Chocolate

Sooke Scoop Culinary Arts Page | Local Food and Drink | Continued at SookeScoop.com

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Earth~Wind~Fire~Water

What is Elemental~Medicine?

Rediscovering the way our ancestors mapped, mythologized and modelled our Macro~Micro Cosmos allows us to travel beyond the linear boundaries of profane history, opening a portal into the Sacred Round of Cyclical Time and Space.

Elemental Thought Elemental thinking and perception stretch far back into our collective history. It is animistic, in that each of the four elements: Fire Earth Air & Water is seen as alive, with a unique power and form of consciousness. In PreSocratic Greece, 450 BC, Empedocles expounded on the eternal Love (unifying) & Strife (destroying) of these 4 elements.

Hermeticism

Hermeticism is a perennial wisdom tradition from the 3rd century BC-1st Century AD. Hermes Trismegistus believed that man must reflect rather than rule the Elements in balance. The Emerald Tablet: "...that which is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the miracles of the One Thing.

And as all things are from One, by the mediation of One, so all To the elements it came from things have their birth from this Everything will return.

One Thing by adaptation. The Our bodies to earth, Sun is its father, the Moon its Our blood to water, mother, and the Wind carries it Heat to fire, in its belly, its nurse is the Earth.

Breath to air.

Elemental Play Medicine

Medicine Wheel

I Ching

Quintessence

From stone circles on the beach, to Stonehenge, human beings have incorporated the medicine wheel as a cosmic compass for orienting our way in the great swirling spiral of life and death. The 4 directions often represent an elemental force as well as a totem animal and season. Although they vary from culture to culture, the medicine wheel is a universal tool for creating sacred space and ceremoniously participating in the Great Round. Medicine Wheels ground one to the hub of the Earth as well as center our stand in relation to the Heavens.

The I Ching is an ancient Taoist form of divination comprised of 8 Elemental Trigrams: Heaven-Earth, Thunder-Wind, Stream-Fire, Mountain-Mist. The Bagua, an I Ching Medicine Wheel, represents the 8 Elements and 8 Directions as both a complementarity or as an evolution of stages or seasonal processes. The 8 aspects of the I Ching make up the 64 hexagrams. In Taoist Elemental thinking we encounter a different model: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water make up the 5 basic elements.

Aristotle, reasoning that the 4 Elementals were subject to change and Earth-bound, suggested that a 5th Element, Aether must be what the Heavens were composed of.

The Hindus believed in this quintessence as well, calling it Aether or Void, and all of creation, including the human body, is made up of these five essential elements. Upon death, the human body dissolves into these five elements of nature, thereby balancing the cycle of nature.

Japanese, Tibetan, and Medieval Alchemy all incorporated this 5th Sacred Essence.

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ReWilding Weekends~

Adventure Tours~

Playshops~

Earth, Wind, Fire, Ocean

Sacred Simplicity

Children need to move and play

It begins with a Divine Spark.

Take a walk on the wild side.

The Sun our star and hearth is the Seed of fire that fuels the inner and outer alchemy of transformations here on earth and in the flesh.

How did our ancestors live without all of the accoutrements of modern technology? Can we experience a taste of that Sacred Simplicity in our day and age? Is there a middle path to walk?

The smell of the rain is not something you can experience on T.V., in a book or online. The sound of the rain needs no translation. Walking in the rain is a highly sensorial experience. We live in a Rainforest after all. There is a melody and melancholy rhythm to the rain that the leaves sing of first. Time for gumboots and raincoats to come out. Bare feet. It is as important to keep warm, in comfort as it is to feel the rain on our faces, to splash in puddles, make mud pies and skip rocks on a placidly mirrored pond reflecting the sky.

The Earth, our womb and fruit gestates and grows the sensuous form, the food of the gods that recycles the holy spiral of life and death.

Together they work their daily Magic creating a bounty that feeds their terrestrial children: Mind, Body, Spirit, Soul.

How we manifest and bring together this ongoing Miracle is up to each and everyone of us.

Sometimes we quietly celebrate it alone, in meditation, in prayer, on a walk in the woods, or the beach bearing witness to the unfathomable Mystery . And other times we come together as community to participate and celebrate in this basic joy of our daily sustenance.

Join us in bringing it all together: cooking, sharing and celebrating through an elemental alchemy with fire, ocean, meats, meads, plants, rocks, mud, music and mirth at our ReWilding Weekends.

June 19-21/July 24-26/Aug.21-23/Sept. 18-20 

SookeScoop.com

Join the fellowship with your hosts, Dante @ GreenMan Adventures & Nature's Chef, Tom Kral on private and small-group tours.. Adventure begins when you leave home behind and open yourself up to new horizons...and ancient pathways.

Gather knowledge, power and food chi with us on a coastal journey as we guide you on an engaging ReWilding experience. Learn local plant knowledge as we gather herbs to brew in teas, cook and even smoke. Discover wild foods and coastal delicacies and bring them back to camp to be processed and cooked to perfection by our chef. Practice primal healing technologies that are simple, abundant and literally beneath our feet.

We have a wide-variety of adventures to choose from: afternoon outings to full-Monty weekend explorations. The Island is our Playground. From waterfalls, to secluded beaches, remote lakes and rivers, to misty mountains, our Adventure Tours will resuscitate you, Body, Mind and Soul. 

Lila~The Cosmic Play~cannot contain itself in their Angelic-bodies. Cherubs and Fairies flit about like little winged Flutterbies...searching for hidden treasures and clues in the Faerie Forest Walk.

Discover your Power Animal and Play it out!~In the Animistic View, the Souls of Animals and Plants are Kindred Spirits and Guides. Role-Playing is a great way to connect with your kindred spirits in the Power Animal Playshop.

Sasquatch is not merely a legend. They exist in our primordial imagination and in the depths of our coastal rain forests. Learn about the wooly beast and venture on a playful hunt for him on our Tracking Sasquatch Playshop.

GreenmanAdventures.com

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Sooke Scoop Graphic Novel Page | by Serge Foglio | The Case of the Chinese Cemetery


Sooke Scoop Comics Page | Local Graphic Novels | SookeScoop.com for further details

Raincoast.org Will Canada save Southern Resident Killer Whales from extinction?

Lori Waters, Science Outreach Communications, Raincoast Conservation Foundation hatcheries on wild salmon, and salmon aquaculture (fish farms) all result in fewer As residents of the Salish Sea we are fortunate to see and wild Chinook salmon. While other animals (including humans) might be able to listen to killer whales. Hopefully this continues long into the simply choose a different diet, SRKW rely almost solely on Chinook salmon. future, but now, early in the 21st century, a myriad of threats face Canada’s Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW). Their Raincoast is actively collaborating with other groups to create an evidence-based survival is uncertain. Despite their endangered status and action plan that we hope will assure the survival of Southern Resident Killer Whales. declining numbers, public awareness of their plight is low, and Please support this work. If the plight of whales is also of concern to you, please consequently public pressure on the federal government to write your Member of Parliament requesting the federal government fulfill their act on their behalf is not happening. This lack of action comes legal duty under the Species at Risk Act to protect these whales and their habitat. despite two court cases which found the Minister of Fisheries Raincoast recently submitted expert evidence to the National Energy Board (NEB) and Oceans is legally obliged to protect not only these salmondirectly related to the survival and recovery of the Southern Resident Killer Whales. eating whales, but also their critical habitat. Importantly, this To learn more about this and our other work, visit raincoast.org. As a scientific includes ensuring enough Chinook salmon - their favourite evidence-based non-governmental environmental organization, Raincoast is food - is also protected. This has not happened. unique in Canada. Our team of scientists and conservationists conduct and publish Threats facing SRKW are largely man-made, and include: peer-reviewed scientific research, based on our belief that a scientific ecological pollutants such as chemicals like flame-retardants that approach is the fundamental underpinning for sound decision-making that will accumulate in their food; air borne exhaust from vessels; ensure protection and survival of all species. We hope you’ll support our work. and acoustic degradation from whale watching and shipping traffic. Importantly, the interactions between these threats Increased are synergistic. Certain threats - such as climate change -make Industry • Microplastics susceptibility to other threats worse. For example, very small increases in ocean • Contaminants habitat • Oil /chemicals acidity, (indicated by a drop in ocean pH which occurs when degradation the ocean absorbs more carbon dioxide), can result in large Vessels • Exhaust • Diseases changes in ocean acoustics. A more acidic ocean dissolves more “Extinction • Invasive species Vortex” Reduced minerals and organisms, making the water more “transparent” • Noise pollution Synergistic genetic to sound, and therefore making noises sound much louder. The habitat diversity degradation Additional Man-made Factors increased noise makes it much more difficult for killer whales • Habitat damage / loss to communicate, hunt, and feed.

• (Fish farms) • One of the most important stressors facing Southern Resident Decrease Climate Change in population Killer Whales is the lack of abundance of their preferred food: • Higher temperatures Chinook salmon. Chinook are a highly-prized commercial • increased acidity (H CO ) • worsens noise pollution and recreational fish targeted by fishermen from Alaska to California. Fishing pressure, habitat loss, negative effects of Lori Waters, . Science Outreach Communications. May 2015 2

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MFA, MScBMC

Raincoast members help protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of coastal BC! Our team of exceptional, dedicated conservationists and scientists work diligently to deliver our mission to investigate coastal species and processes; inform communities and decision-makers; and inspire protection of our coast. Support from our sustaining members allows us to do our critical scientific and advocacy work.

We need your help to protect this priceless coast. JOIN THE RAINCOAST TEAM NOW! Visit us online to support our work, or to give a gift of any amount: raincoast.org/donate