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SPIRIT CARD
OF THE WEEK
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Mensaje (Message)
by Camilo Villanueva
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THE NEW ALTWIRE
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Welcome to OmPlace's Altwire newsletter. Our aim is to present informative articles relating to conscious living, holistic health, environmental issues, spirituality and more. Please direct your submissions and suggestions to: susan@omplace.com
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FEATURED WEBSITES
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HealerPages.info - A Healing Arts Directory For The Body, Mind, Spirit and Planet. ArtistsPages.info - A Directory of Visual Artists, Crafts, Musicians, Performers, Services and more.
Basic Webhosting Special - ByRegion will host your website for only $9.95 per month. This offer is good through July 1, 2002 - sign up for as many months as you like. For more information, email us.
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RECIPE OF THE WEEK
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Recipe of the Week: Asian Broccoli with Peanut Noodles From CulinaryCafe.com
Make a sauce of peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, water, and lemon juice with scallions, garlic, ginger, and additional seasonings (hot sauce, sesame oil). Then boil up some noodles, steam some broccoli, pan-fry some tofu and mix it all up.
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HERB OF THE WEEK
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Viola Herb from PlanetHerbs.com
Closely related to the Western violet, Viola Herb (Zi Hua Di Ding, Herba Violae) is a common herb easily grown in most gardens. In fact the leaves when steamed make a delicious pot herb and at least a good alternate to spinach. In the West only the leaves are used but in China, the entire herb including the root is used. As stated, it is synergistic and combines well with dandelion. Both are detoxifying and two of the more important anti-cancer herbs. Violets have in fact a long history of use in the West for cancer dating before the time of Culpepper (16th century). They were recommended by the mystic Hildegard of Bingen for cancer. They are in the category of herbs that detoxify, soften and dissolve hard nodules.
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QUOTES OF
THE WEEK
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"The important thing is not to think much, but to love much; and so, do
that which best stirs you to love."
- Saint Teresa of Avila
"Whatever you believe you can do, or dream you can, begin it.
Boldness has genius, power and magic to it."
- Goethe
"You better live your best and act your best and think your best today, for today is the sure preparation for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that follow."
- Harriet Martineau
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THOUGHTS & EXPRESSION
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I Am Me poetry by Stephen Benn
Poet Stephen Benn offers "I Am Me" - "Look inside / dig down deep, / that one is you / a friend to keep."
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FYI
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Above a Star
Music and Community Resources is a Pagan / Earth Spirituality entertainment and information site, including several top mp3 streaming music stations, musicians lists and resources, plus many community pages, links and more.
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OmPLACE FORUM
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Enjoy discussions regarding
conscious living, health, the
environment and more. Enter the forum by clicking here.
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MOVIE REVIEW
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Rabbit-Proof Fence by Fiona A. Villella / Senses of Cinema
Rabbit-Proof Fence is based on the true story of three Aboriginal girls who in 1931 were separated from their mothers in Jigalong, Western Australia, sent to the Moore River settlement 2000 kilometres away to be trained as domestic servants, and then escaped, fleeing across harsh, desert landscape with the rabbit-proof fence as their only guide, to return home.
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ALTERNATIVE NEWS |
Peru Swaps Debt for Tropical Rainforest Protection from the Environment News Service
Peru's rare pink river dolphins, jaguars, scarlet macaws, walking palms and giant water lilies will be better protected after an agreement signed today (Wednesday, June 26 2002) in Washington under which the United States cancelled $14 million in Peruvian debt payments. For the first time, conservation groups joined the U.S. government in financing a debt-for-nature swap.
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ENTERTAINMENT |
 Return Of Riot Grrrl Rock: The Sleater-Kinney Interview by Michael Goldberg / Noise Addict
This post-punk, post-riot grrrl trio from the Northwest has delivered another album, All Hands on the Bad One, and it's the kind of audio communique we haven't gotten in quite a while. (Think The Clash. Think Nevermind, think Zen Arcade.) "All Hands on the Bad One" is an all-points bulletin, a rock state-of-the-union address. This is the age of Limp Bizkit and Kid Rock, of adolescent, testosterone-driven sexism. This is the age of the co-optation of what is real by corporate America. So they wrote and recorded an album that deals with all of that. They know how to summon up the raw, rebel spirit of rock and get it into their recordings, but they're also sophisticated poets. "All Hands on the Bad One" is a rockin' album, but it is also beautiful poetry. Even as they take on evil in song after song, they do it in a way that is artful, elegant and transcendent.
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SPIRITUALITY
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 Shamanic Drumming Circles - A Primer by Michael Drake / Author of The Shamanic Drum:
A Guide to Sacred Drumming
Shamanic drumming is a time-honored method of healing
and helping others. Shamanic drumming circles provide
the opportunity for people of like mind to unite for
the attainment of a shared objective. There is power
in drumming alone, but that power recombines and
multiplies on many simultaneous levels in a group of
drummers. The drums draw individual energies together,
unifying them into a consolidated force. Synchronized
drumming is the most effective, so individuals should
alternate the responsibility of setting the tempo and
leading the group. This article includes basic steps.
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HOLISTIC HEALTH |
Carbohydrate Chemical Considered Cancer Risk from the BBC
International experts have called for urgent research to examine whether foods like bread, chips and crisps cause cancer. The scientists were speaking at the end of a three-day emergency summit organised by the United Nations and World Health Organisation to examine claims that some food items include cancer-causing substances. It followed a study in Sweden which found high quantities of acrylamide in a wide variety of food. That finding was backed up by similar research in the UK and Norway. Acrylamide is known to cause cancer in animals and there are concerns that it could have the same effect in humans. Researchers from Stockholm University and Sweden's National Food Administration found acrylamide was formed when carbohydrate-rich foods such as potatoes, rice or cereals were heated. The study said that an ordinary bag of crisps may contain up to 500 times more of the substance than the top level allowed in drinking water by the WHO.
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CONSCIOUS TRAVEL |
Not Your Average Ecotourists - Birdwatching in Brazil by Scott Weidensaul / Outside Magazine
We were walking along a narrow, packed-dirt road in the hinterlands of Mato Grosso, in western Brazil, less than a hundred miles from the Bolivian border. The three of us were at the start of an expedition that would, over the course of several weeks, carry us across more than a thousand miles of bad road, forest, highland savanna, degraded farming land, and lush river valleys, searching for an enigmatic bird that had been seen only once, more than 60 years ago, in a place no one today can pinpoint. No one has reported a cone-billed tanager since 1938, and after more than 60 years, it is considered extinct, perhaps pushed over the edge by massive habitat destruction in large areas of Mato Grosso. But Brazil is a huge country, and Mato Grosso itself is vast—at 352,400 square miles, the region is almost a third larger than the state of Texas. Immense areas of it have rarely if ever been visited by ornithologists, and a six-inch bird would be easy to overlook.
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VEGETARIAN FOOD
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Green Beans Good Fiber, Diuretic from MollieKatzen.com
Green Beans, also known as string beans or snap beans, are a native American vegetable, originating in Central and South America. They were later introduced to Europe, brought back there by 16th century explorers, Unlike many other beans, green beans are cultivated for their fleshy pods, which are harvested early, before the beans inside have a chance to develop. There are many types of green beans, including many "new/old" heirloom varieties, and they come in a range of sizes and beautiful colors, the most familiar of these being yellow wax beans, and perhaps the most exotic being purple snap beans. Green beans are a good diuretic, and contain healthy fiber. They are also a good source of antioxidants and potassium.
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YOGA |
Yoga: A Study of Consciousness by Alan Goode / Iyengar Yoga Resources
Consider for a moment the question of exercise. What is exercise and why is it that Hatha yoga is not classed as exercise and why do yoga teachers seem offended at the mere association? Exercise is described in the dictionary as the use and exertion of muscles and joints to achieve health. While Hatha yoga exercises the body this is generally seen as a by-product and not as an aim in itself - almost a distraction to the task at hand. The period of classical yoga (Patanjali's period) considers emphasis on bodily postures as an insignificant precursor to the serious work - the definition being: "Yoga is the stilling of the fluctuations of consciousness". Yoga is seen as the study of the workings of the mind. The way the mind interacts with the senses, the breath and lays down emotional imprints. It is a study of consciousness, the way we are and how our mind works - in fact the way we interact with ourselves and with others.
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TAROT |
 The Lovers - Looking at Relationships
by Mary Comerford / MagicalGrove.com
The Lovers tells us to look with clear eyes at the choices we are making in our lives about the relationships in which we are participating. Is interaction with this person truly wanted -- our choice -- or is it a compromise? Why are we in this relationship? How deep or strong is it? Do we even enjoy this relationship? Is it fulfilling? Is there adequate give and take? All these questions are relevant because this card appearing in a layout shows that the relationships are being re-evaluated.
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MASSAGE |
Hawaiian Huna Massage
(Kahuna Bodywork) - The Wisdom of Paradise in Motion by Rosalie Samet
/ Positive Health Magazine
According to Huna wisdom the human being is composed of four bodies, three minds, Mana life force energy and five elements. The four bodies are the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. The three minds, or selves, are the unconscious Bodymind, the conscious mind of intelligence, will and ego and the higher mind of self-knowing. The animating principle of vitality and life force energy is called Mana and each of the three minds has its own frequency, or Mana vibration, for specific activities. These work together synergistically throughout the entire Mind Body Spirit to generate, store, distribute and transmute energy for growth and healing. Intense energy is generated when Mana is united with the conscious intent of love and transformation, breathing techniques and other disciplines. Increasing amounts of Mana empower the individual to deal effectively with life challenges and thereby initiate profound self-healing and lasting change.
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READING ROOM |
The Spirituality of Sex by Burl B. Hall / Bliss Magazine
Sexuality is a meditative process and leads to an understanding of the Godhead. There does not have to be a divorce of your sexuality and your spirituality. This does not mean you cannot be celibate. Indeed, the celibate can be some of the most sensual and passionate. Theirs is the path of yearning for the Beloved. In my opinion, it is in this yearning that our spirituality can flourish. I am a lover of Sophia, and it is for Her body that I most yearn. When I feel myself united as one with the Divine Wisdom, I feel whole.
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HOLISTIC ANIMAL CARE |
Cats and Catnip from www.animalhealthcare.ca - The Official Site of the Veterinary Profession in Canada
Despite its widespread use, very little is known about catnip and how it works. Besides household cats, catnip also affects lions, bobcats, lynx, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and ocelots. It is interesting to note that even though the response to catnip is widespread among felines, it does not occur in any other species of animal with the possible exception of man. Whether or not a cat will respond to catnip has been shown to be an inherited predisposition. Furthermore, not all cats respond strongly to catnip and kittens under two months of age usually do not respond to catnip at all (although there are exceptions).
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ASTROLOGY & DIVINATION |
 Unaspected Planets and Their Effects by Karen Hamaker-Zondag / Inner Self Magazine
Aspects form a vital component of the interpretation of the natal chart. They link the planets that are the active and dynamic factors of the horoscope. It does, however, happen that one or more planets do not receive or make any major aspects. They stand apart, and are therefore unintegrated. They have no direct influence on other planets (or psychic dynamics), and are themselves also not influenced, so they can exhibit extremes in their effects. If we have an unaspected planet in the horoscope, it is very likely that we aren't really very aware of all the things we do with it and how strongly we bring this planet to expression in daily life. An unaspected planet manifests itself unmistakably, though!
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ENVIRONMENT |
Rising Temperatures Could Ravage Alaska by Timothy Egan / New York Times (via Common Dreams News Center)
In Alaska, rising temperatures, whether caused by greenhouse gas emissions or nature in a prolonged mood swing, are not a topic of debate or an abstraction. Mean temperatures have risen by 5 degrees in summer and 10 degrees in winter since the 1970s, federal officials say. While President Bush was dismissive of a report the government recently released on how global warming will affect the nation, the leading Republican in this state, Senator Ted Stevens, says that no place is experiencing more startling change from rising temperatures than Alaska. Among the consequences, Senator Stevens says, are sagging roads, crumbling villages, dead forests, catastrophic fires and possible disruption of marine wildlife.
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SOCIAL ISSUES |
Toxic Burden - Agent Orange Continues to Contaminate by George Sanchez
/ Mother Jones Magazine
During a four-day conference in Hanoi this March, a group of Canadian and Vietnamese consulting firms unveiled research data showing how deadly chemical byproducts of the powerful defoliant Agent Orange continue to contaminate the soil, food and water in an isolated Vietnamese valley. The researchers further found that areas where large amounts of Agent Orange were spilled - particularly US special forces bases and dump sites - act as poisonous chemical 'reservoirs,' posing a long-term threat as the contaminants gradually seep into the surrounding lands. US officials continue to question the evidence linking Agent Orange usage to the dioxin contamination and to the myriad medical woes haunting the Vietnamese people - both those exposed to the defoliant during the war and those born since the conflict's end. Long-term exposure to dioxin, a byproduct of one of the defoliant's chemical ingredients, has been linked to cancer, birth defects, and degenerative diseases, such as spina bifida.
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