All posts by Barbara Ocskai

Thoughts About This and That

May Day

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So Every Day

So every day                                                                                                                            I was surrounded by the beautiful crying forth of the ideas of God,

one of which was you.

Mary Oliver

 

This morning the lake looked like an antique window pane.  Violet-green Swallow touch the surface causing gentle concentric circles to interrupt, albeit briefly, the stillness of the glass.  Their voices sound like happiness on the wing.  I imagine if the swallows had ribbons they would weave the most beautiful May Day basket around a May Pole – the multi-colored streamers would wave in the breeze.

And joy would cry forth.

Thoughts About This and That

The Gift of Purpose

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Brent Burbridge said in his essay the Natural Buddha for ascent magazine, Fall 2002 , “In all things, I try to work from within for my own satisfaction, and the satisfaction of the Divine who has placed me here in this place at this time among these people.  To live according to this spirit is a gift both to God and one’s self.”

Burbridge was writing about his personal journey after his discovery of Thomas Merton.  His words struck a chord with me as I have been contemplating my own journey within along with my work as a gift from the Divine.   I believe my purpose in this lifetime is to know myself.  I have been given the gift of sacred work. Through this work I can know myself.

Every plant, animal and mineral has an energetic power and wisdom to impart.  As I work with these creatures and sentient beings I keep my heart and mind open to listen to their voice.  I seek them out as I ponder and process, I tap into them while I work and reflect to understand not only their knowledge but to understand mine.   How do I want  to know myself?  What is my wisdom?  What is the imprint I am making in the world of the living and on the earth?

I am in part my ancestral lineage and  I am a reflection of the Divine – stardust and clay.   I am the growth rings of the Douglas fir.  I am the little fish that leaps from the waters for the May fly.   I am the gray squirrel who dares to come into the house, knowing where the stash of peanuts is.  I can discover my own hidden bounties as I endeavor to know the  Divine within.  I believe we all have this capacity.  Do we dare?  Will we leap?

“Our idea of God tells us more about ourselves than it does of Him.” Thomas Merton

Join me, know yourself as Divine.  There is a plethora of medicine to support you here at Soul Proprietor, the sacred container is set, there is beautiful work to be done.  I have been asked to be here at this time, in this place, among these people – there is beautiful work to be done.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin

Thoughts About This and That

One Million Reasons to be Grateful

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Everyday if we only acknowledge the multitude of reasons, surely we could get to million quite easily.  Each breath we take, every beat of our heart, all that our eyes take in and our brain to process the view… on and on… there is so much.

And today my youngest sister and her family remain safe as a tornado ravages neighborhoods mere miles from her home in Alabama.

A million and one…                                              Pilamaya Pilamaya

Putting up prayers for those who have suffered losses.

 

 

Creating for Creating's Sake

Tuesday Evening Creation Circle

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As far back as the 4th century B.C., the connection between “divine” inspiration and altered mental state had already been made, prompting Plato to expound in the dialogue the Phaedrus: “Madness, provided it comes as the gift of heaven, is the channel by which we receive the greatest blessings… Madness comes from God, whereas sober sense is merely human.”

Tuesday evenings 6pm – 9 pm, May 6th, 13th, 20nd, & 27th, let’s get together in the Echo Lake studio space to sew… well, to sew whatever you’d like.  My friend Susan calls this sort of gathering a “stitch and bitch”, I hope not.  Yet it is my intention that we can share what’s in our hearts & minds.  Have fun, be social and create!

Bring whatever you are currently working on.  Bring whatever you’ve been meaning to work on.  Bring your ideas & choose from the many materials available in the studio.  Come empty handed & empty headed, be inspired.  CREATE!

Do you need new leather pouches for your herbs, Tarot cards or Ruins?  Maybe a Possible Bag to carry all your possibilities here and there?  A drum bag perhaps?  Any sort of leather crafting can be done in a single session or over the course of several.

Or is it a rattle that is needed at this time?  At your leisure craft any sort of rattle in as many sessions as you’d like.  Choose from rawhide, turtle shells, gourds or deer toes.

What about feather cases?  You know they need protection too!

The possibilities are endless.

Pilamaya Pilamaya

Moccasins

Soles for the Soul

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Moccasin Crafting Workshop  ~  May 17-18, 2014

The Buffalo is ancient.   It’s lineage, of the bovine family bisonids diverged from the common ancestral line with water buffalo and African buffalo about 5 to 10 million years ago.  The North American Bison genus is clearly in the fossil record by 2 million years ago.  It has served the indigenous peoples of North American ever since the modern American bison—some 5,000 to 10,000 years ago. 

Buffalo is guardian medicine.  Shelter and sustenance, protector.  Buffalo teaches us to trust all our needs will be meet and to be grateful, to have faith in the abundances we already have.  Buffalo teaches us to be at peace and allow for the spiritual to support us.  White Buffalo Calf Woman brought to the People the sacred pipe, teaching the People to pray.  Again teaching a trust in promise that our prayers are being heard and our need will be met.

“The medicine of Buffalo is prayer, gratitude and praise for that which has been received.  Buffalo medicine is also knowing that abundance is present when all relations are honored as sacred and when gratitude is expressed to every living part of creation.”  (Excerpt from Medicine Cards by Sams and Carson)

I sleep under a Buffalo robe.  I journey with her medicine.  She is part of most ceremony and ritual in my work.  She holds much for me and for others with a willingness that is nearly unparalleled in my experience.  Whatever is needed is provided for.

It is my preference to use buffalo hide for the moccasin I sew.  The powerful medicine can be felt when the shoes surround your feet.   I currently offer two different styles of moccasin and one style of knee high boots.  Each pair is custom fit and hand stitched.  I am offering a two day workshop for you to sew your own buffalo hide moccasin.

Saturday & Sunday  ~  May 17-18, 2014  ~  9am – 7pm each day      Workshop fee is $250  for shoes and $425 for boots                                    Please inquire regarding the additional foot measurements and pre-fitted patterns needed for a proper fit.

If a two day workshop doesn’t fit in your schedule, let me sew your moccasin for you.  Again, every pair is custom fit and hand stitched to fit your feet like no other shoe.  These moccasin are sumptuous and comfortable, you won’t want to wear anything else.  Being the shoe-aholic that I am, I have several pair.  My favorite are so comfortably well worn, I am almost (but not quite) embarrassed, I wear them nearly every day – PNW rain or shine!

Buffalo teaches us how to remain grounded, how to work with the natural rhythms and all things happen in right time with right action.

I also sew with Elk hide.  Deer hide works well too for the tops of the shoes with a Buffalo hide for a sturdy sole.

 Aho Mitakuye Oyasin

Moccasins, Thoughts About This and That

Today’s Bird List

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…purple finch, osprey, pied-bill grebe, Canada goose, Cooper’s hawk, Steller’s jay, American crow, red-winged blackbird, robin, evening grosbeak,  chestnut-sided chickadee, black-capped chickadee, song sparrow, gold-crown sparrow, towhee, red-breasted nuthatch, mallard, yellow-rumped warbler, starling, Anna’s hummingbird, Rufus hummingbird, junco, band-tailed pigeon, northern flicker, raven and great blue heron….

It’s always a good day on Echo Lake.

Baby moccasin were sewn in the studio today.  These sweet little shoes are sewn in a Plains Indian styling.  They make wonderful gifts for expectant parents and new babies at just $35.  They can be sewn in any color, I use the softest deer hide or split suede.  The shoes shown here are split suede deer hide with blue glass bead work.  The shoes can be beaded as shown, fringed or left humble.

Children sizing also available.

Aho Mitakuye Oyasin

 

Thoughts About This and That

Easter Sunday

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Many fish are jumping on a glassy Echo Lake, the lake having been stocked by Washington Fish and Wildlife just a few days ago.  Most of the day, a pair of Osprey have circled on the wing.  They will tuck their long slender powerful wings, into a dive they go either pulling up at the last moment or splashing feet first into the water.  The splash is huge!  The Osprey comes up without a fish more often than it makes a catch.  Whether with or without, the Osprey will always give a shake once a few feet off the surface of the lake to shed the water from it’s feathers.   For some reason I never tire of seeing this quick motion.  As the Osprey casts off the lake water, it delights me, I watch eagerly for that moment.  Odd perhaps yet true.   Song birds fill the air with their sweetest mating and contact calls. Yesterday I sat with a lovely circle of nine women to guide them in the crafting of their personal medicine bags.  They were so respectful of themselves, each other and sacredness of their work.  Today I have chosen to be still enjoying the quiet of this Easter Sunday when families are gathering, cheerful voices along with the birdsong.  No one is mowing their lawn – thankfully.  The thin clouds are giving way to blue sky.  The sun is illuminating the late afternoon, it’s own resurrection, a rebirth from behind the grey clouds. It’s always a good day on Echo Lake.

Wing Medicine

Wing Medicine Workshop

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Join in for a celebration of Mother and all things divinely feminine.  Wing Medicine Workshop – May 11, 2014 – noon to 6pm                    Workshop fee $75 – all materials included

Please RSVP your intention to join so I may prepare for you.

Ted Andrews writes in his book Animal Speak, ” The turkey is sometimes called the earth eagle.  It has a long history of association with spirituality and honoring of Mother Earth.  It is a symbol of all the blessings that the Earth contains, along with the ability to use them.”  Is it time to transcend the mundane and put your energy to good use for the greater good?  What is needed at this time in your immediate world, that of your family or community?

The Wild Turkey is a very intelligent and complex bird native to North America.  The Wild Turkey has acute senses and a highly developed social system often found in flocks of up to 60 individuals.  They are known to work cooperatively both in their foraging needs and with rearing their young.  Not only are they big and beautiful but the females are excellent mothers taking up to two years to fully raise a brood.  There is so much a young turkey must learn.  Is it time to mother yourself in a really good way?  What would feed you?  Are your physical needs being met?  How about your spiritual needs?  What could you do for yourself to bless yourself up in a good way?

Crafting a feather fan for energetic clearing with the wing or tail of the Wild Turkey creates the opportunity for receiving gifts – material, spiritual or intellectual.  I believe now is the time to use all the gifts available to us to their fullest potential.  By doing so, we give back to the Divine in a truly wonderful way.

 Aho Mitakuye Oyasin