Issue 7
In This Issue:
December 1st Welcome
Turquoise by Sibyl McLendon
The Hierophant by EagleDancing
Eating Disorders: Group Therapy by Kim Newman
Ding Dong, I Want The Natives Dead
Hidden Treasures by Robert Taylor
Deep Deep Heart by Sherry Ozment
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December 1st Welcome
by Sibyl McLendon
Greetings, and hello to you all! It is December, a month filled with stress and celebration. Aside from the impending holidays,
December is special to me because it is the month of my birth. Even at my ripe old
age, I still enjoy my birthday. It gives me time to reflect on the past year, and plan for the new one. What did I accomplish? What
did I mess up? How can I make myself a better person in the coming year? I always
try to see it as another chance for growth. Plus, I get presents!
And then there is Christmas. Few among us would not agree that it has become a commercial, crass, marketing-oriented nightmare. It
is not even Thanksgiving yet as I write this, yet the stores are filled with Christmas
decorations, the TV is full of Christmas commercials, and all I hear is "Buy this!" and "This is the hot gift of the season!" It can
be very discouraging. Most people experience the greatest stress of the year right now, trying to shop for the "perfect" gifts, get the
cards out, plan for the family get-together, fighting traffic and depression.
Everyone complains about this, few do anything to change it.
Many years ago, my first marriage broke up just before Christmas. I was alone with 2 small children, no job, no money and very
depressed. Clinically depressed. I sought counseling, mostly because of my concern
for my children. I spent hours "on the couch", ranting about how I was overwhelmed with shopping, getting up a tree, sending cards .
. . what about my poor kids, yadda, yadda, yadda. The therapist just calmly asked
what I thought would happen if I did not send out cards, or get a tree up.
Everything that I came up with had to do with other people's expectations of me, and what would people think of me if I did not do
these things. The more that we discussed it, the more ludicrous it seemed to me. Would
the world end? Would I be shunned? Would anyone actually DIE if they did not get a Christmas card from
me?
To make an already long story short, I learned that year that it is the belief in other people's expectations of us that causes the
most stress this time of year. Let go of the belief, and the stress leaves as well.
Most of our friends and family will still love us if they do not get a card, or an expensive present. If they don't, they weren't
much of a friend anyway.
I have always believed that the entire "Santa Claus" thing is a beautiful and spiritual way to approach life all year 'round. How
often in life do we give a gift, whether a tangible one or the gift of ourselves, with no
expectation of a thank you or reciprocation? When we give fully and freely from the heart, with the
recipient not even knowing it was us who gave the gift? This is the true meaning of giving. How
would you change
your approach to things if you knew that the receiver would not even know it was you who did the giving? Giving of ourselves just for
the joy of seeing someone's eyes light up, and a smile warm his or her face. Why not
give it a try this year. I guarantee you, you will feel a warmth in your soul that is hard to beat.
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Turquoise
By Sibyl McLendon
The birthstone for December is Turquoise. My birthday is in December, and coincidentally, turquoise is my favorite stone! Turquoise is
also one of the 4 sacred stones of the Navajo (the other three being jet, coral and
white shell). We are all probably familiar with Navajo turquoise and silver jewelry. Arizona turquoise is probably the best known. There is,
however, many varieties of turquoise that come from around the world. The Chinese have worked with their turquoise for centuries. Chinese turquoise
is quite lovely, usually a pale blue or (my favorite) green.
Turquoise is a very feminine stone. Female energy is, of course, creative, nurturing, loving and psychic. It can also be emotional,
disorganized and flighty. As with any stone, too much can be a bad thing.
Use discretion when you wear or carry your stones. If you are going to a business meeting where you need to be sharp and logical, don't wear
turquoise no matter how good it looks with your outfit! On the other hand, if you are going to be brainstorming and need a creative edge, it
will really help. If you have a reputation of being a little
air-heady, I would avoid turquoise all together. Turquoise can be a great help when you need to sharpen your intuitive
skills. It can be of great assistance when meditating. If you do psychic readings, having a piece around can really help you tune in.
Lots of people believe that "stabilized" turquoise is somehow less than desirable. I have heard people say that it lowers the value. This is
really not true. Turquoise is a very soft stone, and many times, stabilizing it makes it stronger without hurting its energy at all. If
you have a piece of turquoise jewelry, you might notice that it changes color over the years. This is really just an adjustment to your energy;
it bonds your stone to you. When buying a used piece of turquoise jewelry, I would strongly suggest a good cleansing to get rid of the
previous owner's energy. Smudging, holding under running water, or leaving it in the sun for a day or two ought to do it.
A last thought about buying turquoise jewelry: these days, a lot of turquoise and silver jewelry is being made in the Orient and then passed
off as being Native American made. I have even seen jewelry that was made
in the Philippines sold at a pow-wow as Indian made! Make sure that you really know where your piece came from. Every piece of jewelry that is
made in the Orient and passed as Native made hurts a Native Artisan!
To see some photos of turquoise, CLICK HERE I am not recommending any commercial site!
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The Hierophant V
by Eagle Dancing
This card is also known as the Pope to some in the Tarot Deck. In some circles it is considered the head of the Christian Church. He appears in
a lavish red robe. He wears a gold crown and sits on a throne. In his
left hand, he holds a gold scepter and is positioned between two white columns.
Meaning:
When you draw this card it may indicate that you are going to school as a teacher or student. It can represent someone who pays great attention to
detail. Marriage is another possibility. There may be a sense of having
to stick to a strict routine. It can also represent a person that is raised along strict religious lines and is
inflexible.
Reversed:
A need to break away from structure either along religious lines or work lines. A person that is raised in a household that practices one religion
but feels the need to explore other alternatives once out on their own to
find their own truths, showing the need for satisfying curiosities. A person who
rebels against the establishment.
EagleDancing is Bobby McLendon www.eagledancing.com
ealgedancing1@mailcity.com
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Eating Disorders: Group Therapy
by Kim Newman
The Setting.
This form of Therapy plays a very important role in the treatment plan of anyone with an Eating Disorder. It is vital that the surroundings are
appropriate. Warm, tranquil and comfortable. It applies to both inpatients and out patients. The first group therapy session for someone
with an Eating Disorder may well take place in a hospital setting, a room on the ward is usually used, one familiar to the participants. After
discharge from the hospital, patients are required to return to the hospital for group therapy though usually less often.
The group meets 5 times a week, three are for general sessions and 2 relate specifically to feelings. The Therapist sits with the patients in a
circle, in reasonably comfortable and equal chairs. So that no-one is
looking down on anyone else, or up to for that matter. Relative quietness and freedom from intrusion are very important since the free-flow of group
discussion is equivalent in a group to free association in individual
therapy. Patients are required to view there membership of the group as a major commitment, to treat as confidential anything said in the group and
not to talk about the group outside. The membership slowly changes as individuals leave and new patients are admitted and come along to the
group. It is usually found within each group that there is a similarity of background or ways of expressing themselves for communication
to be facilitated and for no-one to feel too much an outsider.
There is a large range of personality types and experiences and a variety of problems in
order to provide an atmosphere where people can interact fruitfully, learn from each other and together respect the human condition in miniature. The idea of a group can be very threatening to patients who have had
social problems or fear that their problems could not possibly be understood or tolerated by others unless it was there job to
do so. It is, therefore, quite important to prepare patients for the group by explaining
what to expect and to discuss their anxieties and possible inclination to leave the group unexpectedly. Sometimes an initial period of
one-one therapy will help the patient to make better use of the group. The social
nature of the setting provides opportunities to examine patients' difficulties in a situation reflecting the family and social networks in
which their problems have developed. Group therapy is the form of treatment of choice for many people whose prime difficulty is relating to
others.
The Patient's Role.
The need for each patient to take responsibility for their problems and
seeking solutions through a fuller understanding of themselves and their relationships exists in all exploratory insight orientated therapy,
including that conducted in groups. Agreement to participate in groups already involves a recognition that solutions cannot be expected from
passive dependence on the therapist or the nurses, who function as the
parent or the magician, but patients with uncertain motivation can find it strengthened by the examples, support and challenge of others. The therapeutic alliance needs to be forged, not only with the therapist
but also with fellow patients, some of whom might initially be feared or disliked, though the sharing of the endeavour on a more equal footing can
speed up the process fostered by the discovery of how much each patient has in common with the others. The greater the participation in the group,
the more the patient will get from it. This involves being increasingly open about themselves and their problems, but also increasingly responsive
to and involved with others. Mere talking about themselves or 'hogging the limelight' is usually counter productive, leading to isolation and
confirmation of a stereotyped view of themselves and others. Some patients who are silent for a while after long periods can still gain quite a lot
from being in the group if they can allow themselves to think and feel in response to what is happening. In contrast to 'one-one' therapy, socially
withdrawn and emotionally cut-off people can test themselves up gradually through involvement which is at first quite vicarious. What ultimately
helps is joining in, creating, responding to and reflecting upon the
experiences unfolding in the group, eventually putting into words feelings which were previously unknown or inexpressible to themselves and others.
Increasingly, each patient is enabled to take a therapeutic role in the
group.
The Therapist or Nurses Role
The therapist is often called the group conductor. Like the conductor of an orchestra he starts and finishes the proceedings and helps to create an
atmosphere in which honest communication can occur with everyone giving their best. By remaining relatively unobtrusive he/she encourages the
group to think, feel and interact amongst themselves. This also allows the therapist to reflect on what is happening, using their own feelings in
association, including memories of previous sessions. They can attend not only to what individuals are saying but how topics and associations link,
and what the processes reveal of common group preoccupations and
conflicts. In the early stages of a new group establishing itself, where individuals have not yet learned to trust or got to know each other, the
group usually adopts a regressive or dependent relationship on the conductor, looking to them for leadership and gratification of infantile
wishes. This is inevitable as patients have to learn to trust the new situation and to discover their roles in it. The therapist may therefore
facilitate, explain and interpret more actively in the early stages but relinquish this role of leadership when the culture of the group has
become established. The therapist must try to adopt a free floating attention. They can then
observe how each patient brings their problems into the group, creating a fresh blend in the here and now of contributions from each persons current
life outside and from their past, including early family relationships.
They must tune in to the atmosphere of the group and might discern in separate contributions of an individual, a common
preoccupation or conflict. The conductors role is to create a therapeutic atmosphere and in
the discovery by the group of such enabling solutions to the inevitable tensions in experiences. Intervention might be called for
when 'blockage' occurs in the process of communication and exploration. It might be that
individuals are allowing themselves to be ignored or issues are being avoided. Patients may still lack confidence and skills to
challenge the conductor or to say something that they imagine would provoke a hostile or
shaming response. At such times the conductor could intervene with a clarifying question or a confronting situation. They might
offer an encouraging comment or even divert attention if someone is too uncomfortably 'on the hook'. The therapists mode of modelling functions
from which a patient can make their own way of infact being therapists
themselves can come into play here too. Patients are enabled to use their own feelings and fantasies within the group. A deeper level of experience
might also be encountered.
Therapeutic Processes.
The group aims to allow individuals to resolve conflicts and attain greater understanding of themselves and others in the interest of fuller
growth and development. The aim is insight and adjustment to relationships
with others. The setting in which these processes occur provides a context which has important consequences. Because there are several people taking
part in the group, individual interaction can be more varied and complex at both conscious and unconscious levels than in individual therapy. Most
experiences are drawn on from life situations, past and present and a wider range of responses and attitudes is available. Patients often find themselves having a mirror reaction in the group;
finding something in common with another member and therefore being able to make contact with an important part of themselves. Neurotic conflicts
can be seen as originating in relationships between the individual and his original family group. The group becomes a place where the individual can
express feelings and communications that were previously private. Symptoms and inhibitions are translated into shared communications, patients become
understandable and the outdated fears can then be tested against the new reality of the therapy group and be gradually relinquished. There is more
input than in individual therapy as communication reverberates and feelings are displayed. Differences in earlier group meetings can be seen
in individuals. From a common pool of feelings and themes they pick out what is most meaningful to them at the time. Group therapy is rooted in the experiences fed into it and those emerging
from it. These build up into a unique culture with it's own history and memory as members can relate even more deeply and intimately. This is
termed the group 'matrix'. Each person has unique experiences but they can also spring off from others life events. As the patient immerses
themselves in the group matrix each individual can question their own preconceptions,
boundaries and identity. They can regain aspects of
themselves that they have disowned and rejected and re-emerge with fresh insights
and ways of relating.
There are curative factors specific to groups: Universally refers to the discovery of shared preoccupation
spheres and conflicts so that what had previously isolated individuals is found to
unite them. Altruism is caring and helping others in need. This follows as patients
emerge from isolation and painful preoccupations with
themselves alone. Opportunities arise for individuals to develop their strengths and
weaknesses.
Corrective recapitulation of the family group, this implies that what went wrong in the early family group can be repeated and recognized, less
maladaptive ways of coping can be found. Sometimes the group provides
something missing from the family setting, such as acceptance and encouragement, or the right to differ and express hostility. Imitative Behaviour, refers to the ways in which other group members,
including the conductor, provide different models of behaviour and relating that can be followed in choosing alternatives to old restrictive
and neurotic ways. Interpersonal learning, indicates the experience the social
setting provides for increasing interpersonal skills by discovering new ways of
being oneself with others in an environment which is much nearer to everyday life than in individual psychotherapy. Problems can be observed
and worked out within the group. Cohesiveness, is the sense of solidarity that binds the group together and
makes it attractive to it's members. The sense of belonging enables members to work through difficulties together and is thus part of the
therapeutic or working alliance. I have found in my experiences that patients very often keep in touch with
each other after discharge from hospital. They see their group members as a 'family bonded together by a common denominator', an Eating Disorder.
Support is sought and offered outside of the group setting. In effect each individual has learned themselves how to function in society in both
critical and supportive roles. Gradually they have learned how to gain support from a physical hug to a few words on the telephone. This can be
invaluable in life situations. In effect, the patient becomes the therapist.....
Kim Newman.
(Clinical Nurse Specialist Eating Disorders.)
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Ding Dong, I Want The Natives Dead
reprinted by permission of Terri Jean, The Native Truth
The Native Truth
A column dedicated to historical truth and human rights activism of the American Indian
Editor/Historical Activist: Terri Jean
Contact: the_native_truth@mail.com
There really is no place like home and in 1900 Frank L. Baum proved that by bringing a homesick teenager and her dog, Toto, back to their Kansas family farm. Undoubtedly, Baum is considered one of the most beloved authors of our
time. His classical story of Dorothy's journey - along with munchkins, good
witches, flying monkeys and adventures upon a yellow brick road - have made The Wonderful Wizard of Oz fourteen-book series an American favorite.
But what you probably don't know is that from January 1890 to the spring of 1891, nine years before his first publication, Baum was and editor of a
Aberdeen, South Dakota newspaper during the time of the General Custer and Sitting Bull conflicts, and of the Wounded Knee massacre. During his stint at the newspaper, Baum wrote two editorials pertaining to
the extermination of the entire Sioux nation. He called for a complete
genocide of a tribal community. Many historians have said that it was those two editorials that fueled the publics' negative opinion of the
Sioux nation, and Native American Indians in general, and caused rampant
hysteria amongst the whites. His words contributed to the climate before and after the massacre of Wounded Knee of December 29, 1890.
Below is a segment of his editorial:
"The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last in the bosom of Sitting Bull. With his fall the nobility of the Redskin is extinguished and what few are left are a pack of whining curs who lick the hand that smites them. The
Whites, by law of conquest, by justice of civilization, are masters of the American continent, and the best safety of the frontier settlements will be secured by the total annihilation of the few
remaining Indians. Why not annihilation? Their glory has fled, their spirit broken, their manhood effaced; better that they die than live
the miserable wretches that they are. History would forget these latter despicable beings, and speak, in later ages of the glory of
these grand Kings of forest and plain that Cooper loved to heroism. We cannot honestly regret their extermination, but we at least do justice to the manly characteristics possessed, according to
their lights and education, by the early Redskins of America."
.. Frank L. Baum
Just over a week later, the Sioux were massacred at Wounded Knee. Baum penned another editorial after the bloody act stating, "we had better, in
order to protect our civilization, follow up… and wipe these untamed and untamable creatures from the face of the earth."
The possibility of the man who authored the famously
inspiring narrative of life over the rainbow had also inflamed a racist public, calling for
the annihilation of an entire race, is hard to fathom; but it is true. His
words contradict the other, each painting an entirely different portrait.
On one hand, Mr. Baum speaks of love, courage and fighting for what you believe in. On the other hand he writes of hatred, genocide and conquest.
Unfortunately, it is the legacy of a fairytale writer, not
the vulgar words of a blatantly racist editorialist who called for the death of an
entire nation, which lingers in the heart of the American people. But Mr.Baum's revolting editorial's will never be forgotten by the Native people,
especially for the long-suffering Sioux who were the specific target of his recommended genocide.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From the movie:
Dorothy:
It's bad enough picking on a straw man, but when you go around picking onpoor little dogs.
Lion:
Well, you didn't have to go and hit me, did you? Is my nose bleedin'?
Dorothy:
Well, of course not. My goodness, what a fuss you're making! Well, naturally when you go around picking on things weaker than you are - why,
you're nothing but a great big coward!
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Are You Overlooking Hidden Treasures?
by Robert Taylor
Many of us disregard articles which we deem to be poorly written. We read a few sentences and find the grammar,
spelling or word usage to be less than professional (in our opinion) and automatically delete the article. How many
treasures do we lose by doing this?
We all know the Internet encompasses the entire world and there are people of many nationalities operating on the
Internet. There are few who are as fluent in a foreign language as they are in their own native language. I, for
one, would be at a great disadvantage trying to write an article in any language other than
my own.
There are people in all countries who have developed Internet services and programs which rank with the very
best. Are we to forfeit these because their use of our language does not meet our standards?
In following this line of thought, you and I know or are aware of people who have little formal education that
have literally created empires based on their knowledge. Would we disregard what they have to offer us because they
use poor grammar or are unable to correctly spell certain words?
I have no quarrel with those who state articles should be properly written using good grammar and spelling. We
should all write using the very best of our abilities.
I disagree with those who refuse to read an article which they deem to be poorly written. Many poorly written
articles contain gems of wisdom and tips and techniques with the capability of setting your Internet business on
a rapid road to success. How many of these have you missed because you deleted the article without further
consideration?
There is also much to be learned from poorly written ads. Some with a misspelled word or two have
contained really great ideas for getting and holding your attention or making you want to take action on the ad. Taking this and
adding your own twist to it could give you a winning ad you otherwise would not have had.
The point I have been trying to make is that it could be a serious mistake to disregard an article or ad because you
think it poorly written. It may take a little more time to read a poorly written article or ad than one which is
well written, but you never know what you may have missed by not taking the time to read it.
Those who know they have poor writing skills and still have the courage to write articles and ads have my sincerest
admiration. They are not afraid of trying and they will eventually succeed.
Some have been blessed with the gift of effortless writing. This is best used in our own efforts and not in criticizing
and degrading the writing and spelling of others who are less fortunate. I know of nobody who likes to be told they
misspelled a word or that their grammar is atrocious.
In summary, can you truly judge a person's professionalism or the value of the offer by the quality of that person's
writing abilities? I leave this question for you to answer.
Robert Taylor
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Deep Deep Heart
by Sherry Ozment
A feathered nest to heal the wounds
of a thousand souls consumed with doom
A place for each in the catacombs
deep deep heart
A warming fire to kill the chill
and melt cold wax that holds us still
To free the spirit to move at will
deep deep heart
A mothers breast that gives sweet milk
and quells the hunger intensely felt
A place to hide from the fears outside
deep deep heart
But when the heart is broken
and sweet comfort dissipates
It leaves the world wide open
and our safety is at stake
So please begin to weave a womb
to give our deep deep heart a room
Otherwise, where will we go?
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