Editorial
Volume 14 Issue 4 — November/December 2008
by Melva Armstrong

As the crisp, cool autumn days speed by, we are now moving away from the light and into the darkness. This is a time to go inward and reflect on all the gifts and bounty we have been given over the spring and summer seasons. It is an opportunity to slow down, relax, and feel the softness of this gentle time of year. We move towards the December holidays of giving and receiving, when we reunite with our family and friends and show our gratitude, once again, for all the blessings we have in our lives. It is after this time that the light starts returning and we move onward in the earth’s cycle to the beginning of another new year.

Autumn is my favourite season. I love hearing the crunching of leaves under my shoes as I walk each day in the park. The wind blows cool on my cheeks, refreshing and invigourating my spirit. With the leaves having left the trees and most of the birds having flown south, it opens up new views through the branches and brings stillness and quiet to the air. The other day I saw a tiny little squirrel scurrying through the leaves in the bushes, and wondered if it felt alone now that almost everything else had gone, or maybe it was enjoying more freedom to roam. Whatever the case, I was happy to have some company along the path. The changes of mother earth constantly bring us in and out of ourselves as we resonate with her glory and beauty. May we all rest and flow in her sweet movements, honouring her and walking softly upon her. May we also honour each living thing in a gentle way.

Along with the idea of treading lightly on the earth, comes Swiss adventurer and positive-thinker Louis Palmer with his unique “solar taxi” that he created to demonstrate to the world how many sophisticated solutions to lower the greenhouse gases already exist. Environmentalist Guy Dauncey writes about Palmer in our feature article, Solar Cars Will Save the World (p. 24), and in it he explains the conversions we will need for measuring solar power as opposed to gasoline power per kilometre. I think we may all need to keep these conversions on hand for future reference as our world shifts gears in more ways than one. Being a travel lover, I found www.solartaxi.com an exciting, fascinating, and colourful website showing numerous images of the solar car and all the places in the world he has travelled with it. Seeing the excitement on his and all the faces around him was stimulating, uplifting, and has given me great hope for the future.

Each issue I am always impressed by the fine quality of articles that are submitted and how the individuals writing them are truly dedicated to the well-being of everyone. We are blessed in this province to have so many talented, well-trained, and highly-motivated people who are helping others, as well as themselves, live healthier, happier lives.

Inside you will find an Update on Soy (p. 12) by Paulette Millis who explains the pros and cons of this now highly-used product. Sylvia Herbach discusses a brand new, locally-designed water purification system in her article, Water - It is Our Life’s Blood (p. 14). In Bonnie McClean’s A Healing Journey (p. 18) she shares her personal experiences of moving from suffering to healing to becoming a healer. In Treatments for Rejuvenating the Skin and Counteracting the Aging Process (p. 20), Brenda Wilkins explains how she discovered ways to help herself, and now others, deal with the inevitable physical process of growing older. Monté Gagné enlightens us about her healing work in the Peruvian Shamanic Energy Medicine on the Prairies (p. 22) article, while long-time natural healer Rositha Jeanson writes about one of her many practices in Aura-Soma: Colour Therapy for the Soul (p. 36). For those who are nature lovers we have an interview with Saskatchewan’s Candace Savage about her latest book, Bees: Nature’s Little Wonders (p. 38), and our regular contributing writer Carol Marriott provides another view of the Horse As Healer (p. 42), when she describes how these gentle giants can help heal young people, in particular, who are dealing with substance abuse. Chris Prentiss’s article (p. 16) and Jim Butler’s profile (p. 35) are both pointing out ways to achieve the life you really want, and Jan Kindred says in Integrated Energy Therapies® (p. 40), “This is a powerful hands-on energy healing system that gets the ‘issues out of your tissues’ for good!”

I wish you all peace, love, joy, and harmony in every moment of every day!

Namaste
(The Spirit in me honours the Spirit in you)