life in the upper atmosphere

Earth’s upper atmosphere—below freezing, nearly without oxygen, flooded by UV radiation—is no place to live. But last winter, scientists from the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that billions of bacteria actually thrive up there. Expecting only a smattering of microorganisms, the researchers flew six miles above Earth’s surface in a NASA jet plane. There, they pumped outside air through a filter to collect particles. Back on the ground, they tallied the organisms, and the count was staggering: 20 percent of what they had assumed to be just dust or other particles was alive. Earth, it seems, is surrounded by a bubble of bacteria.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-06/bacteria-33000-feet

cleanse and rejuvenate with a delicious difference

We are in the middle of an amazingly easy and pleasurable 14 day cleanse. Basically it's sticking to blended raw foods such as delicious vegetable and seaweed soups, chocolate smoothies, blended desserts, rich lemonades and in my case kefir. Then several times a day it's taking oxymag and citrus to get the digestion moving and also cider vinegar to break up any stones in the liver and gallbladder.

Liver and gallbladder stones accumulate over time with all of us and eliminating them allows the liver and gallbladder to function more effectively, making it easier to digest fats. Afterwards people generally feel wonderful.  In fact people have even avoided gallbladder surgery by cleansing in this way.

Yesterday evening we drank olive oil and orange juice to flush the liver. The gallbladder is stimulated to put out a lot of bile and so any stones or any other unwanted materials or toxins can be eliminated.   The next day its a good idea to have an enema of colonic to flush this material out of the colon.

This is a very gentle cleanse and we were able to carry on as usual except for a slightly but very mild queasyish feeling when lying down at the end of yesterday evening after the oil. The wonderful thing about doing all the blended foods is that you are wonderfully nourished through the whole process so you don't need to be hungry.  It's as much a rejuvenation as a cleanse in my experience.

Now for recipes!

Live probiotic liver cleansing raw soup:



In this recipe I personally leave the beetroot out or replace with raw sweet potato because it is an oestrogen mimicker which is not generally a problem in this case but can cause overheating for some women including me.

Seaweed soup:



I made this with a couple of red bell peppers added  and miso the other day and it was so delicious. It's incredibly easy to make and more delicious than you can imagine on first sight!  Really nourishing too so you feel satisfied but still light.

Chocolate smoothies!
http://foodforconsciousness.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/how-to-make-delicious-tonic-herbal.html

I'm getting organised for the year ahead with great excitement and want to feel as energised as I can for what is to come.

We can offer coaching in this process, more details coming soon.

child of the starry heavens

"I am a child of the Earth and the Starry Heavens but my origin is in the Heavens alone"

from the Petelia leaf which is said to have come from a tomb in Strongoli, in the deep south of Italy

http://www.nzepc.auckland.ac.nz/kmko/11/ka_mate11_jenner.pdf

It was understood in the ancient mysteries that, although we are born and live on the Earth, we, as a species, were originally conceived in the centre of the galaxy.

bath and the sacred spring

Lizzy and I visited the Roman baths in Bath.  They are very interesting historically, they are basically the remains of a  a two thousand year old healing centre with hydrotherapy, olive oil massage etc.  The baths are fed by Britain's only hot thermal spring.  There is something unusual and special about it in that the source of the heat is not volcanic, but geothermic - the spring arises from about two miles underground.  This means that the water is not sulphurous.
The atmosphere is incredible, it was one of those occasions when you don't realise how magical it is until you come away.  The baths and Roman temple were built on the site of a Celtic sacred spring dedicated to Sulis, a local Celtic mother goddess of healing wisdom.  The Romans called Bath Aquae Sulis.  They site was buried over the centuries and Georgian houses were built over it.  It was only rediscovered in the nineteenth century when it was rebuilt Victorian style but the Roman remains including the lead lined pool remain, The nearby more natural muddy pool of the Celts was known all along.  Difficult to know what to be sure about regarding the history because in that storyline there are claims about Celtic practices which are very doubtful but the energy of the place is amazing.

rivers of red and return of the life force

There's been even more rain than usual!
This is the clay water from the beautiful South Devon red earth gushing over the banks into the lanes and streaming down the road set against the re-emerging green vegetation of spring, the return of the life force...as we move into Imbolc and the new moon cycle.

full euphoric spiral with the jun

Had an unexpected arrival in my life recently.  For many years I have mostly refused to drink any kind of alcoholic drink because of the mood drop compared with how I generally feel.  Sometimes I would wonder if I was missing out on something but I just wasn't willing to experience the unpleasant side that wine, beer or spirits would have for me.  For the most part I haven't been bothered though as feel so good on what we are doing.  So it was a really nice to surprise that the very small amounts of alcohol in the jun we have got going along with the other mind enhancing compounds in there are giving me a lovely tipsy and actually euphoric but still mentally functioning feeling at the end of the day.  Admittedly it doesn't take much for me.  Anyway, unexpectedly I've got the opportunity for an evening tipple back.  The feeling is very similar to then one I remember as a youngster drinking the amazing concoction my Dad used to ferment from orange juice, when I started to go out and drink commercial beers I was shocked out how deadening their effects were compared to the almost psychedelic effects of my Dad's magical brew.

Years ago, getting healthy was purported to mean abandoning chocolate, cheese, nice cups of tea and alcoholic drinks.  And I was willing to do it.  Bit by bit it has all come back unexpectedly and delightfully in upgraded, more natural form., raw chocolate, raw dairy products such as raw cheese and kefir, herbal teas and elixirs and now the jun.  Jun works for me much better than kombucha because you can drink it without it being fermented to a vinegary state.  If kombucha isn't fully brewed out to this state then there is a residue of sugar which I really don't get on with and also, from a technical point of view, stops the immune system working to full capacity.  Jun is quite like kombucha but it can digest honey so you don't need to make it with sugar.

The tea we are using is chaga.  Brewing the tea extracts many of the medicinal factors out of the chaga whilst the alcohol in the jun extracts the alcohol soluble triterpenes (Betulinic acid) that are well known for their amazing healing properties in Russia.

I have actually been enjoying our ginkgo version even more than the original chaga jun in our range, it will be on sale very soon, just as soon as the labels get here.  Ginkgo is a long time favourite of mine, it is a very magical tree and boosts circulation and brain function.

So life has come full circle or maybe full spiral, in many other ways too, feel like finding many of the real versions of things that I had let go of.  Real sky astrology is a prime case in point.

our fermentation fetish class in meare

We are really enjoying teaching these classes and the very appreciative feedback.  Yesterday we made lacto fermented Mexican salsa

basil kefir cheese pesto

lacto fermented pineapple papaya curry chutney

coconut kefir ginger beer

kefir breakfast pudding

chocolate kefir cheesecake

We also demonstrated kraut made easy 

and the ins and outs of making kefir.

These classes are also a great introduction to making raw food work for you.

Next one is on 22nd February,  Meare is in Somerset, about four miles from Glastonbury.

Thanks to Anna Middleton for fabulous photos.